"Slavery, Antislavery, and Masculinity in Kansas and Kentucky (2022-202" by Spencer King
 
Slavery, Antislavery, and Masculinity in Kansas and Kentucky (2022-2023)

Slavery, Antislavery, and Masculinity in Kansas and Kentucky (2022-2023)

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Spencer King received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Emporia State University in 2014 and 2016. Spencer is interested in the history of race, gender, and antislavery efforts in nineteenth century America, especially in the nineteenth century West. His dissertation focuses on the development of abolitionist masculinity in Kansas Territory in the 1850s and how this influenced Kansans' ideas of what masculinity should look like amongst soldiers after the start of the Civil War. He specifically looks at the ways in which political violence between the Free Staters and Border Ruffians shaped views of masculinity amongst antislavery Kansans and how the Free State forces modeled ideas of masculinity that carried into the Civil War, such as the importance of enlistment, what acting honorably in battle entailed, and how attacks on civilian populations could complicate ideas of gender roles. In studying Bleeding Kansas and Kansas during the Civil War, Spencer aims to explain how antislavery Kansans perceived themselves instead of looking at how the rest of the U.S. viewed them, and he also wants to show how women and Black soldiers acted in the challenging circumstances they faced in Kansas.

Gender roles and conceptions of gender have varied cultures throughout the world and have transformed over time. Times of significant change, such as times of intense conflict and warfare, have often aided these transformations in gender as people adapted to their circumstances. The opening of Kansas Territory and the eventual start of the Civil War mark one of these moments, as white abolitionists moved from the eastern United States to the West in order to prevent the spread of slavery and encountered violence from proslavery actors who sought to preserve the institution. Bleeding Kansas, the violent conflict between proslavery and antislavery activists in Kansas Territory, eventually gave way to the Civil War, where white abolitionists continued to embrace violent expressions of masculinity as they enlisted in the Union army. The Civil War also marked an opportunity for Black men, both free and enslaved, to legally assert identities as citizens and men because of the pathways enlistment created for them later in the war. This potential reward came with significant risk, though, as Confederate soldiers refused to see Black soldiers as anything other than escaped enslaved men and would not respect their surrenders on the battlefield, either executing them or selling them back into slavery. Furthermore, there were groups of people not eager to embrace change, such as white Kentuckians, whose ideas of masculinity were inseparable from maintaining the institution of slavery and white supremacy. While some white abolitionist and Black men used enlistment to embrace new ideas of masculinity, white Kentuckians used the environment of warfare to protect what was familiar.

Publication Date

4-15-2023

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Slavery, Antislavery, and Masculinity in Kansas and Kentucky (2022-2023)

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