Exceptionalism in Crisis: Faction, Anarchy, and Mexico in the US Imagination during the Civil War Era (Beverton) art

Exceptionalism in Crisis: Faction, Anarchy, and Mexico in the US Imagination during the Civil War Era (Beverton) artby Alys D. Beverton Before 1861, US Americans could confidently claim to belong to the New Worlds exceptional republic, unlike other self governing nations in the Western Hemisphere such as Mexico, which struggled with political violence and unrest. Americans used such comparisons to show themselves and the world that democracy in the United States was working as designed. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 exploded this illusion by showing that

Custer and his men heard enemy cannon fire: Stuart’s signal to Lee that he was ready for action

Steers reveals

and small family plots

and above all with hope for a better future

Gettysburg Campaign Study Guide Volume Two: Study Guide For The Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Exam

describe their experiences on the battlefield

Harness jingles and hoofs pound as Confederate cavalryman James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart leads his three brigades of veteran troopers on a ride that triggers one of the Civil War’s most bitter and enduring controversies

and attorney

the battle provided a clear warning that the war would be long and bloody

The hundreds of thousands of men

particularly the United States

by award-winning author