How Can Families Created Following Second Marriages Learn to Function as One?

Nearing the end of the Civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century the United States went through an economic revolution. During this time there was abundant natural resources, a growing supply of labor, and expanding market for manufactured goods. Because of all abundances the federal government encouraged the expansion of the railroads. This would benefit the United States economically. The Railroads were so important because it made the “second industrial revolution” possible. In 1913 the United States was producing a major amount of the world’s output. Which is more than Great Britain, France, and germany combined.

After the civil war, especially during the late 1800s, the US industrial economy has been thriving and booming which reflected on the numerous improvements that occurred in transportation through new railroad, in new markets for new invented goods and in the increased farm yield. However, most of this wealth has been captured by the capitalists, they looked down on the working poor class and expected them to submit to them. Also, they had control over the government seeking to maintain a system of monopoly to allow them to grow richer from others. Thus, they were controlling both political and economic conditions of the country.

The era that was the "Civil War Era" was ended by The 2nd Corrupt Bargain in 1877, thus we were pushed into the age of the United States between 1877-1900, also coined by Mark Twain as the "Gilded Age". As it is widely known, some of the most influential and some of the most wealthy men of our country's young history resided in the Gilded Age. These men ran great corporations that at the time were actually quite brutal to their workers. The big business during this time reigned over America by corrupting politicians and monopolizing their industry molding the economy in their own hands. In response to business tycoons taking over America, laborers for the corporations formed unions, and desperately tried to improve their condition in society.

The period of time in America before the Civil War is known as the Market Revolution. During this period of time is when we see the economy in America shift from being a household economy to a market economy. A household economy was when farmers produced enough only food, livestock, and clothing for ones’ family. The end of the war of 1812 is when the major shift is noticed. Although the U.S. had slowly since the American Revolution been shifting towards the market style economy. A market style economy is the large-scale manufacturing of goods to be sold rather than to be kept. The new ways of transportation, communication, and the Lowell textile mills caused the shift in economy style to be noticed.

How did it affect family life and patriarchy? (pp. 85-87) family life the father or husband was dominant; wife had to worship their husband like a god. Arranged marriages were contracted when they are a child. It was a way of economic reform. Adults were obligated to assist older people, women served as teachers, musicians and artist. Women had no way out of marriage. It left people to be in depending in some ways and controlled in other ways.

The social change was the biggest change that happened in America. After the Revolution, the place of women, slaves, and loyalists in society was greatly altered. In order to teach justice and liberty to their children, women were educated in the ideals of Republican Motherhood. In a woodcut of a patriot woman made in 1779, a woman is shown with a rifle and gunpowder horn (Doc A). Some women did play bigger roles in society by going with the fighting soldiers and sometimes even fighting with them in the revolution. However, not all women were satisfied to just go back to the earlier place in society they were at before the war as shown by Molly Wallace who said during her valedictory address in 1792, “if [taught] to read, why not to speak?” (Doc J). Many American women, like Wallace, sought after advancing their roles in society. But sadly, women suffrage didn’t happen for 140 years. For slaves in some regions, there was a lot of social change. In the years after the revolution, the slave owners in the North practiced manumission, and freed many slaves there. In the South, however, it would take many more years and a Civil War for the slaves to gain their freedom.

The Market Revolution and the Second Great Awakening promoted the ideas of social mobility and and individualism which greatly influenced the shaping of gender roles in America in the mid 1800’s. Work and the home were now separated which made womens new job taking care of the house and family, they could work elsewhere such as in factories, but were paid less than men and worked long, hard hours, women’s place in society was changing, women began to challenge the rules of fashion and fight for their rights.

In the 19th century, the Market Revolution was created, resulting significance in American history by redefining the roles for genders, especially for women. During this time, factories began to appear changing the nature of work for men and women. Although, women were employed cheaper because at the time in Colonial America, men were considered superior to women, even in terms of morality. Some women worked effectively by applying their strength of factories, while other women adapted to a private lifestyle avoiding conflicts in the market economy. However, the privileges were determined based on a family’s class status, which were middle and upper classmen that gave a higher advantage than those who were poor. Those who were married had no

The end of the Civil War brought a whole new era of economy, political control, and Presidential intervention. The economy emerged from its agriculturally based economy into a flourishing big business dominated world and eventually in 1929 came crashing down. I agree only partially with the quote " The Civil War saw the beginning of an 80-year decline of real individual economic opportunity; nonetheless, the vast majority of Americans continued to profess their belief in individualism as evidenced by the Presidents they elected. Thus, between 1865 and 1939, the majority of Americans accepted big business dominance and rejected all forms of government interference and regulation contrary to

The years immediately following the Civil War was met with very little industrial progress in the South. Between the years of 1875 and 1879, the South was in poor shape and most of the population was living in poverty. According to Woodward, the national average per capita was $870 and no Southern state came within $300 of the national average nor with the $550 of the average per capita outside of the South. (Woodward, 112) By 1879, there was a change in the South that was called by some the beginning of the Industrial Revolution of the South. After the Civil War, proponents of the “New South” did not want to rely strictly on Cotton production for economic growth. They wanted to diversify the south by adding new crops and turning toward a more industrialized South by following the example of the North. The North also saw some opportunities to make money in the South. According to Woodward, as a great depression came to an end in 1879, and released Northern and English capital that sought a Southern outlet for investment (Woodward, 113). Throughout the 1880’ and 1890’s Northern and Foreign capital were attracted by potential developments in the South.

The decades after the Civil War rapidly changed the face of the United States. The rapid industrialization of the nation changed us from generally agrarian to the top industrial power in the world. Business tycoons thrived during this time, forging great business empires with the use of trusts and pools. Farmers moved to the cities and into the factories, living off wages and changing the face of the workforce. This rapid industrialization created wide gaps in society, and the government, which had originally taken a hands off approach to business, was forced to step in.

After the Civil War, the United States went through a period of rapid industrialization which affected the nation dramatically. Industrial growth, the spread of railroads, the rise of big businesses, and the appearance of labor unions during these decades created a modern industrial economy, and American workers and farmers faced new challenges in adapting to these changes.

The Civil War ended shortly before the postbellum period. Due to the proximity in timing, it has lead many economists to examine if there was anything about the civil war that spurred the economic growth. The Beard Hacker Thesis argues that the civil war stimulated the economy and propelled industrialization based on demand from the war industries and civil war legislation. During the war, many goods were in high demand such as firearms, boots, and iron. The wartime legislation

By the time of the Civil War, the technologies upon which the First Industrial Revolution was based were established in the United States. In the years following the war, the nation's industrial energies were focused on completing the railroad and telegraph networks of the North, rebuilding those of the South, and expanding those of the West. Once the devastating depression of the 1870’s depleted, the stage was set for the Second Industrial Revolution.

This time was a period of immense social transformation, as during the war, unemployment had ended and the economy had greatly expanded which meant the end of the war brought with it; higher employment levels among women, a greater search for wealth, and a more every-man-for-himself type of society. This change led to a shifting of values for the majority of the population, a shift where