today on the ancestral findings podcast what were your ancestors doing in the 1860s
the 1860s were a decade of change and innovation lots of old ways of doing things in the world
were being swept aside new inventions took their place in the world spotlight
and culture produced some amazing things we still appreciate today these are some of the
things your ancestors may have been doing in the intriguing 1860s [Music]
knowing what was going on in the world during this interesting decade will give you an idea of
the world in which your ancestors lived a world that affected and even shaped them in some ways
it helps you to get to know your ancestors better these are some of the highlights of the 1860s in
the united states and around the world that may have had an impact of some kind on the daily
lives and experiences of your 1860s ancestors the american civil war this is the most obvious
thing that went on during this decade it affected americans from all walks of life and no part of
the country or its territories was unaffected by it in some way the end of the war resulted
in the abolition of slavery reconstruction in the american south and the establishment of
american citizenship for african americans and the right to vote for african-american
males the social fabric of the country was forever altered by this event from the 1860s
abolition of serfdom in russia russia was the long holdout of the feudal surf system of society after
the end of the middle ages in europe it kept the surf system for a long time forcing people to work
on land owned by wealthy noblemen and women and to give most of the fruits of their labor to their
overlords in exchange for protection with its abolition in russia serfdom exited world society
the first transcontinental railroad railroad technology was connecting the world in new
ways like never before in the 1860s in this decade the first railroad that went from one
end of the north american continent to the other was built allowing for quicker safer
and easier travel for those migrating west the first transatlantic telegraph cable
while telegraph technology had been invented a decade prior the laying of the first telegraph
cable in the atlantic made communication between the united states and europe an almost instant
thing for the first time in history there was no longer any need to wait for weeks or months
to send a letter overseas and receive a reply this was a revolutionary step in global communications
inventions and discoveries the 1860s saw the invention of dynamite and the submarine
as well as the discoveries of helium and bright spectrum emission lines color photography was also
invented in this decade but was not widely used until almost a century later literature victor
hugo published his famous novel les miserables leo tolstoy published war and peace charles
dickens published great expectations and lewis carroll published alice's adventures in wonderland
the 1860s were a decade of change and innovation your ancestors probably availed themselves of at
least some of these new amenities and probably knew about the important world events going on at
the time now you know a bit more about this decade in which your 19th century ancestors lived [Music]
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