| Why Confederates Fought: Family and Nation in Civil War Virginia Contributor(s): Sheehan-Dean, Aaron (Author) |
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ISBN: 0807861847 ISBN-13: 9780807861844 Publisher: University of North Carolina Press OUR PRICE: $35.63 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2009 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877) - History | Military - United States - History | United States - State & Local - South (al,ar,fl,ga,ky,la,ms,nc,sc,tn,va,wv) |
| Dewey: 975.503 |
| LCCN: 2007019498 |
| Series: Civil War America (Paperback) |
| Physical Information: 0.81" H x 5.86" W x 8.84" (0.94 lbs) 312 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1851-1899 - Topical - Civil War - Cultural Region - South - Geographic Orientation - Virginia - Cultural Region - South Atlantic - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In the first comprehensive study of the experience of Virginia soldiers and their families in the Civil War, Aaron Sheehan-Dean captures the inner world of the rank-and-file. Utilizing new statistical evidence and first-person narratives, Sheehan-Dean explores how Virginia soldiers--even those who were nonslaveholders--adapted their vision of the war's purpose to remain committed Confederates. Sheehan-Dean challenges earlier arguments that middle- and lower-class southerners gradually withdrew their support for the Confederacy because their class interests were not being met. Instead he argues that Virginia soldiers continued to be motivated by the profound emotional connection between military service and the protection of home and family, even as the war dragged on. The experience of fighting, explains Sheehan-Dean, redefined southern manhood and family relations, established the basis for postwar race and class relations, and transformed the shape of Virginia itself. He concludes that Virginians' experience of the Civil War offers important lessons about the reasons we fight wars and the ways that those reasons can change over time. In the first comprehensive study of the experience of Virginia soldiers and their families in the Civil War, Aaron Sheehan-Dean captures the inner world of the rank-and-file. He challenges earlier arguments that middle- and lower-class southerners gradually withdrew their support for the Confederacy because their class interests were not being met. Instead he argues that Virginia soldiers continued to be motivated by the profound emotional connection between military service and the protection of home and family, even as the war dragged on. |
Contributor Bio(s): Sheehan-Dean, Aaron: - Aaron Sheehan-Dean is the Fred C. Frey Chair in Southern Studies at Louisiana State University. He is editor of Struggle for a Vast Future: The American Civil War and The View from the Ground: The Experience of Civil War Soldiers. |