Railroad Expansion Built on Exploited and Convict Black Labor

The massive expansion of Southern railroads from roughly 11,000 miles in 1870 to 29,000 miles in 1890 was accomplished largely through the labor of Black workers — both free workers paid poverty wages and convict laborers leased from state prison systems at minimal cost. Railroad companies including the Georgia, Pacific, and Atlantic railroad and numerous smaller lines contracted directly with state governments for convict labor. Documented mortality rates for railroad construction convicts in Mississippi and Alabama exceeded 10% annually from heat exhaustion, disease, and violence. Free Black railroad workers were confined to the most dangerous labor categories, excluded from skilled trades by union rules and employer policy.