Political Parties and Diversity in America from 1865 to 1920

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
History Essay
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1SOCIOLOGY
Introduction:
The essay provides an insight into the diversity of America from the reconstruction era
through the 1920 post the civil war. Post civil war, United States, needed to not only recover
from the war but at the same time handle the western expansion along with the grappling of
various newer economic reforms(Abu-Laban & Lamont, 1997). One of the greatest issues has
been the slavery and the rising level of diversity post the Civil War. In South, even though the
former slaves had opportunities and freedom but they faced older prejudices that became newer
barriers. There were immigrants who came in huge numbers from the Europe and Asia and were
faced with social and political restraints. Then there were women who constantly looked for their
rights. Thus, as a whole, America became largely diverse by the year 1920s. The essay revolves
around how the political parties between 1865 and 1920 promoted diversity and ‘melting pot’
despite stronger prejudices.
Three Specific Examples:
Immigration:
During the period 1865 to 1918, United States of America (USA) witnessed a diverse and
unprecedented stream of the immigrants that totaled close to 27.5 million. Overall, 24.4 million
migrated from Europe which also comprised of 2.9 million migrants from Britain, 2.2 million
migrants from the Ireland, 3.8 million migrants from Germany, 2.1 million migrants from
Scandinavia, 7.8 million migrants from the Russia and the central Europe and 4.1 million from
Italy (Angel, 2018). In addition, close to 1.7 million migrated from Canada. These immigrants
have been pushed away from their homelands due to threats related to religion and poverty. The
availability of farmland, jobs and the kin connections attracted them towards America. Besides,

2SOCIOLOGY
the other attractive opportunities of USA have been mines, construction sites and economic
opportunities at the factories. Except the Asians, America extended a welcoming hand to most of
the immigrants. After the intense anti-China agitation in west and in California, the Congress put
across the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (Chen, 2015). America also put forward the
Gentlemen’s Agreement for stopping the immigration of Japanese (Cullinane, 2014).
Race:
In the end of 1870, African American lost many of its civil rights attained during the
reconstruction era that made it increasingly subjected to the racial discrimination. There has been
an increase in the racist violence that included race riots and lynching that led to stronger
deterioration of the living conditions of the African American in Southern states. This situation
led to the establishment of Jim Crow Laws (Goldberg, 2017). There were many who flew to
Midwest in the year 1879 which was an exile that intensified during the Greater Migration that
commenced before the World War. In the year 1896, the supreme court of United States
efficiently upheld Jim Crow system of the racial segregation through separate but an equal
doctrine.
Populism
There have been series of droughts during then 1880s that led to the devastation of the
West. By the year 1890, the agrarian distress remained at its all time higher. The lease put
forward by Mary Elizabeth informed the farmers that they required raising less of corn and more
of hell (Mudde & Kaltwasser, 2013). Thus, working with the sympathetic Democrats of the
South and the smaller third parties of the West, the farmers made an alliance in pushing for the
political power that led to the emergence of the Populist Party (Leon, 2014). The elections of