Research Paper on Reconstruction Era: America's Transformative Debate on Equality, Liberty, and Power

Introduction

The Reconstruction era in America was the period of recovery from the prolonged Civil War. At this point, the United States of American began a series of debates over the realization of what it meant to be an American, the rights that all Americans were entitled to, and whether those rights are to be enjoyed by all Americans. Concisely, America engaged in a constructive dialogue over equality, liberty, and power. The reconstruction era resulted in a tremendous transformation in America, which could be better understood through the critical examination of the change in the three themes: Liberty, Power, and Equality.

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Liberty

Liberty is the condition in which people are free from captivity or control. Every person has a first inclination towards achieving freedom, liberty, and happiness. However, due to the imperfect nature of the human effort, the pursuit of liberty cannot be entirely successful. By the end of the American civil war in the year 1865, the United States entered the Reconstruction era. Several reconstruction amendments were made to safeguard the liberty of the American Citizens.

For instance, the thirteenth amendment of 1865 resulted in the abolishment of slavery and the slave trade. In the year 1868, the fourteenth amendment was made to extend the citizenship of the American inhabitants. Two years later, in 1870, the United States of America prohibited racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and discriminations based on financial status. These amendments empowered the African Americans who had been earlier on enslaved, and thus, anybody who engaged in slavery violated these constitutional provisions.

The emergence of the laisses fair ideology in the 1920s encouraged economic growth in the United States. By 1938 president Roosevelt noted that democratic liberty would not be realized without economic independence; therefore, much attention was placed on the economic growth of the United States of America. Americans had gained freedom that they had craved for a long time to attain, and they now had the privilege of development without the strict surveillance from the parliament. President Harry Truman in 1948, endorsed February 1 as the "National Freedom Day," in memory and honor of the day when Lincoln signed the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.

America had also become the land of brave and free people. They then crafted a constitution that protected the rights and freedom of their people. For instance, the provisions of the law were based on the three fundamental principles of life, the pursuit of happiness, and liberty. Today, the term liberty still holds the central concern in the United States with both conservationists and the liberalists, acknowledging that the rights to own guns are a test of their democratic independence.

Equality

There has been the recognition that all the citizens are equal by various organizations in the United States of America since the end of the Civil war in 1865. For example, the reconstruction Amendment of 1865 promoted equality through the abolishment of slavery and the slave trade in the United States of America. Later on, in 1968, there was an amendment for general protection against any form of racial segregation and discrimination among the American citizens within the state

The most notable among all the arguments is the African American argument is that of Thomas Jefferson who stated categorically that "all men and women are created equal" and that all human beings are endowed with certain inseparable rights which include the right to life, pursuit of happiness and liberty. Together with other founders, Jefferson chose not to address the issue of equality in a much particular way because political support was very minority at that time. However, as the United States grew and expanded more, the issue of slavery became much visible that it could not be ignored any longer. As a result, in the 1880s and 1890s, there was the ignition of various controversies regarding slavery in the Western parts of the United States of America. Several abolitionists arose and demanded the end of slavery in all the regions of the United States of America.

Later, in the twentieth century, racial inequality remained the order of the day, and the positions of the African Americans were still held in low esteem. People like Booker proposed that the African American were always to remain segregated from the American so that they could get enough time to improve their social and educational status.

Southern states decided to establish separate universities for the blacks, thus denying the African Americans access to the white Universities and other institutions of higher learning. Interestingly, in the year 1954, the civil rights through its judicial phase made a unanimous landmark decision that the segregation of the institutions of higher education was an impossibility. This thwarted the earlier decision of the Supreme Court that had ruled in favor of the separation of the African American Universities from those Universities of the Whites.

The argument of the judicial phase of the civil rights movement saw that the segregation of the institutions would facilitate a feeling of discrimination and inferiority among African Americans. The public right activists were aware that Sothern America would be slow to implement the recommendations and the ruling of the Supreme Court. Therefore they rallied African Americans for a freedom prayer Pilgrimage in Washington, D.C on the fifteenth day of May 1957.

However, governor Orval Faunus resisted the orders made by the Supreme Court a few months later. He even ordered the national guards to keep the Africans away from Central High School. The president called the guards and commanded them to escort the Africans to and from the classes. Although there had been the abolishment on racial segregation, there was still limited practical actions to integrate the institutions of higher learning. Today the United States recognizes the demographic diversity within the states and offers equal opportunities to both African America and white Americans.

Power

By the culmination of the Civil War, the southern part of the United States was profoundly affected and was left with a lot of demoralization and racial warfare. It was clear that the problems that the southern region of America could not be solved through the harsh and radical reconstructions. During this period, the United States of America had gained a lot of power through industrialization. It had become the most industrialized country in the whole world even before the outbreak of the First World War. America then established several industries in 1869, including the still mills and the industrial processing industries. Several inventions that had been done before formed the baseline for the development of American industrial development.

However, the Southern part of the United States of America remained poor almost 30 years after the end of the civil war. The increasing urbanization in the United States of America had brought along with it the rise of the organized labor force. There was also an expanding population of the unskilled workers in the Industries who were mainly African Americans. Technological advancements reduced the demand for unskilled labor in the industrial sectors within the United States of America. Technological advancements within the state also contributed to the decline in the need for unskilled human labor. The cities within the United States grew so fast that they could not govern their populations. The improved agricultural production and the advancement in technology and industrial output resulted in an increased economic power of the United States of America.

Although the United States of America had adequate economic power, it lacked as much military force as that of the British. However, there was much investment being put towards military force, and by 1880, the American policymakers started displaying their military assertiveness. Due to territorial disputes, the United States of America almost waged war against Germany, Chile, Venezuela as well as Britain in 1895. The military power was also felt when they participated in the overthrow of Hawaii's monarchy in 1883. After that, the United States also waged war against Spain and defeated them. It then decided to establish a military government in the Cuban government.

In the 20th Century, the United States of America participated in a bloody war with the Philippines, which resulted in the loss of thousands of lives. This war enabled the establishment of the United States military power in the Pacific. Since then, military force has been improving considerably. For instance, their participation in the world wars indicated the United States' military power.

Conclusion

It is clear that America has undergone a series of transformations in terms of liberty, equality, and power in the periods after the Civil war. For instance, African Americans have been the past exposed to discrimination resulting in the limited or lack of level playing ground. This, in turn, has led to a decline in the competition between the African Americans and white Americans.