An American Vendetta: A Story of Barbarism in the United States


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The phrase "The Hatfields and McCoys" conjures up images of feudal warfare and Appalachian backwardness even to this day. This is a sensationalized account of the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys along the mountainous border of Kentucky and West Virginia in the late 1800s. At the height of the feud in 1888, yellow journalist T. C. Crawford interviewed Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield in person at his headquarters in West Virginia. Crawford's stories were serialized in a New York newspaper and later published in book form.

The accounts of the Hatfields and McCoys led to the still-common, unfair stereotype of the ignorant, backward, trigger-happy mountaineer. While the violence in the Wild West was romanticized, the violence in the Appalachians was vilified and exaggerated. The resulting sentiment was that the mountain folk needed civilizing, which the railroad and coal mining capitalists were eager to provide . . . in exchange for their land, autonomy, and generally happy way of life. (Summary by TriciaG)

NOTE: There are two chapters named "Chapter III" and no Chapter V in this book. The two chapter 3s have been labeled as Chapter IIIa and IIIb. (3 hr 41 min)

Chapters

Preface 2:51 Read by John
Chapter I 3:15 Read by John
Chapter II 8:22 Read by John
Chapter IIIa, Part 1 9:48 Read by Jessica Hendra
Chapter IIIa, Part 2 7:47 Read by Linda Johnson
Chapter IIIa, Part 3 8:47 Read by vickivm
Chapter IIIb 8:47 Read by Ciufi Galeazzi
Chapter IV, Part 1 7:49 Read by Lector1
Chapter IV, Part 2 10:52 Read by Lector1
Chapter VI, Part 1 13:19 Read by Ciufi Galeazzi
Chapter VI, Part 2 9:32 Read by Ciufi Galeazzi
Chapter VII 6:32 Read by vickivm
Chapter VIII 13:04 Read by Linda Johnson
Chapter IX 12:26 Read by Linda Johnson
Chapter X 14:34 Read by Linda Johnson
Chapter XI, Part 1 16:00 Read by Phil Aldred
Chapter XI, Part 2 14:45 Read by vickivm
Chapter XI, Part 3 14:49 Read by vickivm
Chapter XI, Part 4 10:24 Read by Graham McMillan
Chapter XI, Part 5 20:57 Read by Phil Aldred
Appendix 7:10 Read by Metallirat