The most bitter guerrilla conflict in American history raged
along the Kansas-Missouri border from 1856 to 1865, making that
frontier the first battleground in the struggle over slavery. That
fiercely contested boundary represented the most explosive
political fault line in the United States, and its bitter divisions
foreshadowed an entire nation torn asunder. Jeremy Neely now
examines the significance of the border war on both sides of the
Kansas-Missouri line and offers a comparative, cross-border
analysis of its origins, meanings, and consequences.
A narrative history of the border war and its impact on citizens
of both states, "The Border between Them" recounts the exploits of
John Brown, William Quantrill, and other notorious guerrillas, but
it also uncovers the stories of everyday people who lived through
that conflict. Examining the frontier period to the close of the
nineteenth century, Neely frames the guerrilla conflict within the
larger story of the developing West and squares that violent period
with the more peaceful--though never tranquil--periods that
preceded and followed it.
Focusing on the countryside south of the big bend in the
Missouri River, an area where there was no natural boundary
separating the states, Neely examines three border counties in each
state that together illustrate both sectional division and national
reunion. He draws on the letters and diaries of ordinary
citizens--as well as newspaper accounts, election results, and
census data--to illuminate the complex strands that helped bind
Kansas and Missouri together in post-Civil War America. He shows
how people on both sides of the line were already linked by common
racial attitudes, farming practices, and ambivalence toward
railroad expansion; he then tells how emancipation,
industrialization, and immigration eventually eroded wartime
divisions and facilitated the reconciliation of old foes from each
state.
Today the "border war" survives in the form of interstate
rivalries between collegiate Tigers and Jayhawks, allowing Neely to
consider the limits of that reconciliation and the enduring power
of identities forged in wartime. "The Border between Them" is a
compelling account of the terrible first act of the American Civil
War and its enduring legacy for the conflict's veterans, victims,
and survivors, as well as subsequent generations.
General
Imprint: |
University of Missouri Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2011 |
First published: |
September 2011 |
Authors: |
Jeremy Neely
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 155 x 33mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
328 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8262-1964-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8262-1964-0 |
Barcode: |
9780826219640 |
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