The Romance of Reunion

Cultural imagination played a crucial role in reconciling the North and South after the Civil War, as Nina Silber illustrates through diverse sources. Northern culture romanticized and feminized the South, creating a nostalgic image that soothed anxieties over changing class and gender roles during the Gilded Age. This reconciliation was symbolized by the union of northern men and southern women, reinforcing Victorian ideals. By the 1890s, northern whites embraced a glorified view of the South and a sentimental perspective on postwar unity, transforming sectional tensions into a shared cultural narrative.