Deserter Country Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians

by Sandow, Robert M.

• ISBN13: 9780823230518
• ISBN10: 0823230511
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-05-22
• Publisher: Fordham University Press

Summary

During the Civil War, there were throughout the Union explosions of resistance to the war -from the deadly Draft Riots in New York City to other, less well-known outbreaks. In Deserter Country, Robert Sandow explores one of these least known "inner civil wars", the widespread, sometimes violent opposition in the Appalachian lumber country of Pennsylvania.Sparsely settled, these mountains were home to divided communities that provided safe-haven for opponents of the war. The dissent of mountain folk reflected their own marginality in the face of rapidly increasing exploitation of timber resources by big firms, as well as partisan debates over loyalty. One of the few studies of the northern Appalachians, this book draws revealing parallels to the War in the southern mountains, exploring the roots of rural protest in frontier development, the market economy, military policy, partisan debate, and everyday resistance. Sandow also sheds new light on the party politics of rural resistance, rejecting easy depictions of war-opponents as traitors and malcontents for a more nuanced and complicated study of the class, economic upheaval, and localism.

Author Biography

Robert M. Sandow is Associate Professor of History at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The Lumber Region as Pennsylvania's Appalachia	p. 14
Patterns of Protest: The Raftsmen's Rebellion of 1857	p. 28
The Limits of Patriotism: Early Mobilization in the Mountains	p. 44
The Rhetoric of Loyalty: Partisan Perspectives on Treason	p. 61
Everyday Resistance in Pennsylvania's Deserter Country	p. 99
"Collisions with the People": Federal Intervention in Deserter Country	p. 117
Epilogue Contested Memories of the Civil War	p. 139
Appendix Supplemental Figures	p. 147
Notes	p. 179
Bibliography	p. 219
Index	p. 231
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