Civil War Settlers - Scandinavians, Citizenship, and American Empire, 1848-1870

Civil War Settlers is the first comprehensive analysis of Scandinavian Americans and their participation in the US Civil War. Based on thousands of sources in multiple languages, that have to date been inaccessible to most US historians, Anders Bo Rasmussen brings the untold story of Scandinavian American immigrants to life by focusing on their lived community experience and positioning it within the larger context of western settler colonialism. Associating American citizenship with liberty and equality, Scandinavian immigrants openly opposed slavery and were among the most enthusiastic foreign-born supporters of the early Republican Party. However, the malleable concept of citizenship was used by immigrants to resist draft service, and support a white man's republic through territorial expansion on American Indian land and into the Caribbean. Consequently, Scandinavian immigrants after emancipation proved to be reactionary Republicans, not abolitionists. This unique approach to the Civil War sheds new light on how whiteness and access to territory formed an integral part of American immigration history. Also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

List of contents

The Problem and the Method; Part I: 1. 1848; 2. Exodus; 3. Old and New World Liberty; 4. Republican Reign; Part II: 5. For God and Country; 6. Colonization and Colonialism; 7. Duties of Citizenship; 8. A Rich Man's War; 9. Echoes of Emancipation; Part III: 10. Lincoln's American Empire; 11. The Principle of Equality; 12. Shades of Citizenship; 13. Dollars and Dominion; Conclusion.

About the author

Anders Bo Rasmussen is Associate Professor of American History at the University of Southern Denmark. He is the recipient of the Carlsberg Foundation Monograph Fellowship, a former Fulbright scholar at New York University, and has explored the Scandinavian Civil War experience across the United States for more than a decade.

Product details

• Authors: Anders Bo Rasmussen, Anders Bo (University of Southern Denma Rasmussen, Anders Bo (University of Southern Denmark) Rasmussen
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.06.2022
• EAN: 9781108845564
• ISBN: 978-1-108-84556-4
• No. of pages: 292
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, History, HISTORY / World, military history, HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877), HISTORY / Military / United States, HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, c 1800 to c 1900, General & world history, United States of America, USA, General and world history, History of the Americas, Battles & campaigns, Specific wars and campaigns, c 1860 to c 1869, Civil wars, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / General