Political And Social Growth Of The United States 1852-1933 - edizione con copertina flessibile

THE UKITEB STATES 1853 Slavery prohibited by federal law Slavery maintained by state law v t Slavery contingent on f Supreme Court decision Adapted from American . JVafton, Volume 18 t Partiea and Slavery, by T, C. Smith, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES-1 85 2-1933 BY ARTHUR MEIER SCHLESINGER PROFESSOR OP HISTORY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY REVISED EDITION THE MACMILLAN COMPANY . NEW YORK PREFACE THAT five real daughters 7 of the American Revolution still live suggests the brief moment in the worlds history occupied by the whole course of American development since independence. The present volume deals with a still shorter time, that since 1852, a period of whose events the real daughters doubtless have a lively recollec tion. Few as these years are, however, they were so crammed with adventure, aspiration and national achievement as to give them the character of an epoch. The United States was transformed from a rural and agricultural society to an urban and industrial one, from a loose federation of states to a consolidated republic, from a continent wide country to one with far-flung insular possessions, from a people deriving their cultural life largely from Europe to one who have con tributed their full share to world civilization, from the principal nation in the Western Hemisphere to one of the Great Powers of the globe. The United States has never been so greatly isolated from the inter national flow of ideas and practices as statesmen have usually as serted. During these years the fine line between what is strictly American history and what is world history has grown so thin that in our own day it is scarcely perceptible. It may well be beyond the, power of thehuman mind to comprehend the intricate drama played on so vast and ever shifting a stage. Yet we should be like the ants, who also live in a complex social order they do not understand, did we not continually make the effort to arrive at some sort of a picture portraying as a whole the events and condi tions out of which has emerged our own cross section of life. His tory, says Santayana, is merely memory aided and directed. If political developments usually occupy the foreground of the present narrative, it is not for their own sake but as a means of revealing and illustrating deeper social forces at work. As in the volume out of which this one has grown, the major emphasis is put on the evolution of nationality, the influence of industrial growth and technological change, the trend toward imperialism and larger participation in world affairs, the struggle for broader democracy, and the unceasing quest for social amelioration and humanitarian reform. These themes are considered not merely as they affected governmental decisions but also as they touched the material and intellectual life of the people. Kindred interests, of course, formed the central concerns of VU1 CONTENTS PAGE The Reign of the Radicals no Grant and the Radicals . . . . . . .114 The Southern Struggle for White Dominion . . . .117 The Economic Reconstruction of the South . . . .121 The Postwar Settlement with Great Britain . . . .123 PART TWO. THE COMING OF MODERN AMERICA CHAPTER VII. THE ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, 1860-1890 . .129 The Old Order Changeth 129 The Development of the Great West ..... 133 The Onward Push of Industrialism . . . . .144 The Advent of Great Cities . . . . . . .149 CHAPTER VIII. POLITICAL TRANSITION,1869-1877 . . .154 Public Morals and National Politics, 1869-1872 . . .154 Economic Collapse and Political Shame . . . . .159 The Granger Movement and the Money Question . . .161 The Disputed Election of 1876 165 CHAPTER IX. OLD ISSUES AND NEW ATTITUDES, 1877-1897 . . 170 Republicans and Reform, 1877-1881 . . . . .170 Sealing the Doom of the Spoils System 174 The Emergence of Grover Cleveland . . . . .177 The Surplus Revenue and the Tariff Question . . . .181 The Triumph of Protectionism 187 CHAPTER X. EMBATTLED INDUSTRY, 1865-1900 . . . ...