American Mobbing, 1828-1861: Toward Civil War (review)

I76CIVIL WAR HISTORY Editor Jan Furman's insightful introduction provides a useful historical, literary , and biographical context for McCline's memoir, much of it devoted to the role ofAfrican Americans in the Union army. Furman also makes a convincing case that an elderly man could indeed reproduce his early experiences in such meticulous detail, claiming that "the narrow observation of a boy was transformed into a man's encompassing insight" (xviii). As such, it has become yet another "voice" of the Civil War well worth listening to and learning from. John C. Inscoe University of Georgia American Mobbing, 1828-1861: Toward Civil War. By David Grimsted. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Pp. xx, 372. $65.00.) South Carolina bustled with activity as the state prepared for the 1 860 Democratic nominating convention, yet it found time to deal with one James Power, an Irish stonecutter. Eloquent with ale, Power complained aloud in a Columbia tavern that slavery led white elites to denigrate all manual labor. Two weeks later Power was seized by a mob that included the mayor, stripped naked, lashed by slaves, rolled in tar and feathers, and dragged through the streets in front of cheering state legislators. Exiled to Charleston, Power was jailed again before being tossed aboard a north-bound train. A lifelong Democrat, Power promptly switched parties and voted for Abraham Lincoln. A number of scholars, most notably Paul Gilje, have followed the lead of French pioneer George Rude in examining the behavior ofearly American mobs. But only David Grimsted has explored the ways in which "mob" violence (a term the author prefers over Rude's "crowd") born of sectional issues carried the nation inexorably toward civil conflict. Beginning with the long, cool summer of 1835—although the book's subtitle curiously insists his account starts in 1828—Grimsted analyzes 1,218 riots. As Americans increasingly found they could no longer rationally discuss the possibility of national emancipation, the white South resorted to mobs to silence men like Power who publicly questioned the peculiar institution. Northern riots, reflecting bitter internal divisions along ethnic and racial lines, proved more complicated. Between 1834 and 1838, anti-abolition mobs were the most common type of street action, but by the 1 840S groups of abolitionists determined to liberate captured runaways became increasingly numerous. Few mobs, Grimsted observes, were as successful. Of the thirty-four assaults on jails or slave catchers, twenty-six resulted in the liberation of slaves. Rioters in the Burned Over District, where local authorities displayed antislavery sentiments, never once failed to achieve their objectives. The author promises a second book devoted to explaining how antebellum mobs forged of ethnic, religious, and class animosity, ultimately were able to resolve their differences without resorting to civil war, a settlement these sectionally based mobs were unable to achieve. But many of the riots described in BOOK REVIEWS177 this study, as Leonard Richards first suggested in his 1970 study ofanti-abolition mobs, were fueled by precisely the sort ofeconomic and cultural factors Grimsted wants to discuss at a future date. Although mobs invariably had specific objectives , individual rioters were motivated by a wide range of incentives, ideals, and anxieties that can rarely be neatly categorized. Academic authors are accustomed to having their wishes ignored by scholarly presses, but Oxford here carries this unhappy tradition to a new low. By employing a smaller type, the press squeezed forty-six tiny lines onto every page, which, together with the prohibitively high price, indicates that the editors (wrongly) believe this lively, eloquent study to have no general appeal. The backjacket exists only to advertise other Oxford titles, an offensive gimmick no popular author would ever have to endure. Professor Grimsted deserves better. American Mobbing is a smart, passionate examination of an unusually contentious era. Scholars and general readers interested in prewar America will wish to read it, and they will much enjoy the time spent doing it. Douglas R. Egerton Le Moyne College Pistols and Politics: The Dilemma of Democracy in Louisiana's Florida Parishes 1810-1899. By Samuel C. Hyde Jr. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1997· Pp. xv, 288. $34.95.) Pistols andPolitics looks backward and surveys the history...