New estimates of GDP of the Dutch Cape Colony (1652-1795) suggest that the Cape was one of the most prosperous regions during the eighteenth century. This stands in sharp contrast to the perceived view that the Cape was an “economic and social backwater”, a slave economy with slow growth and...

Opsomming: Wat was die gemiddelde trou-ouderdom vir Kaapse mans en vroue in die agtiende en negentiende eeu? Ons vind, deur gebruik te maak van ’n nuwe genealogiese datastel, dat voor die 1850s die mediaan Kaapse setlaarsvrou getrou tussen die ouderdom van 19 en 20 jaar met ’n man wat tussen...

Religious beliefs influence many aspects of peoples’ daily lives, so it is plausible to argue that religion affects some of humanity’s most central endeavors, such as trade, migration, foreign investment and tourism. This paper investigates the role a country’s religious affiliation plays...

Using newly digitized and transcribed attestation records, we provide a detailed description of the composition of the South African Constabulary, a volunteer force of mostly English recruits during and after the Second South African War. These records contain personal particulars, such as age,...

One reason for the relatively poor development performance of many countries around the world today may be the high levels of inequality during and after colonisation. Evidence from colonies in the Americas suggests that skewed initial factor endowments could create small elites that owned a...

This note reviews the state and future of South African economic history. We argue that although new techniques, archival sources, international interest and a greater propensity to collaborate within and across disciplines have stimulated new research over the last decade, overcoming our...

What we know about the material culture of eighteenth century Cape Colony settlers is mostly limited to qualitative evidence found in official documents, letters, travel accounts and other correspondence. This paper uses a new quantitative source – the MOOC probate inventories – to ascertain...

Die tradisionele beskouing van die agtiende eeuse Kaap as ‘n armoedige bestaans-ekonomie moet heroorweeg word. Deur van 2577 onlangs gedigitaliseerde boede-linventarisse gebruik te maak, toon hierdie artikel dat die gemiddelde Kaapse setlaars-huishouding relatief wel-af was aan die begin van...

The Cape Colony of the eighteenth century was one of the most prosperous regions in the world. This paper shows that Cape farmers prospered, on average, because of the economies of scale and scope achieved through slavery. Slaves allowed farmers to specialise in agricultural products that were...

The literature on parent-child correlations in socioeconomic status provides little evidence on long-term multigenerational dynamics. This is because most studies of intergenerational status persistence are based on two (at most three) successive generations. Our analysis adds to the...