Working Paper: NBER ID: w24656
Authors: Christian Dippel; Stephan Heblich
Abstract: This paper studies the role of leaders in the social movement against slavery that culminated in the U.S. Civil War. Our analysis is organized around a natural experiment: leaders of the failed German revolution of 1848-49 were expelled to the U.S. and became anti-slavery campaigners who helped mobilize Union Army volunteers. Towns where Forty-Eighters settled show two-thirds higher Union Army enlistments. Their influence worked thought local newspapers and social clubs. Going beyond enlistment decisions, Forty-Eighters reduced their companies' desertion rate during the war. In the long run, Forty-Eighter towns were more likely to form a local chapter of the NAACP.
Keywords: fortyeighters; Civil War; anti-slavery; enlistments; social movements
JEL Codes: D72; J61; N41
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| fortyeighters (Y40) | enlistments per 100 adult men (J45) |
| fortyeighters (Y40) | Union Army enlistments (J45) |
| fortyeighters (Y40) | desertion rates (J63) |
| fortyeighters (Y40) | local chapters of NAACP (J51) |
| fortyeighters' influence (N91) | Union Army enlistments (J45) |
| fortyeighters' influence through local newspapers and social clubs (J51) | Union Army enlistments (J45) |