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  5. Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality

American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy

ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)

Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality

  • Daniel B. Jones
  • Ethan Schmick
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy (Forthcoming)

Abstract

The Reconstruction-era of American history (c. 1866-1877) saw widespread efforts to educate recently freed people - efforts which were partially curtailed after Reconstruction. This paper examines the impact of childhood exposure to educational opportunity during Reconstruction on later-life outcomes for recently freed people. Using data on the number of teachers in Black schools and a linked census sample, we find that Black children exposed to greater educational opportunity during Reconstruction had improved occupational standing as adults. Their sons also experienced gains suggesting that Reconstruction-era educational efforts, had they persisted, would have impacted Blackwhite gaps into the 20th Century.

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