Test 6: 1900s-1925

What were the issues in the U.S by 1990?

• New Class of Multimillionaires

• Factories are mass producing consumer and capital goods

• City landscapes change to adjust for population growth (skyscrapers and dumbbell buildings)

• unions lose strikes but the AOL grows stronger, replacing KOL

• Farmers grow militant and push for populism

• Foreign policy is basically just having high protective tariffs (Grover Cleveland and William McKinley disagreed)

• Big Business favored open immigrations for exploitation

• Deflation of economy (committed to gold standard)

• Party Bossism -dispensation of position and favors in exchange for money

How did Foreign Policy Change?

• Japan is ordered to open it’s ports to America in 1853

• Lincoln threatens the French who are in Mexico

• Captain Mahan’s book advocates for a strong navy setting off a bunch of countries building and flexing navies

  • Causes Theodore Roosevelt to build the great white fleet: a Huge force with these huge steel ships painted white that is paraded around the world to be show off

• US gets Alaska from Russia, motivated by American concerns over the new age of European Imperialism

• American interest in Hawaii because of the growth of mass production, jumping point to mainland Asia

What were the issues in the U.S by 1990?

• New Class of Multimillionaires

• Factories are mass producing consumer and capital goods

• City landscapes change to adjust for population growth (skyscrapers and dumbbell buildings)

• unions lose strikes but the AOL grows stronger, replacing KOL

• Farmers grow militant and push for populism

• Foreign policy is basically just having high protective tariffs (Grover Cleveland and William McKinley disagreed)

• Big Business favored open immigrations for exploitation

• Deflation of economy (committed to gold standard)

• Party Bossism -dispensation of position and favors in exchange for money

How did Foreign Policy Change?

• Japan is ordered to open it’s ports to America in 1853

• Lincoln threatens the French who are in Mexico

• Captain Mahan’s book advocates for a strong navy setting off a bunch of countries building and flexing navies

  • Causes Theodore Roosevelt to build the great white fleet: a Huge force with these huge steel ships painted white that is paraded around the world to be show off

• US gets Alaska from Russia, motivated by American concerns over the new age of European Imperialism

• American interest in Hawaii because of the growth of mass production, jumping point to mainland Asia

Why did the U.S declare war on Spain in 1898

• Awareness of European Imperialism

  • worried they were falling behind

• Cuba’s proximity to Florida

• Independence movements within Cuba

  • at least 2 previous movements (crushed by spain) + Jose Martin who was killed early but important

• Previous American Interest

• Spain wanted Money from the plantations, U.S was also involved

• The yellow press/Yellow journalism

what is yellow journalism?

• Refers to the popular sensationalist journalism at the time (facts aren’t that important)

• William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer both have yellow journals, named for a character from a comic in them

• used to sway American Public into supporting American intervention in the American Cuban War Hearst thought he was the best opinion

• Hearst sent reporters and photographers into Cuba looking for evidence of abuse

  • Heard stories of rape and sent reporters to get evidence of the fact

• Called for war after an American ship was sunk in Cuba, blamed the Spanish

What was the DeLome Letter?

DeLome was the negotiator from Spain and wrote a letter back to Spain basically calling President McKinley indecisive, Cuban revolutionaries intercepted the letter and given to Heart’s journalist in Cuba, who put it in Hearst’s newspaper

The public was outraged because yes we think he’s indecisive too but we can say that he’s OUR president

What was the U.SS Maine incident?

One of America’s prized ships in their navy, was parked in the bay as a show of power. Gets blown up in an accident and Americans loose their lives → Hearst publishes the story and demands the U.S enter the war because Spain clearly blew the ship up (later studies found it was an internal error)

What were the Teller and Platt Ammendments?

The Teller Amendment - U.S. would not annex Cuba

The Platt Amendment - U.S is allowed to be involved in Cuban affairs

Showed the debate going in the U.S at the time: some people arguing for expansionism because they believe the U.S has an obligation to extend its influence, and people who believed that the US shouldn’t because it directly contradicted the values of freedom that the US claimed to believe in. This great American “debate” also reflected how Americans wanted their country to represent: a superpower with great influence or a country that sticks to and promotes their ideals.

What happened in the Spanish American War?

• Pressure from newspapers causes McKinley to yield and go to congress for a war declaration

• General Wyler is from Spain to put down the newest Cuban rebellion

  • Hunts out anyone suspected to be a revolutionary and rounds them up, isolating them from society → first instance of concentration camps

• US navy races to the Philippines and defeat Spain on Roosevelts orders

• US army invades Cuba - 5000 Americans die from yellow fever

• Roosevelt resigned from gov to join the army at a high rank'

• US has a smaller army than Spain in Cuba

• Results: in U.S. acquisition of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, marking America’s rise as a global power.

Who were the rough riders?

The first volunteer Cavalry under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt

What was the role of Xenophobia and Jingoism?

Xenophobia is the fear of immigrants and jingoism was nationalism looking for a fight ex: white nationalism [Spanish American war]

Represents dangerous atttitudes towards foriegners and a continuation of racist ideal in the country despite all the progress made

What was the boxer rebellion?

Young Chinese students were tired of foreign influence, gained their name because of their flag. Was entirely unsuccessful and led to the open door policy- in which America advocated for spheres of influence in China as opposed to singular dominance

Why was the Philippines annexed?

The U.S. took control of the Philippines from Spain, leading to a brutal rebellion by Filipino nationalists against U.S. rule.

What was the issue surrounding the Panama Canal?

• French get permission from Colombia to build a canal in Panama

• Comes on the heels of the success of the Suez canal which the public funded invested in and made millions

• Similar situation in Panama but the French Project goes Bankrupt due to the dense jungle and fever that spread

• Roosevelt makes a deal with Colombia but then they refuse to move forward because they want more money, America refuses

• T.R-plot: plans to help Panamanians revolt, Colombia catches wind, sends army so T.R sends the Marines, to which Colombia folds and continue to build the canal

What was gunboat diplomacy?

show of power to force submission but technically peaceful

What was the Roosevelt Collaroy?

An addition to the Monroe Doctrine stating that the U.S. would intervene in Latin America to maintain stability, establishing the U.S. as a regional "policeman."

What was the Russo-Japanese War?

Emergence of Japan as a global superpower and cementing U.S as a global peace maker

A war between Russia and Japan; the U.S. mediated the Treaty of Portsmouth, showing its growing influence in global diplomacy.

What was the great white fleet?

An extension of Captain Mahan’s novel, Americas new shiny steel fleet that got paraded around

What is dollar diplomacy?

business increases U.S influence, and can call the army if they fuck up

What was the square deal?

Roosevelts plan to concerned about power of big corporations - introduced governmental regulations. Called square because it was a fair deal for everyone

What was Roosevelt’s New Nationalism?

Roosevelt collar; we have to police the western hemisphere

What was Wilson’s New Freedom?

we need stronger anti trust laws that apply to all corporations

What was progressivism?

• A reform movement focused on social justice, government regulation, and ending corruption in response to industrialization.

• Support from republicans and democrats

• Lots of new legislation 

• Pure Food and Drug act - correctly labeling food

• Meat Inspection Act- label shows inspection

• Elkins Act- no more rebates

• progressives were made up of protestants, african americans, union leaders, and feminists

What was Scientific Management?

Frederick Taylor studied big factory situations, watching people move, wrote down their notes, correctly observed that people have specific ways of doing jobs that waste times, developed motion theory: the right way to save rime. Business loved it, but people go crazy over monotonous work

Who were the Muckrakers?

Expose journalists who took photos and wrote articles to tell the public the truth

What was the secret ballot?

A reform that allowed voters to cast ballots in private, reducing voter manipulation and political corruption.

What was Initiative, Referendum, and Recall?

Progressive reforms giving citizens more direct control over laws and the ability to remove corrupt officials.

Initiative- people can create laws and vote directly on legislation

Referendum- people can veto state laws they don’t like

Recall- if you don’t like an elected official, they can be removed via petition

• overall more regulation and promotions democracy and honesty in government

What was trust busting?

Efforts, particularly under Roosevelt and Taft, to break up monopolies and restore competition

What was the federal income tax?

Allowed the federal government to collect income tax, providing a stable revenue source.

The 16th Amendment

What was the Payne-Aldrich Tariff 1909?

Another High Protective tariff, The tax that Taft changed his mind on and enraged Roosevelt leading to the split ballot and the Bull Moose Party

What was the Underwood Tariff 1913?

Signed early in Wilson’s precedency. pushed for by Wilson, lowered tariffs in the first time in 100 years - actually benefits the people

What was the Bull Moose Party?

• Roosevelt decided two terms was enough and endorsed Taft who promised to lower tariffs like Roosevelt but changed his mind about the Payne-Aldrich Tariff

• Roosevelt gears about this and cuts his safari short out of anger → public ally denounces rafts actions

• Tafts belief in dollar dipolomacy which worsens the issue

• Election of 1912 was split between a teddy, Taft, Wilson, and Debby’s; Teddy and Taft are splitting the republican ticket

• Republican Convention is held in chigao and taft wins the nomination after a secret vote

• Teddy gets mad and him and his supports walk out of the convention and to a early hotel and form the bull moose party aka the progressive party

• wilson won the election tho

What was the Niagara Movement and the NAACP?

• A civil rights movement led by W.E.B. Du Bois advocating for racial equality and founding the NAACP.

What was the National Women’s Party?

• A more radical women’s suffrage group that pushed for the 19th Amendment.

What was the 17th Amendment?

• Allowed direct election of senators, reducing corruption and increasing democracy.

What was the 18th Amendment?

Prohibited alcohol, leading to Prohibition and the rise of organized crime

What was the 19th Amendment?

• Granted women the right to vote, a major victory for the suffrage movement.

Who were the League of Women Voters?

major group advocating for women’s right to vote, pushed hard, the ones who said we oppose the war but we will support the boys

What was the Lusitania Incident?

• A British civilian ship sunk by Germany, killing Americans and escalating tensions leading to U.S. entry into WWI.

What was the Sussex Pledge?

German pledge to stop unrestricted U-boat warfare after Wilson’s protests

What was the Zimmerman Telegram?

• A note from germany to mexico stating that when they win the war, germany will argue for Mexico and to get back the lands they lost in the mexican succession to try and gain mexico as an ally

• British intelligence intercepts it and gives it to American in order to gain an ally

• Pisses America off bc it was taken through American postage, but the content was more egregious

• indicated german desperation, british violation of rules, and american tilted opinion

What happened during the Russian Revolution?

• Led to the rise of communism in Russia and influenced U.S. fears of socialism.

What was the Senate Treaty Debate?

Groups that opposed the Treaty of Versailles and U.S. membership in the League of Nations.

When wilson came back and was convincing senate of the LoN,

Wilson had no energy to convince them, refused to negotiate

Majority vote down the treaty

Who were the Reservationists?

republicans who have doubts about the league of nations treaty

Who were the Irreconcilables?

republicans who will not sign the league of nations treaty no matter what

What was the Red Scare?

Fear of communism in the U.S., leading to crackdowns on suspected radicals.

What were the Palmer Raids?

Government raids against suspected communists and anarchists

Palmer provided the political mandate and backing, while Hoover organized the execution of these raids, collecting information, and arranging arrests.

What was the Teapot Dome Scandal?

govt scandal, Harding administration, selling public land to their friends; worst scandal since whiskey ring

What was the assembly line?

• A manufacturing process where a product moves from worker to worker, each performing a specific task, increasing efficiency. Popularized by Henry Ford, it revolutionized mass production, making cars and other goods affordable.

How did consumerism evolve?

The Big 3: cars, washing machines, Radio [all are mass produced]

• Car: horse on wheels, everyday and everywhere you go you set your own path, not reliant on horse tracks or train routes- variety in making: ford’s car was for the common person and others had higher scale options

• Washing Machine: women are back in the domestic sphere, love the product because it cuts down a significant portion of the domestic labor

• Radio: Connection to events you can’t even see, fundamentalists liked it because it was huge and would gather the family

• none of these devices were cheap but everyone wanted them

• people began buying on credit

What was fundamentalism?

• A religious movement emphasizing a literal interpretation of the Bible and opposition to modern science. It led to cultural clashes, including the Scopes Trial, over teaching evolution in schools.

What was the Scopes Trial in 1923?

evolution trial in Tennessee, taught theory of evolution, shut him down and wanted to fire him and it becomes the trail of the century - radio companies come in and broadcast the trials, William Jennings Bryant came to the Tennessee and became the prosecutor, his old friend Clarence Daryll is the defense lawyer (best trial lawyer at the moment) - reps modern vs tradition.

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

A cultural movement in the 1920s celebrating African American art, literature, and music, centered in Harlem, New York. It elevated Black voices and influenced future civil rights movements.

Exploaded with art

Great migration, jazz music and culture spreading to multiple cities

Connected white music to black music, jazz crossed racial lines

Who was Sacho and Vanzetti?

two immigrants rounded up in the palmer raids, were accused of setting bombs and killing people, huge trial, found guilty and executed, trial was horrible because the judge had made up his mind early and made it easy for the prosecution

What was Prohibition and what was the connection with organized crime?

• all believe this is a turning moment in American history and the liquor is not coming back

• in the mid-1920 was that so many people in this country wanted to consume alcohol whatever quantity they wanted to consume alcohol so much that they're willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money to get their hands on it and they're willing to support Enterprises run by people who take the chances of breaking this law because the profit margin was so great and that's that's the beginning of networks of organizations that are committed to finding the alcohol and or creating the alcohol gun running smuggling it in from Canada

• was being done everywhere in in rural areas which really were the origin of the provision in the first place lots of people develop it's not a game but they played this fast running game with the local sheriff of having in the woods somewhere near them are still with him and making alcohol and and they keep their eyes

• Al Capone grew up in New Jersey he came from Italy then he was in New Jersey and then he migrated to Chicago and in Chicago he becomes by the late 1920s The Unofficial mayor of Chicago is the mayor and man above that is really composed and all estimates suggest that he is responsible for somewhere upwards of 300 murders no one could ever prove a single one of them was no one could ever get anybody to testify against it that's a testament to the fear

Why did the KKK experience a revival?

Against foreigners, jews, and black people- propelled by Harlem renaissance, hated the influx of foreigners and the equality amongst everyone

What was the Stock Market?

the stock market boomed in the 1920s as many Americans invested, often recklessly. This speculative bubble burst in 1929, triggering the Great Depression.

What happened to agriculture and prices during this era?

Farmers faced economic struggles in the 1920s due to overproduction and low crop prices. The Dust Bowl and Great Depression worsened conditions, prompting government intervention.

What was buying on margin?

Similar to buying on credit, you put x amount of money down the broker matches that and the you pay the broker off once your stock does well

lots of people did this, eventually led to the great depression

What was the Clayton Act?

Sherman act was the first anti trust, went after unions more than it did companies, was weak asf. clayton act gives anti trust more power to restrict companies

What was the Federal Reserve Act?

Established the Federal Reserve System to regulate banking and money supply, stabilizing the economy.

• third national bank

• ended the 20 year depression cycle by controlling the money supply and interest rates

What was Conservation?

• TR - first president to talk about

• Main idea: Land is not infinite it could all be used up

• He advocates for there to be land deemed untouched, permanent wilderness - National parks

• Gifford Pinchot (Worked for roosevelt)

  • Became leading expert in wilderness

  • Believed that there should be areas banned from any building (dams, oil, RR) forever

  • Roosevelt and him disagreed with this, R thought that they always need resources

What were Speakeasys?

• Underground secret bars basically

• Places to get illegal alchohol and have fun

• Jazz music - improvisation

What was the Standard Oil Supreme Court Case?

First major instance of government intervention, the supreme court ordered them to break up because it was too big so it violated the rules of capitalism and free trade

What was the 1902 Coal strike?

First time the president intervenes on behalf of the workers, threatened to nationalize coal if the company didn’t comply

Nationalize =taken over and run by govt.

the company leaders weren’t happy

What was the Schenk v. U.S court case?

By the 23 station of the four line, Shenk was giving out pamphlets on how to beat the draft, arrested under the sedition act, defended himself all the way up until the supreme court, supreme court find him guilty on grounds you cant do something to undermine US war effort

Who was Alfred Mahan?

The man who wrote every global superpower must have a super strong navy, setting off a bunch of countries (esp the U.S.) to build stringer navies

Who was Theodore Roosevelt?

championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, which called for fairness for all citizens, breaking bad trusts, regulating railroads, and pure food and drugs

also a big conservationist

Who was William McKinley?

put America on the road to world power and ushered in the era of world leadership, known for the spanish american war

Who was William H. Taft?

signed the first tariff revision since 1897; established a postal savings system; formed the Interstate Commerce Commission; and prosecuted over 75 antitrust violations

Who was Woodrow Wilson?

changed the nation's economic policies and led the United States into World War 1, He was the leading architect of the League of Nations,

Who was Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover?

all republican presidents, people wanted high running unregulated econ, all think progressivism went to far

Who was Henry Cabot Lodge?

Prominent reservationist

Who was Hiram Borah?

Prominent irreconcilable

Who was Pancho Villa?

a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution

Who was John J. Pershing?

most known for commanding the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I and in Mexico

Who was Frederick Taylor?

Creator of the Scientific Method, studied how people worked and created handbook on the right way to do things

Who was Ida Tarbell?

wrote the expose on Rockefeller and Standard Oil

Who was Jacob Riis?

Photographer who took tenement photos and exposed overcrowding in cities and immigrant communities

Who was Robert La Follette?

Major progressive, stands on the line of progressiveisma and democraruc socialism, passionate about doing more for democracy in the US.

Who was W.E.B. Du Bois?

prominent African American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, and Pan-Africanist known for his groundbreaking work on race & his co-founding of the NAACP

Who was Booker T. Washington?

prominent African American educator, reformer, and leader, best known for founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) and advocating for vocational education and economic self-reliance for Black Americans.

Who was Alice Paul?

Leading suffragette , arrested, went on a hunger strike

Who was George Clemenceau?

president of France who said Germany had to be severely punished

Who was A. Mitchell Palmer?

Executer of palmer raids, sowed anxiety and gave political backing for hoovers execution of the raids

Who was J. Edgar Hoover?

head of fbi, w palmer raids

Who was Charles Lindberg?

1927 makes the first completed flight across the ocean brooklyn to france, he becomes istionalist, enemies with roosevelt

Who was Henry Ford?

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans, and popularized the assembly line

Who was Margaret Sanger?

Margaret Sanger was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instrumental in the development of the first birth control pill.

Who was Louis Armstrong?

Harlem renaissance jazz music player, played trumpet

Who was Marcus Garvey?

Harlem renaissance major black figure arguing for equality, treated horribly by govt, eventually advocates that all blacks leave the states because nothing would ever change

Who was Duke Ellington?

Harlem renaissance artist, was great jazz musician, played piano

Who was Al Capone?

one of the leading gangsters who smuggled alcohol during prohibition, had lots of power and influence in Chicago, killed hundreds but no one ever testified against him

Who was William Randolph Hearst?

thought he knew more about foreign policy, they really should “save” Cuba, owned one of the yellow newspapers

Who was Joseph Pulitzer?

Owner of the other yellow journal