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mitchell_vacant_chair [2026/02/27 16:01] – [The South as a Disobedient Child] smiltonmitchell_vacant_chair [2026/02/27 16:20] (current) – 199.111.65.11
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 Masculinity being changed in the Union Army was through the belief that only Northern men were able to reach manhood while Southern men were seen as childish and effeminate. Mitchell also uses specific Union soldiers as examples of how they viewed manhood and masculinity, Cyrus Boyd did not view anything besides war or violence as a way for boys to become men, compared to other ideas of sex, gambling, drinking and swearing could be seen as ways for boys to become men. (Sage Milton) Masculinity being changed in the Union Army was through the belief that only Northern men were able to reach manhood while Southern men were seen as childish and effeminate. Mitchell also uses specific Union soldiers as examples of how they viewed manhood and masculinity, Cyrus Boyd did not view anything besides war or violence as a way for boys to become men, compared to other ideas of sex, gambling, drinking and swearing could be seen as ways for boys to become men. (Sage Milton)
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 ===== War and the Shift in Authority: Fathers to Sons ===== ===== War and the Shift in Authority: Fathers to Sons =====
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 Discussing the concept of authority in the Civil War North, Mitchell emphasizes a certain shift in the evaluation of the Founding Fathers during and after the Civil War. He argues that Thomas Jefferson was excluded from the canon of respected founders due to his political legacy - particularly his association with states’ rights, his status as a slaveholder, and his deep connection to the South. Simultaneously, this tendency elevated figures from the Federalist movement, such as Alexander Hamilton, who endorsed a strong central government and, by extension, a Northern understanding of authority. These examples demonstrate an interesting case of national reevaluation of a shared historical and ideological legacy under the pressure of the Civil War. - Nikolai Kotkov Discussing the concept of authority in the Civil War North, Mitchell emphasizes a certain shift in the evaluation of the Founding Fathers during and after the Civil War. He argues that Thomas Jefferson was excluded from the canon of respected founders due to his political legacy - particularly his association with states’ rights, his status as a slaveholder, and his deep connection to the South. Simultaneously, this tendency elevated figures from the Federalist movement, such as Alexander Hamilton, who endorsed a strong central government and, by extension, a Northern understanding of authority. These examples demonstrate an interesting case of national reevaluation of a shared historical and ideological legacy under the pressure of the Civil War. - Nikolai Kotkov
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 +During the Civil War, the language of paternalism was often assigned to the Union. This ideology reflects ideals of masculinity on both sides of the war, as well as changed the view that one side had of the other. Union soldiers valued their masculine discipline and self control, and Confederate soldiers valued strength and virility in their model of masculinity. This then affected the view Union soldiers had of Southerners, seeing them as rebellious children. (Tanner Gillikin)
  
 ===== Race in the Union Army ===== ===== Race in the Union Army =====
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 A significant amount of post-war media characterized the reunification of the Union as one similar to marriage. This was generally done in the favor of the North, who was portrayed as the husband. This trope appeared in fiction, often with a Union soldier marrying a Southern woman, who was, through her feminine loyalty, converted to understand the world in the "correct" way. This familial understanding of reunification, however, even as it might contain ideas about discipline, was ultimately underlied by the assumption of eventual forgiveness based on mutual love. Mitchell points out that this likely smoothed the path to the Southern states regaining full rights and control at the end of Reconstruction. The familial relationship between the North and South could be reconciled, but newly freed Black Americans weren't really considered part of the family. (Cameron Spivy) A significant amount of post-war media characterized the reunification of the Union as one similar to marriage. This was generally done in the favor of the North, who was portrayed as the husband. This trope appeared in fiction, often with a Union soldier marrying a Southern woman, who was, through her feminine loyalty, converted to understand the world in the "correct" way. This familial understanding of reunification, however, even as it might contain ideas about discipline, was ultimately underlied by the assumption of eventual forgiveness based on mutual love. Mitchell points out that this likely smoothed the path to the Southern states regaining full rights and control at the end of Reconstruction. The familial relationship between the North and South could be reconciled, but newly freed Black Americans weren't really considered part of the family. (Cameron Spivy)
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 +In the wake of the Civil War, the process of Reunion was seen as a marriage of the North and South. This marriage is seen in the romance novels of the time, in which it became cliche for northern men to court the southern women from the dastardly hands of inappropriately masculine men. The anthropomorphization of the North and South often has a way of characterizing the South as female and the North as male. This likely helped in the cause of reunion in the North, as women are seen as inherently apolitical beings, and makes them overly loyal to their husbands. (Tanner Gillikin)
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mitchell_vacant_chair.txt · Last modified: by 199.111.65.11