The government of the United States of America (USA) has been faced with lots of challenges. These have compelled it to come with policies to address the perpetual demands of its citizens. However, in order to do this, it means that it should be flexible and ready to introduce new reforms. Some of the major incidences in the history of this country which has necessitated the government to interact are the Progressive movements, Reconstruction, the Great Depression of 1929 and the outbreak of World War II. Each of these came with different challenges which needed the government’s immediate and planned interventions to resolve (Jansen 161).
Obviously, the increasing modernity has been pushing the US citizens to pressurize the government to react. For instance, the plurality of this nation led to the introduction of the slave trade. After their exploitation, it reached a point when these slaves had to revolt. This forced the government to introduce new reforms. By 1870, the government had introduced a new law which protected the rights of the slaves. However, this led to the outbreak of Reconstruction which was fiercely opposed by the southern slave owners, but welcomed by the southern blacks.
During the outbreak of Great Depression in 1929, the government came up with new measures to make life bearable for the affected citizens. This was achieved by borrowing money from Canada and Britain so as to help in providing medical and educational services to the people. It was also a deliberate effort to protect the Americans from losing their jobs and promoting trade especially in Newfoundland. The same response was witnessed in 1940 after the outbreak of the World War II in which USA played an impartial role and never intervened in the infamous holocaust until the opportune time. All these actions were taken because they were deemed necessary for the progress of the country.
Works Cited
Jensen, Richard. "Democracy, Republicanism and Efficiency: The Values of American Politics, 1885–1930," in Byron Shafer and Anthony Badger, eds, Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775–2000 (University of Kansas Press, 2001) pp 149–180.
