Democratic Dissent and the Cultural Fictions of Antebellum America (review)

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 586-588
Author(s):  
Lisa Merrill
Keyword(s):  
Antebellum America

Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Cottrol
Keyword(s):  
Antebellum America ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Race

Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America 

Prologue

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Antebellum America ◽  
Women Slaves ◽  
Military Planning ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future War

This introduction explains that looming, a nineteenth-century term for a superior mirage, shows us how visions of the future war affected antebellum America. First, some spark, an event or object, captured people’s attention. Second, a unique atmosphere elevated and enlarged that spark, making it loom greater than reality. Before the Civil War was fought or remembered, it was imagined by thousands of Americans who peered at the horizon through an apocalyptic atmosphere. Third, observers focused on it and reported what appeared to be beyond the horizon. Popular forecasts rose from leaders but also women, slaves, immigrants, and common soldiers. These imaginings shaped politics, military planning, and the economy. The prologue identifies the two prevailing temporalities of antebellum America, anticipations and expectations, and calls for more historical attention to the diverse temporalities of past people.

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