A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair: Soldiers and Social Conflict during the Mexican-American WarUniv of North Carolina Press, 2003-11-03 - 240 psl. The Mexican-American War (1846-48) found Americans on new terrain. A republic founded on the principle of armed defense of freedom was now going to war on behalf of Manifest Destiny, seeking to conquer an unfamiliar nation and people. Through an examination of rank-and-file soldiers, Paul Foos sheds new light on the war and its effect on attitudes toward other races and nationalities that stood in the way of American expansionism. Drawing on wartime diaries and letters not previously examined by scholars, Foos shows that the experience of soldiers in the war differed radically from the positive, patriotic image trumpeted by political and military leaders seeking recruits for a volunteer army. Promised access to land, economic opportunity, and political equality, the enlistees instead found themselves subjected to unusually harsh discipline and harrowing battle conditions. As a result, some soldiers adapted the rhetoric of Manifest Destiny to their own purposes, taking for themselves what had been promised, often by looting the Mexican countryside or committing racial and sexual atrocities. Others deserted the army to fight for the enemy or seek employment in the West. These acts, Foos argues, along with the government's tacit acceptance of them, translated into a more violent, damaging variety of Manifest Destiny. |
Turinys
3 | |
13 | |
2 CitizensMilitias in the United States | 31 |
3 Volunteer Excitement among the Masses | 45 |
The Politics of Compulsion | 61 |
5 Discipline and Desertion in Mexico | 83 |
The Wage of Manifest Destiny | 113 |
7 Dreams of Conquest and the Limits of the WhiteMans Democracy | 139 |
8 Free Soil and the Heritage of the CitizenSoldier | 155 |
Notes | 179 |
Bibliography | 199 |
Acknowledgments | 217 |
Index | 219 |
Kiti leidimai - Peržiūrėti viską
A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair– Soldiers and Social Conflict During the ... Paul Foos Ribota peržiūra - 2002 |
A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair– Soldiers and Social Conflict During the ... Paul Foos Ribota peržiūra - 2002 |
A Short, Offhand, Killing Affair– Soldiers and Social Conflict During the ... Paul Foos Trumpų ištraukų rodinys - 2002 |
Pagrindiniai terminai ir frazės
Ameri American antislavery Arkansas armed battle battle of Monterrey Boston Caleb Cushing California camp campaigns captain Catholic church Cincinnati citizens Civil Colonel Cushing Daniel Harvey Hill Delta New Orleans democracy Democratic deserters despite discipline economic elected elite enlisted February fighting force Free-Soil gang Garesché guerrilla hacienda Ibid immigrants Irish company January John Hodge labor land bounties Lieutenant manifest destiny Mass Massachusetts ment Mexi Mexican Mexican War Mexico City Mike Walsh military militia Monterrey months mustered nativist North northern numbers O’Brien occupied offi Ohio organized Orleans Papers Party patriotic peasant political politicians Polk Polk’s population punishment race racial Rangers recruiting regular army republican Saltillo San Patricio Scott Senate served slaves social society Subterranean New York Taylor teer Texas Texas Ranger tion troops U.S. Army United unteer Veracruz violence volunteer companies volunteer militias volunteer officer volunteer regiments wages Whig Wislizenus workers York Regiment Yvarra