Violence and American Statebuilding, 1860-1895

Theorists of the American state have neglected how private forms of violence—frontier marauders, corporate militias, and lynching communities—have established and maintained US government power at the local, state, and national level. This dissertation’s three case studies correct that tendency. They explore how American statebuilders deployed, sanctioned, or turned a blind eye toward private actors conducting violence that aligned with overarching state priorities including territorial expansion, industrial discipline, and the generation of racial order. The dissertation narrates an ideological and institutional story centred on ascertaining whether the US was invested in maintaining a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence, per the theory of Max Weber, or whether it represented a different kind of state entirely. Its answer rests in the latter camp: the US was not a Weberian state and demands a novel theory of violence grounded in historical research.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Wood, Hugh

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gerstle, gary

• American Political Development
• Statebuilding
• Violence

Licence

• https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/c3dbaade-81d3-4b8b-9937-8052f3cee73b/download
• http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.129179

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/401289