The development of the United States has been influenced over time by several historical factors. The history of the united states is wide and complex, it can however be broken down into time periods that divided or unified the United States and changed it into what it is today (U.S History, 2017). These factors affected major elements of society such as the economy, the culture and political affairs which redirected the future of the country. These include events such as the Great Depression and the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt who sought to repair the damage caused by the great depression. The world wars and movements in the country itself such as the feminist movement, the gay movement and civil rights movement among others.
The Great Depression was an economic downturn that occurred throughout the world originating in the United Sates. It begun in 1929 lasting until about 1939. This period caused many changes in the economic institutions and theory. It also affected macroeconomic policy. Its biggest negative effects were; causing severe unemployment, drastic declines in output and acute deflation in many countries of the world. (Pells, 2017)
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The Great Depression was caused by the collective effects of various factors. These included first the collapse of the stock market in 1929. Very many shares were sold in October that year because the market price of shares went drastically down (Hardman, 1999). This is said to have been caused by efforts by the Federal Reserve to reduce the rapidly rising stock prices. This contributed to the Great Depression since the decline in prices incited panic selling among investors who begun selling on a day dubbed Black Tuesday (Pells, 2017). This affected purchase of goods and business investment reduced sharply. Thus the Great Crash of the stock market in 1929 was a major factor leading to the depression. Secondly, a banking panic arose soon after the stock market crash. This is because individuals lost faith in the solvency of banks. Depositors begun demanding to have their deposits of money given back in cash. This would force banks to quickly liquidate all their assets, which would cause the bank to fail due to the hasty liquidation. Even banks that were previously solvent would fail after the hasty loss of assets. (Pells, 2017)
The Great Depression was similarly also caused by declination in global financial lending to the international community. This had in part, been contributed to by increasing interest rates on loans and rising stock market in the United States. This reduced the income to the United States, leading to increased rates of credit and a decline in the economy. Another factor that is explained by Pells (2017) is the protectionist trade policies executed by the Federal Reserve which were in place to protect the gold standard of the American currency. It is elaborated that the Federal Reserve may have contributed to or allowed the great depression to happen in order to protect the gold standard of their currency. During the banking panics the Federal Reserve declined to expand the money supply since this would have caused a huge gold outflows. Such a scenario would cause foreigners to lose faith in the commitment of the United States to the gold standard, forcing them to devalue their currency. Thus in upholding the gold standard the protectionist trade policies allowed the development of the recession.
The New Deal was an administrative program that President Roosevelt employed in service to the Americans during his term in office from 1933 to 1939, also deep during the Depression years. It took action to alleviate the economic situation and create reforms in various other sectors. It was tailored in accordance to the concept of an economy regulated by the government to achieve a balance between conflicting economic interests (The editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017) The major ways through which the New Deal sought to address the problems of the great depression include the following; alleviation of the suffering among the large numbers of unemployed individuals. This was executed by providing emergency short term relief and providing temporary jobs. This was done by agencies such as Works progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The New Deal also aimed at revival of industrial activity. The National Recovery Administration was given the authority to revise and implement industrial codes that govern trade practices, hours of work, wages and child labor as well as collective bargaining. Thirdly the New Deal also helped put an end to the Great Depression through the provision of cheap electric power, through the prevention of floods and also through, the improvement of navigation together with the production of nitrates.
The Second World War was a conflict involving almost all parts of the world that lasted from 1939 to 1945. When the war waned, it was proceeded by the Cold War. (Royde-Smith, 2017) The Cold War was a conflict between the United States and the former Soviet Union. This occurred since both parties felt that the other was a threat to them or their world domination plan. It was marked by the arms race thanks to which for example, both countries developed atomic weapons such as those that were used to end the Second World War. Every time one country made a much stronger atomic bomb, the rival followed suit. The Second World War contributed to the development of the Cold War as this was where the enmity begun. The former Soviet Union disliked the United States for having taking too long to sign up for the war, a war that saw many millions of Russians killed. So participation of both countries in the Second World War contributed to the development of the cold war. The difference in ideology in regards to the economic set up of the two counties also contributed to their enmity, this is because the former Soviet Union was a communist country while the United States was a capitalist country. There was worldwide misunderstanding between nations along capitalist and communist lines, depending on if or not they each supported the USA or the Soviet Union. In line with this, the United States for instance failed to acknowledge the former Soviet Union as part of the international community. This was a contributor to President Stalin's resentment towards America . The cold war tensions affected the culture and domestic policies of these two countries, with American and Russian citizens both living in constant fear of atomic warfare. People started building new kinds of shelters `to protect them from the atomic bombs. Drills were carried out frequently in case of an attack. The lifestyle of most people had to change in far of atomic extinction during the cold war.
The Civil Rights Movement was another historical event that greatly altered the course of the American history. It was a protest against racial segregation and discrimination between people in the southern United States. It became prominent in the mid-1950s. (Carson, 2017). It became prominent in the mid-1950s. (Carson, 2017). This movement led to a Supreme Court decision; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that made racial segregation unlawful. By having done this, the movement had therefore also, opened up new opportunities for blacks in the economic, political and social sectors of the American society. (Jack, 2014). The movement made efforts to empower blacks in terms of acquiring voting rights for them. The height of this effort was seen with the summer project of 1964. Several organizations came together in order to register voters, an exercise that was with widespread hostility from some whites, arising to the death of a number of activists. This project was unsuccessful but it caught the attention of lawmakers who called for the Federal Voting Rights Legislation. In August 1965 President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, a direct consequence of the aforementioned efforts.
In conclusion, the history of The United States of America is a rich history that has been built by many events that altered the lives of Americans on various levels. These events changed major aspects of people’s livelihood such as their economy and culture. The great depression was an event that affected the economy of the United States for many years, building up to the current country. This bad economic time was alleviated by efforts put in by President Roosevelt who came up with The New Deal. Another event that affected the life and culture of people of America was the cold war, in which people lived in constant fear of atomic extinction. Other historical events that changed the history of the States were movements within the country. A good example was the Civil Rights Movement which saw to the reduction and possible elimination of racial segregation and discrimination in the United States
References
Clayborne, Carson. (2017). American Civil Rights Movement. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Davis. J. E. (2017). “Civil Rights Movement” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.
John. G. R. (2017). “World War II” Encyclopedia Britannica.
Cold War History. (2017). A &E Television Networks, LLC.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2017). “New Deal” Encyclopedia Britannica.
John, Hardman. (2017). Poverty and Prejudice: Social Security at The Crossroads.
The Great Depression. (2017). A&E Television Networks, LLC.
Richard, H, P. and Christina, D, R. (2017). “Great Depression” Encyclopedia Britannica.
