US Political Climate in 1860: Our Family History

Rheinheimergenealogypages
including Reinhard, Rheinheimer, Shively, and Stout

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When John came to America in 1860, the country was undergoing an unprecedented time of change.

According to historians, this included:

Railroad expansion

Population explosion from immigration
Industrialization of cities
Expansion of railroads
"Manifest Destiny"
Civil war (1861-1865)

Did John Rheinheimer know the political climate of America when he boarded a freighter to cross the Atlantic? The new country was expanding its influence and a violent power struggle was about to explode to determine the free or slave status of newly formed states in the west. But even if he was aware of the volatile conditions in America prior to coming, the poverty and instability of his homeland likely made it worth the risk.

State of the States in 1860

Civil War political cartoon
Left: "No peace without Abolition!"
Middle: "The Union must be preserved at all hazards! "
Right: "No peace without Separation!"

What about the civil war? Did the political and physical battles affect him only indirectly since the majority of the civil war took place in southern and border states and he was living in Holmes County, Ohio?

Did the influence of pacifist Amish Mennonites in his community sway his decision not to answer President Abraham Lincoln's April 1861 call for 75,000 volunteer citizen soldiers to suppress the southern states insurrection? We'll likely never know but the climate in which he found himself was unprecedented in American history.