Chapter 13 Quiz: The Feud Mythology

Multiple Choice

1. What was Devil Anse Hatfield's primary economic activity in the 1870s and 1880s?

a) Subsistence farming b) Moonshine production c) Commercial timber operations d) Coal mining

2. The Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River was significant to the Hatfield-McCoy feud primarily because it:

a) Was the site of the original feud incident b) Formed the state boundary between West Virginia and Kentucky, creating jurisdictional conflicts c) Was the only source of drinking water for both families d) Was too dangerous to cross, preventing the families from communicating

3. Altina Waller's 1988 book Feud argued that the Hatfield-McCoy conflict was primarily about:

a) Religious differences between the two families b) Ancient Scottish clan traditions transported to America c) Land, timber, and political power during the transition to an industrial economy d) A romantic rivalry between members of the two families

4. Perry Cline's role in the Hatfield-McCoy feud is best described as:

a) A neutral mediator who tried to end the violence b) A federal marshal sent to enforce the law c) A McCoy relative and political operator who lost land to Devil Anse and campaigned to revive the feud d) A newspaper reporter who covered the violence

5. The French-Eversole and Martin-Tolliver feuds are significant because they:

a) Were more violent than the Hatfield-McCoy feud b) Show the same pattern of elite conflict over economic and political power during a period of transformation c) Involved the same families as the Hatfield-McCoy feud d) Were the only feuds that received newspaper coverage

6. T.C. Crawford's reporting on the Hatfield-McCoy feud for the New York World was shaped by:

a) Careful, months-long fieldwork and deep community relationships b) Preexisting expectations of mountain primitivism and the newspaper's need for sensational copy c) Interviews conducted exclusively with the McCoy family d) His own experience growing up in the Tug Fork Valley

7. According to this chapter, the "feuding hillbilly" stereotype served which of the following purposes?

a) Justifying the takeover of mountain land and resources by outside corporations b) Explaining Appalachian poverty as a product of character rather than economic exploitation c) Entertaining audiences who found mountain people amusing and exotic d) All of the above

8. The Appalachian feuds of the 1880s and 1890s were primarily conflicts among:

a) Impoverished subsistence farmers with nothing to lose b) Members of the local elite competing for land, political power, and economic advantage c) Rival religious denominations d) Union and Confederate veterans refighting the Civil War

9. The U.S. Supreme Court case Mahon v. Justice (1888) concerned:

a) Whether the Hatfield-McCoy feud was protected by the First Amendment b) Whether Kentucky could try prisoners seized in West Virginia regardless of how they were obtained c) Whether the Tug Fork was legally a state boundary d) Whether Devil Anse Hatfield could be pardoned by the West Virginia governor

10. The feuds in the Appalachian interior ended in the 1890s primarily because:

a) All the feudists died of old age b) The conditions that produced them — jurisdictional confusion, weak institutions, rapid economic change — stabilized as industrial control was established c) The federal government sent troops to enforce peace d) Both families signed a formal peace treaty

Short Answer

11. In two to three sentences, explain why the timing of the Hatfield-McCoy feud — coinciding with the arrival of railroads and land agents in the 1880s — is significant for understanding its causes.

12. What is the difference between describing the feuds as expressions of "mountain culture" and describing them as products of specific historical conditions? Why does this distinction matter for how we understand Appalachian people today?

Essay Question

13. Altina Waller argued that the Hatfield-McCoy feud was "not a relic of pre-modern savagery" but "a product of modernization itself." In a well-organized essay (500–750 words), explain what Waller meant by this argument and evaluate its persuasiveness using evidence from this chapter. Consider the roles of Devil Anse Hatfield, Perry Cline, the timber economy, the state boundary, and the newspaper coverage in your response.