Determinants of Slave Prices: Louisiana, 1725 to 1820

Abstract

We utilize a previously untapped data source, Gwendolyn Hall (1999), to examine the market for slaves in Louisiana, both in New Orleans and outside of New Orleans. We are able to study the process of price determination in two separate markets over a period of 95 years for the former and 64 years for the latter. While our findings indicate that both markets valued slave characteristics in a manner that one would expect, we also analyze why particular attributes were valued differently in these two markets. Two shocks to these markets occur in 1808: the Jefferson embargo (December, 1807) and the prohibition of slave imports (January 1, 1808). We analyze how these two shocks differentially affect the value of slave characteristics in these two markets. We find that after the embargo is lifted in 1814, differences in the valuation of slave characteristics between the two regions are greatly diminished.