Accounting on the old plantation: A study of the financial records of an ante-bellum Louisiana sugar planter

              The Accounting Historians Journal Vol. 12, No. 1 Spring 1985
Joseph R. Razek UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS
ACCOUNTING ON THE OLD PLANTATION: A Study of the Financial Records of an Ante-bellum Louisiana Sugar Planter
Abstract: Very little information exists on the accounting methods and procedures of the great cotton and sugar plantations in the Southeastern United States during the period preceding the Civil War. Fortunately, one sugar planter, William J. Minor of Natchez, Mississippi and Houma, Louisiana, maintained a detailed set of records, among which are two ledgers. From these we learn that a hybrid account-ing system, using elements of cash and accrual and single and double-entry book-keeping, was in use. While such a system might seem strange today, it appears to have served its purpose in its particular operating environment.
One of the most interesting and glamorous periods in the history of the American South is the decade preceding the Civil War. Al-though scholars who have researched this period have found a wealth of information about the social fabric and about economic aspects of the period, very little appears to have been written on the financial recordkeeping systems of the various economic units, especially the great cotton and sugar plantations.
Two possible reasons for this dearth of information are:
1. Planters were too busy to bother with bookkeeping, or
2. What records were maintained were, in many cases, destroyed during the Civil War. Certain records in various state archives lend credence to this, as there are often missing pages which might have contained financial statements, lists of assets, or crop information.
Information available on the early plantations comes primarily from diaries and family letters. Such materials contain many details of the social and economic conditions of the time. They also pro-vide a picture of the relationships between the planters and their families, business associates and slaves, and discuss the weather, the condition of the crops, and sickness among the slaves. Little financial information, however, is provided.