Economics Speaker Series: Dr. Jeff Chan

The Economics Speaker Series kicks off on November 26 with guest speaker Dr. Jeff Chan from Wilfrid Laurier University.

In his talk titled Railroads, Market Access, and Indigenous Land Dispossession, Dr. Chan explores the question of whether increased market access, as facilitated by railway building, accelerated the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples and nations.

Registration is not required; everyone is welcome to attend.

Abstract

The expansion of the United States across the North American continent displaced and dispossessed hundreds of Indigenous nations. Historians have long argued that this process was hastened by improved transportation links, resulting from the construction of the railway. In this paper, we explore empirically the question of whether increased market access, as facilitated by railway building, accelerated the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples and nations. Using spatial data containing all Indigenous land cessions up to 1894 in what is today the United States, we find that increases in market access increased the probability of Indigenous land cessions within that decade. Reductions in transport costs and growing populations in US counties both play important roles in explaining market access’s overall effect. Finally, we find evidence that market access-induced land dispossession led to greater assimilation with settler populations, shorter heights for those born after dispossession, and modestly higher long-run incomes.