In 1815, Native Americans dominated the continental untied states, however the union victory 1865 America was no longer obsessed with the North and South sectioned disputes as it now focused on the Native American population, this marked a pivotal changed for the lives of Native American. By 1917 the Native Americans were largely removed and continued to live on reservation, this shows the 1865 was not a constructive turning point for Native Americans. ‘For the Indian, the American dream was a nightmare…confinement instead of freedom‘. - H. Evans this quote emphasises the fact that it completely transformed their lives into being more isolated and eliminated. However the Indian removal act of 1830, an exclusion of native Americans for them to left permanently free in an area were no one expected white settles to pierce. This Act was before the Civil War therefore there was a progressive focus on Native Americans, as a result the union victory did not develop Native American lives it was just a continuation. In the 1870’s the discovery of gold in the Dakota hill drew numerous white settles in the territory and the US army did nothing to protect the Indians, thus it could be argued that after the Civil war America was being more orientated to develop the country and the Native American needs were neglected , therefore the Union victory was not seen as a turning point for Native American in fact it was worsening their lives for example the destruction of the buffalos in 1865 led to serious setback for the Native Americans, the construction of railroads led to the hunting of the buffalos over 4, 000 buffalo were killed, it was a significant change for America however it did not develop the lives of native Americans.
In 1815 most Americans lived in the states along the east coast, by 1917 the settlers had reached the Pacific Ocean and settled the entire continent. The civil war wasn’t necessarily directly linked to this but a victorious Union promoted westward expansion and attracted more settles to push west, therefore the civil war can be seen as a turning point. ‘Transcontinental Railroads made modern America‘- Simon Scharma, this quote relates to the railroads being a contributing factor of westward expansion and creating America, the Pacific Railway Act was set in 1862 before the Civil War, but measures for Railways was already estimated before the Civil war which was catalyst to unify the Union only during and after the civil war it may be accelerated but did not change enough for it to be a turning point. As a united government America had more confidence to push settlers westward and was promoting it more. Evidence such as the Homestead Act of 1862 shows the support for settlers and developing westward expansion. Although by 1848 the population of California rose from 15,000 to 100,000 this suggests that before the civil war migration and the westward expansion was triggered, this illustrates that the civil war can be seen as a significant transformation for America but not as a major turning point in migration, clearly migration and westward expansion was developing before the union victory.
Furthermore the American historian Turner argues in 1893 that the official closing of the frontier in 1890 marked a huge turning point for America, American ‘exceptionalism’ have been attracted to the idea of a frontier mentality affecting Americans social and political attitudes. However Turners Theory did overlook the vast diversity of cultures and background that were in Western America, and mainly focused on American values, harsh individualism, unrestricted economic and believing in ‘manifest destiny’. Therefore if Turners Theory was correct, then there must have been a significant change detected in US history which would mark 1890 as a Turning point.
The development of immigration in America was changed substantially before the Civil war. The American WASP society greatly changed by 1817 as a variety of immigrants arrived. Alternatively the union victory is again not directly associated with immigration therefore it cannot be seen as a turning point, though it could be argued that a reunited USA attracted a great number of immigrations. European countries where the main immigrants that were entering America such as: Germany, England, Ireland and Switzerland. For example, during 1841-1850 the numbers of German immigrants were 434,626 and during 1851-1860 this rose to 951,667 before the civil war. This boosted the economic growth and majority of the immigrants were more determined to seek opportunities in America before the Union victory, but the number of German immigrants rose even more after the Union Victory by 1890 1,452,970 settlers existed in America. So therefore it could be argued that the Union Victory showed a cohesive and reunited America that was likely to accelerate even more the growth of America economically which attracted even more immigrants
The industrialisation and urbanisation of America had reached its peak by the 1890’s. By 1900, the USA was producing 30% of the world’s manufactured goods and those employed in manufacturing, mining, construction and services had risen from four million to 18 million. This marks a turning point for the economic growth of America; the Victory of the North also fundamentally changed an agricultural North into an industrial North. The Civil War triumph inevitably played a key role in the economic expansion of the United States; however some would argue that it would be wrong to see it as the only key factor. The availability of capital for investment had already improved before the Civil War, the USA was almost self- sufficient in natural resources, a major increase in production was occurring due to the increase of population and immigration and the railroads was a stimulus improvement to the industrial development. Therefore the Civil War was contributing to the economic boost of America however there were other factors that were already occurring before the civil war which illustrates that all these significant improvements could be marked as a turning point including the Civil War.
The Civil War brought about a period of extraordinary growth and expansion of the American economy Historian Beard (1927) and Hacker (1940) claimed that the Civil war was the “Second American Revolution”. Certainly viewing the event fifty years later could mark it as a major turning point as America was the most powerful country fifty years later. In contrast another Historian Thomas Cochran (1961) published an article titled “Did the Civil war retard industrialization” He argues that the war had actually slowed the rate of industrial growth. The attempt of trying to boost the American Economic growth was not always successful after the Civil it brought problems, the depression of 1893-1897, 20% of workforce was unemployed, 16, 000 businesses closed and over 600 banks failing. This could fit to Cochran’s statement that the Civil war brought in problems that could have been an influence on slowing down the growth of American economy during that period.
By the 1890’s America developed in the most dominant and powerful Nation in the world. Arguably it was the consequences of the Union Victory which led to Americas succeeding interventions in foreign policy. This could be seen as a turning point as this development led to American actions which diverge considerably from these before the Civil war. The escalation of military interventions from 1898 is an evidence for it being a turning point. The war with Spain over Cuba marked a willingness to fight European powers that was lacking before 1865. Furthermore, American occupation of the Philippines marked a huge change and a clear break from the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which stressed that the United States interests lay only in the American continents, the policy clearly stated for America a non-involvement and non-interventions strategy, therefore the occupation of Philippines revealed that America is expanding even further from the mainland and European continent increasing economic trade and seeking more opportunities. However it could be argued that this did not necessary link to the union Victory as the time gap was over 30 years later where America enforced the escalation of military intervention, after it arose into a strong military force. But the American ambition arguably was triggered by the union victory revealing it 30 years later overseas.
In conclusion the union victory transformed America through factors that contributed massively, to the development of USA in the years 1815-1917. Distinctively the economic growth accelerated even more after the union victory it set out a decisive change of direction which developed into one of the worlds dominating economic power. However the Civil war was not the only sole factor that contributed to this, America was self sufficient. Therefore the Union Victory can be seen as a catalyst developing the economic growth of America after 1865, but can not be seen as a significant turning point.
The huge influx of immigration was boosted even more after the union victory which was a significant change for the American population including the successful achievement of westward expansion which was quickly completed after the Union Victory as America was more determined on expanding its nation. However it could be argued that the lives of Native Americans were even more worsened after the union victory as they were isolated and neglected, their nature was not accepted and their demands were not taken in consideration. Furthermore the lives of African American was not changed significantly perhaps by law they were given limited rights but it did not improve their social position it was just another form slavery continued. On the whole the union victory drastically changed Americas position in the world as being a unified nation itself was a significant change. It enabled America to expand and develop into the world’s most powerful country.
Bibliography
- Simon Schama: The American future 2002
- F tuner thesis 1893
- Thomas Cochran: ‘Did the civil war retard industrialization’1961
- Beard and Hacker: the rise of American Civilisation 1927
- For the Indian, the American dream was a nightmare…confinement instead of freedom.- H. Evans (historian)
