Data and Code for: "Reconciliation Narratives: "The Birth of a Nation" after the US Civil War."

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Elena Esposito, University of Turin (ESOMAS Department); Collegio Carlo Alberto and CEPR; Tiziano Rotesi, University of Lausanne; Alessandro Saia, University of Bologna; Mathias Thoenig, University of Lausanne; University of Oxford; IMD Business School and CEPR

Version:  View help for Version V2

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  ado 04/24/2023 04:23:PM
  data_input 02/02/2023 12:35:PM
  data_raw 05/24/2023 01:02:PM
  do_files 04/24/2023 04:14:PM
  py_files 04/24/2023 04:20:PM
  results 02/02/2023 12:35:PM
  tmp 04/24/2023 04:32:PM
Config.do text/plain 1.7 KB 04/24/2023 12:35:PM
ERST_master.py text/x-python 6.7 KB 04/24/2023 11:24:PM
package_list.txt text/plain 8.4 KB 04/24/2023 12:24:AM

Project Citation: 

Esposito, Elena, Rotesi, Tiziano, Saia, Alessandro, and Thoenig, Mathias. Data and Code for: “Reconciliation Narratives: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ after the US Civil War.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-07-03. https://doi.org/10.3886/E184461V2

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary
We study how the spread of the Lost Cause narrative – a revisionist and racist retelling of the US Civil War – shifted opinions and behaviors towards national reunification and racial discrimination against African Americans. Looking at screenings of The Birth of a Nation, a blockbuster movie that greatly popularized the Lost Cause after 1915, we find that the film shifted the public discourse toward a more patriotic and less divisive language, increased military enlistment, and fostered cultural convergence between former enemies. We document how the racist content of the narrative connects to reconciliation through a "common-enemy" type of argument. 
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources SNF (185167); SNF (182242)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Reconciliation; Narratives; US Civil War; Segregation; African Americans
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
      N92 Regional and Urban History: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
      Z10 Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology: General
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage USA
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/1910 – 12/31/1920
Universe:  View help for Universe Counties; white native-born individuals born between 1910 and 1920 and recorded in the 1920 and 1930 Censuses. 


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V2 [2023-07-03]

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