History 122 |
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Essay 1: Description/Analysis Being Updated
January 12, 2008
The purpose of this first essays is for you to convey your sense of what life was like in America over 100 years ago. Many of the documents tend to focus on the negative side of life in those times, but you can begin here to “read between the lines,” which is what good historians do. That is not to suggest that you ignore the negative—indeed, you are invited to explore it. The point is that these documents represent but a tiny fraction of the material that has defined the period from 1865-1920. Interesting comparisons have been made between the end of the last century and the end of this one. (See for example, H.W. Brands, Reckless Decade, a fine work about the 1890s.) Perhaps you can use these documents that come from the past to shed a little light on where it is we seem to be going. Check out Resources before you begin. |
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| Reconstruction and the Birth of the Modern Civil Rights Movement Reconstruction was a frustrating experience, yet it contained the distant promise of future reform in the area of civil rights. At the center of Reconstruction was the issue of intergrating several million former slaves into Southern society, a task that would have been difficult under the best of circumstances, and the circumstances were far from good. |
Smithsonian Institution Museum of African American History and Culture
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| Exploitation of the West and the Indian Wars The West was wild until the railroads and settlers filled it up, and the farmers, ranchers and miners began using up the resources. The History of the Native American peoples is a national tragedy. But the story is far from over. Investigate the West and Indian History. |
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| The War between Capital and Labor The industrial revolution, while creating great wealth and raising living standards for many, also ran roughshod over the working poor. Yet much of the population and the political leadership seemed either incapable of grasping what was going on or powerless to do anything about it. Thus the “Gilded Age”—glittering on the surface, base metal underneath. To borrow a phrase from Dickens, it was in many ways the best of times and the worst of times. May be used for Essay 1 or 2 |
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| The Immigrant Experience All of us are descendants of immigrants—if we trace our histories back far enough. They came by the millions, often with a blind faith in what America had to offer. Investigate the immigrants' story. |
Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty New York City |
| Progressivism The Progressive Era. By the turn of the century, the country may well have been on the brink of revolution, as the war between capital and labor grew ever uglier. Fortunately for the nation reform movements, which had actually been underway for several decades, began to move forward and expand their scope into what historians have called the “Progressive Era.” Reform has always been a part of American history, but the time between 1900 amd 1916 was especially intense as governments at all levels abandoned the laissez-faire approach to society and economy and began to intervene to make life more tolerable for all Americans, especially those of the working classes. |
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| History of Railroads Railroads changed the history not only of America but of much of the world in ways we can scarcely imagine. They even changed our concept of time. |
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| Imperialism Americans have traditionally rejected the idea of imperialism. Both Washington and Jefferson encouraged Americans to, in effect, mind their own business. But for much of our history, starting about the time of the American Civil War, when French Emperor Napoleon III tried to colonize Mexico, other nations have taken actions that Americans felt they could ignore. How did America get into the imperial game? What were our motives or reasons? Where did it take us? | |
| World War I: The Great War. The first World War, called the Great War at the time, was perhaps the most terrible war ever fought from the perspective of the men on the battlefield, who died at the rate of over 5,000 per day for over four years. It was the first time Americans ever fought in Europe in large numbers, and it brought the U.S. firmly onto the world stage. | |
Back to Projects 122 | Updated January 12, 2008 |
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