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It has become a commonplace that the war changed how Americans thought of their country. During the antebellum years, most people said “the United States are . . .” After the war, however, they said “The United States is . .…

Curiously, historians have tended to understate the importance of slavery within southern consciousness during the war. In part, this may be because in postbellum decades many southerners themselves disavowed slavery as a major cause of the…

After gaining Atlanta, Sherman took a risk greater than ever before, and for which he has been much criticized by military commentators. He was convinced that if he could march through, and ruin the rain the railway system of, Georgia-the 'granary…

Antebellum southern women, like all others, lived in a discrete social system and political economy within which gender, class, and race relations shaped their lives and identities. Thus, even a preliminary sketch of the history of southern women…

Although the imagery of belledom looms especially large in writings about the Antebellum South, the actual ideal for women even then had been much more complex and divided. Through the early part of the nineteenth century, the celebration of the…

Say not we have no Poetry! The nation’s daily life struggling ‘gainst adverse fate is in itself a grand unwritten Epic! See yon long line of fresh lipped boys forth with their Mothers’ prayers & blessings on their…

Thomas Lanier Clingman was a unique man. Born and raised in western North Carolina, Clingman studied law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He later settled in the Ashville area where he bace a prominent politician. He strongly…