America's Post-Civil War Growing Pains



America's Post-Civil War Growing Pains

Introduction

The American independence was a moment of inspiration and aspiration for its thirteen constituent colonies. With this historic moment came responsibilities to organize the social, cultural, political and economical aspects of the constituent colonial bodies that formed the United States of America. Colonial autonomy has been the hallmark of American politics, since country's birth. This has translated into State autonomy in the last two centuries and onwards. Given this inclination, it is no surprise those ideas about politics and running the government body is varied in different states. Furthermore, each state found its strength in terms of economic activities and prospered (Whipple, 1970).

During the times of reconstruction, between the periods after 1850's till the end of the nineteenth century, oversaw critical changes that still dictate the societal, economic, political and cultural aspects of the country. These changes pursued a period of industrialization and exponential economic development. One of the most important changes that were considered during reconstruction was that a strong central government was advocated. Further, adoption of protectionist tariffs was encouraged for industrial development. The second policy change was in direct contrast to the current interests of the producers', the southern slaveholders who advocated a free-trade policy, which guarantees the flow of its raw materials, especially cotton, in exchange for European manufactured products. Given the pressures of the lobby of producers', it was difficult for the government to pursue historical changes in policy. Further, opting for a Central Government structure would directly affect the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution provided each state to define its own laws, provided they do not conflict with the guidance of the Federal Union (Whipple, 1970).

The premise of this paper is to critically analyze two historical turning point policies that were pursued during the reconstruction period. These altered policies would be viewed in light of its effect on current US state and its dynamics of society, economics, culture and politics.

Discussion

USA had a population of three and a half million during independence. The population increased profoundly in later centuries. Due to the direct result of a huge influx of European immigrants, who arrived after the territorial expansion westward; the US population reached 7 million during the nineteenth century. This increase in the country's demographics implicated a need to advance production and provide for needs of the growing population. These needs were aimed to be ...