The biological standard of living in 19th century Mexico and in the American West |
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Authors: | Scott Alan Carson |
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Institution: | Economics Department, University of Texas, Permian Basin, 4901 East University, Odessa, TX 79762, USA. carson_s@utpb.edu |
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Abstract: | During the mid-19th century, the United States acquired Texas and large parts of Mexican territory with the vast Mexican-born population. This paper considers the biological standard of living of the part of this population that was incarcerated in American prisons. We use their physical stature as a proxy for their biological welfare. These data confirm earlier results which showed that adult heights tended to stagnate in Mexico during the late-19th century despite considerable social and political turmoil. While there is some evidence of a decline in height among youth, the decline is slight (<1 cm). As in other 19th century samples, farmers were the tallest. Americans were taller than Mexican prisoners by about 2 cm. |
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Keywords: | Physical stature Anthropometric history Mexico American West Height Biological standard of living USA |
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