American Transition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Transition - Essay Example The problem was that the Radical Republicans pay more attention to the rearrangement of Southern institutions rather than to "the elevation of the ex-slave". Only some of them realized that slavery was not able "to train the ex-slave for participation in a free competitive society, as most of them assumed that the termination of slavery meant the end of their problems (Burns 12). They believed that blacks could immediately enter into community life on an equal footing with other citizens". Anyway ex-slaves appeared empty handed before the new kind of world. They had not yet been granted their civil rights. "At the same time, they were no longer covered by property rights. Therefore they were even more vulnerable to physical intimidation than before" (Burns 7). Seemingly among the achievements of Reconstruction was obviously granting minimum of political and civil rights to the ex-slave, though white supremacy supporters were stubborn in their desire to ruin this advance. In the situations when it was impossible to use frightening and terror, ex-slaves were under the ruthless economic oppression by landowners and merchants. Ex-slaves were little by little loosing their influence during voting. Although it all this was obvious the Northern Radical Republicans seemed to be tired of the everlasting fight for protecting ex-slaves. Moreover the Northern whites supported the Southern race bigotry. Thus the North begun to give preference to peace rather than justice. "Industrialists were expanding their businesses rapidly, and they wanted the South to be pacified, so that it would be a safe area for investment and expansion. If this meant returning power to white conservatives, they were willing to pay the price" (Burns 11). The election of presi dent in 1876 outgrew into mess. The South agreed to uphold Republican Hayes only in the case of withdrawing the troops and renewing home rule. Thus having become President B. Hayes claimed that if the Southern whites were let alone, they would be to handle ex-slaves conscientiously. "Hayes seemed unaware that men could be educated, civilized, and claim to be Christians while at the same time behaving as bigots and racists" (Burns 14). In order to content the voracious North and the Hayes interred the residues of Reconstruction. At the end of his term Southern white conservatives absolutely retook earlier lost positions. From the point of view of American transition let's also consider an issue of technical changes which accelerated the development of the United States in the late 19th century. These changes included "a wave of inventions bringing new interlocking means of transportation, new power sources, new materials, mass production of consumer goods, advances in industrial chemistry, and innovative modes of production" (Burns 42). Besides this revolution resulted in various economic and social changes in the USA like new modes of management and organizational forms. Inventor-entrepreneurs, and among them was Thomas Edison, Elmer Sperry, Lee De Forrest, formed a direction of inventive activity which initiated the Second Industrial Revolution. In 1896 a writer in the Scientific American referring to the remarkable outpouring of U.S. patents since the Civil War, exuberantly insisted that his was "an epoch of invention and progress unique in the history of the world" (Burns 39).