Making the Frontier Man : Violence, White Manhood, and Authority in the Early Western Backcountry / Matthew C. Ward.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ward, Matthew C., author.

Series:

Regional Series.

Regional Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Masculinity--United States--History--18th century.

Masculinity.

Men--Identity.

Men.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 334 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, PA : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Contextualizes the development of early American violence and gun culture for western colonists in the early American backcountry, disputes often ended in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man examines early life and the origins of lawless behavior in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio from 1750 to 1815. It provides a key to understanding why the trans-Appalachian West was prone to violent struggles, especially between white men. Traumatic experiences of the Revolution and the Forty Years War legitimized killing as a means of self-defense—of property, reputation, and rights—transferring power from the county courts to the ordinary citizen. Backcountry men waged war against American Indians in state-sponsored militias as they worked to establish farms and seize property in the West. And white neighbors declared war on each other, often taking extreme measures to resolve petty disputes that ended with infamous family feuds. Making the Frontier Man focuses on these experiences of western expansion and how they influenced American culture and society, specifically the nature of western manhood, which radically transformed in the North American environment. In search of independence and improvement, the new American man was also destitute, frustrated by the economic and political power of his elite counterparts, and undermined by failure. He was aggressive, misogynistic, racist, and violent, and looked to reclaim his dominance and masculinity by any means necessary." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Peaceable Men, Peaceable Kingdoms? Violence, Authority, and White Manhood in the Backcountry before the Forty Years’ War

Heaven Is a Kentucky of a Place: Migration and the Shaping of White Manhood

The Dark and Bloody Ground: The Forty Years’ War and the Shaping of White Manhood and Authority

They That Ain’t Cowards Follow Me: Warfare and Trauma

White Savages: Authority, Manhood, and Interracial Violence

The Unpromised Land: Disappointment and White Manhood

One of Those Feminine Men: The Challenge of Elite Hegemony

The New Sodom: The Challenge to Elite Authority

Justice from the Law Is Fled: The Decline of the Courts’ Authority in the Early West

Half Men: White Manhood, Violence, and Guns

(Re)Constructing the Frontiersman.

Notes:

Description based on online resource (viewed 5 April 2024), publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Ward, Matthew C. Making the frontier man.

ISBN:

9780822990024

0822990024

OCLC:

1401963871