Unit 7: 1890-1945

Frontier Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner: American Identity was forged through westward expansion. Without this, American society wouldn't be relieved of certain pressures and cities would end up full of crime and poverty like Europe.

American Imperialism

the period when America sought to control the political and economic fortunes of weaker nations such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War

Motivations of Imperialism

Expand economic reach to foreign markets using increases raw material access. White superiority and American exceptionalism were huge factors.

White Man's Burden

the task that white colonizers believed they had to impose their civilization on the black inhabitants of their colonies.

Anglo-Saxonism

the idea that English-speaking nations had superior character, ideas, and systems of government and were destined to control other nations

Josiah Strong

a popular American minister in the late 1800s who linked Anglo-Saxonism to Christian missionary ideas

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Navy officer whose ideas on naval warfare and the importance of sea-power changed how America viewed its navy; wrote "The influence of Sea Power upon History"

anti-imperialist arguments

Denied a nations right to self determination, ran against relative isolationism

Monroe Doctrine

an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers

Causes of Spanish American War

Cuban's struggle for independence from spanish rule, American newspapers triggered the public and War Hawks to ask for war. An American ship exploded in the Havana Harbor and convinced the Us to declare war.

Yellow Journalism

Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers

jingoism

extreme, chauvinistic patriotism, often favoring an aggressive, warlike foreign policy

"Remember the Maine"

A slogan of the Spanish-American war referring to the sinking of a battleship in Cuba. Stirred up by yellow journalism, this lead McKinley to declare war.

President McKinley

the president during the Spanish American War; asked congress to go to war in Cuba

Effects of Spanish American War

Cuba gained independence, Us gained territory in the pacific, the philippines were still under spanish control.

Teller Amendment

Legislation that promised the US would not annex Cuba after winning the Spanish-American war

Platt Amendment

Legislation that severely restricted Cuba's sovereignty and gave the US the right to intervene if Cuba got into trouble

Philippine-American War

armed conflict between the Philippines and the United States from 1899-1902. It was a continuation of the Philippine struggle for independence. The Philippines declared war on the US . The war ended when Aguinaldo surrendered in 1902.

Insular Cases

Determined that inhabitants of U.S. territories had some, but not all, of the rights of U.S. citizens.

Open Door Policy

A policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.

John Hay

Secretary of State under McKinley and Roosevelt who pioneered the open-door policy and Panama canal

Boxer Rebellion

A 1900 Uprising in China aimed at ending foreign influence in the country.

Big Stick Diplomacy

Diplomatic policy developed by T.R where the "big stick" symbolizes his power and readiness to use military force if necessary. It is a way of intimidating countries without actually harming them and was the basis of U.S. imperialistic foreign policy.

Roosevelt Corollary

Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force

Panama Canal

a ship canal 40 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama built by the United States (1904-1914)

Progressive Issues

Rising power of big business, increasingly violent conflicts, influence of political machines, Jim Crow segregation in the South, and women's rights.

Panic of 1893

Serious economic depression beginning in 1893. Began due to rail road companies over-extending themselves, causing bank failures. Was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country until that point, and, some say, as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Muckrakers

Journalists who attempted to find corruption or wrongdoing in industries and expose it to the public

Ida Tarbell

A leading muckraker and magazine editor, she exposed the corruption of the oil industry with her 1904 work A History of Standard Oil.

Upton Sinclair

muckraker who shocked the nation when he published The Jungle, a novel that revealed gruesome details about the meat packing industry in Chicago. The book was fiction but based on the things Sinclair had seen.

Jacob Riis

A Danish immigrant, he became a reporter who pointed out the terrible conditions of the tenement houses of the big cities where immigrants lived during the late 1800s. He wrote How The Other Half Lives in 1890.

Political Reforms of the Progressive Era

Direct election of senators, secret ballot, initiative, referendum, recall

17th Amendment

Established the direct election of senators (instead of being chosen by state legislatures)

Booker T. Washington

African American progressive who supported segregation and demanded that African American better themselves individually to achieve equality. (Work for economic and education equality before political)

W. E. B. Du Bois

fought for African American rights. Helped to found Niagara Movement in 1905 to fight for and establish equal rights. This movement later led to the establishment of the NAACP (Political equality would lead to economic and educational equality.)

Atlanta Compromise

Argument put forward by Booker T. Washington that African-Americans should not focus on civil rights or social equality but concentrate on economic self-improvement.

Niagara Movement

A group of black and white reformers who organized the NAACP in 1909

Talented Tenth WEB Dubois

an intellectual and political vanguard which would lead all Black people to a freedom and a higher level of human life

* elitist viewpoint, DuBois revised ideas and other people

Progressive Presidents

Roosevelt (Square deal, Pure FDA, Forest Reserve acts), Taft (Busted 2x the truths as Roosevelt, conservationist policies) Wilson (Underwood tariff, 18th-19th amendments, Clayton Antitrust act)

Causes for US involvement in WWI

Interception of the Zimmerman Telegram, unrestricted submarine warfare, Germany soliciting Mexico's help in exchange for returning the mexican cession.

Lusitania

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.

Sussex Pledge

A promise Germany made to America, after Wilson threatened to sever ties, to stop sinking their ships without warning.

What happened after the US entered WWI?

Tipped balance in favor of the allies, especially since Germany began focusing on the Western Front after the USSR withdrew.

American Expeditionary Force

About 2 million Americans went to France as members of this under General John J. Pershing. Included the regular army, the National Guard, and the new larger force of volunteers and draftees and they served as individuals

General Pershing

World War I American general who led U.S. forces successfully against the German Army

Bolshevik Revolution

The overthrow of Russia's Provisional Government in the fall of 1917 by Lenin and his Bolshevik forces, made possible by the government's continuing defeat in the war, its failure to bring political reform, and a further decline in the conditions of everyday life.

The Great Migration

movement of over 300,000 African American from the rural south into Northern cities between 1914 and 1920

Exodusters

African Americans who moved from post reconstruction South to Kansas.

Espionage Act

This law, passed after the United States entered WWI, imposed sentences of up to twenty years on anyone found guilty of aiding the enemy, obstructing recruitment of soldiers, or encouraging disloyalty. It allowed the postmaster general to remove from the mail any materials that incited treason or insurrection.

Schenck v. United States

A 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War I. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.

Sedition Act

1918 law that made it illegal to criticize the government

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty that ended WW I. It blamed Germany for WW I and handed down harsh punishment. The US did not ratify the treaty.

Fourteen Points

A series of proposals in which U.S. president Woodrow Wilson outlined a plan for achieving a lasting peace after World War I.

League of Nations

an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations

First Red Scare

widespread fear of Communism in the US during the 1920s after the revolution in Russia

Palmer Raids

A 1920 operation coordinated by Attorney General Mitchel Palmer in which federal marshals raided the homes of suspected radicals and the headquarters of radical organization in 32 cities

J. Edgar Hoover

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who investigated and harassed alleged radicals.

Return to Normalcy

After World War I 1919-20s, when Harding was President, the US and Britain returned to isolatoinism. The US economy "boomed" but Europe continued to struggle. It was the calm before the bigger storm hit: World War II

What caused the increase in manufacturing?

The assembly line.

Henry Ford

United States manufacturer of automobiles who pioneered mass production (1863-1947).

How did women challenge gender roles?

Taking nursing/teaching jobs, openly drinking/smoking, cutting hair short/dressing in different ways.

Flappers

Young women of the 1920s that behaved and dressed in a radical fashion

Response to increased migration

Quotas placed on immigrants, stemmed from nativists and fear of communists.

National Origins Act

Act which restricted immigration from any one nation to two percent of the number of people already in the U.S. of that national origin in 1890. Severely restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, and excluded Asians entirely

Literary Developments

The Lost Generation, cynical due to the war, expressed in writing. The Harlem Renaissance blossomed black intellectualism.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway

Notable authors from this time

Ezra Pound

Expatriate American poet and critic of the 1920s.

Duke Ellington

United States jazz composer and piano player and bandleader

Langston Hughes

A leading poet of the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "My People"

Claude McKay

A poet who was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement and wrote the poem "If We Must Die" after the Chicago riot of 1919.

Zora Neale Hurston

African American writer and folklore scholar who played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance

Radio and Movies

Emergence of pop culture, regional sharing of information.

Nickelodeons

The first movie houses; admission was one nickel

Monkey Trial

a trial in dayton, tennessee (1925) debating whether or not creationism or evolution was taught in a school. (The scopes trial.)

Clarence Darrow

A famed criminal defense lawyer for Scopes, who supported evolution. He caused William Jennings Bryan to appear foolish when Darrow questioned Bryan about the Bible.

William Jennings Bryan

United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)

What caused the Great Depression?

Decline in trade due to overproduction by farmers, caused the stock market crash. Banks failed in the days following, worsening the crash.

Black Tuesday

October 29, 1929; date of the worst stock-market crash in American history and beginning of the Great Depression.

Hoovervilles

shantytowns made by homeless people during the Great Depression. They were named after President Herbert Hoover, who was blamed for the economic crisis. The shelters were made from scrap materials and lacked basic amenities like water and electricity.

New Deal

FDR's policy for dealing with the Great Depression. Work programs, bank reforms, and economic policies were put into place.

3 R's

Relief, Recovery, Reform

Public Works Administration

New Deal agency that provided millions of jobs constructing public buildings

Tennessee Valley Authority

A relief, recovery, and reform effort that gave 2.5 million poor citizens jobs and land. It brought cheap electric power, low-cost housing, cheap nitrates, and the restoration of eroded soil.

Glass-Steagall Act

(Banking Act of 1933) - Established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and included banking reforms, some designed to control speculation. Repealed in 1999, opening the door to scandals involving banks and stock investment companies.

FDIC

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Social Security Act

created a tax on workers and employers. That money provided monthly pensions for retired people.

New Deal Criticisms

Conservatives- Overreach of federal power. Supreme court struck down the National Recovery Administration. Liberals- Not going far enough to help.

Herbert Hoover

Republican candidate who assumed the presidency in March 1929 promising the American people prosperity and attempted to first deal with the Depression by trying to restore public faith in the community.

Schechter Poultry v. U.S.

1) Supreme Court struck down National Recovery Administration after violation of poultry code 2) legislation could not push powers to the executive branch, which had been happening through the New Deal; 3) fear that Court might strike down entire New Deal

Huey Long

As senator in 1932 of Washington preached his "Share Our Wealth" programs. It was a 100% tax on all annual incomes over $1 million and appropriation of all fortunes in excess of $5 million. With this money Long proposed to give every American family a comfortable income, etc

Father Charles Coughlin

A Catholic priest from Michigan who was critical of FDR on his radio show. His radio show morphed into being severly against Jews during WWII and he was eventually kicked off the air, however before his fascist rants, he was wildly popular among those who opposed FDR's New Deal.

Sick Chicken Case

In Schechter Poultry v. U. S

US involvement before WW2

Arsenal for democracy, supplies shipped to Great Britain and USSR to aid the fight against the axis powers.

Cash and Carry

policy adopted by the United States in 1939 to preserve neutrality while aiding the Allies. Britain and France could buy goods from the United States if they paid in full and transported them.

Destroyers for Bases

Roosevelt's compromise for helping Britain as he could not sell Britain US destroyers without defying the Neutrality Act; Britain received 50 old but still serviceable US destroyers in exchange for giving the US the right to build military bases on British Islands in the Caribbean.

Lend-Lease Act

allowed sales or loans of war materials to any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the U.S

What caused the US to declare WW2

Japanese surprise attack on pearl harbor

Japanese American treatment

Locked in internment camps, families separated

Executive Order 9066

112,000 Japanese-Americans forced into camps causing loss of homes and businesses

Korematsu v. US

1944 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court upheld the order providing for the relocation of Japanese Americans. It was not until 1988 that Congress formally apologized and agreed to pay $20,000 2 each survivor