The Cost Of Loyalty: Contesting Allegiances During The Civil War And Reconstruction In North Carolina, 1861-1871

In North Carolina, Unionism was a dominant force until President Abraham Lincoln’s April 1861 call for a militia to put down the southern rebellion. Though seemingly united in its secessionist stance in the beginning months of the war, widespread anti-Confederate and Unionist movements emerged across North Carolina, signaling a resurgence in Unionist sentiment. Just six years after hostilities ceased, however, former Confederates retook control of state and local government. Geographically divided between the mountains, piedmont, and coast, North Carolina’s culture and economies were diverse, creating a broad spectrum of political loyalty. This thesis will analyze the three regions of North Carolina to represent a microcosm of the entire South. Drawing chiefly from primary source materials in the form of governors papers, newspapers, personal letters, and Southern Claims Commission files, this project reclaims the voices of the common North Carolinian and identifies the multifaceted reasons for wartime loyalty. Furthermore, this research blurs the line between the war’s official end and postwar politics by showing how wartime loyalties affected postwar outcomes.