America During The Reconstruction Era

Over 150 years ago, our nation went through a major battle known as the Civil War. It was a conflict where 620,000 American soldiers died because of the different viewpoints between the North and the South. The years following this great battle molded our nation to become the land of the free and the home of the brave. The next 50 years for the United States of America were marked by the quest for freedom of different sorts, expansion as a nation, and modernization. It began with the hard-fought battle for freedom of the African-American slaves and progressed to the other civil liberties for people of different races as well as women. From this point, our nation continued to expand across the lands and advance in modern technology. This time of our history truly marks the rebirth of our nation, where modern America received the foundations to become the country it is today.
Many lives were sacrificed and the saying that “freedom is not free” proves to be so true when examining the history of our nation during this time. “By the war’s end, almost 4 million men and women [were] freed…” (Lecture notes) and from this point forward, it was the beginning of the “new birth of freedom.” The Reconstruction Era was an important time for our nation. During this time, there were three amendments that were adopted: the …show more content…
Focused on economic and city expansion, this period brought about significant changes in American social and political life. Improvements to “rural conditions by the cooperative financing and marketing of crops” began with the Farmers’ Alliance at the end of the nineteenth century. However, the depression of the 1890s stunted the progress of the Farmer’s Alliances. Nevertheless, the Progressive Era finally saw farms and cities grow together, invigorating immigration, consumer freedom, along with a need for women’s and worker’s rights (Foner