Making the Frontier Man: Violence, White Manhood, and Authority in the Early Western Backcountry

The book "Making the Frontier Man" explores the origins of lawless behavior in the early American backcountry from 1750 to 1815, examining how traumatic experiences of the Revolution and the Forty Years War legitimized killing as a means of self-defense. It also highlights how white neighbors declared war on each other, often taking extreme measures to resolve petty disputes, and how this influenced American culture and society.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 24 October 2023
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

The early American backcountry was a violent and lawless place for western colonists, with disputes often ending in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man examines the origins of lawless behavior in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio from 1750 to 1815, providing 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, 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. 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. 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.

The early American backcountry was a violent and lawless place for western colonists, with disputes often ending in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man examines the origins of lawless behavior in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio from 1750 to 1815, providing 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, 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. 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. 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.

The early American backcountry was a violent and lawless place for western colonists, with disputes often ending in bloodshed and death. Making the Frontier Man examines the origins of lawless behavior in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio from 1750 to 1815, providing 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, 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. 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. 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.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780822947875