History 304 Readings Wiki

On February second of 1848, negotiators representing Mexico and the United States concluded the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican War and extended America's boundaries to the Pacific Ocean. (Guy)

By the mid-1820s, most of Spain's colonies in Central and South America had won independence after a series of long and bloody wars. This was a little after the United States issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1812, which pledged to prevent the reestablishment of empire in the New World. (Guy)

Fleche explains that Irish immigrants in the United States benefited from equality as white men which is something they did not experience in Ireland. As a result, many Irish immigrants in the Union embraced the Democrat party and were opposed to the abolition of slavery because “agitation of the issue” would destroy the republic. Fleche substantiates this by highlighting that John Mitchel, an Irish immigrant, argued in his newspaper that “northern republicanism threatened the legacy of 1776.” (Tiblin)

It was interesting how the US responded to the many revolutions of 1848. Many within the US saw these democratic movements as a natural continuation of momentum carried on by the American revolution. Although the nation did not offer any formal support to the European Nationalists, many Americans stated they would be willing to if called forth to do so. (Tanner Gillikin)

The revolution of 1848 had a strong impact on American politics. For abolitionists, they saw the battle for freedom in Europe as a way to raise questions on the matter of Slavery in the US. Frederick Douglas saw the struggle between the traditional feudal style government in Europe as having clear parallels with that of the institution of slavery in the US. He saw it as the prelude to the inevitable battle against the unjust institution. (Tanner Gillikin)

During the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons opened fire on a federal fort guarding the approaches to Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered after a thirty-three-hour bombardment, setting off the beginning of the Civil War and triggering Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas to succeed to the Confederacy. (Guy)

There were many similarities made between the events taking place in the U.S. during 1861 and the European revolutions during the 1840s. Many immigrants recognized these similarities, which factored into their secessionist or unionist stance. Many German immigrants believed “Slave power” echoed the power of the aristocracy in 1848 Europe; this caused Germans to be anti-slavery Unionists. Many Irish immigrants, however, viewed centralized government as an evil power; therefore, many Irish immigrants were anti-centralized government and therefore pro-secessionists. (Hank L)

It is interesting how so many veterans of the revolutions of 1848 in Europe took up sides in the Civil War so quickly and with such determination. On either side, they held strong feelings for liberty and independence. This is just another way that those revolutions of 1848 impacted the Civil War, with those who fought it on the fields. (Lexi)

While there were so many immigrants who did end up joining either the Union or the Confederacy, it is also important to keep in mind that there were many who did not support either. They had no strong feelings on the existence of slavery and sided with a more peaceful approach to this whole ordeal. (Lexi)

When reading this chapter, what struck me was how involved immigrants were on both sides of the war, and how different their ideologies were. In particular, how different groups could either sympathize with the South as a nation seeking independence, or with the North as a government fighting for human rights. (Caty)

German-Americans interpreted the sectional struggle in the United States as simply an outgrowth of European revolutionary conflicts. This was a wide view held by many European-Americans on both sides of the American Civil War. Those who had faces democratic revolutions in the Old World found the conflict in the New World to be strikingly similar. (Ezra C.)

The Germans and Irish in St. Louis, MO had differing opinions on the South's actions at the beginning of the Civil War. Although most Germans fought for the Union and many Irish fought for the Confederacy, there were certainly some who did not follow these lines. Germans drew parallels between slaveholders and the aristocracy they had fought to change in Europe. (Sarah M)

Fleche makes note of how Thomas F. Meagher, an Irish immigrant and founder of the Union’s Irish Brigade, sympathized with the south because of the equality that Irishmen benefited amongst other white men; However, he ultimately supported the Union because he believed that the Union could best resist Britain. Like John Mitchel, Thomas Meagher was weighing how to best preserve the rights that Irish immigrants were privileged to in the United States and had lacked under the British rule in Ireland. (Ian Tiblin)

Fleche talks about how different immigrant populations would’ve seen the revolutions of 1848 in the conflict in the U.S. As we discussed in class, the revolutions of ‘48 don’t map onto the conflict in the U.S. perfectly, so there is some room for immigrant groups to interpret it how they see fit. Fleche argues that Ireland sees themselves in the Confederacy, a separate culture held under nationalist rule, whereas the Germans support the U.S. because they see the south as a bunch of slave holding aristocrats that are an affront to republicanism. - Ewan H