Socioeconomic Background, Disease, and Mortality among Union Army Recruits: Implications for Economic and Demographic History

Abstract This paper examines the effects of age, occupation, population size of place of residence, nativity, and household wealth on the disease and mortality experiences of Union army recruits while in service. The pattern of the mortality differentials among the army recruits was nearly the opposite of the normal pattern found among the civilian populations. The observed features of disease-specific mortality and timing of death suggest that the different degrees of exposure to disease prior to enlistment were probably the main determinant of the wartime mortality differentials. Wealth had a significant effect only for diseases on which nutritional influence is definite. Implications of these results for some issues in economic and demographic history are discussed.

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