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South Carolina’s Colonial Land Market

An Analysis of Rural Property Sales, 1720-1775

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

David B. Ryden  and
Russell R. Menard
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Abstract

This study analyzes noncredit, rural property transfers from colonial South Carolina. These records are used to measure the frequency, annual timing, geographic spread, and turnover rate of land sales. These data also are used to derive a hedonic land-price index. We argue that these estimates reflect variations in the local expectations of future economic growth and conclude that the rapid increase in land prices reflected the fact that the Low country economy was indeed fueled by plantation agriculture.

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Social Science History , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , winter 2005 , pp. 599 - 623
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Copyright © Social Science History Association 2005

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