America from Lincoln to Trump xiiiIn order to show the development of power and the response of the peo-
ple in American society, politics, and the economy, the first few chapters will
cover the period when Capitalism became the dominant economic form after
the Civil War and created great wealth and power, and caused millions to
protest against it. This period also marks the time when the U.S. started its
rise to global power with its huge economic ability to manufacture goods to
trade, and invest its riches, its capital, in foreign lands. It then began its role
as a global power as well in the wars of 1898 and 1917-1918. But that power
had its limits, at home and abroad, as the Great Depression showed, so new
ways to manage Capitalism and keep Americans both comfortable and not
politically militant were essential. The next couple chapters, covering the
New Deal and World War II, show how that task was accomplished, as the
government and business, at home and abroad, took on new powers to coor-
dinate economic activity with in the “new corporate state.” Globally, they
created the Open Door—a system of trade with minimal barriers—along with
growth at home through Military Keynesianism, an economy policy with
heavy emphasis on defense spending, or what is often called the Military-
Industrial Complex. Politically, the class leaders moved against those who
challenged the dominant system, in episodes like the “red scare” or anti-labor
violence.
After that, the next chapters, covering the Cold War to the Vietnam War,
show the benefits and at times perils of such power. At home, the economy
soared and created more jobs, housing, wages, and opportunities for more
Americans that ever. But many were left out—including Blacks, women, so-
called radicals, and those who did not conform to the values that came to
define American society. Ultimately, those who did not have a stake in the
expansion of power and wealth at home protested, most notably in the Civil
Rights movement, while the U.S. had to consistently go abroad to maintain,
as an important document of the time called it, its “position of disparity”—its
massive advantage in money, trade, production, and military strength. So
Capitalism survived, and grew, but not without having to confront segregation
and sexism at home, and the aspirations of countries like Cuba and Vietnam
abroad. Finally, the text ends with a more brief consideration of life in
America since the 1960s, as the country has become more conservative to
reverse the ideas of many of the active groups of the 1960s, but also found
new conflict abroad as it sought more opportunities for trade and investment.