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Figure 3, Nineteenth Century Soldier and Prisoner Statures by Birth Decade
Source: See Tables 4 and 5.
Three general patterns emerge when comparing 19th century white soldier and
prisoner statures. First, stature comparisons by age and birth year demonstrate that
soldiers and prisoners reached about the same terminal statures (Figures 2 and 3). The
majority of soldiers were from the agricultural class, that socioeconomic group that
received better nutrition allocations and lived in rural environments, where infectious
disease was less easily propagated (Lee, 1997). Early 19th century agriculture was in the
early stages of commercialization, and the majority of Northeastern farmers lived on self-
sufficient family farm units (Carson, 2008, p. 349). Prisoners were also taller because