Unit 7 (1890-1945)

What was Progressivism?

• argued that modern life required modern government action

• believed that unchecked corporate power, corrupt political machines, unsafe workplaces, and poverty were structural problems that could be fixed

Who were Muckrackers? What was their significance?

• They were investigative journalists that exposed corruption and exploitation towards big businesses

What political reforms were enacted due to progressivism?

• Direct primary: Voters choose party nominees

• Initiative, referendum, and recall: Citizens propose laws, vote on laws, or remove officials

• 17th Amendment (1913): Direct election of U.S. Senators in an attempt to reduce corruption in state legislatures

What was President Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal?

• Control of corporations: strongly enforced restricting monopolies and trusts

• Consumer protection: The Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act expanded federal oversight

• Conservation: Protecting millions of acres through national parks, forests, and monuments

What was the act that created a central banking system to stabilize currency and credit?

Federal reserve act (1913)

What was the Federal Trade Commission (1914)?

Targeted unfair business practices

What were some social reforms that were apparent during this time period?

• Labor reforms: states passed workers’ compensation, limits on child labor, and minimum wage laws for women

• Womens Suffrage: argued voting power was necessary to protect families and push social reforms (19th Amendment)

• Prohibition: The 18th Amendment established prohibition

What were the reasons that the U.S. expanded overseas?

• Economic interests: Access to foreign markets and raw materials

• military thinking: A modern navy and overseas bases were essential

• ideology and racism: Social darwinism justified control over non white people

• nationalism: desire for recognition as a great power

Why did the Spanish-American War (1898) happen?

• The U.S. wanted to expand and supported Cuban independence

• The bombing of the USS Marine and yellow journalism fueled it

What was the Treaty of Paris (1898)? What did it do?

• Gave the U.S. Puerto Rico and Guam, and transferred the Phillipines to U.S. control

Define Imperialism

Policy of extending a countries power and dominion over foreign territories through direct territorial acquisition, political control, or economic dominance

What was the policy that called for equal trade access in China and preservation of China’s territorial integrity that was aimed to prevent European powers from shutting the U.S. out of Asian markets?

The Open Door Policy (1899-1900)

Why did the U.S. enter WWI?

• Economic Ties: U.S. trade and loans favored the allies

• Britain’s blockade: closer U.S.-British connections complicated neutrality

• German Sub Warfare: German Subs sank the Lusitania which sparked outrage

• Zimmermann Telegram: Proposed a German-Mexican alliance against the U.S.

What created a military draft?

Selective Service Act (1917)

What act restricted interference with the war effort or draft?

Espionage Act (1917)

What act made it illegal to obstruct bond sales or speak disparagingly of the government, military, or Constitution?

Sedition Act (1918)

How did Women’s Work change during the war?

Many moved into factories to replace the spots that men had left due to the draft.

What was the Great Migration?

Where many Black southerners moved north for wartime manufacturing jobs to escape the Jim Crow violence

What is Wilson’s Fourteen Points?

A speech that called for lasting peace after WWI through open diplomacy, free trade, arms reduction, self-determination, limits on colonialism, and a League of Nations

What was the treaty that ended WWI? What did it do?

• Treaty of Versailles

• It made Germany take full responsibility for the war which left them economically strained

How did consumer economy change in the 1920s?

It shifted towards mass productions, which lowered costs ad increased output

How did the Government work with Big Businesses?

• At the time, government favored limited regulation

• Often helped businesses rather than regulating it

What was the First Red Scare?

Fear of communist infiltration after the Russian Revolution which pushed for nativism and less immigration

What was the Immigration Act (1924)?

tightened national origins quotas (limits) favoring northern and wester Europe and restricting southern and eastern European “new immigrants”

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

The flourishing of Black arts, literature, and intellectual life in Harlem, New York City,

What were the causes of The Great Depression?

Stock Market Crash (1929)

• Overproduction: Producing more than consumers could buy

• Credit and speculation: Installment buying and stock purchases increased risk

What was Hoover’s response to the economic situation?

Hoover supported minimal intervention, thus, he expected private charities and local governments are responsible for economic relief

What was Franklin D. Roosevelts response to the great depression? What did it do?

• The New Deal

  • Immediate help (jobs, food, aid)

  • Restarting economic activity

  • Preventing future collapses

What is Keynesian economics? How is it similar to Roosevelt’s policies?

Government should use delivereate deficit spending to stimulate demand during downturns

What foreign policy did the U.S. adapt after WWII?

Isolationism: non-entanglement in foreign alliances, economic commitments, or international conflicts to prioritize domestic interests

Why did Isolationism grow? What act was passed to prevent the same conditions that drew the U.S. into WWI?

• WWI casualties and the Treaty of Versailles failure, Economic crisis

• Neutrality Acts (1935-1937)

How did the U.S. keep their neutrality but still offered help to other nations?

• Cash-and-Carry (1939): Allowed arms sales if nations paid cash and transported goods themselves

• Lend-Lease Act (1941): Allowed supplying the allies without immediate payment

What caused the U.S. to enter WWII?

• The bombing of Pearl Harbor

What strategies did the U.S. use during WWII?

• “Europe first” - Defeating Nazi Germany took priority

• Island hopping: capturing strategically important islands to build airfields and naval bases

What was D-Day?

• The largest amphibious landing in history, which close Germany in until their surrender

What was the Manhattan Project? What were its outcomes?

• U.S. research and development that produced atomic bombs

• The U.S. dropped 2 bombs on Japan (In Hiroshima and Nagasaki) which caused them to surrender and established U.S. military power

What was the Double V Campaign?

African Americans fought for victory in two places: One at home to combat the racism and the war abroad, for their country

What forced the relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor? What does it show?

• Executive order 9066

• It shows how wartime fear can affect social views

What expanded access to education and housing for veterans?

The GI bill

What was created after WWII to prevent another global war?

The United Nations