Gregory P. Downs Livres

Focusing on the Civil War's impact on North Carolinians, the study reveals how the conflict fostered a unique form of popular politics based on voluntary dependence rather than independence. By analyzing pleas and petitions from ordinary citizens, it argues that the war reshaped claims of dependence, exposing individuals to the vast powers of both Union and Confederate governments. This shift also weakened traditional legal bonds to authority figures such as husbands, fathers, and masters, highlighting a complex transformation in societal dynamics during this pivotal period.

The Civil War did not end with Confederate capitulation in 1865. A second phase commenced which lasted until 1871--not Reconstruction but genuine belligerency whose mission was to crush slavery and create civil and political rights for freed people. But as Gregory Downs shows, military occupation posed its own dilemmas, including near-anarchy.