This paper documents the persistence of Southern slave owners in political power after the American Civil War. Using data from Texas, we show that former slave owners made up more than half of all state legislators until the late 1890s. Legislators with slave-owning backgrounds were more likely to be Democrats and voted more conservatively even conditional on party membership. A county’s propensity to elect former slave owners was positively correlated with cotton production, but negatively with Reconstruction-era progress of blacks. Counties that elected more slave owners also displayed worse educational outcomes for blacks in the early twentieth century.

中文翻译：

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奴隶制的长长的阴影：奴隶主在南方立法中的坚持

本文记录了美国内战后南方奴隶主在政治权力中的持续存在。使用得克萨斯州的数据，我们显示，直到 1890 年代后期，前奴隶主占所有州立法者的一半以上。拥有奴隶背景的立法者更有可能是民主党人，并且投票更加保守，甚至以党员身份为条件。一个县选举前奴隶主的倾向与棉花产量呈正相关，但与重建时期黑人的进步呈负相关。选举更多奴隶主的县在 20 世纪初对黑人的教育结果也更差。