History Essay on Civil War in the United States

At the end of the Civil War the United States was mostly a country of  farming. Most of the people lived east of the Mississippi.The country wa very wounded by the Civli War and the country was divided  By 1920 the US population was spread coast to coast and manufacturing was key. The US changed from a broken split up growing country to united major world power. 

Reconstruction of the South began right after the Civil War and caused major changes for the United States. One major change was that there were many new voters in the South.  This is significant because it changed the outcome of elections.  Freedmen, Scalawags, and Carpetbaggers all voted in numbers like never before. Slaves had not been allowed to vote but now as freedmen, they could. The second-largest group of new voters in the south was white southerners. A lot of these southerners had never voted before and were very poor. These groups and former northern soldiers made up much of the Republican voters. The second most significant change during the reconstruction of the south was that all of the former Confederate states were readmitted to the union. With all of the states back together again the United States was ready to continue westward expansion. If the states had not united, it's likely that they would continue to fight and not be prepared to expand to the western part of America. Western Expansion brought many the growth of the United States in both lland and in political strenght. 

Moving west was a challenge for all groups because of the changes they had to adapt to and take into consideration. For some groups, this was much of a challenge due to the limitations on resources and ability to adapt. Meanwhile, for other groups, it was something they were used to but still had certain challenges they'd run into along the way.  Groups such as American Indians, Miners, Railroad owners, Ranchers & cowboys, and etc. These are the types of groups that fall under the category when dealing with the American West. Two significant changes in the United States during Westward Expansion was there was a lot of opportunities for settlers. On the other hand, this was at the cost of taking land from American Indians. The opportunities included farming, mining, and ranching. This is significant because all of the opportunities attracted people to move across the United States and begin settling in the west. Not only did the US then occupy and control this area but also the US gained power by being bigger and stronger. 

American Indians had to fight and protect themselves. What they went through led to their  downfall. The struggles they came upon include loss of land, movement from reservations, and disease. These are big issues because of what can be the outcome of them. For example, the disease smallpox is what caused death and suffering. The more deaths meant fewer people. Without people, not as much work would get done which caused problems. This worried a lot of people because they needed workers and not having extra workers can be scary. The Trail of Tears is another important aspect of American Indians. It is mostly associated with removals taking place after the Indian Removal Act. 4000 people died from disease or exposure while being forced through states. The harsh weather conditions and the dangers that came along with them fall under the death and hardship category. The type of physical and mental pain these American Indians had to go through was damaging and had alot of negative outcomes. A big negative aspect of this is the population size decrease. Due to the deaths and damage the American Indian population decreased  90%. The loss of population and their land eventually had significant effects on later generations because they lost their culture and land.  They became poor because the land they used to farm and hunt was gone.  

Two significant changes of the Industrial Revolution  were the creation of new products and machines  ,and the formation of labor unions.  Because of the many new inventions like electric lights, the telegraph and the automobile Americans had easier lives.  Companies were able get investores to fund making these new products and other things like the railroad.  This is capitalism and because private investors saw they could make money they were willing to risk their own money on investments. This was very significant because it was what helped the US to grow so fast during the Industrial Revolution.  It helped to create monopolies and make even more growth.  The other significant change was labor unions.  They fought for safer working conditions, wages, and reasonable working hours. This improved life for many Americans who before might have died in factories. This was significant because these changes made life better for workers and also paved the way for current labor laws. 

Two significant changes in the progressive era were the creating of child labor laws and women fought for the right to vote in elections. Young children were working in factories to help support their families. Progressives fought for child labor laws so children couldn't work in factories any longer. This was significant because it kept children safe and gave them the chance to go to school and be educated instead of working. The other significant change was women fighting for the right to vote and winning that right. This gave women a voice in government and a chance to speak up. 

The US and other countries wanted to create a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  When diplomacy didn't work to get control of the construction of the canal, Roosevelt encouraged the people of Panama to revolt against the Colombians as a way to influence getting a canal built. This supported Roosevelt's Big Stick policy because he tried to negotiate but then took military action. Roosevelt's foreign policy also was that he wanted to increase the influence of the US around the world. The Panama Canal did increase the prestige of the US around the world. It would be easier for warships to move from the east coast of the US to the west coast through the canal instead of going all the way around. This was significant because it made the US a strong military power even in the Pacific. 

During the time of US Imperialism President Taft's foreign policy included Dollar Diplomacy meaning that he supported investment and trade in Asia and Latin America. Taft thought that if the US was strong economically it would make the US strong overall internationally. Like Roosevelt, he promoted an aggressive foreign policy. This change in foreign policy was signnificant because it was the start of the US being one of the major powers in the world. 

Taft hoped to protect US investments in and trade with Mexico He met with Mexican President Diaz who then said this visit showed the full support of the US for Diaz's government. The situation between the two countries got worse became a revolution. In 1911 President Taft sent 20,000 American troops to the Mexican border in a show of strength. This show of force was meant to protect US investments in Mexico so in that way, it was supporting Taft's foreign policy. But it was in opposition to his Dollar Diplomacy because he was using the marines.