Americans between 1865 and 1980 - Research Paper Example

Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980 Executive Summery “Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980” is the hypothesis which author is trying to prove throughout this thesis. When going through this thesis one can observe incidents which occur from end of the American civil war in 1965 to precedential election which brought Republican Ronald Regan to the power in 1980. These incidents can be group as incidents which happened due to political view points, due to nationality or race and due to the gender. With careful examination one can observe events which mark division among Americans overruns the incidents which show the unity among Americans. Contents Contents 3 1.Thesis Statement 3 2.Introduction 4 3.Incidents which are show the separation among Americans. 5 3.1Separation among Americans by their political view 6 3.1.1 Reconstruction Period of America (1865) – Separation among Republicans and Democrats 6 3.1.2 Political view on African Americans (1865 – 1876) 6 3.1.3 Emergence of New Political Parties and Division among Business Communities 7 3.2 Separation among Americans by their Nationality and Race 8 3.2.1 Wars with Indians and their Removal from Traditional Lands 8 3.2.2 Emergence of white-supremacist organizations 8 3.2.3 Segregation of African Americans and Civil Right Movement (1955 – 1968) 9 3.3 Separation among Americans by their Gender 10 3.3.1 Women‘s Suffrage Movement 10 3.3.2 Fight for Equal Rights 10 4Incidents which are shows the unity among Americans 11 5Conclusion 12 Work Cited 13 1. Thesis Statement Although the motto of the United States is “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one), Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980. It can be seen that between 1865 to 1980 Americans were divided in many ways, not only from their race but also in the terms of political view, nationality and gender they were divided. In this thesis author will try to prove the hypothesis of H: Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980 List of historical incidents are included in this thesis to prove the hypothesis and how strong they overrun the incidents which show the unity among Americans between years 1865 to 1980. 2. Introduction Year 1865 symbols a milestone of American history which marks the end of the American civil war which resulted heavy losses to both parties as well as the year which started post war reconstruction. And year 1980 marks the precedential election which brought Republican Ronald Regan to the power. Term Americans describes the all citizens of United States of America and they can be divided according to their racial or ethnic group as White Americans, Native Americans (Indians), and African Americans, Mexican American as well as other people who are accepted by United State of America as their citizens. Between years 1865 to 1982 many incidents took place which shows the unity and the separation among Americans. In order to prove the hypothesis of this thesis, author has listed significant events of American history from 1865 to 1980. Throughout this thesis author will prove the hypothesis and how they have affected the unity among Americans. The examples will be listed under two topics as incidents which are show the separation among Americans and incidents which are show the unity among Americans. 3. Incidents which are show the separation among Americans. When researching on separation and unity among Americans one might think race will be the major cause for the separation. Race is just one cause and there are many causes which create separation among Americans and following incidents provide examples for separation among Americans by their political view, nationality and gender. And provide a strong foundation to prove the hypothesis of this thesis, which is Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980 3.1 Separation among Americans by their political view 3.1.1 Reconstruction Period of America (1865) – Separation among Republicans and Democrats Right after the end of the civil war government had to find solutions for the status of the ex-slaves which were called as freedmen, loyalty and civil rights of the ex-rebels and the ex-confederate states. In the election of 1866, republicans took the control in congress, and were against the ex-confederate members and they stripped many ex-confederate members right to hold office and identified the civil rights of the African Americans. This created an unsettled political separation among Republicans and Democrats. Example - President Andrew Johnson almost thrown from the seat for sought of easy terms for reunion with ex-confederate members. 3.1.2 Political view on African Americans (1865 – 1876) With the end of civil war, republicans identified African Americans as freedmen and passed several acts by introducing the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution in order to protect African Americans from civil rights, starvation, displacement and unemployment. But when democrats took control of the power in 1876, rights of the African Americans were again neglected and treated as second class citizens in America. Their right for voting was disfranchised and they were segregated in public. Separation among Americans can be seen as a complex issue, while one White American political party accept the rights of African Americans and other trying to treated them as slaves. And this is one of the best examples which gives a clear idea on separation among Americans. 3.1.3 Emergence of New Political Parties and Division among Business Communities With the failures in the economic system its negative effects will put a tremendous pressure on farmers and other lower level labor groups badly. In the panic of 1893 a nationwide depression occurred and it impacted farmers by lowering their price, salaries and profits. Most of the cotton and wheat famers joined the Populist Party and they gained strength with ongoing labor unrest and wave of strike such as Pullman Strike of 1894. And the method which government used to settle this issue was ineffective. And they were joined by another movement called Free Silver Movement which demanded to use sliver to enlarge the money supply and find solutions to the depression which financial, railroad and business communities worked against it saying that only gold standard would save the economy. This situation created a division among business community and grouping in the presidential election of 1982. 3.2 Separation among Americans by their Nationality and Race 3.2.1 Wars with Indians and their Removal from Traditional Lands This was a running issue in America and with the development and growth of the population people started to establish settlements in the west which were the traditional Native American lands of the Indians. Government backed the establishment of new settlements and neglected the rights of Indians, because of that this expansion resulted wars between Indians and white men1. Gradually American government purchases these traditional lands and limited the Indians to few reservations. But few refused to leave and fought for their land and by end of 1894 war had took lives of 19000 white men and 30000 of Indians. Up to 1980s their rights were not been properly addressed nor their demands were neglected or given poor attention. In order to sound their voice Indians established American Indian Movement (AIM) with the aim of spirituality, leadership and sovereignty of Indians and creating another separation within America. 3.2.2 Emergence of white-supremacist organizations With the end of the civil war as the part of the reconstruction process, African Americans rights were identified and tried to provide proper answers to them through constitutional amendments. These white-supremacist organizations were formed against providing African American civil rights and Republican rule which supported the African American civil rights. These white-supremacist organizations were paramilitary groups and most popular ones were Ku Klux Klan (KKK), White League and Red Shirts which operated in south during 1870s. And these were banded and neutralized by the government in 1870 with the enforcement of Ku Klux Klan Act of 1870. 3.2.3 Segregation of African Americans and Civil Right Movement (1955 – 1968) African Americans were treated harshly from the day they were arrived to America but with the end of the American civil war African Americans were considered as freedmen and passed several acts to protect their rights. But with election victory of democrats in 1876, all the given rights were removed strategically and African Americans had to wait for their rights for almost a century, until the civil right movement to come. Division among African Americans and white men were seen as a major issue in unity of Americans, though African American people were seen as equal citizens or had equal rights through constitution they had to face much discrimination from white men. Today also one can see many discriminations but they are not brutal than earlier years. With their arrival to America in 1600s African Americans were seen as slaves and they were treated and punished in a cruel manner. In order to win their civil rights African Americans participated in boycotts (Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955), sit-ins (Sit-in at Woolworth’s store in North Carolina), marches (The march on Washington, 1963) and also established movements and unions. As the fruits of their effort, by 1968 civil right movement had achieved great milestones such as Supreme Court decisions which including Brown Vs Board of Education and Loving Vs Virginia and passing of acts such as civil rights act of 1964, voting rights act of 1965 and fair housing act of 1968. People such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King Ralph David Abernathy, Medger Evers, Malcolm X has empowered this movement and some gave their life in the name of African American freedom. Separation among White Americans and African Americans can be seen as an issue which runs back to 16th century, with the civil right movement in 1970 African American has won lot as their rights. Northerners’ were willing to accept the rights of African Americans while south states were neglect their rights and always thought them as slaves. Today also this segregation can be seen, but not than earlier. And this can be seen as a running issue in America. 3.3 Separation among Americans by their Gender 3.3.1 Women‘s Suffrage Movement In early days women were not given the voting rights saying that they are not involving in the wars therefore they have no right to vote and only men deserve the right to vote. Women fought this battle from 1848 and with the passing of 19th amendment in 1919 women obtained the right to vote from 1920. Main blockade came from the south, because white leaders were concerned about the threat of African American women voting. 3.3.2 Fight for Equal Rights In order to win the equal rights for the American women they established the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1968 and similar organizations such as Womens Equity Action League (WEAL) and National Womens Political Caucus (NWPC). As the fruits of their effort by 1973 many federal laws and state laws were changed and favorable Supreme Court decisions were given in the direction of the women’s equal rights in America. Above mention incidents provide great examples of separation among Americans by their views, political party which they support, race, nationality and the gender though the motto of the United States is “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one). Between years 1865 to 1982 resembles lot of incidents that can use to prove the hypothesis of this thesis. 4 Incidents which are shows the unity among Americans World war one and world war two can be seen as incidents which they were united for one cause, in these wars separation from political party, race or gender could not be seen. But other than that one cannot observe any significant event that shows the national unity among Americans. In the First World War America joined the war in 1918 and helped the allied forces to neutralize the Germans, but in the Second World War with the japans attack on Pearl Harbor Americans had aggression of taking revenge from Japan and they work toward achieving their objective and that can be seen as a incident that show the unity among Americans. And In 1865 with the end of the civil war, government tried to achieve unity among whites and African Americans by introducing 13th ,14th and 15th amendments to the constitution but it was a failure since they couldn’t achieve unity among whites (North and South). 5 Conclusion Although the motto of the United States is “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of many, one), Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980. It can be seen that between 1865 to 1980 Americans were divided in many ways, not only from their race but also in the terms of political view, nationality and gender they were divided. Year 1965 marks the end of the five years long civil war which destroyed the country’s civil life and its unity. This also can be seen as the best time to take a fresh start to establish unity and friendship among its civilians. Though it was the right time, with the different political views, racism and gender discriminations it became harder and a difficult task. America can be seen as a country which has lot of migrants and that creates a cultural diversifications and differences in believes, values and norms and this also act as a barrier for unity among people. In America racial issues and political issues can be seen as the root causes for many separations among people. Only incident which one can observe as instants which Americans were united were world war situation, and other than that one cannot observe any occurrence which support the unity of Americans. (Chapman) (Carlisle) With the listed events from reconstruction period to women’s equal right movement author can prove that the hypothesis of Americans have been more divided than united between 1865 and 1980 as true. Work Cited Carlisle, Rodney P. Handbook to Life in America. Infobase Publishing, 2009. Carnegie, Andrew. The Gospel of Wealth. Penguin Group US, Sep 26, 2006. Chapman, Roger. An Encyclopedia of Issues, Voices, and Viewpoints. 2009. Crow, Dog Mary. Lakota Woman. HarperCollins, Mar 28, 1991. Paul A, Cimbala. The Freedmens Bureau: Reconstructing the American South after the Civil War. 2005. X, Malcolm. Autobiography Of Malcolm X. Penguin Group, Aug 20, 2007. Read More