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United States

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once referred to in the plural, now being increasingly referred to in the singular

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a process of the various parts through expansion

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while Japan and Germany integrated old, feudal parts into something new

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the United States, Canada and Brazil had different ambitions

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they were the products of something new

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they were not old feudal remnants

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what they did have was a frontier

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most of the populations were hemmed in and close to coastal regions

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were old, maritime colonies

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the opening up of the hinterlands and internal frontiers allowed these new areas of territorial expansion to be amalgamated to the older maritime colonies

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in this way, frontier expansion enabled the creation of new nations

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what did this ecological windfall look like from the frontier itself

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the land of opportunity

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Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889

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land grabbers were released to rush out and stake claims to lands

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an opportunity to expand farming

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the farmer almost becoming the icon of the nation builder to fan out across these new territorial regions

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1800-1860, the number of U.S. farmers grew by 700%

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an agrarian model of expansion

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expansion was dependent on actions of the government

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1803 Thomas Jefferson acquired from France the territories of France

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in some cases, expansion came only through conquest

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at the expense of indigenous peoples

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at the expense of adjacent states

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had difficulty defending themselves

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Southwest of United States

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in any case frontier expansion meant

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eviction, dislocation, or containment in reservations of incumbent populations

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the people who were there before the land grabbing began

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it was difficult and there was little interest in integrating those that were met into the system

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this particularly effected the fate of American Indians and Mexicans

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this expansion process as reinforced by technological changes

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1834 The Reaper

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Cyrus McCormick

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very popularly sold after 1855

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1847 John Deere Plow: first all-steel plow

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made commercial agriculture feasible

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there was a whole set of innovations surrounding the plow that were important for opening up frontier lands

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made frontier lands commercially viable

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1860 The Combine Reaper/Harvester

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1920 horses began to be replaced by tractors

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entire cities would build on the backs of this process of mechanization of agriculture

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territories which were once hinterlands were now producing goods which were being shipped nationally and internationally

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city of Chicago

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came economically important through

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Erie Canal

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railroads

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became a hub for this newly expanding territorial empire

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decline of agrarian self-sufficiency

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more and more food production made by farmers with no intention of eating the food themselves

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1820, 80% of the food production was consumed by rural populations

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by 1870, 60%

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could feed growing urban population

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became producer of foods for foreign markets

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these kinds of processes were occurring also in Canada, Brazil and Argentina

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number of farmers

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1800: 600,000

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1850: 1,800,000

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1870: 3,130,000

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productivity was also increasing

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many immigrants being attracted

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expanding economy

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took advantage of these new opportunities, particularly after 1862 Homestead Act

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any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land

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state played a very important roll

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acquires land

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declares land laws

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built public schools

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led to a national identity

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overcoming internal, regional, often linguistic and religious differences

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there were minorities who were not allowed to participate

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Indians

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Mexicans

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slaves

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two divergent models of how this frontier expansion would occur

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1. one based on free labor

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2. one based on slavery

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the expansion westward could not resolve this fundamental difference

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helped put the country on a collision course to civil war

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once the war was over, the country could create one military machine

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pacify the remaining areas of frontier of resistance into corporation into the republic

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the army used in the Civil War could not be redeployed to the West

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leading to the defeat of the perennial threats to Westward expansion

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1840 Comanche Raid

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Comanches often resisted being incorporated into the United States

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wars against the Comanches accelerated into the 1840s

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led to a quasi military occupation and mediation which eventually brought the Comanches under United States authority

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military also become the occupying force in the South

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Freedman's Bureau as National-builder

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U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, popularly known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in 1865 by Congress to help former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War

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these developments in the United States echoes worldwide nation building

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new models of inclusion and exclusion

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Darwin is referring to our common origins but everywhere there is nation building

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internal integration through language, political institutions and schools

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to overcome the lines that segregated peoples within languages

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but inscribing lines which separated nations with other nations

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often using warfare as an instrument to build these new national identities

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states makes war, and war makes nations

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created a new and potent model for political identities, a feature of the global system that did not exist in 1750