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The Resource The making of a southerner : William Barclay Napton's private Civil War, Christopher Phillips

The making of a southerner : William Barclay Napton's private Civil War, Christopher Phillips

Creator
Contributor
Summary
  • "Drawn from personal journals kept for more than fifty years and from a vast professional and family correspondence, the life story of William Barclay Napton offers an important perspective on the issues and events that turned this northerner into an avowed proslavery ideologue and finally into a full southerner"--Provided by publisher
  • "Christopher Phillips has brought to life a man, a story, and a voice lost in the din of competing post{u2013}Civil War narratives that each claim a timeless divide between North and South. William Barclay Napton (1808{u2013}1883) was an editor, lawyer, and state supreme court justice who lived in Missouri during the tumultuous American nineteenth century. He was a keen observer of the nation{u2019}s sectional politics just as he was a participant in those of his border state, the most divided of any in the nation, in the decades surrounding the Civil War. This book tells the story of one man{u2019}s civil war, lived and waged within the broader conflict, and the long shadows both cast. But Napton{u2019}s story moves beyond the Civil War just as it transcends the formal political realm. His is a fascinating tale of identity politics and their shifting currents, by which the highly educated former New Jerseyite became the owner or trustee of nearly fifty slaves and one of the most committed and thoughtful of the nation{u2019}s proslavery ideologues. That a 2northerner3 could make such a life transition in the Border West suggests more than the powerful nature of slavery in antebellum American society. Napton{u2019}s story offers provocative insights into the process of southernization, one driven more by sectional ideology and politics than by elements of a distinctive southern culture. Although Napton{u2019}s tragic Civil War experience was a watershed in his southern evolution, that evolution was completed only after he had constructed a politicized memory of the bitter conflict, one that was suffered nowhere worse than in Missouri. This war-driven transformation ultimately defined him and his family, just as it would his border state and region for decades to come. By suffering for the South, losing family and property in his defense of its ideals and principles, he claimed by right what he could not by birth. Napton became a southerner by choice. Drawn from incomparable personal journals kept for more than fifty years and from voluminous professional and family correspondence, Napton{u2019}s life story offers a thoughtful and important perspective on the key issues and events that turned this northerner first into an avowed proslavery ideologue and then into a full southerner. As a prominent jurist who sat on Missouri{u2019}s high bench for more than a quarter century, he used his politicized position to give birth to the New South in the Old West. Students, teachers, and general readers of southern history, western history, and Civil War history will find this book of particular interest."--Publishers website
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 162 pages
Contents
  • The refugee
  • The Virginian
  • Making Eden
  • Mastering new worlds
  • Judging slavery
  • The war within
  • Napton's private war
  • The southerner
  • Biographical information on Napton's children
Isbn
9780826218254
Instance
Label
The making of a southerner : William Barclay Napton's private Civil War
Title
The making of a southerner
Title remainder
William Barclay Napton's private Civil War
Statement of responsibility
Christopher Phillips
Creator
Contributor
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • "Drawn from personal journals kept for more than fifty years and from a vast professional and family correspondence, the life story of William Barclay Napton offers an important perspective on the issues and events that turned this northerner into an avowed proslavery ideologue and finally into a full southerner"--Provided by publisher
  • "Christopher Phillips has brought to life a man, a story, and a voice lost in the din of competing post{u2013}Civil War narratives that each claim a timeless divide between North and South. William Barclay Napton (1808{u2013}1883) was an editor, lawyer, and state supreme court justice who lived in Missouri during the tumultuous American nineteenth century. He was a keen observer of the nation{u2019}s sectional politics just as he was a participant in those of his border state, the most divided of any in the nation, in the decades surrounding the Civil War. This book tells the story of one man{u2019}s civil war, lived and waged within the broader conflict, and the long shadows both cast. But Napton{u2019}s story moves beyond the Civil War just as it transcends the formal political realm. His is a fascinating tale of identity politics and their shifting currents, by which the highly educated former New Jerseyite became the owner or trustee of nearly fifty slaves and one of the most committed and thoughtful of the nation{u2019}s proslavery ideologues. That a 2northerner3 could make such a life transition in the Border West suggests more than the powerful nature of slavery in antebellum American society. Napton{u2019}s story offers provocative insights into the process of southernization, one driven more by sectional ideology and politics than by elements of a distinctive southern culture. Although Napton{u2019}s tragic Civil War experience was a watershed in his southern evolution, that evolution was completed only after he had constructed a politicized memory of the bitter conflict, one that was suffered nowhere worse than in Missouri. This war-driven transformation ultimately defined him and his family, just as it would his border state and region for decades to come. By suffering for the South, losing family and property in his defense of its ideals and principles, he claimed by right what he could not by birth. Napton became a southerner by choice. Drawn from incomparable personal journals kept for more than fifty years and from voluminous professional and family correspondence, Napton{u2019}s life story offers a thoughtful and important perspective on the key issues and events that turned this northerner first into an avowed proslavery ideologue and then into a full southerner. As a prominent jurist who sat on Missouri{u2019}s high bench for more than a quarter century, he used his politicized position to give birth to the New South in the Old West. Students, teachers, and general readers of southern history, western history, and Civil War history will find this book of particular interest."--Publishers website
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1959 November 1-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Phillips, Christopher
Dewey number
  • 973.7092
  • B
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
F466.N34
LC item number
P48 2008
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
University of Missouri Press
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Napton, William Barclay
  • Napton, William Barclay
  • Judges
  • Slaveholders
  • Slavery
  • Saline County (Mo.)
  • Missouri
  • Missouri
  • United States
  • Confederate States of America
Label
The making of a southerner : William Barclay Napton's private Civil War, Christopher Phillips
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-149) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The refugee -- The Virginian -- Making Eden -- Mastering new worlds -- Judging slavery -- The war within -- Napton's private war -- The southerner -- Biographical information on Napton's children
Control code
227919904
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
x, 162 pages
Isbn
9780826218254
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
2008038827
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)227919904
Label
The making of a southerner : William Barclay Napton's private Civil War, Christopher Phillips
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-149) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
The refugee -- The Virginian -- Making Eden -- Mastering new worlds -- Judging slavery -- The war within -- Napton's private war -- The southerner -- Biographical information on Napton's children
Control code
227919904
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
x, 162 pages
Isbn
9780826218254
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
2008038827
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)227919904

Subject

Genre

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    • Journalism LibraryBorrow it
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      38.947290 -92.328025

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