40 Years of America
Written by Rozalynn Sheppard
Industrialization
Political
Capitalism expanded in the United States. The economic system in which the factors of production are privately owned. Money is invested in businesses to make a profit. A monopoly is an exclusive control of a service in a particular market or the control that can cause the manipulation of prices.
Economic
Technology advances makes producing goods quicker. New machines replace people due to the positive effects they have on making goods. Cotton mills helped produce yarn and cloth quicker and more efficiently.
Social/Cultural
Most people had to live in over crowded cities and had a lack of housing. Some of the housing provided was over crowded, had poor sanitary conditions, and had a risk of getting diseases. Women and children had to enter the work force.
Immigration
Political
Many immigrants came to the United States because of push and pull factors. Many traveled through Angel Island or Ellis Island. The United States became a place where a variety of races or cultures come together, known as the melting pot.
Economic
Many immigrants came to the United States in search of finding jobs and housing due to the expansion of the country. The Homestead Act opened up settlement in the western United States which allows Americans to claim up to 160 free acres of federal land at no cost.
Social/Cultural
Immigrants and workers from the countryside were usually housed in warehouses or tenements. These places were usually very cramped, unsanitary, and dangerous.
Urbanization
Political
After the populist movement, the people's party was formed to help farmers who were being charged higher rates on loans and trains. They included women in their affairs. They also wanted people to set aside their racial differences in the name of shared economic self-interest.
Economic
Many buildings, bridges, tunnels, railways were made due to the technological advances in the United States. Many railway lines opened and helped with the increase of transportation of animals and people from one side to the other side of the country.
Social/Cultural
The populist movement was made by farmers who were discontented because of crop failures, falling prices, poor marketing, and credit facilities. They demanded a graduated income tax, government ownership of the railroads, and the direct elections of senators.
Progressivism
Political
The United States antitrust law was created to regulate the conduct and organization of business corporations. This law would help promote fair competition and decrease the number of monopolies.
Economic
In "How the other Half lives" by Jacob Riis, he exposes the way poor or new immigrants must live on a daily basis. They slept in very crowded and dangerous slums and had a higher possibilty of getting a disease or getting sick then a normal upper class immigrant.
Social/Cultural
“That all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” During the Seneca Falls meeting abolitionist activists gathered to discuss the problem of women's rights.
Imperialism
Political
The Monroe Doctrine had originally been intended to keep European nations out of Latin America, but the Roosevelt corollary was used as a justification for United States intervention in Latin America.
Economic
The Dollar Diplomacy aimed at Latin America and East Asia using its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. The United States would offer loans to the new regime which would then increase the United States financial leverage over the country.
Social/Cultural
The Social Gospel Movement was a religious movement where some ministers began to tie salvation and good works together.
WWI
Political
World War I was officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28,1919. Germany agreed to pay reperations under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan.
Economic
After World War I, Germany was forced to pay $33 Billion in reperations. Reperations are compensations of damaged done during the war. Germany was also forced to accept all guilt for starting war.
Social/Cultural
After the Paris Conference, the creation of the League of Nations occured. The task of the League of Nations was to ensure that war never broke out again.