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RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD OF THE UNITED STATES
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
HST 306 - STUDIES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
WEEK 3
BASIC COMPETENCIES:
Students understand the development of the United States Reconstruction period Indicators
1. Students are able to understand the Reconstruction of the United States
2. Students are able to understand about Andrew Jonhson's plan and the Congress
Response
3. Students are able to understand the arrangement of the southern region
A. Reconstruction Period:
The Reconstruction period was a period of reorganization after the United States
experienced the devastation of the Civil War for 4 years (1861 - 1865). In the pages of United
States history, the rebuilding period that occurred between 1865-1876 is known as the
Reconstruction period.Ideally, after the Civil War, Americans were expected to improve
various areas of their lives. But the reality turned out to be different, considered a very sad,
corrupt, full of disasters, and things that were very detrimental to the American nation.
After slavery was abolished through war, the Southern civilization that had been built
on slave labor for nearly two and a half centuries collapsed.American nationalism emerged
victorious, and about 4,000,000 slaves were freed.167 Blacks, after being freed, no longer
owned arable land. Many landlords were heavily in debt, and there were riots and poverty
everywhere. The Reconstruction period was tainted by corruption and bribery. Even historians
who initially saw many good things in the Reconstruction Period, eventually concluded that
the era ended in a miserable failure.
The problem faced by Northern leaders in the post-Civil War era was to restore
national integrity and unity that had been shattered. Whether the Confederate South should be
viewed as a conquered province, or should be welcomed into the arms of a prodigal son who
has regretted his wrongdoing, what changes must the former Confederate states accept before
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they are allowed to take part in politics.
Meanwhile, what is meant by the reconstruction period of the United States in the
South (1865-1876) is the period of reorganization of the United States society in the southern
region which began in 1865 and ended in 1876.This was done after the United States
experienced a period of destruction as a result of The Civil War (civil war) which lasted for 4
years (1861-1865).
In discussing the Reconstruction Period of the United States (1865-1876), there are
various materials presented in this discussion which include:
(1) Andrew Johnson's plan and Congress' response;
(2) Southern region arrangement;
(3) Development of the Northern region;
(4) The Industrial Revolution and the growth of industry in America; (5) The End of
Reconstruction.
B. Andrew Johnson's Plan and Congressional Response:
The aftermath of the civil war between the North and the South posed the main
problem faced by the United States government, namely how to restore national unity that had
been torn apart as a result of a war and immediately to carry out reconstruction for the
improvement of society in the southern region which was very badly affected by the defeat of
the war.
In an effort to carry out reconstruction in the southern region, there was fierce
opposition between the executive led by President Andrew Johnson and the legislature
(Congress). Missal about 10% of the plans launched by President Abraham Lincoln by
Congress were tried to be thwarted through the bill The Wade- Davis Bill of 1864 which was
later vetoed again by President Abraham Lincoln.
However, when the congressional and executive parties had to face each other, they
had to face the antireconstruction opposition.Reconstruction period will not only be an arena
for political conflict, but also physical conflict driven by the antireconstruction opposition.
The United States government tried various ways to reconstruct the southern region
which was devastated by the civil war. Even when the war had not ended, President Abraham
Lincoln had carried out reconstruction of the southern region with the issuance of the
Emancipation Proclamation and the Ten Percent Plan. However, the congressional policy of
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President Abraham Lincoln was considered unconstitutional because it did not go through
congressional approval.
Lincoln's hope was that with these two policies the civil war would end and the south
would return to the Union road. The reconstruction of the United States after the civil war was
finally agreed upon by the executive and legislative branches started by president Andrew
Johnson. However, in the course of reconstruction in the southern region, the congress played
an important war. The difference between the policies of the president and the congress gave
rise to a mutual veto between the two, and there was even an impeachment of president
Andrew Johnson by the congress for the first time in the constitutional history of the United
States.
President Andrew Johnson continued Abraham Lincoln's plan for post-Civil War
Reconstruction (1861-1876). All citizens of the United States must obey and be loyal to the
Constitution of the United States, in this regard he wished to repair and totally transform
Southern society which was devastated as a result of the Civil War (1861-1865). President
Andrew Johnson's plan was fully supported by the Republican Party.
The death of President Abraham Lincoln was a shock to the citizens of the United
States. He was then replaced by Andrew Johnson, who had previously served as vice
president. He continued the various programs carried out by the late Abraham Lincoln. The
first task that Andrew Johnson carried out in accordance with the mandate of the United
States Constitution was to order the ranks of the security forces (Federal army troops) to arrest
John Wilkes Booth, as Lincoln's assassin.169 In a short time John Wilkes Booth was
successfully shot in an attempt to escape to the Virginia region.169 After Lincoln was killed,
the conflict between the executive and legislative parties continued to rage.169 Congress
quickly passed the Human Rights Act, the Freedman's Bureau Act, and finally the
Reconstruction provisions of 1867. States the South was ruled by military rulers before they
approved a new Constitution guaranteeing Negro suffrage, passed the Amendment
XIV ratification of the United States Constitution, and complying with the wishes of the
majority in Congress by other means.
Since the new government was formed under the trusteeship of Congress, every
Southern state was declared to be reconstructed and representatives and senators
- For the first time, Negroes were able to vote and hold important offices and some even
became senators and members of Congress. Republican-controlled state governments were
often plagued by corruption and corruption, but made significant and much-needed
improvements in education and welfare.
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During the summer of 1865 President Andrew Johnson continued the reconstruction
program outlined by President Abraham Johnson with minor modifications. On May 29,
1865, president Andrew Johnson issued an Amnesty Proclamation similar to president
Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, but he appeared to be more lenient by
appointing a governor for each former confederate state and freely restoring the political
rights of a large number of southerners by using presidential clemency.
When many southern states were willing to recognize Union sovereignty, many of the
white southerners created Black Codes to restrict the freedom of blacks (freemen) as a form of
racial sentiment. Plantation owners in the South feared that they would lose their land or else
that blacks would not be willing to work their land because they felt they were equal to
whites. Some of these Black Codes demanded the arrest of black vagrants and obliged them to
work for a certain time for white farmers, required that black children train with white experts
in certain occupations, prohibited blacks from buying or leasing land, and forced freed slaves
to become white servants. These Black Codes would later become a powerful weapon for
radical Republicans in Congress to fight for federal preemption and equal political rights for
blacks.
Based on the reasons of equal rights, patriotism, political solidarity and revenge, the
congress tried to complete the reconstruction of the south in a very different way from that
started by President Abraham Lincoln and continued by President Andrew Johnson. They
wanted to end the civil war so quickly that the confederates should be punished by
temporarily stripping them of their rights and improving the lot of former slaves forever. The
policy of the congressional reconstruction period is often referred to as the radical
reconstruction period.
Broad public support gradually grew for those congressmen who believed that black
people should be granted full citizenship. As early as 1866, Congress had passed the Civil
Rights Bill and established the Freedmen's Bureau Bill.
These policies were vetoed by the president, but thanks to the support of the
Republican Party, the two policies were able to pass. Both were designed to prevent racial
discrimination developed by black people by identifying all people born in the United States
as United States citizens. Meanwhile, the Freedmen's Bureau Bill was created to continue the
bureau to operate for another year.
The moderate policies of congress through the power of the Republican Party were
attempted to be sabotaged by President Andrew Johnson and by the narrow-minded and
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uncompromising Southerners who comprised the Union Party of warrior democrats.The
congressional struggle required political courage from republicans in areas still plagued by
racial strife. The solution to the problem was realized in the passage of the 14th Amendment
to the Constitution in early 1866 which guaranteed citizenship and human rights to former
slaves and reduced the number of southern representatives in Congress by the percentage of
adult citizens who could not vote.
President Andrew Jonhson, who felt disrespected by congress, vetoed any moderate
congressional legislation, encouraged southern states not to ratify the 14th amendment,
disparaged moderate republicans, and they joined the radical republicans.
The differing visions between President Andrew Johnson and Congress became more
clearly identified as time went on and there appeared to be no possibility of compromise
between the two.This conflict developed during the early days of the new congressional
election campaign. Radical republicans hoped to secure a two-thirds majority in each House
of Representatives so as to be able to counter the executive veto. Meanwhile, President
Andrew Johnson was trying to find support for congressional policies that he felt were bigger.
Congress retaliated by intervening to protect the rights of blacks in the South by
passing a series of Reconstruction Acts that handed over government to the military in the
South by dividing the South into five districts and making them permanent, the states had to
establish civilian governments, take oaths of allegiance, ratify the 14th amendment, and grant
white people the right to vote. Under the Military Reconstruction Act. Congress in July 1868,
readmitted Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and
Florida to the Union. These states had been rehabilitated into the Union after fulfilling several
requirements of the reconstruction provisions issued by Congress.
Most of the congressional policies were always vetoed by President Andrew Johnson,
in fact, such was the anticipation of congressmen to President Andrew Johnson, for the first
time in the history of the United States impeachment proceedings were filed to remove the
president from office.
President Andrew Johnson's main clientele was opposition to congressional policies
that sought to punish the South for rebelling by establishing a confederate state that led to
civil war.
President Andrew Johnson was also considered abusive when criticizing congress. The
most frequent legal charge against President Andrew Johnson was his firing of the secretary
of war from Johnson's cabinet in favor of congress and his presence in the cabinet was
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considered a nuisance that President Andrew Johnson could not tolerate. When Stanton
refused to resign, he was summarily dismissed.
President Andrew Johnson did so without the consent of the Senate, even though the
Tenure of Office Act requires a president to do so if he wants to remove a state official.When
the impeachment trial took place in the Senate, it was proven in writing that President Andrew
Johnson did have the right to remove members of his cabinet. More importantly, it was clear
that a dangerous president would emerge if Congress removed President Andrew Johnson
because he disagreed with the majority of Congress. The impeachment attempt ultimately
failed by a narrow margin, and President Andrew Johnson continued in office until the end of
his term.
In most southern states that complied with the Reconstruction Act, it turned out that
the majority of governors, representatives, and senators were northerners.They were often
referred to as carbetbaggars, political opportunists who went south after the civil war to seek
political fortune.
At this time the responsibility of governing the southern states rested with the settlers:
military officials, representatives of the freedmen's bureau, and cartpetbaggars. These were
northerners who settled in the South, some of whom were honest, responsible citizens and
others who were adventurers. These individuals went south to exploit the region and its
people.
Their colleagues were white southerners who joined the new ruling class. Some of
these natives honestly rejected the separation that the confederacy and the old aristocrats who
did not share the same principles ruled the South. Others were men of little principle who
tried to take advantage of those in power, often in alliance with blacks in the South.
In 1869 congress accepted the 15th amendment which prohibited discrimination in
elections on racial grounds and required the other three states to accept it before being
readmitted into the Union. This amendment was ratified in 1870 by the state legislatures.
Three other southern states (Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia) eventually accepted
congressional terms and reentered the Union in 1870.The government's reconstruction policy
operated under military protection and the benevolence of the United States government
under the direction of republicans
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During this period, black people had a very significant political role, some of them were even
elected to government from the local, state, and even central levels.
Many whites in the South, whose social and political dominance was threatened,
turned to illegal means to prevent blacks from gaining equality.Violence against blacks
became more intense. Excessive belief in skin superiority and excessive fear of black
retaliation led many whites to resort to physical intimidation to achieve their goals.
The Ku Klux Klan was the most notorious of the many similar organizations in the
South. Black people and white sympathizers were beaten and tortured, even had their homes
destroyed and would lose their jobs if they showed excessive freedom.
In 1870, the abundance of lawlessness led to the Enforcement Act, which severely
punished anyone who attempted to deprive freed blacks of their civil rights. As time passed, it
became clear that the problems in the South could not be solved by harsh laws and continued
hatred of the former confederacy.
In May 1872, Congress passed the Amnesty Act, which restored full political rights to
approximately 150,000 confederate sympathizers. This act was a United States federal law
that removed the prohibition of voting and disqualification from government offices for most
of the secessionists (confederates) who rebelled in the civil war in the United States.
The Amnesty Act of 1872 did not improve the political situation in the South.The
majority of them exercised their right to vote for former confederate officials who were
members of the democratic party.The ex-democrats, when they regained power, tried to
concentrate their political power on abolishing the rights of blacks that they had fought for
during radical reconstruction.
Southern states gradually began to elect members of the Democrat Party to public
office, displacing governments that were
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run by political opportunists, the fund intimidates black people from voting or trying to enter
government office.
Part of the bargain that resolved the Hayes dispute, Republicans promised to end
radical reconstruction and leave most of the South in the hands of the Democrat Party.In
1877, President Rutherford
B. Hayes withdrew the remaining troops to enforce black civil rights.
Reconstruction in the South ended with the long depression in the U.S. economy and
the enactment of the Comromise of 1877 to resolve electoral disputes forcing them to be
subservient to their masters and not allowing them to learn to be independent and responsible
for themselves.
The establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau by the United States Congress after the
destruction of slavery's educational institutions was able to help black people get an
education.
Thousands of northern teachers were sent to eradicate the illiteracy of the black
population.More than 1000 ex-slave schools with the help of humanitarian agencies and the
bureau operated during the reconstruction period in the south.However, in order to implement
a crash program for the education and training of blacks, much more financial assistance and
state coffers were needed than had been provided.The humanitarian agencies tried their best,
but after the Freedmen's Bureau was abolished, they no longer received subsidies from the
federal government.The black people in the south remained far behind in education than the
white people in the south.
Another reason why black people have such a miserable fate is because of their
poverty. The majority of ex-slaves have no possessions except the clothes they wore when
they were freed. If they are not given economic assistance, they will obviously remain
dependent on their white masters.
Many abolitionists and radical republicans believed that economic reconstruction was
necessary if political and social reconstruction were to succeed. They urged a complete land
reform program as the basis for reconstruction in the south. They advocated that plantations
belonging to ex-members of the confederation were confiscated from their owners and some
were given to ex-slaves, but not based on a land reform program.
Most blacks became casual laborers, plantation pickers, sharecroppers, rather than free
landowners.The South was not economically reconstructed, and political reconstruction
faltered.
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Their poor educational and economic conditions meant that blacks lacked the social
and civic strength to defend their equal rights against the counterrevolutionary white South.
However, it is undeniable that there were black leaders who succeeded during Reconstruction.
Indeed, one of the most remarkable things about this period is that, mostly uneducated
and unordained, blacks were able to produce some outstanding leaders.Some blacks served as
schoolmasters, lieutenant governors, state cabinet members, school superintendents, and state
treasurers in the South.However, no one was elected governor, but an 1876 general was.
The Compromise of 1877 was an informal political compromise or partially unwritten
agreement to settle the 1876 presidential election dispute. Under this compromise, the
Republicans gave the White House an understanding that they would remove the federal
troops supporting the republican government in the states of South Carolina, Florida, and
Louisiana.
After the soldiers left, many of the republicans also left (or became democrats) and the
democratic pararedeemers took power.This compromise resolved the crisis through a series
of secret negotiations involving republican and democrat politicians, various interest groups
and influential individuals from the Texas and Pacific Railway companies.
The United States government in the Reconstruction era made serious efforts to
rebuild the states in the South that were devastated by the Civil War.However, stubborn
southerners undermined it by committing a series of corruption and terror to undermine the
reconstruction carried out by the central government through radical congressional
policies.White power in the South dethroned the political power of the republicans and the
Republicans. The failure of U.S. Reconstruction meant that the African-American struggle for
equality and freedom was delayed until the 20th century, when it became a national problem
rather than a southern one.
C. Southern Region Arrangement:
The impact of the Civil War in the United States in the political field, especially with
regard to structuring the membership of Congress, the Southern region represented by the
Democratic Party has been eliminated in its membership. The Republicans succeeded in
dominating Congress and no longer heard the voice of opposition from the Democratic Party
in the government.
Nevertheless, a minority of Democratic members of Congress succeeded in
impeaching President Andrew Johnson, who was considered to be detrimental to the political
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interests of the South. For this effort, Southern senators influenced the Senate to no longer
trust the leadership of Andrew Johnson who was considered to have violated the constitution,
accused of mobilizing military men to control various districts in the South.
Indeed, in political reality, the Republican Party was very powerful and ruled in the
South.This was evident, that 7 states in the South, including Virginia and Texas, had forced
out black legislators and had served as leaders of the Confederacy. The Union had given the
Republicans the power and influence in the South to immediately ratify the Confederacy into
the Union, as well as to immediately grant the rights of black people as citizens of the United
States.
The Union faced a number of obstacles in reorganizing the South after the Civil War.
The abolition of slavery in the South affected the use of cheap Negro labor, while plantation
owners and other large landowners were required by the Federal Government to pay a number
of land taxes that were considered burdensome for them. The failure of the reorganization of
the South was due to the unsupportive human resources of slaves. Most of the black slaves
were illiterate, inexperienced, and poor.
Teaching slaves (in some southern states) to read and write was forbidden by law.The
system of slavery forced them to obey the government at all times and did not give them the
opportunity to be free and responsible.Northerners gave slaves no freedom, only equal rights
on paper.But, fortunately, they were of goodwill and the federal government tried to help
them in the transition from slavery to freedom.
Apart from being illiterate, inexperienced, and poor. Another factor that led to the
failure of the reconstruction of the southern United States was the seriousness of the whites in
addressing the goal of equal rights for the freedom of slaves turned out to be merely an
expression of anti-southern northern sentiment that began from the time of separation to the
civil war, not out of sympathy for the plight of the blacks.
This can be evidenced by the reconstruction law establishing suffrage for blacks in the
south, they have the right to vote only addressed from 20 states in the north, and none of them
bordering the south, even the voices of rejection from the north against the amendments of
black suffrage to their respective state constitutions were often heard before the XV
amendment was actually passed. The North's lack of seriousness towards equal rights truly
marks the failure of a reconstruction program that, in order to be successful, needs to be
supported by all citizens of the United States.
While the development of the northern region is different from the southern region, in
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the northern region almost did not experience various losses due to the civil war so that the
federal government did not have difficulty in developing in various sectors of life. In an effort
to protect the national industry, the federal government set a high import duty tax on goods
from abroad.
The potential of the north's natural resources also influenced the birth of the industrial
revolution in America.Various types of factories produced agricultural tools, household
utensils, steel goods, etc.This led to the development of markets.
Various post-civil war transportation facilities were built, such as the expansion of
railroad lines connecting states in the north, as well as various parts of the south. So began the
construction of many factories, railroad industries in the north to support the development of
transportation facilities. The opening of these transportation routes encouraged some
Americans in the west to settle around the railroad tracks. Meanwhile, in political
development, Americans in the north began to think that women had political rights.
The end of Reconstruction was that Reconstruction was a failed revolution.Although
the Union was restored and slaves freed, Negroes could not obtain full equal rights.The racial
attitudes of whites toward the stiff-necked people in the South and North were reluctant to
accept emancipation, but basically they still wanted full equal rights.The failure of
reconstruction was also due to the human resources of slave laborers (illiterate, ignorant, poor,
and inexperienced).However, the failure of reconstruction in the south was not a total
failure.The civil war and reconstruction had nevertheless produced a system of public schools
and colleges for Negroes that taught them to read and write and prepared them to become
leaders in the future. The colleges started by northern abolitionists and missionaries after the
war produced famous graduates such as W.E.B Dubois, Walter White, Martin Luther King,
James Farmer, and Sokely Carmichael.
The development of the Northern region during the Reconstruction Period is as follows:
(1) With reports of corruption, conflict, and violence spilling over into the North, it was
clear that Reconstruction was not yet complete, and that a vigorous national effort was
still needed to protect negro rights against Southern counterrevolutionaries. But
disillusionment and indifference broke the North's good will;
(2) The Northern Region has very favorable natural potential for industrial and trade
development;
(3) In an effort to protect national industry, the Federal Government imposed high import
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duties on foreign goods. The potential of natural resources in the North influenced the
birth of the Industrial Revolution in America.
(4) Americans in the North began to think about women having political rights, giving rise
to the American Feminism Movement.
The end of Reconstruction as follows: Reconstruction was a failed revolution.
Although the Union was restored and slaves were freed, Negroes could not obtain full equal
rights. The racial attitudes of whites towards rigid blacks in the South and North were
reluctant to accept emancipation, but basically they remained opposed to full equality. The
failure of Reconstruction was also due to the low human resources of slaves (illiterate,
ignorant, poor, inexperienced). The failure of Reconstruction in the South was not a total
failure. The Civil War and Reconstruction had produced a system of public schools and
colleges that produced famous graduates such as: W.E.B. Dubois, Walter White, Martin
Luther King, James Farmer, and Sokely Carmichael.
While the development of the northern region is different from the southern region,
the northern region has hardly suffered various losses due to the civil war so that the federal
government has no difficulty in developing in various sectors of life. The northern region has
natural potential that is very favorable towards the development of industry and trade. In an
effort to protect the national industry, the federal government imposed a high import duty tax
on goods from abroad.
The potential of the north's natural resources also influenced the birth of the industrial
revolution in America.Various types of factories produced agricultural tools, household
utensils, steel goods, etc.This led to the development of markets.
About
1. What was the Reconstruction Period in the United States 1865-1876, explain?
2. How development region North during Period Reconstruction, explain?
3. Can you explain the reasons for the failure of the Reconstruction Period?
THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, COMMUNICATION AND
INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES:
BASIC COMPETENCIES:
Students understand the development of transportation, communication and industrialization
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in the Northern United States.
INDICATOR
1. Students are able to understand the development of transportation systems
2. Students can understand the development of communication systems
3. Students can understand the development of industrialization
A. Transportation System Development
The process of westward expansion went through several movements of people from
the east to the west. In the beginning, hunters encroached on the forest to hunt animals or fowl
to make coats for the European market. This was followed successively by cattle ranchers,
land clearances, and finally settled farmers.
The transportation they use is on foot or using horses, while at this stage transportation
using horse-drawn carriages cannot yet be done, because land transportation facilities and
infrastructure have not yet been built. They obtained land by seizing it from the Indians, and
in 1862 the United States Congress enacted the Homestead Act which stipulated that each
farmer was allowed to open 160 square meters of land for free, and then could be owned after
they cultivated the land for five years.
The President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson (1800-1808) sought domestic
development and expansion of the United States, so in 1808 he approved a budget for the
construction of a transportation system proposed by Secretary of the Treasury Gallatin for
$20,000,000. The construction of the transportation system includes:
(1) the creation of canals on various peninsulas along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, with
the intention of expanding the series of connection of the regions along the coast of the
Atlantic Ocean, as well as reducing the distance and danger of shipping for trade and immigrant
ships;
(2) road construction, it also included the construction of bridges along the Atlantic Ocean
coast from Maine to Georgia;
(3) Gallatin also proposed to the federal government to build a road from Cumberland,
Maryland, Vandalic, and Illinois. Construction of the road began in 1811, and ended in
1838 at a cost of $7,000,000. The construction of this route has a very important role,
because it can connect areas in the east with those in the west more smoothly,181 so
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that the process of population mobility is accelerated. Since the construction of roads by
the federal government, the land transportation system can be done by horse and
carriage.
The development of the water transportation system includes the construction of
canals, the use of steamboats as shipping on various lakes and rivers. This can provide an
extensive shipping system in various regions in the United States that can be reached by water
transportation systems. The use of steambood as a water transportation system is a cheap and
fast transportation system, making it useful for shipping agricultural production to distant
market places, and causing market expansion. The cost of transportation is cheap and fast, so
it can affect the price of production more cheaply, so as to improve the welfare of the nation's
life. Canal construction efforts in the United States by 1840 had reached 3,326 miles, and by
1848 it had increased to 3,698 miles. The use of steamboats as a water transportation system
was used in 1816 on several lakes such as Lake Erie, Michigan and Ontario.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the United States began to pursue the
construction of railroad transportation systems in several eastern cities such as New York,
Chicago and Boston. Meanwhile, since the canal road was built and the steambood was
discovered, the water transportation system (river) can be used as a transportation system is
done through steamboods, and of course before the invention of steamboods, rafts or manual-
powered boats were the preferred means of water transportation.
The railroad transportation system was built by private parties who received assistance
and protection from the government, for example by donating land and providing loans to
railroad opening businesses. In 1820 the government had given a loan of $ 13,000,000, - then
until 1840 the total amount of money loans reached $ 200,000,000. By 1859 railroad
construction in the United States had reached 26,000,000 miles, and two years later the
construction of the railroad transportation system in the United States had reached 30,635,000
miles of railroad, 100,000 freight cars and passenger cars, and consisted of 1000
locomotives185. Major railroad transportation companies in the United States by the end of
the 19th century included Jay Gould's Pacific Railroad Company, Vanderbilt's New York
Central System Railroad Company, Daniel Drew's The Erie Railroad Company.
The United States by 1890 had major railroad lines, including :
a) Northern Pacific, is a Pacific line that operates in the north. It connects New York on the
east coast to Portland on the west coast;
b) Central Pacific and Union Pacific: the central Pacific line. This line connects New York
to Philadelphia, then continues to San Francisco on the west coast;
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c) Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, which connects New York to Santa Francisco;
d) The Southern Pacific is a southern Pacific line that connects New York to Philandelpia,
on to Baltime, New Orleans, and on to Los Angles. In addition, there are more short-
distance railroad lines that connect cities in the United States, such as the Kansas Pacific
line, which connects Kansas City to Danver and then continues to Cheyenne.
The development of the railway transportation system has made the process of moving
people very easy and fast so that various regions which are uninhabited because they are too
far from the river after the railway transportation system is used can be used for colonization.
Farmers in the west were able to sell agricultural produce more and more widely to the
hinterland, which became increasingly important as a market for crafts as well as a market for
agricultural produce. The construction of railways encouraged colonization because private
companies operating railways received assistance from the government in the form of land
along the railways. The land was sold to farmers and where there was no population, a
railroad station was built so that over time the area became a village. Then the companies
provided farming equipment, built schools, churches, etc. around the stations, and the area
developed into a town.
B. Construction of Communication System
In 1840, the United States had used an experiment to build a telegraph as a means of
communication system pioneered by S.F.B. Morse using magnetic telegraph. By 1860, the
construction of telegraph communication system had reached 50,000 miles long connecting
all important cities in the United States.
Thomas Alva Edison in the 1870s, succeeded in making new discoveries in the field of
electricity, namely in 1876 succeeded in finding a dynamo and firing a telegraph
communication system discovered by S.F.B Morse using electric power. In 1876 Thomas
Alva Edison together with Alexander Graham Bell managed to find a telephone set using
electricity.
In 1878 Thomas Alva Edison had successfully established a company to conduct
research in the field of electricity, so that in 1879 he succeeded in inventing incandescent
lamps, and in 1882 had succeeded in building the first electric center in New York for public
lighting.
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C. Development of Industrialization
The development of transportation and communication systems supported by various
new discoveries in the field of science and the availability of abundant natural resources, the
implementation of protection politics for domestic industries, and the flourishing of liberalism
in the United States that influenced the development of the Industrial Revolution more
quickly. The growth of industrialization in the United States by the end of the 19th century
had spread to various regions with the establishment of companies producing light industry
(textiles, shoes, glassware, etc.) and heavy industry (machinery, tools).
The growth of industrialization in the United States in the 1880s has shown that
capitalists are in a very strong position. This was evidenced by the emergence of various
trusts that competed with each other to obtain a marketing monopoly.
A trust is a combination of several business entities that aims to achieve the greatest
possible capital accumulation. This goal can be achieved by carrying out mergers vertically or
horizontally. A vertical merger means bringing together the various levels of production under
one leadership or command. Horizontal mergers mean bringing together all or many of the
same enterprises in a monopoly.
Trusts were able to flourish in the United States because the Federal government
maintained a laisser-faire principle, meaning that the government guaranteed freedom to all
Americans to choose "their own path".
The principle of laisser-faire believes in the notion that the bankruptcy of an
enterprise, which is the only source of income in a society, is the actual work of economic
law.
Based on the principle of laisser-faire, the economic system in the United States is
characterized by a form of free competition among capitalists in an effort to obtain the
greatest possible accumulation of capital.This has led to the emergence of various trusts in the
United States.
The owners of trusts in the United States have the social status of conglomerates who
seek to accumulate as much capital as possible by organizing vertical and horizontal mergers.
The emergence of various trusts in the United States in the 1880s such as the Standard Oil
Company, the United States The Stell Corporation's ability to monopolize marketing led to an
economic depression in 1884-1887. This was because the economy was only controlled by
capitalists, while the level of purchasing power of the people could not reach market prices.
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The United States government attempted to overcome the economic depression of
1884-1887 by passing the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887.197 This act suppressed various
monopolies practiced by the owners of capital. This was accomplished by prohibiting the
pooling system, rebates, cost discrimination, and establishing the Interstate Commerce
Commission. This commission was meant to safeguard the Interstate Commerce Act.
The United States government also enacted the Interstate Commerce Act of 1890. This
act prohibits any combination that restrains interstate commerce and trade with foreign
countries. The enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act (1887) and Sherman Anti-Trust
(1890) was expected to rejuvenate the United States economy, which was hit by the economic
depression of 1884-1887. In the beginning, the government implemented the Interstate
Commerce Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act firmly, so as to suppress various monopolies
in business activities, and was able to restore the condition of the United States economy from
the economic depression of 1884-1887.
The rulers of the United States with their capital managed to influence the United
States federal court so that this institution was finally no longer able to strictly implement the
Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust.Thus, the various monopolies in the
business world carried out by large capital owners flourished again.This resulted in the re-
emergence of an economic depression in the United States in 1892.
SUMMARY:
President Thomas Jefferson approved a budget for the construction of a transportation
system proposed by Secretary of the Treasury Gallatin in the amount of
$20,000,000;- includes:
(1) the creation of canal roads on various peninsulas along the Atlantic Ocean coast,
(2) road construction, including the construction of bridges along the Atlantic Ocean coast
from Maine to Georgia;
(3) construction of a river transportation system along the Atlantic Ocean coast. Gallatin
also proposed to the federal government to build a road from Cumberland, Maryland,
Vandalic, and Illinois. The construction of the road began in 1811, and ended in 1838 at
a cost of $ 7,000,000, - The construction of a water transportation system includes the
construction of canals, the use of steamboats as shipping on various lakes and rivers.
Canal construction efforts in the United States by 1840 had reached 3,326 miles, and in
1848 increased to 3,698 miles. The use of steamboats as a water transportation system
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was used in 1816 on several lakes such as Lake Erie, Michigan and Ontario. The
construction of railroad transportation systems began in the early 19th century in several
eastern cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston. By 1859 railroad construction in
the United States had reached 26,000,000 miles, and two years later reached 30,635,000
miles of railroad, 100,000 freight cars and passenger cars, and consisted of 1000
locomotives. Major railroad transportation companies in the United States until the end
of the 19th century, for example: Jay Gould's Pacific Railroad Company, Vanderbilt's
New York Central System Railroad Company, Daniel Drew's The Erie Railroad
Company. While existing railroad lines such as: Northern Pacific, Central Pacific and
Union Pacific, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Kansas Pacific.
The United States government also enacted the Interstate Commerce Act of 1890. This
act prohibits any combination that restrains interstate commerce and trade with foreign
countries. Establishment The Interstate Commerse Act (1887) and Sherman Anti-Trust (1890),
are expected to rejuvenate the condition of the United States economy which was hit by the
economic depression of 1884-1887. In the beginning, the government implemented the
Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act firmly, so as to suppress various
monopolies in business activities, and was able to restore the condition of the United States
economy from the economic depression of 1884-1887.
About:
1. How did the railroad transportation system develop in the Northern United States?
2. How did the communication system develop in the Northern United States?
3. How did industrialization develop in the Northern United States?
