Working Paper: NBER ID: w29812
Authors: Marco del Angel; Gregory D. Hess; Marc D. Weidenmier
Abstract: We investigate the extent to which conflicts between Native American tribes and U.S. Army troops were caused by poor economic conditions in Europe from 1869 to 1890. We hypothesize that contractions in economic activity pushed many Europeans to move to the western United States in search of better economic opportunity. The empirical analysis demonstrates that immigration, interacted with US railroad access, caused the probability of a Native American conflict to increase by approximately 46 percent.
Keywords: European recessions; Native American conflict; immigration; railroad access; economic shocks
JEL Codes: N10; N40
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| European recessions (N14) | increase in immigration to the United States (K37) |
| increase in immigration to the United States (K37) | increase in probability of Native American conflict (N41) |
| European recessions (N14) | increase in probability of Native American conflict (N41) |
| immigration interacts with railroad access (K37) | increase in probability of Native American conflict (N41) |
| higher commodity prices (Q02) | marginal increase in probability of Native American conflict (N41) |
| mining discoveries (L72) | no significant effect on probability of Native American conflict (N51) |
| military presence (H56) | no significant effect on probability of Native American conflict (N51) |