Digital Heritage Moment: Convict Leasing
North Carolina leased many prisoners to work on the Western North Carolina Railroad.
In 1825 Kentucky became the first state in Appalachia to lease its convicts to private businesses, forcing them to earn their keep. The practice, which spread to North Carolina and other southern states following the Civil War, was defended not only as a means of keeping taxes down, but also for rehabilitating prisoners by teaching them work skills and discipline.
Convict leasing, however, led to the abuse of prisoners and unwelcome comparisons to slavery. And free laborers opposed leasing because they feared the use of convicts would drive their wages down.
In 1891 and 1892, free coal miners in east Tennessee rioted against the practice, forcing that state to abolish it. By 1928 Appalachian states no longer leased convicts. However, state agencies continued to put convicts to work—in state-owned farms and light industries, and on chain gangs along public roadsides.
Digital Heritage Moments are produced at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. To learn more, visit digitalheritage.org.
