‘Instructor’s Name’
‘Subject’
American History
1. US economy grew leaps and bounds during the post- civil war era, thanks to the new inventions and creation of new industries. This era was marked by tremendous expansion in industry and agriculture. The completion of railroads resulted in the expansion of settlements throughout the North American continent. White settlers crossed the Mississippi to mine and ranch, the Blacks migrated from Deep South to West in search of freedom and economic prospects, and the Chinese railroad workers completed the diversity in the population of the West.
However, this economic transformation did not benefit equally all the factions of the American society. African Americans, immigrants and Native Americans did not benefit from this economic boom, and their living conditions deteriorated further. The increased number of white settlers displaced the Native Americans from their homes, and they were confined to reservations with very few economic prospects.
The newly freed Blacks too experienced another form of economic slavery called sharecropping. They continued to depend on the wealthy white plantation owners, and were socially and economically oppressed. The South was devastated as a result of the civil war and the confederate currency became worthless. Other groups such as women and immigrants were faced with problems, such as partiality in wages and difficulty in finding employment.
People, have the right to expect their government to aid them in their hour of crisis. However, the people affected by the industrialization did not get the expected assistance from the government. The labor conditions in the sweatshops and railroad projects were poor and taxing; the Native Indians were not given proper shelter and care in the reservations; the laws such as ‘black codes’ kept the blacks in a state of poverty by limiting their choices and freedom.
2. The Republican Party was found in the year 1854 and had strong anti-slavery policies. They were opposed to the Southern democrats, and supported the cause of white farmers and free African Americans. The transition process of the Republican Party into becoming the party of big business started with the election of William McKinley in 1896. This election forged a link between the Republican Party and the big business.
The Panic of 1893 had caused serious economic problems in the country, and McKinley promised during the campaign to end high tariffs. The Republican Party, with its pro-business policies, would go on to rule continuously till the crash of 1929, when the big business bubble finally burst.
The vision the Northern republicans had for the freed Blacks also took a change during these years. During the reconstruction, African Americans overwhelmingly voted for the Republicans and continued to do so till president Roosevelt made inroads into this vote bank in 1936.
During the late 1860s, the radicalism exhibited by the freed Blacks created a doubt in the minds of moderate republicans, who came to view them as political-minded black workers. As Blacks started occupying Southern Republican governments, Northern Republicans equated them to politicians who would, “harness the government to the service of disaffected workers to confiscate the wealth of others rather than work hard and save.” Some were even ready to shift their position to the views of conservative Southerners that the disenfranchised Blacks were a threat to American culture.
Horace Greeley’s New York Daily Tribune published stories about anarchy in South Carolina and further planted seeds of doubt in the minds of Northern republicans about the Black workers. By the end of the reconstruction era, the Northern republicans started viewing freedmen as workers who rejected the principles of free labor and were intent on class struggle and socialist ideologies.
Works Cited
Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey Berry and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America, 2008 Update Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2007. Print.
Richardson, Heather Cox. The death of reconstruction. New York: Harvard University Press, 2007. Print.
