America as we know it today is a country ever changing, growing and adapting. It is still in its youth and is still finding its identity. This means that you can find some major differences within the country itself. If you compare the life of a New Yorker, to that of a Native American living in a small reservoir in Utah, you are sure to encounter some big differences. We can easily see how some parts of America are the epiphany of modernization, with skyscrapers everlasting, concrete jungles and neon colours. While other parts again is almost nothing but wilderness, trees, fields of golden hay, sprinkled with the occasional cow, but did America modernize all at once? To answer this question I will look at the modernization of the South, as opposed to the rest of the U.S. …show more content…
It can be understood as an historical process with many layers and stages. It involves political ideas, for example the shift from monarchy to democracy. Economical changes, such as the resurgence of factories. As well as environmental changes, like the building and settlements of cities as oppose to a more traditional farm life. Modernization also refers to a general institutionalization of society, as represented by schools, medical facilities and so forth
Colonial America experienced significant changes during the late seventeenth and early eighteen centuries. The most important changes included the development of cities to became the main ports, and Southern part of America was transformed to be a major contributor to colonial America’s economy. These changes resulted in the rise in population with thousands of immigrants coming in large numbers due to the growth and improvement of the agricultural estate. Following this period of economic boom, colonial America experienced two major revivals that had long-term effects on the nation with regards to religion, government, and human nature.
During the 19th century, the American people were experiencing a revolution concerning both the economy and religion, in what is recognized today as the Market Revolution and the Second Great Awakening. A rapid increase in the population within the countryside, and the development of new technology outburst a change in the economy from one of local exchanges to one governed by capital and capitalists. Family owned businesses began to expand and sold their items not only among a small community, but now products were being shipped to different ports along the colonies. The industrialization movement was rapidly approaching that “Indian removal was necessary for the opening of the vast American lands to agriculture, to commerce, to markets, to
Following the great explorative successes, some Americans would soon venture westwards which was largely supported by rhetoric, law and the vision of the founding fathers to have a far-reaching territory. As the manufacturing industry rose in New England, the westward expansion was both timely and economically viable. The American settlers were moving rapidly to what is referred to as the Midwest today and this necessitated the development of infrastructure through the development of canals, roads, and railroads. The rapid expansion of infrastructure, more specifically the railroads, would then purge the country into a new era of medicine, manufacture, and agricultural inventions (Neil, 1964). The Midwest became an inspiration that saw the symbolic development of the American identity in the 19th century with development of acting, painting, and writing.
In conclusion, the United States federal government took many actions to promote westward expansion in the late 1800s and early 1900s which caused many changes within the United States of America. The relocation of indigenous Natives, the passing of the Homestead Act in 1862, and the expansion of transcontinental railroads had many different impacts on the country, some being positive and some being negative. Because of all of the actions taken by United States federal government in the late 1800s and early 1900s to promote westward expansion, the country’s shape and character was greatly
During the pre-civil war time period— also known as the antebellum years— America experienced a widespread transformation for the sake of its economy. With the booming belief of the Manifest Destiny, America’s constant desire for westward expansion caused disputes between the North and the South regarding the establishment of free states and slave states, which led to certain compromises such as the Missouri Compromise. After the Market Revolution, the North and South used its new gained land to create different means of economic gains; the North became industrialized through manufacturing, while the South became an agricultural industry dependent on cotton. However, as America’s boundaries expanded, tensions between the North and South grew, often leading to compromises in bloodshed. The drastic differences between the two groups eventually transformed America into a divided nation of sectionalism economically, politically, and socially.
The innovation of railroads, in particular, “helped to create new economic methods and institutions that were essential in guiding and shaping the American drive to industrialism” (Chandler 1965, 5). Chandler describes the railroads’ important impact on the “the expansion of wheat and cattle production, the coming of new commercial routes, and the adoption of mass-production methods in the manufacture of iron and consumer durables” (Chandler 1965, 23). These impacts all aided in the Westward movement. As Chandler recounts, “The railroad brought as significant changes to America’s industries as it did to its agriculture and commerce” (Chandler 1965, 22). The railroad revolutionized the transport of supplies that were necessary to industrial growth.
The Gilded Age lasted from 1870 to World War 1, “1900s.” The Gilded Age was a period of fast economic development, but also much social struggle. Mark Twain in the late nineteenth century founded the “Gilded” Age, which means covered with gold on the outside, but not really golden on the inside, for example, tin. This period of time was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. In other words, the outside looked beautiful, but the inside looked old and trashy.
America’s Diverse Population In the nineteenth century, rates of immigration across the world increased. Within thirty years, over eleven million immigrants came to the United States. There were new types of people migrating than what the United States were used to seeing as well. Which made people from different backgrounds and of different race work and live in tight spaces together; causing them to be unified.
A major continuity over time will always be shown in the world, even if an event took place years ago. In this standard many dates and time periods were stated. Wars broke out, new presidents took the stand, and a handful of laws were brought into place but were changed as time moved on. Even though these events were dated so long ago, they played a major role in the shaping of our nation. With the past events that occurred, these events are still practiced and used today.
There are far too many parallels between ancient Rome and modern America. It seems as if many people do not care enough about the path our country is headed down. Ethics and values have gone out the window, the government has doomed the working class, people have become violent, people are acting without fully thinking and war is constant. America needs a change before it is too late. Ethics and values have merely disappeared but when they are present they seem to be hypocritical.
The immense growth of industry and an increasing drive to move further westward from 1815 to 1860 marked a time that would forever change the fabric of America. Economic and territorial expansion would further drive sectionalism within the nation and disrupt national unity to a nearly unfathomable extent. Watt and Boulton experimenting with steam in England, Whitney combining wood and steel and creating the cotton gin, Slater dividing factory work among men, Morse spanning a still growing nation with the telegraph, Field expanding transportation and linking the market with steamboats– these men and many more crafted a mighty revolution of industry. This great growth in economics marked the fall of agriculture in the great race for economic
And industry was totally undeveloped, forcing households to act as miniature factories, producing almost everything they would need. In the 1800’s though, the lives of nearly all Americans was changed. Transportation has revolutionized trade and the connections between different places. In early America, roads were in such bad shape traveling any significant distance was dangerous. Commerce was driven by rivers.
After the Civil War, the United States (U.S.) started industrializing in the early nineteenth century, bringing revolutionary revisions to America’s society and its industries. The abundance of natural resources, new inventions, and continuously immigrating workers, along with the creation of the free enterprise system and a spur of railroads, enabled the country to industrialize successfully. Soon America’s small towns were transformed into large cities filled with factories. In the late 1800s, a period known as the Gilded Age came about, suggesting that America’s industrialization and urbanization had two facets. On the surface, the U.S. showcased golden success and prosperity, while the interior aspect began to unveil the unsettling realities
“The South grew, but it did not develop,” is the way one historian described the South during the beginning of the nineteenth century because it failed to move from an agrarian to an industrial economy. This was primarily due to the fact that the South’s agricultural economy was skyrocketing, which caused little incentive for ambitious capitalists to look elsewhere for profit. Slavery played a major role in the prosperity of the South’s economy, as well as impacting it politically and socially. However, despite the common assumption that the majority of whites in the South were slave owners, in actuality only a small minority of southern whites did in fact own slaves. With a population of just above 8 million, the number of slaveholders was only 383,637.
United States of America has gone through many economic, political, development stages, from its creation up to modern times. An important political movement happened in America after the urbanization period. The technological development and mechanization of work, influenced the country in different ways, according to particular areas. Two parties were created, the Populist Party and the Progressive Party. They both wanted to make radical changes in the states, but their goals, reforms and success, were distinct from each other.