Unified throughout history

What is your American Creed? For this project I wanted to take a look through major events in US history and talk about what made the country either unified or divided during that time in history. This will allow me to discover different things that made us unified and see the similarities and differences.

THE CIVIL WAR

The Civil War was a war between the north and south states of America. The North or union states were fighting to preserve the union and to abolish slavery throughout the country. The south or confederate states were fighting to defend slavery and defend state’s rights. During this war the United States was completely divided in half. The country was fighting against each other, which created a completely not unified country.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The Great Depression began because of the stock market crash of 1929, bank failures, and some lingering effects of WWI. Unemployment skyrocketed, and homelessness was at an all-time high during this time. This was an extremely low point in America’s history causing US citizen’s to not be united at all. Since the problem was with the American economy many people resented the government. Everyone was angry at the current state of the country and wished they didn’t have to be in this country.

WORLD WAR II

World War II was one of the deadliest wars in history and involved 30 different countries The United States joined the war after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When this happened, the whole country was angry at one common thing. Having a common interest or anger often brings that group of people together. In this case, it brought Americans together and made them become unified over their hatred towards the Axis Powers.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Martin Luther King had many contributions to the civil rights movement in America in the 1960s. During his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, he spoke about that dream he had for America to have no segregation or racism. MLK brought thousands of people together during this time. People from all over the country united in the battle against racism. Even though this was a problem within America, I believe it brought many people together and helped the country in a great way.

9/11

September 11^th, 2001 was one of the worst events in American history. Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers, causing them to collapse. Thousands of people lost their lives inside of the towers, effecting the entire country. Every single person in the country was brought together by the devastating terrorist attack. While 9/11 was a terrible event, the way that America was united afterwards, was like nothing we had ever seen before. Flags were flown throughout the country and every person showed respect to everyone, no matter their race, religion, or political party. The fear and pain of a tragic event we all went through together united us in a surreal way.

CORONA VIRUS

The Corona Virus is a virus that has overtaken the world in 2020, it has hit America extremely hard causing us to be quarantined from the entire world. During this worldwide pandemic, the United States made the decision to have people quarantine in their homes and shut most stores and restaurants down for a period of time. Being cut off from the rest of the world was extremely isolating for everyone. No one had ever gone through something like this, which caused the USA to struggle during this time. In my opinion, this event further divided the country when we very much needed to be united. People were blaming many factors for bringing our country to this point, which caused many to be upset with America and the way the virus was handled.

THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT

The Black Lives Matter protests began soon after George Floyd was wrongfully killed by a police officer for his skin color. These protests were aimed at ending the inequalities that African Americans still face every day. Some may say that this movement divided the country because there are Americans that did not believe in this movement. Some believe that this did unite our country more, especially in the midst of the pandemic. The reason people think it helped to unite us is because this large group of people had a common goal and belief to pursue together.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, when major events happen in our country it either divides the country more or helps us to become more unified to be able to overcome the obstacle. Times when our country was extremely united was after 9/11 and World War II, both of these have in common that America had a common enemy. Americans become united during times when we all have a common goal or enemy that we feel a strong desire to achieve. Times when we are divided as a country is when there is an internal conflict in America and the country becomes divided and fighting against each other.