Conclusions
This book concludes with a discussion of the ways that America offered Italians an outlook on a wider range of possible futures, most of which were set in conditions that stood in stark contrast to Italy's own experiences. It examines the connection between the American Civil War and the Unification of Italy, noting how the Italians' experience of that war helped them to make the experience of their own Unification meaningful. It also describes the sudden change in Italian attitudes toward American modernity during the finesecolo, which coincided with the start of Italian mass migration to the United States. Finally, it considers how the assassination of Abraham Lincoln transformed political culture in the United States and views the event as a final example of cross-Atlantic exchange that illustrates how Italians explored what they knew about America for their own purposes, without having to imitate foreign prescriptions.