From Post-Civil War Peonage to Modern Student Loans

Today’s edition of Labor 131, presented by the National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, featured Stacey Smith, Associate Professor of History at Oregon State University, who joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the Anti-Peonage Act of 1867, its impact on labor practices and how debt bondage persists in modern forms. 

Smith explained that peonage was a system of debt bondage prevalent in Latin America and parts of the United States seized from Mexico following the Mexican-American War. Wealthy landowners would bind lower-class workers and Native Americans into long-term servitude through debt, often creating generational cycles of bondage. She discussed how the Anti-Peonage Act of 1867 aimed to outlaw this practice, but enforcement proved challenging, particularly in New Mexico, where the system was deeply entrenched in the local economy.

Despite initial difficulties in New Mexico, the Anti-Peonage Act later became a tool to combat similar practices in the American South. Smith noted that around the turn of the 20th century, the law was used to prosecute planters and industrialists who were essentially re-enslaving African Americans through debt. However, she pointed out that peonage persisted in isolated parts of New Mexico well into the 1930s, highlighting the tenacity of such exploitative labor systems.

Drawing parallels to modern times, Smith discussed how current forms of debt, such as student loans and credit card debt, share similarities to historical peonage systems. She emphasized that the voluntary nature of these debts doesn't negate their potential for creating long-term financial bondage, echoing the complexities faced in defining and combating peonage in the past. Smith urged listeners to consider how debt continues to shape their labor and economic relationships in contemporary society.

Listen to the full episode of America's Workforce Union Podcast to hear more about the history of peonage and its modern parallels.