Changes in the U.S. from 1865-1901
April 9, 1865, signifies the abolishment of Slavery and the end of the Civil War, beginning a new period in American history. This period saw a rapid rise in American industrialization and opportunities available to middle-class people, alongside a big surge in job openings for working-class people. While industrialization changed the country for the better, there was a violent counter-revolution of white supremacists in the South, oppressing and attacking black people across the Southern states. At this time, many immigrants came to the United States in search of work and a life that could only be achieved through employment in the United States. From 1865 to 1901 the United States’ social and economic landscapes changed drastically due to industrialization in the North, the counter-revolution of white supremacists terrorizing people of color in the South, and a massive influx of immigrants that created tension with white Americans.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War, industrialization took off in the United States. Industrialization was able to rapidly accelerate in the United States thanks to working-class families being able to make more than just enough money to get by, leaving room in most Americans’ budgets for investment in new technologies (Richardson 50). Before the Civil War, working-class Americans typically didn’t have the financial capacity to even think about purchasing fun luxury items and new technologies. Thanks to factories and the start of mass production, lots of luxury items could be mass-produced and in the hands of middle- and working-class people all over the country. The money used to purchase these non-essentials would go towards improving the cities and furthering production for the companies responsible for improving and outputting more efficient technologies. This cycle of productivity is one of the biggest benefits of industrialism at the time. The 1893 Columbian Exposition of Chicago was a convention designed to show off America’s progress as a nation and contained “exhibits showing wires, guns, scales, chemicals, ceramics, typewriters, rubber, celluloid, fountain pens, artificial limbs, and every manufacture necessary to furnish a prosperous American home” (Richardson 49). The inventions and innovative thinking demonstrated at the Columbian Exposition of Chicago just go to show how quickly the people of America had made progress towards a future full of new technologies and inventions. Artificial limbs were an especially impressive invention at the time as many veterans from the Civil War had lost limbs during their service. Inventions and technology were inspiring and bringing people together, resulting in an even greater communal desire for ingenuity. A massive increase in production in the northern states led to more people having access to technologies and more money being spent on the industry, creating a feedback loop of rapid industrialization.
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When the Civil War had come to an end, racism was still very much alive as it had taken a new form in vigilante groups of white supremacists. With slavery outlawed, racist southerners had found new ways to oppress black Americans through passing legislation such as “Black Codes”, which were laws passed in the South that made it easy for white landowners to get away with hiring African Americans to perform intense physical labor for very little pay (Richardson 27). In many cases, the working conditions were as bad as slavery or even worse in the cases of convict leasing. This was the process of prisons providing inmates’ labor (typically blacks) to private properties and plantations, resulting in conditions for African American prisoners being the same or worse than slavery. Legislation like the Black Codes and convict leasing are examples of the discrimination that black Americans continued to face for years after the end of the Civil War. Southerners were relentless when it came to finding ways to restrict the freedoms of freed people. Many Southerners claimed that “The act of agitating for civil rights indicated a person was unworthy of them, making it impossible to challenge increasing segregation and discrimination” (Richardson 76). This argument was used frequently as a kind of way to put freedpeople in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t the situation. Those who fought to be treated fairly would suffer further harassment from Southerners in positions of power, and those who didn’t do anything would continue to be treated poorly. While the Civil War abolished slavery in the United States of America, individuals upholding the values of white supremacy continued to oppress people of color throughout the Southern United States.
As white Americans faced issues in the new economy, they began to blame the immigrants from overseas for their issues, creating yet another avenue of racism. A large number of immigrants were from European countries, with another significant portion coming from China. The immigrants traveled overseas to make money by offering their labor in exchange for a wage that was unmatched back home (Richardson 11). At the time, there was an American belief that anybody could find success through hard work and determination. This American Dream was the big draw for working-class people who aspired for more than they could realistically achieve in their home countries. With the immigrants coming from countries with lower working wages, these people were often willing to perform manual labor for a significantly lower amount of money than the American people at the time, which led to an anti-immigrant sentiment (Lecture 1/29). The anti-immigrant sentiment of the American people created a divide between these two populations. Americans began to blame their lack of employment on the immigrants for taking up all available slots for lower prices. In response to this American mindset, Congress passed the Chinese Restriction Act in 1882, which prevented Chinese workers from immigrating (Richardson 90). This was the first legislation to prevent an entire group of people from immigrating based solely on ethnicity. The Act showed many Chinese laborers that the American Dream may have been too good to be true. The conflict between American people and immigrants from overseas was an issue that would continue to grow and develop for years.
The period of time after the Civil War saw the American people pursuing their hunger for industrialization, racism taking a new form, and an influx of immigrants from overseas coming to the United States in pursuit of work. The large wave of inventions and new ideas helped establish the North of the U.S. as a leading power in the development of new original ideas and efficiency. With the abolishment of slavery, many Southerners resorted to oppressing black people through terror and unfair laws passed by Southern legislators. Large immigrant populations came overseas in hopes of acquiring wealth and pursuing the “American dream” and were met with resistance and unrest from many white Americans. The United States changed drastically from 1865-1901, going from a country wrapping up a Civil War to becoming an industrialized empire with a southern population plagued by white supremacists, and a northern population of inventors, immigrants, and people looking to work hard to accomplish their dreams.
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