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A Civilization Gone with the Wind Amid all the printer's ink and
historical speculation, the Antebellum Period (approx. 1820-1860)
has largely been ignored until recently. The Antebellum often gets
lost between its better-documented Federalist and Victorian
"bookends." Well-educated adults are often unsure of the meaning of
the term "antebellum" or relegate the entire pre-Civil War Era to
Margaret Mitchell's images of Clayton County, Georgia in Gone With
the Wind (1936) with its magnolia-scented plantations, hoop skirts,
and flirtatious Southern Belles. While Mitchell's view of the Old
South was not too far removed from the truth, and deserves its
venerated place as a work of fiction and cinematography, it is far
from giving a full historical view of all of Antebellum America.
Americans were acutely aware of the business climate and political
activities taking place across the globe and not only those of
local importance. While the speed of modern communications would be
incomprehensible to them, Antebellum Americans did not live in a
box sealed off from the rest of the world, or conveniently
segregating as American rather than British or Asian History in a
modern collegiate course catalog. As will be seen, there is ample
evidence that Americans affected and were affected by occurrences
that took place oceans away. They were expansionists, not
isolationists. Moreover, Antebellum Americans were seaman,
merchants, and traders; students, visitors and expatriates;
Northerners, Southerners, and emigrants; who fully participated in
an empire of goods coming from sources in every corner of the
world. Here in this pretty world gallantry took its last bow. Here
was the last ever to be seen of knights and their ladies fair ...
Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream
remembered .. I want to see if somewhere there isn't something left
in life of charm and grace. -Margaret Mitchell, author (1936)
In spite of hardships and privations, the Confederate cavalry had
excellent morale throughout the war. The mud, the cold, the hunger,
the wet bivouacs, the brutally long marches, did not appear to
detract from the glamour of its service. Morale grew and remained
high for the best of reasons: unbroken and often spectacular
success, brilliant leadership, and exploits that struck the
imagination. It was far otherwise for the Federal horsemen. It was
apparent to the men themselves that they were being wasted and
their efforts frittered away in employment that gave them no chance
to perform creditably. There is only a scant record of cavalry
engagements above the level of mere skirmishes in which the Federal
horsemen were not worsted before the summer of 1863. The spring
reorganization of 1863 was the start of a new era for the Federal
cavalry. It began to prove itself in a succession of engagements:
Kelly's Ford, Brandy Station, Buford's fight on the first day at
Gettysburg, and Gregg's and Custer's on the third day. There were
failures still, failures of leadership for the most part, but no
longer did the Confederates automatically have the better of the
Federals. There was a new spirit in the air, and both the
Confederate and the Federal cavalry knew it. The purpose of this
selection is to document the character and exploits of the Federal
cavalry during the Civil War-the cavalry that George Armstrong
Custer knew and in which he served. These mounted encounters will
now be reported with emphasis from the Federal point of view, and
the intra-service rivalries will be those of Federal officers and
administrations rather than Confederate ones. Also distinguished
among Federal cavalry commanders in these pages are Philip St.
George Cooke, George Stoneman, Alfred Pleasonton, Phil Sheridan,
John Buford, J. Irvin Gregg, David M. Gregg, H. Judson Kilpatrick,
Elon Farnsworth, and many others. This is also the story of
Custer's famous Michigan Brigade (1st, 5th, 6th, and 7th Michigan
Volunteer Cavalry and Battery M, 2nd US Artillery), the only
Federal cavalry brigade to hail from a single state. The Michigan
Brigade fought in every major campaign of the Civil War after it
had been established.
Christianity emerged in a highly patriarchal atmosphere that placed
men in positions of authority in marriage, society, government, and
religion. In many respects, however, the early Christians were more
inclusive of women in their institutional affairs than other sects.
This may be due to the fact that women were numbered among the
earliest disciples of Jesus. These women had a voice, and they
could open an independent inquiry into many aspects of religion and
religious laws. The influence of these women is clearly
underrepresented in the historical record of Christianity. The
major significance of the women who knew Jesus during his life is
that they were there-not only recorded by name or life circumstance
in surviving documents, but physically present among his disciples
and early followers.
The purpose of this selection is to document the military career of
Wade Hampton III. Six feet tall and sturdily built, Hampton was no
armchair warrior. Noted for his patriarchal and caring manner,
Hampton would give all of his own personal fortune for the
Confederate cause before the Civil War was over. Wounded five times
in battle (severely at Gettysburg), at 42 years of age Hampton was
described as the idealized statue of a mounted warrior. Despite his
lack of military experience and his relatively advanced age,
Hampton was a natural cavalryman-brave, audacious, dedicated, and a
superb horseman. While Hampton was in command of the Confederate
Cavalry Corps through to the end of the war, he never lost a single
fight. In fact, it is the thesis of this selection that Hampton was
always a significant, but underrated, force in the CSA cavalry. His
victories, especially when outnumbered and out-resourced, would be
unparalleled. By any measure the choice of Wade Hampton as Stuart's
replacement was inspired. As Stuart was very nearly the perfect
leader in the days of attack, so Hampton was almost perfectly
fitted to command in the days of defense. Hampton was among the
most frequent and successful of hand-to-hand combatants among all
the general officers in American history. He would lose his brother
and his youngest son, both killed in action, and would literally
see his eldest son, Wade Hampton IV, critically wounded. After
J.E.B. Stuart's death, Hampton became the commander of Southern
Cavalry and proved to be a stalwart leader and able tactician. He
won the open devotion of his men, the respect of his adversaries,
but never the public adulation that his predecessor commanded.
There is a great need today for Americans to further their
understanding of the role religion has played in the establishment
of the government of the United States. Religion today is viewed
with a somewhat benevolent agnosticism by many elected officials
and some of its citizens, yet it was important enough to America's
founders to reside in the first amendment to the Bill of Rights.
Contrary to comments suggesting that Americans cling to their
Bibles as a way to explain their frustrations concerning race,
immigration, or the economy, religion has been a critical
foundation stone of the nation since before the Revolution, the
Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution had come to pass.
In the Declaration of Independence, American revolutionaries had
relied on the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God to justify and
underwrite their separation from Britain. By offering a moral
sanction for opposition to the British Crown, religion played a
major role in the American Revolution-an assurance to the average
American that revolution was justified in the sight of God. The
similarities between the situation in pre-revolutionary America and
the United States today are striking for any honest observer. In
almost every case a widespread and unremitting contempt for
established authority coupled with a libertarian leave-me-alone
attitude seems best to unify many of the cross-generational
attitudes toward government passed down throughout these histories.
St. Patrick's Day is a foundation of Irish culture. This full color
illustrated book is meant as a brief guide to the history,
traditions and delights that make March 17th "a great day for the
Irish" and for anyone who knows someone who is Irish. The Irish
remembered the day as they moved to other lands. In the United
States, they began publicly observing the day in the early 18th
century. The Irish presence in America increased dramatically in
the 1840s as a result of Ireland's potato famine of 1845-1849. The
St. Patrick's Day parade began to serve as a means for the Irish to
show their strength and political power in the United States and
the number of marchers in the parades increased dramatically over
the years. Today, St Patrick's Day is a celebration of Irish
culture. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 56.7 million
Americans claim Irish ancestry with another 5.4 million identifying
themselves as Scotch-Irish. Together that makes close to 14% of the
population.
Historians have written much about the issues between Britain and
its American colonies in the critical period between 1763 and 1776.
Understandably, they have concentrated upon those areas where the
conflict was most dramatic such as at the Boston Massacre,
Lexington Green, and Concord Bridge. Middle school history teachers
are fond of the rhythmic cadence of taxation without representation
and the imagery of the Boston Tea Party, but the American
Revolution was about more than taxes and tea. More mundane issues
that may actually have carried greater moment have rarely been
adequately explored. Such is the case with the availability of
money and the legal status of paper currency and coinage in the
colonies. In many of the colonies, these were underlying sources of
discontent for much of the colonial period. This book delves into
the background of these circumstances.
About Railroad Raiders The focus of this selection concerns both
the Federal and Confederate efforts to disable or maintain the
railroads within the active theaters of the war. Real railroads of
iron and steam and ribbons of steel vanishing into the horizon
quickly became a strategic objective of both armies in the Civil
War. Raiders and protectors were deployed both North and South. The
damage inflicted on roadways and rolling stock was not always easy
to accomplish. The simplest method of slowing a train was to remove
a small section of rail, but once spotted the gap was not difficult
to repair. Both sides learned to tear up long sections of track,
pile up and set fire to the ties, and heat and bend the iron. This
was temporarily effective, but the rails could often be reheated,
straightened out, and spiked back into place. The destruction of
bridges, trestles, rolling stock, and especially engines was more
difficult and expensive to undo. It was found that to permanently
disable a locomotive, however, smashing cylinder heads, pumps,
links, and valve stems was not enough. The parts had to be
scattered, taken away, or buried or thrown into an inaccessible
body of water. It is the author's purpose to record this often
under-reported aspect of the Civil War for both military and
railroading enthusiasts. Most Civil War historians concentrate on
the strategic and military aspects of the railroading industry, and
they rather uncritically mention engineering and other technical
factors as if they were simply founded or well established. They
were not. In many cases, the same sources and traditions are always
quoted with no investigation into their accuracy, and no further
understanding of the matter at hand is attempted. The Confederate
Railroads, for instance, have only been given a detailed
examination once. The Railroads of the Confederacy, by Robert Black
(1952), was written sixty years ago. To the topic, the present
author brings both the wide knowledge of a military historian and
the technical knowledge of a professor of physics. Those readers
who are impatient to read about the raids without a knowledge of
the foundations of Civil War railroading may scroll to "In the War
Zone" midway through this book, but they will miss much of the
underlying meaning and should return to read the earlier sections.
Those unfamiliar with the geography of the region should look to
the maps in the rear.
This two-part book examines the roots of warfare and the
development of the peace movement in America from the Colonial
period through the Vietnam War. From the Colonial period on, war
has inevitably divided U.S. society into pro-war and antiwar
factions, and few subjects have proven so polarizing or
long-lasting as a nexus of public discourse. In the contest over
war and peace, uninformed beliefs have been conflated with
uncontested truths by both sides, fueling a lack of bipartisanship
in foreign policy that has been prevalent since the nation's
earliest days. A History of War Resistance in America delineates
clearly the tradition of war opposition in the United States. It
examines the military, preparations for war, and war's justifiable
prosecution, as well as pacifism, legitimate resistance to war, and
the appropriate and free exercise of civil liberties. This
thought-provoking volume offers an analysis of the reasons for
conflict among peoples, the prosecution of war among nations, and
the development of war resistance movements. It also explores the
role of the media in forming public opinion and that of the courts
in protecting—or limiting—civil liberties.
This riveting overview of the Boston Tea Party examines the
significance of the events that took place before, during, and
after the incident and examines the historical, political, and
sociological impact on America today. The Boston Tea Party has been
a source of inspiration to the millions of Americans who currently
identify with today's Tea Party Patriots.This fascinating book
offers insights into how this historical event prompted the
creation of a democratic republic and discusses the resulting
influence on modern political views. The Boston Tea Party: The
Foundations of Revolution presents the chronology of events that
led to America's first political insurgency. The author provides an
in-depth analysis of the early grassroots movement of the 18th
century to the current Tea Party Patriots, separating the facts
from the propaganda, and the politics from the policies. The book
includes original excerpts from the pre-revolutionary period, along
with helpful maps and contemporary illustrations to lend context to
the events. A chronology of the iconic events in early American
history Selected bibliography of related titles A detailed analysis
of the movement Excerpts from early American colonists
Based on extensive research into newly discovered documents, this
new edition of the popular volume offers an updated look at the
daily lives of ordinary citizens caught up in the Civil War. When
first published, Daily Life in Civil War America shifted the
spotlight from the conflict's military operations and famous
leaders to its affect on day-to-day living. Now this popular,
groundbreaking work returns in a thoroughly updated new edition,
drawing on an expanded range of journals, journalism, diaries, and
correspondence to capture the realities of wartime life for
soldiers and citizens, slaves and free persons, women and children,
on both sides of the conflict. In addition to chapter-by-chapter
updating, the edition features new chapters on two important
topics: the affects of the war on families, focusing on the absence
of men on the home front and the plight of nearly 26,000 children
orphaned by the war; and the activities of the Copperheads,
anti-Confederate border residents, and other Southern pacifist
groups. Includes excerpts from a wide range of first-person
original writings, including diaries, letters, journals, and
newspaper articles Presents over 50 images, including photographs,
posters, and contemporary illustrations, much of it from the
author's own collection
This volume provides insight into the family life of Native
Americans of the northeast quadrant of the North American continent
and those living in the adjacent coastal and piedmont regions.
These Native Americans were among the most familiar to
Euro-colonials for more than two centuries. From the tribes of the
northeast woodlands came "great hunters, fishermen, farmers and
fighters, as well as the most powerful and sophisticated Indian
nation north of Mexico [the Iroquois Confederacy].
Nineteenth century families had to deal with enormous changes in
almost all of life's categories. The first generation of nineteenth
century Americans was generally anxious to remove the "Anglo" from
their Anglo-Americanism. The generation that grew up in Jacksonian
America matured during a period of nationalism, egalitarianism, and
widespread reformism. Finally, the generation of the pre-war
decades was innately diverse in terms of their ethnic backgrounds,
employment, social class, education, language, customs, and
religion. Americans were acutely aware of the need to create a
stable and cohesive society firmly founded on the family and
traditional family values. Yet the people of America were among the
most mobile and diverse on earth. Geographically, socially, and
economically, Americans (and those immigrants who wished to be
Americans) were dedicated to change, movement, and progress. This
dichotomy between tradition and change may have been the most
durable and common of American traits, and it was a difficult
quality to circumvent when trying to form a unified national
persona. Volumes in the Family Life in America series focus on the
day-to-day lives and roles of families throughout history. The
roles of all family members are defined and information on daily
family life, the role of the family in society, and the
ever-changing definition of family are discussed. Discussion of the
nuclear family, single parent homes, foster and adoptive families,
stepfamilies, and gay and lesbian families are included where
appropriate. Topics such as meal planning, homes, entertainment and
celebrations, are discussed along with larger social issues that
originate in the home like domesticviolence, child abuse and
neglect, and divorce. Ideal for students and general readers alike,
books in this series bring the history of everyday people to life.
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