Leadership and Social Movements: The Forty-Eighters in the Civil War

93 Pages Posted: 30 May 2018 Last revised: 14 Nov 2024

See all articles by Christian Dippel

Christian Dippel

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management

Stephan Heblich

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and Dept. of Economics,

Date Written: May 2018

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.

Suggested Citation

Dippel, Christian and Heblich, Stephan, Leadership and Social Movements: The Forty-Eighters in the Civil War (May 2018). NBER Working Paper No. w24656, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3185928

Christian Dippel (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management ( email )

110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States

Stephan Heblich

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and Dept. of Economics, ( email )

105 St George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8
Canada

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