Which States Did Immigrants Live In? Census of 1860

Profitability was not the problem. And there was still Texas to develop.
The problem was political. Freedom, money wages, and improving standards of living made a system that depended on slave pens, whips, chains and violence, noticeably anachronistic.
Freedom was working.
You and I see it as "noticeably anachronistic". In 1860, many in the northern states considered it wrong, but few were outright abolitionists- estimates are that abolitionists in northern states made up less than 15% of the population.
Sadly, all too many in the southern, slave-holding states deluded themselves into believing slavery was the 'Christian thing to do'....
 
They got caught in a Faustian bargain. Slavery was making them wealthy. They wanted it to be 1858 forever, and that is not how things work.
 
The Irish were radicalized by the hardship of the potato famine and the repression of English.
The German immigrants were nearly Socialists, or actually Communists.
Freedom had a direct, personal meaning for both groups, who were flooding the growth areas of the Midwest.
Thanks for your response.
"Radicalized" is generally used to describe causing someone becoming supportive of extreme political views. If by "radicalized" you mean motivated to disrupt one's life, 'pick up' and go elsewhere, I agree with your assessment as it pertains to the Irish. The Irish migration of the early 19th century was far less because of politics than because of empty stomachs. Certainly Irish immigrants brought with them their distaste for their will for self-determination that can be traced back to at least Henry II.
Though some Germans were politically motivated to emigrate from their homelands, few were Marxists of any variety. Marx was popular among intellectuals, but the vast majority wanted to satisfy the more basic instinct of feeding their families.
 
Thanks for your response.
"Radicalized" is generally used to describe causing someone becoming supportive of extreme political views. If by "radicalized" you mean motivated to disrupt one's life, 'pick up' and go elsewhere, I agree with your assessment as it pertains to the Irish. The Irish migration of the early 19th century was far less because of politics than because of empty stomachs. Certainly Irish immigrants brought with them their distaste for their will for self-determination that can be traced back to at least Henry II.
Though some Germans were politically motivated to emigrate from their homelands, few were Marxists of any variety. Marx was popular among intellectuals, but the vast majority wanted to satisfy the more basic instinct of feeding their families.
My grandmother's father ran a Socialist paper in Milwaukee. And she was a little left of FDR.
I think the Germans saw chance to refight the 1848 revolution, and this time, win.
They were instrumental in Missouri, and suffered horribly in Texas.
 
When Lincoln spoke of democracy's last chance, he wasn't making it up. I think he was speaking to the immigrants.
 
Mr. Young's chart is tremendous.
There you see it. California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York.
These states were taking over the nation. Virginia was not the power broker. And South Carolina was a small state in a corner of the continent.
And the 1840's and 1850's were just the start.
 
Thanks for your response.
"Radicalized" is generally used to describe causing someone becoming supportive of extreme political views. If by "radicalized" you mean motivated to disrupt one's life, 'pick up' and go elsewhere, I agree with your assessment as it pertains to the Irish. The Irish migration of the early 19th century was far less because of politics than because of empty stomachs. Certainly Irish immigrants brought with them their distaste for their will for self-determination that can be traced back to at least Henry II.
Though some Germans were politically motivated to emigrate from their homelands, few were Marxists of any variety. Marx was popular among intellectuals, but the vast majority wanted to satisfy the more basic instinct of feeding their families.
There was very strong political appeal towards workers' rights within the German people coming to America. They were generally well educated and many were skilled tradesman. The idea of unfair economic competition from unpaid slave labor was one of their motivations against African slavery. This idea would soon manifest itself into the Union movement and during the mid-19th century was an appeal of Marxist philosophy. Marxism was ruthlessly and effectively tramped down in Prussia, but not in the other German ethnic States of Europe, from which the bulk of America's German immigrants originated.
 
They are influenced by multiple factors, including the existence of passenger service from particular European ports to particular American ports.
That is so true! It's easy to forget that New York was not the only entry point for immigrants. My own German and Irish ancestors came in (in the 1870s) by way of the Great Lakes (not sure which port) and Texas (Port of Galveston).
 
I've never heard that large numbers of Scots and Irish immigrants enlisted in the Confederate cause. However, it is true that the CS Army contained large numbers of Americans of Scots and Irish descent.
That's correct. All things Celtic are hot properties these days, and as a result southerners' cultural affiliation with those groups is somewhat overstated right now; they had been in North America for at least two or three generations. That's different from (say) Irish and German immigrants in (mostly) the Northeast, who had flooding into the United States in just to two decades before the war.
 
My grandmother's father ran a Socialist paper in Milwaukee. And she was a little left of FDR.
I think the Germans saw chance to refight the 1848 revolution, and this time, win.
They were instrumental in Missouri, and suffered horribly in Texas.
Bob, you simply must read the Owen Parry hexalogy of Civil War novels starring fictional Welsh immigrant Abel Jones as narrator. One of the recurring characters (although her biggest role is in the first one) is Abel's landlady, Frau Scheutzengel, who is a "48er," a devotee of the European revolutions of 1848, and indeed a big fan of Marx. And in #4 in the series, Honor's Kingdom, set mostly in England, Herr Marx himself makes an appearance.
 
If you want to contact me directly, I can see what I can find. I have the immigration lists through 1871, and might be able to access information elsewhere.
 
The physical separation of the sections was declining rapidly.
The railroad was eclipsing the steamship. The transcontinental railroad was coming. The telegraph, an electrical device, had reached Sacramento.
The ability of the South to survive as a separate enclave in the nation was declining rapidly.
It was the age of printing, and newspapers were everywhere.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a major political novel.
The dream, that the South could survive as an independent nation sitting next to the closest thing to a democracy in the world, did not make sense.
Thanks for your reply.
(Not sure why you separate your responses as you do: why not combine them?)
Everything you say is true- so long as you stay with fact and context.
The railroad was eclipsing the steamship.
Yes, in both the north and the south. The Civil War significantly accelerated the development of the railroads in the north, while southern railroads-though significantly damaged- were slowly rebuilt as better systems.
The idea of a transcontinental railroad originated well before the war. Southerners tried desperately to have such a line built across the southern US, increasing the likelihood of expanding slavery into the southwest as well as providing financial benefits to cities along the route from Georgia through Louisiana and Texas. Any chance of that happening ended with the Civil War, which decided the eventual route farther north.
The ability of the South to survive as a separate enclave in the nation was declining rapidly.
This seems like another way of saying secession wasn't well thought-out. Few would disagree.
It was the age of printing, and newspapers were everywhere.
Even the south. So?
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a major political novel.
Indeed. But without secession and the ensuing war it would have had far less impact. The slave-holding states were not about to negotiate away their 'way of life'.
The dream, that the South could survive as an independent nation sitting next to the closest thing to a democracy in the world, did not make sense.
Certainly not to me. This seems to be a restatement of your similar, earlier "enclave" point.
But let's be clear: the United States has never been a "democracy". Nor was the Confederacy. In form, the Confederate government was similar to the US government. The form of government would have meant little had the south succeeded in forming a separate nation. Form of government has certainly not- by itself- caused the collapse of Canada or Mexico. Once independent, the CSA might be expected to do at least as well as those neighbors.
 
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