America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains”

“America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains”

“America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains”

Gwendolyn I. Burrows

Dr. Kristina Nelson

Contemporary U.S. History HIS 105

October 28, 2012

Abstract

The Civil War was the harshest war in American history by almost any definition. It has been called the “brothers' war,” the war between the states, or the “War of Northern Aggression,” and strong feelings about the background, causes, fighting, and meaning of the Civil War continue to this day. Over 600,000 Americans died during the Civil War and another 400,000 suffered critical wounds. Millions of dollars’ worth of property was ruined, families were dislocated, riches were made and lost, and the country that developed from the war in 1865 was very different from the country that had existed in 1860. The period of 1865 to 1900 was a time when the economy boomed except for the confederate states and Texas. Industrialization was a period of social and economic change that transformed groups from a society that economically depends on agriculture to one that depends on industrialism. In the following text I will describe in detail two major historical turning points of this period, analyze 2 or more major historical turning points selected on America’s, current society, economy, politics, and culture. In addition to these two factors I will also •Describe at least two ways the Reconstruction period may have been different if President Lincoln had not been assassinated; explain how industrialization and urbanization affected the life of the average working American during the period; give at least two examples of how the federal and/or state courts and legislatures handed down decisions or passed laws during the period that served to discriminate against non-white citizens and immigrants.

Identify at least (2) two major historical turning points in the period under discussion.

A historical turning point in United States history was the passing of the first Civil...