Yet as Louis Gerteis reveals, many of its citizens were staunchly dedicated to both slavery and the southern agrarian tradition. Louis had become the nation's greatest inland city, providing a 'gateway to the West,' a riverine crossroads for national commerce, and an ideal base for expansion-minded industrialists from the abolitionist Northeast. Louis has remained largely unchronicled.īy the mid-nineteenth century, St. Until now, however, the fascinating story of wartime St. A citadel of free labor in a slave state, it also harbored deeply divided loyalties that mirrored those of its troubled nation. Louis played a key role as a strategic staging ground for the Union army. 101 illustrations.In the Civil War, rough-and-tumble St. Published by the State Historical Society and Lindenwood University Press, 2009. Louis (2001) in addition to numerous scholarly articles. His publications include From Contraband to Freedman: Federal Policy Toward Southern Blacks: 1861-1865 (1973), Morality and Utility in American Antislavery Reform (1987), and Civil War St. Louis history, particularly that of the nineteenth century. He is a leading scholar in the study of St. Gerteis is a professor of history at the University of Missouri-St. And in a thoughtful and well-crafted introduction, this urban historian ties together the diverse essays, finding that all contribute to a common theme of metropolitan growth and identity.

Louis, brings together fourteen of these essays in this volume. Louis Gerteis, professor of history at the University of Missouri-St. Louis from a colonial village to a regional metropolis by examining episodes in its economic, social, and political life. Urban residents found recreational opportunities both within the city and in the adjacent rural areas.ĭuring the first century of the Missouri Historical Review, distinguished historians explored the growth of St. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century wars restricted personal rights and, incongruously, enabled African Americans and women to gain a toehold in fields formerly closed to them. Racial tensions rose and fell as blacks and whites struggled with slavery, segregation, and civil rights. Sectional differences exacerbated disputes and slowed progress. Immigrants, domestic and foreign arrived seeking new freedoms and economic opportunity. Louis as it transitioned from the Mound City to the Gateway City.

Civil War St. Louis by Louis S. Gerteis