Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
5-2011
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
History
Committee Chair
Mackey, Thomas C., 1956-
Author's Keywords
Civil war; Slavery; Kentucky; Emancipation; Soldiers; Desertion
Subject
United States. Army--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Confederate States of America. Army; Soldiers--Kentucky--Psychology--History--19th century; Soldiers--Kentucky--Attitudes--History--19th century
Abstract
Beginning with Bell Irvin Wiley's 1943 The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, historians have produced many works describing the motivations for soldiers to enlist and serve during the Civil War. However, because they often set up an artificial North-South divide, while suggesting the North and South were homogenous units, the motivations of border state soldiers are not well represented in these works. This thesis starts to mend this oversight and it explores the motivations of white Kentuckians to join both sides of the conflict and remain at arms. This thesis also argues that slavery played a pivotal role in soldier motivations for both Union and Confederate Kentucky soldiers, a point not well developed by the few previous works on Kentucky Civil War soldiers.
Recommended Citation
Osborne, James F. 1987-, "For Union, for Confederacy, for slavery : motivation for enlisting & serving among Kentucky's Civil War soldiers." (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1083.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1083
