The Historical Events That Have Defined America
After the Revolutionary War, the Civil War is, by and far, the most significant event to have occurred in American history. Almost a century and a half later, its effects are still felt throughout the country. The secession of the Southern states prior to Lincoln’s inauguration tested the Constitution to a point it had never been tested before, and put the new President in a very difficult position. Lincoln was faced with three options: he could have made concessions to the states about slavery, confirming what the southern states asserted: that state laws trumped federal ones. This, however, would have seriously, perhaps fatally, weakened the federal government, and was not seen as a viable option. He could have allowed the South simply to secede, forming the Confederate States of America. This was also an unacceptable option, though; it would have shown the US federal government to be weak and ineffective, given a ‘go-ahead’ to any other state that wished to secede over other issues, and ultimately would have had the same result as allowing state laws to trump federal ones: a complete break-down of the US federal government as designed by the Constitution. The only other option for Lincoln was the use of military force to keep the Union whole, and this is the course he chose to take.
Using military force avoided the possibility of the federal government being seen as weak, and, in fact, enforced the idea that the federal government trumped all state governments, but quite literally tore the country in two. At the end of the war, the defeated South was in a very sorry shape, having crops, houses, and towns burned and destroyed. This caused a great deal of resentment in the South against the North, eventually leading to the formation of the “Solid South”, a bloc of states in the south that always voted Democratically. More immediate effects of the Civil War included the catapulting of war heroes into the national spotlight; for a long period directly after the end of the war, former Generals were the men of choice for Presidential nominations. The Civil War also saw a solidification of Lincoln’s Republican party in the north, with one state, Vermont, going so far as to not elect a single Democrat to statewide office for over a hundred years. Even today a strong feeling of North and South remains in the respective regions that stretches back to the sentiments of the Civil War, and affects the way each region votes and forms policy.
World War I is another monumental event in the US’ history that did not require any specific political personality but that did have long-lasting effects on the political culture of the country. At the end of the war, feeling great resentment towards Europe for having pulled the US into what was basically a European war, the American public entered a period of isolation, backing off from foreign affairs.
This isolationist movement that swept the citizenry trickled up into the government, affecting it at all levels. The Senate, feeling the push to keep out of foreign affairs, refused to join the League of Nations, despite efforts made by President Wilson. Without the US, the League of Nations was destined to be ineffective and powerless to enforce its rulings.
Isolationism also caused the US to enter World War II long after it had started. As America began to learn of the atrocities committed by Germany, the idea of isolationism lost a great deal of popularity; indeed, there was a general feeling of guilt for not having entered the war sooner. This guilt contributed to the US’ active role in foreign affairs immediately after World War II, with the formation of the United Nations, the willingness to become involved in Korea, and the idea of “stopping Communism” across the entire globe. America’s desire to assuage its guilt for having been an isolationist state for so long by participating in foreign affairs has continued until the present day, as evidenced by the preemptive strike on Saddam Hussein.
A third event that caused a great change in American politics was the Great Depression. The Depression showed that the American economy was not foolproof, and that, in fact, it would not always grow. This reality was sharply brought into the public’s eye as the stock market crashed and as hundreds of banks went out of business. Unemployment reached a record high, and many families had trouble feeding themselves. These things drastically changed what the voters of the country were looking for in their leaders, and helped Franklin D. Roosevelt get elected in 1932.
Eager to help alleviate some of the country’s financial problems, Roosevelt instituted sweeping changes in his New Deal. While the New Deal was at first personality driven, it received massive support from the public due to the economic hardships they were experiencing. In effect, you could say that FDR’s personality itself was event-driven; if he hadn’t been elected during the Depression, the sweeping changes he ultimately instituted would not have been necessary. The introduction of Social Security, increased public works jobs, and the overhaul of the welfare system were all because of the Great Depression, and are now seen as vital parts of American society; no politician will ever be elected speaking against Social Security.
Perhaps the most important event to occur in the post-World War II period was the civil rights movement. Although it had many people pushing it, and a few strong personalities that stood above the rest, the movement itself didn’t require any particular leader; it had been brewing since the Civil War, gathering force throughout the early 20th Century, and finally coming to a head in the 1950s and 1960s.
The civil rights movement forced everyone in America to look at the way race had been treated in the country, and caused serious questions to be raised about the concept of “separate but equal.” This idea, introduced in the late 19th Century by the US Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, was struck down as unconstitutional in 1954 by Brown v. Board of Education. A good portion of Southern society had been built around “separate but equal”, and dismantling it was a very overwhelming task.
The issue of states rights versus the power of the federal government came up, just as it had during the Civil War. Ultimately, it was again proven that the federal government trumps state laws, when President Kennedy ordered the National Guard to enforce integration in an Alabama university. The Governor of Alabama had denied two black students the ability to enroll; Kennedy sent in the troops to ensure that the students’ rights were observed. Although it took a significant time, this single event signaled that segregation was no longer acceptable; many southern Congress members, who had run and been elected as segregationists, were forced to stop pushing segregation as an issue. While the member themself may have still held the view it was right, the Supreme Court had undeniably ruled it as unconstitutional, and so it had very little validity in Congress.
The civil rights movement also had the effect of changing the “Solid South”. Because it was John Kennedy, a Democrat, who had enforced integration, the south could no longer be counted on to vote entirely for Democrats; slowly, the southern states began to turn Republican, with many members of congress switching parties themselves, including Strom Thurmond.
These four events, the Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression, and the civil rights movement, are all monumental moments in history. Some worked to make the country better, (the civil rights movement), and some had dire consequences, (the period of isolation following WWI), but all will be remembered for drastically altering the direction of politics in America.
