When Slavery and Rebellion Are Destroyed - (New Perspectives on the Civil War Era) by Jack Dempsey (Paperback)

About the Book

"The voices of rural midwestern women are missing from the relatively new field of Civil War-era women's history. This growing literature has focused on women of the Confederacy, and the voice of Northern women traditionally only subsumes those in urban settings or of the middle-class who participated in aid societies. Rural northern women, especially from the Midwest, are largely absent from scholarly publications. This volume makes a ground-breaking contribution to the comprehension of gender issues by making an extensive collection of intimate letters between Ellen Preston Woodworth and her husband Samuel accessible to the scholarly field and all readers interested in the Civil War, homefront challenges, military family struggles, and gender roles. The journal collection of this correspondence invites comparison between Ellen's encounters with Indigenous peoples in her rural, recently settled community and Samuel's experiences with African-Americans in the deep South, unique in such a collection of letters. Wife and husband also delve into spiritual matters as they separately confront their lengthy separation. Scholars will find value in Samuel's service in a "construction battalion" that is frequently in harm's way. The national struggle over slavery and freedom becomes personal for this couple, and is revealed powerfully to the reader"--

Book Synopsis

The voices of rural midwestern women are missing from the relatively new field of Civil War-era women's history. This growing literature has focused on women of the Confederacy, and the voice of northern women traditionally only subsumes those in urban settings or of the middleclass who participated in aid societies. Rural northern women, especially from the Midwest, are largely absent from scholarly publications.

When Slavery and Rebellion Are Destroyed makes a groundbreaking contribution to the comprehension of gender issues by making an extensive collection of intimate letters between Ellen Preston Woodworth and her husband, Samuel, accessible to the scholarly field and all readers interested in the Civil War, homefront challenges, military family struggles, and gender roles.

The journal collection of this correspondence invites comparison between Ellen's encounters with Indigenous peoples in her rural, recently settled community and Samuel's experiences with African Americans in the Deep South--unique in such a collection of letters. Wife and husband also delve into spiritual matters as they confront their lengthy separation. Scholars will find value in Samuel's service in a "construction battalion" that is frequently in harm's way. The national struggle over slavery and freedom becomes personal for this couple and is revealed powerfully to the reader.

Review Quotes

This collection of letters between Michiganders Samuel Woodworth and his wife Elllen, smartly edited by Jack Dempsey, further enriches our understanding of the ways the Civil War impacted and changed people.--Jonathan A. Noyalas "Emerging Civil War"

...Jack Dempsey performs a very valuable service by bringing this especially important journal to a wider audience.--Mark Hoffman "The Engineer and Mechanic"

Jack Dempsey has ably edited Ellen's journal of letters.... Less a window on the war and more the story of an ordinary family, When Slavery and Rebellion Are Destroyed is nevertheless worthwhile for general readers and scholars alike.--George C. Rable "The Civil War Monitor"

About the Author

JACK DEMPSEY is former president of the Michigan Historical Commission and an award-winning author of several books on the Civil War, including Michigan and the Civil War: A Great and Bloody Sacrifice.