The history of immigration thrusts several questions forward. First, where does migration begin? As its geographical settings changed, so did migration. Second, when does migration arise? Even though migrations copied from one another, immigrants developed movements that responded to the challenges of specific times. Third, what did immigration change? This last question runs through our … Continued
This seminar is an exploration of how the two great events in nineteenth-century American history, the acquisition of 1.2 million square miles of western territory and the Civil War, created what was essentially a new nation.
In the decades after the Civil War the growth of urban markets, the creation of an efficient distribution system, the development of a highly motivated work force, and the availability of vast amounts of capital transformed the agricultural, craft-centered economy of the United States into a modern industrial powerhouse. But with this growth came instability. … Continued
While many Americans (and many historians) present a narrative in which voting rights expanded in the early 19th century, then were retracted for African-American men in the 1880s, the history of disfranchisement demonstrates the long history of technical manipulation of voter registration, a practice that continues to shape voting rights in the United States. In … Continued