Land distribution and inequality in a black settler colony: the case of Sierra Leone, 1792–1831^†

Abstract

Land distribution is considered to be one of the main contributors to inequality in pre‐industrial societies. This article contributes to the debate on the origins of economic inequality in pre‐industrial African societies by studying land inequality at a particularly early stage of African economic history. The research examines land distribution and inequality in land ownership among settlers in the Colony of Sierra Leone for three benchmark years over the first 40 years of its existence. The findings show that land inequality was low at the founding of the Colony but increased substantially over time. We suggest that this increase was enabled by a shift in the type of egalitarianism pursued by the colonial authorities, which was reflected in a change in the redistributive policy applied, which allowed later settlers to appropriate land more freely than had been previously possible.

Socioeconomic Status and Group Belonging: Evidence from Early-Nineteenth-Century Colonial West Africa

“…Even after leaving the colonial administration, administrators-turned-merchants enjoyed notable power and remained involved in policy making, although not officially (Cox-George 1961: 26). Traders, in contrast to merchants, could be also found in the countryside, particularly in the village of York along the western coast of the peninsula, where commercial activities were more developed (Galli and Rönnbäck 2020). Traders were predominantly involved with trade between the colony and its hinterland, often revolving around the colony's food provision.…”

“…The vast and rapid increase in population required the foundation of new settlements in previously uninhabited areas of the peninsula, boosting the demand for new buildings and infrastructures. Additionally, housing had a status-symbol function in Freetown (Galli and Rönnbäck 2020). Various sources confirm the impression that Sierra Leone, and Freetown in particular, was in a state of a building frenzy, with a qualitative source affirming that land in Freetown had become already contested in the early nineteenth century, with land and housing prices skyrocketing between the 1820s and 1830s (Fyfe 1962: 143).…”

“…Farming employed nearly solely individuals residing in the countryside where land was readily available and of relatively better quality, mostly discharged soldiers and liberated Africans. Nevertheless, a few colonial residents and native strangers were also recorded as farmers, although they did not reside in the rural area of the colony, a sign that farming may also have been practiced on the outskirt of the capital despite worse soil quality there (Galli and Rönnbäck 2021). The lower socioeconomic stratum was composed of Kru, native strangers, colonial residents, and liberated Africans.…”

Land Inequality and Its Influencing Factors in Rural China in Modern Times: A Systematic Review

“…For example, international studies also analyzed the effects of land marketization [66,67], inheritance systems, intergenerational property transfer [2,68], political power, elite power [5,69,70], and land reform [3,71,72] on land inequality. In addition, international studies had their own unique perspectives, e.g., considering the effects of gender [73][74][75][76] and colonization [4,77]. Case analyses and descriptive statistics were more used in modern Chinese studies, whereas econometrics was more used in international studies.…”

“…Besley et al [3] studied the relationship between land reform and land inequality in India in the mid-20th century. Galli and Rönnbäck [4] observed land inequality caused by colonization in Sierra Leone from 1792 to 1831. Faguet et al [5] analyzed the high concentration of land and the distortion of land distribution by rural elites in Colombia over the past 50 years.…”