Colorado History, Essay Example

Economically, during the 1890s, the United States in general was not doing all too well. The years of change took a great impact on the United States as a whole and saw a lot of progress and reform in the nation (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). Colorado experienced these changes come in like a landslide. A number of different things were seen happening within the state, shortly after being named the 38th Colony of the United States. This must have been an after-shock that occurred due to the Civil War, which still reverberated the nation.

The years of change followed shortly after the Silver Boom in Colorado which attracted a lot of people. An act called The Sherman Silver Act of 1890 drew more miners to Colorado, searching for silver and also a new generation of gold miners. At the start of this decade, women were slowly being given rights, and Colorado became the second state in the nation to allow universal suffrage. They came in first by popular vote. This says a lot about the state at that time when this was an issue. Being only the second state to allow women to vote reflects on the people’s morals and values of equality. The impact of the Civil War must have still rang in their minds as they still believed in change for the better and some sort of equality.

Unfortunately, also during this year, there was a repeal of the silver purchase act (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). This took a huge impact on the mining industry of Colorado as well as the agricultural fields. The economy dropped and gave way for the nation to go in somewhat severe panic. It is said that the repeal act was done so that the nation could be saved from going bankrupt, although it might have caused much of the panic as well.

The railroad was a popular means of transportation, especially for those in Colorado because of the Colorado railway system (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). Especially because of the mining industry which saw a vast expansion of this means of transportation in the whole nation. However, when automobiles were introduced, these toys which seemed to be only for the rich became coveted. It was not long after that these became manufactured for the middle-class. This saw the growth of suburbs because people had more freedom to travel to and from work.

Not all was sad during this period. The natural park known as Mesa Verde, fondly named by the Spaniards during the 1700s became a popular tourist attraction because of a number of explorers. The mountain ridges, cliffs and view were awed at by a lot of people and even a book was written about it during this time. There were famous artifact collectors during the time who paid visits to the ruins at Mesa Verde. Although, this was not something that brought the state out of crisis during this sad time; there were still many incidents to follow that marked this period in time as one of suffering.

This era of change was market by a sad tragedy which was the Ludlow Massacre of 1914. This event was especially bothersome because of the number of women and children involved in the attack (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). This was the deadliest incident in the state in regards to a strike. This shortly followed after the downfall of mining in the state and might have been caused a number of disgruntled miners who were frustrated about the changes occurring. This was also probably due to the fact they could not provide for their families and knew no other way to cope, nor who to blame. This flame of violence was most likely kindled by the Panic that started because of the repeal of silver. Many frustrated miners wanted to vent out and because of the economic downfall of the entire nation, looking for money was hard.

Mining was known as hard work, and the state of Colorado was said to have good mining laws which ensured the safety of the laborers (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). Nevertheless, there were still accidents in relation to mining and little safety mishaps. There was a high death rate in terms of mining, although this was still seen as a job that paid in Colorado for those who needed to make a living. Miners were paid according to what they could deliver in a day, therefore they tried to get as much as they could haul. Although, this caused a lot of very sloppy work and many workers disregarded safety when it came to finding and bringing back their loads. These consequences were often quite fatal for those involved.

This was known as a struggle between the laborers and corporate power in the state (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). Colorado saw its peak in mining history during 1910 and to see it collapse must have been hard for those miners involved. Because of the rich mining industry of the state, many people were welcomed in with open arms, probably with hopes of gaining their wealth by laboring in the mines all day. When the industry took a dip, a lot of miners were involved and this took a hard hit on their livelihood.

During the 1800s, many people were encouraged to divert water from streams across their own private, or public land properties (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). This probably followed the arid condition of Colorado at that time. Because of the use of water without a certain law, and no knowledge of the importance of conserving this natural resource, the streams would dry up, resulting in arid land for the state. After which, it was decided that those who had land next to the stream did not automatically mean they had the right to use the stream in any way. Laws were then made for public and private use of water in 1862 and the government adopted a Homestead.

This time saw a number of acts, because this particular one was followed by the mining act of 1866. This was when federal laws would allow people to have access to water that was nearby through building ditches and reservoirs. This was not found to be well governed at that time as people would freely claim the water that they were near.

There was a system of doing things and a doctrine to be followed in the state, supposedly to make the distribution of this water equal to those living around the area. It was said that all surface water in Colorado streams were for use by the public as well as for private use in households. Followed by this was a water right given to people. This gave people the right to use some of the public’s water. Certain amounts were allotted to each person and they could use the water in any way they pleased. They were allowed to access this water in the ways they knew how by diverting it or storing it.

At this time, there was neither proper irrigation system nor no proper ways to keep the water hygienic. This was probably because people were not all aware of the dangers of dirty water and unsanitary conditions. The system in gaining water was purely just so that people could use the water available to them, making water their right.

It was only later that certain acts regarding the amount of water to be consumed were made. To gain water right, there was a court decree to be followed. For something as simple as gaining access to water required such intense legal action. This reflects on the discipline and value of government and authority in the state.

During the time of the Progressive Era Reform, a new middle class made of the upcoming generation of professionals were seen in society (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). They were to address certain problems in regards to health, law, business and education. These people were seen in the urban residence in Colorado. Something like this occurred most probably after the economic downturn, in hopes to jumpstart the economy by taking a turn to professional work, other than labor. This saw a rise of immigrants just right after the massive depression. Most likely, this did encourage equality and equal opportunities for all. People saw hope in the younger generation, seeing education as something essential. Thus, professionalism became somewhat popular.

This was probably popularized by Emily Griffith and her school which opened up in Denver (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). This school was opened up to serve people of all ages and was probably the push-start that made education so important in the country. This helped many young people from Colorado achieve their dreams and become professionals at that time.

This time did not see an end to abuses of corporate power, there were still times of unjust. Although, you could probably tell that it was all coming to an end. Unemployment was still plaguing the entire nation, Colorado not exempted and there was a massive waste in natural resources. Something that Colorado did not see happening. There were vain acts to try to distribute this fairly, although it’s usage, like water usage, was not thought up ergonomically. Judge Linsdey, who was a social reformer, established the Juvenile Court System (Ubbelohde, Benson and Smith). It was because of him that Denver became known throughout the nation and the rest of the Western world. This was because of the discipline he placed in the state. Colorado was a fan of government acts and social change. This was something that the state took in rightly. Judge Linsey was against much corruption which plagued the nation at that time with the number of scandals and other nonsense in the media and in local governments. He was the one who introduced the registration law in the state for elections in order to reduce election fraud. This system was devised to fight corruption and take a stand for what is right and what is fair. This judge was a big influence in Colorado and helped shaped the personality and the stature of the state as a well disciplined and civilized area.

Works Cited

Carl Ubbelohde, Maxine Benson, Duane A. Smith, A Colorado History (Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing, 2006, 9th Edition).