Property Rights and US History: Jamestown

1. Property Rights and US History: Jamestown

2. Introduction Jamestown was one of the earliest settlements in Britain’s North American colonies. The colony failed not once, but twice, in 1607 and later in 1609. The majority of the colonists who died in each attempt succumbed to starvation. Survivors of the failed missions document the fact that there was plenty of food available.

3. Jamestown Witnesses • George Percy chronicled these events at the time, most of the settlers who died succumbed to famine.[1] Percy also describes the countryside as being full of different kinds of food. There were "turkey nests and many Egges," "Strawberries, Mulberries, Raspberries and Fruits unknown" and "great store of Deere both Red and Fallow." • [1] Tom Bethell, The Noblest Triumph, p. 33

4. Jamestown Witnesses • One eyewitness, after describing an act of cannibalism among the "poorer sorte" went on to lay blame on the colonists themselves: • It were too vile to say, and scarce to be beleeved, what we endured: but the occasion was our own, for want of providence, industrie and government, and not the barenness and defect of the Countrie, as is generally supposed."[1] • [1] Ibid p. 34

5. Focus Question • The story of Jamestown raises a perplexing question: how could so many have starved to death in a land full of food? Winters in Virginia can be cold, but certainly no colder than many parts of Great Britain. Could hunting and fishing in the New World have been so different from what they'd experienced in England? Were the Indian tribes that fierce?

6. Jamestown - 1610 • Congratulations - you’ve made it to the New World! • First, you are an indentured servant. That means that you've agreed to work for seven years to pay the Virginia Company for your passage over here. It sounds like a long time, but compared to what you faced in England this is a major step up. The terms of your indenture make it very clear that whatever you create - crops, handiwork, even your ideas - belongs to the Virginia Company for the next seven years.

7. Jamestown - 1610 • Second, there are some company managers who came over on the boat with you. Their job is to see that you work hard enough to make the investment in your passage worth while for the company. They will tell you what work to do and when to do it. • Third, you already can see that this new land is abundant with game and fish. The soil is very fertile and even the Indians (about whom you've been a little worried) aren't so numerous as you feared. • Finally, the work you do is very important for the Virginia company. They expect you to do your very best for the period of your indenture.

8. Colonists Your job is to do the work given to you by the managers. The Company owns whatever you create and can reward you in any way it sees fit. Managers (3 – 5) Your job is to see that colonists have what they need to do the work. You must also check the quality of the work. Finally, you reward the colonists according to the company policy Roles

9. Work Instructions • Your supervisors will be bringing around your worksheets for each round of the simulation. They will give you a sheet of paper containing 15 boxes and your work will be to draw the following figure in each box. • Draw as many as you want to in the time provided.

10. Production Results • Round 1 • Round 2 • Round 3

11. New Production Rules • From now on, everything that a worker produces is his or hers. He or she can sell the work to the Virginia Company for an agreed upon rate. 1. The rate will be one piece of candy for every completed box. 2. The colonist may decide not to sell the Virginia Company if he or she chooses. 3. Colonists who produce no work will get no candy. 4. Company managers will collect the work and record how much candy each colonist has earned. 5. Your teacher and / or the managers will distribute candy at the end of each round.

12. Production Results • Round 4 • Round 5 • Round 6

13. Debriefing Part 1 • Why didn't the colonists work very hard in the early rounds? • Were the colonists lazy? Were they stupid? • What about the company managers - why weren't they able to motivate the colonists to work in the early rounds? • What does that tell you about people, about human nature?

14. Debriefing Part II • What changed in the later rounds of the game? • For the colonists, which part of the game did you like better? Why? • For the company managers, which part of the game did you like better? Why? • If you had to design your own colony, would you allow colonists to own their own land? Why or why not?

15. Property Rights The rules that govern who owns what under what circumstances. The right to use, exclude others from using and transfer property as the owner sees fit. Incentives Rules or situations to which people respond in predictable ways. Positive incentives allow individuals to maximize their profits while minimizing losses. Key Concepts

17. Indentured Servitude Simulation

18. Introduction • Indentured Servitude was the means for providing the British colonies with labor. • Ship captains and labor brokers would create contracts with emigrants, then sell those contracts in the new world to land owners who needed workers. • This simulation recreates that labor market.

19. At the beginning of the 18th Century, the typical indentured servant: • Was a 20 year-old male of English heritage • Could not read or write • Was unskilled • Lived in Pennsylvania • Served an indenture of 4 years, 8 months Why 4 years 8 months? Who set the length? And how?

20. Roles • Emigrants • Emigrant roles come on yellow cards. • Emigrants try to make a deal for the SHORTEST indenture period they can get. • Emigrants get points for short contracts • Captains, Agents • Captain or Agent roles come on blue cards. • Captains or Agentstry to make a deal for the longest indenture they can get. • Captains or Agents can earn profits with longer deals.

21. Rules Emigrants Only 1 deal per round No fibbing about your worker classification number DO NOT TELL the captains your maximum time of indenture Captains / Agents Only 1 deal per round No fibbing about where your ship is going DO NOT TELL the emigrants how much you can get for their contracts Captains/Agents must report deals

22. Round 1 • You will have approximately three minutes to make a deal in this round. • You may begin when your teacher says “Go.”

23. Round 2 • You will have approximately three minutes to make a deal in this round. • You may begin when your teacher says “Go.”

24. Round 3 • You will have approximately three minutes to make a deal in this round. • You may begin when your teacher says “Go.”

25. Debriefing Questions • What was being sold in this market? • Who were the buyers? Sellers? • How would this market function if no one obeyed contracts? • What did you notice about the general characteristics of the indenture market as we played more rounds? • How was 4yrs 8months established as the term of indenture? • Why is there a range of indenture contract lenghts? • Who made money?

26. Predict… • Length of indenture as cost of passage to colonies declined… • Length of indenture as economic conditions for laborers improved in England and Europe… • Market for indentured servants as population grew… • Market for indentured servants in South…

27. Key Concepts • Market Clearing Price • Supply & Demand • Labor Markets

29. Property Rights in US History: The Oklahoma Land Rush

30. What would it be like if we could own things just by claiming the on a first-come-first-served basis?

31. Historical Background The Land Rush of 1893 was the third in a series of land races created by the actions of the US Federal Government. These began in 1885, and continued in 1889. The Land Rush of 1893 was different, however, in one important way. Prior to the Federal Government opening the "Cherokee Strip" to settlement, the Cherokee Indians had leased the land to the members of the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association.

32. More Historical Background • In 1888 the federal government stopped recognizing leases between the Cherokees and the ranchers. The next year Congress authorized purchasing the land for $1.25 an acre.[1][1]Anderson & Hill, The Not So Wild Wild West, p. 172. • Congress then authorized the land rush of 1893, in which thousands of people came from all over the country to claim “free” land.

33. Oklahoma – 1893 • Congratulations! You've made it to the Cherokee Strip Land Rush here in Oklahoma Territory, 1893. That means that you traveled across the country just to get here and in a few minutes you’ll have a chance to get the “free land” that the government is “giving away.” • Your family has brought all your resources – money, horses, tools, everything of value that you own. They’re loaded up in your wagon, ready to go the minute the cannon booms. For our purposes today those resources will be poker chips – take good care of them throughout the game. • Succeeding in today's simulation is simple: just be the first family to get the deed on one of the remaining lots of land (the desks in the front of the room) and get as many of your chips there as possible. Candy prizes go to the families that successfully claim land.

34. Migrant Families Groups of four or five students Objective: to get land by being the first to pick up the sticky note/deed on a desk. To keep as many of your chips as possible. Marshalls 3 or 4 students for a class of 35 Objective: to make sure the rules for carrying chips are followed. Reward – candy for a job well done. Roles

35. Rules • No one may cross the starting line until the command: “On your marks! Get Set! Go!” • All family members must carry chips. • Chips can only be carried on the backs of hands or on the tops of forearms. • Chips must be visible to the marshals and the teacher at all times. • Chips that fall off are lost. Fallen chips may not be picked up. • Families must travel together - all four people in close proximity to each other. • To claim a desk a family must get to the plot first, retrieve the sticky note, and stand around the plot before any other family has claimed it. • After claiming the deed, a family must place on the “plot” of land the chips they successfully carried with them. (The teacher or a marshal will come by to count them.) • Families who jump the gun (“Sooners”) will be removed from the game by the marshals and their chips will be confiscated.

36. On your marks…

37. Debriefing Questions 1 1. Prior to the race, who owned the land? 2. Once the race began, who owned it? 3. After the race who owned the land? 4. How many families got land? 5. Why did so few families get land? 6. For those families who got land, how many chips were you able to get there with you?

38. Debriefing Questions 2 7. Why did so few chips get to the desks? 8. So for families that didn't get land, how many chips do you have left? 9. Was the land really free after all? 10. Is there another, less wasteful way the government could have privatized the land? What are some of the costs and benefits of doing this differently?

39. Focus Questions • Why did so many people have to lose so much to get “free” land being given away by the government? • Is there a better way for governments to allocate scarce resources such as land?

40. Debrief • The Oklahoma Land Rush is central to any history of the American West • It is most often seen in a romantic light, with landless immigrants from all over the globe gaining property in the US • From an economic point of view, however, this episode in American history shows us how wasteful we can be when we create the wrong incentives for people to follow.

41. Debrief • Once there is a “race” for resources people will lose track of even the things they need to survive. • Markets allow for orderly and efficient transfer of property – this is one of their strongest points!

42. Property Rights Individual vs Governmental Orderly transfer of property rights Incentives Rewards and punishments to which people respond predictably Efficiency Orderly transfer of property rights Institutions Not buildings but customs, ways in which an economy functions Key Concepts

44. Transaction Costs and Currency: “1808 Road Trip”

45. Background • Colonial & Revolutionary Periods: • No common currency (commodities, Indian Wampum, foreign coins, variety of paper monies…) • 1792: US adopts dollar as “official” currency… but dollars not issued by a standard source.

46. Background • 1791: B.U.S. established • 1794: US Mint established • States CAN’T issue paper currency but they CAN create corporations by special franchise… • 1793 - 1811: A large number of banks established by special franchise.

47. Background • 1811, 86 of 88 banks are private, state-chartered banks empowered to issue their own currency…

48. 1808 Road Trip • You are a lawyer / planter / businessman living in Richmond, Virginia in 1808. News of an excellent business opportunity has come your way. To take advantage of the opportunity, you must journey to Boston to meet with a group of investors.

49. 1808 Road Trip • Carrying letters of credit from your banker and the little cash you've been able to accumulate, you leave home with a servant and two horses. To break up the long journey, you plan to stop for business and to visit relatives or renew old acquaintances in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City on your way to and from Boston.

50. 1808 Road Trip • In each city, you must secure one night's lodging at an Inn. Prices are posted outside the inn and typically include care and food for your horses and servant in the stable. •  In Boston, you must stay for 2 days to complete your business discussions.