Tema 52

TEMA 52: LA EVOLUCION HISTORICA DE ESTADOS UNIDOS: DE A. LINCONL A F. D. ROOSEVELT.

0. INTRODUCTION
1. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY AND DEMOGRAPHY
2. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF ECOMONY
3. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF POLITICS
4. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF LITERATURE
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

0. INTRODUCTION
The period of time that ranges from the election of the 16th Presidentof the United States, Abraham Lincoln, to the death of the 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is a period of time where we can witness the building of a nation and how it came to be the leading superpower in 20th century history.
We will take a deeper look at the social changes that took place from the Civil War to the end of the Second World War, that range from the end of slavery to anindustrial society.
We will also take a look at the economic situation of the time, which has its times of prosperity and its times of recession, best represented by the years after the First World War with the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression that followed the Stock Market Crash of 1929.
With regards to the political situation, we will see how the domestic politics and the internationalpolitics develop hand in hand and the reasons for such politics.
Finally, we shall also deepen on the literary trends of the United States and how literature developed during this period due to the social, economical and political changes that took place during the 85years that we are about to study.
Needless to say, the fact that we will see this four different aspects of the United Statesfrom the time of the Civil War to the end of World War II separately doesn’t mean that one didn’t influence the others and vice-versa.

1. HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY AND DEMOGRAPHY

In the decades before the Civil War there was a population increase in the United States due in part to German and Irish immigrants. Cities flourished during this time and there were centers of intellectualprogress. Also, during this period a variety of reform movements flourished simultaneously in the Northern States, among which we find pacifism, improving of the conditions of the working classes, abolitionism, etc. However, the existence of many reform movements did not mean that large numbers of Americans supported them.
If we have a quick look at the different sections that composed the Countrywe could say that the Northern New Englanders felt threatened by the West. At the same time the West, too, developed a strong sectional feeling, blending its sense of uniqueness, its feeling of being looked down upon as raw and uncultured, and its awareness that it was being exploited by the businessman of the East. But the most conspicuous and distinctive section was the South because of theplantation system, and especially by the persistence of Black slavery.
The Confederacy’s defeat in the Civil War meant that Black America entered history in the sense of being able to control their own experience. Abolition of slavery did not actually mean that the former slaves had the same rights as the Whites elsewhere since each Southern State government proceeded to adopt a Black Code. ThisBlack Code regulated the rights and privileges of the freed slaves.
To protect the basic Civil Rights of Black people, Congress formulated the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. The reality was that besides what was legally stated, the whites tried and succeeded in many ways to keep Blacks from political, Civil, and Social equality.

Another characteristic of the American Societyof the time was that of immigration. Immigration had been low in the Civil War decade and remained that way through the 1890’s due to, among other things, economic recessions. Immigration reached an all time high during the first decade of the 20th century, when millions of immigrants poured in the United States from South-eastern Europe. All this immigration went on virtually unrestricted...