ABSTRACT
It was a blistering day on the plains of Missouri when a group of militiamen prepared for battle. Their "uniforms"—whatever clothes they wore to their regular jobs as farmers, storekeepers, doctors, and lawyers—grew soiled with dust and sweat as they loaded their weapons: inferior muskets and contraband stolen from riverboats destined for Union ports. While Union and Confederate soldiers fought the Civil War on distant fields, a different kind of battle raged in Missouri: a battle that saw a militia rise to protect its state against both Northern and Southern forces; a battle that saw a call for the state's governor to be hanged for treason. This chapter examines the role of newspapers in Missouri during the secession crisis, in an effort to answer the following questions. Some of them include what arguments were employed by the major newspapers in Missouri, either for or against secession? What pressure was exerted by newspapers in states that seceded earlier?.
