| Variant title |
Loyal to commerce merchants and the occupation of eastern North Carolina, 1862-1865. |
| Summary |
This thesis comparatively analyzes the experiences and loyalties of merchants in the North Carolina towns of New Bern and Williamston during the American Civil War through the viewpoint of two individual merchants: Jacob Gooding Sr. and Cushing Biggs Hassell. The proximity of Federal occupation drastically affected the economic conditions that merchants experienced, but ultimately had little negative effect on merchant loyalties in the region. New Bern was occupied directly by Federal forced from 1862 to 1865, while Williamston remained on the frontier of Confederate territory but was plagued by repeated Federal raids. The distinctive identity, ideology, and culture of the Southern merchant class caused Confederate loyalty to prevail among merchants like Hassell and Gooding in both towns despite the promise of improved commercial self-interest offered by Federal authorities in New Bern or the destruction and damage caused by Federal raids in Williamston. |
| General note | Presented to the faculty of the Department of History. |
| General note | Advisor: Gerald J. Prokopowicz |
| General note | Title from PDF t.p. (viewed November 1, 2021). |
| Dissertation note | M.A. East Carolina University 2021. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Technical details | System requirements: Adobe Reader. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
