Question

Despite being one of the longest periods of prolonged peace, the late-19th century was one of the bloodiest in American history. What role did violence play in shaping conflicts in this period?

Answer 1

In many ways, this was a lawless era. Lynchings in the south, shootouts in the west, corruption in the cities.

Answer 2

What exactly does it mean for "violence to shape conflicts"? Does it mean because of violence, things turned out the way that they are now?

Answer 3

A good example of how violence shapes conflicts is to compare the United Kingdom with the United States. I assume there are similar amounts of conflict in these two countries. However, the U.K. has 724 murders per 100,000 while the U.S. has 15,241 per 100,000.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/10/world-murder-rate-unodc

In a way I agree. The lawlessness of 150 years ago set a pattern for some of the violence we see today.