The word Antebellum is a Latin word. The meaning of the word is before war. The prefix 'ante' stands for before and 'bellum' is Latin word for war. Thus it means - before the war. Here the war refers to the Civil War of America. Therefore, the Antebellum America means before the American Civil War 1860. In the History and Historiography of the United States of America, the phrase Antebellum America is used in lieu of pre-Civil War period. When the American historians use this phrase, invariably their stress is on the rise of sectionalism in America before the Civil War with its social, economic, cultural, religious, political and constitutional dimensions. Among some American scholars, it is generally treated as cherished memories of old South states which vanished with the Civil War. Among the English literature scholars of America, the Antebellum America symbolized a classic age of culture and American civilization. The critics of that period counter it with the criticism of slavery as practiced in American South States before the Civil War. Hence, on one hand, it is studied as a cherished glorious period of American developments and on other hand, criticism of it emphasizes it as a phase of pre-colonial hangover among revolutionary and republican Americans. In short, in its theme, it is story of moral conflicts carried from colonial period and American response to it.
The American historians allocate different time spans for the Antebellum America. Generally, they discuss the happenings since Mexican American War and the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854 ending with Civil War as the period of Antebellum America. With a different set of sources and ideologies, the dimension of the time span changes for other set of historians and they generally study the period extending from 1812 to 1860 as the period of Antebellum America. Somehow, the period succeeding Civil War, which is generally termed as the Reconstruction period, refers to the end of the phase of American way of life which is studied under Antebellum America phrase. Therein, one can find the significance of the term Antebellum America in American history. No doubt a sense of Romanticism has been be attached to Antebellum America which is perhaps best represented by the novel of Margret Mitchell “Gone with the Wind (1936) and the movie based on that novel that was released in 1939.
Similarly, many historians prefer to study the period from 1784 or with some qualification of the selection of the sources, from 1789 to 1865 as one single whole chapter in the history of America. They do not use the word pre-Civil War. For them, the Revolution of America was the success of Americanism based on liberty and freedom, the freedom for labour and wealth. They prefer to call it Antebellum America wherein they suggest that it was one of the phase of cultural heritage of America.
The American historians allocate different time spans for the Antebellum America. Generally, they discuss the happenings since Mexican American War and the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854 ending with Civil War as the period of Antebellum America. With a different set of sources and ideologies, the dimension of the time span changes for other set of historians and they generally study the period extending from 1812 to 1860 as the period of Antebellum America. Somehow, the period succeeding Civil War, which is generally termed as the Reconstruction period, refers to the end of the phase of American way of life which is studied under Antebellum America phrase. Therein, one can find the significance of the term Antebellum America in American history. No doubt a sense of Romanticism has been be attached to Antebellum America which is perhaps best represented by the novel of Margret Mitchell “Gone with the Wind (1936) and the movie based on that novel that was released in 1939.
Similarly, many historians prefer to study the period from 1784 or with some qualification of the selection of the sources, from 1789 to 1865 as one single whole chapter in the history of America. They do not use the word pre-Civil War. For them, the Revolution of America was the success of Americanism based on liberty and freedom, the freedom for labour and wealth. They prefer to call it Antebellum America wherein they suggest that it was one of the phase of cultural heritage of America.
Course: History, M. A. I, History, Punjab University Chandigarh. Paper III, The USA
Category: Short Notes
Author: Asst Professor Sumir Sharma, Department of Post Graduate History, Arya College, Ludhiana
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