Publication Date
Fall 11-18-2019
School
College of Arts and Sciences
Major
Social Science--Teacher Certification
Keywords
American South, Revolutionary War, homefront, daily life
Disciplines
United States History
Recommended Citation
Vanderwey, Lindsay, "The Southern Homefront in the United States War for Independence" (2019). Senior Honors Theses. 911.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/911
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the struggles ordinary Americans faced during the War for Independence. Drawing from memoirs, local news reports, and secondary sources, this thesis covers topics such as the broken communities, refugee crises, disease, and shortages caused by war in the American South. It will also describe the hardships endured by enslaved people during this period, with both sides fighting over a freedom that did not apply to them. This thesis will argue that that rather than being passionate idealists willing to voluntarily sacrifice for a great cause, the bulk of the American southerners were ordinary people who made decisions for their own self-preservation and interests. Even so, their sacrifices were vital to the success of the American cause.
