The American society today consists of people from all walks of life. Today’s American population is filled by Native Americans, black Americans and immigrants. We are going to look at the steady rise of the American society to what it is today. The three groups are responsible for sparking the rise of the American society. They had to suffer for America to move forward. A good example is the fact that the Native Indians lost their claim to land as the British invaded their lands. Then presidents of America made it illegal for them to own land. African Americans lived as slaves working more than 18 hours a day with almost zero pay so that the American economy and society could grow. That is not how the developed countries of today encourage their citizens to promote growth in the society.
American Indians were the native inhabitants of America. They used to live in peace and harmony thousands of years ago. The men were hunters and gatherers. They were charged with the responsibility of protecting the women and children. Women on the other hand were responsible for taking care of the children and the household at large. Their diet comprised of berries, wild animals and various birds. (Jaimes 45). Towards the 1900’s the Native Americans fought fierce battles trying to protect their ancestral land from foreigners who were now invading their once quiet lives. The various European imperial powers were fighting for a piece of North America which had become popular among them. Britain claimed the eastern part of present America as their protectorate. They soon found out it would be difficult to communicate with the more than 140 Native Indian tribes. The Native Indians played their part in ensuring the American population thrived. For example, they were the first persons to turn wild plants such as potatoes, beans, pumpkins, corn, and yams into edible crops that were suitable for farming and consumption. (Jaimes 52.) More than fifty percent of the total farm crops were grown by the native Indians before they were colonized by the British. Natural herbs used for medicinal purposes were also first used by the Native Indian population. The natives had also discovered ways on mining minerals such as coal, copper and lead long time ago. They could also make salt through evaporation. It’s quite evident now that Native Indians played a significant role in the growth of the American society. The saddest part is that various American presidents signed laws prohibiting native Indians from owning land. They were oppressing the Natives in their own country.
The growth of the American society was at the expense of the natives who had to conform to the new rules of their masters. (14)
In the 1890’s a group of farmers, middle class people and laborers formed a party called the peoples party. In essence, the Populist Party was for the poor because they felt shortchanged by the rich in the society. The corporate elite who were naturally capitalists in nature and had amassed a lot of wealth for themselves felt threatened by this new wave. Initially, America criticized European countries for the imperialist stands but soon enough it began practicing the same. Imperialist nations are those nations that try to expand the size of their territories either forcefully through wars or by coercing other countries to submit to their rule through political means. Imperialism in America was accelerated by American sugarcane planters who were seeking new lands to grow sugarcane. The new found land where they would now be growing sugarcane was Hawaii. An open door policy with was also developed with China. America was now trying to expand its influence abroad to distant lands.
The African American society began existing after the Africans were taken away from their homeland to work as slaves (Berlin 22). Most of them were required to work in the sugar plantations owned by the American government. The African American race began to exit as a result of rapes and also intermarriages between the Africans and the whites. The African and African American people were victims of segregation, racism, discrimination and oppression. The African American people provided the unskilled labor that was required in the sugar and cotton plantations (Berlin 25). The African American population had to suffer in order for the American society to grow. The Men worked in the tobacco and sugar plantations almost for nothing. The women were supposed to look after the white man’s children and take care of their bosses’ house.
The major immigrants around the 1880s to 1950s were the Europeans. This included the Jews, Italians, and other Europeans. The migration was encouraged because of the fact that the industrial revolution demanded huge amounts of skilled and unskilled labor (Martin 34). The immigrants also wanted to start life afresh way from their previous lives. The immigrants contributed heavily to the growth of America.
They immigrants were treated better than the natives or the black Americans. They all played a key role in the growth of the American Society to what it is today. The state was misusing its powers and forcing their citizens against their will to achieve growth. A better approach by the relevant authorities would have been to educate its citizens on the importance of growth in the society rather than forcing them to do what they felt was right and making them do it in inhuman ways. Slavery of the African Americans was a barbaric act to promote growth. The Natives should have been allowed to continue with their farming activities because their crops form the American food basket. By doing this, the American society would still have grown. Maybe the growth would have been faster and cost fewer lives than it did.
Works cited
Berlin, Ira. "From creole to African: Atlantic creoles and the origins of African-American society in mainland North America." The William and Mary Quarterly(1996): 251-288.
Jaimes, M. Annette, ed. The state of Native America: Genocide, colonization, and resistance. South End Press, 1992.
Martin, Philip L., and Elizabeth Midgley. "Immigration: shaping and reshaping America." (2003).
