The Americans Between 1865 and 1980 - Essay Example

Americans between 1865 and 1980 Americans between 1865 and 1980 Unity in the U.S is a notion that has been argued by many. Others consider the united states as a country that has people of various backgrounds living harmoniously. However, others point out that the U.S is a country that has people from different backgrounds and cultures who live together, not in unity but because they have to, as a consequence. The question of unity in the U.S has been of particular interest especially between the years of 1865 and 1890. In the United States, segregation and disunity among the American citizens started back in time. Some of the causes of the division were racist in nature while others were due to social factors and the political orientation of a particular individual. This paper discusses the idea that americans were more divided than united between the periods of 1865 and 1890. The issue of divisions in the U.S is not a new concept because it has existed since the time of the formation of the U.S into one nation. In the United States, in the past, securing a job in the military was everybody’s childhood dream. This is because the job was considered prestigious and those who managed to secure the job were accorded a lot of respect. There was also a downside associated with securing this job, which contributed to divisions among the Americans in the United States. Within the United States army, racism was present. It was severe to the extent that fellow members of the army ganged up against other races who were the minority in the army. Discrimination was evident in the army with regard to the parts of the United States a person come from. This as a result created rivalry between the people from different states not only within the army but also in the states (Sinclair, 1999). This rivalry between the states continued growing with time to the extent that people from different states could not visit other states due to fears of acts of violence directed towards them. Another cause of disunity among the Americans was the fact that the United States army could not distinguish the friendly Indians from hostile communities in residing on American soil. Hence, the army resulted in oppressive and violent actions against all the non-ethnic communities resident in the United States. Therefore, these communities such as the Indians loathed the American population and hence segregated themselves. In the American army, there were also disease outbreaks. The treatment accorded to the soldiers in the army was discriminatory whereby the white Americans were prioritized. After all the whites received treatment, the rest of the members of the army could then be treated. Risky and highly dangerous operations were assigned to the black and non-American members of the army. In battle situations, the non-American and blacks in the United States army were considered disposable. Hence, they took the front lines in the battlefield decreasing their chances of survival. This, as a result, contributed to the division and segregation among the American population (Sinclair, 1999). The sand creek massacre was another factor that contributed to division among the American population. This massacre took place in Colorado, which attracted people in the masses due to its minerals. These minerals included silver and gold and were regarded to be of great value to date. Miners came in numbers to mine for silver and gold and, this as a consequence, aggravated the residents of the area who were the Arapahos and the Cheyenne. The gold rush in the region brought tension to a boiling point. As a result, the neighboring tribes took it upon themselves to act whereby they attacked the mining camps, stagecoaches and wagon trains during the period of the civil war (Haley, 1992). In the 1864, Chivington who commanded troops in the region decided to launch a campaign of violence, which was directed towards the Cheyenne and their counterparts. His troops attacked all the Indian residents in the region and set their village ablaze. In retaliation, the Indian communities in the region joined forces to combat a common enemy in a defensive path of war. After a short period, Chivington and Evans reinforced their militia because of the large numbers of the Indians they faced. When the reinforcements arrived, the soldiers charged the Indians in their homes decimating anything that moved. This is described as a massacre because of the aggression the soldiers directed towards the Indians in the region. The soldiers clubbed little children and the women were ripped open. The soldiers also mutilated the bodies of the captives by the time the war ended. There were over 200 casualties majority of which were the women and children. This massacre, therefore, resulted in division among the American population whereby the Indians held a grudge against the white Americans (Haley, 1992). In the United States especially in states such as Alabama, life for African Americans was very difficult even with the abolishment of slavery by President Abraham Lincoln in the year 1863. This was due to the reason that prejudice and racial discrimination was prevalent in Alabama. This racial discrimination meant that humans within the United States were separated in all aspects of life in racial groups. This segregation was evident in majority of the states in America such as restaurants and water fountains. Restaurants were specific such that some restaurants were reserved for the whites and others for the blacks. Water fountains, on the other hand, were clearly labeled black and white and in no instance could one find a black person using a white fountain as it was punishable by law. As a result, these blacks and whites grew with this culture and their children grew knowing the same. Hence, this resulted to disunity and division among the American population (Sinclair, 1999). In Alabama at a time around the 1930s, the African Americans had only experienced freedom for only sixty-five years. Segregation was still very common in terms of facilities especially schools. Schools were divided such that white and black schools were set up. Black schools were disadvantaged in terms of equipment and the quality of service provided. The white schools were better equipped with very qualified and experienced teachers. In the workplace, the white-collar jobs in the United States were reserved for the whites in America. The blue-collar jobs were meant for the blacks in the community who had some form of formal education. It was a belief among the American population that the African American was lesser beings and hence should always serve under the white people. The African Americans were considered second-class citizens. Due to this fact, there was the belief that African American men were sexual predators and hence could not live with white women. In contrast, it was allowed for a white man to live with a black woman. This greatly contributed to disunity among the American population (Bird & Erodes 1990). The great depression and the Second World War were also contributing factors to the division among the population in the United States. Although the great depression affected majority of the population in the United States, there was no group that experienced the severity of the great depression than the African Americans. This is evident through the fact that in the year 1922 half of the black population was rendered jobless with no means of earning a living. In some state, white communities insisted on the firing of the blacks who still had the financial security of a job simply because a hand full of white people was rendered jobless. All this took place at a time around the year 1932. This, as a result, contributed to disunity and segregation among the population within the United States (Haley, 1992). President Roosevelt was a favorite of the blacks at the time due to the reforms he made in favor of the African American population. This was evident through his encouragement of advice from the African Americans in the white house as advisors. In contrast, there was still evidence of discrimination in the sense that the in his new deal so as to combat the great depression, the employment and housing projects were all in favor of the white population. There were also many instances of discrimination in the hiring soldiers to join the army during the advent of the Second World War. The Indians and the African Americans were among the last to be considered for hiring. This, therefore, promoted division and disunity among the citizens of the United States because of this discrimination. The Ku Klux Klan was an organization set up in the united states operated in a racist manner whose sole commitment was to achieve racial discrimination and segregation and hence white supremacy in the United States. Of all the racist organizations and groups within the United States, the Ku Klux Klan had the greatest number of followers. More than forty sub groups of the Ku Klux Klan were in existence, in the United States. This Klan otherwise known as fellowship was responsible for ensuring the demise of the African Americans in the United States. This was through ensuring that attacking any successful black businesspersons and in the event that the black people formed trade unions, they were dealt with swiftly and in time. Thus, as a result, the black businessmen did not receive any support from trade unions and hence their chances of success decrease substantially (Bird & Erodes 1990). The Ku Klux Klan was discriminatory and acted through violence against the colored citizens and any foreigners within the United States. The Klan usually broke into the residence of the blacks and foreigners within the United States ant night and in many instances murdered them. This translated into the colored and the foreign citizens in the United States living in a state of fear and panic for their lives. Although law enforcement facilities were present at the time, the chances of hope were bleak and the Ku Klux Klan is active to date (Bird & Erodes 1990). Another factor that contributed to division among the American population in the late 1900s was same sex marriage. Homosexuality in the United States had been on the increase reaching a range of 40 - 45 percent of the total population. In the United States, there was always the question of whether homosexuality is acceptable in the society whereby they homosexuals are divided into gays and lesbians. Hence, there is a division in the American society whereby there were the supporters of homosexuality and those who were opposed to it. Extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan attacked and killed the homosexual members in the society. The citizens who were opposed to gay marriage loathed the gay members in the community and did not want any association with the gay. This affected all the aspects of their lives including business and social interactions. This was hence a major contributor to division and disunity among the American population (Bird & Erodes 1990). Politics were also observed to promote division among the American population. In the field of politics, in the United States, there was the division into two groups, which were the republicans and the democrats. The groups were governed by different ideologies. For instance, majority of the democrats were observed to support gay marriage up to 85 percent, whereas the republicans were opposed to gay marriage in the United States. Hence, the direction a citizen in the United States took politically influenced his school of thought and behavior and hence contributed to division among the American population. In conclusion, segregation and division in the United States was mainly contributed by racism. This racism was mostly because the whites in the United States considered themselves superior beings and hence considered the colored inhabitants in the United States second-class citizens. Extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan were the perpetrators who were responsible for ensuring that the foreigners in the United States faced their demise through brutal acts of violence and murders. There was also division in the American society due to the sexual orientation of an individual. There were those in support of gay marriage whereas others were against homosexuality. These factors were the major contributors of this segregation and hence division among citizens of the United States. References Bird, M., & Erodes, R. (1990). Lakota woman. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. Carnegie, A. (1962). The gospel of wealth, and other timely essays. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Sinclair, U. (1999). The jungle. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg. Haley, A. (1992). The autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: One World/Ballantine Books. Read More