Reconstructing Appalachia: the Civil War's aftermath

Abstract

Reconstructing Appalachia: The Civil War's Aftermath Edited by Andrew L. Slap, with an introduction by Gordon B. McKinney Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2010 (paperback edition 2014). 390 pp. Images, tables, maps, notes, and index. $40 (cloth) 978-0-8131-2581-7, $25 (paper) 978-0-8131-4535-8, $40 (web pdf) 9780-8131-7378-8, $40 (e-book) 978-0-8131-3976-0.First published in 2010, Reconstructing is now out in paperback and electronic versions Edited by Andrew L Slap (East Tennessee State University) and with an introduction by Gordon B McKinney (former director of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College), the collection showcases 13 essays that largely focus on southern Appalachia, with a single foray into the lower reaches of northern in Pennsylvania As Slap notes, While Appalachianists have been overlooking Reconstruction, historians of Reconstruction have disregarded Appalachia (p 24) Reconstructing addresses this gap .McKinney's overview is an important starting place for this reconstruction . He describes the way the highlands gained their image as populated by homogenous, generally non- slave-owning, independent-minded Unionists who were also backward, poor, and prone to feuding. McKinney points to texts (reiterated by many of the authors in the collection; a minor weakness that nonetheless underscores the importance of particular texts) that created this stereotype, notably William G Frost's 1899 article Our Contemporary Ancestors, in the Atlantic Monthly. Other authors, male and female, reinforced this view of as a worthy place for philanthropy, educational uplift, and economic The chapters by Slap and John C Inscoe, in particular, add to McKinney's historiography Inscoe points out that most commentators and historians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the highlands and their populations as static; nonetheless, a few (such as Horace Kephart) recognized the war as a significant turning point in the course of Appalachian development (p 338) This book explores that change, challenging the long-lasting stereotypes of the region along the way The authors largely focus on politics and economics, so at first glance, there seems little to interest historians of landscape and material culture However, there is a solid amount of relevant material throughout the book, with three aspects standing out: landscape; industry and natural resources; and the production of public memoryNineteenth-century writers portrayed the landscape of the Appalachians as remote and rugged, and while these essays convey a more nuanced view of regional landscape, the forest was indubitably central to the imagination and life of the highlanders - as an enemy to be conquered; as a valuable resource; and as a place for hard-won self-sufficiency As they progressed through the Appalachians, Union soldiers recognized both the devastation and potential of the landscape John Hamilton Morgan, who served in northern Georgia, noted on his return in the 1870s as a Mormon missionary that the forests yet retain the evidence of cruel war in broken limbs and shattered trunks (p 191) Tom Lee points out that others, such as Nathaniel Green Taylor of East Tennessee, used the devastation as a basis for pleas to Northerners for post-war assistanceAt the same time, as Stephen E Nash explains, land ownership was fraught with anxiety and conflict as former Confederates were threatened with confiscation of property and many regions experienced personal score-settling that tilted the balance of land control The landscape was also a changing site for resistance across state borders, utilized during the war by draft dodgers who disappeared into the forest (evocatively described by Robert M Sandow) and after the war by Ku Klux Klan members to avoid prosecution, as Keith S …