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Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America (Civil War America) Hardcover – December 9, 2019

by Thomas J. Brown (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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This sweeping new assessment of Civil War monuments unveiled in the United States between the 1860s and 1930s argues that they were pivotal to a national embrace of military values. Americans' wariness of standing armies limited construction of war memorials in the early republic, Thomas J. Brown explains, and continued to influence commemoration after the Civil War. As large cities and small towns across the North and South installed an astonishing range of statues, memorial halls, and other sculptural and architectural tributes to Civil War heroes, communities debated the relationship of military service to civilian life through fund-raising campaigns, artistic designs, oratory, and ceremonial practices. Brown shows that distrust of standing armies gave way to broader enthusiasm for soldiers in the Gilded Age. Some important projects challenged the trend, but many Civil War monuments proposed new norms of discipline and vigor that lifted veterans to a favored political status and modeled racial and class hierarchies. A half century of Civil War commemoration reshaped remembrance of the American Revolution and guided American responses to World War I.

Brown provides the most comprehensive overview of the American war memorial as a cultural form and reframes the national debate over Civil War monuments that remain potent presences on the civic landscape.
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  1. Part of series
    Civil War America
  2. Print length
    384 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    The University of North Carolina Press
  5. Publication date
    December 9, 2019
  6. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1469653737
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1469653730
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America is chock-full of fascinating insights into the dynamism and variety of Civil War memory, especially Union memory, which remains understudied compared to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. Scholars of the Civil War, US cultural history, and collective memory should read with care the arguments Thomas Brown makes in his wonderful and timely new book."--Michigan War Studies Review



"Successfully places Civil War monuments in a cultural context that few consider, and further highlights how these objects e&64256;ectively re&64258;ect tangible power."--Public Historian



[This] fascinating new book. . . . Rests on exhaustive research and displays an intimidating erudition. . . . Brown has written an impressive, important book that everyone interested in the Civil War's impact, Civil War memory, or the current debate over Confederate statues should read and ponder."--Civil War Book Review



A well-illustrated, interesting, and deeply researched study that. . . . Will remain a standard work on American Civil War monuments for some time."--H-Net Reviews



Brown brings overdue and timely research on Civil War monuments in both the North and the South. . . . Reading Brown's work will give a deeper appreciation for these tangible reminders of . . . the American Civil War."--Annals of Iowa



In this insightful and deeply researched study of Civil War monuments, Thomas Brown argues persuasively that over time, monument builders in both the North and the South used an imaginative trove of aesthetics to efface battlefield horrors and rework tragedy into noble deeds and glorious causes."--North Carolina Historical Review



This brilliant study of Civil War monuments in the American psyche and landscape since the end of that conflict presents commemoration as a crucible of meaning-making that cannot be confined to the forms and materials of the monuments themselves and even less to the events and contexts surrounding their creation. . . . Exhaustively researched and meticulously documented, this book ultimately achieves a remarkable synthesis."--CHOICE



A thoughtful and timely commentary on Civil War memory and, more generally, American society itself."--New England Quarterly

Review

Thomas J. Brown's definitive study of Civil War monuments shows the impact these shrines and memorials have had on the American landscape. Bringing a keen analysis to scores of monuments, Brown reveals how these sites speak to shifting ideals about war and peace, military command, and civic engagement and uncovers surprising revelations about northern and southern similarities. This book reminds us how and why these monuments remain flashpoints of political controversy.--Nina Silber, Boston University



This long-awaited and much-needed book is the first synthetic study of U.S. Civil War memorials--a daunting task with more than a thousand monuments spanning a century or more. Brown argues convincingly that these memorials helped transform ideas of citizenship and promoted a new institutionalization of the military in American life.--Kirk Savage, University of Pittsburgh

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The University of North Carolina Press (December 9, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1469653737
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1469653730
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.68 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

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Thomas J. Brown

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Maureen456
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and highly relevant
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2021
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This book was a fascinating read and very thought provoking. It is really interesting to read about the original motivations for these monuments. There are also some humorous moments when you read about some of the arguments that happened as monuments were being planned, revised and rejected. I learned a great deal from this book and highly recommend it.
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David Marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars Important book
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2020
There have been monuments installed in the United States that date back to the colonial era. After the reading of the Declaration of Independence citizens tore down a monument of British King George 111. To many individuals in the eighteenth century, monuments were not necessarily well-suited with democracy.

Many Civil War monuments have gone up and displayed throughout the United States from the post 1865 end of the conflict through the 1930’s. Reasons for their popularity for Union regiments and units from all states who fought in war between the states was due to remembering the bravery and honor earned by so many brave men. Many monuments were eventually moved from different localities to the many battlefields in the Eastern and Western Theaters were fighting took place. Ultimately, during the Jim Crow era from the 1890’s through the 1930’s many monuments were raised as a way to demonstrate to African Americans the superiority of white Southerners and acceptance of not only their second-class citizenship but that the Lost Cause was a symbol of the reason for fighting the Civil War.

The militarization of monuments was not only concerning the remembrance of the Civil War but also the Revolutionary War and World War 1. Making soldiers and revered leaders became military symbols not worshiped in a religious way but certainly looked up by many Americans. People used these iconoclastic monuments to transform the support of public opinion of industrial capitalism, racial and labor order, and white supremacy. People supported our military but also people who never served but were symbols of the American Revolution, and the U.S. way of life.

One way was to create war memorials and to allow people to celebrate the glory of individuals who were representative of this nation, was to build monuments. Commemoration of the Civil War and other conflicts became a way to show the entitlements of soldiers, their heroics and what they fought for. Most every town and city built monuments to men who fought especially in the Civil War. In the South monuments were not only placed in town squares but in front of capitol buildings as well as court houses, People saw these monuments not only as symbols but as a visual aid to remind people who were in charge. Important private organizations such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy guarded the memories of their ancestors and love ones. These women fought as hard over the memory of the soldiers who battled to establish a new country as the soldiers themselves. This organization and many others worked to continue an order in the U.S. that lasted for several decades as well as resisting a changing nation that included many immigrants who were made up of different religions and ethnicities.

In recent decades, many monuments were created dealing with African Americans to show their importance in the United States winning the Civil War, In Washington, D.C., a monument to the 180,000 CT troops and 20,000 African American sailors was created to memorialize their important contribution to not only significant effort and bravery to the Union victory but to helping bring about their own freedom from slavery.

Thomas Browns important book is organized by chapters that show the connection between theme and time line. The title is split between, common solder monuments. Leadership monuments and victory monuments. The author does an excellent job of telling an important story about how certain individuals and many different groups helped bring about not only change but also movements to maintain a country that supported their beliefs and way of life.

The best part of this important volume is the epilogue. Brown asserts that the controversies of today over Civil War monuments and memorials can be traced to the revival of building new structures in the United States in the late twentieth century. The renewed interest in Civil War monuments and whether they should be torn down, moved to cemeteries or museums makes this tome important, relevant and worth the price of purchase. After reading Civil War Monuments and the Militarization of America, students, enthusiasts and readers will be able to evaluate and decide for themselves what should take place to so many statues and memorials today.

This meticulously researched text features the utilization of many primary and secondary sources and detailed accounts of the history of war memorials and monuments in the United States. Contained in this fabulous monograph are 87 helpful images which bring this subject to life and greatly aids in understanding this important and relevant topic. The University of North Carolina Press has published a 384-page manuscript that includes notes, a very helpful bibliography and index which adds to the Brown’s wide-ranging summary of war memorials and statues. The history of this important issue provides a lesson and food for thought in this current reevaluation by many governments officials and citizens in cities and towns across the United States. Students, enthusiasts, and arm chair readers will be able to decide for themselves what should happen to these historical objects and art work today.

This reviewer highly recommends this important work.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars It’s ok
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
Book did not include the volume of civil war. US war monuments that I expected
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bJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Pictures of famous monuments
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
Some of the civil war monuments have been torn down in the United States. I wanted a book that had pictures of the monuments during the Civil War. I am happy that I bought the hardback copy of the book. It's expensive but it's worth it.
2 people found this helpful
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