Notes Lectures History & Politics II
Semester 2 2024-2025
Week 1: Westward expansion after 1865
From a Republic to an empire?
After the civil war, US territory, population, and economy all expanded over the course of the decades.
By 1920, the US was a great power that directly influenced the outcome of the First World War.
Political institutions developed and were adapted to new circumstances, including the expanding size
and worldwide influence of the US
Westward expansion after 1865: general overview
Topics in US history of the late 19th century: post-civil war ‘reunification’; reconstruction in the South
abandoned; growth on (almost) every front – also territorial expansion; an era of unbridled
capitalism
Westward expansion before the civil war paved the way for post-war expansion: territory in American
hands would be transformed toward statehood.
The population of these territories weren’t large by any means. Westward expansion starting in the late
19th century led to rapid expansion of these populations:
Land rush westward: after territories were transformed into states, people began migrating in the
hope of obtaining land and better opportunities for themselves and their families. The west gained an
almost. The west gained an almost mythical status. – very romanticized image
brings white Americans into conflict with native Americans in order to extract materials from the
land or obtain it for farming etc.
Comparison to Canada
In many respects, American and Canadian westward expansion are similar: marked by economic and
imperial considerations. Around the mid-1850s, most white Canadians lived in the most eastern part of
the country.
Biggest difference: western territory ‘Rupert’s Land’ was corporate, held by Hudson’s Bay, who saw
it in their own biggest interest to upkeep good relations with natives. – keen to prevent westward
migration to avoid conflict. ‘mild west’ instead of the American ‘wild west’
Eventually, Canadian population does start to move westward, but at a much slower rate. Canadian
expansionism had a very different overall process.
New interpretations
Imperial encounters: how has westward expansion and expansionist policy impacted native
peoples?
Incredible high cost of the discourse around manifest destiny, the idea that natives are
primitive and uncivilized, and reservation policy.
, duty to ‘civilize’ native Americans through suppression, erasure and extermination of
peoples and cultures in e.g. education
ideas that are later also applied in American expansion outside of their own continent (e.g. The
Philippines)
Looking at the impact of westward expansion on the natural environment. – e.g. looking at
battles over control over water. These kind of issues were of high importance to the federal
and state governments.
Altering the national environment to accommodate what white Americans were seeking in the
western landscape.
=> !Far-reaching role of government in shaping the west, motivated by political and economic
considerations.
Week 2: The Gilded Age, a tale of today?
The Gilded Age is an age of obsession with riches in American culture. In a more practical sense, this
meant rampant economic expansion.
The commercial, capitalist economy started to fully replace the sustenance, small-scale agriculture
economy.
Gilded means covered thinly with gold. – meaning: gold on the surface only! This is immediately how
the term was coined by Twain and Warner.
Capitalism?
Capital = money, but money with a specific purpose of reinvestment.
Production profits production
The US government in this age starts to represent the interests of the biggest capitalists of the country.
It made room to accommodate private businesses, helping them generate capital as efficiently as
possible.
Influence of these companies! – lobbying
Laissez-faire approach: free market, not involving the state in the market
Beneath the gilding
Rise of economic expansionism went hand in hand with the rise of an impoverished
disenfranchised working class, with the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few who
were able to manipulate the state.
Impoverishment of farmers. Farms are starting to run quite similar to factories.
Exploitation and discrimination of African Americans in new ways. – also in legislation.
The age of industrialists, or of the ‘rubber barons’
A tale of today?
Semester 2 2024-2025
Week 1: Westward expansion after 1865
From a Republic to an empire?
After the civil war, US territory, population, and economy all expanded over the course of the decades.
By 1920, the US was a great power that directly influenced the outcome of the First World War.
Political institutions developed and were adapted to new circumstances, including the expanding size
and worldwide influence of the US
Westward expansion after 1865: general overview
Topics in US history of the late 19th century: post-civil war ‘reunification’; reconstruction in the South
abandoned; growth on (almost) every front – also territorial expansion; an era of unbridled
capitalism
Westward expansion before the civil war paved the way for post-war expansion: territory in American
hands would be transformed toward statehood.
The population of these territories weren’t large by any means. Westward expansion starting in the late
19th century led to rapid expansion of these populations:
Land rush westward: after territories were transformed into states, people began migrating in the
hope of obtaining land and better opportunities for themselves and their families. The west gained an
almost. The west gained an almost mythical status. – very romanticized image
brings white Americans into conflict with native Americans in order to extract materials from the
land or obtain it for farming etc.
Comparison to Canada
In many respects, American and Canadian westward expansion are similar: marked by economic and
imperial considerations. Around the mid-1850s, most white Canadians lived in the most eastern part of
the country.
Biggest difference: western territory ‘Rupert’s Land’ was corporate, held by Hudson’s Bay, who saw
it in their own biggest interest to upkeep good relations with natives. – keen to prevent westward
migration to avoid conflict. ‘mild west’ instead of the American ‘wild west’
Eventually, Canadian population does start to move westward, but at a much slower rate. Canadian
expansionism had a very different overall process.
New interpretations
Imperial encounters: how has westward expansion and expansionist policy impacted native
peoples?
Incredible high cost of the discourse around manifest destiny, the idea that natives are
primitive and uncivilized, and reservation policy.
, duty to ‘civilize’ native Americans through suppression, erasure and extermination of
peoples and cultures in e.g. education
ideas that are later also applied in American expansion outside of their own continent (e.g. The
Philippines)
Looking at the impact of westward expansion on the natural environment. – e.g. looking at
battles over control over water. These kind of issues were of high importance to the federal
and state governments.
Altering the national environment to accommodate what white Americans were seeking in the
western landscape.
=> !Far-reaching role of government in shaping the west, motivated by political and economic
considerations.
Week 2: The Gilded Age, a tale of today?
The Gilded Age is an age of obsession with riches in American culture. In a more practical sense, this
meant rampant economic expansion.
The commercial, capitalist economy started to fully replace the sustenance, small-scale agriculture
economy.
Gilded means covered thinly with gold. – meaning: gold on the surface only! This is immediately how
the term was coined by Twain and Warner.
Capitalism?
Capital = money, but money with a specific purpose of reinvestment.
Production profits production
The US government in this age starts to represent the interests of the biggest capitalists of the country.
It made room to accommodate private businesses, helping them generate capital as efficiently as
possible.
Influence of these companies! – lobbying
Laissez-faire approach: free market, not involving the state in the market
Beneath the gilding
Rise of economic expansionism went hand in hand with the rise of an impoverished
disenfranchised working class, with the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few who
were able to manipulate the state.
Impoverishment of farmers. Farms are starting to run quite similar to factories.
Exploitation and discrimination of African Americans in new ways. – also in legislation.
The age of industrialists, or of the ‘rubber barons’
A tale of today?
