Government Impact the Lives of Individuals
Between 1900 and 1945, the United States was characterized by major demographic, technological and economic changes, which took Americans to the moon. These changes greatly altered the ways that Americans lived and work and constructed a new housing stock, new automobiles and increased production to counter the challenge of the doubling populace. During this period a bigger African-American middle class emerged.
A wave of social and economic changes swept across the U.S. between 1900 and 1945. Nicknames for this period, like the Jazz Age, depict the changes in social conventions which were taking place during this period (Du Bois, 1903). With the booming economy, prices dropped, and wages for most Americans rose leading to a drastic rise in consumer consumption and better living standards. Although women's lives were not significantly transformed by the acquisition of the right to vote, young women changed their dressing style and behaved in ways that shocked the traditional parents. The mass media played a key role in facilitating these changes notably the motion pictures and the radio.
The rapid population growth and the emergence of new technologies escalated the impact of human society on the natural environment in the U.S. Population growth that sparked in the 1900s continued throughout the 21st century (Addams, 1910). This trend drove various forms of environmental changes. Between 1900 and 1945, cities grew immensely as the percentage of people living in cities and towns doubled. However, urbanization levels varied...
By
1950s, roughly half of the American population lived in towns and cities (Du Bois, 1903). Moreover,
migration from rural areas to towns triggered a rapid urban growth. This rapid development of towns reflects a basic change in the relationship between rural and urban areas. For years before 1900, morbidity and
mortality rates had typically been higher in cities than in the rural areas. Nevertheless, between 1900 and 1945, the introduction of better treatments and improved sanitation pushed the rates below those in the villages for the first time in
American history.
The changes which market the 1900-1956 American society were unevenly distributed throughout the country's peoples and regions. In the South,
leaders were subjected to progressive political ambitions. As for the farmers, they lobbied relentlessly for government credit systems to supplement private creditors in the South. In the end, they converted the government supported agricultural system into a network of crop-marketing assistance and scientific advice. However, progressive reforms in the South had its limits. Attempts to ban the
employment of
children below fifteen years and enfranchise women were confronted with major resistance (Addams, 1910).
In the South, the most striking change that the government made was the intensive wartime exodus of African-Americans to the North. This broke the tie, which had bound the…
