APUSH Unit 7 Review Notes

APUSH Unit 7 Review (1890-1945)

  • Overall themes: Shift from rural agrarian economy, rise of imperialism, the Progressive Era, two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the rise of pop culture.

American Imperialism

  • Imperialism defined: Expansion of a nation's empire.
  • Westward expansion as manifest destiny: Moving west was seen as America's destiny.
  • Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis:
    • Argued that westward expansion was a crucial part of American identity.
    • Led to people looking for new territories to expand into.
  • Purchase of Alaska (1867):
    • Bought from Russia for 7.2 million.
    • William Seward orchestrated the purchase.
    • Initially known as "Seward's Folly" due to perceived lack of value.

Debates Over Expansion

  • Imperialists:
    • Sought further expansion for raw materials and markets.
    • Belief in Social Darwinism: Applying "survival of the fittest" to nations.
    • Josiah Strong: Argued white people were the "fittest" race.
    • Alfred Thayer Mahan ("The Influence of Sea Power Upon History"):
      • Stressed the importance of a strong navy.
      • Advocated for a new fleet of ships.
  • Anti-Imperialists:
    • Advocated for self-determination for all nations.
    • Favored isolationism in foreign affairs.

Spanish-American War

  • Cuba as a Spanish colony: Highly desired by the U.S.
  • 1895: Cuban nationalists renewed their struggle to overthrow Spanish rule.
  • Yellow Journalism:
    • Dramatized Spanish atrocities in Cuba.
    • Convinced Americans that intervention was humanitarian.
  • 1898: USS Maine explosion in Havana Harbor:
    • Yellow journalists blamed Spain.
  • McKinley's response:
    • Demanded a cease-fire in Cuba, or war.
    • Asked Congress to declare war on Spain.
  • Effects of the War/American Win:
    • Acquisition of Caribbean/Pacific Islands.
    • Philippines:
      • Staged land invasion with the help of Filipino nationalists to overthrow Spain.
      • U.S. paid 20 million. to Spain.
      • Theodore Roosevelt's navy played a role in the bombardment.
      • Filipinos initially farmed.
  • 1898: Push to annex Hawaii:
    • 1893: Overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani.
  • Puerto Rico also became a U.S. territory.
  • Risks of Expansion:
    • Anti-possession sentiment due to fear of getting entangled in Asian conflicts.

Filipino Response

  • Initially supported US Intervention: But later opposed US annexation
  • Independence granted: 1946

Economic Tactics & Expansion

  • John Hay's Open Door Policy:
    • Sought economic opportunities in China.
    • Other countries had "spheres of influence" (exclusive trading rights).
    • The policy aimed to open trade to all.

Domestic

  • 1901: McKinley assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt became president.
  • TR's "Big Stick Diplomacy": Aggressive foreign policy.
    • U.S. became involved in various foreign affairs.

Panama Canal

  • Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine:
    • U.S. would send warships to other countries to enforce repayment of debts.

Progressive Era

  • Key Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson

Issues of Progressives

  • Rising power of big business.
  • Uncertainties in the economy.
  • Violence between labor groups and employers.
  • Influence of political machines.
  • Jim Crow segregation.
  • Rights of women.
  • Diverse Group: Protestants, feminists, African Americans.
  • Shared Belief: Vigorous government action leads to a good society.

Muckrakers

  • Term coined by Teddy Roosevelt for journalists who exposed societal problems.
  • Ida Tarbell: Exposed the realities of Standard Oil.
  • Jacob Riis: Photojournalist documenting urban conditions.
  • Upton Sinclair ("The Jungle"):
    • Exposed unsafe and unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry.
    • Aimed to alert the public to societal inequities.

Voter Participation

  • Secret Ballot: Ensured privacy in voting.
  • Direct Election of Senators: 17th Amendment.
  • Initiative/Referendum/Recall: Allowed for more direct involvement of citizens in government.

Efficiency of Government

  • Frederick Taylor: Scientific management in factory work to increase efficiency.
  • Progressives believed these principles could be applied to government.

Civil Rights

  • South: Lynching was prevalent.
  • Booker T. Washington: Advocated for political equality through economic means.
  • W.E.B. Du Bois: Advocated for economic equality as a prerequisite for political equality.
  • Niagara Movement: Led by Du Bois, focused on protest and activism for Black rights.
  • NAACP: Sought to abolish all forms of segregation.

Progressive Presidents

  • Teddy Roosevelt:
    • Wanted to set the legislative agenda for Congress.
    • Passed laws for consumer protection.
    • Pure Food and Drug Act: Ensured consumer safety.
    • Meat Inspection Act: Set standards for meatpacking.
    • Forest Preserve Act of 1891: Preserved 150 million acres of federal land.
    • Enforced the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (regulated big corporations).
      • "Good trusts": Honest practices, only regulated.
      • "Bad trusts": Deceptive practices, targeted for dissolution.
    • Square Deal:
      • Focused on fair treatment for both workers and corporations, during the Coal Miners Strike
  • William Howard Taft: Continued Roosevelt's policies.
  • Woodrow Wilson (1912): Focused on fighting against privilege (tariffs, banking).
    • Tariffs: Underwood Tariff (lowered tariffs).
    • Banks: Federal Reserve Act (1914):
      • Established a national banking system overseen by the government.
    • Trusts:
      • Clayton Anti-Trust Act: Clarified and strengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Women During the Progressive Era

  • Temperance:
    • Anti-Saloon League, leading to the 18th Amendment (Prohibition).
  • Women's Suffrage:
    • Protests led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment (women's right to vote).

World War I

  • Causes:
    • Initially, the U.S. remained neutral.
    • Sinking of the Lusitania (1915) by a German U-boat.
    • Germany continued unrestricted submarine warfare.
    • Zimmerman Telegram: Germany asked Mexico to become an ally against the U.S.
  • April 2nd, 1917: Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war.
  • American Expeditionary Forces:
    • Led by John J. Pershing.
    • Helped the Allies win despite limited involvement.

Home Front During WWI

  • Wilson's wartime agencies:
    • Centralized prices and control of railroads.
    • Great Migration: Black Southerners moved north seeking jobs (1.5 million people).
  • Restriction of Civil Liberties:
    • Espionage Act of 1917: Imprisonment for rebellion over war effort.
    • Schenk v. US: Upheld the law
    • Sedition Act of 1918: Prohibited disloyal comments about the government.

End of WWI

  • Treaty of Versailles (1919):
    • Wilson's 14 Points: Provisions for freedom of the seas, self-determination of nations, and the League of Nations.
    • League of Nations: Collective body where nations could peacefully resolve disputes.
    • U.S. Senate's Rejection: Feared being pulled into future wars.

Post-WWI

  • Anti-German Sentiment: Transformed into anti-communist sentiment.
  • Red Scare: Fear of communism spreading from Russia.
    • Led to widespread Xenophobia (fear of foreigners).
  • Further Immigration Restrictions.
  • Palmer Raids:
    • Tasked Hoover to gather info on suspected communists.
    • Over 6,000 people arrested and deported.

Politics in the 1920s

  • The end of progressivism.
  • Harding elected (Republican):
    • Promised a "return to normalcy."
  • Next 3 Republican presidents reduced government intervention.

Economies in the 1920s

  • Positives:
    • Economic boom.
    • Increased standard of living.
    • Business boomed (scientific management).
    • Henry Ford's assembly line led to an explosion in auto manufacturing.
    • Increased use of oil and electricity to power factories and automobiles.
    • Government policy (tax cuts/laissez-faire).

Culture in the 1920s

  • Urbanization: Half of Americans lived in cities.
  • Middle-Class Women: Homemakers/childbearers.
  • Urban women: More opportunities in nursing and teaching.
  • Flappers: Drank, short hair, rebels.
  • Immigrants Post-War: Catholics/Jews.
  • Nativism Backlash: Anti-immigrant sentiment impacting unions.
  • Immigration Quotas (1921/24):
    • Restricted Eastern/Southern European/Asian immigration.
  • New Forms of Art/Literature:
    • "The Lost Generation": Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald.
    • Harlem Renaissance:
      • Flourishing of Northern Black culture (result of Great Migration).
      • Jazz (Duke Ellington), Zora Neale Hurston (Literature).
  • Mass Culture:
    • Radio: Used by 1/3 of Americans.
    • Movies: Mass entertainment.
  • American Values:
    • Growing divisions between Protestants (rural vs. urban).
    • Modernists: Embraced changing culture (urban).
    • Fundamentalists: Condemned changing morals (rural).
    • Scopes Monkey Trial (1925): Taught evolution - Arrest & Trial. Fundamentalist wasn't well backed up.

Great Depression

  • Stock Market Collapsed: Oct 29th, 1929 (Black Tuesday).
    • Causes:
      • Buying stocks on margin (borrowed money to invest, debt to be repaid).
      • Huge volume of stock sold caused prices to drop.
      • October 29th: Panic as brokers sold, money lost.
  • Durings:
    • Poverty, homelessness, mortgages.
    • People lived in Hoovervilles (mocking President Hoover).

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932)

  • Hands-on Government.
  • New Deal: Addressed the 3 R's (Relief, Recovery, Reform).
    • Relief for Unemployed: PWA, TVA (ran power plants).
    • Recovery for Businesses: Glass-Steagall Act (banking reforms), FDIC (insured bank deposits with federal money).
    • Social Security Act (1935): Wages paid to retired.
  • Effect of New Deal: The U.S. became a limited welfare state.
    • Political realignment of Black voters to the Democratic Party.

Opposition to New Deal

  • Liberals: Believed it did "too much" for big business.
  • Conservatives: Believed it was extreme government overreach.
  • Supreme Court agreed and limited New Deal policies.
  • FDR's Judicial Reorganization Bill: Allowed him to appoint 6 new justices (those over 70.5 years old).
    • Called the "court-packing bill."
    • Congress Opposed.

Post-WWI (U.S. Back into Isolationism)

  • Causes:
    • Rise of fascist/authoritarian governments.
    • Japan's invasion of China.
    • Hitler invaded Poland.
    • France/Britain declared war on Germany.
  • Americans gradually gave aid to allies.
  • Cash/Carry Policy: Any ally could use US weapons if they paid in cash.
  • Lend-Lease Act: Allowed Britain to obtain arms from the U.S.
  • December 7th, 1941: Japanese invaded Pearl Harbor.

During WWII

  • Mobilization: Federal spending increased exponentially by 1,000% GDP Increase 15%. Private factories shifted to wartime production, industrial base aided a lot.
  • African Americans joined the military.
  • Mexican Americans also served.
  • Many farms left without labor.
  • 1942: Mexican farm workers given special entry.
  • Japanese Americans under suspicion:
    • Government sent over 100,000 to internment camps.
    • Korematsu v. U.S.: Upheld internment (wartime reces).
  • Fighting for survival of democracy.
  • Holocaust: U.S. discovered Nazi concentration camps.
  • D-Day invasion (European Theater): Allied forces pushed Germany back through France.
  • Germany Surrendered: May 7th, 1945.
  • Midway Island (Pacific Theater): Island hopping strategy.
    • Cut off Japanese supply lines.
  • Atomic Bomb: Ended the war with Japan (Hiroshima, Nagasaki).
  • Overall: U.S. was dominant because there was no fighting on their land.