The Golden State in the Civil War: Thomas Starr King, the Republican Party, and the Birth of Modern California [Hardcover]

Breaks new ground in its coverage of California during the Civil War era, in terms of geography and social groupings.The national narrative of the Civil War has neglected the West. This book demonstrates how important California was and provides vivid human detail about the major players in the state. We learn about Confederate sympathizers, patriotic Chinese merchants, fund-raisers for the Union cause in gold-rush towns, and much more. The author argues that the Civil War was a crucible of modern California.The national narrative of the Civil War has neglected the West. This book demonstrates how important California was and provides vivid human detail about the major players in the state. We learn about Confederate sympathizers, patriotic Chinese merchants, fund-raisers for the Union cause in gold-rush towns, and much more. The author argues that the Civil War was a crucible of modern California.This book breaks new ground, not only in its coverage of California, but also in its treatment of the role of cultural links in enhancing national loyalty, in its attention to many groups of people of color, including Chinese and Latinos, and what happened to them during the Civil War. In addition, the book devotes attention to the ebb and flow of the two political parties and to the little-known fact that nearly 17,000 California men and women volunteered for military service on behalf of the Union. Glenna Matthews broadens understanding of the Civil War era both in terms of geography and in terms of social groupings.1. The Golden State in the 1850s; 2. Thomas Starr King and the Massachusetts background for his California activism; 3. Towards a political realignment; 4. The first years of war; 5. The military front; 6. The cultural front; 7. A new role for California gold/a see-saw federal-state relationship; 8. 'Coppery' California; 9. Californians of color; 10. A tragic death and its aftermath. In this new and welcome treatment of the experience of Californians during tlı