Customer Reviews

The Militant South, 1800-1861

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The Militant South attempts an examination of the social and cultural traits in the antebellum South that made the Civil War possible, if not inevitable. If you cling to some variant of the Lost Cause and believe that the war had little or nothing to do with slavery, and was primarily caused by unwarranted Northern aggression against Southern rights, this book is not for you, as it will only raise your blood pressure. Nor do you need to read any further into this review, as neither the review nor the book is likely to alter your belief. All others, I believe, will find Franklin's book a thoughtful and probing examination of a bellicose and militant culture that was nearly as peculiar as the South's peculiar institution of slavery.
Franklin examines the roots of militant culture in the South, from the needs arising from existing along a wild frontier and clashes with natives, to the fact that civil government was rarely very developed there, and individuals had to learn to be sufficient to defend themselves in its absence. He examines in some depth how the presence of slavery encouraged this militancy, providing a source of constant fear (slave revolts), and conditioning the habit of being absolute master of others into the slave-holding class almost from their cradles. He also explores thoroughly the code of personal honor that was unique to the South, and the dueling and deadly fights that grew from that code.
One of the most rewarding sections of Franklin's work is his chapter on the filibusters. These adventurers provided an outlet for the martial feelings of the South while attempting to create a Southern empire where the values and institutions of the South could expand into a greater sphere. The small, private wars launched by filibusters against Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua, financed by those hoping to expand the South's interests are a fascinating and often neglected part of our history.
Franklin is a skillfull writer, and his book is readable as well as informative. In a few chapters, such as the one in which he examines the military schools of the South, his writing becomes repetitive simply from the large number of examples that he gives that are all so similar. But aside from that, his writing is captivating, and draws the reader in. His book ends as abruptly as the War began.
This is a valuable book for those who are interested in how the great national tragedy of the Civil War came upon us. It is by no means the whole story, but presents one piece of the large, complicated, and lethal puzzle that launched the deadliest war in the nation's history.

Theo Logos

Summary review of how the pre-Civil War old South was a pretty militant, war-obsessed place. Franklin looks at the South's obsession with personal honor, dueling, the rise of military schools, and an endless amount of breastbeating. The author doesn't probe too deeply beneath the surface, and the book has a "introductory" feel to it. Very good as far as it goes, however.

In this classic, Franklin in near poetic form, outlines a philosophy, and indeed, the psychology of the Southern mindset before the gunplay in Charleston Harbor. An examination of the "frontier" mentality, the code duello, chivalric notions and the plethora of military schools provide evidence that "Northern push" was soon to become "Southern shove". This book can be easily digested by the novice Civil War fan, but may be of particular appeal for those looking at a "behind the scenes" rational for the Late Unpleasantness.

Franklin's study is very readable and quite compelling, especially to those encountering it for the first time. But it's not just about Civil War causation, even though that is on a lot of people's minds today as we enter the Sesquicentennial. Franklin portrays a white South that is violent and almost congenitally belligerent, particularly when it came to defending the racial status quo. Remember that he was writing in 1956, just as the South was entering the most intense phase of the civil rights movement. It was one of those times in history in which the South seemed to be particularly stubborn in resisting national trends and eager to make a fierce stand against internal and external forces of change. Many would say that South is less recognizeable today. Also, he was writing at a time in which W. J. Cash's "The Mind of the South" (1941) was at the height of its influence. Cash, too, portrayed a white southern culture that valued physical bravery and personal honor but was insular, defensive, and prone to violence. To Cash, the quintessential southerner was the "redneck" with a "chip on the shoulder swagger." So don't forget the context in which Franklin wrote.
Since the mid-20th century there has been a great deal of criticism of Cash, and Franklin's thesis has been challenged, revised, and sometimes defended by many historians. So enjoy this book, but don't stop there and treat it as the last word on southern culture or Civil War causation.

This is an unusual work. Written in 1956 the author seeks to deliver an analysis of the behavioral characteristics of Southern psychology as our country devolved into Civil War. It is not a chronological work as the title implies nor are the economic or territorial differences which actually caused the growing militancy investigated in any meaningful way. Rather, the author instead focuses on issues associated with the Southern culture that he alleges were, over time, responsible for the militant mindset that led to succession.

Cited as reasons for the South's increasing militancy as the war approached, the author lists the lack of any formal education system, a self reliance born of a frontier experience, the isolation associated with an agrarian economy and the fact that 60% of the men who fought in the Mexican War were Southerners. Who knows? It is quite possible that these linkages existed. But he lost me when he asserted that other equally important reasons for the South's growing militancy included support for the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and the fact that local militia companies marched in parades celebrating America's Independence on July 4th and Washington's Birthday on February 22nd. Sadly, a full 200 of this book's 249 pages, 80% of this work, is devoted to psychological differences, many of which seem to reach too far.

In all fairness, the author does delve into some of the South's early expansionist concepts like the Knights of the Golden Circle, certain filibustering invasions of foreign countries such as Nicaragua and no less a stalwart Unionist than Sam Houston's desire to invade Mexico in 1860. However, only 20 or so pages are devoted to these remarkably militant events! To state, as the author does, that July 4th parades, dueling, the writings of Sir Walter Scott and locally derived poetry were direct contributors to a militant, militaristic Southern mindset while ignoring horrifically overt acts such as the caining of Massachusetts's Charles Sumner by South Carolina's Preston Brooks on the floor of Congress is, I think, to completely miss the point.

It seems never to have occurred to the author that what drove the South's strident militancy was fear. Simply stated, the Southern people were afraid, terrified, that their way of life, pursued by their forefathers for over 300 years, was at an end. They were losing their way of making a living. Their entire sense of self and their future as they dreamed it was tied up in land and slaves. Abolition (or freedom) meant the end to life as they knew it. To them, survival was at stake. And survival, as we all know, is a socioeconomic behavioral driver that can blow through militancy and land on hostility...which is exactly what happened. Unfortunately, it simply never dawns on the author that a desire to survive, to maintain the status quo, was the key driver behind the South's militancy.

Breaking up the United States of America was no easy matter and its causes should not be treated lightly. If you are seeking a good work on the South's increasing militancy I suggest Pulling the Temple Down, the Fire Eaters and the Destruction of the Union by David S. Heidler. His is a remarkably well written work that focuses on the political developments, economic reality and territorial issues that directly contributed to the isolationist mindset behind the South's growing militancy.

I found this book to be nothing more of less than a great history of facts. Franklin does a fine job of explaining the Southern philosphy without influencing the reader to "choose sides." The North/South debate is very difficult to talk about without giving one's personal opinion, but Franklin did a great job of leaving his personal opinion out of the text. I chose to read this book because I am a Southern girl, who has been doing a lot of soul searching and trying to understand why I am who I am. Books like this give me great insight into my ancestors, who they were, and why they believed as they did, and passed down the beliefs that they cherished. After reading this book, I am still proud to be Southern, even if my philosophy isn't exactly as my ancestors.