VUS 9-10

VUS 9


Latin America

·        Spanish-American War

  • Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States.

  • The United States asserted its right to intervene in Cuban affairs.

·        Panama Canal and the role of Theodore Roosevelt

o   The United States encouraged Panama’s independence from Colombia.

o   The parties negotiated a treaty to build the canal.

·        Roosevelt Corollary

  • Expanded the United States “police” presence in the Western Hemisphere that was established in the Monroe Doctrine

Asia and the Pacific

·        Hawaii: United States efforts to depose Hawaii’s monarchy; United States annexation of Hawaii

·        Philippines: Annexed after the Spanish-American War

·        Guam: Annexed after the Spanish-American War

·        Open Door Policy: Urged all foreigners in China to obey Chinese law, observe fair competition

Racial conflict in the Spanish-American War and the Philippines

·        African American soldiers and sailors eagerly enlisted to fight but were kept in segregated units

·        The long fight against the Filipinos after the American arrival was often interpreted in the United States as a struggle between white and “colored” peoples

United States involvement in World War I

·        The war began in Europe in 1914 when Germany and Austria-Hungary went to war with Britain, France, and Russia.

·        For three years, America maintained neutrality due to popular support for isolationism.

·        The decision to enter the war was the result of continuing German submarine warfare (violating freedom of the seas) and American ties to Great Britain.

·        More than 350,000 African Americans fought for the Allied forces, often restricted to support roles but sometimes on the front lines

·        Immigration from Europe stopped and factories in the North needed laborers; 

·        Americans wanted to “make the world safe for democracy.” (Woodrow Wilson)

·        America’s military resources of soldiers and war materials tipped the balance of the war and led to Germany’s defeat.

Fourteen Points

·        Wilson’s plan to eliminate the causes of war

·        Key points

·     Self-determination

·     Freedom of the seas

·     League of Nations


Treaty of Versailles

·        The French and En


glish insisted on punishment of Germany.

·        A League of Nations was created.

·        National boundaries were redrawn, creating many new nations.

·        The Mandate System was established in the Middle East.


League of Nations debate in United States

·        Many senators objected to United States foreign policy decisions being made by international organizations rather than United States leaders.

·        The United States Senate’s failure to approve the Treaty of Versailles led to the United States not joining the League of Nations.




VUS 10


Mass media and communications

·        Radio: Broadcast jazz, entertainment programing, sporting events, and Fireside Chats

·        Movies: Provided escape from Depression-era realities

·        Newspapers and magazines: Shaped cultural norms, established a consumer culture, and sparked fads


Challenges to traditional values

·        Traditional religion: Darwin’s theory, the Scopes Trial

·        Traditional role of women: Flappers, 19th Amendment

·        Open immigration: Rise of new Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a Red Scare

·        Prohibition: Smuggling alcohol, speakeasies


Harlem Renaissance

·        Following the Great Migration of World War I and the 1920s, African Americans created vibrant cultural communities in the North.

·        One of the most prominent areas of black life was Harlem in New York City, filled with vibrant music and entertainment.

·        A number of important poets and writers emerged in that community, including Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, Anne Spencer.

·        The jazz produced in the 1920s and 1930s in Harlem and other centers of black population became popular worldwide.



Causes of the stock market crash of 1929

·        Business was booming, but investments were made through buying stocks on credit.

·        There was overspeculation of monetary returns on investments.

·        There was a large number of small investors.

·        Panic selling of stocks led to the collapse of the stock market.

·        There was excessive expansion of credit.

·        Business failures led to bankruptcies.

·        Bank deposits were invested in the market.

·        When the market collapsed, the banks ran out of money.


Consequences of the stock market crash of 1929

·        The crash signaled the beginning of the Great Depression although serious flaws in the economy had existed for years.

·        People lost investments, which led to financial ruin, and many committed suicide.

·        Bank runs: Clients panicked and, attempting to withdraw their money from the banks, discovered their funds were lost. 

·        There were no new investments.



Causes of the Great Depression

·        Overproduction of industrial and agricultural products

·        Purchasing items on credit, placing Americans in an unstable financial position

·        Unequal distribution of wealth, making it difficult for many Americans to make purchases

·        An agricultural depression that had plagued farmers throughout the 1920s

·        Federal Reserve’s failure to prevent widespread collapse of the nation’s banking system in the late 1920s and early 1930s, leading to severe contraction in the nation’s supply of money in circulation

·        High protective tariffs produced retaliatory tariffs in other countries, restricting world trade 


Impact of the Great Depression

·        Unemployment and homelessness

·        Collapse of the financial system (bank closings)

·        Decline in demand for goods

·        Political unrest (growing militancy of labor unions)

·        Farm foreclosures and migration




New Deal (Franklin Roosevelt)

·        This program changed the role of the government to a more active participant in solving problems.

·        Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to have an entirely African American advisors who served in a “kitchen cabinet.”

·        Roosevelt rallied a frightened nation in which one in four workers was unemployed (“We have nothing to fear, but fear itself”).

·        Relief measures provided direct payment to people for immediate help (Works Progress Administration [WPA]).

·        Recovery programs were designed to bring the nation out of the depression over time (Agricultural Adjustment Administration [AAA]).

·        Reform measures corrected unsound banking and investment practices (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC]).

·        The Social Security Act offered safeguards for workers, except for domestic workers. 

·        African Americans were discriminated against in these government programs.  


The legacy of the New Deal influenced the public’s belief in the responsibility of government to deliver public services, to intervene in the economy, and to act in ways that promote the general welfare.