World War II, the Reconstruction Era, and The Civil Rights Movement, were some of the biggest changes in history. This saw how we adapted and changed our way of life. One way we can use these sudden changes, is to fully understand them, and in the future, learn and forestall similar things like these.It is important that similar events like these don’t happen again, because many lives were lost as a result of these sudden events. The purpose of understanding sudden change events, like World War II, the Reconstruction Era, and The Civil Rights Movement, is to prevent them from re-occurring in the future. 

First, the Reconstruction Era saw the removal and prevention of slaves and slavery. This gave a new meaning to many African Americans in the South, as they saw this as a new chance at life. Although slavery no longer existed, African Americans continued to be racially and economically abused and segregated. The creation of the Jim Crow laws saw African Americans as lesser people, so they couldn’t run for places of office, couldn’t buy from the same stores, couldn’t ride the same busses and weren’t treated as equals. “The public schools were to be racially separate, a decision actually favored by black delegates because they feared losing the entire system if white parents refused to send their children to schools attended by blacks.” (Darity). The Jim Crow laws affected almost every aspect of a person's life, school, food, home, and public places. Through these Jim Crow laws, many African Americans saw that rather than be racially abused, they should move North and West to find a better and equal life. The removal of slavery, which lead to the Jim Crow laws, lead to the great migration which created a huge sudden change in history. The migration, along with other factors such as bombings, lynchings, riots, and the rising level of KKK members, led to hundreds of thousands of African Americans, to leave the South. This mass migration made it hard for plantation owners to keep business afloat, and many had to shut down, lowering the economy of not only that region, but the whole South. We can learn from this by noticing when a large number of people are leaving a region, and be able to counteract that movement. 

The biggest war in history, World War II, changed American politics and economics in some huge ways. World War II affected the United States in many different ways. It introduced us to the Cold War, changed our economics, forced us to adapt our politics, and changed the way we act. Although World War II was seen as the end of the Great Depression, it still has lasting effects on our society even today. Between 1942-1945 the economy of not only the United States, but the world was booming. This rapid and efficient modernization of war, allowed the parties involved to prosper with their economic growth. During the height of this world-wide growth, the United States president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ordered a bill, the G.I. Bill of 1944. ”Former servicemen thus became a vast and advantaged class of citizens which demanded, among other goods, inexpensive, often suburban housing.” (“Tassava, G.I. Bill”). This granted many benefits to former veterans, as a small way to thank them for their service. It gave these veterans educational assistance, guaranteed mortgages, and small business loans. This boosted the economy, as now more items were being bought and sold. The United States poured almost all funds, and tax money into the war effort, spending over 4 billion dollars on it. America has poured over 718 billion dollar since 2000, an massive amount of money into the military, as it is one of the many reasons this country is a success. We can adapt from this by continuing our military might, and getting the people behind helping either prepare or prevent another World War from happening. 

Another big moment was during the Civil Rights Movement, where many ideas were formulated to try to end segregation, some worked, others failed. One of the most viable and easiest ideas was a boycott. This type of protest was common for Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. to use. ”That he led a Civil Rights Movement that culminated in the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965) and the Fair Housing Act (1968).” (“The audacity of Martin”). These three acts were crucial to the success of both the dream of Dr.King and the whole Civil Rights Movement. The whole point of a boycott was to prove that something was not needed, and starve that company for money. The most recognizable uses of this tactic was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted from December 1955 - December 1956. This starved the bus industry of the city, as only few people were using the bus system anymore. Then finally in a last ditch effort, the bus companies decided to desegregate their busses. Allowing everyone to be equal was the manifestation of Dr.King and his “dream.” A boycott was one of many examples the Civil Rights Movement used during its campaign for desegregation and equality. Some other common ones were, sit-ins, mass marches, freedom rides, civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, and mass mobilization. We can learn from Dr.King’s tactics, and use them in the future, if something similar were to happen.The latest example of this was the BLM riots of 2020, some implemented similar methods as Dr.King did, opting for a nonviolent approach to this problem. 

Along the lines of the aforementioned statements, many people tend to not think about the political aspect, and how that has changed over time. In the Reconstruction Era, many white people didn’t elect or even let black people vote. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and fraud were all used to try to inhibit as many African Americans as possible to not be able to vote. The poll taxes were used because many African Americans were not flush with cash, and could likely not afford that. The literacy tests were installed because many former slaves barely knew how to read or write, and even if they did, many of them were at a first or second grade reading or writing level. Fraud was the most used of the three tactics, as they would just forge who was writing, and vote for whoever they wanted. It is not confirmed, but fraud surely swung the votes, and gave someone an unjustified advantage over an opponent. Fraud was a major issue that wasn't resolved until the late 1950’s, almost 100 years after its boom during the Reconstruction Era. Whites had the majority ruling in the South, even without the voting strategies. The outcome of these strategies was The Great Migration. “The Great Migration as a phenomenon that drove millions of men, women, and children from the rural South to the urban North.” (Schafer and Schmidt). The Great Migration, along with above mentioned causes, completely changed the political system in both the South and the North, by giving whites supremacy in the South, and making the North the true decision making place. As the North had the majority of the population, many candidates didn’t even bother with the South, as that wasn’t really needed. Now that the voting system has been altered, many candidates see every vote as vital, as it could literally make or break them. In the future we could see the abandonment of  the electoral college, making every single voter vastly more important, creating the necessity for bigger and louder campaigns. 

It is common knowledge that the only thing that should be on the mind of a politician during WWII, is war. War was what drove everything, the economy, the society and the way of living. War tacticians and politicians were interchangeable terms, as many war tacticians were given jobs as politicians, to keep the war efforts in their minds. ”Efficient spending of money is then the optimal choice of vote-seeking politicians. In short we find the opposite effect: voters become more attached to the incumbent party as the war effort gets mired down.” (“Rhode, Strumpf and Snyder, Votes and the War Effort”). War was necessary to be in the mind of everyone; politicians, teachers, and kids. There were many things that the president needed to be. He needed to be smart, resourceful, pioneering, and during this time needed to know and understand war. Two men that fit the job perfectly was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower. FDR was the only president during WWII, and had the tactician brain needed for a position like his during his time. Unlike dictatorship leaders like Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito, FDR was liked by his people. This gave him an advantage to getting things done, as people believed in him and trusted his decisions. In the future if war seems like a possibility, like 2018-19 with North Korea, our president needs to know what to do if almost anything happened. In the future when weapons are more advanced, we have to be ready for anything, and the president has to be willing to make big changes to the political system.

Throughout history we have seen many controversial rulings and statements, the Civil Rights Movement was no exception, as politicians, especially in the South supported segregation, and sometimes refused to desegregate public places. Many did this against the order of the federal government and even the president. African Americans had to be appealed to, as they were one of the main focuses during this time. At that moment politicians had to engage the African American community, because without their support, they would have a little chance of winning any position of government. African Americans after the Civil Rights Movement were given the right to run for positions in government. “The Civil Rights Movement circulates through American memory in forms and through channels that are at once powerful, dangerous, and hotly contended.” (“Hall, 1233”). The Civil Rights Movement was a huge turning point in how we thought and acted about our country's politics, as the diversity changed from white men, to almost anybody, any gender, race, ethnicity, almost overnight. At a future date, everybody no matter gender, race, ethnicity and religion would be treated the same worldwide. Dr.King gave the push that was needed to get equality for all.