Promotion of diversity in the post civil war period PDF

Running head: PROMOTION OF DIVERSITY IN THE POST CIVIL WAR PERIOD
Promotion of Diversity in the Post Civil War Period
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PROMOTION OF DIVERSITY IN THE POST CIVIL WAR PERIOD1
Slavery, Sectarianism, a growing sentiment of having more rights for the states were the
prime reasons behind consolidating the secessionist forces in America, which finally led to the
four year Civil War from 1861 to 1865 (Porter 2017). In the Post Civil War period, the primary
concern was to instill the spirit of unity and diversity in the country. It was during that the idea of
America being a melting pot of cultures gained currency, and efforts both at the societal and the
political level were undertaken for the purpose. The concern herein is to discuss the role of the
Progressive and the Agrarian Populist Movements in forging the spirit of unity in the country.
The Progressive Movement spanned from 1890 to 1920 (Porter 2017). It was basically a
civil society movement which aimed at the eradication of certain social evils which was deemed
as detrimental to the harmonious co-existence of various ethnicities that resided in the country.
The movement harped upon launching attack on several social issues which involved, the
removal of economic inequality induced by rampant industrialization and the consequent swift
urbanization; devoting a deep insight into the problems caused by immigration which basically
concerned itself with tackling issues like assimilation and naturalization; and also forcing the
government to give up on the corrupt political practices which sought to divide people, vested
with selfish interests (DeWitt 2017). The movement had achieved success in terms of universal
adult suffrage, bridging the problem of gender inequality, and in bringing about an improvement
in the living and working conditions of the labour class by introducing unionization and putting
an end to child labour (Porter 2017). Despite having a noble motive, the movement was highly
fragmented and full of contradictions which caused the political leaders to be pitted against each
other. The movement had incorporated too many agendas to be addressed which was why it had
failed to address the problem of racialism and the tension between the Africans and the Whites