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

Breaks new ground in its coverage of California during the Civil War era, in terms of geography and social groupings.

Glenna Matthews (Author)

9780521194006, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 March 2012

272 pages, 16 b/w illus. 2 maps
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'… Glenna Matthews has written a fine addition to the literature on California during the Civil War.' John P. Lloyd, H-Net Reviews (h-net.org/reviews)

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.

Subject Areas: American Civil War [HBWJ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK]