A. During the Reconstruction Period (1865-1877), the world was going through an era of racial issue awareness. There was a multitude of issues involving race relations, positive and negative, including changes that would reform America. The 13th Amendment marked an end of an era of slavery, freeing both enslaved and escaped slaves. The Freedman's bureau was established in 1865, allowing freed slaves to seek help with finding their place in society. The end of the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery helped jumpstart the integration of African Americans into America. They were given basic needs and education, and as many slaves lacked education, this was important. Due to their prior status as slaves, African Americans were disadvantaged in society. White politicians were not happy with the abolishment of slavery, as southerners based their entire economy on slavery. While some historians will argue that slavery helped the southern economy, it caused Americans to rely on human labor rather than focus on industrialization. Thus, the abolishment of slavery allowed industrialization to start. (Norton, 2015).
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to the newly freed African Americans, allowing them to better integrate. Despite this, voting laws still prohibited African Americans on the basis that a voter registrar could deny voting privileges to African Americans for not being educated enough. This was a problem, as previously stated because African Americans had NO education while enslaved. Furthermore, this allowed for even more oppression, as immigrants, women, and the poor could still not vote. Finally, the 18th Amendment ended voting restrictions, allowing all citizens to vote.
B. Due to the end of slavery, the American economy was less reliant on human labor and could shift focus to industrialization. Machines were one way that humans could utilize technology to speed up the process, as they were much more efficient and less needy than slaves. This allowed more production, leading to a better economy and better trade. Also, with industrialization, came more employment, since slaves were property not jobs, people who could perform manual labor were allowed to do so for money. A negative side effect of industrialization is pollution. In the 19th century, Americans had little education about what they were doing to the air and water systems, leading to pollution which was not good, as Americans still lived in high population-dense areas. Another consequence is that workers were treated poorly, and were often women and young children who were paid very little and in cramped workspaces. (Norton, 2015)
C. The Progressive Movement was impacted by social and religious reforms because many religious people were beginning to see ...
