UNIT 7
IMPERIALISM: DEBATES
1890s : U.S. flirting with the idea of going to war with Spain in order to gain more control over territories in
Caribbean
Latin America
Asia
Spain had been developing a maritime empire for centuries atp, which is to say Spain was the elderly grandpa of imperial ventures, the U.S. thought they could Spain and take over the empire.
Debate about if it was proper for the U.S. to become an imperial power broke out, and there were two sides to that debate.
Imperialist Arguments
-Favored Overseas Expansion
believed Americans were destined to expand their culture and institutions to the peoples around the world (smells like manifest destiny!!)
Essentially made 4 arguments on why it was good/pro-imperialist
Foreign Markets = Economic Opportunities
-William Seward
Purchased Alaska from Russia in 1868
believed Alaska was the key to accessing Asian Markets
Racial Theories
-Social Darwinism
America’s prosperity = best adapted to industrialism’s new economic environment
-Josiah Strong
Christian minister
Argued that it was the religious duty of Americans to grow worldwide empire
to spread Christianity and western civilization
Further extension of MANIFEST DESTINY
Competition With Europe
Throughout the 19th century, Western European states have been expanding their sea based empires rapidly , especially in Asia and Africa and imperialists feared that without an Empire of their own
-America feared getting left behind in (terms of global power) race to build empire
In 1890
-A US naval officer Alfred Thayer Mahan provided a clear solution for this fear, namely, expanding U.S. naval powers.
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
Argued all powerful states had strong naval presence
gunboat diplomacy , idea : a world power needed a strong navy in order to enforce its will and force others nations to comply . Exactly what the U.S. got #busy doing
Closing of the Western Frontier
-1890 the Americans basically settled the frontier
-Frederick Jackson Turner’s published Frontier Thesis
arguing that it was not an option for Americans to lack a frontier in which to expand
New frontier = overseas expansion
Anti-Imperialist Arguments
-Opposed overseas expansion
formed Anti-Imperialist League (1898)
Self-Determination
-“Government by consent of the governed”
to rule another nation across the sea, would violate the American commitment to the principal of government by the consent of the governed
Isolationism (long tradition with respect to world affairs)
-Washington’s Farewell Address and Monroe Doctrine
Racial Theories
-Andrew Carnegie warned that if the U.S wanted to annex the Philippines = bad for America
millions of non-whites added to the population
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
By 1898, The United States was on the brink of war with Spain, and the outcome of such a war would be to acquire part of Spain’s vast imperial empire.
Spanish-American War: Causes
U.S. Desire to Rule Cuba
-Monroe Doctrine, longstanding economic investments in Cuba from U.S., etc.
-when Cuban nationalists began a war of independence against Spain in 1895, president William McKinley began making plans for U.S. intervention in Cuba against Spain
Yellow Journalism (mainly focused in NY)
-NYC’s newspaper editors competed for sales
Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst
Did so by publishing exaggerated stories of Spanish atrocities against Cuba
Significantly swayed public opinion of many Americans that war with Spain was the only opt
Explosion of U.S.S. Maine
-Although war had not already been declared, McKinley already sent a U.S. warship to Cuba and in February of 1898, it exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 266 U.S. sailors.
-Before any investigation could be done as to the cause of the explosion, yellow journalists (eager for war and to display Americas greatness), were quick to blame Spain!
-Rallied Americans to the war effort with the slogan “Remember the Maine!”
-In April 1898, McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war and he GOT IT 🫢
The war itself only lasted a few months (“Splendid Little War”) and the U.S. emerged victorious 🏆not least because the Cubans themselves have already been fighting against and wearing down the Spanish for years before American troops showed up.
The effects of the war that followed, were real significant and marked the beginning of America’s overseas Empire and here are three of those effects that you’re gonna need to know !!!
Spanish- American War: Effects
U.S. Gained (Island) Territories (in the Caribbean and the Pacific)
-In the Caribbean , the U.S gained : Puerto Rico, and Cuba!!
The stated goal of US intervention in Cuba was to help them become independent, but after the war
seemed unfit for immediate self-rule
therefore required continued U.S. military occupation
-Lasted until 1902: When Cuba drafted own constitution
U.S. was not done with Cuba! Pressured them to ratify the Platt Amendment in their constitution
Limited Cuban sovereignty
Granted the US significant control of Cuba foreign and economic policy
U.S. Involvement in Asia
The Peace Treaty also ceded Guam, an island in the Pacific, which proved to be a strategic location for accessing the significant territorial prize in the Pacific, namely the Philippines.
The Philippines was a critical territory that provided access to Asian markets, not to mention it was a strategic place to set up some naval bases!! and so in…
In 1898: President McKinley called for annexation
Filipino Nationalist Movement
In Cuba, the Filipinos had been fighting against their Spanish colonizers before the US ever showed up
And in the beginning, Filipinos cheered the assistance of US troops to defeat their Spanish overlord! All gits and shiggles until..
-Realized U.S. intended to be another imperial ruler
Deemed unfit for self-rule
-Filipinos, under the leadership of nationalist Emilio Aguinaldo took up arms against their American occupiers
-A violent conflict in which US troops brutalized the Filipinos by the thousands. But by 1901, the US had won and now had the proper control over the Philippines, the shiniest jewel in their Pacific Empire!!✨✨
THE PROGRESSIVE ERA
Meet the Progressives
Who were they?
-Sought to reform the social, political and economic abuses that had occurred as a result of the late 19th century industrialization by means of significant government intervention
Gilded Age policy makers wanted freedom from government intervention while progressives wanted freedom through government intervention.
Diverse Background
-Included protestant church leaders, feminists, labor union leaders, African-Americans, etc.
each group called for different kinds of reforms
Need to know 6 categories of these reforms!
Progressive reforms
Racial Segregation
-Southern Progressives had different opinions
some supported racial segregation, some ignored the presence, and some worked to dismantle it?
-Booker T. Washington
Black American should not fight segregation and should get educated instead
would eventually result in social and political power and respect
-Ida B. Wells
Encouraged black Americans to resist segregation
Expanded Popular Participation (in gov)
Progressives works towards four major changes in the political landscape
-Secret Ballot
“Australian ballot”
Allowed voters to mark their candidates in secret, instead of under the eye of political machine bosses
Diminished influence of political machines
-Direct Primaries
enable to citizens to choose their party’s candidate
-Direct election of senators
In 1913, the 17th amendment was ratified
placed the election of senators in the hands of the people
-New voting mechanism ( progressives pushed for widespread adoption of three voting mechanisms that gave ordinary Americans more control over politicians and policies)
1. Initiative
process that voters could use that required legislators to vote on bills they may have ignored
2. Referendum
allowed citizens to vote directly on proposed bills, instead of leaving that entirely up to their elected representatives
3. Recall
gave voters power to remove elected politician from office before end of term
Government Efficiency
-National local government were unable to adapt quickly to changes brought by industrialization
political machines filled in the gaps
-corruption and inefficiency could be fixed by applying scientific management to government
many cities adopted the commission form of government
in which a group of elected commissioners ran various departments like they were business
Immigration Restrictions
Immigrants from Europe and Asia continue to arrive in huge numbers to the United States during the first decades of the 20th century
In fact, by the outbreak of World War I , several major industrial cities count nearly 3/4 of their population as immigrants
-3/4 of population in industrial cities were immigrants
-Margaret Sanger
A progressive who became a leading advocate for birth control to reduce immigrant births
would help immigrants thrive economically
Other progressives, especially leaders of labor unions, advocated for anti-immigration legislation
since these foreign workers competed with Americans for jobs and endangered them
-Ultimately, achieved major victories with the
-Immigration Act (1917, 1921)
ended Asian immigration
Significantly restricted European immigration
Use of Natural Resources
-Became especially urgent after: the 1890’s closing of western frontier sparked urgency
This impulse for reform led to a debate between two distinct groups The Conservationists vs. The Preservationists
-Conservationists
Gifford Pinchot
Believed natural resources (e.g. forests, coal, oil, etc.) should be extracted and used
But with an attempt to balance with maintaining beauty of landscape
-Preservationists
John Muir
Aimed to protect the natural beauty of landscape by preventing resource extraction
The Progressive environmental movement gained a powerful advocate in the federal government with the election of President Theodore Roosevelt who issued scores of executive order to protect Americas landscape and wildlife.
Additionally, Roosevelt oversaw The creation of three protective national parks.
Expose Corruption
-This effort was taken on by a group of investigative journalists who were popularly known as the Muckrakers
They wrote scathing stories detailing vast corruptions in the government and big businesses, and their work provided no small amount of energy for wider progressive reform, especially among their middle class readers
-Upton Sinclair
Whose book: The Jungle exposed unsanitary practices of industrial meat packing plants
-Ultimately, by opening America’s eyes to injustice and corruption, the Muckrakers were able to score some legislative victories
Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act
Also passed the Meat Inspection Act
both provided government oversight in the food industry to ensure that Americans were eating food that was safe (and free of rat turds and severed human fingers!!)
The progressives made quite a splash and national politics! 💦
There were 3 Progressive presidents
Teddy Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
National Progressivism
Teddy Roosevelt
-Squre Deal
worked for success for both Big businesses and working class
-(Also worked toward) Economic regulation
Target was the regulation of trusts that illegally eliminated competition in the market and set / relied on predatory pricing
Enforced Sherman antitrust act (1890)
broke up 40+ trusts
Earned himself the nickname “trustbuster“
Woodrow Wilson
Also worked for progressive economic reform and that work came in 3 flavorsss
-Underwood Tariff Act (1913)
reduced tariffs on manufactured goods rural Americans depended on
-16th Amendment
created a national income tax
A populist reform that failed in the 1890s, but Wilson nourished that thing back to life in the 1900s!
The tax allowed the government to raise significant revenue apart from tariffs which often unevenly burdened the poor
-Wilson championed Banking Reform
Picking up the compliant from the populists, Wilson argued that the Gold Standard created unnecessary economic hardship on average Americans
Therefore proposed the national banking system (i.e. Federal Reserve)
would regulate money supply and set interest rates according to the changing needs of the country and therefore create the occasion for more widespread economic flourishing
2nd major development on the progressive stage was the passage of 4 constitutional amendments
Constitutional Amendments
-16th amendment
national income tax
-17th amendment
direct election of senators
But then progressives also influenced the ratification of the
-18th amendment
prohibited sale/manufacture of alcohol (was made law of the land)
In order to enact this amendment progressive built on and harnessed the energy of the long push for alcohol reform of the 19th century that had been carried out mainly by middle-class women through groups like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League
and finally the progressive succeeded in getting the 19th amendment ratified in 1920
-19th amendment
officially recognized women’s right to vote
WORLD WAR I
“The Great War”
Will need to know three things about US involvement in that war across the sea and then gonna need to know three things about what was happening on the homefront during the war
Let’s begin with US involvement in the war and will need to know why the US entered the European war to begin with.
To be fair of the war broke out in 1914 and for several years, the US maintained a pretty stiff neutrality, BUT overtime it got real difficult to maintain that neutrality for 3 reasons
World War I: Military
U.S. Isolationism Tested
-Reason 1: The U.S. had strong economic relationships with Allied nations
GB, France, Russia
-Reason 2: (Germany’s policy of) Unrestricted submarine warfare
German submarines (also known as U-Boats) violated international laws for warfare by attacking British ships without first surfacing and allowing civilians to disembark
This became a real problem for the U.S. when the German U-boats sank British passenger ship (Lusitania) in 1915
killed 1000+ people (128 Americans)
-Reason 3: Zimmerman Telegram
Germany sent a note to Mexico during U.S. intervention in Mexican Revolution
In that telegram, Germany offered to ally with Mexico AND in the event of a victory of the Central Powers = Mexico would receive back ALL territory lost to U.S. in Mexican-American War
Britain intelligence intercepted this message and sent it right along to Woodrow Wilson!
And Americans got real hot and bothered because no one takes land from us. “We do the taking around here y’all!!”
So that telegram, combined with the German U-boats sinking several US merchant ships, finally created the occasion for Wilson to ask Congress for a declaration of war against Germany.
-President Wilson asked Congress for declaration of war
A move that marked the major departure from U.S. isolationism ( the tradition of remaining uninvolved in European affairs)
Wilson’s main argument for involving the United States in the great war, was to make the world safe for democracy.
In other words, if the central powers were to triumph, then the American way of life would face an existential threat, and therefore it was a matter of grave importance that they should be defeated
U.S. Mobilization
Once the U.S. did enter the war,
-American Expeditionary Forces played limited role in combat
even that limited role helped tip the balance in favor of the Allies
Their main contribution came in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive , in which over a million+ U.S. and French soldiers spread out across the western front and pressed German forces to their breaking point
That cost about 50,000 lives, split evenly between the Americans and the Germans. This battle was part of a larger allied defensive known as the Hundred Days Offensive which ultimately resulted in the defeat of the Germans.
Wilson’s Postwar Peace
-14 Points
Goals: self-determination for colonial subjects, reduction in military spending, international ban on secret treaties
Most important: provision for a League of Nations
international council in which countries could settle their difference through diplomacy rather than war
Ultimately some of these provisions found their way into the Treaty of Versailles, including the creation of the League of Nations
-Wilson didn’t include the Senate in treaty negotiations
when it came up for a vote, senators refused to ratify treaty
Refusal came in big part because of the treaties provision for the league of nations, which Congress feared would threaten their power to declare war because it required commitments to collect securities/collective securities??
WORD WAR I: HOMEFRONT
Word War I: Homefront
Total War Required Sacrifice (from Americans at home)
-Federal government gained more control over society
Wilson applied his passion for progressivist efficiency to the creation of scores of government agencies, like the…
-War Industries Board & National War Labor Board
organized American economy / society around war production
Civil Liberties Restricted
-Example 1: The government restricted Freedom of Speech
In 1917, the government passed the Espionage Act
made antiwar activities illegal (most notably, interfering with the military draft)
In 1918, the Sedition Act
prohibited Americans expression of anti-government beliefs / displays of disloyalty
Taken together, these two law severely restricted Americans first amendment rights to freedom of speech and signaled a shift that the federal governments wartime policies prioritized national security above first amendment protections
In other words:
Whenever Americans questioned federal war policy, the government’s response was “I did not order a glass of your opinion! so.. hope you like prison”
-Example 2: Attacks on Immigrant culture
(Ex: German Americans were viewed with suspicion, since they were related by heritage to the hated enemy across the sea)
In 1917 , a group of nativists with sponsorship from the department of justice , formed the American Protective League (1917)
Members tasked with spying on German American neighbors
Reported any disloyal behavior
-Example 3: Red Scare (Communism)
Russian Revolution remade Russia into a communist state and that development got American policy makers all kinds of twitchy of the spread of communism. There were already plenty of concerns about labor organization and immigration issues.
Policy makes conducted the Palmer Raids in 1919, 1920.
Federal agents arrested 60,000+ immigrants (mainly from Russia and Eastern Europe) with little to no legal justification
Held without cause, several hundred deported
Led congress to pass the Immigration Acts (1921, 1924)
Led to significant reduction in immigration
Whole lotta Migration
-Conversion of many of America’s industries to Wartime production increased rural to urban migration into industrial cities
Chicago’s expanding steel, meatpacking, and railroad industries. Industrial work in Chicago became a significant draw for work for many migrants
-Great Migration
1 million+ black Americans moved out of South to northern/western cities . Made that trip for 3 reasons.
Reason #1: Escape racial segregation
Jim Crow laws and Supreme Court decisions had entirely segregated, southern states and led to the marginalization and oppression of black Americans
Reason #2: Escape Racial Violence
KKK ; targeted: Jews, immigrants, black southerners
Reason #3: Pursue better economic opportunities
share cropping system designed to indebt black farmers
-Discrimination still occurred outside the South
White workers saw black workers as job competition
Such resentment sometimes sometimes that to violence against these blacks
Chicago & Detroit’s race riots (1919)
Tulsa Massacre (1921)
THE ROARING & RUINOUS 1920s
Decade of significant prosperity for many Americans
1920s Prosperity: Causes
Mass Production of Consumer Goods
This change was facilitated by 2 developments
-New technologies
increased use of fossil fuels (oil)
Electrification of homes
Automobile
-New manufacturing techniques
Henry Ford perfected the assembly line
allowed Ford to mass produce cars at middle class prices
-Postwar consumer spending shifted back to consumer goods
expansion of buying on credit
This fantastic boom in economic activity lead to economic prosperity for many, not all, Americans! And that prosperity had 3 specific effects:
Improved Standards of living
-Groups left behind:
Black American workers
Immigrants
Framers (burdened by increasing debts)
wartime overproduction left them indebted with excess goods
Greater Personal Mobility
-Americans owned ~80% of all automobiles worldwide
Better Communication in centers
-Radio (King of new communication technology in the 20s)
By The end of the decade, millions of Americans had radios in their home
Mass production (made them cheaper) and growing adoption of electricity and homes
National radio programs created a mass culture
National networks like NBC and CBS were broadcasted on national radio programs in many American homes
Other programs were broadcasted too, like the Amos n’ Andy Show
A nightly serialized show inspired by gilded age’s minstrel shows
It was played by two white men playing the stereotypical parts of black men
A show that created a kind of national culture also had a way of exposing the differences of regional cultures.
-Cinema
Hollywood, California : became economic center for film production
Movie theaters multiplied, Films became affordable, escape for working and middle-class.
These were the fun things to talk about! Now for nastier regions of the decade : 4 major developments you need to know.
1920s Developments
Tipping Point for Urbanization
-By 1920, more Americans lived in cities than rural areas
3 particular groups were impacted by this development
Group 1: Women
expanded employment opportunities, beyond domestic labor, and factory work
Clerical job (such as typists, secretaries, telephone operators, and retail workers) became common
often young, unmarried women
Group 2: Immigrants
cities offered a new economic opportunities across the various industries
Rudolph Valentino , an Italian immigrant who became massive silent film star, owing to his chisel looks and his sensuality
Group 3: Rural Americans (brought by internal migration)
included southern African-Americans and white Appalachian/Midwestern farmers
Northern factories recruited these workers aggressively, during and after WWI, to replace declining European immigration
New Wave of Nativism
It seems to be an unbreakable law of American history that whenever immigration surges, there will always be an equal and opposite nativist backlash.
-Criminal trial of Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti
Italian immigrants
These two men were self professed anarchists and were accused committing murder during an armed robbery, despite their continued professions of innocence and a highly questionable handling of the evidence - they were found guilty and sentenced to death.
and thanks to everyone’s access to mass media the trial sparked a sensational nationwide debate since it appeared to many, these men were being executed, not based on clear evidence, but because they were immigrants with suspect beliefs.
Evidence of the continued anxiety about immigrants that led to the Red Scare and the Palmer Raids that was mentioned earlier.
sparked nation-wide debate
Execution based on clear evidence or nationality/suspect beliefs ?
-Congress based the Emergency Quota Act (1921)
-National Origins Act (1924)
both restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe
NOA also banned immigrants from Asia entirely
The stated of purpose of the law was entirely informed by nativist reasoning, with the aim to preserve the racial purity of white Americans.
(Internal migration created the occasion for) Regional & Ethnic Art Movements
-Harlem Renaissance
Artistic movement born in black communities of Harlem, NYC
many migrated to NY during the Great Migration
Being together in that environment, the community produced a dizzying amount of cultural expressions that
Reshaped American art and challenged stereotypes against blacks
showed pride in their black identity
For ex: Duke Ellington was the pioneer of a uniquely black musical art form known as jazz
Langston Hughes was a black poet who made us of common black diction to express racial pride and reject the pressures of assimilation
American Culture Changes
Culture changed rapidly and led to 4 major controversies
Cultural Controversies
Gender Roles
-After the ratification of the 19th amendment
recognized women’s right to vote
-Some American women pushed for more social equality with men
direct heirs of the New Woman movement during the Gilded Age
-this revival of feminism was put on full display by women who called themselves the flappers
these women challenged traditional gender roles by
cutting their hair short
smoking cigarettes in public
embracing fashion choices, like knee length skirts which scandalized more traditional religious folks
(Rise over new artistic and philosophical movement:) Modernism
-artistic and philosophical movement
embraced secularization of society
Rejected traditional social norms as a oppressive
-Particularly famous group of modernists, was a collection of authors know as as the Lost Generation
people like
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Gertrude Stein
Ernest Hemingway
whose works explored theme of disillusionment that came after WWI
To them, The great promises of scientific progress only led to death and destruction, in World War I
Therefore there was her little solid ground on which to stand on and find one’s way in the world
Religion vs. Science
Since 1800s, many Protestant Christinas felt that their own belief and may be more to the point, social power and influence, were under attack from the growing acceptance of Charles Darwin‘s theory of evolution.
-(In 1920s) Fundamentalist Movement resisted Darwin’s theory of evolution
Christians embraced fully literal interpretation of the Bible
Particularly, the six day creation accounted in Genesis 1
-Scopes Trial (1925)
While this was technically a trial concerning a Tennessee teacher who illegally taught evolution in order to challenge those state laws, the celebrity lasers who argued this case (Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan) turned this trial into a
-national spectacle (about the competing ideologies of science and religion)
Race
-Black Americans sought self-expression and racial pride
-Marcus Garvey
Embraced black separatism
Rejected other black reformers’ efforts for equality / inclusion
Founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association
promoted black separatism and encourage self sufficiency through business ownership
he was a polarizing figure especially among other black reformers like W.E.B. Dubois who promoted black integration into American society
The 1920’s was prosperous and complex!
Time for 1930s: complex but no prosperity (flushed down the 🚽)
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Great Depression: Causes
(Economic system that allowed for a) Significant Wealth Gap
-Growing gap between the wealthy and poor
-Gov refusal to assist farmers who were in financial struggle
Irresponsible Stock Practices (virtually guaranteed an eventual crash)
Since growth of stock market seemed to become unstoppable by 1920s…
-Became common practice to allow people to buy stocks on credit
That’s fine assuming the stock market always increases in value, but that leads us to…
-Stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929
“Black Tuesday”
The value of the stock market plummeted dramatically
Herbert Hoover became president in March 1929
Hoover’s Inaction
-solution was private intervention (of private charities), not government
In many ways, Hoover simply allowed The depression to play out with a very little effort to counter its effects. When he did act, it only seemed to make things worse.
-Smoot-Hawley Act (1930)
raised tariffs on agricultural and industrial imports to an almost historic level
Intended to protect American industry and agriculture
Instead, America was met with retaliatory tariffs
further crippled, the American economy and increased worker suffering
GD really took hold: unemployment rising, banks failing, businesses going bankrupt, etc…
Great Depression: Effects
Global Effects
-European economies reliant on American loans/investment for post World War I rebuilding
-Great depression forced America to discontinue funding (GD would become a worldwide phenomenon)
U.S.= Limited Welfare State
-Limited welfare: policies that create social safety net for citizens
That did not come from Herbert Hoover
In order to get the gov to help Americans at scale = into to FRANKY D ROOSEVELT
democrat who won the election at a landslide , largely because he was the opposite of Hoover when it came to addressing GD
big believer in using the leverage of government to address the national problems , did this by
-Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal
Tried to end the GD through addressing the 3 R’s
Focus 1: Relief for unemployed
New Deal creates works programs such as the Public Works Administration (PWA)
employed Americans to do Federal infrastructure work (roads, dams, bridges)
Similarly, Tennessee Valley Authority
hired people to run electric power plants (which did work to control flooding and erosion)
Focus 2: Recovery of business
To address the economic hardship for industrial businesses, The new deal included the National Industrial Recovery Act (1933)
established a set of codes that Representatives from The laboring community and representatives from competing corporations could agree upon
These codes created security for workers by establishing minimum wage levels, shorter working hours, and regulation of prices of certain petroleum products
Focus 3. Reform of economic institutions
Ex: Passage of the Glass-Steagall Act (1933)
increase regulation in banks and limited ways banks could invest peoples money
Give birth to a new entity called the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
guaranteed peoples bank deposits with federal money
Therefore helped increase peoples confidence in banks after so many failures
These programs mentioned only a small amount he had done.
Some of the programs were more effective than others , but Roosevelt‘s highest priority was to experiment and try as many solutions as he could in order to see which one worked
In that way, the new deal convinced many Americans of at least one thing: that the federal government was working hard to relieve their suffering.
The GD still went on though
New Deal Criticism
Bold and energetic moves from prez sparked criticism from at least 2 diff groups
-On the conservative side , Roosevelt’s critics came together and produced the Conservative Manifesto
strongly objected to heavy-handed government involvement
they believed it would lead to socialism and communism
-Liberals felt New Deal didn’t do enough
-Most notable critic was senator from Louisiana , Huey Long
his solution to the depression was to propose the share our wealth society
set of bills which introduced severe taxation on the wealthy
After the gov collected all that money, would redistribute wealth by guaranteeing every American $5k homestead and $2k annual income
No matter how many legislative experiments Roosevelt tried, the provisions of the New Deal ultimately did not end the great depression
What ended it was the American mobilization and entry into World War II, which breathed enormous amounts of life into the economy
New Deal (created lasting) Effects
-Effect 1: Legacy of reforms & regulatory agencies
FDIC, Social Security
-Effect 2: Long-term realignment of political parties
By the election of 1936 , which Roosevelt won in a landslide, it was clear that various ethic groups, working class communities, and black Americans had consolidated their support for the Democratic candidate
That’s switch was especially surprising for black Americans since they had always voted Republicans since the ratification of the 15th amendment. But by the 1930s, the Republicans and the Democrats were not exactly the same parties they were in the 1800s.
-During GD, Black workers arguably suffered more than most, since they were often the last hired and the first fired
Since republicans seemed to be ignoring their plight , Roosevelt’s message of energetic and vigorous help appealed to the demographic, and they voted democratic as a block for the first time in history.
THE U.S. CAN’T STAY NEUTRAL
in the 1930s, it appeared the US was doing everything it could to remain isolated from world affairs, because the country seemed still have a World War I hangover. 🤕
However, despite the push for isolationism, the United States continued to involve itself in international affairs in order to promote a world order according to American liking.
Road to WWII
Limited Involvement
ways the US remained involved in world affairs
-Method 1: International investment
-instead of using military power to influence world affairs, policy makers relied on the influence of financial power. and there’s no better example than the
Dawes Plan (1924)
In that year, Germany was on the brink of financial disaster. They were unable to pay the reparations required of them by the treaty of Versailles and if Germany was no longer able to make its payments, it would for sure create a crisis among Great Britain and France that could’ve led to another war.
-But under the Dawes Plan
The United States loaned Germany billions of dollars so Germany could afford reparations to Britain and France
And then with that money, Britain and France could make their loan payments back to the United States
In that way, the United States was able to center the world’s financial system on itself while remaining politically neutral in European conflict
-Method 2: Signing of Peace Treaties
-For example: in 1928, dozens of nations, including the United States, signed the
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
formally renounced war as an instrument of national policy
The pact did allow the US to appear engaged in global peace efforts while at the same time, avoiding military obligations.
-Method 3: Select Military Interventions
-mostly in Latin America (Monroe doctrine)
(ex) in 1915 the US military occupied Haiti after years of instability began to threaten US economic interests. And the occupation lasted until 1934.
Even though the US dabbled in world affairs during this interwar period, the dominant sentiment among Americans was the preference for isolationism,
so when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, World War II officially began and Americans seemed to be pulling into 2 different directions.
Isolationism Tested
-Americans opposed military involvement, but were increasingly concerned with fascism and totalitarianism in Europe and Asia.
-even so, in the short term, desire to remain neutral , won out
-The biggest strain on US isolationism came when: France fell to the Nazis, which was a massive blow to the Allied cause
indicated Germany was on path to victory
Roosevelt held publicly to US isolationism, even while he aided allied powers through various programs and sold war munitions to them, but not to Germany and its allies.
But what ultimately dragged the US into war was the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor
-Suprise Japanese attack on Hawaiian naval base
This attack was a retaliation response to a US oil embargo on Japan to keep it from expanding into the Pacific.
The morning of December 7, 1941 the Japanese Air Force bombed the base. 2400+ Americans died and they destroyed hundreds of fighter planes along with all 8 battleships docked in the bay.
In a moment, public sentiment against US involvement in World War II shifted entirely.
-Roosevelt asked Congress for declaration of war
received it. because it became clear to the nation that the only way to protect freedom/democracy against fascism/totalitarianism was to go to war.
Because Japan was formally allied with the Germany and Italy , only 4 days later they themselves declared war on the United States, which gave Roosevelt all the excuses he needed to declare war right back on the axis powers!
WWII: MOBILIZATION
The process of mobilizing for the war had dramatic effects on society and there are four major categories of that change.
Ended GD (almost overnight)
-Federal government spent significant funds on war effort
awakened and significantly expanded the American industrial capacity
that process had already been started before the US entered into the into the war, with FDR pushing to turn America into the, what he called
-“Arsenal of Democracy”
American industry increased production of war munitions to help allied powers
-huge demand and central planning from government quickly expanded US industrial capacity and output in a very short time
By imposed price controls and rationed necessary supplies
That unique, large scale industrial capacity that reversed the effects of the great depression and contributed significantly to the Allied victory in World War II
(Mobilization created opportunity for Some Americans to improve their) Socioeconomic Opportunities
-Group1: Women
Women filled industrial roles as men were sent to war
lasting icon of women’s contribution to wartime mobilization was Rosie the Riveter
still encountered gender stereotypes as they filled roles
-Group 2: Minorities
700k Black Americans joined US military
combat unit still segregated by race
Was the case for the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black air combat unit that trained at the Tuskegee institute in Alabama
raised debates about racial segregation
Black labor activist A. Philip Randolph
Organized 100 K person in march in Washington, D.C. (to oppose segregation in military)
Roosevelt felt like the march would publicly contradict his stated aim of the war: fighting for freedom and democracy
therefore he issued Executive Order 8802
did not desegregate the military
set up a regulatory board to investigate racial inequality claims
after such a compromise, Randolph canceled the march
Mexican Americans were also the target of racially motivated Mexican Americans were also the target of racially motivated tax during the war. best example here is the
Zoot Suit Riots (1943) California
American servicemen accused outfit as unpatriotic due to the amount of cloth it required, in a time where cloth was needed for the war effort.
White servicemen entered neighborhood and attacked those wearing them and many that were not
Zoot suitors retaliated and began 4 days of violence
Restriction of Civil Liberties
-Gov policy of Japanese Internment
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, many Americans viewed Japanese American immigrants with suspicion since they were associated with the hated Japanese
Because the government feared the Japanese Americans might serve as spies for the Japanese government, Roosevelt signed executive order 9066
Executive order 9066
relocated all Japanese people to internment camps in western states
120k Japanese people in US (2/3 of them US CITIZENS) were forcibly removed from homes without cause
Increased Immigration
-US gov needed Mexican laborers in industrial settings
and agricultural jobs many men left for war
-Gov introduced the Bracero program
invited Mexican laborers to enter the country to work in wartime industries for limited time
FIGHTING IN WWII
The entry of the United States into World War II gave fresh energy to the allied forces and the open access to the incredible industrial capacity of American industry, ultimately led to a victory for the allies against the axis powers of Germany, Italy, Japan
3 major factors that lead to allied victory!
WWII: Fighting
Technological & Scientific Advances
-Charles Drew
Black American surgeon
Made significant advances in blood transfusion procedures
improved techniques for storing blood at a large scale and in doing so , facilitated the success of large blood banks , which military used to save thousands of allied soldiers who would have died from their wounds
Strategic Military Campaigns
-In Europe: D-Day campaign
Allied invasion into Nazi occupied France
The purpose was to open a second warfront against Germany
combination of American, British and Canadian troops cross the English Channel and landed on the Normandy beaches. despite sustaining heavy casualties from German fortifications, Allied troop: succeeded in establishing a beach head and from then were able to launch further and in toward Germany.
-Pacific Theater: Island hopping campaign
Were notoriously stubborn about surrendering and often fought until the last of them were dead…
General Douglas MacArthur
lead US troops to capture lightly fortified Japanese islands while skipping the well defend islands altogether
Were able to more quickly establish bases from which to launch a final assault on the Japanese
Dropping of 2 Atomic bombs
The island hopping campaign did give the U.S. a strategic advantage in order to invade Japan, no pacific military commander relished the cost of such an invasion since it would likely lead to significant American casualties, but near the end of the war, the US had a new weapon at its disposal that would make invasion unnecessary.
In 1945, Roosevelt died and VP Henry Truman became prez, at Wichita atomic bombs have been tested and ready for military use.
-Japan refused the man of absolute surrender
-Truman authorized atomic bombing of two cities
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
200k Japanese civilians killed instantly
Thousands, more died of radiation poisoning
Japan surrendered and war ended
EFFECTS OF WWII
American felt justified (that they fought for a righteous cause)
-end of war revealed more time atrocities
-Holocaust
fueled by program known as the final solution
targeted the Roma, homosexuals, disabled people, and political enemies
Main target: Jews
6 million killed by Nazis
America emerged from war as: Most Powerful in World
-Reason 1: infrastructure intact
aside from bombing of Pearl Harbor
The US emerged from the war with its territory and industrial infrastructure intact , while other nations were beginning the long and expensive process rebuilding what was destroyed
Contributed to postwar, economic boom
Started during the war, but then had major consequences throughout the next time period.
-Reason 2: dominant role in Allied victory
generally agreed among the allies that without the enormous industrial output of the United States, they could not have won that
-Reason 3: Postwar peace settlements
once the war was over leaders from the US ,Soviet union , and Great Britain met at the
Potsdam conference
in order to confirm plans for a post war world
they agreed to the partition of Germany and Berlin
tensions begin to grow between Americans in the Soviet
and tension would lead directly into the Cold War
regardless the United States also play the key role in the creation of the United Nations, which will be an international peacekeeping assembly
United Nations
International peacekeeping assembly
Similar goals as league of Nations: prevent future wars
U.S. shaped international policy through the UN
we tried after World War I with the creation league of Nations, but it kind of failed miserably because the United States Congress wouldn’t allow America to join it and the fact the league had no ability to enforce its resolutions didn’t help either
and ultimately you can see that it failed because you know… World War II !!
the United Nations was formed in the image of the league of Nations and it’s goals were pretty similar: to prevent future wars
EXCEPT United Nations actually had the infrastructure to keep the peace . And the United States, to a large degree, was able to shape international policy through this body.