The American Civil War was the largest military conflict in the Western world between the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. It cost 600,000 American lives, more than in World War I and World War II combined. Its social consequences were especially far-reaching. The war resulted in the emancipation of four million enslaved African Americans. It also brought vast changes to the nation's financial system, fundamentally altered the relationship between the states and the federal government.
The United States could no longer remain half-slave and half-free, and the ensuing war over the fate of slavery ripped apart the nation.
Some have called the American Civil War the last of the old-fashioned wars; others have termed it the first modern war. Actually, it was a transitional war, and it had a profound impact, technologically, on the development of modern weapons and techniques. There were many innovations. It was the first war in history in which ironclad warships clashed; the first in which the telegraph and railroad played significant roles; the first to use, extensively, rifled ordnance and shell guns and to introduce a machine gun (the Gatling gun); the first to have widespread newspaper coverage, voting by servicemen in the field in national elections, and photographic recordings; the first to organize medical care of troops systematically; and the first to use land and water mines and to employ a submarine that could sink a warship. It was also the first war in which armies widely employed aerial reconnaissance (by means of balloons).
Gilded Age, period of gross materialism and blatant political corruption in U.S. history during the 1870s that gave rise to important novels of social and political criticism.
Mark Twain called the late 19th century the "Gilded Age." By this, he meant that the period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. In the popular view, the late 19th century was a period of greed and guile: of rapacious Robber Barons, unscrupulous speculators, and corporate buccaneers, of shady business practices, scandal-plagued politics, and vulgar display.
Defining the Era: The Gilded Age
Learn about the rapid economic leap that occurred in the late 19th century as America transformed into an industrial powerhouse, and the impact it had on the nation’s collective self-identity, in this video adapted from The Gilded Age: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. As some in society had amassed great wealth in the 30 years following the end of the Civil War, many others struggled to pay their bills and feed their families. What had been a nation of small producers, skilled workers, and farmers, had been divided into the haves and have-nots.
The Gilded Age & the Progressive Era (1877-1917)
How did railroads change American society, politics, and economy in the post–Civil War era?
Railroads in the Late 19th Century
Beginning in the early 1870s, railroad construction in the United States increased dramatically. Prior to 1871, approximately 45,000 miles of track had been laid. Between 1871 and 1900, another 170,000 miles were added to the nation's growing railroad system. Much of the growth can be attributed to the building of the transcontinental railroads.
Track laying of the Central Pacific across the open desert of Nevad during 1868
The Central Pacific began laying track eastward from Sacramento, California, in 1863, and the Union Pacific started westward from Omaha, Nebraska, two years later. To meet its manpower needs, the Central Pacific hired thousands of Chinese labourers, including many recruited from farms in Canton.
The railroads were the key to economic growth in the second half of the nineteenth century. Besides making it possible to ship agricultural and manufactured goods throughout the country cheaply and efficiently, they directly contributed to the development of other industries. The railroads were the largest single market for steel, which went into their locomotives and track, and they relied on coal as their principal fuel.
Despite gaining their freedom, African Americans face struggles in the years after the Civil War.
The twelve years following the Civil War carried vast consequences for the nation's future. Reconstruction helped set the pattern for future race relations and defined the federal government's role in promoting racial equality.
Reconstruction offered a glimpse of equality for Black Americans. Why did it fail?
During the Reconstruction era, the U.S. abolished slavery and guaranteed Black men the right to vote. But it was marred by tragedy and political infighting—and ended with a disastrous backlash.
Reconstruction refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. It was a time of great pain and endless questions. On what terms would the Confederacy be allowed back into the Union? Who would establish the terms, Congress or the President? What was to be the place of freed blacks in the South? Did Abolition mean that black men would now enjoy the same status as white men? What was to be done with the Confederate leaders, who were seen as traitors by many in the North?
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
In 1861, the United States faced its greatest crisis to that time. The northern and southern states had become less and less alike - socially, economically, politically. The North had become increasingly industrial and commercial while the South had remained largely agricultural. More important than these differences, however, was African-American slavery. Northerners generally wanted to limit the spread of slavery; some wanted to abolish it altogether. Southerners generally wanted to maintain and even expand the institution. Thus, slavery became the focal point of a political crisis.
Reconstruction, in U.S. history, the period (1865–77) that followed the American Civil War and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war.
5 Questions about Reconstruction Answered
Overview of the Progressive Era
Progressivism is an umbrella label for a wide range of economic, political, social, and moral reforms. These included efforts to outlaw the sale of alcohol; regulate child labor and sweatshops; scientifically manage natural resources; insure pure and wholesome water and milk; Americanize immigrants or restrict immigration altogether; and bust or regulate trusts.
The Progressive movement was a political and social-reform movement that brought major changes to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, known as the Progressive Era, the movement’s goals involved strengthening the national government and addressing people’s economic, social, and political demands. Progressives saw elements of American society that they wished to reform, especially ending the extreme concentration of wealth among the elite and the enormous economic and political power of big business.
The period of US history from the 1890s to the 1920s is usually referred to as the Progressive Era, an era of intense social and political reform aimed at making progress toward a better society.
Progressivism: Roosevelt and Taft
Just as Progressives believed that state and local governments had an expanded role to play in controlling big business and public welfare, so did Roosevelt believe that the federal government and the presidency itself had a greater job to do.
The election of Wilson was significant in several respects. First, it brought the Democrats back to power for the first time since the Civil War. The party controlled not only the White House but both houses of Congress as well, which had happened only briefly (1893–95) under Cleveland. The election also represented the political resurgence of the South.
During the Progressive Era (1900–1920), the country grappled with the problems caused by industrialization and urbanization. Progressivism, an urban, middle‐class reform movement, supported the government taking a greater role in addressing such issues as the control of big business and the welfare of the public.
Statistics on the immigration of foreign born in the United States.
The USA: A nation of contrasts, 1910-1929
America faced many challenges between 1910 and 1929. Immigration became a major issue in American society, economic problems led to the Great Depression and American culture developed significantly.
Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today
Explore the history of immigration in America and learn what it's like to be an immigrant today.