U.S History - America on the World Stage

5 Ds of Expansionism

Destiny, Democracy, Dollars, Defense, and Divinity - the five key justifications used for American expansion in the late 19th/early 20th centuries

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History

1890 book by Alfred Thayer Mahan that argued naval power was crucial to national greatness, heavily influencing American expansionist policy

Spanish American War (1898)

Brief conflict between US and Spain resulting in American acquisition of Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and influence over Cuba

Jones Act of 1917

Granted US citizenship to Puerto Ricans, though maintained Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory

Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty (1903)

Agreement between US and Panama giving US rights to build and control the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal

Major waterway completed in 1914 connecting Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Panama, significantly impacting global trade

Roosevelt Corollary

1904 addition to Monroe Doctrine asserting US right to intervene in Latin American affairs

Dollar Diplomacy

Taft administration policy of encouraging American banks to invest in foreign countries to increase US influence

Woodrow Wilson

28th President (1913-1921), led US through WWI, proposed League of Nations

William Jennings Bryan

Wilson's first Secretary of State, resigned in protest over Wilson's increasingly confrontational stance toward Germany

Lusitania

British passenger ship sunk by German U-boat in 1915, killing 128 Americans, turning US public opinion against Germany

Sussex Pledge

1916 German promise to warn ships before attacking them, later broken

Zimmerman Note

1917 intercepted German telegram proposing alliance with Mexico against US, helped push US into war

Jeanette Rankin

First woman elected to Congress, voted against both WWI and WWII declarations of war

Selective Service Act

1917 law requiring men to register for military draft

"Over There"

Popular 1917 George M. Cohan song symbolizing American patriotic fervor for the war

Russian Revolution 1917

Bolshevik overthrow of Russian government, leading to Russia's withdrawal from WWI

War Industries Board

Coordinated industrial production for war effort

National War Labor Board

Mediated labor disputes during wartime

Food/Fuel/Railroad Administrations

Government agencies managing resources and transportation

Herbert Hoover

Led Food Administration, organized relief efforts

Great Migration

Movement of African Americans from South to Northern industrial cities during war years

Committee on Public Information

Government propaganda agency led by George Creel

Espionage Act/Sedition Act

Laws restricting anti-war speech and activities

Schenck v US

1919 Supreme Court case upholding restrictions on free speech during wartime

14 Points

Wilson's peace plan including self-determination and League of Nations

The Big Four

Leaders of US, Britain, France, and Italy who dominated peace negotiations

Treaty of Versailles

1919 peace treaty ending WWI, including harsh penalties on Germany

Reparations

Payments demanded from Germany as punishment for war

Article 10

League of Nations covenant requiring members to protect other members' independence

Reservationists

Senators who would accept Treaty of Versailles with modifications

Henry Cabot Lodge

Led Senate opposition to Treaty of Versailles

Balfour Declaration

1917 British statement supporting Jewish homeland in Palestine

Red Scare

1919-1920 fear of communist revolution in America leading to civil rights violations

Demobilization

Process of transitioning from wartime to peacetime economy

Sacco and Vanzetti

Italian anarchists controversially executed in 1927, symbolizing anti-immigrant sentiment