A History of White Manliness, As Told by Facial Hair

Even a cursory study of 19th century American History, especially during the Civil War era, will demonstrate the period as one of epic facial hair. Take Valentine Tapley for example:

                                                                                  (Franklin's Opus)

Tapley, a Missouri Democrat, swore that he would never shave again if Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. True to his word, Tapley died in 1910 with a beard more than twelve feet long.

Recently, The Atlantic ran a story about the history of facial hair in 19th century America. While not every beard of the era was as explicitly political as Tapley's, the author, a Penn State doctoral candidate in History and Women's Studies, contends that the widespread embrace of facial hair grew from a concern about the increasing influence of African American barbers. Beards eventually became a "manly appendage" as a show of dominance against the growing women's rights movement and in military campaigns against foreigners and Native Americans.

Check out the article. Do you buy that the rise of facial hair was a "symbol that set white American men apart from smooth-faced foreigners as well as powerful women?" How can trends in appearance shape our thinking about history?

Special thanks to Professor Giesberg for sharing this article.