AMH2020 Week 4

What was the South’s role in the Gilded Age?

The South’s role in the Gilded Age was to produce cash crops and cotton to ship to the North and Midwest. There it was put together and made, and then sold to the South, which remained solely cotton producing and poor. ppl wanted to take production to the South too, but big business owners didn’t want to make factories in small southern towns

The South also had a lot of sharecroppers– people that rented small plots of land and paid by producing cotton. But because the cotton rent was so high, most were constantly in debt because they could never make enough cotton.

What elements were part of Jim Crow?

Disenfranchisement

Segregation

Racial Violence and Lynching

What were the eras that lead to the disenfranchisement of black people?

• Reconstruction Era

• Disenfranchisement occurred after the Reconstruction Era

• Redemption Era

• The Restoration Era

What was the Reconstruction Era?

• federal intervention guaranteed black enfranchisement

What was the Redemption Era?

sought to “redeem” the South for white people who disliked federal intervention

What was the Restoration Era?

cemented black disenfranchisement through state constitutions

What is enfranchisement?

• the right to vote

What is the importance of Plessy v Ferguson?

crucial in upholding legality of segregation and the false belief that racial groups were “separate but equal”.

How did blk Americans respond to Jim Crow?

Booker T. Washington’s approach, WEB Du Bois’ approach, and building Community (especially through schools and Churches)

How did Booker T. Washington respond to JC?

• sought to improve black people’s skills in (farming, banking, etc)

• created an institute to teach black people agricultural skills

How did WEB Du Bois respond to JC?

• sought to influence legislation

• created the NAACP (National Association for Advancement of Colored People) - became a key political organization in the Civil Rights Movement

What was the pattern of US imperialism?

The typical pattern was that Americans would take interest in a territory for religious reasons, but business owners would also use the territory for profit. When the profits became threatened, the US military would come to the territory to support their interests abroad.

What were some major examples of US imperialism?

The annexation of Hawaii, the response to the Boxer Rebellion, Cuba, and the Philippine-American War

What happened in Hawaii?

At first, mostly US missionaries came to Hawaii, who had no interest in taking over the islands. But once Americans found out that they could grow sugarcane in Hawaii, they began investing in plantations, and eventually, the business owners selling there became even more powerful than Queen Liliuokalani, the leader of Hawaii at the time. After the selling of Pearl Harbor behind her back, she tried to gain power again. So, business owners called the US military aid to enforce their rule over Hawaii. The US overthrew the queen and annexed Hawaii.

What was the Boxer Rebellion?

The Boxers in China formed due to the Open Door Policy. The Boxers sought to remove all foreigners living in China, and this not only threatened foreign traders, but also many foreign missionaries in China.

What was the response to the Boxer Rebellion?

European countries and the US sent troops to China to shut down the rebellion.

What was the Open Door Policy? Why was it created?

Because of the US and European countries wanting to trade with China, the US created an Open Door Policy, which gave equal access to all countries to trade with China

What happened in Cuba?

Cuba was a Spanish colony but was fighting for its independence, with Jose Marti being a key leader in stirring up anti-Spanish sentiment in both Cuba and the US. To intimidate Cuba, the US sent the USS Maine to the island, but the ship ended up exploding. Here American businessmen saw an opportunity— by taking over Cuba, they could take all the money from Spain and convert the Catholics there into Protestants. So, they push the idea that Spain blew up the USS Maine so that US will declare war. The Spanish-American War results in the Treaty of Paris.

What is the significance of the Treaty of Paris?

the US kept right to intervene in Cuba, and turned Philippines into US territory

What is Yellow Journalism? What is an example of it?

• Idea that big busin owns newspapers and can change facts to benefit their own interest

• big busin Pushing the idea that Spain blew up the USS Maine

Describe why the Philippine-American War was fought and the contradiction of it.

The Philippines was Spanish colony fighting for independence. After the Spanish-American War, the Philippines thought the US would grant them independence, but instead the US colonized them too. The US believed that some countries needed to be taught how to rule.

This raised the question of why the US would not give the Philippines independence if the US had to fight for its own independence against the British.

How were the Progressives different from Populists?

Different from populists who were willing to scrap status quo entirely–Progs want change within the system

What were the characteristics of Progressives?

• Mid-class reformers

• Religiously motivated

• Believed in pwr of govt to solve problems

What were the major emphases of the Progressive Era?

reform, democracy, expertise

What did the emphasis on reform entail?

cut out political corruption and city bosses (men who controlled the ballot box by using money)

What did the emphasis on democracy entail?

Creating a new constit amnd allowing for direct election of senators by civilians instead of the Senate being elected by state legistlatures

What did the emphasis on expertise entail?

Progs weren’t sure abt giving everyone the right to vote– you need expertise (ex: professors)

What was the role of women during the Progressive Era?

to expose problems through muckraking, work within the status quo to create reforms, and use religion to change legislation

What is muckraking? Who did it and what was muckraked?

exposing corruption, scandal, or other wrongdoings; Ida Tarbell to Standard Oil’s and Ida B. Wells to racial violence

Describe the Women’s Christian Temperance Union

the Women’s Christian Temperance Union fought to make alcohol illegal because they believed it was the root cause of domestic abuse

How did the Women’s Suffrage Movement work within the status quo?

The Suffragettes worked within the status quo by arguing not that women and men should be equal, but that women and men were different, and their perspective should be included in the vote because of this.

What reforms were promoted by women?

• Temperance

• Suffrage

• Labor laws geared towards women and children

How did Imperialism relate to the Progressive Era?

Women and Imperialism = Progressivism

White middle class women wanted the right to vote for themselves and believed only fit ppl should get to vote, much in the way that the US believed only fit countries should get to rule over themselves. In addition, because of the lack of jobs for college educated women, many would serve as missionaries and teachers abroad and become part of imperialism this way.