When was America's Golden Age?

When was America's Golden Age?

I am forever reading on this site, how the American government is taking away our liberties, rights, or whatever. I am asking what time period(when) did the American people have the most rights, liberty, etc

never. america never had a golden age, but it still has a chance to have one.

I think there are 2 of them:
the first is the period between the civil war and WWI..during this period America was a moral oasis that was not intolerant and did not attack other countries or get involved in every dispute..it did not oppress other peoples..people came to America to escape oppresion and intolerance..there were no foreign lobbies an no military industrial complex that encouraged the government to make war..AMerica was popular amoung the world masses as a 'new' thing.

..then came this sham WWI, the war to end all wars..a total load of crap, America had no business fighting for the British and French imperialists who had no right to be attacking Germany which was defending the Austrian-Hungarian empire against a Russian invasion..none of the UKs/French business..

Then came the great depression, then came WWII(which was the result of the war to end all wars disaster)..

the period between 1945-1965 was another golden age for America, low crime, prosperty, minimal corruption in fed govt, America was considered all over the world as a liberator, it was a leader..

Then came Vietnam, Americans burning and killing, oppresion-the kind of imperialist oppresion that AMerica was supposed to be against, but it had slipped into it, moral decay, crime skyrockets, riots, corruption, miltary industrial complex takes drivers seat in the America economy.

I think the real downslide started about 1980..that is when the younger people in America, particularly the working class started doing worse than their parents..became impossible for most people to buy a house, people have to live with their parents, crappy low paying service jobs, minimal manufacturing and too many people forced into the military for economic reasons..and now it's getting worse..i believe within 20 years there will be a revolution and the govt will be overthrown and some new system will take over..

Originally posted by pkspeaker
I think there are 2 of them:
the first is the period between the civil war and WWI..during this period America was a moral oasis that was not intolerant and did not attack other countries or get involved in every dispute..it did not oppress other peoples..people came to America to escape oppresion and intolerance..there were no foreign lobbies an no military industrial complex that encouraged the government to make war..AMerica was popular amoung the world masses as a 'new' thing.

...what?
it didn't oppress people?
tenant farms, exploitation of chinese immigrants and the kkk, remember those things?
it's called the gilded age, it was one of corruption

..then came this sham WWI, the war to end all wars..a total load of crap, America had no business fighting for the British and French imperialists who had no right to be attacking Germany which was defending the Austrian-Hungarian empire against a Russian invasion..none of the UKs/French business..

what?
germany was the expansionist nation at the time.
the problem was treaty entanglements, not this delusion you have that germany was defensive

Then came the great depression, then came WWII(which was the result of the war to end all wars disaster)..

no, it was because hitler liked expansionism and had some insane and dangerous ideas.

the period between 1945-1965 was another golden age for America, low crime, prosperty, minimal corruption in fed govt, America was considered all over the world as a liberator, it was a leader..

and racism, homophobia, and the red scare don't play into this?

Then came Vietnam, Americans burning and killing, oppresion-the kind of imperialist oppresion that AMerica was supposed to be against, but it had slipped into it, moral decay, crime skyrockets, riots, corruption, miltary industrial complex takes drivers seat in the America economy.

...um, american imperialism actually started with teddy... during that supposed golden age of yours

I got news for you; between 1865 and 1917 we had more then a few overseas interventions:

- US Navy sailors and US Marines attacked a few forts in Korea in 1871 after the Koreans massacred the crew of an American owned merchant vessel.

- US Navy sailors and US Marines helped plantation owners overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy in 1896.

- Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection (1898 - 1902).

- Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900.

According to wikipedia:

The Corps was involved in over 28 separate interventions in the 30 years from the end of the American Civil War to the end of 19th century, including China, Formosa, Japan, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Mexico, Korea, Panama, Hawaii, Egypt, Haiti, Samoa, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia.

and

During the Spanish–American War (1898), Marines led U.S. forces ashore in the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, demonstrating their readiness for deployment. At Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the Marines seized an advanced naval base that remains in use today by the U.S. Navy. Between 1899 and 1916, the Corps continued its record of participation in foreign expeditions, including the Philippine-American War, the Boxer Rebellion in China (1899–1901), Panama, the Cuban Pacifications, the Perdicaris Incident in Morocco, Veracruz (Mexico), Haiti, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), and in Nicaragua. In the 1900s and 1910s

and yet more

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, before and after World War I, Marines saw action throughout Central America, including Haiti and Nicaragua. These actions became known as the "Banana Wars" after the principal export of those countries.

So please please stop spreading this mindless drivel that Bush and the "Neocons" are the first to go around invading other nations for business reasons. Its been going on ever since this country was created. In 1805 the US Marines went to Tripoli to teach the Muslim rulers a lesson after they attacked American owned merchant ships. In the late 1790s we had a little war with France because they also kept attacked American owned merchant ships.

[edit on 10-10-2007 by ChrisF231]

If your asking when an individual was most free it would have had to have been before and during the first to move West before the territories were absorbed into the United States. Then, before Alaska became a state in 1959. After that we've all been serfs in this feudalist revival.

Thats when you or I could still be left alone. No bannings, no regulations, you had a choice to opt out and disappear into the land. Not any more. Now you choose to opt out and you get two final choices. Shot to death or imprisoned.

I could throw in the time before the United States was formed but you asked about the United States.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


...unless you were black....
yeah, you forget to take into consideration that little part right there.

When you were a British colony.

Seriously, the USA is a young nation and I truly believe it's best years are ahead of it, if it can make it through some difficult years ahead.

So far, probably late 19th Century.
At the vanguard of so much.

America wasn't perfect in those earlier periods, but what I'm talking about is perception; comparitivly America was much better than the european imperialist countries and the barbarism that was going on in Asia, sure there was segregation against blacks and exploitation of chinese workers but still America was considered the liberal free society. not to mention no sham monarchy and separation of religion and state politics.

Now it is the Americans that are most associated with religious extremism, especially radical zionism-aphartied, worst human rights record, violating international law and illegal occupation-which kills 600,000 Iraqi's and expells 2 million, genocide..these are the things america represents today.

And thsi guy who said the Germany was the aggressor in WWI has been mislead by his western history teacher..

Infact WWI started when the Austrian-Hungarian empire began a 'standard' crackdown of serbian nationalists after the assination of Franz Ferdinand..no big deal really, russia does it all the time when one of their subjugates like chechnia rebels, it was a crackdown, not genocide..
But what happened is Czarist Russia decided that they were going to invade Austrian(Germanic) territory and 'liberate' the slavs, Germany which was Austria's stretegic ally said forget it and defeated the invading russian army; this was esentially a german-aryan/slavic conflict, these people had been enemies for a long time--and the Russian empire had no right to upset the blance of power and expand into central europe..
The Russian people obviously came to a similar conclusion so they butchered the Czar and his entire family and had a communist revolution.

it would have been over BUT NO! France and England decided they were going to enter the war on the side of that idiot Czar and they wound up in this big mess with Germany that they couldn't win, so they called the stupid americans to bail them out, the end result was an unjust treaty of versails that punished the german population just because their govt defended itself, instead of a just peace based on no-fault..

It was this that enraged the Germans and led to the rise of facism! IMO!

I would say it was right after the end of WWII.

Women became a part of the workforce, and the entire country was doing well (ok, minus the black population) and our ecomony was booming, we had no enimeis that could touch us, and our Military was clearly to best on the planet.


I agree, in thinking that Americas greatest days are still ahead of her, if we can waether the storm.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


I didnt forget. I just didnt care. Besides, it was a choice to be a slave owner. There were plenty who refused to participate and there were more than a few free blacks in the territories in the North and even in the South. So

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


yea, let's not care about the fact that even freed slaves were disenfranchised...
your ideal is a world of oppression, very nice