The south after War

President Lincoln had planned for a period of reconstruction after the war. He had thought it necessary to choose new leaders for the South and to restore good relations between the North and the South. Lincoln had hoped that the Reconstruction would go quickly. But after Lincoln’s death Americans quarreled over how to carry out the Reconstruction.

Much of the South was in ruins. The fields that had been planted in cotton were overgrown with weeds. The economy was destroyed.

More than 250,000 southerners had died in the fighting. Many people were homeless. Freed slaves had no place to live and no way to make a living. Confederate soldiers were allowed to go home. But often their homes had been destroyed. Returning soldiers found few jobs in the ruined economy.

The Reconstruction lasted from 1865 till 1877. During the Reconstruction years the South began to change and soon people talked about a “new” South. But the problem of bad relations between blacks and whites remained for years.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

By 1932 thousands of American banks and over 100,000 businesses had failed. Industrial production was cut in half, wages had decreased 60 percent, and one out of every four workers was unemployed. That year Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president on the platform of "a New Deal for the American people."

Roosevelt's jaunty self-confidence galvanized the nation. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," he said at his inauguration. He followed up these words with decisive action. Within three months -- the historic "Hundred Days" -- Roosevelt had rushed through Congress a great number of laws to help the economy recover. Such new agencies as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration created millions of jobs by undertaking the construction of roads, bridges, airports, parks, and public buildings. Later the Social Security Act set up contributory old-age and survivors' pensions.

Roosevelt’s New Deal programs did not end the Depression. Although the economy improved, full recovery had to await the defense buildup preceding America's entry into World War II.

WORLD WAR II

There was bad news from Europe and Asia in the late 1930’s. The governments of Germany, Italy and Japan were trying to gain control of other lands.

Americans read about what was happening in Europe and Asia in their newspapers.

Americans were against the USA getting involved. . But the bombing of Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii by the Japanese in December 1941 brought the United States into the war, first against Japan and then against its allies, Germany and Italy. American, British, and Soviet war planners agreed to concentrate on defeating Germany first. British and American forces landed in North Africa in November 1942, proceeded to Sicily and the Italian mainland in 1943, and liberated Rome on June 4, 1944. Two days later - D-Day of the invasion, June 5, 1944 went into history as D. Day) - Allied forces landed in Normandy. Paris was liberated on August 24, and by September American units had crossed the German border. The Germans finally surrendered on May 5, 1945. The war against Japan came to a swift end in August of 1945, when President Harry Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nearly 200,000 civilians were killed.

Control questions:

1. How did the war for independence start?

2. What measures did the British leaders take to collect the taxes? What did the tax collectors do? What did the ship owners do to avoid paying the taxes?

3. How did black slaves appear in America?

4. What was the position of black Americans in the first half of the 19^th century? Why didn’t the southern states want to abolish slavery?

5. What did the seceding states call their new nation? Who was Jefferson Davis?

6. When and how was President Lincoln assassinated?

7. When did the Japanese make an attack on Pearl Harbour?

8. Which two Japanese cities were A-bombs dropped on? When did it happen?

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1455