Reading the American Pas, Essay Example

Dawes Severalty Act

Introduced in 1887, this law gives the president of the United States mandate to scrutinize and divide the land of American Indian into small portions to individuals. The people granted the small pieces would then be issued with the citizenship of America. The main aim of its adoption was to ensure that Indians were assimilated in the American society. Several objectives came with the law such as ensuring some reservations were named after the Indians, and boosting individual initiatives among others.

Jim Crow Laws

This law was adopted in 1965 to allow segregation of races in public facilities. The law made the black Americans to feel inferior, owing to some educational, economic, and social disadvantages. It was mainly practiced in the southern parts of the United States. The areas where segregation was practiced included places of public, public transport and schools, restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants and in the military.

Laissez- Faire

This is a term used to describe a business environment where parties involved are not restricted by government subsidies and tariffs. Coined in 1681, the term was adopted in France, when a finance minister was asked by some French businesspersons, the manner in which the government was intending to promote their merchandise. This ideology recognizes an individual as the basic societal unit, and one that has right to freedom.

Muckraker

This terminology refers to reformed journalists working for popular magazines and opened up the culture of investigative journalism. The muckrakers aimed at bringing to the limelight social ills, and all manners of corruption in political and corporate sections. Some of the magazines done by muckrakers exposed the extreme poverty in urban areas, unsuitable conditions of working, and social ills such as abuse of children.