When one looks back in our history, we have always thought that everyone suffered after the Civil War. The Civil War after all was extremely destructive to anything and anyone involved. However, Robert Tracy McKenzie did not believe that everyone suffered a great deal. In fact, in his article, “Civil War and Socioeconomic Change in the Upper South: The Survival of Local Agricultural Elites in Tennessee, 1850-1870,” he discussed how the top five percent of the elite farmers were still prosperous. McKenzie’s article focuses on all three regions in Tennessee, but only a few select counties.
The American dream is a dream of a land in which one can prosper with ambition and hard work. This idea has created many illusions for some because in reality the American dream is proven to be something that is rarely achieved. No individual is guaranteed success or destined for failure, but it is apparent that women, people of color, and those born into poverty will face greater obstacles than others, despite being a greater part of the American population. An author that tackles the issue of class in the United States is Gregory Mantsios. In his essay, “Class in America-2009”, Mantsios aims to prove that class affects people’s lives in drastic ways.
In chapter 10 Howard Zinn talks about the civil war, the disadvantages and advantages between the poor and rich. The poor have always been the bait in America, due to the lack of money and power. When war is in progress, most of the time the poor are demanded to go to war because the wealthy groups have the money and power to escape from death. “ To give people a choice between two different parties and allow them, in a period of rebellion, to choose the slightly more democratic one was an ingenious mode of control. Like so much in the American system, it was not devilishly contrived by some master plotters; it developed naturally out of the needs of the situation”( Zinn, 200).
Faith Pasmore JWags PAPUSH 31 March 2023 Sectionalism and the Civil War In modern times, arguments encountered revolve around controversial topics, political opinions, and personal issues. However, most conflicts encountered on the daily are small, easily resolved quarrels between family, friends, and neighbors. In the past, these conflicts have not always been so low-key. During the Civil War, it was brother against brother and neighbor against neighbor. People were so divided on issues like slavery, their diverse needs, and especially leaders for the country to the point where sectionalism swallowed the entire country and transformed it into two.
For example,
There were four main social classes existing in the south during the Antebellum time period. At the very top were large plantation owners who usually owned over fifty slaves. Right below them were small slave owners who had around twenty slaves. Next were Yeomen farmers and freed slaves. The Yeomen farmers were the largest social class out of these four.
The issue of class is a common topic in larger society, but it’s often not discussed openly. Mantsios addresses this widespread concern and attempts to raise consciousness about the realities of class in America. The topic of this class is connected to various other issues such as education, healthcare, and race. Mantsios explores how class interacts to perpetuate or alleviate inequality between the rich and the poor. His argument is shaped by the larger conversation about class, and he addresses common counter-arguments against his views on class, such as the idea of
Both, urban and rural Americans suffered during the Great Depression, but not in the same way. Many urban Americans had to deal with living in large communities of homes made out of cardboard boxes due to homelessness and lack of food in the cites (Schultz, 2013). At the same time, rural Americans were losing their farms due to the crops as a result of the drought. The Great Depression was a perfect time for the Communist Party of the United States to thrive, as a large portion of Americans believed that Capitalism was the cause of the whole thing.
The Civil War not only abolished slavery, but also threw the significant challenge of rebuilding a war-torn nation. Although initiated with the best hopes and intentions, the ‘Reconstruction’ of the USA had collapsed miserably for it had failed to establish a nation with equal rights for all. As a consequence, class discrimination and racial injustice had engulfed the American society. Besides having similarities and differences, the struggles for racial justice in the late 19th century and the struggles for economic justice in the Gilded Age are not only reminders of the failed ideology of the reconstruction, but are also evidence which shows us that the upper class of the society in that era were reluctant about the upward mobility of the poor.
There is lower, middle, and upper class, but there are also subcategories that fill the gaps in between, like the impoverished and the top one percenters. “Class in America”, written by Gregory Mantsios, addresses the myths and realities about socioeconomic class in America and how they affect American lives. His article highlights the unequal divide that has persisted over the course of history and will continue to manifest in the future. To introduce the existence of this issue, Mantsios states that this country’s citizens “don’t like to talk about class...or class privileges, or class oppression, or the class nature of society” (Mantsios 378). This is the case in America today because people are neglecting to acknowledge the existence of these elusive
