How Did Reconstruction-Era Education Affect Long-Term Black-White Inequality in the United States?

This study examines how educational opportunities during the Reconstruction era impacted long-term Black-white inequality in the United States. Using data from the Freedmen’s Teacher Project and the Multigenerational Longitudinal Panel (MLP), researchers analyzed the effects of childhood exposure to educational resources, measured as teacher-years per 1,000 Black children, on adult literacy and occupational standing. The study found that Black men exposed to Reconstruction-era schooling experienced a 10-percentage-point increase in literacy and an 8% rise in occupational standing. These educational benefits also extended intergenerationally, with sons showing improved economic outcomes, underscoring the enduring impact of Reconstruction policies.

Extended Summary

Central Research Question

This research investigates whether educational opportunities provided to Black children during the Reconstruction era (1866-1877) influenced long-term Black-white inequality in literacy, occupational standing, and economic mobility. Specifically, the study explores whether early exposure to formal education during Reconstruction had lasting effects on Black individuals’ social and economic outcomes and how these impacts extended to future generations. By examining data from historical sources, the authors aim to understand the role that Reconstruction-era educational policies could have played in reducing Black-white disparities, which remain a persistent issue in the United States today.

Previous Literature

The study builds on a substantial body of literature examining Black-white inequality in the U.S., especially around education and economic opportunity. Previous research has documented the challenges Black Southerners faced in accessing quality education, particularly during the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras (Collins and Margo, 2006; Margo, 1990). Some scholars, like Ransom and Sutch (2001) and Troost (2007), have studied the short-term effects of Reconstruction schooling, finding that educational provision, though limited, increased literacy among Black children. However, few studies have analyzed the long-term outcomes of educational access during Reconstruction on adult economic outcomes, such as occupational standing. By examining data on both short-term and intergenerational impacts, this study fills a gap in economic history literature and contributes insights into the persistent nature of racial inequality.

Furthermore, the research connects with contemporary studies on intergenerational mobility and racial inequality in education. Recent work by Chetty et al. (2020) highlights the challenges Black Americans face in achieving economic mobility, as they experience lower rates of intergenerational income growth than white Americans. This study suggests that early educational investments may mitigate some of these disparities, a finding consistent with other research on human capital transmission and economic mobility (Mazumder et al., 2019). The current study therefore situates itself within broader discussions on policy interventions for racial equity, particularly through educational investments.

Data

The research utilizes two primary datasets. The first dataset is the Freedmen’s Teacher Project, which documents approximately 11,000 teachers who worked in schools for freed Black children during the Reconstruction era. This dataset includes information about teacher distribution and local educational intensity, measured as teacher-years per 1,000 Black children of school age, allowing the authors to quantify educational exposure for Black children across different regions in the South.

The second dataset is the Multigenerational Longitudinal Panel (MLP) from IPUMS, which links individuals across decennial U.S. censuses. This linked data enables the researchers to track individuals over time and observe their occupational status, literacy levels, and geographic movement. The study focuses on Black and white children in former Confederate states who were born between 1860 and 1880. By linking data from the 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses, the authors assess adult outcomes for individuals exposed to Reconstruction-era schooling. Additionally, to evaluate intergenerational effects, the study extends to a second generation by linking the children of those exposed to Reconstruction schooling from the 1900 to the 1920 Census.

Methods

The authors employ a triple-differences empirical strategy, leveraging variation in three dimensions: (1) the number of school-age years that children were exposed to favorable Reconstruction policies, (2) the local intensity of educational opportunity for Black children, and (3) race. The researchers use state-level variation in Democratic takeover of legislatures to identify the impact of Reconstruction’s end on educational funding. After Republican-led Reconstruction governments lost power, educational funding and opportunities for Black children sharply declined.

The triple-differences approach allows the study to isolate the effects of educational opportunity on Black individuals’ outcomes. This is achieved by comparing Black individuals in regions with high educational intensity to those in regions with lower intensity, controlling for other period and geographic effects. The study also controls for potential migration biases by defining educational opportunity at an urban area level, which accounts for the fact that many Black families moved from rural to urban areas post-Civil War in search of better opportunities.

Findings/Size Effects

The study finds that exposure to Reconstruction-era education had a significant positive impact on Black individuals’ literacy and occupational standing. Black men who experienced high educational opportunity during Reconstruction were 10 percentage points more likely to be literate by 1900, a substantial increase given that only about 60% of Black men in the sample were literate. For occupational standing, Black men exposed to higher levels of educational opportunity experienced an 8% increase in occupational income scores, which measured average income within specific occupations. These findings indicate that Reconstruction education had a meaningful impact on Black men’s social mobility and economic outcomes.

Additionally, the study finds that educational opportunity specifically influenced occupational standing through more formal schooling, while literacy gains appeared to be widespread across Black individuals, even in areas with lower educational intensity. This discrepancy suggests that while basic literacy could be obtained through informal means, formal schooling opportunities were essential for occupational advancement. Black men exposed to Reconstruction schooling were more likely to hold non-agricultural jobs or advanced positions in agriculture, such as tenant farming, rather than working as farm laborers. These occupational shifts reflect greater upward mobility among those with educational access.

The intergenerational analysis reveals that the benefits of Reconstruction-era education extended to the next generation. Sons of Black men exposed to higher educational opportunity during Reconstruction had better occupational outcomes, with occupational income scores reflecting higher economic standing relative to their peers whose parents lacked similar educational exposure. This finding underscores the long-lasting impact of early education on economic mobility and suggests that Reconstruction schooling could have substantially reduced Black-white income gaps in the 20th century if educational opportunities had persisted.

Conclusion

This study highlights the critical role that Reconstruction-era educational policies played in shaping the economic and social trajectories of Black individuals in the South. By providing recently freed Black children with access to education, Reconstruction efforts helped reduce long-term disparities in literacy and occupational outcomes between Black and white individuals. The findings also reveal that the economic benefits of educational opportunity during Reconstruction extended across generations, suggesting that educational investments are a powerful mechanism for achieving racial equity.

Despite these promising outcomes, the study emphasizes that the end of Reconstruction and the subsequent defunding of Black schools limited the potential for widespread, enduring improvements. The reduction in educational resources following the Democratic takeover of Southern legislatures curtailed what could have been a significant closing of the Black-white economic gap in the United States. This study thus underscores the need for policy interventions that prioritize equal access to education as a means to address enduring racial inequalities in the U.S.

Citation

Jones, D. B., & Schmick, E. (2024). Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. doi:10.1257/app.20240003​.