Disparities in the Union Army Disability Pension System, 1865-1906

Figure 1. Percentage of pension enrollment among living Civil War veterans, by race, illness or wounded status, and year: United States 1865-1906

“The Union Army disability pension was an early experiment in colorblind social policy…..At the program’s peak in 1893, 41.6% of all federal budget expenditures were being paid out to military veterans…. [The author] used original data sources on over 40,000 Union Army veterans to compare systematically the treatment of Black and White veterans by the pension system.”
Sven E. Wilson, PhD. “Prejudice & Policy: Racial Discrimination in the Union Army Disability Pension System, 1865-1906,” American Journal of Public Health, Volume 100: S56-S65.

[Note: You might be particularly interested in the description of the pension application process involving disability on page two of the 10-page article — Leslie]

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