Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil WarA brilliant biography of Jesse James, and a stunning reinterpretation of an American icon. Stripped of the familiar myths surrounding him, James emerges a far more significant figure: ruthless, purposeful, intensely political; a man who, in the midst of his crimes and notoriety, made himself a spokesman for the renewal of the Confederate cause during the bitter decade that followed Appomattox. Traditionally, Jesse James has been portrayed as a Wild West bandit, a Robin Hood of sorts. But in this meticulously researched, vividly written account of his life, he emerges as far more complicated. Raised in a fiercely pro-slavery atmosphere in bitterly divided Missouri, he began at sixteen to fight alongside some of the most savage Confederate guerrillas. When the Civil War ended, his violent path led him into the brutal conflicts of Reconstruction. We follow James as he places himself squarely in the forefront of the former Confederates' bid to capture political power with his reckless daring, his visibility, his partisan pronouncements, and his alliance with a rising ex-Confederate editor, John Newman Edwards, who helped shape James's image for their common purpose. In uniting violence and the news media on behalf of a political cause, James was hardly the quaint figure of legend. Rather, as his life played out across the racial divide, the rise of the Klan, and the expansion of the railroads, he was a forerunner of what we have come to call a terrorist. T.J. Stiles has written a memorable book--a revelation of both the man and his time. |
Contents
ZION 18421860 | 9 |
CHAPTER TWo The Widow | 26 |
CHAPTER THREE The Slaves | 37 |
Copyright | |
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Allan Pinkerton American Anderson April Archie Clement army August bandits bank began bushwhackers Castel Chicago Civil Clay County Clement Cole Younger Columbia Confederate Conservatives crime December Democrats Edwards farm February Federal Fellman fire Fletcher Foner former Frank James gang Governor guerrillas Hardin History of Clay horses Jackson County James brothers January Jesse James Jesse's John Joseph Journal of Commerce July June Kansas City Journal killed Lafayette County later letter Lexington Caucasian Liberty Tribune Liddil Louis Republican March militia Miller Minneapolis Tribune Mississippi Missouri Press Missouri River Missourians murder Nashville newspaper Northfield October ordered outlaws Oxford University Press Papers Parrish party pistols political Quantrill Radical raid railroad rebels Reconstruction reported revolver robbery rode Samuel secessionists September September 14 sheriff shot slavery slaves souri South Southern town troops Union Unionist University of Missouri violence Watkins Mill WHMC William Woodson wrote Yeatman York Zerelda