Preview

Americans In The Late 19th Century Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1052 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Americans In The Late 19th Century Essay
Although America up to the nineteenth century is a nation full of bustling people living their own separate and original lives, people today look at the past with a narrow and romanticized perspective. It is easy to stereotype and stigmatize people who live in certain eras because they will never be known-- they are defined by the events they live through. However, it is possible to rediscover that time does not change what makes everyone human. Americans of the past defend themselves through their literature; their stories and poems prove that although today their language is considered formal and their clothes too frilly, they still have the same kind of hopes, dreams, and goals that are present in the twenty-first century. The first half of American history can …show more content…
The Americans create Constitutions and laws laying out what can and cannot be done; however, when it comes to the implied responsibilities of the federal government, state governments, and the American people, the nation reduces to a state of near anarchy. The one thing everyone can agree upon is the right to free speech, that is, until the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts limits that privilege as well. During the early nineteenth century, Americans take on the dysfunctional couple trope, they create the on-again-off-again relationship America is infamous for. During the first decades though, the United States has not grown into the melting pot of cultures found in contemporary times. Harsh boundaries separate Americans regionally. What appears on the surface as Federalist and Democratic Republican conglomerations, is based on economic standings and environmental surroundings. One of the reasons the South later decides to secede and begin the Civil War is Henry Clay’s American System, which increases the manufacturing industry in the North (payed for by the South) and diminishes the South’s agricultural imports and exports. Americans at the turn of the century

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    How would you characterize the relationship between William Byrd and Lucy Parke Byrd? If Lucy had diary, how do you think she might have characterized the same events? The relationship William Byrd and Lucy Parke Byrd was quite different than most marriages in the old Virginia days. Lucy Parke was rather knowledgeable than most women her age, while she grew up educated. Lucy Parke caught the attention of William Byrd, by the grants her family had inherited but also from her beauty. William Byrd consumed a weakness for feminine women. He often was unfaithful to Lucy Parke. In William Byrd diary he says,” I kissed Mrs. Chiswell and kissed her on the bed till she was angry and my wife also was uneasy about it, and cried as soon as the company was gone.” Another incident occurred, in which Lucy’s anger and jealousy may have gotten the best of her. For example, “In the evening my and little jenny had a great quarrel in which my wife got the worst but at last by the help of the family Jenny was overcome and soundly whipped. Jenny is also known as “a mistress.” William Byrd cared for Lucy Parke’s health and well-being. William often prayed for Lucy Parke during her very sick days while dealing with a miscarriage. William was saddened for the pain his wife was dealing with. In his diary he mentions, “Wife grew very ill which made me weep for her.” The characterization of this relationship was uneasy, wealthy and troubling at times. Through the marriage was primarily based on the wealth of William Byrd owning slaves and land. In my conclusion I sense that Byrd had slight compassion for Lucy and primarily saw her as an “object” to him. Lucy Parke in my opinion would have characterized it in a more perturbed way. She had a rough time dealing with her miscarriages. Lucy Parke would have expressed her personal life with more detail on how she felt about William,…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the start of the second decade in the 19th century, American was going through tough times. The War of 1812 was raging causing destruction throughout America while many domestic issues divided the nation. One of the most major issues was the New England Colonies’ feelings of sectionalism while the South was as nationalistic as ever. In 1820 however, the roles reversed as the South became the regionally favored area while New England became a larger support of the country. This swap is due to the economic changes that occurred between 1815 and 1820. Economic developments such as trade tariffs, slavery issues and the industrial revolution created a new commercial environment adjusting the views of the citizens of said regions. Without this economic shift, the Northern States would have garnered more support to break away from the US while the South would have wanted to preserve the union.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    America exists today as one of the most intriguing countries in the world, primarily due to the preponderance of positives and negatives that constitutes the general perception of the entire nation as a whole. The United States is known for its dominant history in a militaristic sense, only having one war fought on its on soil. It is also known in economic terms, still widely considered today as the world’s sole remaining “superpower”, a title that was once shared with the Soviet Union before its collapse. Most recently it has gained prominence in regards to social life because of the country’s technological advancements, that now actively promotes social media in all aspects of life (for example the workplace and schools) which subsequently allows people from all over the country to connect. Despite the amount of benefits there are of living in America, there are also negatives that have been predominantly affecting the country for hundreds of years that are still in existence today. These unfavorable aspects are significant because there existence alone vividly contradicts the perceived ideal foundation that America was built upon. The idea that all men are created equal, and are given unalienable rights, most importantly life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is what America wanted its basis to be. However, America’s past, present and future all seem to be strongly digressing from these ideas, and the most controversial aspects that have been dividing the country since its existence are race and poverty.…

    • 1301 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cannons explode in the background as men around you fall down. Everything is madness. You look into the eyes of your cousin from up North before he shoots you. Why is this happening? The Civil War, fought by the Union (the “North”) and the Confederate States of America (“the South”) took place between 1861 and 1865. Several slave states that declared secession formed the Confederacy. The issue of the war was slavery. The South depended on it and the North wanted to abolish it. So what caused this war? This paper will argue economics was the most important factor in starting the war. However Social and Political differences played a big role.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the late 19th century America went through various transformations, with regional changes as well as rural and urban transformations, with political movements, urbanization, labor movements, and even Reconstruction and Westward Expansion; these are only a few examples of transformation that America underwent.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    War Of 1812 DBQ

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Following the War of 1812, Henry Clay’s American System was implemented. Part of Clay’s American System involved the creation of roads and canals. In Document B, part of a speech in Congress, John C. Calhoun expressed his support for the American System when he said, “Let us, then, bind the republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals.” Because Calhoun and Clay were both War Hawks, it is not surprising that they would likely support each other’s political initiatives. It is important to note that even though a system of roads and canals, in theory, unify the nation (nationalism), in reality, this proposal is part of Henry Clay’s controversial American System, which only increased the rise of sectionalism, because it benefited the North more than the South and because it challenged States’ rights. In addition, Document A, an excerpt from John Randolph’s speech in Congress in 1816, addresses sectional differences between the North and South: the North’s economy is based on manufacturing and industry, while the South’s economy is based on agriculture. This difference in the basis for the economy in the North and South gave way to sectionalism. Also, document F, a letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Randolph discusses something that “awakened and filled [Jefferson] with terror…considered it at once the [death] knell of the Union.” Something that can cause the demise of the U.S. would be sectionalism.…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1920's Dbq

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Following the First World War, the United States went in search of a, “return to normalcy,” which many agreed was exactly what it needed. However, to the dismay of many, all the United States could find was a significant amount of tension that had developed between, “Old America,” and, “New America.” All in all, this tension that arose between old and new traditions and ideas did so in the form of religion, conflicts within society, and cultural values.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the American government started passing unfavorable bills regarding certain territories in America, hostilities increased significantly, destroying the only aspiration of avoiding a civil war. Due to plentiful resources and population growth, the North transformed into a metropolitan area with advanced technology and successful ventures. It was also able to increase its territory due to the Ordinance of 1784, which allowed it to “incorporate new north-western states into its region,” and “achieve a larger population of residents.” The North’s increase in territory caused the South to envy its prosperity, increasing tensions that would contribute to the Civil War. Similar to how the Ordinance of 1784 escalated tensions in the South, the Wilmot Proviso, intended to eradicate slavery, drew an uproar from both the North and the South. Henry Clay, a politician opposing slavery, defied the expectations of both the North and the South by instructing the North to refrain from “demanding the terms” of the Wilmot Proviso and the South “against considering secession.” Since the South possessed a worse economy than the North, Clay had asserted that by eradicating slavery in the South, it would wage war just to preserve its economy. Clay’s warning revealed that the government advocated the North as opposed to the South, and that it was incapable of passing sufficient legislation. The South discovered the government’s bias towards the North and started the process to secede from the Union in order to achieve autonomy and create an honest…

    • 1658 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Northern and Southern parts of the United States urbanized along different lines. The South continued to be a primarily agricultural economy while the North became further industrialized with each passing day. With these major changes happening in the economy different group cultures and political values came about. The Civil War was mainly started by the sectional tension from the north and south, the Missouri Compromise, the removal of Texas, and politics of slavery.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is often assumed that the civil war was based solely on the existance of slavery in the south. This assumption is generally made by people who are not fully educated on the topic, and are unable to fully understand each of the different factors that led to the civil war. While slavery did play an important role in the disunion of the north and south, the war itself was caused by disunion and disunion alone (Schweitzer, Jeff). The largest factors leading to the war composed of state's rights, followed by disagreement on tarriffs. The primary difference between the north and south was not the fact that the north wanted to abolish slavery, but more of the fact that the south was primarily agriculturally based around cotton. The north were industrialized and would typically manufacture the cotton (Foote, Shelby 26).…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil War Turning Point

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Page

    Many people have viewed the American Civil War a major turning point in history for the United States. As a result of the war, the industrial revolution had become the new economy assuming the primary role of finance profit. The predominance of the industrial development was rapidly spreading across the continent. The South primarily remained an agricultural region that depended on slave labor, while on the other hand, the “Industrial Development”, interests in the North grew further from those of Americans in the South.…

    • 218 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The political differences between the North and South ranged from deciding on what the budget of the United States should be used for to what should be the main crop produced and sold for income. in the 1860s the government made a lot more decisions on things such as what to produce and how to produce it then currently in the United States. The reason the north and south problems on what crops to produce had such an impact was because of the type of soil the North and South had. The reason industrialism flourished in the north was because the lack of soil needed for farming. The north farming situation was set up for more smaller farmsteads instead of the south with relied on more heavy farming and plantations. This taking us back to slavery. Due to the prosperity of farming in the south they relied more heavily on slaves than the north. political differences in the north and south were too diverse for the two parts of the country to continue as one this leading to succession of South Carolina in…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Examining the Civil War

    • 3635 Words
    • 15 Pages

    A war that originated because the nation was divided ultimately marked the beginning of a truly unified United States. The Civil War put to rest the increasing sectionalism that divided the North, the South, and the newly colonized West. At the root were the issues of slavery in the South, and the attempt of the Southern states to withdraw from the Union. Although many lives and untold millions were lost in personal belongings, livestock, and structures, the Civil War set in motion the progression towards a unified Nation. During the 18th and 19th century, slavery was a very significant aspect of the development of the nation. The economic, social, and political development of the nation during this period was directly associated to slavery even though society condemned it as morally wrong. The following will detail the significance of slavery in the economic, social, and political development of the 18th and 19th century America. Additionally details will show the economic, social, and political impacts of the conflict as well as why a democratic nation failed to address the crisis peacefully.…

    • 3635 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the nineteenth century great advances were made toward industrializing america, but american freedoms were sacrificed in the process. Going into the twentieth century many changes were made to change the cultural norms of the previous century. The labor and women's movement challenged the nineteenth centuries meaning of american freedom by showing the people that not everyone was being protected and accurately represented in america.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Southern Expansion

    • 2166 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In the Old Northwest, “the contemporary name for the region north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachian Mountains” an economy based on foodstuffs with a heavy center in the east focused on the consumption and manufacturing of goods. How did this differ from the southern half of the United States? The economy of the southern states lived by the motto where “Cotton was King.” Furthermore, the South was notable for its soil, climate and labor system, and specifically African-American slaves, as a central part of southern society as well as a critical piece in the southern way of life. It is here we start to see differing ways of life between the northern and southern halves of the country. In relation to the years prior to the Civil War, though, both the north and the south feared the other half’s way of life as a threat. It was southern fear that northern states were gaining an advantage in the number of free states, as well as representation in Congress. Running the numbers, it can be ascertained that out of the twenty-seven states in the Union by 1850, fifteen registered as free states while twelve were slave states. Out of the twenty-seven total states, there were 144 representatives of the northern states, with 82 for the southern states. Numerically we can see how the advantage clearly rests with the northern states in…

    • 2166 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays