Citizens More than Soldiers

S. Laver Harry

Description

Historians typically depict nineteenth-century militiamen as drunken buffoons who stumbled into crooked lines, poked each other with cornstalk weapons, and inevitably shot their commander in the backside with a rusty, antiquated musket. Citizens More than Soldiers demonstrates that, to the contrary, the militia remained an active civil institution in the early nineteenth century, affecting the era’s great social, political, and economic transitions. In fact, given their degree of community involvement, militiamen were more influential in Kentucky’s maturation than any other formal community organization.

 

Citizens More than Soldiers reveals that the militia was not the atrophied remnant of the Revolution’s minutemen but an ongoing organization that maintained an important presence in American society. This study also shows that citizen-soldiers participated in their communities by establishing local, regional, and national identities, reinforcing the social hierarchy, advancing democratization and party politics, keeping the public peace, encouraging economic activity, and defining concepts of masculinity. A more accurate understanding of the militia’s contribution to American society extends our comprehension of the evolutionary processes of a maturing nation, showing, for example, how citizen-soldiers promoted nationalism, encouraged democratization, and maintained civil order. Citizens More than Soldiers is not a traditional military history of campaigns and battles but rather the story of citizen-soldiers and their contribution to the transformation of American society in the nineteenth century.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• Military history
• Local history
• Southern United States
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis
• Kentucky

Informations

• Publié par: Nebraska
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780803213951
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

c i t i z e n s m o r e t h a n soldi ers

Studies in War, Society, and te Military

  Peter Maslowski University of Nebraska–Lincoln

David Graff Kansas State University

Reina Pennington Norwich University

  D’Ann Campbell Director of Government and Foundation Relations, U.S. Coast Guard Foundation

Mark A. Clodfelter National War College

Brooks D. Simpson Arizona State University

Roger J. Spiller George C. Marshall Professor of Military History  U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (retired)

Timoty H. E. Travers University of Calgary

Artur Waldron Lauder Professor of International Relations University of Pennsylvania

CITIZENS D F I < K ? 8 E SOLDIERS

K ? < B < E K L : B P D @ C @ K @ 8 8 E ; J F : @ < K P

@ E K ? < < 8 I C P I < G L 9 C @ :

?Xiip J% CXm\i

u n i v e r s i t y o f n e b r a s k a p r e s s l i n c o l n a n d l o n d o n

©  by te Board of Regents of te University of Nebraska All rigts reserved Manufactured in te United States of America

∞

Portions of capters , , and  were previously publised in “Retinking te Social Role of te Militia: Community Building in Antebellum Kentucky” in e Journal of Southern History (November ): –.

Portions of capter  were previously publised in “Refuge of Manood: Masculinity and te Militia Experience in Kentucky” inSouthern Manhood: Perspectives on Masculinity in the Old South, eds. Craig hompson Friend and Lorri Glover (Atens: University of Georgia Press, ), –. ©  by te University of Georgia Press. Atens, Georgia .

Set in Caparral Pro by Omega Clay. Designed by Omega Clay.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Laver, Harry S. Citizens more tan soldiers : te Kentucky militia and society in te early republic / Harry S. Laver.  p. cm.—(Studies in war, society, and te military) Includes bibliograpical references and index.  ---- (clot : alk. paper) . Kentucky—History, Military—t century. . Kentucky—Militia —History—t century. . Soldiers—Kentucky—History—t cen- tury. . Civil-military relations—Kentucky—History—t century. . Kentucky—Social conditions—t century. . Kentucky—Politics and government—–. . Social classes—Kentucky—History—t century. . Community life—Kentucky—History—t century. . Politi- cal culture—Kentucky—History—t century. . Masculinity—Ken- tucky—History—t century. I. Title. .  .'—dc 

List of Tables Acknowledgments

:fek\ekj

 Retinking te Social Role of te Militia  he Hunters of Kentucky  Public Gaterings and Social Order  Stability and Security in a Time of Transition  Proponents of Democracy and Partisansip  A Refuge of Manood  Figters, Protectors, and Men Conclusion: Citizens More tan Soldiers

Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

vii ix

             

   

KXYc\j

 Slave Ownersip among Selected Officers, –   Political Participation among Selected Officers, –   Slave Ownersip among Selected Enlisted Men, –   Byrd Price’s and Jon Wallace’s  Muster Rolls   Slave Ownersip among Selected Officers, War of    Political Participation among Selected Officers, War of    Slave Ownersip among Selected Enlisted Men, War of    Capt. homas Kennedy’s  Muster Roll   Slave Ownersip among Selected Officers, Mexican War * Political Participation among Selected Officers, Mexican War  Slave Ownersip among Selected Enlisted Men, Mexican War  Capt. Frank Cambers’s  Muster Roll

[ v i i ]

           

8Zbefnc\[^d\ekj

he single name of an autor on any publised work is gravely mislead- ing. Beind tat individual stand scores of people wo provide assis- tance and support, all of wom cannot be named but deserve tanks noneteless. For teir contributions to tis work, I would like to tank te librarians and staff of te David Library of te American Revolu- tion, Wasington Crossing, Pennsylvania; te Department of Special Collections and te Margaret I. King Library, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky; te Filson Club Historical Society, Frankfort, Kentucky; te Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, Kentucky; and te Kentucky Military Records and Researc Branc Library, Frankfort, Kentucky. In addition, te Departments of History at bot te Univer- sity of Kentucky and te United States Military Academy at West Point provided financial assistance. I would also like to express my gratitude to all tose wo tirelessly provided scolarly direction and advice, espe- cially Lance Banning, Don Higginbotam, George Herring and is wife Dottie, Cyntia Kierner, Jeffrey Mattews, Bo Morgan, and Joel Quinn. My greatest debt remains to tose friends and family wo believed, especially Mom, Dad, and Tara.

[ i x ]