Was Baseball A Turning Point In American History

The Birth of Baseball Was a Turning Point in American History America’s Pastime will forever be the golden sport of baseball. The first baseball club, led by Alexander Cartwright, the New York Knickerbockers, was organized in Manhattan, New York, in the 1840s. The game gained popularity in the area, but before it could become a national sport, the Civil War started. The Civil War was the first event where baseball proved its worthiness to become America’s Pastime. As the Civil War started and ended, the sport lived on. When the North and South were heavily divided, baseball helped bring the country together. Although baseball did not have immediate popularity at the time of its creation, it still grew to be a morale-boosting solution to any

The theme of separation influenced both immensely. The Civil War arose because the North and South disagreed on the usage of slavery and states’ rights. It was a hard time for not only the young country, but also its citizens. Many families had to deal with separation, both physically and mentally. This type of distance caused a disconnection between family members. Eventually furthering a feeling of separation (Taylor). Unfortunately, it did not help that the war continued to drag on. The rivalry between the North and South restricted friendly confrontation or reconciliation. Similarly, baseball reflected that disconnected, beginning-of-the-Civil-War lifestyle. The sport was around for about twenty years before the Civil War even started. It only appealed to Irish and German immigrants “from [the] working- and middle-class urban communities” who wanted to “Americanize” (Brown). Baseball was popular during the decade before the Civil War, but not at a national scale. It was exclusive to teams from cities in the North and the rules varied from place to place (Brown). Just like the nation, baseball before the Civil War was distant and separated. Even though many places played the game, the rules differed, and it was exclusive to areas in the Northeast. Evidently, the sport and American life did not differ drastically. It would take the Civil War starting for Americans to realize baseball’s

It improved life for not only the soldiers but also the citizens at home, which, after the war, increased its popularity. The sport helped improve life for both the soldiers at camps and citizens at home. Baseball was an enjoyable and entertaining game for both the front line and the home front. Soldiers during the Civil War engaged in leisure activities to ease the monotonous camp life, and playing sports, like baseball, happened to be the most popular. It also improved the lives of soldiers in prison camps, who played every day they could. While on the northern home front, baseball continued to grow in popularity despite the war. The players who were not drafted participated in games that brought entertainment to the American people at home (Light). During the Civil War, baseball was able to be an activity to break the monotony of boring camp life for soldiers on the front lines. While being an activity that brought people together on the home front. The result of providing entertainment for people in America was baseball’s increase in popularity. Baseball had immense popularity in the North, but little in the South and the Confederate States. What helped the spread of baseball’s popularity in the South was Confederate soldiers watching Union soldiers play baseball in prisoner-of-war camps. Union and Confederate soldiers watched games together, despite the war they were at against each other. By 1863, baseball’s popularity