Economic Progress in the Postbellum South? African-American Incomes in the Mississippi Delta, 1880–1910

The extent of economic gains by African Americans in the decades after slavery is in dispute. Using a newly constructed data set, compiled from the manuscript census schedules and other sources, we find that African Americans in the Mississippi Delta experienced substantial income gains between 1880 and 1910. These gains can be attributed partly to African Americans moving into higher paying occupations—in particular, moving from being farm laborers to being farm operators—and partly to an increase in the incomes received from given occupations.