America: The New World in Transition, Essay Example

America: The New World in Transition from 1867-1919

With the United States having taken its place on the world stage, there was immediate pressure to rectify the issue of slavery. Other countries had outlawed slavery and the slave trade a long time ago. Nevertheless, the South could not imagine life without the slave labor intact and fought relentlessly to maintain the lifestyle that they were so accustomed to. At this time, the North was adamant that America had outgrown the age of slavery and that the only way to reach global recognition was to deal with the internal struggle. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest wars of the Western hemisphere, consequently leaving the country confused. The North won the war but lacked a post-war plan that entailed economic recovery. Therefore, the transition from devastation to economic recovery after the Civil War challenged America to redefine its politics and business as well as to confront social issues through Reconstruction in 1867, the Gilded Age in 1870, and into the Progressive Era of 1919.

Reconstruction has been deemed the name “The Second Civil War”. The Civil War lasted longer than expected, resulting with the loss of life exceeding 600,000 individuals. The South was in shambles and no sort of plan was in place for the transition from slavery to post-slavery economics.[1] President Lincoln knew that the transition would be a violent process. Despite the fact that he was prepared, this was a shortcoming as he was assassinated shortly after the war. Andrew Johnson, a Southerner, took over as President and the climate of forward-thinking involving African Americans and freedom was no longer a front line issue. Johnson believed government had no responsibility in considering blacks during reconstruction and reversed reparations of land, support, and funds that were allocated to amend the atrocity of slavery.[2] In addition, Johnson returned the land to the White plantation owners which created social divisions

This aforementioned social division that continued throughout the North embraced change and soon after developed into metropolitan communities excelling in business, embracing religious consciousness, and were radical about equal protection for blacks in order to safeguard the American reputation.[3] Johnson’s actions in support of the South disturbed Northern federalists who viewed the confederate South as treasonous. The South was devastated after the Civil War with loss of life, livestock, wealth, and position. Without slaves, the South was invariably economically paralyzed. After losing the war, they felt demoralized. Southerners retaliated against African Americans with violence and intimidation with the rise of White supremacy groups. Johnson was viewed as siding with Southerners when he ordered that land be returned to the plantation owners. Furthermore, he redirected the Freemen Bureau as well as implemented Black Codes to limit mobility and opportunities for blacks. Blacks and disadvantaged Whites were forced into sharecropping for the plantation owners, which unquestionably kept them in poverty.[4] Other forms of low-pay labor from China and Japan were brought in to replace African American slaves in an attempt to salvage the economy for farmers.

Although the South was struggling economically, the country was producing high numbers of goods that could not be absorbed within the United States. In these times, corporations collaborated with politicians and military representatives regarding foreign policy expansion into foreign markets. The abundance of goods being produced in the United States demanded global consumers which led to the industrial revolution, taking place in the Gilded Age.

The Gilded Age got its name from a Mark Twain-Charles Dudley book called “Gilded”, meaning layer of gold or glitter.[5] The American dream was like gold and was effectively portrayed through politics, business, and government as social Darwinism in America. The survival of the fittest, richest, and/or strongest prevailed; this was concept that nature chose certain people to be superior over others[6]. Post-reconstruction America birthed a transformed society and culture through its industrial revolution, urbanization, and westward expansion.

Industrial revolution included battles between corporations in order to influence politicians to favor laws that enhanced freedom in commerce for business and to fewer labor laws. The railroad industry was growing quickly, increasing the speed of shipping and competition. Corruption ran rampant with businessmen seeking an advantage[7]. America was producing more goods than ever before, all while placing an emphasis on growth outside of its borders and the establishment of foreign policy and trade relations. These expansions would create great wealth for the elite and further impoverish laborers. Ultimately, this led to social unrest and urbanization.

Urbanization in the midst of growing corruption brought forth people like William M. Tweed who reached out to poor immigrants and labor unions supporting a type of welfare program for supportive services. He won popularity among common people by taking a stance against corporations around 1870.[8] President Garfield’s assassination brought reforms to the federal system by using examinations versus appointments to fill positions in opening employment opportunities.^[9] Congress established an Interstate Commerce Commission in order to regulate the railroads and help protect farmers and shippers of goods from unreasonable rates.^[10] Immigrants from all over the world came to America looking for opportunities only to find low-paying wages in factories or railroad positions which barely allowed them to survive. More effort was put into establishing business and power over that of individual rights. There was a great deal of unrest in America at the time. With more production of goods available, urbanization issues with lack of employment, and low wages, the need for Western expansion and abroad was imperative.

Westward expansion, inspired by the gold rush, brought thousands of settlers west, opening up mining companies in search of gold and forcing the Native Americans off their land. America broke treaties, used force, manipulations, fraud, and/or military action to gain Native American territories. The Indians were left on reservations with government rations that often times never showed up. The Indians fought strongly for their land throughout 1870, but America used an army of immigrants hungry for opportunity along with regular forces to defeat them.[11] Hawaii had a thriving sugar crop and, much like Native Americans, they were tricked out of their land, crops, and wealth by the elite Whites working behind governmental forces of the United States and England. John L. Stevens, the American minister of Hawaii, joined in a plan to bring Hawaii into the United States in 1893.^[12] “At the beginning of 1892, Thurston founded Annexation Club, with the declared goal of bringing Hawaii into the United States.”^[13] Hawaii became the first of many foreign governments to be overthrown by America. “Thurston overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy with a core group of fewer than thirty men”^[14]. America was young and ambitious and determined to acquire foreign land, trade agreements, and be progressive globally.

The Rise the of Progressive Era refers to the beginning of the twentieth century and well into its first few decades. Economic expansion produced millions of new jobs and brought an unprecedented variety of goods to American consumers.^[15] By 1920, more Americans lived in towns and rural areas. Regardless, severe inequity remained the most visible landscape and persistent labor strife raised anew the question of the government’s role in combating social inequity.^[16] Reconstruction was considered a radical era which challenged America to define freedom and women’s rights, alongside the presidential failure to meet the needs of a changing society.^[17] The Progressive Era could equally be seen as radical confronting divisions regarding social, labor, gender, and the perception of declining freedom.^[18]

The government’s attitude regarding business prior to 1900 was in favor of expansion. Economic growth was dramatic and highly volatile. The combination of a market flooded with goods and the federal monetary policies that removed money from the national economy led to the Great Depression between 1873 and 1897.^[19] The rapid increase in industry and business seemed uncontrollable as it influenced politicians and legislature in its favor.^[20] Throughout the twentieth century, the Progressive era was a period of explosive economic growth fueled by increasing industrial production, a rapid rise in population, and the continued expansion of the consumer marketplace. The government supported economic growth and expansion and struggled to find its role in keeping up with the needs of the people and global demands. The concept of a living wage emerged during the Progressive era, criticizing the inequalities of wealth and power. America was considered a mass consumption society and many wrote on the standard of living expectations. Just as in the Gilded Age, America was experiencing great wealth for the elite and great poverty for the laborers.^[21]These disparities created social ills from which several groups emerged to address.

Eugene V. Debs, a railroad union leader, became an activist for socialist gospel by linking equality, self-government, and common freedom ideologies. He managed to bridge the cultural divide among New York’s Jewish immigrants, prairie socialism of the West, and native-born intellectuals attracted to the socialist ideal. The party brought together the populists and labor movement which called for legislative reforms to improve labor conditions, free college education, and democratic control of the economy such as control over the railroads.^[22] By the 1900s, there were more than 80,000 college-educated women in the United States and many were called to fields such as social services, nursing, education, and supportive programs to provide for and uplift the poor and spearheads reform^[23].

Muckracking became a movement exposing the greed of corporations that undermined American values. This included confronting the two million children under the age of fifteen in the work force. Lewis Hines and Ida Tarbell (among others) wrote articles and books exposing corporations such as John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company. Muckraking became the term coined by Theodore Roosevelt for journalistic skills to expose the underside of American life.^[24]

Roosevelt took over the presidency after the assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt is attributed to have initiated programs instituted by the “Square Deal”. Roosevelt shocked the corporate world by announcing his intention to prosecute the Northern Securities Company under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The company monopolized transportation between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean. Roosevelt believed that the president should be an honest broker in labor disputes, rather than automatically siding with employers.^[25] Taft, previously a federal judge, had served as a governor to the Philippines after the Spanish-American War and, hence, became the next president^[26]. Taft aggressively pursued anti-trust violations. In 1911, Taft was able to persuade the Supreme Court to declare John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company in violation of the Sherman Act.^[27] On another note, Wilson is attributed with reforming and outlawing child labor with the Keating-Owens Act in 1916 and the Clayton Act of 1914, which exempted labor unions from anti-trust laws and barred courts for issuing injunctions against the right to strike.^[28] In his second term, he governed over the transition in banking with creation of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Trade Commission.^[29]

The role of government expanded during the Progressive era and transformed under Roosevelt to Wilson to reform corporation and protect citizens under what is now called the New Freedom of 1912.^[30] Expansion repositioned the country from economic devastation to the new global economic center of the world.

Bibliography

Reconstruction The Second Civil War {1 of 2; 2 of 2} (Full Documentary) Published on Jun 9, 2014. Accessed June 26, 2015.

Kinzer, Stephen. “A Hell of a Time Up at the Palace.” In Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, 30. New York, NY: Times Books/Henry Holt, 2007.

Foner, Eric. “America’s Gilded Age, 1870-1890.” In Give Me Liberty! : An American History: Volume 2: From 1865. 3rd Ed, 657. NY, NY: W.W. Norton, 2011.

“Bound For Goo-Goo Land.” In Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, 36. New York, NY: Times Books/Henry Holt, 2007.

“American Experience Woodrow Wilson PBS Documentary.” YouTube. February 10, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2015.

[1] Reconstruction The Second Civil War {1 of 2; 2 of 2} (Full Documentary) Published on Jun 9, 2014.  Accessed June 26, 2015.

[2] Foner, Eric. “The Progressive Era, 1900-1916.” In Give Me Liberty! : An American History: Volume 2: From 1865. 3rd Ed, 724. NY, NY: W.W. Norton, 2011. P 600.

[3] Foner, 602.

[4] Foner, 591.

[5] Foner, 656.

[6] Foner, 662.

[7] Foner, 657.

[8] Foner, 657.

[9] Foner, 662.

[10] Foner, 659.

[11] American Experience Woodrow Wilson PBS Documentary.” YouTube. February 10, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2015.

[12] Kinzer, Stephen. “A Hell of a Time Up at the Palace.” In Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, 1. New York, NY: Times Books/Henry Holt, 2007.

[13] Kinzar, 16-17.

[14] Kinzar, 30.

[15] Foner, Eric. “The Progressive Era, 1900-1916.” In Give Me Liberty! : An American History: Volume 2: From 1865. 3rd Ed, 724. NY, NY: W.W. Norton, 2011. P 724

[16] Ibid., 725

[17] Ibid., 600-601

[18] Ibid., 725

[19] Ibid., 638

[20] Ibid., 657

[21] Ibid., 737-738

[22] Ibid., 739

[23] Ibid., 752

[24] Ibid., 728

[25] Ibid., 757

[26] Ibid., 759

[27] Ibid., 759

[28] Ibid., 761

[29] Ibid., 762

[30] Ibid., 762