Bitter Sugar: Slavery and the Black Family

We empirically assess the effect of historical slavery on the African American family
structure. Our hypothesis is that female single headship among blacks is more likely
to emerge in association not with slavery per se, but with slavery in sugar plantations, since the extreme demographic and social conditions prevailing in the latter
have persistently affected family formation patterns. By exploiting the exogenous
variation in sugar suitability, we establish the following. In 1850, sugar suitability is
indeed associated with extreme demographic outcomes within the slave population.
Over the period 1880-1940, higher sugar suitability determines a higher likelihood
of single female headship. The effect is driven by blacks and starts fading in 1920
in connection with the Great Migration. OLS estimates are complemented with
a matching estimator and a fuzzy RDD. Over a linked sample between 1880 and
1930, we identify an even stronger intergenerational legacy of sugar planting for
migrants. By 1990, the effect of sugar is replaced by that of slavery and the black
share, consistent with the spread of its influence through migration and intermarriage, and black incarceration emerges as a powerful mediator. By matching slaves’
ethnic origins with ethnographic data we rule out any influence of African cultural
traditions.