"Benefit of the Doubt": African-American Civil War Veterans and Pensions

Laws that provided pensions for Union army veterans were putatively color-blind, but whites and African Americans experienced the pension system differently. Black veterans were were less likely to apply for pensions during the program's early years. Yet, no matter when they applied, they encou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of interdisciplinary history Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 377 - 399
Main Authors Logue, Larry M., Blanck, Peter
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 238 Main St., Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-1046, USA MIT Press 01.01.2008
The MIT Press
MIT Press Journals, The
Subjects
African Americans
American Civil War
Civil War
Civil wars
Disabilities
Disability law
Disability pensions
Former slaves
Military pensions
Military Personnel
Mortality
Pensions
Racial discrimination
Soldiers
Statutes
United States of America
Veterans
Veterans benefits
Victims
United States > US
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Summary:Laws that provided pensions for Union army veterans were putatively color-blind, but whites and African Americans experienced the pension system differently. Black veterans were were less likely to apply for pensions during the program's early years. Yet, no matter when they applied, they encountered two stages of bias, first from examining physicians and then, far more systematically, from Pension Bureau reviewers. The evidence suggests that pension income reduced mortality among African-American verterans, underscoring the tangible results of justice denied.
Bibliography:Winter, 2008
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-1953
1530-9169
DOI:10.1162/jinh.2008.38.3.377