Equality Before the Law in U.S. Civil War Courts-Martial

Dora Costa and Ziqi Zhao

No 34184, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine disparities in acquittal rates and sentencing for Black and White soldiers in the US Civil War using all general courts-martial. We find that Blacks were disproportionately punished for group actions like mutiny and for violent crimes involving group violence, suggesting fears of large-scale rebellion influenced justice. However, we also uncover a system that was fair relative to many modern criminal courts in acquittals and in death sentences. The needs of the Army pushed towards fairness.

JEL-codes: J71 K42 N41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-inv, nep-law and nep-mac
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