{"product_id":"why-confederates-fought-family-and-nation-in-civil-war-virginia-9780807861844","title":"Why Confederates Fought: Family and Nation in Civil War Virginia","description":"In the first comprehensive study of the experience of Virginia soldiers and their families in the Civil War, Aaron Sheehan-Dean captures the inner world of the rank-and-file. Utilizing new statistical evidence and first-person narratives, Sheehan-Dean explores how Virginia soldiers--even those who were nonslaveholders--adapted their vision of the war's purpose to remain committed Confederates. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSheehan-Dean challenges earlier arguments that middle- and lower-class southerners gradually withdrew their support for the Confederacy because their class interests were not being met. Instead he argues that Virginia soldiers continued to be motivated by the profound emotional connection between military service and the protection of home and family, even as the war dragged on. The experience of fighting, explains Sheehan-Dean, redefined southern manhood and family relations, established the basis for postwar race and class relations, and transformed the shape of Virginia itself. He concludes that Virginians' experience of the Civil War offers important lessons about the reasons we fight wars and the ways that those reasons can change over time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the first comprehensive study of the experience of Virginia soldiers and their families in the Civil War, Aaron Sheehan-Dean captures the inner world of the rank-and-file. He challenges earlier arguments that middle- and lower-class southerners gradually withdrew their support for the Confederacy because their class interests were not being met. Instead he argues that Virginia soldiers continued to be motivated by the profound emotional connection between military service and the protection of home and family, even as the war dragged on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSheehan-Dean, Aaron:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Aaron Sheehan-Dean is the Fred C. Frey Chair in Southern Studies at Louisiana State University. He is editor of \u003ci\u003eStruggle for a Vast Future: The American Civil War\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe View from the Ground: The Experience of Civil War Soldiers\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"University of North Carolina Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50845430448402,"sku":"9780807861844","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5ef2f8fa-631a-4f78-b8fb-689d6dc0e776.jpg?v=1737350690","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/why-confederates-fought-family-and-nation-in-civil-war-virginia-9780807861844","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}