Contemporary Connection

In stating the connection between today and that of the time of the late 1800s to the early 1900s, politics would be one connection made. In reading the first couple of pages of the reading, I instantly made a connection between the two time periods. After the civil war, many changes were made politically. With the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, individuals were provided rights to all qualified adult males, regardless of race or previous condition of servitude (pg 6). By this, the amendment enable African American men to participate fully in the political process, both as voters and as representatives on the state and national level and several African Americans were consequently elected to Congress (pg. 6). In reading this, I made the obvious connection to president Obama's election. Before elected, African Americans have been underrepresented in politics in both House and Congress. In electing an African American president, it got rid of the underrepresentation of African Americans since now an African American is the Commander in Chief and leader of the country. It shows that after the civil war, change was needed as a country to grow and come out of this time period in which the country was divided between North and South. In current times, the same situation was needed in which change was needed within a political aspect and bringing someone new and fresh to the arena created some sort of hope in which people needed after the economic downfall and tragedy of 9/11.
In addition, another political connection was noted between the two different time periods. The withdrawal of the troops, which had been deployed to ensure free elections and to protect black populations from attacks by whites who were determined to retain political power in the South, delivered a fatal blow to the civil rights and political aspirations of African Americans (pg 7). I used this example to make a connection between  the two due to the fact that it reminded me of the involvement of US troops in Afghanistan. With the announcement from President Obama to withdrawl the troops from Afghanistan, many would probably feel the same as what the African Americans felt at that time.
The last connection I made was the economic situations of both times. Immigration and rapid industrialization also generated growing conflicts between labor and corporations, or trusts, controlled by a few wealthy men. During what historians called the "Guilded Age", industrialists amassed huge fortunes through cutthroat business practices and exploitation of labor. The flood of immigrants created a massive surplus of labor in the United States where wages further declined during the depressions following the financial panics of 1873, 1884, and 1893 (pg 18). I felt that this was similar to current times when industrialists or banks did the same to other corporations in regards to the housing market which caused part of the economic downfall in recent years. With the increasing flow of immigration to the Unite States currently, many would consider this time period to be the time period of the late 1800s-1900s.