Citizens more than soldiers : the Kentucky militia and society in the early republic /

Historians depict nineteenth-century militiamen as drunken buffoons who poked each other with cornstalk weapons, and inevitably shot their commander in the backside. This book demonstrates that, to the contrary, militia remained an active civil institution in early nineteenth century, affecting era&...

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator: Laver, Harry S.
Format: eBook Electronic
Language:English
Language notes:English.
Imprint: Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, ©2007.
Series:Studies in war, society, and the military.
Subjects:
Online Access:Click here for full text at JSTOR
Description
Summary:Historians depict nineteenth-century militiamen as drunken buffoons who poked each other with cornstalk weapons, and inevitably shot their commander in the backside. This book demonstrates that, to the contrary, militia remained an active civil institution in early nineteenth century, affecting era's social, political, and economic transitions.
Historians typically depict nineteenth-century militiamen as drunken buffoons who stumbled into crooked lines, poked each other with cornstalk weapons, and inevitably shot their commander in the backside with a rusty, antiquated musket. Citizens More than Soldiers demonstrates that, to the contrary, the militia remained an active civil institution in the early nineteenth century, affecting the era's great social, political, and economic transitions. In fact, given their degree of community involvement, militiamen were more influential in Kentucky's maturation than any other formal community organization. nbsp; Citizens More than Soldiers reveals that the militia was not the atrophied remnant of the Revolution's minutemen but an ongoing organization that maintained an important presence in American society. This study also shows that citizen-soldiers participated in their communities by establishing local, regional, and national identities, reinforcing the social hierarchy, advancing democratization and party politics, keeping the public peace, encouraging economic activity, and defining concepts of masculinity. A more accurate understanding of the militia's contribution to American society extends our comprehension of the evolutionary processes of a maturing nation, showing, for example, how citizen-soldiers promoted nationalism, encouraged democratization, and maintained civil order. Citizens More than Soldiers is not a traditional military history of campaigns and battles but rather the story of citizen-soldiers and their contribution to the transformation of American society in the nineteenth century.
Item Description:Print version record.
Physical Description:1 online resource (ix, 216 pages)
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-210) and index.
ISBN:0803213956
1281092274
6611092277
9780803213951
9781281092274
9786611092276
Author Notes:Harry S. Laver is an associate professor of history at Southeastern Louisiana University.