Goodmen: The Character of Civil War Soldiers (review)

BOOK REVIEWS87 Goodmen: The Character of Civil War Soldiers. By Michael Barton. (University Park and London: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1981. Pp. vni, 135. $12.95.) Barton's book, which he describes as "a quantitative sociolinguistic case studyinhistorical psychological anthropology" (p. 4), usessocial science methodology to examine the character of Civil War soldiers and determine whether or not northerners and southerners differed. His data bank consists of published diaries and letter collections from more than four hundred men, whom he divides into four groups: northern officers, northern enlisted men, southern officers, and southern enlisted men. Eighty-two coders analyzed the documents, filling out Diarist Identification , Core Values Coding, Character Values Coding, and [Writing] Style Coding forms. Problems abound in this type of research. Controlling variables and eUminating the coders' subjectivity are difficult tasks, and the papers of dead men rarely answer ex post facto questionnaires precisely. Alert to these potential pitfalls, the author strove for consistency and objectivity. Barton argues that one general theory of moral character prevailed in Victorian America, that all Civil War soldiers were "goodmen" sharing the same core value system and concerned with impulse control and conscience. However, a comparison of the core and character value analyses revealed different emotional configurations for nothem enUsted men and southern officers, with northern officers and southern enUsted men occupying an emotional middle ground. Analysis of the writing style forms confirmed the regional character distinctions. Southerners were more expressive and more concerned with five key character terms ("kind," "noble," "gentlemen," "brave," "gallant") than northerners. UtiUzing a theoretical model derived from cross-cultural studies in psychological anthropology, Barton explains how and why Civil War soldiers became "goodmen." He also develops an explanation for the variation between northerners and southerners that includes differing levels of technology, modernity, and the accumulation of goods; Genovese's capitalist versus precapitalist thesis; different child-rearing techniques; and most importantly, the interrelationship between blacks and whites in the South. Many historians have addressed the question of the differences between the South and North, some finding variations so substantial as to constitute two distinct cultures and others concluding that sectional differences were minimal. Barton asks no new questions regarding the debate. However, by using new methods he demonstrates that "both sides in the 'two civiUzations' debate have a point to make" (p. 41). Those who seek to understand mid-nineteenth century culture and personality will want to consult this book. Peter Maslowski The University of Nebraska-Lincoln ...