The Great Improvement Of The United States

While many have described the civil war as simply the war between the States, Bruce Levine in his book “Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War” has put together an 80 year survey from around 1773 the pre-revolutionary era to the Civil War with well documented evidence of the social, cultural and political idealisms of our once divided nation. This book review will emphasize points on each of the book’s chapters which are put chronologically and particularly comparing the southern slave labor system to the free labor system in the north. Levine’s thesis statement on page four of his book reads as follows, “What impelled so many-rich, middling, and poor; white and black; native-born and immigrant- to risk and sacrifice so much? To answer such questions, this book reexamines the antebellum political history in the light of the broader economic, social, cultural, and ideological developments that shaped the lives of the American people”. (p. 4) Clearly the author of the book has researched numerous historical papers and has placed them in the direction his thesis will be provided with hard evidence from the founding fathers’ letters, written memos and of course the laws put into the United States constitution.

As we already noted – in the 1800s expediency of slavery was disputed. While industrial North almost abandoned bondage, by the early 19th century, slavery was almost exclusively confined to the South, home to more than 90 percent of American blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Agrarian South needed free labor force in order to stimulate economic growth. In particular, whites exploited blacks in textile production. This conditioned the differences in economic and social development of the North and South, and opposing viewpoints on the social structure. “Northerners now saw slavery as a barbaric relic from the past, a barrier to secular and Christian progress that contradicted the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and degraded the free-labor aspirations of Northern society” (Barney W., p. 63).

During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.

The civil war, reconstruction, and Redemption era does serve as a unique moment in American history because it shaped what kind of nation US would become. All wars are the result of social change, talks of revolution, institution of slavery and connection to power and liberation. There are many reasons that attribute to the institution of slavery becoming a big determinant in the Civil War and in American History. A consistent reason is that the states have always been dependent upon themselves and relying on their own kind to create a sense of power. The institution of slavery gave white men a sense of power in which was stripped away from them by the government. They no longer could control and have an opinion in state nor federal government decisions. Throughout all these eras of history the enslaves Africans were never seen as equal, therefore were never treated as equal. They were always seen as the black labor workers. The focus point of this paper will be the institution of slavery. After the civil war and reconstruction, America changed drastically in defining slavery and what would become of the institution.

During early 19th century, the entrenchment of Southern slavery, there was discussion between planters who benefitted from it and abolitionists who fought against it. Most Americans, especially those in Southern states, understood that slavery system could not help parting from their economic and social system. Southern slavery system brought big economical benefits. However, it negatively influenced American society as a whole rather that positively.

This was not a single view, but a reflection of how the entire nativist nation felt.

After the Civil War, the nation witnessed two major social-economic movements: Reconstruction and Industrialization, which changed the country completely and made it one of the greatest industrialized countries in the world. However, it changed not only the country, but also, the society, its way of life and traditions.

The Civil War was a turning point in American history in that it completely change the dynamics of the economy across the Union. Although many Americans had to change due to the loss of slavery and the destruction of the Southern economy, those who had to adjust the most were the newly freed slaves under the 13th Amendment. The new freemen now had the opportunity, and the challenges involved, of achieving the American Dream of economic freedom with the help of the Freedmen’s Bureau, Northern Carpetbaggers, and intellectuals such as Paulo Freire, who felt it was their responsibility to help the freed blacks in their journey to economic prosperity.

It is not clear to say whether Slavery was a source of social stability or tension in the South between 1820 and 1860’s, in order to establish the correct answer, we must first discuss them, the arguments that exist between the two, the statistics and figures which exist between the two, as well as the overall general opinion at that time. Both points have their own arguments in themselves, people may argue that without the slave trade, America wouldn’t be what it is today, others would argue that the slave trade, has created instability as well as tension due to the cycle of poverty, that has borne fruit in America amongst African American’s with no way out, for ancestors of old southern slaves. It also should be

The decline of slavery in the upper South in the early 19th century can be identified as a profound change which would contribute to the eventual division of the nation. After 1830, the pattern of regional slavery in the South experienced great variations, such that the upper South gradually declined ties with slavery while the lower South distinctively became identified with it. This profound change was brought on by a shift in utilizing free labor rather than slavery to drive economic production in the upper South (Goldfield et. al, p. 285). The climate and geography in states of the upper South overtime proved less

In American history, every event and person plays a part in the future. For example, rich plantation owners helped America advance their economy. However, that would not have been at all possible without the help of their slaves. The time and institution of slavery is a time of historical remembrance. It played a primary role during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The treatment, labor conditions, and personal stories of these slaves’ treatment and labor conditions are all widely discussed around the world to this day.

The United States has always housed two types of people: those who embrace change and those who resist it. From loyalists and revolutionaries in the eighteenth century to democrats and republicans in the twenty-first, changing economic tides and social conditions often spark factions in this nation. In the case of the Antebellum period, new technology and working environments caused turmoil. In a few short decades, the country would be locked in a civil war. However, before that came a series of religious and reform movements. Some of these movements would grow into national conversations, but began first with small groups. In Antebellum America, industrialization caused a breakdown in social structure, especially norms of class, gender, and race. This led to middle and upper class men in the North and the South using similar strategies to resist social change. Industrialization also allowed alternative voices to advocate for entirely new dynamics of power surrounding class, gender, and race.

Between 1865 and 1900, many people looked at United States as a country where individual economic opportunities, social equality and political democracy reigned supreme. One cannot say that this people were entirely right or wrong. To some extent, they were right by from different perspectives, the same cannot be said. However, one thing that is for sure is the economic opportunities that were available during this period. All the three aspects, individual economic opportunities, social equality and political democracy were present, although not to everyone.

During 1880 to 1860, The United States of America went through social, political and economic changes, which affected the North and South in different ways.

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.