Georgia Leases Convicts to Railroad Companies

Georgia established convict leasing in 1868, initially contracting prisoners to the Western and Atlantic Railroad and later the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. Over 90 percent of leased convicts were Black men convicted of minor crimes or vagrancy. The state received lease fees while paying nothing toward prisoner welfare; companies controlled discipline, food, and housing. A Georgia grand jury in 1870 documented prisoners worked in chains in filth and extreme deprivation.