How has the U.S.' community evolved?

Over the past century, many cultural, economic, social, and technological changes have revolutionized and developed the community of the United States. One important cultural factor is the civil rights movement. Before that time, our population was largely Caucasian, with little acceptance of other ethnicities. Back in the 1700's, people with darker skin were regarded as property and sold to American land owners after being taken from their homes and surviving the miserable passage across the Atlantic Ocean. Racism remained to be a serious issue as time progressed, especially in the South, where darker skinned people had to use separate utilities, sit in the back of the bus, and even be maids for white households, receiving salaries much below minimum wage. Because of the civil rights movement, our community now sustains a large diversity, and is accepting of nearly everyone, no matter what race or ethnicity. We even elected our first African American president in 2008, something that would have never been an possibility 50 years ago.

The economy of the United States has also been reshaped over time. As technology advanced, there was a significantly smaller need for citizens to become farmers and manufacturers. More people turned to the sciences, health care, education, management, and business. This has made our economy become less reliant on agriculture, and instead focused on more reliable and demanded products, such as breakthrough medicines for previously incurable diseases.  An emphasis on education has been formed so that the next generation is capable of further advancing our community by being innovative as the previous generation is doing now. The wage gap between men and women has narrowed significantly as women have slowly been accepted into the working community. Because of inflation, people are receiving larger salaries than our community has ever seen. However, our goods have also steadily increased in price over time, leading to the overall inflation and expansion of our economy. 

The evolution of electronics has also largely affected the social aspects of the American community. Decades ago, before the time of phones, communication was either in person, or though letters. If you wanted to see or talk to someone, you would go to their doorstep instead of calling or texting them like we do now. The increase in technology has led to the decrease of closeness in our community. If instead of calling someone for homework help, we had to venture over to their house, our connections with our neighbors would be stronger. People have come to be lazier because of the way technology has evolved our community. When the survival of a family depended on the father cutting down wood, the mother cooking and cleaning, and the children being independent and helping out around the house, people were much more willing to do their assigned chores and tasks, because otherwise they faced the possibility of starvation, illness, poverty, and even death. Now, as the community of the United States has industrialized, people buy pre-made dinners, robots to do their vacuuming, and washing machines because they would rather find the easy way out than put in the effort themselves. Likewise, our standard of living has changed greatly. Only half a century ago, a majority of the population had outdoor toilets, while only a small percentage had electricity and running water. Now, it is difficult to find a house that does not have all of these utilities. Due to the innovations and ideas that our society has adapted, the citizens have adopted a luxurious lifestyle that also has made people relatively lazy and unwilling to do the manual chores that we have created technology for. 

The American community has shaped and evolved over time in all aspects of human life, from social to technological. Every new idea and discovery that is introduced into the community of the United States shapes it in some way, and even today, our society is dynamic, constantly growing and advancing.

source: http://www.census.gov/1940census/then_and_now/