Gregory Downs

The World the Civil War Made - The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era Gregory Downs

Commendation Quotes: "The World the Civil War Made" offers myriad vital and exciting new perspectives that transcend previous works and challenge our understanding of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the American past.--Elliott West, University of Arkansas Commendation Quotes: This volume will surely stand as one of the most innovatively conceived and well-executed Civil War essay collections in recent memory. Each essay offers compelling and important ideas that challenge our assumptions about post Civil War America. An exceptional work.--Aaron Sheehan-Dean, Fred C. Frey Professor of History at Louisiana State University and author of "Why Confederates Fought" "Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; This provocative collection boldly rewrites the way we understand the United States in the post-Civil War era. The editors argue for thinking beyond the traditional framework of Reconstruction and considering, instead, regionally interconnected struggles over the capacity of the federal government (which they term a Stockade State) and over the boundaries of coercion in the aftermath of slavery--; Provided by publisher. Publisher Marketing: At the close of the Civil War, it was clear that the military conflict that began in South Carolina and was fought largely east of the Mississippi River had changed the politics, policy, and daily life of the entire nation. In an expansive reimagining of post Civil War America, the essays in this volume explore these profound changes not only in the South but also in the Southwest, in the Great Plains, and abroad. Resisting the tendency to use Reconstruction as a catchall, the contributors instead present diverse histories of a postwar nation that stubbornly refused to adopt a unified ideology and remained violently in flux. Portraying the social and political landscape of postbellum America writ large, this volume demonstrates that by breaking the boundaries of region and race and moving past existing critical frameworks, we can appreciate more fully the competing and often contradictory ideas about freedom and equality that continued to define the United States and its place in the nineteenth-century world. Contributors include Amanda Claybaugh, Laura F. Edwards, Crystal N. Feimster, C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa, Steven Hahn, Luke E. Harlow, Stephen Kantrowitz, Barbara Krauthamer, K. Stephen Prince, Stacey L. Smith, Amy Dru Stanley, Kidada E. Williams, and Andrew Zimmerman. "

Contributor Bio:  Downs, Gregory Gregory P. Downs is assistant professor of history at the City College of New York. He is author of "Spit Baths", a Flannery O'Connor Award-winning collection of short stories. Contributor Bio:  Masur, Kate Kate Masur is assistant professor of history and African American studies at Northwestern University.