The short answer is yes, it would have made a difference. Convict leasing is what white people turned to solve the perceived need for free labor. They arrested and imprisoned black bodies and then rented them out to build roads, railroads, and to farms.

This would have dispeled the myth that slavery ended. The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution, still provides for slavery...for those in prison.

John Henry was alleged to have been prison in WV. This fable would have shown America for what it is and was: A country built on free and coerced labor.