APUSH Unit 7 Practice

Progressivism/Domestic 

Defining Ideas:

Be more accountable

Curb Power

Given expanded powers to improve lives

Become more efficient 

Progressive Ideology

Overview

• New way of thinking about the role of government

• Was both used by democrats and republicans

Beliefs

• Govt accountable for citizens

• Govt curb power of wealthy interests

• Govt expand powers to be more active and improve lives of citizens

• Govt more efficient and less corrupt to handle its expanded role

First Progressive President:

Theodore Roosevelt

• Known as the “Accidental President”

• Republican Party from 1901-1909

• “Square Deal”

  • 1902 Anthracite Coal Miners Strike receives a “Square Deal”

  • That 4 sides receives an equitable deal 

• Focuses:

  • Consumer Protection

    • Meat Inspection Act

  • Corralling Corporation

    • Hepburn Act

    • Shermans AntiTrust

  • Conservation

    • Newland Act

• The “Trust Buster”

  • Elkins Act 1903 (Fined Railroads that rebated) 

  • Northern Securities Case, 1904

  • Good Trust vs Bad Trust

  • Hepburn Act of 1906 (Responds and expands the power of the ICC)

• Conservation vs Environmentalist

  • Conservationist: Equilibrium of use and protection

  • Environmentalist: don’t cut down any trees whatsoever

  • Used the Forest Reserve Act of 1891

  • Gifford Pinchot, White house Conference on conservation 1908

  • John Muir 

Second Progressive President

• Pinchot ballinger Affair

  • Taft fires Roosevelts appointed head of the division of the forester 

• Teddy runs against taft in 1912 in the election

Leads to the Republican Split - Woodrow Wilson wins in 1912

The first Democrat Progressive 

Grange Movement

Overview of the Movement

• Farmers were the main for this movement

  • Said that the Farmers are the heart/center of the nation

• Farmers importance were largely ignored and were hit the hardest

• Grange movement similar to the Labor movement

  • Farmers instead of Labor Workers

• Started as a grassroots movement and eventually gained significant popularity

Reasons of the Movement

• Falling crop crisis

  • “Victims of their own success”

    • Growth of the US and Industry → mass production of crops led to overproduction of crops and the value falling dramatically (lmao perfectly competitive market)

  • Wanted government subsidies in order to prevent the value of the crops increasing/decreasing too dramatically

• Increased fees for shipping on railroads

  • Monopolism of the Railroad Industry

    • The rate and tax of the railroad fees increased more and more

  • Led to decreasing and loss of profits for the farmers

  • Wanted govt regulation/ownership of railroads to standardize it to prevent varying railroad fees

  • Wanted the govt to own the telegraph

    • Wanted telephone lines to be made around rural areas to allow for better communication

• Reduction of paper money in favor for gold/silver

  • The USD wasn't backed by anything (only had an assigned value and nothing else) but the government wanted to have it backed by a “hard currency”

    • Eg. gold and silver

    • Has “actual worth”

    • Limit amount of money in circulation

  • Limit the supply of money for farmers

    • Farmers borrow a lot of money in order to do their business

  • Fought back as it hurt them as borrowers

Populist Party and Movement

Party Overview

• Was a 3rd US party which had many different ideas merged into it

  • Grangers, Knights of Labor (labor movement), Prohibitionists, gold/silver thing, socialist ideals, communists (classless society stuff), women’s rights, ect.

• Championed many different ideals and tried to appeal to all different people

• Party wanted the government to do more for the people

Formation

• Dissatisfaction with current parties led to the formation of the populist party

• Was an amalgamation of ideals from many different parties such as socialists, prohibitionists, knights of labor, ect.

• Had garnered a diverse support base with farmers, industrial laborers, currency reformers, and socialist reformers

• Omaha Platform (1892) = advocating for national railroads, telegraphs, postal banks, inflationary monetary policy, federal sub treasuries, direct senate election, and graduated income tax

Successes and Challenges

• Party’s 1892 candidate (James B. Weaver) gained 1 million votes and 22 electoral votes

  • Had elected senators and representatives in the 1894 electron showing growing influence

• Populist rhetoric gained traction especially during the panic of 1893

• Southern Democrats had considered the Populist party with election fraud

• Colored farmers alliance with 250k members had faced brutal suppression while supporting the Populist party

• Populists struggled to maintain their vision with white supremacy being the more popular outlook

William Jenning Bryan

• Served 2 terms in House of Representatives

• Pro farmers and laborers, against big business and corruption

• 3 time presidential candidate (1896, 1900, 1908) but never won

• Secretary of State under Wilson

• Was nominated by both the Democrats and the Populists

  • Led to the Democratic Party to absorbing the beliefs of the Populists

  • The beliefs had threatened the republicans which led to Bryan’s loss however it left a lasting impact on the party

Decline

• Division within the party and lack of unified leadership hindered success

• Institutional parties, such as the democrats had cleared issues that the Populist party had tried to address

  • Led to a weakening of the movement’s appeal

• Mid 1890s led to the fragmentation and decline due to pressure internally and externally

Beliefs

• Advocating for free silver to help farmers

• Opposition to the gold standard 

  • Seen as favoring the elites over citizens

• Support for prohibition and against Social Darwinism

  • Seen in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial

“Cross of Gold”

• Bryan’s speech at the Democratic National Convention

  • Criticism of the gold standard for it oppression of farmers and laborers

• Nomination for Democratic and Populist candidate in 1896

  • Against McKinley (republican) who supported the gold standard

• Lost the election but left a long lasting legacy on the democratic party

Impact on the Democratic party

• Bryan had transferred the ideas of the Populists into the Democratic Party

  • Fractured the Populists 

• Led to the Populist ideals being later adopted during the Progressive era

  • Ideas from the Omaha Platform like the direct election of senators and income tax were enacted

• Led as the intellectual foundation for future reform movements 

Environmentalism

Destruction and Reform

• The rise of industrialization led to a major increase in ecological destruction

  • Bison hunting → special extinction

  • Deforestation

  • Chemical pollution

• The more westward industrialization spread led to people seeking for more environmental protection

• Different ideas of environmentalism had been formed

  • Preservationists (led by John  Muir) wanted to protect nature

  • Conservationists (led by Gifford Pinchot) promoted resource management

Impact

• Conservationists often had their policies favoring business interests

  • Laws disproportionately affect poor and immigrants

  • Resource management catered to wealthy businesses and didnt help farmers/workers

• Settlement houses dealt with sanitation, health, and waste management

• Investigation of worksite hazards and occupational health

• Progressive urban policies led to better public health, city parks, nad playgrounds

• Country life movement revitalized family farms and rural communities

• Nature study movement led to environmental education for children

Black Disenfranchisement and Activism

Disenfranchisement of Black Voters

• Southern Democrats used several tactics to suppress black voters in order to maintain white supremacy

  • Poll Tax = payment to vote

  • Literacy test = subjective administration to black

  • Grandfather Clause = only able to vote if one’s grandfather had voted before reconstruction (was removed in 1915)

  • All-white primaries = bar black participation in key election

• Led to the voter registration for blacks to plummet

  • Louisiana had 130k black voters in 1896 and shot down to only 5k in 1900

• Poor whites were disenfranchised but was mainly targeted blacks

Jim Crow Laws

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) = “Separate but Equal”

  • Legalizing segregation

  • “Plant the seeds of race hatred under sanction of law”

• Segregation in public spaces such as schools, transport, theaters, hospitals

  • Led to the reinforcement of white dominance with black middle class expanding

Resistance

• Ida B. Wells = anti-lyncing campaign

• Booker T. Washington

  • Found Tuskegee Institute to train black americans to get jobs

  • Urged blacks to focus on economic success rather than instant political rights

    • Blacks and whites are “separate as the finger, one as the hand”

  • Funded legal challenges against racial discrimination

• W.E.B. Du Bois

  • First black harvard PHD

  • Publish “The Souls of Black Folk” to criticise Washington for conceding to racial inequality

  • Led Niagara Movement and co-found the NAACP

  • Advocating for political activism , higher education for black leaders, public protest

Women’s Activism and Suffrage

Growth and Activism

• Reform movements had expanded the opportunities for women and led to women having increased influence on politics and intellectual development

• Susane B. Anthony

  • Led right for women’s rights for 50+ years

• Several organizations were formed to advocate for women’s rights

  • General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1890) = Women’s rights and social reform

  • National Association for Colored Women (1896) = Racial and Gender equality

    • Formed because of racial expulsion from white-led groups

    • Formed by Marcy Church Terrell

• Mary J.R. Jones + Josephine St. P. Ruffian championed civil rights and suffrage

Temperance

• Many groups of women were for moral and religious reform leading to the formation of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

  • Carrie A. Nation showed extremism for prohibition activism

• Frances Willard led to the WCTU being a political force

  • Advocating for temperance, labor laws, child welfare, women’s rights

• Blamed Alcohol for society’s social problems such as abuse, poverty, and crime

Settlement Movement

• Jane Addams pioneered social work and helping immigrants and poor by creating the Hull House in 1889

  • Hull house gave services for childcare, education, and cultural programs

• Addams and Florence Kelley pushed labor reformation

  • 8 hour workday for women and children

• Addams = pacifist during WWI

Suffrage Movement

• Women’s Suffrage movement gained momentum in the late 19th and early 20th century

• Suffrage gained success in Western States

• National American Woman Suffrage Association focused on state and national voting rights

• Women’s Trade Union League linked suffrage movement to worker’s rights

  • Promotion of economic equality

• Some white 

• suffrage activists wanted to maintain racial superiority over black voters

  • Despite it the suffrage movement gained widespread support across class and social lines

• National women’s Party by Alice Paul used protests and picketing for the advocation of it

• Woodrow wilson endorsed Women’s Suffrage in 1918 and the 19th amendment passed in 1920 giving women the right to vote 

Muckrakers

Journalistic Movement

• The “Muckrackers” as in the people who rake up the Muck

  • Journalists and other writers with major influence on public opinion

  • Investigative journalists who went into meatpacking factories, investigated businesses, corruption etc.

  • Exposed the idea that it is truly the “Gilded Age” and not a “Golden Age”

  • Used media include: pictures, cartoons, art, books

Major Journalists

• Upton Sinclair

  • The Jungle, book exposing the meatpacking industry 

    • Was a description of what he saw in the industry

    • Spoiled, unsanitary meat and conditions

  • Cattle ranchers and industrial factories

  • Influence led to of creation of federal food-inspection laws

• Ida Tarbell

  • The History of the Standard Oil Company 

  • Interviewed workers and other employees, former collaborators with Rockefeller to address problems

    • Exposed corrupt methods and showed for who he was

  • Influence led to Rockafellar’s monopoly being broken up

• Jacob Riis

  • Photographer: How the other half lives

    • Showed poor sanitation qualities within tenements in the United States 

• John Muir

  • Naturalist, explorer, author

  • Major figure in the conservationist movement for woods

  • Influence of the “national forest movement” and turned into “national parks”

• Muckrakers were not reformers but they inspired the action of reformers

  • “Hey there is a problem in industry” → reformer sees and starts to reform

Reformers: Jane Addams

• Established the Hull House 

• John Muir

  • Naturalist, explorer

Teddy Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to presidency

• Was made vice president in order to have him just do nothing but McKinley got assassinated

  • Roosevelt becomes president

• “Accidental President”

• The first “Global President”

Square Deal

• Made in order to have all parts be equal

• The 3 C’s show the main policies he did (seen below)

• Consumer protection (Roosevelt reads The Jungle and makes change)

  • Meat Inspection Act 1906

    • Force consumer factories to make better conditions

  • Pure Food and Drug Act 1906

    • Forced the creation of labels to know the accurate descriptions on what is on foods/medication

• Control/Corral Corporations

  • Enforcement of Sherman’s Antitrust law

    • Idea of “good trusts and bad trusts”

    • Helped the american people → good

    • Harmed american people → bad

  • Elkins Act 1903

    • Regulation of railroads → fulfil a want of the Grange Movement

    • Made it so railroads have standardized pricing

  • Northern Securities Case 1904

    • Breaking up of the railroad monopoly

  • Hepburn Act 1906

    • Expand power of the ICC to help regulate and watch over industries

  • Anthracite Coal Miners Strike (1902)

    • Roosevelt mediates a solution for coal miners and mine owners

    • Roosevelt sides with the the miners → the first president to side with workers and end the strike doing so

      • Set the change of Government siding with more often

• Conservation

  • Newland Act 1902

  • (used) Forest Reserve Act 1891

  • US Forest Service (1906)

  • Gifford Pinchot

  • White House conference on Conservation (1908)

  • John Muir

William Howard Taft

Progressive Tests

• Trust busting

• 16th amendment → graduated income tax

  • Continuation of the Granger ideology

Friction between Taft and Roosevelt

• Payne-aldrich tariff = increase the tariff 

  • slight divergence between roosevelt cause pro business

• Pinchot-ballinger affair

  • Undoes environmentalist policies

    • Completely tosses important policies like allowing companies to drill in forests

  • Taft fires Roosevelt’s appointed head of Division of Forester, Pinchot

• Roosevelt runs against Taft for the election of 1912

Election of 1912

• Roosevelt runs as a third party candidate cause all the other parties had filled candidates

  • Bull Moose Party/Progressives

• Wilson wins the election (democrat)

Woodrow Wilson

New Freedom

• Attack the Triple Wall of Privilege

  • Banking, trust, and tariffs

• Underwood simmons tariff (1913)

  • Lowers the tariffs from Wilson

• Federal reserve act (1913)

  • Replacement of the National Bank

  • Regulate the economy and banking industry

    • Interest rates and money that is in banks

• Louis Brandeis “other people’s money and how banks use it”

• Federal Trade Commission Act (1914)

• Clayton Antitrust Act (1914)

  • Another anti-monopoly law which strengthened the ability to break up monopolies

  • Legalize strikes

    • Strengthened workers and gave the rights for strikes

• Keating-Owen Act (1916)

  • Outlaw child labor in certain industries

Municipal and State Reforms

State Social Reforms

• Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

  • NYC fire led to deaths of 150+ workers

  • Highlighted many problems in the industry

    • Fire escape doesn't work, no fire prevention, only 1 elevator

    • Trapped the people 

• Led to many reform movements

  • 8 hour work days

  • Workplace safety

    • Sprinkler systems, unlocking fire exits, building inspection

  • Worker compensation laws

• National Consumers League (Florence Kelley)

  • Fight to protect women in the workforce

Municipal Reform

• City was controlled by party bosses and needed a change of removal of political machines

• Reform

  • Commission plan

  • City-council plan

    • Hire experts to manage utilities

Power to the People

• Government was unresponsive to the needs of people

• Political reform → increase common’s voice in government

  • Australian ballots (secret ballots printed by state govt)

  • Direct primaries (wisconsin plan)

    • Wasnt able to elect for senators directly

  • Initiatives

    • People could propose a bill and send to state legislatures to be voted upon it

  • Referendums

    • Force a vote upon a potential bill

  • Recall elections

    • Remove a politician from power without waiting for term to end

• 17th Amendment (1913)

  • Direct election of senators

Imperialism

Pro Imperialist Arguments

The “Need” to Imperialise

• Since the 1790s the US was looking for westward expansion until now where they fulfilled the continental puzzle

• The US would continue their ideals of Manifest Destiny

  • Fulfilling the Turner Thesis as they found a way to continue the Frontier

• Sets the transition for the US to become a Global Power

Motivation

• Economic

  • Open up abroad markets

  • Access to cheap raw materials

  • New market to sell

  • Fuel industry

• Political

  • Want to compete with other nations

  • Don't want to fall behind with european powers

    • They’d have a significant disadvantage if they do not colonize

• Similar to how the English wanted to pull up to colonize the americas because they saw the spanish and dutch

• Military

  • Acquire naval bases

    • Alfred T. Mahan “Influence of Sea Power” → describe the need for a powerful navy

    • Need to protect merchant vessels and such

  • Building of the Panama Canal

• Intellectual

  • “White Man’s Burden”

    • Social darwinist beliefs and ethnocentrism

  • Rev. Josiah Strong’s “Our Country” → anglo-saxon civilization is superior

    • Need to colonize other lands to spread the “superior” civilization

Women’s Role in Imperialism

• Imperialism was seen as mostly masculine but women played key roles

• Margaret McLeod promote the spread 

  • American domesticity and civilization

  • Promotion of Heinz food company (yes, the condiment company)

    • Symbolize societal advance

• Participation with imperialism

  • Missionaries, teachers, doctors/nurses, and business representatives

  • Were to “uplift the less fortunate” and sustain Western civilization

Immigration

• Industry, immigration, and imperialism was extremely interconnected

  • Imperialism creates markets for US goods

  • Factories need immigrant labor to produce goods for markets

  • Americans fear foreign influence

    • Abroad with the US’s imperialism

    • Domestically with immigrants

• Mass immigration was occurring with 25+ million immigrants between 1870-1920

  • Mostly from southern and eastern Europe

    • Something about immigration from last unit idgaf

  • Most were catholic or jewish which threatened Protestants

• Nativists were against the rise of immigration

  • Fear of corruption democracy, take away jobs, and spread radical ideologies

• Early restrictions were made to prevent immigrants from entering

  • Page Act (1875) = ban chinese women and convicts

  • Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) = racially based immigration restriction

  • Immigration Act (1882) = no broke people, criminals, and mentally ill

• The idea of the “Melting Pot” vs Assimilation Struggles

  • Idea of Melting Pot promoted ethnic assimilation

  • Immigrants resist assimilation and wanted to maintain ethnic communities and traditions

Catholicism

• Catholic was the largest religious denomination in the US in 1900

• Protestants saw Catholicism as a threat to American democracy

  • Catholic loyalty of pope was seen as a threat

• Anti-Catholic propaganda and discrimination was widespread

• Americanists = wanted assimilation with the only english churches

  • wanted the Catholics to assimilate to end the debate and embrace US democracy

• Traditionalists wanted to preserve ethnic identity through separated churches and schools

• Conservative Clergy feared assimilation would dilute the Catholic teaching and weaken religious identity

• Pope Leo XIII (1899) was against altering the church to coincide with the US culture

US Imperialism

China

• US trade with china has began in 1784 but wanted to gain more

• Open Door Policy (1899) prevent diving china into spheres of influence and to all have equal access to the chinese market

• Boxer Rebellion (1900) = Anti-foreign uprising in china target oregon business and missionaries

  • US and other european powers used military force to suppress rebellion

  • McKinley sent troops without congress approval → president to military action abroad

Hawaii

• Missionaries came into Hawaii from the US to convert into christianity

  • Had been appointed to be in the government

  • Gained a lot of economic wealth due to the fertile land of Hawaii

• American sugar and pineapple planters began buying land

  • Ex. Dole Food Company 

• US signs a treaty to establish Pearl Harbor as a naval base

• Various interests in US want to annex Hawaii

• Queen Liliuokalani advocated that Hawaii should be controlled by the Hawaiian people

  • A revolt was orchestrated by plantation owners leading to the Hawaiian government being overthrown

    • Led to Dole being the leader of Hawaii afterwards

    • Other wealthy leaders → creation of an oligarchy

• Grover Cleveland had rejected annexation but William McKinley annexed in 1898

• The missionaries had turned corrupt wanting to have tariff free sugar being export

  • Creation of the “Missionary Party”

• The Missionary Party made a revolution which seized Hawiian power through force 

• Guano Islands Act (1856) allows US to claim islands rich in fertilizer (not really useful but yk)

Spanish American War

• Cuban had attempted to become independent since 1895

  • Spanish had repressed it including “reconcentration” camps

  • General “Butcher” Wayler took controversial steps to stop Cuban rebellions

• US wanted to figure a reason on why to colonize land → atrocities in spain led to a partial reason to go

  • Yellow Journalism (Hearst NY journal) exaggerate spanish atrocities and fuel public outcry

    • Didnt give a full reason however

  • De Lome letter = Spanish insults the president of the US

• Sinking of the USS Maine (Feb 15th, 1898)

  • Explosion in Havana harbor led to a need to blame it on something

  • “Blame the Maine on Spain” → gave the US the justification to go to war

    • Americans were killed → justification of war

• US war declaration on April 25th, 1898

  • Battle of Manila Bay (may 1st 1898) = US destroy Spanish fleet in Philippines

    • Shows the alternative reason of the war

    • US had planted ships over there and saw a reasoning to fight for it

  • San Juan heights (july 1898) = Roosevelt’s Rough Riders gain fame

  • Spain surrenders (Aug 12th 1898) → Treaty of Paris ending the war

• Secretary of State John Hay referred it as “a splendid little war”

  • Lasted only 10 weeks

    • Spain was extremely weak (lost colonies leading to lack of resources)

• Impact of the Treaty of Paris

  • Heavy debate in congress

    • 2/3 majority needed to ratify it

  • Anti-Imperialist League opposed annexation of Philippines

    • Members included Carnegie, Samuel Gompers, Mark Twain

  • McKinley favored expansion with a narrow approval of the treaty

    • Know about the US in cuba, puerto rico, and philippines

• US gained Guam, Puerto Rico, and Philippines from the war

Effect of Spanish-American War

Cuba

• US has “no intention of taking over Cuba

• Teller Amendment

  • Cuba would have control over their government

  • HOWEVER Cuba was forced to allow the US to intervene whenever possible and creation of Guantanamo Bay

Puerto Rico

• Foraker Act (1900) = Puerto Rico given limited degree of popular government

  • Did not have full self rule

  • Government similar to state government (was a “common wealth” which means it wasnt considered a state)

• Status of places like the Philippines and Puerto Rico was undetermined

  • Follow rights and protections of the US constitution?

  • Insular Cases

    • Constitutional rights not automatically given to US territorial possessions

• Congress gives US citizenship to Puerto Ricans in 1917

Philippine-American War

• Emilio Aguinaldo was leader of Filipino Independence movement against spanish

  • Fought along with the US against Spain

• Following the Treaty of Paris was thought that Philippines would get independence

  • US refused to do so

• Led to armed resistance

  • Brutal guerilla war between the US and Philippines

• Was the first instant of anti-imperialism towards the US

• Guerilla warfare occurred and led to US military occupation

  • Roosevelt declared war over in 1902 but resistance continued into the 1910s

• William H. Taft = first governor-general of Philippines

Access to China

• US was extremely interested in Chinese markets

  • Issue was that China was divided up into spheres of influence

    • Had exclusive trade privileges

• Secretary of State John Hay announce Open Door Policy 1899

  • All nations should have equal trade privilege in China

  • Allowed the US to have access to trade with china

• Boxer Rebellion = attempt to remove foreign influence of China

  • Rebellion was put down by international force

Middle East

• Mark Twain’s Observations  (1867): US view Middle East as inferior to their own

• US mainly did nonmilitary interactions

  • Missionary work

  • Embrace western universities 

    • Robert college

    • American university of Beirut

    • American University of Cario

• US had little trade or direct political contact with the region before WWI

Roosevelt’s Speak Soft and Carry Big Stick

Policy and Overview

• Assistant to Secretary of Navy (1896-1898)

  • Advocating for the naval expansion of the US

  • Supported Hawaian annexation for strategic and economic reasons

• Spanish-American War Hero → gained national fame from the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill (1898)

• Presidency started after the assassination of McKinley

• Roosevelt policy of “speak softly and carry a big stick”

  • Tried to talk with other countries and make deals with them

  • Showed off the power of the US military to show as a threat and use if need be

• Great White Fleet (1907-1909) = Send battleships around the world to show US power

Roosevelt Corollary

• Various Latin American countries owed money to England and Germany

  • England sent warships to venezuela in 1902

  • Santo domingo word money

  • US was worried about European intervention in the West Hemisphere

• Roosevelt Corollary

  • Expansion of the Monroe Doctrine

  • Gave justification for the US to intervene with Latin America 

    • “stabilize” countries with political or financial issues

  • Never consulted with Latin America

• US dramatically expand role in Latin America

  • Presidents send troops to Haiti, honduras, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua

  • Leads to strained relations between the US and Latin America

• Gunboat Diplomacy = Use military force to protect US interests in Latin America

• Dollar diplomacy (continued by taft and wilson)

  • Work with US bankers to provide loans for financial oversight

  • US took controls of financial system and custom houses

  • Protect US investments while reducing EU economic influence

Panama Canal

• Presence of a canal dramatically cuts down travel time

  • Eg. trade and military

• First attempted to be built by france and failed

• Roosevelt attempted to get Colombia to allow US to build a canal in Colombian region of Panama

  • Colombia rejects the treaty

• Roosevelt decided to support Panama to stage a coup to become independent

• Panama becomes independent from Colombia and had allowed the US to build the canal

  • Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

Roosevelt’s Asian Policies

• Roosevelt wins Nobel Peace prize for negotiation peace and ending Russo-Japanese War (1905)

  • Japan beats Russia

  • US becomes increasingly concerned over the growth of Japan

• Gentlemen's Agreement

  • Laws in California discriminated against Asian Immigrants (nativism)

    • San Francisco required Asians to attend segregated schools, fear of Yellow Peril

  • Roosevelt and Japan compromise

    • Japan restrict emigration of Japanese workers to US

    • Roosevelt pressures Cali to repeal yellow peril law

• Great White Fleet (1907-08)

  • Roosevelt sends new fleet of battleships on trips around the world

    • Demonstration of US power

    • Gives the idea to other nations (eg. japan) to keep them in line

Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy

Overview

• Foreign policy to improve commercial policy between the US and rest of world

• Used money for diplomacy to other nations

• Not very successful lol

Dollar Diplomacy’s Use

• US would buy all railroads from Russia and Japan to give back to china

  • Resulted in Taft’s presidency being ridiculed by other countries

• US sent troops to Nicaragua to attempt to help the country

  • Another failure

• American involvement in other countries resulted in failure under Taft’s administration

Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy

Moral Diplomacy

• Pursue less imperialistic policies

  • Improve relations with philippines and panama

• Merging of Big Stick and Dollar diplomacy 

Intervention with Mexico

• Mexican Revolution removes dictator Porfirio Dias from power

  • US had large amount of investments in mexico

• Rotating leadership of mexico

  • Huerta becomes leader but is a military dictator

  • Wilson refuse to recognize government

    • Embargo and aid revolutionaries against Huerta

• American soldiers arrested by Mexican officials at Tampico

• Navy occupies Veracruz

• Pancho Villa leads raids across border killing Texan and New Mexican people

• Wilson sends General John J. Pershing and expeditary force to arrest him

Path to WWI

• European powder keg was set up and soon to be lit

  • Germany rise

  • Rival alliances

    • Triple alliance = germany, austria-hungary, italy

    • Triple entente = britain, france, russia

  • Assassination of Franz Ferdiand (in a sandwich shop lmfao)

• Once the war had started, Wilson’s Administration remained neutral for a the start of the war

  • Following George Washington’s farewell address of “avoid foreign alliances and intrigues”

  • Focused on domestic economic growth rather than military expansion

• US had a weak military pre-wwi

  • US military was much weaker than later on

  • Modernized military but the Army remained underfunded

  • Davis Act (1908) and National Defense Act (1916) created National Guard and military reserves

  • Naval Act 1916 aimed to build the US Navy into the strongest in the world

• Wilson had declared neutrality of the war in 1914

  • However loaned money to Britain and France

    • US economic dominance resulted in difficulty to maintain neutrality in war because trade favored British and France

• US shared stronger connection to england and Germany

  • US unable to trade with germany because of british blockades

• American public was largely anti-german

• American manufacturer, banker, and invested heavily sided with allied

  • Both england and france benefit from trade and loans

  • English blockade to germany 

• Unrestricted submarine warfare from the germans had angered the US

  • Unrestricted U-Boat attacks sank british and American ships

  • Sinking of the Lusitania killed over 100 americans increasing tensions

    • Avoid war at the moment because Wilson went to talk to Germany about stopping submarine warfare (Sussex Pledge)

• The Zimmermann Telegram

  • Sent to Mexico in order to start a war against the US so the US would not get involved with WWI

  • US intercepted the telegram and resulted in the US entering the war against Germany

US Entry to WWI

• After the Zimmerman telegram, Congress had declared war on Germany (April 4th 1917)

• US military was incredibly unprepared

  • Small standing army with no rapid mobilization system like EU

• Selective Service Act (1917)

  • Creation of the national draft over volunteer

  • Men ages 21-30 register

  • Avoid the Civil War-era practice of bounties and substitutes

  • 2.5 million drafted for the war

    • However Army Intelligence test were used and reinforce racist and eugenic views

• Immigrants served in large number for the military

• Black soldiers were drafted

  • W.E.B Du Bois and other black leader saw this as a chance to prove citizenship

  • However drafted into separate units, denied combat roles

  • Black soldiers had experienced better treatment in France than in the US which influenced the civil rights movement dramatically

• Immigrant discrimination had risen dramatically

  • Fear of “hyphenated Americans” (eg. German-Americans)

Women for the War Effort

• WWI marked the first time women were able to enlist in non-nursing roles

• “Hello Girls” were a Signal Corp telephone operator and were crucial for communication

• Women also serve as yeomen (navy clerical workers) and marines

• 25k nurse served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corp

• Red Cross, YMCA/YWCA, and Salvation Army provided support services 

  • Led to millions volunteering in prepping medical and war drives for supplies

• Black women were not allowed in US medical roles in military

  • Red cross and YM(W)CA forced into auxiliary units

Wilson's Intervention in Mexico

• Mexican Revolutionaries remove Porfirio Diaz from power.

  • US had a lot of investments in Mexico

• Rotating leadership in Mexico 

  • Huerta becomes leader of Mexico

  • Wilson doesn’t recognize it

• Gives arms embargo to the dictatorship

• America aids revolutionaries

• US navy occupies veracruz

• Pancho Villa led raids. 

Homefront

• German Americans faced heavy scrutiny and suspicion from americans

• American Protective League (APL)

  • Privatized citizen group to identify german sympathisers

  • Conduct raids, surveillance, and public shaming of anti-war activists

  • Used by Hoover and Bureau of Investigation (later FBI) to track radicals

• Propaganda was used in order to mobilize the US army

  • Committee of Public Information created by Wilson and led by Creel used Hollywood, media, and propaganda to frame the war as a battle for democracy

• Liberty loan drives and War Bonds were sold to americans to financially support the war

• Espionage (1917) and Sedition Act (1918)

  • Outlaw any anti-war speech and protest

  • Critics, immigrants, labor unions, and radicals targeted and arrested by government

  • Silence opposition to the war and control the public sentiment

End of War and Idealism

• December 4th 1918, Wilson had traveled overseas to discuss the Treaty of Versailles

• Germany was disarmed and allies occupied Rhineland to prevent conflict

• Wilson had proposed his Fourteen Points in Jan 8, 1918

  • Key principles of Self-determination for nations, free trade and open diplomacy, reduction of military force, and creation of League of Nations for peace

  • Allies dismissed Wilson and forced Germany to pay

    • Harsh reparations set on germany 

• League of Nations was Wilson’s goal to have a global peacekeeping organization

  • Would provide collective security (attack on 1 would be an attack on all)

  • Allied leaders were reluctant to commit

• Opposition to the League domestically

  • Senator Henry cabot Lodge led opposition to

    • Would compromise US sovereignty

    • Opposed US involvement in foreign affairs without congress approval

  • Wilson toured US to garner support but failed to do so

  • Senate rejected the League → US never joins

• Resulted in a weakened League of Nations

  • No US power or influence

  • prevent struggle to prevent future conflict

• US embrace isolationism in 1920s-30s