AMERICAN HISTORY 1865 TO PRESENT
Introduction
The American history 1865 to the present covers the reconstruction era, the gilded age, and the progressive era. All this comprises of the industrialization as well as the resulting surge of the immigration in the U.S. this entails the economic, political, and diplomatic history. This period of economic growth or soaring prosperity saw the United States becoming the powerful state with strong national government. This is to say that the American history of the 1865 to the present continues to provide a through exploration of its account from reconstruction to the present times (Boyer et al 811). With respect to that, the essence of this topic is to illustrate all that was encountered in this period as explained below;
Nonetheless, the American which existed prior to the end of the civil War is nothing like all that we know today. Equal rights for all citizens, major urbanization as well as industrialization or World War I and II have shaped the manner in which Americans stand today. Although there still numerous events which exists and have shaped it since the end of slave trade, reconstruction, the great depression, civil rights and industrialization stands as being the ,markers of American great change.
Nevertheless, reconstruction is one of the main events which took place in America after the Civil War. This period of both great upheaval as well as the attempt of the nation in reorganizing itself and integrating all the states assisted in freeing he salves assisted them in finding them in a system which had once been controlled by every aspect of lives (Boyer et al 817). This in return fostered the need of seeking for a way of integrating into a community which was still heavily biased against them. Regardless of that, still there existed some social and political disagreement especially over issues relating to ex-slaves and so on, all the victims had no option but to rebuild themselves after the vast destruction of majority of its centers or the loss of slave labor. For instance, with the takeover of Andrew Johnson as the result of the death of Abraham Lincoln, the reconstruction process was made much more complex for the blacks. Black codes, which were the legislative acts, came into effect that extensively hampered the attempts of freeing slaves to start new life.
Conversely, with the establishment of the 14th amendment- after the reconstruction era had passed, the civil rights of the blacks were ensured to some extent. By the end of this period, majority of the Americans new that they had no any other option but to recreate themselves. Despite of the extensive progress that was made by reconstruction period, yet there were some longstanding tensions in the whole America (Boyer et al 815). Additionally, since this period granted no equal rights in freeing slaves to the extent of enjoying greater freedoms, voting rights was still another issue to handle. This was not until the civil rights movement which saw the full fruits of what reconstruction period was trying to achieve.
According to Boyer et al 811, the next thing that transpired was the period of rapid industrialization. This was ensued in major cities across America. Typically, it is the railroads which fostered the expansion of cities for instance Chicago. Majority of the African American ended up founding their on way to major cities in search of jobs in processing plants and factories. This become the time of economic prosperity while there was a huge gap between the rich and the working poor. Moreover, Americans were increasing becoming more and more urbanized as majority of them left in homesteads or farms in search of work in cities. In other words, this was the period which was uninterrupted by mass internal struggles. This was the breaking point between the whole different Americas. Industrialization was to some extent beginning to take hold outside although it was still rooted in the times gone by. Although the coming of the Great War changed both the ways in which the Americans thought or viewed about themselves in the world, they were both developing distinct culture and power in addition. This is to say that, the period after the World War I marked an increasing sense of modernity as well as the making the distant land as the marker for the country.
With regard to the above considerations, the main objective is to highlight all the events that occurred;
After the end of the world wars, America and the rest of the world was the same. Although after this, millions of people were casualties or injured while others remained crippled, America vowed to remain neutral. With respect to other issues, all this encounters changed the manner in which the world considered warfare. This was especially the evolution of brutal wars, new tactics i.e. chemical weapons as well as aircrafts which changed battlefield altogether. Contrary to that, since more responsibilities and opportunities were favored to women, this continued to remind the nation of the extent in which they fought for their own rights in the suffrage movement. This was another event which extensively assisted in reshaping the course of the American history after the Civil War (Boyer et al 822).
In connection to that, as much as the nation continued to make extensive attempts new cultural movements commenced with other events for instance industrial growth and related changes. Mass poverty and unemployment were as a result of this and in return thousands of citizens lost their livelihoods in the attempt of living on a meager subsistence level. Despite the fact that the recovery from the Great Depression was slow, it merely aimed at improving the measures of heaping the average person out of poverty. Similarly, work progress, firm security and public work administration were altogether set aside so as to provide various programs which would assists the poor or the middle class people and offer them something to work on which will ultimately benefit America.
Consequently, it was noted that although some perceived that Americans recovered from great depressions, this was no complete until the new World War was fought in the late 1939 to 1945 which equally increased the number of casualties. Thousands of innocent civilians lost their loved ones hence making it o be one of the highly contested event. With respect to the above events, it can be illustrated that American recovery from civil war was slow, particularly to those who returned injured. This made their economy to suffer a lot in terms of political, economic, and social advancement or just to say enjoying greater prosperity unlike it has been witnessed in the 20th century (Boyer et al 820).
Finally, to the present period, the American history has brought newer changes as well as legislation in the ways African American went to academic institutions, dining in restraints or voting rights. This to imply that, after the civil rights movements, the American nation become whole again, at least by law. Despite the fact that the question of bias still exists, the fact is that all citizens enjoys equal human rights. On the other hand, Boyer et al 811continues to explain that, although more and more of the above discussed events shaped America aside, they are still important in that that they brought a great shift in the manner in which its citizens lives in this contemporary period.
Work cited
Boyer P.S, Clark C.E, Haittunen K, Hawley S & Kett J.F. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Volume II: Since 1865, Concise. Cengage Learning Press. 2012
