Carolinian Crucible : Reforging Class, Family, and Nation in Confederate South Carolina

This book provides a richly detailed account of life and society in South Carolina during the Civil War. It is for students, scholars, and general readers interested in society and culture in the US South; histories of gender and family life; and Confederate nationalism.

Carolinian Crucible tells the story of South Carolina – particularly its upcountry region – at war. A state notorious for its political radicalism before the Civil War, this book avoids caricaturing the Palmetto State's inhabitants as unflinching Confederate zealots, and instead provides a more fine-grained appraisal of their relationship with the new nation that their state's political elite played a leading role in birthing. It does so by considering the outlook and actions of both civilians and soldiers, with special attention given to those who were lower-class 'common whites.' In this richly detailed account, Patrick J. Doyle reveals how a region that was insulated from Federal invasion was not insulated from the disruptions of war; how social class profoundly shaped the worldview of ordinary folk, yet did not lead to a rejection of the slaveholders' republic; and how people in the Civil War South forged meaningful bonds with the Confederate nation, but buckled at times under the demands of diehard nationalism.