Why Confederates Fought: Family and Nation in Civil War Virginia (Civil War America) - Softcover

Sheehan-Dean, Aaron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807831581 ISBN 13: 9780807831588

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press, 2007

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Book Description:

"Aaron Sheehan-Dean enables us to see the human dimensions behind support for the Confederacy. He shows the impact of the economy, community values, family, and especially the experiences of war and the enemy in the formation of Confederate nationalism. He has done a service for those who want to understand more about that enduring question of why white southerners went to war to protect slavery and how the war created fresh reasons for resisting the enemy."--William Blair, editor of Civil War History

From the Inside Flap:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0807831581
• ISBN 13: 9780807831588
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312