Journal Article

Leadership in Social Movements: Evidence from the "Forty-Eighters" in the Civil War

Autoren

  • Dippel
  • C.
  • Heblich
  • S.
Erscheinungsdatum

This paper studies the role of leaders in the social movement against slavery that culminated in the US Civil War. Our analysis is organized around a natural experiment: leaders of the failed German revolution of 1848–1849 were expelled to the United States and became antislavery campaigners who helped mobilize Union Army volunteers. Towns where Forty-Eighters settled show two-thirds higher Union Army enlistments. Their influence worked through 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.

Info

JEL Classification
D74, J15, J45, J61, N31, N41
DOI
10.1257/aer.20191137

Schlagworte

  • Konfliktlösungen
  • Wirtschaftliche Aspekte von Minderheiten
  • Arbeitsmärkte im öffentlichen Sektor
  • Geografische Mobilität von Arbeitskräften; Arbeitsmigranten
  • Wirtschaftsgeschichte