Convict lease
Encyclopedia
Convict leasing was a system of penal labor practiced in the Southern United States
, beginning with the emancipation of slaves at the end of the American Civil War
in 1865, peaking around 1880, and ending in the last state, Alabama
, in 1928.
Convict leasing provided prisoner labor to private parties, such as plantation owners and corporations like Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
. Corruption, lack of accountability and racial violence resulted in "one of the harshest and most exploitative labor systems known in American history." African Americans, due to “vigorous and selective enforcement of laws and discriminatory sentencing”, made up the vast majority -- but not all -- of the convicts leased.
Writer Douglas A. Blackmon writes of the system:
, while abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude generally, permits it as a punishment for crime.
Criminologist Thorsten Sellin
, in his book Slavery and the Penal System, says that the sole aim of convict leasing “was financial profit to the lessees who exploited the labor of the prisoners to the fullest, and to the government which sold the convicts to the lessees.”
The practice became widespread and was used to supply labor in railroad, mining, farming, and logging operations.
issued a convict lease for 100 African American
prisoners to William Fort for work on the Georgia and Alabama Railroad
as a solution to the labor shortage
problem.
In Tennessee, the convict leasing system was halted on January 1, 1894 because of the attention brought by the Coal Creek War
of 1891, an armed labor action lasting over a year. Free coal miners attacked and burned prison stockades, hundreds of convicts were freed, and the surrounding publicity turned Governor John P. Buchanan
out of office. The end of convict leasing did not mean the end of convict labor. The state sited its new penitentiary, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
, with the help of geologists, built it as a working coal mine, and ran it at significant profit. These prison mines closed in 1966.
Convict leasing began in Texas by 1883 and was abolished in 1910.
One result of this practice was the shift in prison populations to predominately African-American following the war. Data for Tennessee prisons demonstrates this change. African-Americans represented only 33 percent of the population at the main prison in Nashville as of October 1, 1865, but by November 29, 1867, the percentage had increased to 58.3. By 1869 it had increased to 64 percent and it reached an all-time high of 67 percent between 1877 and 1879. Prison populations also increased. In Georgia there was a tenfold increase in prison populations during a four-decade period (1868–1908); in North Carolina the prison population increased from 121 in 1870 to 1,302 in 1890; in Florida the population went from 125 in 1881 to 1,071 in 1904; in Mississippi the population quadrupled between 1871 and 1879; in Alabama it went from 374 in 1869 to 1,878 in 1903 and to 2,453 in 1919.
While some believe the demise of the system can be attributed to exposure of the inhumane treatment afforded the convicts, others point towards causes ranging from comprehensive legislative reform packages to political retribution or payback. Though the convict lease system, as such, disappeared, yet other forms of convict labor continued (and still exist today) in various forms. These other systems included plantations, industrial prisons, and the famous “chain gang
”.
The convict lease system was slowly phased out in the early 20th century. Florida governor Cary A. Hardee
ended convict leasing there in 1923 after national attention to the case of Martin Tabert, a young man from North Dakota. Tabert had been arrested for riding a freight train in Tallahassee, leased to the Putnam Lumber Company in Clara, Florida, and flogged to death. Coverage of Tabert's killing brought the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
to the New York World
newspaper in 1924.
North Carolina, while without a system comparable to the other states, was the last state to outlaw the practice, in 1933. Alabama was the last to end the practice of official convict leasing in 1928.
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, beginning with the emancipation of slaves at the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1865, peaking around 1880, and ending in the last state, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, in 1928.
Convict leasing provided prisoner labor to private parties, such as plantation owners and corporations like Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company , also known as TCI and the Tennessee Company, was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. Originally based entirely within Tennessee, it relocated most of its business to Alabama in the...
. Corruption, lack of accountability and racial violence resulted in "one of the harshest and most exploitative labor systems known in American history." African Americans, due to “vigorous and selective enforcement of laws and discriminatory sentencing”, made up the vast majority -- but not all -- of the convicts leased.
Writer Douglas A. Blackmon writes of the system:
- It was a form of bondage distinctly different from that of the antebellum South in that for most men, and the relatively few women drawn in, this slavery did not last a lifetime and did not automatically extend from one generation to the next. But it was nonetheless slavery – a system in which armies of free men, guilty of no crimes and entitled by law to freedom, were compelled to labor without compensation, were repeatedly bought and sold, and were forced to do the bidding of white masters through the regular application of extraordinary physical coercion.
Origins
Convict leasing in the United States can be traced to the Reconstruction Period (1865–1876), after the end of the Civil War. Farmers and businessmen needed to find replacements for the labor force once their slaves had been freed. The constitutional basis for convict leasing is that the 1865 Thirteenth AmendmentThirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...
, while abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude generally, permits it as a punishment for crime.
Criminologist Thorsten Sellin
Thorsten Sellin
Johan Thorsten Sellin was an American sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, a penologist and one of the pioneers of scientific criminology.-Biography:...
, in his book Slavery and the Penal System, says that the sole aim of convict leasing “was financial profit to the lessees who exploited the labor of the prisoners to the fullest, and to the government which sold the convicts to the lessees.”
The practice became widespread and was used to supply labor in railroad, mining, farming, and logging operations.
The system in various states
In Georgia convict leasing began on May 11, 1868, when provisional governor Thomas H. RugerThomas H. Ruger
Thomas Howard Ruger was an American soldier and lawyer who served as a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he was a superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York....
issued a convict lease for 100 African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
prisoners to William Fort for work on the Georgia and Alabama Railroad
Georgia and Alabama Railroad
The Georgia and Alabama Railway was formed in 1895 from the failed Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway. The G&A expanded rapidly, acquiring the Abbeville and Waycross Railroad and building it further South to Ocilla, GA, obtaining a lease from the Central of Georgia Railroad for trackage...
as a solution to the labor shortage
Labor shortage
In its narrowest definition, a labor shortage is an economic condition in which there are insufficient qualified candidates to fill the market-place demands for employment at any price...
problem.
In Tennessee, the convict leasing system was halted on January 1, 1894 because of the attention brought by the Coal Creek War
Coal Creek War
The Coal Creek War was an armed labor uprising that took place primarily in Anderson County, in the American state of Tennessee, in the early 1890s. The struggle began in 1891 when coal mine owners in the Coal Creek watershed attempted to replace free coal miners with convicts leased out by the...
of 1891, an armed labor action lasting over a year. Free coal miners attacked and burned prison stockades, hundreds of convicts were freed, and the surrounding publicity turned Governor John P. Buchanan
John P. Buchanan
John Price Buchanan was Governor of the U.S. State of Tennessee from 1891 to 1893. He was a native of Williamson County, Tennessee....
out of office. The end of convict leasing did not mean the end of convict labor. The state sited its new penitentiary, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary last named Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex was a large maximum-security prison near the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction...
, with the help of geologists, built it as a working coal mine, and ran it at significant profit. These prison mines closed in 1966.
Convict leasing began in Texas by 1883 and was abolished in 1910.
One result of this practice was the shift in prison populations to predominately African-American following the war. Data for Tennessee prisons demonstrates this change. African-Americans represented only 33 percent of the population at the main prison in Nashville as of October 1, 1865, but by November 29, 1867, the percentage had increased to 58.3. By 1869 it had increased to 64 percent and it reached an all-time high of 67 percent between 1877 and 1879. Prison populations also increased. In Georgia there was a tenfold increase in prison populations during a four-decade period (1868–1908); in North Carolina the prison population increased from 121 in 1870 to 1,302 in 1890; in Florida the population went from 125 in 1881 to 1,071 in 1904; in Mississippi the population quadrupled between 1871 and 1879; in Alabama it went from 374 in 1869 to 1,878 in 1903 and to 2,453 in 1919.
End of the system
Although the 20th century brought increasing opposition to the system, state politicians resisted calls for its elimination. In states where the convict lease system was used, revenues from the program contributed to 372% of the costs of prison administration. The practice was extremely profitable for the government, not to mention those business-owners who utilized convict labor. However, there were other built-in problems with convict leasing and over all employers became more aware of the disadvantages.While some believe the demise of the system can be attributed to exposure of the inhumane treatment afforded the convicts, others point towards causes ranging from comprehensive legislative reform packages to political retribution or payback. Though the convict lease system, as such, disappeared, yet other forms of convict labor continued (and still exist today) in various forms. These other systems included plantations, industrial prisons, and the famous “chain gang
Chain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
”.
The convict lease system was slowly phased out in the early 20th century. Florida governor Cary A. Hardee
Cary A. Hardee
Cary Augustus Hardee was the 23rd Governor of Florida.Born in Taylor County, Florida, he spent most of his life in Live Oak, Florida. He was a lawyer, state attorney, member of the Florida House of Representatives, and speaker of the Florida House before being elected governor...
ended convict leasing there in 1923 after national attention to the case of Martin Tabert, a young man from North Dakota. Tabert had been arrested for riding a freight train in Tallahassee, leased to the Putnam Lumber Company in Clara, Florida, and flogged to death. Coverage of Tabert's killing brought the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service has been awarded since 1918 for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalistic resources. Those resources, as well as reporting, may include editorials, cartoons, photographs, graphics,...
to the New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
newspaper in 1924.
North Carolina, while without a system comparable to the other states, was the last state to outlaw the practice, in 1933. Alabama was the last to end the practice of official convict leasing in 1928.
Further reading
- Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. New York: Anchor Books, Random House Publishing, 2008. ISBN 0385722702.
- Kahn, Si, and Elizabeth Minnich. The Fox in the Henhouse: How Privatization Threatens Democracy. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005. ISBN 1576753379.
- Moulder, Rebecca, H. “Convicts as Capital: Thomas O’Conner and the Leases of the Tennessee Penitentiary system, 1871–1883”. East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, no. 48 (1976): 58–59.
- Oshinsky, David M. Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice. New York: The Free Press, 1996. ISBN 0684822989.
- full text of "The American Siberia" by J.C. Powell, 1891, an autobiographical account of 14 years in a Florida convict camp