8 Jul 2022

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Diversity in America from Reconstruction in the 1920's

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The era in the early 1920s was marked with cultural diversity. An era was marked with racism and nativism. This era was also marked by the passage of strict immigration laws. This era was marked with upsurges in anti-Catholic sentiments, racial violence, and lynching’s. Reconstruction was a period that followed the Civil war that constituted rebuilding the United States. It was a time that was marked with pain and endless violence and questions. Though the war had ended reconstruction was a war, due to the diversity that existed in this period, people in the Northern states waged the struggle in, and they wanted to punish the people from the south who had aimed at preserving their way of life. Their way of life constituted by how they never allowed for the slave trade and the people in the North wanted the Slave trade to continue because it had achieved economic development in the region. Diversity in the reconstruction period was caused the changes that were made after the civil war. The three constitutional amendments changed the nature of African American rights. The 13th amendment, which abolished slavery in all states in the United States. The Fourteen amendment that prohibited states and territories form depriving of citizen’s equal protection under the law regardless of their race and the fifteen amendment which granted African Americans the right to vote. This amendment promoted cultural diversity in both the Northern States and the Southern States, African Americans could leave with white settlers and interact though they were limited by the segregationally laws that didn't allow them to share public facilities. Large numbers of African Americans marked this period, Natives move to Cities, and that intensified the racial and class tensions of the reconstruction period in the 1920s ( Foner, 2017).  

Diversity in this era was challenged by the factor that it was a rebuilding period in the Country. The southern states did not exactly know how to deal with diversity that is why it was a period marked by racial violence. Preserving the Union, which by then after the Civil war the Southern states had to be readmitted in the union did not solve the cultural issues that existed. The two states were still culturally different from each other and it was the reconstruction period that they were forced to work alongside each other in Congress. Diversity was embattled by the fact that the former slaves in the South faced racism from their masters who were forced to oblige by the Amendments that had been done in the reconstruction period. Not all the southerners came into agreement with the amendments, Southern politicians would not accept that slaves could vote and hold office at that time. That was the main reason why racism violence and Lynching is marked this period. 

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The reconstruction period saw the United States of America receive increased immigration from countries In Europe and Asia. Increased activism by African American due to racial discrimination. Diversity in this period was at its peak, cultural diversity due to the high numbers of immigrants in the country. The immigrants who had jetted in the United States all wanted equal rights and demanded equal opportunities and end laws that were discriminatory towards them. The commencement of world war one was marked by the integration of different races and that might have promoted cultural diversity. Both Americans and the African Americans and Indians were enlisted in the army. The sacrifice that both the African Americans and the Indians ought for them to be treated more fairly. It was cultural diversity that the anti-lynching legislation was established. Other than that legislation, the government ensured that policies and laws were established and passed that promoted cultural diversity during the reconstruction period. Though it was difficult for some of the white settlers to come into terms with such policies, it was one of the most crucial policies that established and encouraged cultural diversity in the Country ("Reconstruction and Its Aftermath - The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship | Exhibitions (Library of Congress)," 2008). 

The reconstruction period was marked with Republican presidents who were mainly conservatives. The country at this period experienced unprecedented consumer burst and tensions between the rural and urban America prevailed. This period was also marked with racism and nativism; this was a sign of cultural diversity starting to kick in the system. Beside cultural diversity, diversity was also experienced in the new form of music and art became popular. This period was also referred to as a roaring twenties; it witnessed the cultural transformation that would later affect the lives of the youths, women and more specifically the African American population. Americans in the urban areas helped in the expansion of the economy. New cultural forms such as jazz and modern art changed American civilization. The Harlem Renaissance offered the black community with a platform to display their talent in poetry, artistic and authors. This helped them feel a sense of belonging and an opportunity to make valuable contributions to American cultural life ("When Black Lives Mattered, Teaching About the Reconstruction Era - Greater Diversity News," 2018). 

In conclusion, the reconstruction period in the 1920s was characterized by confusion about how to deal with issues of cultural diversity. At first, it was hard and difficult for American citizens but as time went by cultural diversity was embraced and only a few cases of racial discrimination were reported. Despite the many challenges that America experienced during this period, it was among the first county to embrace diversity and it has been diverse from day one. The United States has always been a country of immigrants and have embraced cultural diversity (Selig, 2007). 

References 

Foner, E. (2017).  Give me liberty!: An American history . New York: W.W. Norton & Company 

Reconstruction and Its Aftermath - The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship | Exhibitions (Library of Congress). (2008, February 9). Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african-american-odyssey/reconstruction.html 

Selig, D. (2007). Celebrating Cultural Diversity in the 1920s.  OAH Magazine of History 21 (3), 41-42. doi:10.1093/maghis/21.3.41 

When Black Lives Mattered, Teaching About the Reconstruction Era - Greater Diversity News. (2018, January 26). Retrieved from http://greaterdiversity.com/black-lives-matter-reconstruction-era/ 

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