Why has American society developed so violently?

Authors Avatar
Why has American society developed so violently?

Violence in American society is a vast topic starting at its birth in the 1776 Revolution and continuing to the present day. Despite the diversity of each period of violence there are common features that resurface in each one. The use of violence to found the nation and also to preserve it in Civil War, legitimatised it with the belief that "violence in a good cause pays"[1]. In many ways this accounts for the spill over of violence into society in the countless hostilities including whites against blacks and also Indians, struggles of labour against industrialists, clashes of religious and ethnic factions and also conflicts of ideologies. Violence has appeared on both the extreme right and left and the overriding factor in all cases seems to be a fear of the unknown, whether it is fear of the alien, his religion, his ideology or of change in the status quo.

The first group to arise, that made use of violence to achieve its aims, was the nativists. The term nativism is broad in scope covering hostility and violence against un-American people including Catholics, Native Indians, Irish, Jews and Orientals. It also covers violence against foreign ideologies such as communism, mostly seen in the two Red Scares (1920's and 1950's). Although nativism changed its features and the context of each crusade of persecution was different, the underlying message remained the same. Peoples and ideologies were intruders into the promised land of America threatening its paradise and all that it stood for. In many Americans' eyes they stood for disorder and were scapegoats for all the political, economic and social instability/change that was occurring. And they were prepared to use violence to stop them.

One group of nativists whose violence has been well documented was that campaigning against the "alien church"[2] of Catholicism. The revolution diminished much of the early Anti-Catholicism but violence soon reared its head again with the number of Catholics increasing through immigration. The burning of the Ursuline Convent in 1834 by a mob of Protestants was one of the first violent incidents. Many Catholics were also Irish, adding fuel to the nativists' beliefs that foreigners were organising all kinds of overthrow plots. Scenes of great rioting occurred between nativists and Irish Catholics, particularly in Philadelphia in the 1840's. Jews, Germans and also people from the Far East also found themselves persecuted. In the case of Jews, violence was often due to economic jealousy, whilst in the case of the Orientals it was commonly racist. Often people did not like the cultural heritage these groups brought and the fear of the alien brought violence.

These events however also have to be viewed in context as the times themselves were generally very violent. There were attacks on abolitionist leaders, and Mormons as well as urban riots in places like New Yorkwhere gangs embarked on murderous battles. Violence was indeed the tool of the day, and therefore was perhaps seen as a legitimate weapon especially if used at a low-level for a conservative cause. But the strand of American superiority and desire to resist the tide of change brought by vast numbers of immigrants, is also very obvious. By the 1850's this tide of nativism was swiftly divided with the advent of another cause - slavery.
Join now!


Nativism was also evident in conflicts with the Native Americans, marked by often intense violence, continuing from 1607 for more than 300 years. More so than the hostility to immigrants, the hostility to Native Americans was characterised by a view of US superiority and domination. Initially a scientific case was put for Anglo-Saxon superiority but that diminished with the progress of science in the 19th century. It was racial prejudice and greed that had a brutalising influence on the UScharacter and pushed them to take rich land from the Indians, move them from place to place and also ...

This is a preview of the whole essay