Research Paper on:
Social Fabric Of The United States By 1840: Economic, Political And Religious Conditions

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
social fabric that was beginning to unravel. Native Americans, African Americans, women and the working class were growing increasingly intolerant of the few social and political elitists dictating to  the vast majority what their lives were to represent. Minorities did not hold much power within society, inasmuch as there was an unyielding sense of control that loomed over  the aspects of freedom, equality and individuality. One might readily argue that Native Americans and African Americans are two of the most harshly persecuted of all minorities, and the period  leading up to 1840 is no different than any time prior or since. America was on the cusp of what would be known as the Progressive Era, an episode  in history where significant social and political change occurred. However, up until that point there was growing animosity toward those who were not perceived as being American. One  of the most significant reasons there was much dissension among Americans and their government at that time was due to the fact that more immigrants were beginning to leave behind  a world of heartbreak and disappointment to find a new life in the United States. In the minds of United States citizens, the foreign-born populace was beginning to overtake  the country (Abrahamson, 1990). This sharp upsurge in the number of immigrants put a great fear into those who were born on American  soil; what concerned them the most was the potential for religious upheaval or the "radical political beliefs" (Abrahamson, 1990, PG) the newcomers supposedly brought with them to their new land.  The unrest had been labeled nativism and was guilty of branding the newly transplanted immigrants as "culturally or racially inferior" (Abrahamson, 1990, PG) merely because of the fact that