America In The 19th Century

AAmerica began as a small struggling nation, with each citizen desiring an opportunistic way of life. To achieve this way of life, many changes needed to be made. Different people with distinctive ideas came together, and although there was conflict, they made great changes politically, socially, and economically. Each aspect changed America tremendously in a variety of ways. Analyzing each specific change can determine the extent in which America has changed for better or for worse.

Since the creation of the United States Constitution, the many leaders of our nation took different roles in trying to attain perfectionism for their country. From the federalist views of John Adams to the democratic views of Jefferson, America was experiencing the endeavor that was being a young nation in the midst of the 19th century. The emergence of John Quincy Adams in 1820 started an “Era of Good Feelings” with exceptional political advancements and economic achievements. While Jackson’s democratic views were not always what were expected, during his presidency, the country grew national and world attraction. Through periods of boom and bust, political and economic changes in America undeniably helped reshape society between the years 1820 and 1848 with the emergence of new and innovative advancements.

During the mid eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century the United States of America experienced some difficult times throughout the country. It first had to watch it’s own nation split apart during the Civil War, also the U.S. had just fought for it’s own independence from Great Britain not even a hundred years ago. Then shortly after the war and the reconstruction area began, later moving to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the United States witnessed the Great Depression. Another dark period in U.S. history that virtually affected every one in America at the time in both positive and negative ways. Furthermore, the group that experienced some of the challenging times, both socially and economically during the Great Depression

Can there be two different economies in one single country? Looking at America during the 1800’s, one can prove that can be a diverse economy – depending on one’s region. There is a vast difference between the modern, industrial economy of the North, and the rural, antebellum setting in the South. The North embraced modernization in its economy, while the South tried to delay it eternally.

In the late 1800s, America was a growing country, just gaining power. They wanted to show that power, and expand, though how far would they go? American Expansion was unjustified.

During the 1800's America was figuring out how to run a nation through trial and error. During this period of time America faced hardships with foreign powers and with in its self, but the sweet victories made them all worth it. In the 1800's America learned to stand on its own, and became the strong nation it is today.

Throughout culture, we see a sudden desire to reform our society into a better generation. In the late 1900’s there is an urge to revise the status quo back to the “gilded age”. With the previous ending of this golden era, citizens were going through change. These changes included many crises that the citizens were not fond of. There were documents being released with included articles in favor of white people, photos of immigrant’s families, and details over groups forming to better society. Looking through these documents, one can imagine the flaws this generation was going through and the sudden push going back to the old era.

the modern america is a free willed, full of history and multicultural. Modern america in the time perid where slavery was abolished and the 19th century when martin luther king jr decresed the levels of racism and earned the rights for people to be treated equally no matter the color of their skin. Modern day americas includes many economic and political changes, technology improvements, more reliable transportation, people are allowed to believe in what they want to without punishment

During the 19th century, America was going through an important transition. The nation was dealing with the aftermath of the civil war and the following reconstruction of the South. The Reconstruction period was the precursor to the period deemed the “Gilded Age”. The nation saw economic growth and the creation of the mass market. The rise of industrialization and transition to urban living were some of the defining moments of this period. However, the most defining idea of the Gilded Age is Reform: Social, Political, and economic. The Gilded Age was plagued with the problems that, the reconstruction period failed to solve. During the Gilded Age, social, political, and economic reform movements were gaining ground. Blacks and other

Toward the latter part of the 19th century, bustling America, in response to the trends of industrialization and urbanization that characterized its Gilded Age, began its new century by entering into a new historical/political epoch that came to be known as the Progressive Era. This distinctive period in history (spanning from the 1890s through 1920) found progressives seeking to use the American federal government as a means of change through social, political, and economic reforms. Politically, the passage of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th amendments are evidence of the success of progressive reformers, despite the fact that some of the new laws failed to create desired social changes. The efforts of the progressives were mainly effective when it came to social reforms related to worker’s rights and child labor, but less productive in attaining improved civil rights for African-American citizens. In addition, the government was, to a large extent, successful in the establishment of economic reforms to aid the working class, such as those enforced by Woodrow Wilson’s “Triple Wall of Privilege”; however, President Roosevelt’s famous anti-trust efforts were ultimately not far-reaching enough at the time to eliminate all problematic corporate monopolies and related corruption.

Pidgeon and Berman reveal their differing interpretations of 1920s America. As mentioned, Pidgeon elaborates on his criticism of 1920s America by explaining the positive impact of wealth on the society, and stating that “striving for wealth has become a way for Americans to ease their consciousness”. (Pidgeon, 2007). Berman’s view of 1920s America talks about the “new and improved” (Berman, 1994) society after the flourish of money flowing through, as the increased wealth had changed America into a more developed environment by influencing the society to live in more rich and polished houses. It appears that Pidgeon’s viewpoint is impacted by the norm of society use money for their pleasure, unlike that of Berman’s which is influenced by the fact that money has given the society a new lifestyle. However, both critics seem to disagree with my own research of 1920s America – despite Pidgeon’s belief that wealth had the ability to solve any uneasy emotions and life problems, I personally feel that his interpretation lacks sufficient analysis regarding the historical context after the first world war. I discovered that during that time, money provided by the government had negatively affected the American society by causing discomfort to those who were not used to such sudden generosity. This also questions the “new and improved” society stated by Berman.

No matter their religion, language, or struggles they faced upon arrival in America throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the one thing all Irish had in common was their reason for leaving Ireland; the English. Whether Catholic from southern Ireland or Presbyterian from the Ulster region, the Irish were systematically oppressed by the Anglican Church of England. For those who could afford the passage, America meant freedom to worship as they chose and for the Ulster Presbyterians; recognition that their church was valid. For the southern Irish, unfortunately, during the 1800’s America was a heavily Protestant country that harbored severe suspicions of Catholics and rumors the Pope was plotting to destroy their country. This meant

For 300 years, roughly 1500 and 1800, European nations had an unquestionable presence on the west coast of Africa with the main focus on trade, specifically for slaves, gold, and ivory. However, their explorations were limited. This quickly changed as the 1800's came into full swing. European explorers quickly took advantage of the situation, and made their way into the interiors of western and central Africa. By the 1880's Europeans were in a struggle with neighboring countries for control of the continent. This problem was deemed one that needed a solution, and one quickly arose. The solution came in the form of the Berlin Conference. The Berlin Conference was a conference held in Berlin to divide up Africa in a peaceful manner, in order

Herman Melville’s Utilization of Bartleby the Scrivener: the Story of Wall Street As a Means of Criticizing Capitalism and Its Crimes Against Humanity Herman Melville's "Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" scrutinizes the alienation of labor, the social ideologies and the dehumanizing consequences of the American capitalist society in the 19th century. Bartleby is the main character in the story. The other characters in the story, Ginger Nut, Nippers and Turkey, barely survive their pragmatic enslavement because they have been brainwashed by the ideology of complying and acknowledging their given place in society. Bartleby separates himself from the other scriveners by daringly preferring not to surrender

2. The U.S. used harsh, but appropriate, measures to civilize the inhabitants of the west.