Period 7 Notes

7.1 Contextualizing Period 7

  • Economic Growth: Expansion into urban, industrial economy, ending in Great Depression.

  • Stability and Democracy: Progressives and New Deal reforms.

  • Economic Crisis: Great Depression challenged laissez-faire economics.

  • Culture and Society: Mass media sparked value conflicts, restrictions on immigrants.

  • Foreign Relations: Imperialism, world wars, US leadership role in UN.

7.2 Imperialism: Debates

  • Expansion after the Civil War: Seward's actions and Alaska purchase.

  • Era of "New Imperialism": Economic, political, social, and ideological motivations.

    • Economic Interests: Raw materials, markets.

    • Political and Military Power: Mahan's influence, navy buildup.

    • Social Fears: Diversion from Panic of 1893.

    • Darwinism and Religion: Anglo-Saxon superiority, Christian duty.

    • Popular Press: Exotic adventures.

  • Opposition to Imperialism: Self-determination, racial theories, isolationism, expense.

  • Latin America: Blaine's Pan-American Diplomacy and Monroe Doctrine.

    • Cleveland, Olney, and the Monroe Doctrine: Britain arbitrated dispute.

  • Conflict over Imperialism: Expansionists vs. anti-colonial traditions.

7.3 The Spanish-American War and US Foreign Policy to 1917

  • Spanish-American War:

    • Causes: Jingoism, economic interests, moral concerns (Cuban revolt, yellow press, De Lome letter, Maine sinking).

    • McKinley’s War Message: End miseries in Cuba, protect US citizens and commerce, end menace to peace.

    • Teller Amendment: US wouldn't take political control of Cuba.

    • Fighting the War: Swift victory, Philippines, Cuba, Rough Riders.

    • Annexation of Hawaii: Added as a US territory.

    • Treaty of Peace: Cuban independence, US control of Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam.

    • Philippine question: Conflict between imperialists and anti-imperialists.

    • Insular Cases: Constitutional rights not automatically extended to territories.

    • Platt Amendment (1901): Limited Cuban sovereignty.

    • Election of 1900: McKinley re-elected, recognition of US power.

  • Open Door Policy in China:

    • Hay's notes: Equal trading privileges, territorial integrity.

    • Boxer Rebellion (1900): US troops involved.

  • Theodore Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” policy:

    • Panama Canal: Revolution, Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, construction.

      • Congress paid Colombia 25M in 1921, US returned Canal Zone to Panama in 1999.

    • Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: US intervention in Latin America.

  • Roosevelt and Asia:

    • Russo-Japanese War: Treaty of Portsmouth.

    • “Gentlemen’s Agreement”: Segregation in California schools.

    • Great White Fleet: Show of US naval power.

    • Root-Takahira Agreement (1908): Mutual respect, Open Door policy.

  • William Howard Taft and Dollar Diplomacy: American financial investment in foreign countries.

    • Railroads in China: US participation.

    • Intervention in Nicaragua: Protect American investments.

  • Woodrow Wilson and Foreign affairs:

    • Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy: Jones Act, Puerto Rico citizenship, Panama Canal tolls, conciliation treaties.

    • Military Intervention under Wilson: Central America, Caribbean, Mexico (Tampico Incident, Pancho Villa).

7.4 The Progressives (1900-1917)

  • Origins of Progressivism: Inequality, political machines, racial problems.

  • Who were the Progressives: Urban middle class, professional class, religious groups.

  • The Progressives’ Philosophy: Pragmatism, scientific management.

  • The Muckrakers: Writers exposing corruption.

  • Political Reforms in Cities and States:

    • Australian ballot, direct primaries, direct election of US Senators (17th Amendment).

    • Initiative, referendum, and recall.

    • Municipal reforms: Kindergartens, tax reforms, public utilities.

    • State reforms: Insurance regulations, railroad regulations (“Wisconsin Idea”).

  • Temperance and Prohibition: Divided reformers.

  • Social Welfare: Better schools, juvenile courts, safety regulations.

  • Child and Women Labor: State laws, compulsory school attendance, Muller v. Oregon, Triangle Shirtwaist fire.

  • Political Reform in the Nation: Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson sought broad reforms.

  • Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal for Labor: Favored neither business nor labor.

  • Trust-Busting: Enforced Sherman Antitrust Act.

  • Railroad Regulation: Elkins Act, Hepburn Act.

  • Consumer Protection: Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat Inspection Act.

  • Conservation: Forest Reserve Act, Newlands Reclamation Act.

  • Taft’s Presidency:

    • Progressive Economic Policies: Antitrust, Mann-Elkins act, 16th Amendment.

    • Controversy over Conservation: Firing Pinchot, Payne-Aldrich Tariff.

    • Split in the Republican Party.

  • Rise of the Socialist Party: Debs, public ownership of utilities.

  • The Election of 1912: Roosevelt’s New Nationalism, Wilson’s New Freedom.

  • Woodrow Wilson’s Progressive Program:

    • Tariff Reduction: Underwood Tariff.

    • Banking Reform: Federal Reserve Act.

    • Additional economic reforms: FTC, Clayton Antitrust Act, Federal Farm Loan Act, Child Labor Act (unconstitutional).

  • African Americans in the Progressive Era: Ignored, Washington vs. Du Bois, NAACP, National Urban League.

  • Women and the Progressive Movement:

    • Women’s Suffrage: Catt, Paul, 19th Amendment (1920).

    • Other Issues: Sanger, birth control, Planned Parenthood.

7.5 World War I: Military and Diplomacy

  • Neutrality: Wilson's initial policy, freedom of the seas, submarine warfare (Lusitania, Sussex pledge).

  • Economic Links: Trade with Britain and France, loans from US banks.

  • Public Opinion: Favored Britain, ethnic influences, British propaganda.

  • The War Debate: Preparedness, opposition to war (Populists, Progressives, Socialists).

  • The Election of 1916: Wilson re-elected on peace sentiment.

  • Decision for War:

    • Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.

    • Immediate Causes: Zimmermann Telegram, Russian Revolution, renewed submarine attacks.

    • Declaration of War.

  • Fighting the War:

    • Second Russian Revolution.

    • Naval Operations: Convoys.

    • American Expeditionary Force (AEF): Commanded by Pershing.

    • US Casualties, 20 million deaths in the war.

  • Making the Peace: Wilson’s Fourteen Points, Treaty of Versailles, League of Nations.

    • Peace Terms: Disarmament of Germany, reparations.

    • Battle for Ratification: Senate opposition, Irreconcilables, Reservationists (Lodge).

    • Rejection of the Treaty.

7.6 World War I: Home front

  • Mobilization: Government control of industry and labor (Baruch, Hoover, Garfield, McAdoo, Taft).

  • Finance: New taxes, Liberty Bonds.

  • Public Opinion: Creel's propaganda, limits on immigration, Espionage and Sedition Acts, Schenck v. United States.

  • Armed Forces: Selective Service Act (1917), African Americans.

  • Effects on American Society:

    • More Jobs for Women.

    • Migration of Mexicans.

    • The Great Migration: African Americans seeking jobs in the North.

  • Postwar Problems:

    • 1918 Pandemic: Influenza outbreak.

    • Demobilization: Job losses, recession.

    • The Red Scare: Anti-Communism, Palmer Raids.

    • Labor Conflict: Anti-union attitudes, strikes of 1919 (shipyard, police, steel).

    • Racial Violence: Ku Klux Klan, lynching, Tulsa Race Massacre.

  • Decline of the Progressive Impulse: Sacrifices in WWI drained Progressivism.

7.7 1920s: Innovations in Communication and Technology

  • Economic Prosperity (1922-1928):

    • Causes: Increased productivity (Ford, assembly line), energy technologies, government policy, consumer economy.

    • Impact of the Automobile.

  • Farm problems: Debt, overproduction.

  • Labor Unions Struggle: “Open shop”, welfare capitalism.

  • Technology and Culture:

    • Architecture and Industrial Design: Art Deco, skyscrapers.

    • Mass Media: Radio, networks.

    • Movie Business: Big business in Hollywood.

    • Popular Music: Jazz, phonographs.

    • Aviation: Lindbergh.

  • Increasing tension: Prosperity and technological developments of the 1920s accompanied growing conflicts over cultural and political issues.

7.8 1920s: Cultural and Political Controversies:

  • Religion, Science, and Politics: Modernism vs. Fundamentalism, revivalists (Sunday, McPherson).

  • Fundamentalism and Science: Scopes trial (Darrow, Bryan).

  • Prohibition: 18th Amendment, Volstead Act, Al Capone, 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933.

  • Opposition to Immigration: Quota Laws, Sacco and Vanzetti case.

  • Ku Klux Klan: Birth of a Nation, anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, violence, decline.

  • Arts and Literature: Lost generation, disillusionment, regional artists, jazz, Gershwin.

  • Women, Family, and Education: 19th Amendment, women at home and in the labor force, revolution in morals (Freud, Sanger), divorce, education.

  • African American Cultural Renaissance: Harlem Renaissance, poets, musicians, Garvey.

  • Republican Majority: Harding, domestic policy, Teapot Dome scandal, Coolidge (vetoes, inaction), Hoover, Smith, and the Election of 1928 (Hoover won).

7.9 The Great Depression

  • Causes of the 1929 Crash: Wall Street crash (Black Thursday, Black Tuesday).

  • Underlying Causes: Uneven distribution of income, stock market speculation, excessive use of credit, overproduction, weak farm economy, government policies, global economic problems.

  • Effects of the Great Depression: GNP drop, poverty, homelessness.

  • President Hoover’s Policies:

    • Responding to a Worldwide Depression: Hawley-Smoot Tariff, Debt Moratorium.

    • Domestic Programs: Federal Farm Board, Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC).

    • Despair and Protest: Unrest on the Farms, Bonus March.

  • Changing Directions: Decline reached bottom in winter of 1932-33.

7.10 The New Deal

  • The Election of 1932: Hoover vs FDR (depression was the only issue).

  • FDR as President: Disability (polio), Eleanor Roosevelt, New Deal Philosophy (Three R’s), Brain Trust.

  • The First Hundred Days: Bank Holiday, Emergency Banking Act, 21st Amendment, Fireside Chats, Relief for the Unemployed (FERA, PWA, CCC, TVA).

  • Financial Recovery and Reform Programs: Emergency banking Relief Act, Glass-Steagall Act, FDIC, Gold standard, HOLC, Farm Credit Administration.

  • Industrial Recovery Program: NRA (declared unconstitutional).

  • Farm Production Control Program: AAA (declared unconstitutional).

  • Other Programs of the First New Deal: CWA, SEC, FHA, took the US off of the gold standard.

  • The Second New Deal: Hopkins, WPA, NYA, RA.

  • Reforms:

    • National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act of 1935.

    • REA.

    • Revenue act of 1935

    • The Social Security Act.

  • Evaluating Roosevelt’s First Term: Transformed the role of federal government.

  • The Election of 1936: Roosevelt swamped Landon, New Deal Coalition formed.

  • Opponents of the New Deal:

    • Critics from the Left: Socialists, liberals, unions.

    • Critics from the Right: Conservatives.

    • Demagogues: Coughlin, Townsend, Long.

  • The Supreme Court: Court Reorganization Plan (defeated).

  • Labor Unions and Workers’ Rights: NIRA, Wagner Act, CIO (Lewis).

  • Fair Labor Standards act.

  • Recession, 1937-38:

    • Causes: Social Security reduced consumer spending.

    • Keynesian Economics.

  • Life during the Depression: Depression mentality, Dust Bowl Farmers, Women, African Americans (Eleanor Roosevelt, Marian Anderson), American Indians, Mexican Americans.

7.11 Interwar Foreign Policy

  • Post WWI agreements: Treaties of disarmament promoted peace.

    • Washington Conference (1921): Five-Power Treaty, Four-Power Treaty, Nine-Power Treaty.

    • Kellogg-Briand Pact: Renounced aggressive use of force.

  • Business and Diplomacy: Latin America, Middle East, Tariffs caused European nations to experience difficulties paying war debts.

  • War Debts and Reparations: Cycle of payments flowing from the US to Germany and the Allies, Germany was bankrupt and near anarchy.

    • Dawes Plan.

  • Herbert Hoover’s Foreign policy: Pursued friendly relations by ending interventionist policies in Latin America and agreed to isloationist views. Japanese aggression in Manchuria, League of nations merely passed a resolution condemning Japan.

    • Stimson Doctrine.

  • Franklin Roosevelt’s Policies, 1933-39:

    • Good Neighbor Policy.

      • Pan-American conferences.

    • Depression Diplomacy: Helping the US economy chiefly.

    • The Rise of Fascism and Militarism: The Axis powers allied due to economic hardships.

      • Italy: Mussolini led Italy’s Fascist Party and promoted fascism, people should glorify their nation ( aggressive shows of force).

      • Germany: The Nazy party used bullying tactics against Jews.

      • Japan: Japan’s emperor was persuaded by militarists they needed to invade China. the Second Sino-Japanese war led to the Nanjing Massacre in 1937.

    • American Isolationists: Wanted to avoid aggression, especially Midwest Republicans.

      • Lesson of World War I.

    • Neutrality Acts: Both parties held a majority in Congress.

      • Spanish Civil War.

    • America First Committee. Engaged speakers to warn against reengaging in Europe.

    • Prelude to Another War:

      • Ethiopia, 1935

      • Rhineland, 1936

      • China, 1937

      • Sudetenland, 1938.

        • Quarantine Speech: Called for democracies to quarantine the aggressor public reaction negative.

      • Outbreak of WWII in Europe.

        • Preparation Congress increased defense spending to protect against possible invasion.

        • Germany sent troops to Czechoslovakia then Britain and France pledged to fight if Poland was attacked.
          Soviet and German dictators agreed to divide Poland.
          Invasion of Poland: Britain and France declared war. Poland fell to Germany’s blitzkrieg.

  • Roosevelt Changes Policies:
    * Roosevelt countered isolationism by giving aid to Britain and the allies.Chipped away at isolationist laws: strong favoring to Britain because its navy controlled the seas
    * “Cash and Carry.
    * Selective Service Act (1940): Compulsory military service act.
    * Destroyers-for-Bases deal:
    Britain received ships and gave the US the right to build bases on British islands.

  • The Election of 1940:
    FDR elected for a third term, economic recovery and fear of war.

  • Arsenal of Democracy:
    FDR explained in a fireside chat he wanted the US to be the arsenal of democracy.
    * Four Freedoms from speech, religion, from want, and from fear.

  • * Lend-Lease Act: isolationists campaigned against but it was signed. * Atlantic Charter by FDR and Churchill affirmed peace. Shoot-on-Sight: US Navy escorted British ships carrying lend-lease materials. Disputes with Japan US relations with Japan strained because of its invasions with Axis powers, and expanding into European colonies. + US Economic Action: FDR prohibited export of steel and scrap iron to all countries except Britain . Frozen all Japanese credits in the US. * Negotiations US insisted Japan pull out of China and tried to negotiate. Japan needed quick action because of limited oil supplies and may seize the resources.

    Pearl Harbor declared war . Partial Surprise, American people were stunned US the War in Europe in 1941 - 42 Germany broke nonaggression pact and Britain, the, and USSR agreed to concentrate on the European war before the Pacific .

7.12 World War II MobilizationFederal government expanded more than in WWI New Deal.

  • The Federal Government Takes Action: The War Production Board, Office of War Mobilization, the Office of Price Administration regulated civilians’ lives to ration and fight wartime inflation. Federal spending increased 1000%. Business and Industry, US industries did a booming business because US industrial output was twice versus all Axis powers combined).

  • Research and Development: The Office of Research and Development developed military goods, electronics, and medicines and ran the Manhattan Project producing the first atomic weapons. Workers and Unions: Unions and corporations would be no strikes and the government would take over war-related business where operations were threatened by strike

  • Financing the War: Government paid by increasing the income tax and selling war bonds.

  • *Wartime Propaganda: Few people opposed the war, increase public morale, production

7.13 World War II: Military

  • Fighting Germany: High tide ended in 1942 because of Soviet Stalingrad victory and US entry.

    • Defense at Sea, Attacks by Air.

    • From North Africa to Italy.

  • From D-Day to Victory in Europe.

  • German Surrender and Discovery of the Holocaust.

  • Fighting Japan.

    • Japan seized lots of East Asia and Southeast Asia.

    • Turning Point, 1942: The Battle of Midway ended Japanese expansion.

    • Island Hopping Commanders bypassed strong Japanese posts and isolated them with naval and air power.

    • Major Battles:

      • Atomic Bombs.
        War and Morality.
        Japan Surrenders. Japan surrendered if Allies allowed emperor to remain as a titular (powerless) head.

7.14 World War II and Postwar Diplomacy

  • US had unlikely partners like USSR to defeat the Axis powers; leading to postwar conflict,

  • American Leadership Democrats replaced FDR VP Wallace with Truman

  • Wartime Conferences:

    • Casablanca agreement.

    • Tehran: agreement.

    • Yalta: agreed on several policies Germany liberated Eastern Europe holds free and USSR would enter the war against Japan

  • Death of President Roosevelt.

  • *Potsdam agreements

  • The War’s Legacy:

    • The UN.

      • The UN.

7.15 Comparison in Period 7. Comparison in Period 7

  • Economic Changes: The transformation during Period 7 saw significant shifts in the economy, moving from an agricultural-based economy to a focus on urban and industrial growth. This change culminated in the challenges of the Great Depression, which exposed vulnerabilities in the capitalist system and led to substantial reforms under the New Deal.

  • Political Movements: The era defined itself through notable political movements, primarily marked by the rise of Progressivism and the implementation of New Deal policies in response to economic crises. These movements aimed to address social injustices, political corruption, and economic instability, advocating for reforms that supported the working class and marginalized communities.

  • Cultural Developments: The cultural landscape of this period was heavily influenced by technological advancements, such as the proliferation of mass media, radio, and cinema, which shaped public perceptions and cultural values. This era also experienced conflicts between modernist and traditionalist views, particularly surrounding issues of race, gender, and science versus religion.

  • Foreign Relations and Imperialism: The United States emerged as a world power during Period 7, engaging in imperialist endeavors and navigating through two World Wars. Policies such as the Open Door Policy were critical in shaping US relations, particularly in Asia, while interventions in Latin America reflected the increasing involvement of the US on the global stage.

  • Social Changes: The period witnessed significant social upheaval, including the fight for civil rights among African Americans, which laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement, and the women’s suffrage movement, culminating in the 19th Amendment. These movements highlighted the increasing demand for equality and representation within the political system.

  • Reflection on Lessons Learned: The aftermath of the Great Depression and the global conflicts of the 20th century prompted reflections on the nature of governance, economic management, and international diplomacy, leading to new philosophies that sought to combine economic stability with social equity