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Irving Simpson21 April 2011History 141Ning Site Power Point

Major Themes concerning the Americas in the 19th Century•Immigration•Expansion and the Railroads•Little Ice Age•Louisiana Purchase•Vanishing Frontier•Southern Cotton•Lincoln and McClellan•Battle of Antietam•Emancipation Proclamation

New York Street Scene late 19th Century

Golden Spike, joining East and West, 10 May 1869, Promontory Summit Utah

Winter Landscape with Iceskaters, 1608, Hendrick Avercamp

Vanishing Frontier• The aristocratic explorer, ethnologist, and naturalist, Prince

Alexander Philipp Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied, and Swiss artist and painter of the American West, Karl Bodmer, ventured up the Missouri River to study and document the nature and native inhabitants of the American West– 1832 through 1834– Bodmer produced many paintings and drawings and is

considered one of the finest illustrators of the American West

– Prince Max collected many specimens and published an account of his studies of environment and native inhabitants

• Even at the time of their expedition, the frontier was becoming more and more “civilized” and the native populations were becoming less and less free and independent– Many natives died of introduced diseases

• High mortality rates from smallpox, chicken pox , and measles

• Epidemic diseases were the most significant to decreasing the numbers of native populations

– White settlement moved natives off their traditional lands– Indian Wars and outright genocide led to death and

disruption• Prince Max and Bodmer documented a time between early

colonization and nearly complete subjugation of the native population– Surviving natives were trying to hold on to their

traditional ways and attire• Beautifully rendered portraits of natives from

many tribes in traditional dress• Collection of a multitude of artifacts from a

disappearing way of life– The last of the Indian Wars and strong governmental

control and oppression would nearly wipe out the traditional way of life within fifty to sixty years

Karl Bodmer portait of Plains Indian

Early mechanized textile mill

Southern Cotton• Technological advancement during the industrial revolution

helped to boost the manufacture of cotton into fabric– Cotton textile became Britain’s leading export– The American South comes to replace India as a

major supplier of raw cotton by the 1840’s– The leading occupation of slaves in the United States

became the cultivation and harvesting of cotton• Cotton was used as a political tool by the Confederate

government during the American Civil War– Cotton exports were strongly reduced

• By a Union blockade• By Confederate politicians

– Theory was that Britain would back the Confederate cause in order to assure the supply of cotton to British industry• Many Britons supported the Confederate

States, in some cases for economic reasons• The Confederacy was in need of income to

fund the war effort• British diplomacy was careful not to alienate

the Union as they might very well win the war• Britain risked war with the Union if it backed

the Confederacy and risked its significant commerce with the North

• In the end, the pro-slavery South did not endear itself to the anti-slavery policies of Britain and the abolitionist sentiments of the British majority

Cotton pickers in the field

Lincoln and McClellan after Antietam

Battle of Antietam by Thure de Thulstrup

Draft reading of Emancipation Proclamation with cabinet