Lincoln's Mercenaries
Economic Motivation among Union Soldiers during the Civil War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4155594 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John David Smith (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 471-471 |
| Publication date | 2019-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jahist/jaz413 |
| OpenAlex | W2969884841 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
William Marvel's excellent Lincoln's Mercenaries revisits a question asked by citizens of the Civil War era and historians who have studied them—To what degree was the conflict “a rich man's war and a poor man's fight”? Recent historians generally have overlooked economic incentives in mobilizing Union soldiers, emphasizing instead such factors as antislavery ideology, love of country, and manhood. In fact, Marvel's book omits index entries for abolition, honor, masculinity, and slavery. Instead, he focuses on the economic motives of volunteers from the sixteen contiguous northern states plus Kansas who joined the army prior to conscription and the offer of significant bounties designed to lure men to the ranks. Marvel suggests that two-thirds of Union soldiers came from limited means and stresses what he awkwardly terms the recruits' “mercenary intent” in populating Lincoln's army (p. 164). “Those who ‘rallied round the flag,’ in 1861,” he writes, have long been regarded
Economic history · Honor · Ideology · Index (typography · Masculinity · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · American Constitutional Law and Politics · American History and Culture · Gender Studies · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2021 (2) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |