One Step Forward and Two Steps Back
As the Civil War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in this nation’s history, came to a close the imminent changes developed a new environment socially, politically, and economically for Americans. The process of restoring the unity of the United States known as Reconstruction established a new way of life for freed slaves but also deprived them of several human rights as well, while the following advancement in manufacturing and transportation paved the way for new forms of success in the era of Industrialization. Although these two events are different in some ways they both have an overall result of no true winners or losers. To begin one must look to the end of the Civil War and how its end brought about the beginning of a new era for freed people in America. As the Civil War ended so did the cotton industry as it no longer had access to a large free labor force. In an effort to hold on to their old ways of life and ideals, several Southerners established white supremacy groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the White League. These groups are most known for the terror acts made against the newly freed African American people almost making the victory of the North irrelevant. Even so, they cannot be considered winners in any way for this as they had lost a whole way of life after the war. They had even tried to establish their own terms of governing through peaceful protest in the form of not paying taxes. Unfortunately, the federal government had no tolerance for this and placed several restrictions on the South with threats and, in some cases, the actual deployment of federal troops. Despite these constraints some white southerners were able to develop some semblance of their old lives. Coupled with the white supremacy mindset was the sharecropping system. In this system people, most often African Americans, would rent land, tools, and supplies from an established farmer and the renter would grow as many crop yields as he could in a year to pay off the loaning farmer. Often times the end result of this system was a cycle of debt as the sharecropper would find some unforeseen expenses or lose some of his crops to weather or pests. In this way southern plantation owners were able to regain a sense of control over the African American people through debt and find their own small victory. Nevertheless, the newly freed people were not entirely losers either. At the same time African Americans were taking advantage of their newfound freedoms. In addition to voting rights provided in 1870, there was the …show more content…
Factory systems and new advances in technology made manufacturing goods a booming business. This lead to the rise of a select few individuals to economic power like Andrew Carnegie and his vertical integration system or John D. Rockefeller and his horizontal integration. As these so-called “robber barons” got richer those who were less fortunate only seemed to get worse. Urbanization would soon develop in cities to accommodate the large influx in population but it would not be a positive change as families would be crammed into small and destitute living quarters. Soon the apparent winner like the robber barons would realize that a rising tide should raise all ships as without consumers their products would be worth
As the Civil War, one of the bloodiest conflicts in this nation’s history, came to a close the imminent changes developed a new environment socially, politically, and economically for Americans. The process of restoring the unity of the United States known as Reconstruction established a new way of life for freed slaves but also deprived them of several human rights as well, while the following advancement in manufacturing and transportation paved the way for new forms of success in the era of Industrialization. Although these two events are different in some ways they both have an overall result of no true winners or losers. To begin one must look to the end of the Civil War and how its end brought about the beginning of a new era for freed people in America. As the Civil War ended so did the cotton industry as it no longer had access to a large free labor force. In an effort to hold on to their old ways of life and ideals, several Southerners established white supremacy groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the White League. These groups are most known for the terror acts made against the newly freed African American people almost making the victory of the North irrelevant. Even so, they cannot be considered winners in any way for this as they had lost a whole way of life after the war. They had even tried to establish their own terms of governing through peaceful protest in the form of not paying taxes. Unfortunately, the federal government had no tolerance for this and placed several restrictions on the South with threats and, in some cases, the actual deployment of federal troops. Despite these constraints some white southerners were able to develop some semblance of their old lives. Coupled with the white supremacy mindset was the sharecropping system. In this system people, most often African Americans, would rent land, tools, and supplies from an established farmer and the renter would grow as many crop yields as he could in a year to pay off the loaning farmer. Often times the end result of this system was a cycle of debt as the sharecropper would find some unforeseen expenses or lose some of his crops to weather or pests. In this way southern plantation owners were able to regain a sense of control over the African American people through debt and find their own small victory. Nevertheless, the newly freed people were not entirely losers either. At the same time African Americans were taking advantage of their newfound freedoms. In addition to voting rights provided in 1870, there was the …show more content…
Factory systems and new advances in technology made manufacturing goods a booming business. This lead to the rise of a select few individuals to economic power like Andrew Carnegie and his vertical integration system or John D. Rockefeller and his horizontal integration. As these so-called “robber barons” got richer those who were less fortunate only seemed to get worse. Urbanization would soon develop in cities to accommodate the large influx in population but it would not be a positive change as families would be crammed into small and destitute living quarters. Soon the apparent winner like the robber barons would realize that a rising tide should raise all ships as without consumers their products would be worth