Chapter 19 - From Crisis to Empire

Boxer Rebellion

1899 rebellion in Beijing, China started by a secret society of Chinese who opposed the "foreign devils". The rebellion was ended primarily by British troops, in addition to other foreign powers including the United States. They forced the Chinese open to trade (on terms favorable to the western powers).

Emilio Aguinaldo

Leader of the Filipino independence movement against Spain (1895-1898). He proclaimed the independence of the Philippines in 1899 after the Philippine Revolution and Spanish-American War, but he turned his attention to the Americans when he saw they wanted to colonize the islands. He was subsequently defeated by the US Army in 1901.

Farmers' Alliance

An organization founded in late 1873 that largely replace the Grange; they worked for lower railroad freight rates, lower interest rates, and a change in the governments tight money policy. They also provided social gatherings, educational opportunities, and organized cooperatives. Women were allowed (Mary Lease). They often backed many different candidates (Tom Watson of Georgia and Leonidas Polk of North Carolina) before the Southern and Northeastern ones merged and morphed into the Populist Party.

Foraker Act

This act established Puerto Rico as an unorganized U.S. territory. Puerto Ricans were not given U.S. citizenship, but the U.S. president appointed the island's governor and governing council.

Free Silver

Political issue involving the unlimited coinage of silver, supported by farmers and William Jennings Bryan. They intended to use the namesake precious metal in all aspect of currency. However, this system was not adopted because all other countries used a gold standard.

Half-Breeds

They were a moderate Republican party faction led by Senator James G. Blaine of Maine in the late 1800s that favored some reforms of the civil service system and a restrained policy toward the defeated South, along with other reform-minded anti-machine policies. They included James Garfield.

Interstate Commerce Act

Established the ICC (__________ __________ Commission) which monitors the business operation of carriers (particularly railroads) transporting goods and people between states. They regulated railroad prices (banned differences in rates between short - usually intrastate - and long - usually interstate - hauls) and schedules. This was seldomly enforced by the courts.

Jacob Coxey

An Ohio socialist businessman and populist who led his "Army" in a march on Washington DC in 1894 to seek government jobs for the unemployed through a series of public works programs. He supported and helped establish paper money.

Mary E. Lease

This fiery populist orator was a fixture in the Farmers' Alliance circuit in 1890s. She made 160 speeches in 1890 alone, and told farmers to "raise less corn and more hell".

Open Door Policy

Statement of U.S. foreign policy toward China. Issued by U.S. secretary of state John Hay (1899), it reaffirmed the principle that all countries should have equal access to any Chinese port open to trade instead of the principle of establishing territories in China.

Platt Amendment

Legislation that severely restricted Cuba's sovereignty and gave the US the right to intervene if Cuba got into trouble. Also gave the United States Navy control of Guantanamo Bay.

Panic of 1893

Serious economic depression beginning in 1_____ originating with the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the National Cordage Company. Precipitated due to rail road companies over-extending themselves and the failure of banks who invested too heavily in their stock. The resulting constriction of credit caused more businesses to fail as crop prices tumbled. It 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.

Pendleton Act

1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons. This was a huge win for the Half-Breed Republicans, who wanted civil service based on merit to be included in the government employee selection process.

Populism

The political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite. Particularly is identified with the rural citizens and farmers in the late 1800s into the turn of the century. Tom Watson of Georgia and Jeff Davis of Arkansas were notable members of the party that adhered to this doctrine. They were often led by rural professionals, and also attracted support from miners in the west due to their free silver policy.

Sherman Antitrust Act

First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions, and rarely enforced against corporations. It technically bans any trust that restrains interstate trade or commerce.

Stalwarts

A faction of the Republican party at the end of the 1800s led primarily by Roscoe Conkling of New York. They supported the political machine and the spoils system/patronage. They hated civil service reforms. They included Chester Arthur (however he became very moderate when he became president).

The Grange

An association founded by former Secretary of Agriculture Oliver H. Kelley formed by farmers in the last 1800s to make life better for farmers by sharing information about crops, prices, and supplies. Furthermore, they established cooperative stores, storage facilities, and other buildings for farmers to share and use. They also helped circumvent middle managers. They were heavily in favor of government ownership or railroads rather than corporate ownership. Their decline came about in a series of court decisions against their anti-railroad monopoly policies.

William Jennings Bryan

Lawyer and politician and Democratic candidate for president in 1896 and 1900 under the banner of "free silver coinage" which won him support of the Populist Party. He is also famous for having prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925).

William McKinley

25th President responsible for Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii, and imperialism. He defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in both the 1896 and 1900 elections, but was later assassinated by an anarchist in 1901. He was for the gold standard.

Yellow Journalism

Type of sensational, biased, exploited, distorted, exaggerated, and at times false reporting for the sake of attracting readers. It tends to create sensational stories. Pioneered by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.

James Garfield

20th President; he was a Half-Breed member of the Republican Party who was heavily for civil-service reform. He defeated General Winfield Scott Hancock in the election of 1880, and was assassinated four months after his inauguration.

Chester A. Arthur

Appointed customs collector for the port of New York, he was corrupt and implemented a heavy spoils system. He was chosen as Garfield's running mate to satisfy the Stalwarts in the party. Garfield won but was shot, so this man became the 21st president. However, he ended up implement civil-service reforms that were like that those Garfield wished for (Pendleton Act), turning his back on the Stalwarts.

James G. Blaine

A U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and champion of the Half-Breeds. He was a dominant Republican leader of the post Civil War period, obtaining the 1884 Republican nomination, but ended up losing to Democrat Grover Cleveland. He forced the "mugwumps" to defect.

Roscoe Conkling

A politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party.

mugwumps

A group of renegade Republicans who supported 1884 Democratic presidential nominee Grover Cleveland instead of their party's nominee, James G. Blaine.

Grover Cleveland

22nd and 24th president, he was a Democrat who fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and further civil service reform, but violently suppressed many strikes.

Benjamin Harrison

23rd President; after winning the 1888 election over Grover Cleveland on the issue of tariffs (this guy supported raising them), this Republican president often regarded as a poor leader; he introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars.

People's Party/Populist Party

Political party formed in 1892 by the Farmers' Alliance to advance the goals of this movement. They sought economic democracy, promoting land, electoral, banking, and monetary reform. The Republican victory in the presidential election of 1896 effectively destroyed it. They supported Samuel B. Weaver for president in 1892, and supported Leonidas Polk of North Carolina, Tom Watson of Georgia, and Jeff Davis of Arkansas.

Colored Alliances

Many white Populists in the south struggled with the question of accepting African Americans in the People's Party. But when white Populists became willing to accept the assistance of blacks, as long as they were still in control, southern conservatives became angry, believing the Populists were undermining white supremacy, causing the interracial movement to end. These were formed when the Farmers' Alliances and the Populists did not include them.

Ocala Demands

This series of demands was the result of an 1890 farmers' convention held in a namesake town in Florida by leaders of what would later become the Populist Party. The farmers demanded: (1) the direct election of senators, (2) lower tariff rates, (3) a graduated income tax, and (4) a new banking system regulated by the federal government.

Omaha Platform

Political agenda adopted by the populist party in 1892 at their Nebraska convention. It called for unlimited coinage of silver (bimetallism), government regulation of railroads and industry, graduated income tax, and a number of election reforms.

Chautauquas

An adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. _____________ assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The ______________ brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.

Crime of '73

Unpopular critical name by Free Silver Supporters for the Fourth Coinage Act, which was enacted by the United States Congress and embraced the gold standard and de-monetized silver (as at the time the government silver to gold exchange rate (16 to 1) was less than what gold could be sold for on the market to jewelers, so the government decided to discontinue it - however the market value declined to lower than the now-discontinued government rate, which caused people to change their minds about silver). U.S. set the specie standard in gold and not silver, upsetting miners who referred to it as a crime, and farmers who valued the inflation that the less-valuable silver provided.

Coin's Financial School

Popular pamphlet written by William Hope Harvey that portrayed pro-silver arguments triumphing over the traditional views of bankers and economics professors. It portrayed a professor Coin making spectacular and convincing arguments regarding the superiority of silver to gold as a currency.

McKinley Tariff

1890 tariff that raised protective tariff levels by nearly 50%, making them the highest tariffs on imports in the United States history; the Wilson Gorman Tariff later lowers rates

Cross of Gold Speech

An impassioned address by William Jennings Bryan at the 1896 Democratic Convention, in which he attacked the "gold bugs" who insisted that U.S. currency be backed only with gold, and told Americans to "not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not ___ify mankind upon a _________ ___ ______". He was the only nominee who supported free silver.

Fusion

When the Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan for president, many members of the Populist Party were conflicted on whether to support him: if they ran their own candidate, they risked splitting the protest, pro-free-silver vote, but if they supported him, they risked losing their identity and their party. Eventually the Populist Party ended up supporting Bryan in order to give a free-silver candidate the greatest chance of winning. The absorption of the Populist Party by the Democratic Party is given this term.

Currency Act of 1900

Established nation's Gold Standard because Great Britain and France did not want free silver; it was successful because because foreign crops failed and farm prices increased

USS Maine

U.S. battleship that exploded in Havana harbor in 1898; Evidence suggests an internal explosion; however the Spanish military was framed by Yellow Journalism; The incident was a catalyst for the Spanish-American War. "Remember the _______" became an American rallying cry for the Spanish-American War.

Venezuelan Dispute

In 1895, this was a diplomatic conflict in which the US supported the namesake country in a dispute with Great Britain. The US thought that the United Kingdom was violating the Monroe Doctrine. After threats of war, the United Kingdom agreed to arbitration over the land.

Liliuokalani

The queen of Hawaii in 1887 who was forced out of power by a revolution started by American business interests (sugar). Despite disliking foreigners, she let Hawaii be annexed because she knew her people would get massacred in a war.

Spanish-American War

In 1898, a conflict originally arising from the Cuban revolt (and more directly from the de Lôme letter that insulted McKinley and the Maine incident) that was fought in places such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the surrounding waters between the namesake countries.

Rough Riders

The First United States Volunteer Calvary, a mixture of Ivy League athletes and western frontiersmen who volunteered to fight in the Spanish-American War. Technically commanded by General Leonard Wood but led in the field by former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and now Army Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, they won many battles in Florida and helped in the invasion army of Cuba. They did the famous charge up Kettle Hill during the Battle of San Juan Hill.

teetotalers

individuals who drink no alcoholic beverages whatsoever; a term in common usage in decades past

Insular Cases

These were court cases dealing with islands/countries that had been recently annexed and demanded the rights of a citizen. These Supreme Court cases decided that the Constitution did not always follow the flag, thus denying the title of citizen, along with many of the rights of citizens, to Puerto Ricans (until 1917) and Filipinos.

John Hay

Was the Secretary of State in 1899; dispatched the Open Door Notes to keep the countries that had spheres of influence in China that ultimately prevented the taking over of parts of China by any European country (including Russia and Japan) and permanently opened the doors on trade between China and the U.S. HIs goal in preserving Chinese independence was to maintain favorable trade ties that might be lost if another country takes control of the territory. He also oversaw the building of the Panama Canal.

Elihu Root

Secretary of War under Roosevelt (also later Secretary of State, along with having been Secretary of War under McKinley), he reorganized and modernized the U.S. Army (expanding it from 25,000 to 100,00 and establishing the National Guard as a formal part of the Army). He is also responsible for establishing the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Army. Later he served as the ambassador for the U.S. temporarily to Russia in 1917 and won the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize.

George Dewey

A United States naval officer remembered for his victory at Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War, he was the U.S. Navy commander who led the American attack on the Philippines.