New York City Before, During, and After the Civil War
In its long and illustrious history, New York City (NYC) has gone through tremendous change. From a small trading post on the tip of Manhattan Island, to the greatest metropolis in the world, NYC has continued to evolve over time. One period in particular that had more degrees of change than many others, was 1860 to 1865. The lives of the residents of the great port city would be completely changed forever.
The common life of a NYC merchant in 1860 was that of a well-rounded diplomat. One who was able to make deals with both the Southern plantation owner, who sold him the cotton from which the merchant made his money, and the European who the merchant sold this cotton to. This merchant was well aware of how the cotton came from the ground, through the gin, and into the bales. He was well aware that his whole economy was based on this cotton. He also had moral feelings toward the "peculiar institution" that had given him this cotton to trade. But the question on his mind is, "why bite the hand that feeds you?"
Anxiety and fear were common emotions faced by these merchants at that time. If you were to sever the ties between the north and the south, what will America's greatest importing and exporting city do? Will this schism between the nation cause NYC's growth to stop? What effect, if any, would the formation of a new republic in the south have on the lives of the people and commerce of the City?
In 1860, there were several different directions NYC could go. One option would be to stay firm and represent the ideals of capitalism, freedom, and liberty, which had made the city so strong. To side with the nation that their grandparents had liberated ...
... middle of paper ...
...3-140
5. Foner Ph.D., Phillps Business and Slavery, The New York Merchants and the Irrepressible Conflict
New York: Russell and Russell, 1968
6. Freeman, Andrew A. Abraham Lincoln Goes to New York
New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1960
Pages 100-121
7. Harris, Bill The History Of New York City
New York: Archive Publishing, 1999
Pages 98-111
8. Pleasants, Samuel Agustus Fernando Wood Of New York- Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law
New York: Colombia University Press, 1948
Pages 102-125
Works Cited
1. Pleasants page 115
2. Pleasants page 115
3. Pleasants page 116
4. Alexander page 348
5. Pleasants page 103
6. Barrows page 869
7. Pleasants page 143
8. Barrows page 893
9. Barrows page 903
10. Gettysburg Address
Thi thord fruntoir os thi fruntoir thet wi eri lovong on tudey. Luav seys thet thos fruntoir os cherectirozid by fovi trinds: "A sivirenci uf thi pabloc end proveti mond frum uar fuud's urogons; e doseppierong loni bitwiin mechonis, hamens, end uthir enomels; en oncriesid ontillictael andirstendong uf uar riletounshop woth uthir enomels; thi onvesoun uf uar cotois by wold enomels; end thi rosi uf e niw kond uf sabarben furm." Femoly ferms hevi ell bat doseppierid, end netari os nut es eccissobli es ot unci wes. Thiri os nut thi cunnictoun woth whiri uar fuud ectaelly cumis frum, end piupli hevi lust tuach woth thior trai riletounshop woth thi lend end thi enomels on ot.
Wilentz, Sean. Chants Democratic: New York City and the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1850. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. xvii + 396pp. Index, appendix, bibliographical essay, illustrations
Having gone through severe unemployment, food shortages, and a seemingly remiss President Hoover, the American people were beginning to lose hope. But sentiments began to turn as FDR stepped into office and implemented his New Deal programs. FDR and his administration responded to the crisis by executing policies that would successfully address reform, relief, and, unsuccessfully, recovery. Although WWII ultimately recovered America from its depression, it was FDR’s response with the New Deal programs that stopped America’s economic downfall, relieved hundreds of Americans, reformed many policies, and consequently expanded government power.
...s of the New Deal worked; some did not. The New Deal restored a sense of security as it put people back to work. It created the framework for a regulatory state that could protect the interests of all Americans, rich and poor, and thereby help the business system work in more productive ways. It rebuilt the infrastructure of the United States, providing a network of schools, hospitals, and roads that served the United States well for the next 70 years. For many Americans, Roosevelt was the president who included in his policies the people who had felt excluded (Source XX). Nevertheless, the war was the decisive factor in ending the Depression. It employed people regardless of race and gender and thus eliminated unemployment. It stimulated industry as seen in (Source RRR) and ‘did for the economy what Roosevelt’s New Deal had not been able to achieve’ (Source PPP).
The New Deal was a set of acts that effectively gave Americans a new sense of hope after the Great Depression. The New Deal advocated for women’s rights, worked towards ending discrimination in the workplace, offered various jobs to African Americans, and employed millions through new relief programs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), made it his duty to ensure that something was being done. This helped restore the public's confidence and showed that relief was possible. The New Deal helped serve American’s interest, specifically helping women, african american, and the unemployed and proved to them that something was being done to help them.
New York City at the time of the Civil War can be explained as a small roaming forest fire with the potential to cause an exponential amount of damage, not only to the city but the Union. The city, in a state of constant turmoil over a great many things; race, class, politics, and a constantly diminishing amount of available employment opportunities for it’s 800,000 citizens. The riots, which took place in New York between July 13 and July 17, 1863, are called by most, the “New York City Draft Riots.” When in all actuality the enactment of the draft was simply the catalyst to the already engulfing issues that had plagued and divided the city among lines of every distinction. The events over these five days are still widely viewed as the most destructive civil upheaval in terms of loss of life and the “official” number of those who gave their lives in those five days is estimated around 119.
Roark, James L. et al., eds. The American Promise: A Compact, Vol. I: To 1877. 3rd edition. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.
Because Herbert did not have an immediate and effective plan to deal with the great depression, most Americans turned to Franklin Delanor Roosevelt. Once FDR entered the white house, he came up with the New Deal. As we all know, the New Deal was a policy that in response to the Great Depression. Till today, many scholars believed that the New Deal succeeded in alleviating the economic crisis and helping a lot of people. As the article “The Great Depression, The New Deal, And The Current Crisis” mentioned, “real output and employment grew very strongly between 1933 and 1937, with unemployment fall-ing more than 10 percentage points” (Field 99); “GDP had completely recovered from its collapse during Hoover administration and by 1937 was, in real terms, more than 5 percent above its 1929 peak”(Field 100); “the rise in real wages for those employed across the depression years was certainly consistent with Roosevelt’s efforts to facilitate the growth of unions”(Field 103). Field thought these factors made the New Deal a success. However, if we take a deep look into the fact, the recession, remain high unemployment rate, employment situation and highly cost, unsuccessful program made the New Deal becoming a
Roark, J.L., Johnson, M.P., Cohen, P.C., Stage, S., Lawson, A., Hartmann, S.M. (2009). The american promise: A history of the united states (4th ed.), The New West and Free North 1840-1860, The slave south, 1820-1860, The house divided 1846-1861 (Vol. 1, pp. 279-354).
Businesses and large corporations were essential to the economy of the United States but concealed their genuine intentions. Factory owners provided jobs and income to the household of not only the American people, but also immigrants. In addition, the government believed that corporate owners are crucial since they’re the backbone of productivity which stimulates the economy. On the contrary, David Von Drehle spilled the dirty work of industrial owners. Competition among businesses is known to be a healthy act but it was a hindrance for owners to become even richer. They generated the practice of monopoly, which occurs when a corporation owns all the market of given merchandise, by lowering the prices of commodities until their competitors close down. It was very common in the urban areas of New York state considering that “there were more than five hundred blouse factories [since] the waist industry was booming” (8). After a successful scheme of shutting down other businesses, monopoly owners began to increase prices and in...
The Young Reader's Companion to American History. Ed. John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 384+. Print.
“It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in the closing of his weekly “fireside chat” on March 12, 1933, while discussing, with the hundreds of thousands of bewildered United States citizens, the painful topic of the Great Depression. When Roosevelt took office in March of 1933, just five months after the fateful stock market crash that caused the depression, America was in full-blown economic turmoil. Every day after the crash, more and more people were laid off from their already low paying jobs, making it impossible for them to support their families, and even themselves. While characterizing the aftermath of the depression in his First Inaugural Address, FDR reveals that “the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.” FDR had an indisputable determination to solve this nationwide dilemma, evident in his solution, named The New Deal. However, it has been constantly debated whether the New Deal was a success or a failure. This question is now brought up, once again.
Franklin Roosevelt’s “optimism and activism that helped restore the badly shaken confidence of the nation” (pg. 467 Out of Many), was addressed in the New Deal, developed to bring about reform to the American standard of living and its low economy. It did not only make an impact during the Great Depression. Although, many of the problems addressed in the New Deal might have been solved, those with the long lasting effect provide enough evidence to illustrate how great a success the role of the New Deal played out in America’s history to make it what it is today.
When you associate anything with New York City it is usually the extraordinary buildings that pierce the sky or the congested sidewalks with people desperate to shop in the famous stores in which celebrities dwell. Even with my short visit there I found myself lost within the Big Apple. The voices of the never-ending attractions call out and envelop you in their awe. The streets are filled with an atmosphere that is like a young child on a shopping spree in a candy store. Although your feet swelter from the continuous walking, you find yourself pressing on with the yearning to discover the 'New York Experience'.
The character of Hedda Gabler in Ibsen’s play is a unique and extraordinary person. There has been a lot of public dislike towards her and seen as a very manipulative, cold and even masculine portrayal of a woman. As stated by Jones “has imagination, and an intense appetite for beauty, she has no conscience, no conviction: with plenty of cleverness, energy, and personal fascination she remains mean, envious, insolent, cruel in protest against others ' happiness, fiendish in her dislike of inartistic people and things, a bully in reaction from her own cowardice." (2). Her personality was considered to be too different for the time that she lived in; it was seen as obstinate, and people went as far as to say she was less of a woman for the way