Private Confederacies

The Emotional Worlds of Southern Men as Citizens and Soldiers

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Men&, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
Cover of the book Private Confederacies by James J. Broomall, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James J. Broomall ISBN: 9781469649764
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: January 10, 2019
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: James J. Broomall
ISBN: 9781469649764
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: January 10, 2019
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

How did the Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction shape the masculinity of white Confederate veterans? As James J. Broomall shows, the crisis of the war forced a reconfiguration of the emotional worlds of the men who took up arms for the South. Raised in an antebellum culture that demanded restraint and shaped white men to embrace self-reliant masculinity, Confederate soldiers lived and fought within military units where they experienced the traumatic strain of combat and its privations together--all the while being separated from suffering families. Military service provoked changes that escalated with the end of slavery and the Confederacy's military defeat. Returning to civilian life, Southern veterans questioned themselves as never before, sometimes suffering from terrible self-doubt.

Drawing on personal letters and diaries, Broomall argues that the crisis of defeat ultimately necessitated new forms of expression between veterans and among men and women. On the one hand, war led men to express levels of emotionality and vulnerability previously assumed the domain of women. On the other hand, these men also embraced a virulent, martial masculinity that they wielded during Reconstruction and beyond to suppress freed peoples and restore white rule through paramilitary organizations and the Ku Klux Klan.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How did the Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction shape the masculinity of white Confederate veterans? As James J. Broomall shows, the crisis of the war forced a reconfiguration of the emotional worlds of the men who took up arms for the South. Raised in an antebellum culture that demanded restraint and shaped white men to embrace self-reliant masculinity, Confederate soldiers lived and fought within military units where they experienced the traumatic strain of combat and its privations together--all the while being separated from suffering families. Military service provoked changes that escalated with the end of slavery and the Confederacy's military defeat. Returning to civilian life, Southern veterans questioned themselves as never before, sometimes suffering from terrible self-doubt.

Drawing on personal letters and diaries, Broomall argues that the crisis of defeat ultimately necessitated new forms of expression between veterans and among men and women. On the one hand, war led men to express levels of emotionality and vulnerability previously assumed the domain of women. On the other hand, these men also embraced a virulent, martial masculinity that they wielded during Reconstruction and beyond to suppress freed peoples and restore white rule through paramilitary organizations and the Ku Klux Klan.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book A Dangerous Stir by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book American Tropics by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book Southern Cultures: The Help Special Issue by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book The African American Roots of Modernism by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book Receiving Erin's Children by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book A Theory of Craft by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book Israel and the Western Powers, 1952-1960 by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book To Starve the Army at Pleasure by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book The Virtues of Exit by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book Southern Cultures by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book Americanism by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book From British Peasants to Colonial American Farmers by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book The Criminalization of Black Children by James J. Broomall
Cover of the book God's New Israel by James J. Broomall
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy