Period 7

7.2

Pro-Imperialism:

The purchase of Alaska was beneficial to America so that more imperialism could have more value(Valuable raw materials could be elsewhere)

Territorial expansion is a very American thing to do(Manifest Destiny)

Could provide new markets for American Business

Social Darwinism

  • The strong eat the weak

America would get on the world stage and prove that it is strong

Josiah Strong:

  • The white anglo-saxon race is the pinnacle of evolution and the fittest to survive

  • It is the Christian Duty of the white race to expand abroad and bring its lifestyles to other places

The Influence of Sea Power on History by Alfred Thayer Mahan

  • A strong navy is required to be strong on the world stage

  • The only way to gain international markets

  • Convinced Congress to build a brand new navy


Anti-Imperialism:

America should not involve itself in foreign affairs as it could cause consequences outside of our control

Does the Constitution follow the Flag?

  • Yes, but only because brown people wouldn’t get rights, so we might as well not expand at all

Self Determination:

  • Countries have the right to rule themselves

  • Imperialism goes against its founding ideals


7.3

Yellow Journalism:

  • A group of journalists competing for sales/attention and publishing half-true stories to have sensational headlines

  • Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst

  • Exaggerated atrocities committed by the Spanish against the Cubans

  • This caused Americans to believe that they should intervene and kick Spain out of Cuba

  • Blamed the Maine on Spain: done before any investigation

Cuba:

  • Mckinley issued a demand to Spain: back off or we go to war

  • Spain Agreed to war

Spanish-American War:

  • Cuba gained Independence

  • Platt Amendment: The US could intervene in Cuba if American Amendments were threatened

  • The Philippines ceded to American for $20 Million

Fillipino Revolution?

  • The Filipinos believed that America was saving them during the Spanish-American War

  • United under Emilio Aguinaldo to fight against American rule

  • Lasted 10 years

Hawaii:

  • Annexed in 1898

  • Helped America govern the Philippines

Open Door Policy:

  • European countries economically took over China with “Spheres of Influence”

  • Secretary of State Joun Hay sent the “Open Door Note”: America held onto its trading rights in China


7.4

Who are the Progressives?

  • Labor Union Leaders

  • African Americans

  • Feminists

  • Protestant Church leaders

What are the Progressive Causes?

  • Growing Power of Big Business

  • Uncertainties in the Economy

  • Increasingly violent conflicts between workers and employers

  • Political Machine Power

  • Jim Crow laws and segregation

  • Womens Suffrage

  • Temperance

All agreed on some level that society is deteriorating and the only cure is significant government intervention

Journalists: Hoped exposure would put pressure on people in power to make change

  • Wished to expose the corruption in American Society

  • Dubbed “Muckrakers” by Teddy Rosevelt

  • Upton Sinclair

    • Published “The Jungle”: Exposed the meatpacking industries

  • Ida B. Tarbell

    • Exposed the Standard Oil Trust and its corruption

  • Jacob Riis

    • How the Other Half Lives: Exposed the unsanitary living conditions of the working class living in tenements

Secret Ballot

  • Mostly shuts down Political bosses/Machines

New amendments:

  • 17th: Direct election of Senators

  • 18th: Prohibition

  • 19th: Women's right to vote

Legislative Reform:

  • Initiative: the people can force a politician to consider a bill that they ignored that the people wish to be passed

  • Referendum: Voters could vote on the adoption of proposed laws

  • Recall: A corrupt official could be removed before their term was over and replaced

Frederick Taylor: Scientific Management

  • Made factory work more efficient, which increased productivity

  • Could this work on the functionality of the Government?

How do African Americans receive Equality?

  • Niagara Movement, led by W.E.B. DuBois: Planned protests that would secure their rights

  • NAACP: Abolish segregation and expand educational opportunities

  • The Black plight was rarely on the Progressivism stage

Teddy Roosevelt: Square Deal

  • Anthracite Coal Strike: Square Deal

    • Roosevelt worked on a deal that both sides agreed with

  • Started enforcing the Sherman Anti-trust Act

    • Differentiated between good and bad trusts

  • Consumer Protection:

    • Pure Food and Drug Act: self-explanatory 🤷

    • Meat Inspection Act: Meat-packing plants had to conform to a set of sanitary conditions

  • Conservation

    • Roosevelt used the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 to protect 150 million acres of Forest around America

    • 7.5

      Overview of WWI:

      • Started in 1914

      • Caused by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

      • Triple Entente: Britain, Russia, France

      • Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

      • America helf Neutrality

      Neutrality is hard 🙁:

      • The Lusitania was sunk in 1915: Enraged the American Public

      • Germany stopped sinking non-military ships after America threatened to cut diplomatic relations with Germany

      • Germany went back to sinking non-military ships, but Woodrow Wilson kept neutrality

      Zimmerman Telegram:

      • Asked Mexico to start a war with America to distract America

      • Caused America to declare war on Germany

      American Entry in the War:

      • American Expeditionary Forces: Plugged holes in Allied lines

      • Tipped the balance of Power in the Allied favor

      Treaty of Versailles:

      • Wilson attempted to stop Britain and France from getting revenge on the Germans and punishing them

      • The 14 Points

        •  Freedom of the seas

        • Self-determination

        • League of Nations: Got Created

          • America did not join as Congress did not ratify the treaty, fearing it could bring them into more European wars in the future