American History: 1850-1920

This assignment delves into American history from 1850 to 1920, focusing on the Reconstruction era. It explores the rise of industrialization, labor laws, and the abolishment of slavery. The essay examines the impact of immigration, the emergence of Jim Crow laws, and the significance of figures like Abraham Lincoln and Thaddeus Stevens. It concludes by analyzing the shift in power dynamics and the lasting effects of this pivotal period in American history.

Running head: AMERICAN HISTORY
American History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1AMERICAN HISTORY
The history of United States of America from the years of 1850 to 1920 covers the
whole reconstruction era including the emergence of industrialization and various labor laws.
This essay stresses on the economical, social and diplomatic aspects of that situation. In this time
the incessant growth and prosperity in the north and western region of the world has seen the
dominance of America in the economic, agricultural and industrial field. Between the years of
1865 to 1900 America has seen the average income of a common labor rising almost 34%
considering the inflation rate.
After getting victorious in the civil war, gradually United States has become a very
powerful nation having a strong government established there. This reconstruction period
brought in the end of one of the most social ills of America and that is slave trading. The slaves
got their second class citizenship in the land of America under the ‘Jim Crow’ system that was
established for almost 90 years after the implication of the new law. The compromise of 1850
consists of five basic laws regarding slavery, internal slave trading along with Black codes
and this was the initial turn of events in the history of America. The individuals with progressive
views worked with the mid size organizations and fought against the corruption prevalent in the
power structure of America. In between the years of 1865 to 1918, the huge flow of European
immigration made it necessary to revise the labor laws of America and this gave a huge boost to
the industrial and agricultural sector of America. Abraham Lincoln was one of the leaders of
America who directly opposed the tradition of slavery in public and domestic areas. It is a fact
that he stood against all the oddities back then and amended an age old rule stating that tradition
of slavery should be eradicated from the society and it will not be encouraged to expand the
practice of slavery in United States of America.

2AMERICAN HISTORY
The reconstruction era of America gave the labors the right to vote in the elections
and this was first implemented in the year of 1867. At this time the president of America
Abraham Lincoln faced strong opposition from some of his party members who feared that the
government would never abolish the slavery form the land and would not at all give up on the
Confederate Nationalism and would rather get engaged into restore them from behind the scenes.
Thaddeus Stevens was one of the most important policy makers of that era and one of the most
influential members of the congress at that point of time. He made some impossible things
happen by using his tremendous skills and diplomacy. The most astonishing part in this section is
that this reconstruction phase ended in each state of America at different times and finally it
ended in the year of 1877. The end of phase of Reconstruction marked the emergence of the civil
rights and the liberties of the African Americans. But the shocking part was to see that the
whites were considered to be the elite class and the people of African origin were considered as
the second class citizens of America. After the industrialization a massive emergence of the
labor laws and the labor organizations were seen in America and initially a secret association
was built by the employees of Philadelphia garment workers, which included the African
American employees as well.
The gilded age was mostly enjoyed by the elites of the American society and it was
fueled by the phase of transferring wealth that influenced the social changes dramatically. After
various turn of events America got urbanized after the industrialization and the viewpoint of the
individuals started to change, for the betterment of the society. Thus to conclude, it can be said
that government of America has takes certain initiatives that triggered their people to live a better
life and finally government of America was able to restore the power to the people, not only the
elite class, but the power shifted towards all the people of America. It can be said that slavery is

3AMERICAN HISTORY
one of the biggest curses that the citizens of America ever faced and it can be said that as long as
slavery was present in the market of U.S, it has brought in several disasters to the humane
society and the lives of the people who were directly involved in slave trading and the people
who were getting traded by the malicious practice.

4AMERICAN HISTORY
References
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, Volume I.
Vol. 11. McGraw-Hill, 2015.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History: Seagull Fourth Edition. Vol. 1. WW Norton
& Company, 2013.
Okihiro, Gary Y. Margins and mainstreams: Asians in American history and culture. University
of Washington Press, 2014.
Tindall, George Brown, and David E. Shi. America: A narrative history. WW Norton &
Company, 2016.