Exports and the economy of the Lower South region, 1720–1770

Abstract

Scholars have long emphasized that the Lower South was one of the most economically successful regions of British North America. The region had the highest levels of private wealth per capita in the colonies by 1774, and it has been argued that income per capita rose rapidly due to the rapid growth of rice exports. Here we present new and more comprehensive estimates of the region's exports, which reveal a different result. While exports grew rapidly, they grew slower than rice and indigo alone, and slower than population. Here we explain why the extensive growth of exports and population did not lead to rapid growth of income per capita.

Citation

Mancall, P.C., Rosenbloom, J.L. and Weiss, T. (2007), "Exports and the economy of the Lower South region, 1720–1770", Field, A.J., Clark, G. and Sundstrom, W.A. (Ed.) Research in Economic History (Research in Economic History, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-3268(07)25001-3