Americas post civil was growing pains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Americas post civil was growing pains - Essay Example But during this period, a lot of people who entered America suffered a lot of pain because of discrimination. The treatment of whites and blacks were different, and it took a long time before everything in immigration was smoothed out. Two questions loom on this topic: Could events have been different if President Lincoln had not been assassinated, and how industrialization affected the lives of the American citizens during this period. To the first question: Could events in the Reconstruction period have been different if President Lincoln had not been assassinated. Yes, I believe it would have been because he had a lenient plan of transformation. The period of 1865–77 was called the Reconstruction Period in the U.S. history because it was a time when the federal government reinstated the states that had seceded during the war. It was a time when President Lincoln had to face many political and social issues such as â€Å"how to deal with the states when they were reunited, how to deal with the freed slaves, and how should Southern whites be treated† (Kelly, n.d.). If President Lincoln had it his way and if he had not been assassinated, he would have had lenient proposals for the seceded states. First, he wanted to consider those states that seceded on or at the outbreak of war as if they had not seceded. He wanted to grant pardon to southerners who participated in the war if they pledged allegiance to the United States. Second, President Lincoln would allow readmission of the state if it formed a government that would guarantee freedom of slaves, and if 10% of white voters in that state took an oath of allegiance to the US (Kelly, n.d.). His political opponents did not agree with this and after his death, made the reintegration difficult. To the second question: How industrialization and urbanization affected the life of the average working American during the period. It was significantly affected in many ways: economically, socially and cultura lly. The industrialization that started in early 1800s continued to grow steadily amidst the Civil War, although the American industry at that time was described to be typically small. However, after the war, when reforms were introduced, industrialization grew more tremendously as machines replaced hand labor, railroad network allowed marketing and distribution of goods in many areas, and inventions made work processes easier. Machines produced a greater number of goods, gave jobs to more people, and created specialization and labor division. As industrialization grew, the life of the average American was affected. Since businesses were situated in cities, people began to flock the cities in droves to look for work. The availability of jobs in cities attracted people from the farms to the cities. This situation, according to the website of theusa.online.com (n.d.), created an economic division of the rich and the poor, which was widely resented by the people. It had created the wea lthy, middle class and the underprivileged class of society. Immigration caused the population of America to grow by more than double, from 40 million to 100 million from 1870 to 1970 (theusa.online.com, n.d.) This period also depicts different pictures of an era. The South was economically behind the North because of the war while the frontier life of the West ended. The South remained to be an agricultural area all throughout the period of industrialization. The farming

The international monetary and finance structure Essay - 2

The international monetary and finance structure - Essay Example It was with the end of the war that developed nations came up with a new system, which sought a free flow of capital, stable exchange rates, and open trade. These three principles were fundamental in globalization and liberalization of the global economy. There were a number of concepts, which underpinned this new liberal economy. Liberal economics were premised on the recognition that there were inherent differences in the endowment of resources for different countries (Balaam & Veseth 127). Therefore, international wealth could only be maximized if countries participated in global trade. In addition, national currencies were to be sold and bought in a system of free markets, in which floating exchange rates enabled the markets to determine a currency’s value in relation to another. This system would ensure market equilibrium and the IMF was tasked with stabilizing rates of exchange with the IMF originally founded on the fixed rate system. However, this financial system faile d to keep up with the dynamism of various national economies, which meant the fixed exchange-rate system changed to a more flexible system and less capital transfer control. Under these conditions, the value of national currency was determined by interactions between supply and demand present in foreign exchange markets (Balaam & Veseth 127). ... These include the Gold Standard until WWI, the Bretton Woods system for fixed-exchange rates, prior to the end of WWII, and the floating or flexible regime of exchange rates (Balaam & Veseth 132). Economic liberalism that characterizes today’s international monetary and financial structures has been supported by; the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. The World Bank was created with the aim of stimulating economies following the destruction of WWII on Europe (Balaam & Veseth 133). However, the institution’s emphasis shifted to development away from reconstruction as it began to generate capital funds from contributions made by its member states, as well as that made from financial market borrowing. Currently, most of the funding from this institution is used in the development of infrastructure. On the other hand, the IMF was formed in order to stabilize economies and exchange rates. Initially, the IMF was established as a fixed exchange-rates system. However, the system went out of use after an announcement by the US that they would stop guaranteeing the system. Finally, it formalized the currently in use floating exchange-rates system. Finally, the WTO, formerly the GATT, was instituted for the management of trade. The initial GATT was formed based on support for liberalization of trade, protection of home markets exclusively through tariffs, national treatment for MNCs, and non-discrimination in trade (Balaam & Veseth 134). It established multi-lateral negotiations among nations that had similar interests at hand, before being extended to all participants of the GATT. Much of its work was done over 8 rounds of negotiations, which progressively cut back on tariffs and addressed arising issues like copyrights and