After studying the history of the United States from the Reconstruction era through the early 2000s, it is safe to conclude that America has transformed into one of the world’s most powerful countries. While the United States has become a nation founded on new beginnings and freedom, the arguably greatest nation in the world did not always truly stand for the principle of freedom and equality that it promotes with pride. Discrimination was one of the biggest issues America has faced for hundreds of years, and sadly, it is still an issue that impacts many lives to this day, including my own. On the other hand, there were other moments in the history of America that had a big impact on the people during that period of time, but has very little
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In the late nineteenth century, the concept of “Big Business” took off; instead of the typical small-town businesses that people were used to before the Civil War, businesses would begin popping up throughout the nation, some expanding over seas (Shi and Tindall 558). While these new big businesses were good for economic growth, women had very few opportunities to create and/or play a role in the business expansion. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, women were finally able to get an education that is equivalent to a man’s, though “women were often steered into home economics classes and ‘finishing’ courses intended to perfect their house housekeeping or social skills” (Shi and Tindall 568). While being African American and having his own discrimination to worry about, W. E. B. Du Bois was just one of the many who stood up for women suffrage by writing in The Crisis magazine: “The statement that woman is weaker than man is sheer rot: It is the same sort of thing that we hear about ‘darker races’ and ‘lower classes’… That the average woman is spiritually different form the average man is undoubted ally just as true as the average white man differs from thee average Negro....” (Du Bois 140). He goes on to mention some women do not have husbands and etc. to protect and vote for them, which is why it is unjust that women do not get their voices heard. Women’s role in society eventually began to shift by the 1900s, where women made up 29 percent of the workforce, with numbers continuing to escalate through the next decade (Shi and Tindall 977). Feminism in the late 1900s began shining light on problems that women faced, such as the fact 36 percent of the nation’s “poor” families were headed by women (Shi and Tindall 1059). Of course, where there was feminism, there was the anti-feminist who only supported the
In the late nineteenth century, the concept of “Big Business” took off; instead of the typical small-town businesses that people were used to before the Civil War, businesses would begin popping up throughout the nation, some expanding over seas (Shi and Tindall 558). While these new big businesses were good for economic growth, women had very few opportunities to create and/or play a role in the business expansion. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, women were finally able to get an education that is equivalent to a man’s, though “women were often steered into home economics classes and ‘finishing’ courses intended to perfect their house housekeeping or social skills” (Shi and Tindall 568). While being African American and having his own discrimination to worry about, W. E. B. Du Bois was just one of the many who stood up for women suffrage by writing in The Crisis magazine: “The statement that woman is weaker than man is sheer rot: It is the same sort of thing that we hear about ‘darker races’ and ‘lower classes’… That the average woman is spiritually different form the average man is undoubted ally just as true as the average white man differs from thee average Negro....” (Du Bois 140). He goes on to mention some women do not have husbands and etc. to protect and vote for them, which is why it is unjust that women do not get their voices heard. Women’s role in society eventually began to shift by the 1900s, where women made up 29 percent of the workforce, with numbers continuing to escalate through the next decade (Shi and Tindall 977). Feminism in the late 1900s began shining light on problems that women faced, such as the fact 36 percent of the nation’s “poor” families were headed by women (Shi and Tindall 1059). Of course, where there was feminism, there was the anti-feminist who only supported the