Full Citation

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

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2008

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Abstract: Laws that provided pensions for Union army veterans were apparently color-blind, but whites and African Americans experienced the pension system differently. Black veterans were less likely to apply for pensions in the programs early years, and no matter when they applied they encountered two stages of bias, first from examining physicians and then a considerably more systematic discrimination on the part of Pension Bureau reviewers. There is evidence that pension income reduced mortality among African-American veterans, underscoring the tangible results of justice denied.

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Authors: Blanck, Peter; Logue, Larry M.

Periodical (Full): Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Issue: 3

Volume: 38

Pages: 377-399

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity

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