U.52. Historical Evolution of the US. From A. Lincoln to F.D. Roosevelt

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) Lincoln, the president.

Remembered for:

• Preserving the Union during the Civil War (1861-1865)

• Whose actions paved the way for the abolition of slavery

  • Although he personally opposed slavery, he accepted that the federal government could not immediately abolish it in states it already existed.

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) Lincoln, the president. His famous quote.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free.” – Abraham Lincoln

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) The Civil War and Whitman

• The election of Lincoln in 1861 was the outbreak → Confederate states (seceded ones) vs Union

  • Start → Attack of Fort Sumter, April 1861

  • End → Union Army led by Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederacy (led by Robert E. Lee) at Appomattox House in 1865.

  • Abolition of slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865.

• Walt Whitman

  • Served as a nurse during the Civil War

  • Created the poem O Captain! My Captain! in honor to Lincoln (The ship was the US, the captain was Lincoln, and the fearful trip, the Civil War)

• The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln:

  • 14 April, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.) by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederacy sympathiser.

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) 3.1. The Gold Rush

• Discovery of gold in California (1848) prompted:

  • Millions of Americans moving to California because they wanted to get rich

  • The establishment of mining centres in cities like Denver, CO.

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) 3.2. The railways and cowboys

• The expansion of railways was CRUCIAL FOR SETTLEMENT and economic development

• Congress suport of the TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD:

  • Granted land

  • Gave financial assistance

  • Promoted migration

• Railroads transformed the cattle industry → COWBOYS (Vaqueros, MEX):

  • Guided animals to transport them via railroad to other parts of the country

  • Beef from the Great Plains became available to Americans and the worldwide market.

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) 3.3. The Homestead Act (1862)

• Encouraged settlement in the Great Plains via:

  • Granting 160 acres of land to citizens, intended citizens and immigrants

  • You want ownership? Work the land!

• Despite the rapid growth and productivity of the Great Plains…

  • Harsh weather

  • Harsh working conditions

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) 3.4. Native Americans

• The establishment of Americans in the West = catastrophic for Native Americans, who subsisted only via buffalo meat

• They lost access to their ancestral lands after US Government tricked them into kicking them out to reservations by the end of the 19th century.

3. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1861-1865) 3.5. Immigration

• (1840-1860) → unprecedented levels of migration (European, Irish, the Great Famine; Germans because of the Failed Revolution of 1848)

• NYC was the gateway to the majority of the migration and the role continued after the opening of Ellis Island in 1892

• American dream vs. poverty and discrimination

4. ANDREW JOHNSON (1865-1869) His presidency

• Vice President to Lincoln until his assassination

• Lenient approach toward Confederate states led him to conflict with a Republican-controlled Congress (was impeached)

  • Congress took control of much of Reconstruction, and established new state governments and military presence.

4. ANDREW JOHNSON (1865-1869) The Reconstruction Era. Goals?

• Rejoin former Confederate states to the Union

• Rebuild the South

• Secure the rights of former enslaved Americans

4. ANDREW JOHNSON (1865-1869) The Reconstruction Era. Accomplishments?

• 13th Amendment → abolition of slavery

• 14th Amendment → granted citizenship to those born or naturalised in the US, and guaranteed equal protection under the law. (Republican Congress’ counterpoint to Johnson’s lenient approach)

• 15th Amendment → prohibits denying citizens their right to vote based on race, colour, and previous conditions of servitude

4. ANDREW JOHNSON (1865-1869) The Reconstruction Era. However…

• Racial discrimination did not vanish and prevailed until those issues were prosecuted by law thanks to:

  • Civil Rights Movement (1950s-1960s)

  • Civil Rights Act (1964)

  • Voting Rights Act (1965)

5. THE GILDED AGE (1870-1900) What was the Gilded Age?

• An era of growth and industrialisation

• Term coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.

  • Novel criticised: widespread political corruption and social inequality

• New factories, railroads, oil companies, and steel mills

5. THE GILDED AGE (1870-1900) The tycoons

• Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller

• (POSITIVE) → the captains of industry

• (NEGATIVE) → the robber barons (and here explain why)

5. THE GILDED AGE (1870-1900) The workforce and the politics

• Workforce:

  • Majority migrant, poor wages and working conditions

  • Many organised in trade unions

  • Foundation of the AFL (American Federation of Labor) in 1886

• Politics:

  • Corruption and patronage

  • Tension and competition between Dems and Republicans.

CORPS BECAME THE DOMINANT BUSINESS

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) What defines the Progressive Era?

• Growing power of large corporations (or trusts)

• Lack of government regulation

• Corruption and poverty

• Poor working conditions

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) The muckrackers.

• Journalists and writers who exposed the corruption and the former issues.

• Result? → Many Americans abandoned laissez-fare and supported government intervention

• They became known as the progressives.

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) 6.1. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) Roosevelt and trusts, “the trustbuster”

• President after 1901 McKinley’s assassination

• Core beliefs:

  • Fairness in businesses, workers and consumers through his SQUARE DEAL

  • Belief in the difference between good and bad trusts.

  • Accepted that large corps contributed to economic growth, but believed that monopolies abusing their power should be illegal.

• 1902’s Anthracite Coal Strike → Roosevelt mediated between business and workers, marking a change in the relationship between the Federal Government and labourists.

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) 6.1. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) Food and ecosystem

• Roosevelt cared about environmental conservation and, following public concern over unsafe food → passed Meat Inspection Act, Pure Food Act, and Drug Act (1906). This established federal regulation of food and medicine

• Roosevelt is renowned for having created national parks and forest and wildlife refuges.

CONSERVATION was central to his politics.

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) 6.2. Wiliam Howard Taft (1909-1913)

• Succeeded Roosevelt. Less popular, but continued progressive reform

• His administration initiated even more antitrust lawsuits

• Ratified the 16th Amendment (1913) which authorised federal government to levy a federal income tax

• Divided Republican party as some thought he was less progressive

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) 6.3. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

• Elected 1912 → marked a new beginning to the progressive era and renowned for the NEW FREEDOM:

  • Strengthened competition

  • Reduced power of monopolies

  • Reformed the banking system

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) 6.3. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) What are his most important reforms?

• Creation of the Federal Reserve System (1913)

• Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) → strengthened laws against unfair business practices

• Underwood Tariff Act → reduced tariffs

• Graduated federal income tax after 1913 ratification of the 16th Amendment

6. THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1900-1920) 6.3. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) WWI

• Initially, the US remained neutral

• However, President Wilson responded to the Zimmermann Telegram by declaring war in 1917

• Wilson played a crucial role in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles

• Proposed a League of Nations for peace and unity

7. THE ROARING TWENTIES (1920-1929)

• Defined by rapid economic growth and mass consumerism

• During the 1920s:

  • Dominion of Republican presidents who advocated for government intervention

  • Creation of tariffs which shielded the US against foreign powers

  • Taxes on corporations and higher incomes

  • The world’s largest economy now was the US

  • Tech innovation such as Ford Motors (automobiles, fridges, etc.)

7. THE ROARING TWENTIES (1920-1929) The entertainment industry, and women

• In the 1920s, new forms of entertainment emerged (cinema, radio, etc.)

• Women experienced more social freedom thanks to the Ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave them the right to vote.

7. THE ROARING TWENTIES (1920-1929) The downfall

• Despite the economic growth, the wealth was unevenly distributed and poverty was prevalent in rural and some urban areas

• Stock market → many people started investing in credit, believing that prices would rise nonstop. This, alongside a weak consumer demand prompted a SPECULATIVE BOOM which was unsustainable and blew up with the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s

8. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1945)

• Financial panic sparked on Black Thursday, 24 Oct 1929 → Millions of shares sold at the NY Stock Exchange

• Crisis climax, Black Tuesday, 29 Oct 1929 → loss of fortunes, bank failure, millions unemployed

8. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1945) 8.1. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) The Great Plains

• The GD was especially noticed in the Great Plains

• Poor farming practices led to powerful dust storms (hence the name, the Dust Bowl)

• Thousands tried to migrate to California in hopes for a better future

• John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) best describe this period.

8. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1945) 8.1. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

• Hoover believed economy would eventually go back to normal so he relied on voluntary cooperation between businesses and local governments

• Through his administration, he introduced some measures to support banks and businesses, including the Reconstruction Finance Corp.

• Remained committed to balanced budgets and signed tax increases

• Many Americans considered those measures insufficient, making him extremely unpopular.

8. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1945) 8.2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945)

• Elected on the promise of a New Deal to combat the GD

• He inspired millions with his promises and acted quickly. His first hundred days in power led to his administration to pass laws for recovery and provide relief to the unemployed.

• CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) → offered people to work in natural conservation tasks (parks, planting forests, etc.)

• WPA (Works Progress Administration) → “ “ “ to work in infrastructure (bridges, roads, etc.)

• AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) → paid farmers to reduce production and increase crop prices.

8. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1945) 8.2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945) What were his 2 major labour reforms? What were the results?

• The Nation Labor Relations Act (1935) → guaranteed workers the right to join labour unions

• The Social Security Act (1935) → established pensions for the elderly, unemployment insurance, assistance to vulnerable groups.

RESULT? HE GRADUALLY PUSHED AMERICANS OUT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

8. THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1945) 83. WWII (1939-1945)

• US was initially neutral, but Roosevelt believed that Naz1 Germany was a danger to the world.

  • He gradually increased American ally support through the Lend-Lease programmes

• Pearl Harbour Attack 1941 by the Japanese led to the declaration of war on Japan, and later Italy and Germany

• US alliance was decisive in winnning the war, which increased the production of warfare machinery

• Harry S. Truman → Hiroshima (6 Aug 1945); Nagasaki (9 August, 1945)

• Cold War → rivalry between US and Soviet Union.