One Kind of Freedom: The Economic Consequences of Emancipation

This edition of the economic history classic One Kind of Freedom reprints the entire text of the first edition together with an introduction by the authors and an extensive bibliography of works in Southern history published since the appearance of the first edition. The book examines the economic institutions that replaced slavery and the conditions under which ex-slaves were allowed to enter the economic life of the United States following the Civil War. The authors contend that although the kind of freedom permitted to black Americans allowed substantial increases in their economic welfare, it effectively curtailed further black advancement and retarded Southern economic development. Quantitative data are used to describe the historical setting but also shape the authors' economic analysis and test the appropriateness of their interpretations. Ransom and Sutch's revised findings enrich the picture of the era and offer directions for future research.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Preface to the new edition; Acknowledgements; A note to the reader; 1. What did freedom mean?; 2. The legacy of slavery; 3. The myth of the prostrate South; 4. The demise of the plantation; 5. Agricultural reconstruction; 6. Financial reconstruction; 7. The emergence of the merchants' territorial monopoly; 8. The trap of debt peonage; 9. The roots of southern poverty; Statistical appendixes; Epilogue; A bibliography of literature on the South after 1977; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
"Twenty-five years have passed since the first edition of One Kind of Freedom achieved the rare scholarly distinction of setting the terms of debate for an ensuing generation of researchers in an entire field of historical inquiry...[Ransom and Sutch's] core findings hold up remarkably well." Journal of American Ethnic History "...classic economic history..." Civil War Book Review "Few works in southern economic history have achieved the level of respect and renown enjoyed by Roger Ransom and Richard Sutch's path-breaking 1977 book One Kind of Freedom: The Economic Consequences of Emancipation...If any single work can be said to have transformed an entire field in history, this is it...One Kind of Freedom is clear, strongly argued, and packs a punch. Moreover, the authors' findings are based on an impressive, indeed, awe-inspiring research base, and their employment and promotion of relatively underutilized sources...was at once innovative and transformative." Peter A. Coclanis, Reviews in American History "When published in 1977, ^One Kind of Freedom became an instant classic... The publication of a second edition is a useful reminder of a truly seminal conceptualization of Southern History." Choice "...clearly written and closely reasoned...One Kind of Freedeom is likely to remain what it has been for a quarter-century now: the single best introduction to the economy of the early postemancipation South." H-Net Reviews