HIS-105
America's Post-Civil War Growing Pains
Introduction
Between 1865 and 1900 in USA there was speedy progression in economic, industrial, and agricultural supremacy. Barney, (2006), estimated that the income of employees rose by 75% in the same period. 1865 is seen as the era where the country was united and dominant, having a strong federal government. Therefore, the turning point periods that would be selected for analysis in this paper are the reconstruction and gilded age. In their analysis highlights of why the eras were a turning point would also be explained.
The Reconstruction Era
It was a very important era symbolizing the unification of several States in the North American hemisphere. The period lasted between 1865 and 1877 and began after the civil war where numerous attempts were made to solve the stalemate that had arisen when the 11 confederate unions had been readmitted before the war broke out (Dickerson, 2003). The era can be approached into two ways where one way is the rebuilding era of the entire country that began in 1865 and ended in 1877; the second approach is the revolution of southern States between the years 1863 and 1877. In analyzing the second approach, it was seen that clashes between the congress and state persisted before 1865 until finally a year later in 1866 extreme republicans were able to liberate freed slave, control policies made, and depose former confederates from power. The coalition that was in power in the south drastically renewed the society, a feat that was made impossible by democrats who were conservative. The conservative democrats purported corruption on the part of republicans and used violence to hold on to power in all Northern States by 1877. Majority of southern whites were hostile towards the Northern and the free slaves were categorized as second class populaces.
“The era—reconstruction—is known to end at different times in USA, but federal reconstruction is specifically known to end in 1877 with the compromise” (Barney, 2006, p. 50). The compromise was an unofficial agreement after the 1876 presidential election. In the deal, republicans were to: remove federal soldiers from the three states—Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina; appoint at least a democrat in the cabinet run by Hayes; construction of a railroad connecting the south to the north; and policies and laws to help develop the south. Accordingly, the democrats were to only fulfill two demands which were: to accept the tenure of Hayes and Black rights (Dickerson, 2003). Reconstruction ended in a surprise as it was not predictable, the reason it ended at different states. Furthermore, after the compromise a period called Redemption surfaced where laws favoring whites were enacted. The laws were referred to as Jim Crow laws that resulted in segregation of Blacks and Whites in daily societal aspects such as transport, education, work, and even living conditions.
The Gilded Age
Also referred to as the progressive era, it spans between 1877 and 1918 where the US economy and its population grew rapidly. The term originated from an 1873 novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley, which signified a golden age (Barney, 2006). The era is well known for mushrooming of an up-to-date industrialized economy. The politics in the era is seen as a factor that enhanced the growth. The control of congress which switched between democrats and republicans was very intense. The competition resulted in passing of legislations that were unproductive. In 1881, the assassination of President Garfield resulted in formation of the Pendleton Act, which is designed to offer losers in an election certain seats in the government. The winner takes all system was thought to provide a motive for assassinations and infighting that resulted in un-governability in the nation.
In the decades between 1870 and 1880, the economy of US rapidly grew rapidly in terms of GDP, wealth, resources, companies, and employee wages. For instance, transportation and communication links were expanded and more created, with this resulting to increased food production such as wheat that recorded a 260% increase (Barney, 2006). Population changed from being rural based to urban based where they wanted to work in corporations. The trend continued where at the turn of the century in 1900, USA led as being top economy. The Western part of US also rapidly progressed because of the Gilead development. The Railways built made it possible for populations to move from crowded urban areas to settle in the west. The migration lead to the near extinction of the bison population and the displacement of natives such as the Fox and Sioux (Barney, 2006).
In 1893 there was an economic depression causing the folding of railways and bank failures marking the end of the Gilded age. The depression lasted five years and it was after which that activism and political reforms resulted marking the progressive era that ended in 1920.
Conclusion
The two eras are seen to result in revolution of political, industrial, and social systems of USA. It was seen that the turning points were all instigated by assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, then the president had signed the Confiscation Acts into law which was aimed at liberation of slaves. This served as a basis for revolution of equality in US social system. Therefore, if Lincoln had not been assassinated then equality between Blacks and Whites would be achieved quickly, and the two regions—North and South—would have been united sooner.
References
Barney, W.L. (2006). A companion of 19th Century America. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. Pp. 40-73
Dickerson, D.L. (2003). The Reconstruction era: primary documents on events from 1865 to 1877. Cincinati: Greenwood Publishing Company. Pp. 4+
