Amnesty Policy and Elite Persistence in the Postbellum South: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design

TL;DR

This study examines how Reconstruction-era amnesty policies affected the political careers and wealth of Southern elites, revealing that exclusion from amnesty reduced political officeholding but did not significantly impact long-term wealth.

Contribution

It provides causal evidence using a regression discontinuity design on how amnesty exclusion influenced elite political power and wealth in the postbellum South.

Findings

Exclusion from amnesty decreased likelihood of holding office after Reconstruction.

No significant impact of amnesty exclusion on long-term wealth of elites.

Results support the idea of elite continuity despite political exclusions.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of Reconstruction-era amnesty policy on the officeholding and wealth of elites in the postbellum South. Amnesty policy restricted the political and economic rights of Southern elites for nearly three years during Reconstruction. I estimate the effect of being excluded from amnesty on elites' future wealth and political power using a regression discontinuity design that compares individuals just above and below a wealth threshold that determined exclusion from amnesty. Results on a sample of Reconstruction convention delegates show that exclusion from amnesty significantly decreased the likelihood of ex-post officeholding. I find no evidence that exclusion impacted later census wealth for Reconstruction delegates or for a larger sample of known slaveholders who lived in the South in 1860. These findings are in line with previous studies evidencing both changes to the identity of the political elite, and the continuity of economic mobility among the planter elite across the Civil War and Reconstruction.