Leadership in Social Movements: Evidence from the "Forty-Eighters" in the Civil War
Christian Dippel, Stephan Heblich
American Economic Review · 2021 · Volume 111 · Issue 2
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Conflict, Conflict Resolution, Alliances, Revolutions, Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants, Non-labor Discrimination, Public Sector Labor Markets, Geographic Labor Mobility, Immigrant Workers, Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S., Canada: Pre-1913, Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: U.S.
Enable JavaScript for citation tools and additional paper interactions.