Rebel, Remain, or Resign? Military Elites’ Decision-Making at the Onset of the American Civil War

Bibliographic Data

ID10071804
AuthorsPeter B White (0000-0002-9143-129X, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume68
Issue5
Pages938-963
Publication date2023-06-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00220027231185575
OpenAlexW4381891666
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited46

A critical element in civil wars is military fragmentation. Yet, we have a limited understanding of why military elites fight in civil wars and on what side. In this article I develop a theory of the economic and professional motivations of military elites. I test this theory using the case of West Point graduates in the American Civil War. I argue that in addition to home state, economic and professional interests were a major influence on West Pointers. Graduates with connections to Southern cash crops were less likely to fight for the Union and more likely to fight for the Confederacy. Higher ranking graduates were more likely to fight for both sides, as they were better positioned to compete for promotion. I test this argument using a new dataset of more than 1000 West Point graduates’ wartime allegiances and antebellum careers and find strong evidence in support of my expectations

Argument (complex analysis · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Test (biology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law · Public Administration

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