After the war, I have read in several places that blacks, being paid on a share basis,
quite often were seen hanging out at the local general store (front porch, not inside), unless
they were buying from wages earned, in which case they were welcome inside the store to
buy needed provisions - which stimulated the local economy, but not before the war
unless they were freedmen. Hence, my distinction between direct vs. indirect and before vs.
after the war. To what extent this stimulated the local economy would be difficult to
prove - particularly in the case of blacks after the war buying on credit, if they were
permitted to do so as were white farmers.