The Long Civil War: Battle Exposure and Anti-Black Racism in the US South

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of the Civil War on the geography of racism in the US South. We construct a new dataset of the universe of soldiers enlisted in the Confederate army, their town of residence before the war, and their military deployment. We show that, after the war, towns whose soldiers participated in more deadly battles increased their support for racially conservative parties and discriminatory laws and engaged more in violence against Black Americans. The effect is similar in size to and independent from the prevalence of slavery. These towns were more likely to develop a deep and lasting cultural attachment to the war heritage, as indicated by the presence of memorial organizations, Confederate monuments, and the use of distinct Confederate names. The war's legacy persists, shaping hate crimes, white supremacist rallies, and police officer killings of Black Americans to this day.