19th Century America

Answer the following question with an essay of two typed pages (double spaced). Start with a brief introduction that presents the main points you will make. Include details and examples from the books, lectures and/or other resources to support your points in the following paragraphs. End with a one or two sentence conclusion that restates your main points. If using other sources, be sure to cite them in your essay. 1. Explore the meaning of freedom in the United States from 1815 – 1920. What forces during the 19th century encouraged the growth of freedom in America, and what forces obstructed that growth? In the 19th century America, the meaning of freedom is deeply rooted within American values and ideas such as Democracy, Capitalism and Protestant values. For Americans, freedom means social mobility and the core Protestant value of work-ahead-get-ahead mentality. Anyone should …show more content…
These led to the worsening of working conditions of the labor, and killing the competitions – the fundamental concept of Capitalism - for farmers and small businesses. As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor grew; creating an unequal society. Not only the working class Americans but also the African Americans and the newly immigrants were the victims of the negative impacts of the Industrialization. For instance, Jim Crow laws enabled racial segregation of the African Americans in public places and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted the freedom of the Chinese, one of the immigrant groups. This led to the various social reform movements – which was a respond to the effects of the Industrialization by different social hierarchies. The farmer respond – Populism, working class respond – the rise of the labor and the middle class respond –