Definitions
Confederate Citizenship and National Identity in 1861
This chapter examines initial attempts in 1861 to define Confederate national identity and Confederate citizenship. Both of these emerged in the context of what white southerners already knew about nationalism: they were influenced by transatlantic models of nationalism and by both substantive and conceptual aspects of antebellum American nationalism. On the international stage and at home, southern nationalists crafted an argument for separate nationality that rested on assertions of fundamental North-South difference, the promise of a purified American nationalism, and appeals to the overlapping principles of nationality and self-government. Problems remained, however. Political and cultural leaders could not simply impose nationalism in precisely the way they chose, especially since significant numbers of southerners remained loyal, to one degree or another, to the ideas and the institutions of the United States.
Keywords: confederate national identity, confederate citizenship, transatlantic, nationalism, self-government
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