Middle-Class Societies of America and England - Essay Example

MIDDLE SOCIETIES OF AMERICA AND ENGLAND. In the early twentieth century the relationships transformed between the people and the government and America became training ground for the then generation. The Amendments made on Prohibition and woman suffrage gave the best results in the era. The period 1900 to 1918 was remarked as the "Age of Social Reform" as in this period the country was changing from agrarian to an urban society. The middle class elites felt ashamed of themselves of the social conditions of the poor and thus taken the social duty strongly from their long traditions for the progressives to be made in the sense of the poor. The impulse spread from farmers to politicians to put the effort to reform. Therefore Roosevelt became the first president to support the labor and assigned the government a direct role and duty to all the people. The new women's colleges were opened and there the female reformers were educated. These females who were white middle class young women handled the "problem " of Immigrant, who constituted "dark skinned" Italians, peasant Jews and immigrants from southeastern Europe. The middle class women were barred to possess the professional educational qualifications pursue Consumer's League, and "Americanizing" centers known as settlement houses. These organizations targeted to wipe off the corruption and vice bred by the men their career. So, the women formed into groups and had built themselves as associations to take active part in the public life. Some of the associations are Women's Trade Union League, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and the National. The women succeeded in their campaign to get the right to vote. But their battle of suffrage lasted for as long as from 1848 to 1920, in the year 1920 nineteenth amendment granted 26 million women, half of the nations population, the right to vote. The Fourteenth Amendment sanctioned the citizenship to the blacks. The Civil Rights Law of the 1960s was stepping stone for those who fought for America's promise of equal rights for all. The movement of women, for suffrage began at Seneca Falls. The American Society challenged severely the efforts of women that they cannot cross the threshold of men. But as the situation prolonged, the women got educated, and their movement turned out to be a respectable one. By 1910, the movement developed into a mass movement. In England too it was the same condition, the women were aggressive to sweep out their miseries and were carrying their movement for fundamental rights. In both the nations, by 1919, the Amendment Act was passed for women granting their right to vote. Detroit, the city was known as the "arsenal of Democracy" during the Second World War. The city of Detroit required a large number of labor who came from Africa. They were not given accommodation and like this the riots erupted which turned to be the bloodiest in the history of he nation. This racial conflict has begun very long past in 1863 and lasted till 1941. The racial riots have a long history in Detroit. There were about 200,000 black labors, constricted to sixty square blocks and compelled to live under dreadful sanitary conditions. Awfully the place was named as Paradise Valley while it was a hell for the inhabitants. There was an integrated amusement park. It was known as Belle Isle. This was the place where the Detroit riots began at this particular spot. The rumors still aggravated the situation and mainly because of the police sergeant spread some rumors regarding a women and her baby over the Belle Isle bridge, the black retaliated, looted, destroyed white owned stores, white skinned people were attacked without discrimination. Similar way white also retaliated in the same way. The situation continued without any holds, Detroit became practically a hellhole until Mayor Edward J. Jeffries called more than six thousand federal army troops was stationed throughout the Detroit city. Practically Detroit city was shutdown, streets deserted, schools deserted, no human Being ventured to come out of their house, the city Governor was Harry Francis Kelly. The estimated $2 million has been burned, destroyed. It is a revolution of a country's disorganization, social broadcasted the stint. The then US President was Roosevelt, though a stale forward person, he could not support the blacks. He only expressed his feeling and politicalised lest the party may be dwindling. He pleads to be united otherwise it will be a comfort for enemies. In 1902, Ellis Island was identified as main immigration pert for immigrants entering the US in the late 19th and earlier 20th centuries. There was tremendous immigration to serve both to provide labor for American Industry and to create diverse communities in preciously undeveloped areas. The white people on the pretext of small reservations damaged the biological rights of the Native American tribes and alarming industrial practices let to the often-violent rise of the labor movement in the US. So there was unimaginable industrial growth. The reason being the substantial immigrant population. The growth was not only domestic but a number of military ventures that include the Spanish American war. The sinking of US Marine (ACR-1) on Spain without any evidence it was simply a flame by US founded to rise to international power during this period. In 1917, US entered into the World War I with popularity it substantial. After the world the World War I, US became a rose to the high pedestal stature as a great economic and military world power. American feared about the Russians October revolution that communism may seep into the US. A three-year Red Scare had been declared. The US Senate did not rectify the Treaty of Versailles, which was imposed by its Allies on the defeated central powers. Instead the US chose to pursue "Unilateralism" if not "isolationalism". By the Eighteenth Amendment of the constitution of US, envisages in 1920, the manufacturer, Sale, Import and Export of Alcohol was prohibited. As consequently it happened to be a failure and the prohibition ended in 1933. The agents destroyed barrels and barrels in Chicago in 1921. 1920's saw a phase of the United States enjoying a period of unbalanced prosperity. Farm Prices fallen, wages fallen, the profits in the industrial sector grew enormously. The stock market also did its bit and the boom was fuelled by arising debt and stock influential stock market, of course there was a crash in the stock market in the year 1929, a great depression emerged which led the government to restart the economy and help its victims which was the brain child's Roosevelt new deal. Of course every sector of the society plunged forward with this new deal benefiting them selves. Still there was a thorn in the flesh. Every thing was not well. The unemployed were showing its ugly side till the year 1940. In 1940 World war I American through all its enemies and sources, powers, diplomacy, economic power in World War II and ultimately became "arsenal " Japanese entered pearl harbor in Dec 7, 1941 military the US entered the war then, the US joined Britain China (Nationalism) Soviet Union. Us joined the hands with the above countries in plight to defeat imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and the Nazi Germany. The Victorians called the early period of twentieth century as "modern" and designated it as the superior to all of the past centuries that happened. The society of England changed, as the First World War started. At the beginning of the 20th century, the army constituted 247,437, and the British Army was not a large employer in the nation as actually it should be. After a few years, by 1918, the Royal Air Force a new wing was formed from RNAS and RFC, and there were about 5 million people in the army. But the army considered almost 3 million casualties as the "lost generation", and the huge figure scarred the society and left them in fear. Some significant authors even wrote the poems on the sacrifice of the soldiers, which was little regarded by the British rulers. During the war, the people of many different classes, and people of all the empires came together, the mixing became the great leveler that led to social change after the war. Another major social change was that the Labor Party was formed in 1900, which survived till the 1922 general elections, after which it got its due recognition. Approximately three quarters of British population was working-class. Before the elections the party failed to achieve any major success. David Lloyd George formed the new government with his powerful attitude; he became the Chancellor of the Exchequer Herbert Asquith from 1908 - 1916. He put the Old Age Pensions Act in the Parliament. The Act would provide pension to all old people who have small income. He also passed another National Insurance Act in 1912, which paid the wage earners, the unemployment and sickness benefits. In 1918 Lloyd George's government passed an Education Act, which offered free education to all students who enroll in the State - supported Elementary schools. It could be taken as that the Second World War is continuation of the First World War after an interval taken for peace, but for Britain the reasons to fight were different. Before the war had begun, the countries made threatening calls of major actions, which practically failed to happen. But after the threats received, hundreds and thousands of children were shifted from cities to country. In the War, any other country did not support Britain and it "stood alone" and also it suffered aerial bombing and bombardments. During this national integrity aroused and spread among all and united all the divisions which were made in the earlier decade. The rural people and the urban people were united and they exchanged their places, as the city people were trained to farming and women were recruited in the armed forces where, even the future princess Queen Elizabeth was trained as lorry driver in the Military. Women who played an important role and contributed in the efforts of the war were called as land girls. At that time there were total 500,000 women in the armed forces. Women received a good measure of freedom through these jobs. The after math of the War was not all favorable to the nation. It placed the nation in huge debts. The nation had to levy heavy taxes upon the citizens to manage its budget and at the same time it had to pay the unemployed a good amount as wages, which the country did provide Reference PBS Online / WGBH. 1999. People & Events.z. The Progressive Era 1900-1918. Retrieved on 24 sep 2006. < http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/peopleevents/pande08.html> M. Matley, Professor of Geography, Michigan State University.England under restoration. Retrieved on 24 sep 2006.< http://history-world.org/england.htm> Read More