Victorian America and the Civil War [Hardcover]

Anne Rose examines the relationship between American Victorian culture and the Civil War, arguing that Romanticism was at the heart of Victorian culture.In examining the biographies of seventy-five Americans who lived in the antebellum and Civil War eras, elements of disequilibrium, passion and intellectual excitement are explored in contrast to the traditional view of Victorian self-control and moral assurance.In examining the biographies of seventy-five Americans who lived in the antebellum and Civil War eras, elements of disequilibrium, passion and intellectual excitement are explored in contrast to the traditional view of Victorian self-control and moral assurance.Victorian America and the Civil War examines the relationships between American Victorian culture and the Civil War. The author argues that at the heart of American Victorian culture was Romanticism, a secular quest to answer questions previously settled by traditional religion. In examining the biographies of seventy-five Americans who lived in the antebellum and Civil War eras, elements of disequilibrium, passion and intellectual excitement are explored in contrast to the traditional view of Victorian self-control and moral assurance. The Civil War is shown to be a central event in the cultural life of the American Victorians, which both was an environment for the resolution of their questions and a place where their values and aspirations could be reshaped.List of illustrations; preface; Introduction; 1. Religion; 2. Work; 3. Leisure; 4. Family; 5. Politics; 6. Victorian America and the Civil War; Appendixes; Selected bibliography; Index. Exciting books and articles have continued to appear in recent years that take the study of the Civil War in new directions. Anne C. Rose's Victorian America and the Civil War does just that....The introduction--perhaps the most thorough I have ever read--defines the study's terms and explains the author's agenda....merits a wide scholarly reading. The Annals ol3Ê