Evolution Of The American Nation

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Evolution of the Nation

During the post Civil War time period, 1865 to 1945, the United States of America was a rapidly changing country. There were many different reforms taking place in the economic, political, and urban systems. The American industry was rising. New inventions, westward expansion, and new federal laws were making the country a melting pot of cultures from around the world. Also during this time period the nation experienced the progressive movement, economic collapse, the great depression, and President Roosevelt’s New Deal. This paper will discuss the evolution of the United States in westward expansion, urbanization, and politics, as well as the rise of American industry, the economic collapse of 1873, and the causes of the great depression.

American industries were booming post civil war. The transcontinental railroad was instrumental in the progress of the nation’s industrial movement, and the westward expansion. The railroad required tons of steel, and wood, which was provided though the steel and wood factories. The railroad created many jobs throughout the nation, according to PBS, "Railroads were the nation's largest non-agricultural employer. Banks and other industries were putting their money in railroads." This meant that industries other than the railroad and banks were spending money to get the railway build so they could continue their westward expansion.

The industry that would benefit the most from the westward expansion was agriculture. The north and southern parts of the country offered little opportunity for a new farmer. The westward expansion promised land through various land grants offered by the government. The farmers were not the only ones who would benefit from the west. The cattl...

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...ities evolved into our current state, the economic collapse and the great depression showed governments and industry new ways of regulating the economy. Roosevelt’s New Deal was the beginning of are current money standard, welfare system, and social security systems.

References

(1999-2001). Retrieved April 11, 2007, www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/grant/peopleevents/e_panic.html

(2008 Ohio Historical Society). Retrived April 11, 2008, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1517

(Ag.). Retrieved April 11, 2008, http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/1860.htm

(2008, April 14). Retrieved April 14, 2008, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/progressivism/index.cfm

(English). Retrieved April 12, 2008, http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/about.htm

(Whitehouse). Retrieved April 11.2008, http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/fr32.html

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