Making the Frontier Man
Violence, White Manhood, and Authority in the Early Western Backcountry
Matthew C Ward
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
For western colonists in the early American backcountry, disputes often ended in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man examines early life and the origins of lawless behavior in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio from 1750 to 1815. It provides a key to understanding why the trans-Appalachian West was prone to violent struggles, especially between white men. Traumatic experiences of the Revolution and the Forty Years War legitimized killing as a means of self-defense--of property, reputation, and rights--transferring power from the county courts to the ordinary citizen. Backcountry men waged war against American Indians in state-sponsored militias as they worked to establish farms and seize property in the West. And white neighbors declared war on each other, often taking extreme measures to resolve petty disputes that ended with infamous family feuds.
Making the Frontier Man focuses on these experiences of western expansion and how they influenced American culture and society, specifically the nature of western manhood, which radically transformed in the North American environment. In search of independence and improvement, the new American man was also destitute, frustrated by the economic and political power of his elite counterparts, and undermined by failure. He was aggressive, misogynistic, racist, and violent, and looked to reclaim his dominance and masculinity by any means necessary.
Making the Frontier Man focuses on these experiences of western expansion and how they influenced American culture and society, specifically the nature of western manhood, which radically transformed in the North American environment. In search of independence and improvement, the new American man was also destitute, frustrated by the economic and political power of his elite counterparts, and undermined by failure. He was aggressive, misogynistic, racist, and violent, and looked to reclaim his dominance and masculinity by any means necessary.
Product Details
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh Press |
| Publish Date | November 14, 2023 |
| Pages | 392 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780822947875 |
| Dimensions | 9.3 X 6.3 X 1.0 inches | 1.3 pounds |
About the Author
Matthew C. Ward is senior lecturer in history at the University of Dundee in Scotland.
Reviews
A fine intellectual achievement that illustrates how gender is a powerful tool of analysis that can help us rethink basic assumptions about the American West and should encourage scholars to blaze their own trails as they explore the United States and its past.-- "Journal of American History"
Making the Frontier Man provides an intriguing examination of masculinity and American expansion in the Trans-Appalachian West. Ward's diligent analysis of a multitude of county court records provides unique insights. Readers with an interest in the settlement of the mid-Atlantic's Trans-Appalachian frontier, gender in early America, or local legal history in early America will find Ward's Making the Frontier Man a well-researched and informative addition.-- "H-Net Reviews"
An original, seminal and groundbreaking study.-- "Midwest Book Review"
An important reconsideration of masculine gender roles in the early American West. Exploring law and government, decades of armed conflicts, immigration, ethnicity, and class, Matthew Ward charts the culture of violence that emerged to shape white westerners' perceptions of manhood and, in turn, the culture of the region. With a fresh framework of geography and chronology, Making the Frontier Man will engage historians interested in gender, the West, politics, and law.--Lorri Glover, Saint Louis University
Expertly researched and well written, this book is a valuable addition to frontier historiography.-- "Choice"
Matthew Ward depicts the trans-Appalachian frontier as a world where recurrent Indian warfare and economic inequities produced anxiety and dependence rather than opportunity and independence; where men who struggled to protect their families and failed to achieve the success they had been promised sought to reaffirm their manhood in displays of violence. Exploring the meanings and purposes of violence, Making the Frontier Man is a book with disturbing relevance for our own time.--Colin G. Calloway, author of The Indian World of George Washington
Making the Frontier Man provides an intriguing examination of masculinity and American expansion in the Trans-Appalachian West. Ward's diligent analysis of a multitude of county court records provides unique insights. Readers with an interest in the settlement of the mid-Atlantic's Trans-Appalachian frontier, gender in early America, or local legal history in early America will find Ward's Making the Frontier Man a well-researched and informative addition.-- "H-Net Reviews"
An original, seminal and groundbreaking study.-- "Midwest Book Review"
An important reconsideration of masculine gender roles in the early American West. Exploring law and government, decades of armed conflicts, immigration, ethnicity, and class, Matthew Ward charts the culture of violence that emerged to shape white westerners' perceptions of manhood and, in turn, the culture of the region. With a fresh framework of geography and chronology, Making the Frontier Man will engage historians interested in gender, the West, politics, and law.--Lorri Glover, Saint Louis University
Expertly researched and well written, this book is a valuable addition to frontier historiography.-- "Choice"
Matthew Ward depicts the trans-Appalachian frontier as a world where recurrent Indian warfare and economic inequities produced anxiety and dependence rather than opportunity and independence; where men who struggled to protect their families and failed to achieve the success they had been promised sought to reaffirm their manhood in displays of violence. Exploring the meanings and purposes of violence, Making the Frontier Man is a book with disturbing relevance for our own time.--Colin G. Calloway, author of The Indian World of George Washington
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