American Mobbing; 1828-1861: Toward Civil War is a comprehensive history of mob violence related to sectional issues in antebellum America. David Grimsted argues that; though the issue of slavery provoked riots in both the North and the South; the riots produced two different reactions from authorities. In the South; riots against suspected abolitionists and slave insurrectionists were widely tolerated as a means of quelling anti-slavery sentiment. In the North; both pro-slavery riots attacking abolitionists and anti-slavery riots in support of fugitive slaves provoked reluctant but often effective riot suppression. Hundreds died in riots in both regions; but in the North; most deaths were caused by authorities; while in the South more than 90 percent of deaths were caused by the mobs themselves. These two divergent systems of violence led to two distinct public responses. In the South; widespread rioting quelled public and private questioning of slavery; in the North; the milder; more controlled riots generally encouraged sympathy for the anti-slavery movement. Grimsted demonstrates that in these two distinct reactions to mob violence; we can see major origins of the social split that infiltrated politics and political rioting and that ultimately led to the Civil War.
#641881 in Books 2010-09-23 2010-09-23Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.00 x .50 x 9.20l; 1.20 #File Name: 0195158512432 pages
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Great SurveyBy Nom de PlumeCrucible converged two schools of thought that Arthur Corwin called “establishment schools†and “experimental colleges.†The former was associated to Mexican American history while the latter was linked to Chicano studies. Following “La Raza appraisal;†Vargas briefly covered colonial regional then combined this approach with the “establishment appraisal†to outlined Mexican American Southwestern history in the first half of the book. The second half of the book discussed the continued struggle of Mexican Americans with Anglo Americans in the United States in the twentieth century and the many underlying themes that brought them into contact such as class; ethnic; economic; and political differences. Vargas was able to address many of the concerns Corwin discussed in his article and expanded on the historiography that Gutierrez discussed as Crucible made the Mexican American struggle significant to general American history. Though I would have liked to see more works used referencing Sanchez’s Forgotten People; Cynthia Raddings’s Wandering Peoples; or Vicki Ruiz’s Cannery Women; Cannery Lives; the work was an excellent survey of Mexican Americans in the Southwest and the political development of their political; cultural; and economic identity.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerInformative0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy kingGood
