This book examines Southerners' claims to loyal citizenship in the reunited nation after the American Civil War. Southerners - male and female; elite and non-elite; white; black; and American Indian - disagreed with the federal government over the obligations citizens owed to their nation and the obligations the nation owed to its citizens. Susanna Michele Lee explores these clashes through the operations of the Southern Claims Commission; a federal body that rewarded compensation for wartime losses to Southerners who proved that they had been loyal citizens of the Union. Lee argues that Southerners forced the federal government to consider how white men who had not been soldiers and voters; and women and racial minorities who had not been allowed to serve in those capacities; could also qualify as loyal citizens. Postwar considerations of the former Confederacy potentially demanded a reconceptualization of citizenship that replaced exclusions by race and gender with inclusions according to loyalty.
#541349 in Books 2015-11-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x .60 x 5.90l; .90 #File Name: 0996594442254 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Have simply skimmed through this; much of it very ...By MM GoodwinHave simply skimmed through this; much of it very county specific; but as it deals with Thomas McCreary I should have expected as much. It gives a very clear picture for a certain group that needs to be clarified beyond the limits of those addressed specifically. There needs to be a follow-up book that deals with other counties on the Eastern Shore. Thomas McCreary was not alone.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I bought the book to see if the main protagonist ...By john a mccreary srI bought the book to see if the main protagonist was related to me. He wasn't. That aside; the story was one with which I was not previously familiar and took place in an area about which I do have some prior familiarity. If nothing else; the history once again proves (if additional proof is needed); that the politicians of the mid 19th century were equally as venal and self-serving as those of the early 21st century.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Terrific compilation of the lawless antics of a particular man ...By sharron francisTerrific compilation of the lawless antics of a particular man who hunted escaped slaves in slave-free states; stole free men and women and sold them into slavery; raided the homes of community notables in the middle of the night; --and was protected by a largely complicit judiciary and law enforcement establishment-real consequences of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Read it and weep.
