Reconstruction, Gilded Age and education

Reconstruction Era

Since the Civil War was fought mainly in the south, South states were devastated and had no infrastructure, institutions collapsed and people were jobless. In addition, there was a problem what to do with freed slaves and farmers could not managed huge plantations without them. The Reconstruction Era 1865–1877 focuses on reconstruction of devastated South. It started even before the end of war with Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863 but had condition of acceptance – he wanted to get rid of individual officers who lead rebellion and conditions.

Slaves were free but not equal. Rebel Matt Turner killed a lot of white man and was executed for that, the blacks were not allowed to carry weapons. The famous slave song John Brown is about a white abolitionist who wanted to free slaves and armed them but was hanged as traitor. Carpetbaggers was a pejorative term Southerners gave to Northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era.

Such enormous reconstruction was very demanding for the new 17^th President Andrew Johnson. He wanted to bring the South back to normal as soon as possible while radical Republicans wanted to impose harsh terms. They needed to get rid of benevolent Democratic president so they applied in 1868 Impeachment power but they action failed by one vote so Johnson was acquitted. He was one of the most unfortunate presidents of the USA, his presidency full of disputes with the Congress. However in the same year, he managed to pull thought Amendment 14, giving Afro-American citizenship and civil right for life, liberty and property.

New 18^th President Ulysses S. Grant supported by Afro-Americans won with the slogan “Let Us Have Peace” and was in favour of fast radical reconstruction. His Amendment 15 in 1870 gave black males right to vote and General Amnesty in 1872 allowed former Confederates to serve in office. The Civil Right Act in 1875 guaranteed African-Americans equal rights even in public places. They could visit theatre but in separate areas, still segregated. The first Afro-American in the Congress was Hiram Revels and represented Mississippi 1870-1871.

The Gilded Age (1877- 1896)

It was an economic and population boom with waves of immigrant from China and Ireland trying to find better life but they were looked down upon born Americans and got only bad jobs and horrible living conditions. It was the age of two extremes – the poor low class and the rich upper class. Mark Twain criticized this age but also gave it name referring to metaphor coated in gold for this age of only apparent prosperity. 1881 President James Garfield was assassinated, being the second assassinated President in US history.

American politics was corrupted but it was also era  of new inventions of Thomas Edison (electricity, bulb), Graham Bell (telephone, Henry Ford (cars, assembly line helped with mass production), washing machine (invented by man, but dishwasher was invented by woman), sewing machine, typewriter, cash machine, power stations, transformers. In this period, also modern hospitals, universities and libraries were found.

Unions appeared to improve conditions of workers and abolish children labour. Economical reforms like Sherman Antitrust Act 1890 abolished monopoly and opened free competitive market. Civil Service Act mandated a competitive examination for applicants of government jobs. Interstate Commerce Act ended railroads' discrimination against small shippers. Robber baron is a pejorative term used for a powerful 19^th century American businessman like John Rockefeller who revolutionized petrol industry and Andrew Carnegie with expansion of steel industry. New Southern Democratic leaders called Redeemers introduced in 1896 with help of the Supreme Court legal segregation of the white from the blacks in public places.

Education

After the Civil War, America had to consider compulsory education properly, because immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe who differed in culture from the previous immigrants from Western Europe. It was necessary to include the children of these immigrants into to American way of life and democratic thinking, which was to be done through education. Compulsory education laws proliferated at an astonishing rate. In 1870, only 57 % of school-age children were in school; in 1880, 72 % were there. Teaching was transformed into women’s profession. More than 95% of blacks were illiterate. Quakers were leaders in providing education for Afro-Americans, having started elementary schools for them like Fisk School in 1866 since the black people couldn´t go to the same schools as the white.

The oldest American school is Boston Latin school founded by Puritans in 1635. The most prestigious are Harvard (1636), Yale (1701, the second-largest academic library after Harvard), Princeton (1746) and Stanford (1891).

Basic features are Americanization = providing American sense of democracy, the goal was be the melting pot and minimalize the cultural background in favour of assimilation. Today, schools still stress literacy in English, but they also focus on understanding different cultures. Right to education = equal opportunity in education regardless of social class, national origin or racial or ethnic groups. Comprehensive = especially at the secondary level, they won’t force student to follow a strictly defined course of study, but instead will offer a variety of options to choose.

Professionalism = teaching managed by professional teachers, although relatively late in the 19^th century the proper preparation for teachers was not available. Centralization = citizens who move from one city to another want their children to be able to transfer easily to new classrooms. Big publishing companies, who spread a series of textbooks that became widely used, support this trend. In the late 1960s the state control over curricula was strengthened by the growth of testing programmes. Teaching methods = to be practical, teach thinking process and skills, learn by doing.

Education is compulsory for 9 years with choose to attend either public schools (state, founded by taxes, no fees, 88% of children) or private schools (more exclusive, tuitions, 12%). There are also parochial schools that provide also religious education, mainly Catholic.

Pre-school education includes kindergartens (3-6), mostly private, although many public schools have free nursery schools too with purpose to socialize and also basic skills. Elementary school (6-11) is the first five grade of education of English, arithmetic, geography, history of the USA, drawing, music and physical education. Secondary education includes middle schools (12-15) and high schools (16-18), ending with high school diploma. They are comprehensive = all students must take certain general courses and choose from specialised ones according to their demands, talents and the vocation they are preparing, final exams in each subject.

Colleges provide undergraduate education leading to Bachelor’s degree, universities both undergraduate and graduate education. Applicants are chosen on the basis of their high school records, recommendations from their high school teachers, the impression they make during interviews and their scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests SAT. Student can continue with programmes of advanced study leading to postgraduate Master’s and Doctor’s degrees. Three or four years of study plus a doctoral dissertation are required for PhD. Students of medicine must study for six years and then work at teaching hospitals before they get the degree Doctor of medicine. Special names: 1. freshmen; 2. sophomores; 3. juniors; 4. seniors. A male graduate is called an alumnus, a female graduate an alumna.