Urbanization And Its Impact On American Society Between 1865 And 1910

The period between 1865 and 1910 in America was a time of not only great pain and destruction but also great transition and perseverance. Various ethnic groups and different demographics suffered immense discrimination and tragedy, such as different movements put in place to put an end to different Native American peoples or the lack of gender equality during everyday life for women and men of any race/ethnicity. On top of this, as some corporations came onto a great amount of wealth and prosperity, millions of the country’s working class population, which soon included a second wave of European immigrants, lived under poverty with seemingly no social mobility. Despite these negatives, there were still some benefits to come out of this time

Urbanization and the growth of cities along with their populations created a need for better forms of transportation, more productive technology in factories, and more efficient ways to communicate with other people. These needs gave way to many different inventions seeking to meet those demands. One of the most important of those was the cable car, the first of which was invented in San Francisco in 1876. The cable car, a means of transportation dependent on cables and tracks, was far from perfect. Even though cable cars were incredibly expensive, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks and soon cable cars and regional equivalents (like trolley cars and streetcars) spread across the country. This shift in public transportation helped the general American economy and created geographical changes, such as cities being split into efficient economic districts, that can still be seen today. Other notable technological improvements include telephones, also created in 1876, as well as the light bulb in

It is not so significant that racial equality is achieved, or there is no race-based discrimination rampant in society, but it is enough that African Americans are able to accomplish more than they were before the Civil War and Reconstruction. For example, after the passing of the first of three Reconstruction Amendments, the 13th Amendment, slavery was abolished but many states enacted different laws and economic institutions that hindered the newly freed slaves. These setbacks were devastating for the majority of the southern black population, but with freedom came more opportunity for future generations of African Americans. For example, in the case of former slave Bill Simms, he’d lost his sister when she was sold to another slave owner and he’d only learned to read and write after he’d reached adulthood but his daughters were able to have more opportunities than he or his wife had. “…I promised [my wife] on her death bed, that I would educate our girls. So I worked and sent the girls to school. My two girls both graduated from Ottawa University, the oldest one being the first colored girl to ever graduate from that school.” (An Ex-Slave Recalls his Migration Across the Prairie, 48) Along with this, many African Americans were able to take leadership positions in different communities during Reconstruction: “During Reconstruction, black men held