In this Book
- The Divided Family in Civil War America
- Book
- 2009
- Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
- Series: Civil War America
summary
The Civil War has long been described as a war pitting "brother against brother." The divided family is an enduring metaphor for the divided nation, but it also accurately reflects the reality of America's bloodiest war. Connecting the metaphor to the real experiences of families whose households were split by conflicting opinions about the war, Amy Murrell Taylor provides a social and cultural history of the divided family in Civil War America.
In hundreds of border state households, brothers--and sisters--really did fight one another, while fathers and sons argued over secession and husbands and wives struggled with opposing national loyalties. Even enslaved men and women found themselves divided over how to respond to the war. Taylor studies letters, diaries, newspapers, and government documents to understand how families coped with the unprecedented intrusion of war into their private lives. Family divisions inflamed the national crisis while simultaneously embodying it on a small scale--something noticed by writers of popular fiction and political rhetoric, who drew explicit connections between the ordeal of divided families and that of the nation. Weaving together an analysis of this popular imagery with the experiences of real families, Taylor demonstrates how the effects of the Civil War went far beyond the battlefield to penetrate many facets of everyday life.
In hundreds of border state households, brothers--and sisters--really did fight one another, while fathers and sons argued over secession and husbands and wives struggled with opposing national loyalties. Even enslaved men and women found themselves divided over how to respond to the war. Taylor studies letters, diaries, newspapers, and government documents to understand how families coped with the unprecedented intrusion of war into their private lives. Family divisions inflamed the national crisis while simultaneously embodying it on a small scale--something noticed by writers of popular fiction and political rhetoric, who drew explicit connections between the ordeal of divided families and that of the nation. Weaving together an analysis of this popular imagery with the experiences of real families, Taylor demonstrates how the effects of the Civil War went far beyond the battlefield to penetrate many facets of everyday life.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page, Copyrigth Page
- pp. iii-iv
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xiv
- Introduction
- pp. 1-12
- 1. Union Father, Rebel Son
- pp. 13-34
- 2. Marriage and Courtship
- pp. 35-61
- 3. Brothers and Sisters
- pp. 63-89
- 6. Reconciliations Lived and Imagined
- pp. 153-189
- 7. Reconciliation and Emancipation
- pp. 191-208
- Appendix: A Note on Numbers and Sources
- pp. 215-216
- Bibliography
- pp. 279-307
Additional Information
ISBN
9781469605265
Related ISBN(s)
9780807829691, 9780807861868, 9780807899076
MARC Record
OCLC
550640927
Pages
336
Launched on MUSE
2013-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No