Reconstruction,Turners Thesis and Economic Development - Coursework Example

of the of the Reconstruction, Turner’s Thesis and Economic Development Civil war had caused widespread despair and destruction in the country. Soon after the Civil war, the reconstruction era started in the year 1865, to address the national issues and to restore peace and development in the country. The major goals of the reconstruction were to readmit the South into the Union and to achieve racial equality. Radical measures during the reconstruction period were taken under the administration of the Army in the year 1867 in which coalition of Freedman and local whites endorsed the Fourteenth amendment.

This gave extraordinary powers to the courts to provide justice at the state level. After the approval of the Fifteenth Amendment, African Americans were given the right to vote in elections. This laid the foundation of an ideal America where racial discriminations would not hinder the path to economic development. The Government focused on building railroads and promoted education, setting up many public schools. And with the passing of Civil Rights Act of 1875, every citizen was granted access to basic public facilities.

Even though the reconstruction era was short-lived, it provided an environment for the economic revolution (Gao). From the beginning of the Reconstruction period to the year 1913, America underwent booming economic revolution and emerged as a leading industrial nation. Reconstruction had introduced the system of shared cropping according to which the tenants could use the lands for cultivation by giving a certain share of the crops to the land owners. This allowed the vast agricultural lands, which had been destroyed during the civil war, to be used again and also provided employment to the freedman.

Due to restoration of civil rights, the country was abundant with cheap labor. This, combined with the availability of lands, the plentiful railroads built during this period and the abundance of natural resources made America grow at an unimaginable pace. Agriculture rose to high levels, factory and industrial expansions took place throughout the country. There was a seventy five percent increase in the annual aggregate income of a non farm worker during this period (Foner). With the end of the reconstruction era, new policies were being shaped up and it was during this period that the historian Frederick Jackson Turner put forward his turner thesis in the year 1893.

According to Turner, the American frontier held an important position in the well being of the Americans. He emphasized that the importance of the frontier areas could not be ignored and for the economic development of the country, it was necessary that the vast scarcely populated lands should be utilized. By Frontier, Turner also meant stepping out of the conventional boundaries and stepping forth into new realms. The thesis laid stress on “breaking the bonds of custom, offering new experiences, and calling out new institutions and activities.

” Frontier’s thesis met an assortment of positive and negative responses but his ideas were adopted by the President John F. Kennedy under the name of “New Frontier”. Heavy economic developments took place and new frontiers like space were indeed established and the Americans aimed for the moon (Billington). Reconstruction era and the Turner’s thesis belong to slightly different periods in the history but both played a vital role in bringing economic revolution in the country and America to great heights in economic development.

Works Cited Billington, Ray Alley. The Frontier Thesis: Valid Interpretation of American History? Krieger Pub Co, 1996. Print Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 . Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2002. Print Gao, Chungchan. African Americans in the Reconstruction Era. Routledge, 2000. Print