Abridged PEPs - Civil War through WWI

Civil War 1861-1865

Who:               The Union [all free states and four (five after 1863) slave states] and eleven Southern Slave States

What:              The Lincoln administration regarded Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri (slave states loyal to the Union) as critical because of their geographical position. The Border States represented a serious dilemma for President Lincoln. He was convinced they were essential to victory (Lincoln:  “I hope I have God on my side, but I have to have Kentucky”).  He could not afford to alienate them with his emancipation policies, which could have driven them into the Confederacy.  He had to maintain that the war was to maintain the Union and not free the slaves.  He thus incurred the scorn of abolitionists.  (The Emancipation Proclamation, effective 1-1-63, did not free any slaves in Union-held land, only Confederate-held land.  The 13^th Amendment in 1865 freed all slaves.) Though the Border States remained in the Union, there were bitter divisions within those states.

Sig:                  These states played a large role in the victory of the North and pointed to one of Lincoln’s wartime dilemmas.

Source:            AP436-38

What:              The goal of the Union at the start of the Civil War was preservation of the Union.  By the end of the war emancipation had been added as a war goal.

Sig:                  Expansion of war goals over time demonstrates how war effects rapid change in society.  (Had it not been for the war, slavery would have continued indefinitely into the future.)

Source:            Class notes

Who:               African-American Soldiers

Where:             United States

What:              Approximately 180,000 African Americans comprising 163 units served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and many more African Americans served in the Union Navy. Both free African-Americans and runaway slaves joined the fight.  On July 17, 1862, Congress passed two acts allowing the enlistment of African Americans, but official enrollment occurred only after the September 1862 issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.  In actual numbers, African American soldiers comprised 10% of the entire Union Army.  In over 500 engagements, black soldiers won 22 Congressional Medals of Honor and more than 38,000 were killed. 

            Discrimination in pay and other areas remained widespread.   Soldiers of African descent were to receive $10.00 a month, plus a clothing allowance of $3.50, but the Army held back the full amount.  Many regiments struggled for equal pay, some refusing any money until June 15, 1864, when Congress granted equal pay for all black soldiers.

Sig:                  This marked the first time African Americans were allowed to fight as an organized and segregated unit in a war (starting with the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry).  Blacks were also granted the same pay as white soldiers even though it came near the end of the war

Source:            AP462-63

What:                          The Alabama was the most significant Confederate commerce-raider built by Britain.   Although flying the Confederate flag it never entered a Confederate port.  Britain was the chief naval base of the Confederacy.   The Alabama captured over sixty vessels until a Union cruiser destroyed it off the coast of France in 1864.

Sig:                  This shows how powerful the Confederacy was with the help of Britain. The Alabama and Britain’s role in the Civil War was a source of contention between the Union and Britain. (After the Emancipation Proclamation and intervention by Union diplomats, Britain began to withdraw overt support for the South.)

Source:            AP445

Antietam September 17, 1862

Who:               George McClellan (USA) and Robert E. Lee (CSA)

What:                          Lee invaded Maryland and was confronted by McClellan in one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.  While a draw, Lee withdrew back into Virginia and the North called it a “victory.”  Lincoln used the “victory” as the occasion to issue the preliminary emancipation proclamation.

Sig:                  France and Britain, upon seeing the Union’s unexpected power at Antietam, and further prompted by the Emancipation Proclamation, backed off from any further overt (formal) support for the Confederacy. 

Source:            AP459- 460

Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863

Who:               Lincoln

What:                          This was Lincoln’s Proclamation to free the slaves in all Confederate areas still in rebellion.  The Civil War was turned into a moral crusade as Union armies advanced into slave territory.  As the armies advanced, slaves were freed.  No slaves were to be freed in the Border States or Confederate lands then held by the Union.   Lincoln would not free all slaves, because that would lose him the support of the Border States that were slave and loyal to the Union. 

Sig:                  The Civil War became a moral crusade to abolish slavery, thus demonstrating to the world that more was at stake than simple preservation of the Union.  The Emancipation Proclamation changed the nature of the war because it effectively removed any chance of a negotiated settlement.  Source:       AP460-461

Higher Education: The Morrill Act of 1862

What:              This was a farsighted and statesmanlike law that provided a generous grant of the public lands to the states for support of education.  These “land-grant colleges,” many of them becoming state universities, in turn bound themselves to provide certain services, such as military training (e.g., Texas A&M).    An increasing number of women were participating in higher education.

Sig:                  After the Civil War, a college education seemed to be indispensable.  This Act furthered the sudden spurt of colleges and universities that occurred after the Civil War.   [Republican agenda during Civil War:  BART + Homestead + Education + preserve Union]

Source:            AP576-577

Reconstruction 1865 to 1877

What:              White and black sharecroppers now tilled the soil for a share of the crop (e.g., profits from the crop are split 50/50) or they became tenants in bondage to their landlords (tenants tilled the soil in return for land, housing, and money for supplies).  Former slaves used sharecropping and tenant farming as a system of production.  Sharecropping was the “predominant capital labor arrangement.”  Sharecropping became a trap forced upon the blacks that often had freedmen stuck in its unfair systems for years.  Unfortunately, these systems brought about “intense explicit or implicit desire of white Southerners to keep blacks subservient to them.” In addition to being held to the land by the landlord, farmers would buy on credit from merchants, using future crops as a “lien.”  Merchants manipulated the system to keep sharecroppers and tenants in perpetual debt. The systems often were manipulated by whites and cheated the blacks out of the little success and profit they had.  

Sig:                  Landowners and merchants kept poor white and black tenant and sharecropper farmers in perpetual debt, at the bottom of the social, economic, and political ladder.  Further, the shift from plantation agriculture to smaller farms further divided former masters from former slaves as slaves moved from the slave quarters to outlying fields.  This represents the reconfiguration of Southern agriculture after the Civil War.

What:              Laws passed by the legislatures of the southern states after the Civil War during Reconstruction in an attempt to regulate the activities of and place restrictions on the former slaves and to stabilize the labor force.  The codes sought to restore as nearly as possible the pre-emancipation system of race relations.   For example, through labor contracts, if freedmen quit contract jobs they could be arrested for vagrancy.   This labor force was overseen by whites who had a desire to maintain a very tight control over the blacks, even though they were technically free.   Also, blacks could not or serve on juries or vote.

Congressional (radical) reconstruction:  Military Reconstruction 1867-77

Who:               Congress and the U.S. Military

Where:             Reconstructed South

What:              Congress divided the South into five military districts commanded by a U.S. general.   Southern states had to adopt constitutions that gave African-Americans the vote and ratify the 14^th amendment (citizenship for African-Americans).  In effect, Martial Law was placed on the former Confederate states.   Tens of thousands of U.S. troops were sent into all seceded states (except Tennessee, admitted earlier before Radical Reconstruction occurred.)  Johnson vetoed the acts but Congress overrode his vetoes.  The most notable achievement of the Reconstruction state governments came in the area of public education.

Sig:                  The Radical Reconstruction of the South created bitterness on both sides.  The North was quick to judge the South and make them pay for their rebellious behavior, whereas the South grew embittered by the North’s refusal to accept re-admittance.  U.S. troops remained in the South until the Compromise of 1877.

Source:            AP492

What:              The Thirteenth Amendment gave freedom to the slaves in America and prohibited any slavery within the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment gave African-Americans citizenship. The Fifteenth Amendment gave African-American males the right to vote.

Sig:                  The Civil War Amendments represent a huge step forward in equal treatment of African-Americans.

Source:            AP461, 492-93 and A44-45 (A is the appendix at the end of the book)

What:             Johnson did have one victory--in foreign policy.   Russia wanted to sell Alaska for various reasons, and Johnson’s Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the treaty whereby the U.S. purchased Alaska for $7.2 million.  While assailed by many as “Seward’s Folly,” the Senate approved the treaty on the basis that some other nation might get it instead and there was the long-term possibility of furs, fish, and gold.  (Nobody at the time could have anticipated the much later oil and natural gas fields.)

Sig:                  Alaska proved to be a great strategic addition to the U.S. (In a global environment, Alaska is strategically placed on air routes.  Further, vast deposits of natural resources were found and exploited—notably oil at present.)

Source:            AP498

What:              From 1866 to 1890 (and most notably 1876), the U.S. Army and the Plains Indians fought for control of the Plains (largely in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana).  While the Army sustained various defeats, the superior firepower of the Army overwhelmed the Indians (who were forced to live on reservations).  By 1890 the wars were over.

Sig:                  The conquest of the Plains meant the conquest of the Indians and the virtual destruction of their nomadic, Buffalo-hunting way of life.  White people, with their barbed wire fences, deep-water wells, farms, cattle, railroads, and towns would displace the Indians for an entirely different kind of life.

What:              Corruption within and outside government was common during this period and damaged the reputation of presidents, most notably Grant (’69-’77).  In New York City, Boss Tweed and the Tammany Ring bilked the city out of up to $200 million.  During Grant’s time, there was the Credit Mobilier scandal, where Union Pacific Railroad officials formed the Credit Mobilier construction company and then over-billed the railroad, pocketing profits and bribing governmental officials to keep quiet.  The Whiskey Ring within the government stole excise taxes on whiskey.  Finally, there was the Secretary of War William Belnap who accepted bribes from Indian agents.

Sig:                  Grant’s administration was plagued by corruption and he did little about it.  He will always be remembered for this and is labeled one of our worst presidents.

Source:            AP505-06

What:                          The Act created the Civil Service Commission, which made appointments to government jobs based on examinations instead of the old “spoils” system.  This was prompted due to widespread disgust with “spoils” and because a deranged office seeker, Charles Guiteau, assassinated President Garfield.  (This act also made political campaign contributions from government employees illegal.)

Sig:                  Now government employees had to be qualified for their positions, instead of just getting their jobs based on who they knew or how much money they gave to politicians.  Politicians now had to look elsewhere for money, and corporations took up the slack.  Over time, more and more jobs were added to the civil service, and the spoils system, started by Andrew Jackson, was eventually destroyed.

Source:            AP515

What:           Helen Hunt Jackson, a Massachusetts writer of children’s literature, pricked the moral sense of Americans in 1881, when she published A Century of Dishonor.  The book chronicled the sorry record of government ruthlessness and chicanery in dealing with the Indians.  The book was sent to every member of Congress.

Who:               Native Americans

What:              Tribal land ownership was eliminated in favor of giving 160 acres of land to each Indian over 21.   The idea was to “civilize” the Indians and educate their children in the “white man’s ways.”   Assimilation of Indians was the goal and it did not work.  (This plan was dropped in favor of respect for Indian culture and tribal identity with Indian Reorganization Act of 1934—called the Indians’ “New Deal.”)

Sig:                  This “liberal” and “reform” effort to civilize Indians resulted in continued destruction of the Indian way of life and the Indians’ loss of over 100 million acres of land.

Source:                        AP603

What:              Starting in 1869 in Wyoming, western states began giving women the vote in state elections. 

Sig:                  Western states were more liberal in their treatment of women.  Western states led the way.  (Southeastern states lagged behind.)  The suffrage movement continued at the state level, finally ending with the 19^th Amendment in 1920, which granted women the vote (thus serving to end the battle for women’s right to vote).

Source:            AP588 (and see map on 587 which shows the west ahead of the east.)

Who:               Historian Frederick Jackson Turner

What:              In 1893, he argued that the frontier had a lasting impact on the democratic character of the American people.  His idea organized the study of U.S. History for a generation.  His thesis:   The settlement of the West by white people - "the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward" - was the central story of American history.  Here is what he said about the frontier shaping the American character:  “The result is that to the frontier the American intellect owes its striking characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom--these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier.”  [Bold added.]

Sig:                  His thesis was influential until the Depression and remains a source of discussion to this day.  There is an Anglocentric, imperialistic point of view loaded into his argument.  Further, he was unable to incorporate the role of government into the discussion of the development of the West.

What:              As productivity rose during the Gilded Age, prices for goods and farm products declined.  Farmers borrowed for seed and equipment and then had to pay back loans with dollars that were worth less (they were getting less for their crops).  Farmers felt cheated.

Sig:                  Farmers organized and supported various kinds of laws to promote their interests, notably:  1) railroad regulations, and 2) inflationary measures, including the increase in the money supply by printing paper money or coining silver.

Source:            AP612-16,

What:              The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 flatly forbade combinations in restraint of trade, without any distinction between “good” trusts and “bad” trusts. Bigness, not badness, was the sin.

Why:               The law was made to curb railroads and big business from creating monopolies through their control of trusts.

Sig.:                 This was Congress’s first attempt to limit the trusts.  The law proved ineffective, largely because it had only baby teeth or no teeth at all, and because it contained legal loopholes through which clever corporation lawyers would wriggle.  It was unexpectedly effective in one respect. Contrary to its original intent, it was used to curb labor unions or labor combinations that were deemed to be restraining trade.  [The Clayton Act of 1914 exempted labor unions from the Sherman Act.  Gompers called the Clayton Act the “Magna Carta” of the American labor movement.]

Source:            AP544-45 [684 for Clayton Act]

Populism (populist/peoples party) (notably the election of 1892)
Who:               Middle Westerners and Southerners (mostly farmers)

What:              They demanded an increase in the circulating money (free and unlimited coinage of silver), a graduated income tax, government ownership of the railroads, a tariff for revenue only, the direct election of U.S. senators, the initiative and referendum, immigration restriction, and appropriation of alien-held lands.
Sig:                  Populists garnered over 1 million votes in the 1892 presidential election. Progressive politicians subsequently adopted many of their reforms.

Source:            AP523-25, 613-617

What:              Homer Plessy refused to ride in a Jim Crow car on a Louisiana train.  He was tried in a criminal court by Judge Ferguson, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.  The court ruled that Jim Crow did not violate the 14^th Amendment equal protection clause because it did not “foster any inferiority of African Americans” as long as accommodations were “separate but equal.”  Justice John Marshall Harlan was the only dissenting vote on the Court and harshly criticized the decision, claiming our Constitution to be “colorblind.”

Source:            AP513 [Brown v. Board of Education is on 894]

What:              A method of monopolizing a market by buying out competitors.

Sig:                  Giants like Rockefeller used revolutionary and ruthless methods like horizontal integration to create trusts, stifling competition and leading in time to governmental regulation, starting with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

Source:            AP540

The American Federation of Labor: Samuel Gompers/1886-1900s

What:                          The AF of L was the brainchild of Samuel Gompers, president from 1886 to 1924.  Strong craft unions within the AF of L were able to pool monies to fund boycotts and walkouts, all toward the end of establishing closed shops in which all workers had to be unionized.  Crafts included cigar makers, electricians, carpenters, teamsters, for examples (no unskilled laborers).  The AF of L was more conservative, pursuing practical and immediate goals relating to wages, hours, and conditions of employment.  (Contrast this with the International Workingmen of the World (IWW), a union that wanted to attack capitalism.)

Sig:                  Under Gompers’s leadership, the AF of L became the premier labor union in American history.    Source:            AP554-5

What:              The Knights of Labor was the leading labor organization in the 1880s.  Starting off as a secret society, in 1881 it soon rolled out a welcome mat for all laborers, black, white, man, women, skilled, and unskilled. Refusing to become entangled in politics, they campaigned for economic and social reform. Blamed for the Chicago Haymarket riot of 1886, they went into decline.

Sig.:                 The Knights were an important early national labor union.  The public attitude toward labor was changing. They began to see the laborers right to bargain collectively and strike. Labor Day was even made a national holiday in 1894. In strikes, however, Presidents were willing to support management and call out troops if needed.  Further, the Sherman Antitrust Act was sometimes used against striking workers.

Source:            AP552-556

What:              The sewing machine, electric light bulb, typewriter, telephone, transoceanic cable, and elevator revolutionized business practices.  The assembly line was created to help businesses and factories produce more products at a faster pace.  

Sig:                  Technological improvements supplied people with more products at lower cost, thus improving the standard of living in general.  

Source:            AP733

Who:               Yale Professor William Graham Sumner       

What:              Social Darwinism is the misapplication to society of Charles Darwin’s principle of the “survival of the fittest.”  Only the strongest and “fittest” survive, allowing humans to move towards a just and peaceful society.   To literally feed, clothe, and shelter the needy would be inconsistent with Social Darwinism.   

Sig:                  Social Darwinism could be used to rationalize insensitivity to the needs of the poor and needy and justify to the rich their place in society.   [Further, Darwin’s thinking not only influenced “Social Darwinism” but another “ism,” i.e., Christian Fundamentalism (which was in part a reaction to Darwin’s theory relating to the descent of humankind from a more primitive being).]  (Contrast Social Darwinism and Christian Fundamentalism.)

Sources:           AP543

What:              Immigration changed drastically around the coming of the 20^th century; now, Jews, Italians, Croats, Greeks, Poles, and Slovaks started to arrive. Culturally and religiously they differed from old American (Anglo) stock.  Also, many of these new immigrants were generally illiterate people who preferred to work in industrial tasks rather than farming duties; they moved to America because Europe seemed to be running out of space for its people to inhabit and because of persecution. Many Americans profited from this immigration as industrialists wanted the low-wage labor, states wanted more population, railroads wanted buyers for their land grants, and the steamship lines wanted more human cargo in their holds; however, some were nativists who hated America being populated by foreigners with different languages, religions, and customs. Most of these immigrants settled in cities like New York and Chicago even though many of these “Little Italys” and “Little Polands” became slums; Jacob Riis wrote How the Other Half Lives to communicate to the American people the living conditions of these poor souls.

Sig:                  These new immigrants filled a demand for cheap labor and they helped spread much European culture to America; also, their immigration in part caused many of the slums to be created (due to the immense population increase).  A nativist reaction could be seen in the immigration laws of the 1920s.

Source:            Chapter 25 in general

Who:               Jacob Riis (1849-1914) was a Danish immigrant and reporter for the New York Sun.

What:              How the Other Half Lives (1890) was a powerful account that communicated the terrible living conditions of the New York slums. He told of the dirt, disease, vice, and misery of the rat-infested slums and convinced many to attempt to change these awful places.

Sig:                  This book convinced many to take action and helped fuel the Progressive movement.

Source:            AP657

What:              The cities in the early 20^th century had many problems that eroded the quality of life:

            1.         Criminals flourished. 

            2.         Sanitary facilities could not keep up with the population increase which led to impure water, unwashed bodies, uncollected garbage, and the leaving of animal droppings all around the cities.

            3.         The slums were particularly terrible places to live.

4.         Machine politics promoted widespread corruption. (Political machines such as Boss Tweed’s Tammany Hall in New York City would provide immigrants with immediate services such as clothing, food, and a place to stay.  Then a job would be found.  In return, the worker would vote for the boss’s candidate in order to maintain the job.  This simple and corrupt system filled a need that the city governments were unwilling and incapable of filling.)

Sig:      These problems prompted the emergence of the Progressive reform movement, including the settlement house movement.

Source:            Chapter 25 in general

Foreign Policy 1890 to 1914

What:              Jingoism is a word describing fanatical nationalism or patriotism; it can also mean bullying other countries or using whatever means necessary to safeguard a country’s national interests; entered US vernacular near the turn of the 20^th Century

Sig:                  Jingoism was evident in the big-navy advocates, the imperialists, the yellow journalists, and the pro-war faction that led to the Spanish-America War.

 Source:           Wikipedia

Who:               Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst

Where:             New York

What:              Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were owners of rival newspaper companies, the New York World (Pulitzer) and the New York Journal (Hearst).  They employed sensationalist headlines and articles, without great concern for the truth, in order to compete with each other.  Their style was called “yellow journalism.”

Sig:                  The press had a large impact on the public.  This was seen during the Spanish-American war—the yellow journalism of the papers spread lies about the Spanish, causing public outrage that propelled America into the war.

Source:            AP641, 687

Who:               Spain and the U.S.

What:              Causes: press exaggerated Spanish treatment of Cubans (public outrage); USS Maine sunk in Havana Harbor (Feb. 1898); press said ship had been blown up by the Spanish (public outrage); and America wished to spread the spirit of independence to oppressed Cuba. 

                        Effects: America became an imperial nation, obtaining Cuba (freed in 1902), the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 

Sig:                  The war made the U.S. an imperial overseas power, while at the same time creating a liability (the Philippines).

Source:            AP630-41, 648

Who:               Emilio Aguinaldo and the Filipinos, America

Where:             in the Philippines

What:              The US took the Philippines at the end of the Spanish-American War. Instead of granting them their independence as expected, the US had plans to make the Philippines an American colony.  Emilio Aguinaldo had been declared the first president of the Republic but the U.S. would not recognize his government.  11,000 ground troops of American soldiers had been sent to the islands to occupy them, and tensions rose between them and the Filipinos.   War broke out with brutal battles and large casualties on both sides; the Filipinos lost to the Americans but lived on to receive their independence later (1946).

Sig:                  America was truly an imperial nation, resorting to breaking former ties and resorting to ruthless war actions in order to attain more land and self-interest.  While America was so eager to help fight for Cuban independence, they fought just as hard and more to take away Filipino independence.

Source:            AP633-34, 642

Who:               The League included prominent American leaders, such as the presidents of Stanford and Harvard Universities, the novelist Mark Twain, the labor leader Samuel Gompers, and the steel king Andrew Carnegie.

What:              The League was created to fight the McKinley administration’s expansionist moves.  Objections to the annexation of the Philippines included:  1) the Filipinos thirst for freedom; 2) annexation violates “consent of the governed” philosophy according to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; 3) imperialism was costly and was unlikely to make a profit; and 4) annexation brought the possibilities for the United States to get involved needlessly in the political and military cauldron of East Asia.

Sig:                  There was strenuous and credible opposition to annexation of the Philippines.

Source:            AP637

The Far East:  John Hay and the Open Door Policy 1899-1900

Who:               Secretary of State John Hay

Where:             China

What:              John Hay dispatched to all great powers a communication that urged them to announce that in their areas of influence in China that they respect Chinese territorial integrity and fair competition in China. (The U.S. was a late arrival in China and the Open Door was a way to get into the China trade.)   All the great powers save Russia agreed to this. (Later, the U.S. and Japan signed the Root Takahira agreement in 1908 and were parties to the Nine Power Agreement in 1922, both of which pledged both powers to uphold the Open Door Policy in China. As Japan later violated the Open Door with its invasions of China, the U.S. stubbornly held onto to the Open Door, while Japan arrogantly rejected it.  This all contributes to the rising tensions between the U.S. and Japan, which culminated in Pearl Harbor on 12-17-41.)

Sig:                  The Open Door policy remained a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy in Asia until China “fell” to the Communists in 1949.)

Source:            AP642-43, 651

The Panama Canal--Construction started in 1904 – completed in 1914

Who:               President Theodore Roosevelt

Where:             Panama

What:              The Spanish-American War had emphasized the need for the canal across the Central American isthmus.  After the Panama route was decided, a treaty was negotiated between the U.S. and a Colombian government agent.  The Colombian senate rejected the treaty.  The infuriated Roosevelt, eager to be elected, was anxious to start the canal in order to impress the voters. The Panama Revolution started and Colombian troops were gathered to crush the uprising, but U.S naval forces would not let them cross the isthmus.  Roosevelt justified this interference by a strained interpretation of the treaty of 1846 with Colombia. Fifteen days later, the new Panamanian minister signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty.  The price of the canal strip was left the same, but the zone was widened from 6 to 10 miles.  Active work on the canal began in 1904.  In 1914, the canal project was completed at the initial cost of about $400 million.

Sig:                  The Panama Canal augmented the strength of the navy by increasing its mobility.  The Canal also made easier the defense of such recent acquisitions as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the Philippines, while facilitating the operations of the American merchant marine.  The arrogance of the U.S. alienated Central and South Americans.  TR said he took the Canal Zone, which was not the kind of sentiment that could be expected to engender love and respect among Latin nations for the U.S.  In 1921, two years after T.R. died, Congress in effect apologized to Columbia and paid some conscience money.

Source:            AP648-49

T.R. and Russo- Japanese War

Who:               Theodore Roosevelt

Where:             Russia and Japan

What:              War with Russia and Japan broke out in 1904.  Japan beat Russia, but due to internal problems Japan secretly asked T.R to broker a peace settlement.  At Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905, Roosevelt guided the two parties to a settlement.

Sig:                  Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906.   More importantly, this was the first modern victory of an Asian power over a European power and foreshadowed the rise of Japan as the dominant power in Asia in the first half of the 20^th century.

Source:            AP650

Where:             Became effective when the U.S. took over the management of tariff collections in the Dominican Republic.

What:              Latin American debt defaults prompted Roosevelt to be involved in affairs south of the border. Roosevelt feared that if British or Germans became bill collectors, they might stay in Latin America, which would strictly go against the Monroe Doctrine. He then declared a policy of “preventive intervention” which was better known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.   Roosevelt announced that in the event that a future financial malfeasance by a Latin American nation, the U.S. would intervene, take over the customhouses, pay off the debts, and keep Europeans on the other side of the Atlantic.  

Sig:                  This speaks to the heavy-handed foreign policy of TR, which created bitterness in Latin nations to the south of the U.S.  Future presidents would send troops into Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Mexico for various reasons, further alienating Latin peoples

Source:            AP649-50

Source:            AP675-76, 685

Progressive Era 1900-1920

Who:               Mostly middle class men and women (and largely white and urban)

Where:             U.S.A. (especially big cities such as Chicago and New York)

What:              The progressive movement of the early 1900s involved both men and women working at all levels of government to achieve many reforms.  The cities were literally filthy and corruption was common at both the local and state levels.  Big business was rapacious (greedy) and uncontrolled.   The Progressives responded quite well to myriad tasks (except justice for African-Americans). The “Muckrakers” were one aspect of this movement’s reform-mindedness, with writers exposing the social, political, and economic ills of the nation.  Further, some progressives used appeals to Christian morals to improve life for the poor, and Feminists fought for temperance and women’s suffrage.  (An argument could be made that the origins of Progressivism are to be found among white, urban, middle-class people who felt threatened by filthy cities, corruption, big and greedy corporations, a huge alien immigrant population, and socialist agitation for the destruction of capitalism.  Thus the Progressive Movement arose out of the fear of many Americans.  This is merely an argument that makes some sense.)

Sig:                  Progressivism achieved many lasting triumphs in consumer protection, conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, getting rid of corruption, installing capable and honest government, welfare laws for women, children, and laborers, and laws that brought more political power to the people (e.g., direct election of senators, the secret ballot, the initiative, referendum, and recall, and the vote for women).            

Source:            AP 656-62

John Dewey and Pragmatism 1880s on

Who:               Educated journalists and writers such as Upton Sinclair (The Jungle, 1906), Lincoln Steffens (The Shame of the Cities, 1904), and Ida Tarbell (The History of the Standard Oil Company, 1904)

What:              Socially and politically conscious journalists, publishers and writers who used magazines, newspapers and other forms of publishing as a vehicle to expose business and social injustices, they campaigned for honesty in government and business. Important periodicals included magazines such as McClure’s  and brought to light the problems in areas such as corruption in government, underhanded practices allying businesses and city governments, railroad and trusts monopolization of business and politics, prostitution, child labor, and problems in the medicinal field.

Sig:                  The Muckrakers were instrumental in exposing problems in society and raising the public consciousness which empowered the powerful progressive voting block to be more effective.  

Source:            AP 658-59

Where:             Chicago meat processing plants.

What:              This novel by Upton Sinclair describes the life of a family of Lithuanian immigrants working in Chicago’s stock yards during the end of the 19^th century.  Public outrage followed publication, and Roosevelt sent Commissioner Charles P. Neill and social worker James Reynolds to Chicago to make visits to meat packing facilities.  They were disgusted by the conditions at the factories and at the harsh treatment the workers endured, and reported back to Roosevelt.  After this, the Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act were enacted (1906).  Ironically, Sinclair, a socialist, was disappointed with the laws because they did not address the working conditions of the workers.  ("I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.")

Sig:                  This book was the basis of educating the nation about the corrupt meat packing businesses, the inhuman treatment of the workers.  Roosevelt became a supporter of the regulation of the meat packing industry.  The book was also the inspiration for the Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

Source:            AP667-68

and the “Atlanta Compromise” Speech of 1895

When:              Dominant from 1880-1915

What:              President Theodore Roosevelt (TR) was interested in the well being of the public and created a broad program referred to as the “Three C’s.” They were:  

            1) Control of the corporations

                        In 1902, TR’s plan was tested at the outbreak of the anthracite coal strike in Pennsylvania. He worked out a compromise of a 10 percent pay boost for the miners and a working day of nine hours after threatening mine owners with using troops to operate the mines and asking Wall Street to dump mine company stock.  (This was the first time a president stood between management and labor and did not merely side with management.)   Here is the origin of the 1904 presidential campaign phrase, “square deal.”  The phrase relates to his attempting to establish a “square deal” between management and labor, specifically referring to his settlement of the anthracite coal strike of 1902.  The phrase can be expanded to include what TR did under the “3Cs.” 

            2) Consumer protection

            3) Conservation of natural resources.

                        The Newlands Act of 1902 used the profit from the sale of public lands for irrigation projects in the Southwest.  The Brown Pelican Refuge, the nation’s first wildlife refuge, was established in Florida in 1903. Finally, 125 million acres of forests were set aside for federal reserves.  

Sig:                  TR began the process that continued for the remainder of U.S. History:  using an energetic national government to do what is required to control corporations, protect the consumer, and conserve natural resources.   Start energetic and intrusive national government activities with TR, and then reenergize them under FDR and the New Deal. 

Source:            AP665-73

What:              The FTC (1914) is an independent agency of the United States government.   Its principal mission is the prevention of unfair or anticompetitive business practices. The FTC contains a bipartisan body of five members appointed by the President of the United States for seven year terms. This Commission was authorized to issue Cease and Desist orders to large corporations to curb unfair trade practices.

Sig:                  The Federal Trade Commission was one of President Wilson's legislative actions designed to promote fair competition.  The FTC is consistent with Wilson’s New Freedom agenda.

What:              The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States.   Wilson supported the creation of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) through a law passed in 1913, charging the FRB with a responsibility to foster a sound banking system and a healthy economy.  There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks nationwide, each issuing standard paper money.  The FRB regulates the amount of currency in circulation through various devices, including setting the interest that banks are charged for borrowing money from a Federal Reserve bank.   (If the rate is high, there will be less spending and the economy will cool; if the rate is low, there will be more spending and the economy will heat up—according to the macroeconomic theory that supports current FRB thinking.)

Sig:                  The Federal Reserve Act is one of Wilson’s most important achievements, creating a national banking system that has endured for almost one hundred years.  

Source:            AP683-84

Source:            APA45-A46

What:              Culturally, Americans were closer to Britain than Germany; trade with Britain skyrocketed, while trade with Germany dropped to almost nothing; Britain violated property rights on the high seas, while Germany violated human rights through its conduct of submarine warfare against merchant ships.  While the U.S. wanted to stay out of the war, when the Germans began sinking U.S. ships in March, 1917, Wilson took the U.S. to war.

Sig:                  The U.S. stayed out of the war for almost three years, yet due to support for Britain and the submarine warfare of Germany, the U.S. finally got involved.

Source:            AP689-91, 696-97     

Who:               United States (England as well)

What:              After war broke out in Europe in 1914, President Wilson issued a neutrality proclamation. The British were upset with this decision since they were culturally, linguistically, and economically connected to the U.S. The British began forcing American vessels into their ports for trade. The Germans announced a submarine war zone. They sank the Lusitania, in which 128 Americans died, and issued the Arabic and Sussex pledges to not attack unarmed ships.  Wilson asked the U.S. people to be neutral in thought and deed, but close relationships with Britain made that impossible.  Further, the British blockade caused business with Germany to fall off tremendously and go up several times over with the British.

 Sig:                 The ties with Britain, along with the British blockade, were too strong to remain neutral in thought and deed.  By the time of U.S. entry into the war in 1917, the U.S. was not in fact neutral, and both sides knew that—it was only a matter of time before the U.S. would be sucked into the fight, and the Germans prompted U.S. entry when it began to sink our ships in March, 1917.

Source:            AP688-691, 696

What:              While technically advanced, Birth of A Nation (1915) by D.W. Griffith was a blatantly racist movie that glorified the Ku Klux Klan.   

Sig:                  The movie promoted racism and the reemergence of the KKK after WWI.

Source:            AP738

Who:               President Wilson

What:              War Industries Board of 1917-18 was meant to provide a national plan for the organization of the labor and factory efforts to aid the War effort.  The WIB was largely cooperative, with the WIB working with industry to maximize production by increasing productivity and resolving labor disputes to avoid strikes.  Coming late in the War, it was relatively ineffective.

Sig:                  The War Industries Board was a step toward national management of the private sector for war.  (War boards arose again with greater authority to ration goods during WWII.)      

Source:            AP701

What:              1) Industrial Production:  Factories were reorganized to make bombs and guns. A popular saying was “Labor Will Win the War” and the War Department, in 1918, said “work or fight” threatening all unemployed people with the draft.

                        2)  Women.  Women gained a greater foothold in the workplace. With many new jobs opening up, women came forward to fill them.

                        3)  Agriculture.  Accompanying the boom in manufacturing was a boom in agriculture. Herbert Hoover headed up the Food Administration and introduced a number of policies like “meatless Tuesdays” and the growing of “victory gardens” to aid the war effort.

                        4)  Energy.  The Fuel Administration also adopted such efforts to great success.

                        5)  War bonds.  The large-scale sale of war bonds helped greatly in funding the war.

                        6)  The Draft.  One problem was the shortage of troops.  Because of this a draft bill was begun, requiring all males between 18 and 45 years of age to sign up and nobody could hire a replacement:  only men in industries such as shipbuilding were exempt.

Sig:                  While women generally returned to the homes after the war, their contribution furthered their quest for the vote (19^th Amendment, 1920).   The War Industries Board, the Fuel Administration, and the Food Administration demonstrated the national government’s willingness to organize and manage the private economy in wartime.  This would occur again in WWII.  (The draft in WWII was started before the war; it occurred during the war in WWI.  Further, control of the economy by the government was much greater during WWII.)  The hysterical fear of espionage would reappear in WWII with the internment of the Japanese.

Source:            AP700-707

Who:               President Woodrow Wilson delivered the Fourteen Points Address to the U.S. Congress.

Sig:                  The Fourteen Points held out hopes for a lasting peace, self-determination for previously subjugated minorities, and an international organization that would ensure a peaceful future world.  The Allies, however, were too interested in punishing Germany, and the U.S. Senate balked at the League of Nations.  The U.S. Senate did not agree to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, largely because of the League.  (The U.S. signed a separate peace with Germany in 1921.)  The idealistic Wilson was swept away by European realpolitik and the U.S. Senate’s fear of foreign entanglements.

Source:            AP698-99, 710-11

Who:               U.S. and various nations involved in WWI, including Germany.