IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cge/wacage/807.html

The U.S. Civil Wars Impact on Womens Work and Political Participation

Author

Listed:
  • Arnsbarger, Madison

    (Weber State University)

  • Ferrara, Andreas

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Montrose, Paige

    (University of Pittsburgh)

Abstract

This paper studies the role of economic participation via the labour market in enabling the political mobilization of an underrepresented group. Specifically, we study the wives and daughters of disabled Union Army soldiers after the U.S. Civil War. Linking Union Army enlistment records to the 1860 and 1870 U.S. censuses, we find that the wives and daughters of disabled veterans were significantly more likely to participate in the labour force than those of non-disabled veterans. Historical evidence suggests that disabled veterans were also more exposed to post-war alcohol and substance abuse, increasing the household burdens faced by women. Town-level data show that increases in womens labour force participation combined with higher shares of disabled veterans predict more Temperance Crusade activity in 1873/74. Information provision via newspapers and proximity to other protest towns amplify these effects. Using unit-level disability rates as an instrument for veterans disability status supports a causal interpretation of the labour market effects. Our results suggest that labour force participation can be an important enabling factor for the political mobilization of underrepresented groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnsbarger, Madison & Ferrara, Andreas & Montrose, Paige, 2026. "The U.S. Civil Wars Impact on Womens Work and Political Participation," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 807, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:807
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/manage/publications/wp807.2026.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chiswick, Barry R. & Robinson, RaeAnn Halenda, 2021. "Women at Work in the United States Since 1860: An Analysis of Unreported Family Workers," GLO Discussion Paper Series 857, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz & Ilyana Kuziemko, 2006. "The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 133-156, Fall.
    3. Gethin, Amory & Pons, Vincent, 2024. "Social Movements and Public Opinion in the United States," CEPR Discussion Papers 19028, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    4. Marco Manacorda & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 533-567, March.
    5. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    6. Leah Platt Boustan & Carola Frydman & Robert A. Margo, 2014. "Human Capital in History: The American Record," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bous12-1, May.
    7. David S. Lyle, 2006. "Using Military Deployments and Job Assignments to Estimate the Effect of Parental Absences and Household Relocations on Children's Academic Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 319-350, April.
    8. Alvaro Calderon & Vasiliki Fouka & Marco Tabellini, 2023. "Racial Diversity and Racial Policy Preferences: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(1), pages 165-200.
    9. Resul Cesur & Joseph J. Sabia & W. David Bradford, 2024. "The effect of combat deployments on veteran opioid abuse," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 1284-1318, June.
    10. Desmond Ang & Sahil Chinoy, 2025. "Vanguard: Black Veterans and Civil Rights after World War I," NBER Working Papers 33460, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Philipp Ager & Leah Boustan & Katherine Eriksson, 2021. "The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners after the Civil War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(11), pages 3767-3794, November.
    12. Conley, T. G., 1999. "GMM estimation with cross sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-45, September.
    13. Chiswick, Barry R. & Robinson, RaeAnn Halenda, 2021. "Women at work in the United States since 1860: An analysis of unreported family workers," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    14. Leah Platt Boustan & Carola Frydman & Robert A. Margo, 2014. "Introduction to "Human Capital in History: The American Record"," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 1-14, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Andreas Ferrara & Christian Dippel & Stephan Heblich, 2025. "Frontline Leadership: Evidence from American Civil War Captains," NBER Working Papers 34057, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Lee, Chulhee, 2005. "Wealth Accumulation and the Health of Union Army Veterans, 1860–1870," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 352-385, June.
    17. Samuel Bazzi & Abel Brodeur & Martin Fiszbein & Joanne Haddad, 2023. "Frontier History and Gender Norms in the United States," NBER Working Papers 31079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Claudia Olivetti & M. Daniele Paserman, 2015. "In the Name of the Son (and the Daughter): Intergenerational Mobility in the United States, 1850-1940," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(8), pages 2695-2724, August.
    19. Rick Geddes & Dean Lueck & Sharon Tennyson, 2012. "Human Capital Accumulation and the Expansion of Women's Economic Rights," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(4), pages 839-867.
    20. Camilo García-Jimeno & Angel Iglesias & Pinar Yildirim, 2022. "Information Networks and Collective Action: Evidence from the Women's Temperance Crusade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(1), pages 41-80, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico, 2020. "Bitter Sugar: Slavery and the Black Family," Department of Economics 0172, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    2. Bertocchi, Graziella & Dimico, Arcangelo, 2020. "Bitter Sugar: Slavery and the Black Family," GLO Discussion Paper Series 564, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Joanne Haddad & Lamis Kattan, 2024. "Female-Specific Labor Regulation and Employment: Historical Evidence from the United States," CESifo Working Paper Series 11546, CESifo.
    4. Diego Ramos-Toro, 2026. "Legacies of liberation: political dynamics in Civil War refugee camps," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 179-203, June.
    5. Flückiger, Matthias & Ludwig, Markus, 2025. "The structure of online social networks and social movements: Evidence from the Black Lives Matter protests," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    6. Blavo, Yolanda & Lordan, Grace & Virhia, Jasmine, 2023. "Supporting productivity with a ‘remote-first’ approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119654, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Stefano Gagliarducci & Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato & Francesco Sobbrio & Guido Tabellini, 2020. "War of the Waves: Radio and Resistance during World War II," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 1-38, October.
    8. Chiswick, Barry R. & Robinson, RaeAnn Halenda, 2021. "Women at work in the United States since 1860: An analysis of unreported family workers," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Emilio Depetris-Chauvin & Ömer Özak, 2020. "The origins of the division of labor in pre-industrial times," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 297-340, September.
    10. Martha Bailey & Paul Mohnen & A.R. Shariq Mohammed, 2026. "The Evolution of U.S. Educational Mobility over the 20th Century and the Role of Public Education," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2026-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    11. Chiswick, Barry R. & Robinson, RaeAnn Halenda, 2024. "The Labor Market Attainment of Immigrants in the Antebellum United States," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1512, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent & Zylberberg, Yanos, 2022. "Urban economics in a historical perspective: Recovering data with machine learning," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. David Kunst, 2019. "Deskilling among Manufacturing Production Workers," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 19-050/VI, Tinbergen Institute, revised 30 Dec 2020.
    14. Maleke Fourati & Victoire Girard & Jeremy Laurent-Lucchetti, 2021. "Sexual violence as a weapon of war," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2103, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    15. Martin Fiszbein, 2017. "Agricultural Diversity, Structural Change and Long-run Development: Evidence from the U.S," NBER Working Papers 23183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Barry R. Chiswick & Francisco RaeAnn Halenda Robinson, 2024. "An analysis of the occupations of free women in the antebellum USA," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 18(2), pages 363-403, May.
    17. Elisa Jácome & Ilyana Kuziemko & Suresh Naidu, 2021. "Mobility for All: Representative Intergenerational Mobility Estimates over the 20th Century," Working Papers 302, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    18. aus dem Moore, Jan Peter & Spitz-Oener, Alexandra, 2012. "Bye bye, GI: The impact of the US military drawdown on local German labor markets," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2012-024, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    19. Chiswick, Barry R. & Robinson, RaeAnn H., 2022. "The Occupations of Free Women and Substitution with Enslaved Workers in the Antebellum United States," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1063, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    20. Tabellini, Marco, 2020. "Racial Heterogeneity and Local Government Finances: Evidence from the Great Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 14319, Centre for Economic Policy Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:807. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jane Snape (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dewaruk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.