A Different Mirror

Takaki introduces Part 2 (Chapters 4-8) by describing the ideological contradictions of American democracy. The Founding Fathers claimed that equality was a self-evident truth but disenfranchised blacks by not allowing them to vote and counting them only as “three-fifths of all other persons” (75). In the early 1800s technological advancements like the cotton gin “transformed America into a highly complex industrial economy” (75)—one that increasingly relied on chattel slavery to fuel the market demand for cheap, accessible goods.

Concurrent with this development was the expansion of transportation systems, such as steamboats and railroads, that by the mid-1800s linked the East, West, and South, and greatly reduced shipping costs. The infusion of capital toward manufacturing, expansion of credit systems, and protective government tariffs also contributed to the industrialization of America. Takaki ends this historical overview with a reminder that industrialization was predicated on the appropriation of Native American lands, enslavement of blacks, and influx of laborers from Ireland, Mexico, and China. Takaki’s concluding point reiterates that America, from its origins, was a diverse and multicultural country.