Description
Book SynopsisExamines the social, political, economic, and military history of New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the nineteenth century, with a focus on the Civil War homefront, 1861-1865, and on the city’s black community, soldiers, and veterans.
Trade Review"Imaginative and exhaustive research grounds New Bedford's story in the rich details of people's lives, whether these involve day-to-day business in New Bedford or life and death on the battlefield ... the book illuminates a city whose history speaks usefully to the Civil War in general and to the Civil War in the North more specifically." -- -Michael Frisch University at Buffalo, SUNY
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. "A Burning and Shining Light": Prosperity and Enlightened Governance in Antebellum New Bedford 2. "The Nearest Approach to Freedom and Equality": African Americans in Antebellum New Bedford 3. "Suppression of an Unholy Rebellion": Wartime Mobilization on the Home Front 4. "Citizen-Soldiers of Massachusetts": New Bedford's Volunteers in the Civil War 5. "Boys, I Only Did My Duty": New Bedford's Black Soldiers in the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts 6. "Worthy Recipients": New Bedford's Black Veterans and the Web of Social Welfare 7. "Business Is Extremely Dull": Whaling and Manufacturing in Wartime New Bedford 8. "The Position of Our City Has Materially Changed": Public Costs and Municipal Governance during the Civil War 9. "The Great Hope for the Future": New Bedford in the Postbellum Era 10. "On the Altar of Our Common Country": Contested Commemorations of the Civil War Epilogue Notes Index 000
