The America is a country, which was founded on liberty and justice, and yet it also has a profound political history that is as complicated as the population of the country. The American political development, beginning with revolution to the present day, is a picture of the nation’s challenges and achievements in the journey towards this goal of forming more perfect union. The following article will discuss major events in the political history of the United States of America as a way of providing an understanding of how and why certain events unfolded politically in America.
The Founding Era: Birth of a Nation
Generally, the United States of America has its political history from 1776 in the event of Declaration of Independence. Thirteen colonies vexed by Britain’s taxation policy without asking for their input tried to establish a new form of a government that was approved by the public. However, the initial constitution of America was established through the Articles of Confederation in 1781 but failed due to bureaucratic problems arising from the fact that the central government was relatively very weak.
To solve the problems, in 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia to draft the U.S Constitution. This particular paper laid foundation of a federal structure of power with clear division of power between the executive, legislative and Judicial branches of the government. The first ten amendments added later in 1791 sought to guarantee rights of citizens against infringement of the government.
The Early Republic: Federalists and Democratic-Republicans
The formation of political parties in the United States began at the time when George Washington was the president. The Federalists’ point of view was shared by Alexander Hamilton and those of like mind they prefer a powerful central government and an industrialized economy. In this case, Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party supported states’ rights with a preference for businessman and agriculturalist society.
The election of the year 1800 commonly called the ‘Revolution of 1800’, was a early US election that peacefully witnessed the transfer of power from the Federalists to the Democratic-Republicans. This period also witnessed the Lousiana Purchase by president Thomas Jefferson in the year 1803 and actually expanded the nation by double in size, which definitely pointed towards the aggressive expansionary policy of the United States.
The Civil War and Reconstruction
The mid of the nineteenth century was characterized by the rising conflict between the North and the South due to the issue of slave labor which resulted to Civil war in 1861-1865. It was in this period the leadership of the President Abraham Lincoln was most put to task as the Union faced its most strenuous test. The war achieved its goal of maintaining the Union and the outlawing of slavery as provided in the 13th Amendment.
Commonly, Reconstruction period (1865-1877) started, with the intention to restore the south and assimilate the newly freed blacks into the society. However, the given period was not without its problems; the Ku Klux Klan emerged & Black Codes were established. The events after the Compromise of 1877 led to many unresolved problems and the beginning of the climax of the Black’s suffering, which was later known as Jim Crow.
The Progressive Era and the New Deal
The Progressive Era of early twentieth century was a period of activism and political reform in response to the problems of industrialization as well as the exercise in urbanization. Those prominent leaders like the Roosevelt Theodore as well as Woodrow Wilson supported laws such as antitrust laws, labor relation and women suffrage.
Another depression followed the 1930s and it is known as the Great Depression it led to hardships economically thus Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected into office together with the New Deal. This proclamation and a series of programs proposed and reforms attempted to bring relief, recovery, and reform and brought about a complete change in the federal government agenda in American society.
The Cold War and Civil Rights Movement
The most important event of the mid 1900s was the Cold War – the struggle between the two super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. This period can speak about the fact of great American military and political power all over the world due to such events as the Marshall Plan, Korean War, Vietnam War etc.
In addition, the Civil Rights Movement aimed at abolishment of practices that suppressed the rights of blacks in the society. Major advancements regarded the case of Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. None the less, people like Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks who put themselves forward for the continued fight for equality.
Modern Political Dynamics
Political polarizations is often evidenced in the latter part of the 20th century and spanning for the early part of twenty first century. Gradually the world relations shifted after the Cold War period in the early 1991 and internally, some of the major issues were about health care, Immigration as well as the environment.
The 21st century political life has also been marred by the appearance of digital media. The goal of the 2016 presidential election will always be remembered for the role of social media and cyberspace security threats, which was a sign of change of political campaign.
Conclusion
History of the United States political beginning can be described in terms of ideology, struggle and accommodation. Every age has made its inputs towards the continuous process of realization of the founding principles of the nation. It is essential to comprehend the political history of the United States to be aware of the future potential and different difficulties of the century that is going to occur in the country.
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