unit 5

11.1
start of the progressive era

 progressivism: a collective response to problems in the US following the industrial revolution

 beliefs:
o industrial revolution caused problems; reform is necessary
o wanted honest government – take down political machines
o take down big business – dishonest trusts
o create laws to improve working conditions

progressive people

 reformers talking about it – muckrakers

o liked to focus on the “ugly” side of the issues
o Jacob Riis? exposing the living conditions of tenement housing. Upton Sinclair? wrote about
immigrant conditions
 reformers taking action – progressives
o created laws/organizations to improve issues
o presidents – Teddy, Taft, Wilson
o Jane Adams: brought settlement housing to US; Hull housing in Chicago, part founder of the ACLU

improvements to labor and safety

 laws passed against child labor

 US children’s bureau: evaluated any issue affecting children
o set minimum age for employment and limited hours
 laws passed to make work/home safer
o workman’s compensation, zoning laws, building codes, health codes

new political reforms

 initiative: allows citizens to bring a proposed new law to vote on the next election
 referendum: allows citizens to approve/reject laws already passed
 recall: gives voters the right to remove elected officials from office before the term is up
 17th amendment: direct election of senators by voters, not legislators

11.2
pre-civil war situation for women

 make a difference “privately”

 lacked legal/economic rights
 1830’s – women begin working outside the home and get involved in reform movements
 2 trends change female way of thinking
 o hiring people to help at home
o abolitionists point out similarities between slavery and restrictive lives of women

early women’s movement

 July 1848 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women’s rights convention
 Seneca Falls convention
o declaration of sentiments: list of unjust treatments towards women
o heated debate and discussion

1900’s – women’s movement

 more educated, more involved reform

 fed up with lower pay and giving wages to husbands/fathers
 new goals – right to vote
 continued work of Susan B. Anthony and worked towards an amendment
making progress

 Carrie Chapman Catt – led NAWSA

o recruits well-educated, wealthy, and diverse women to serve as “suffragettes”
 1910 – gained much support during progressive movement
o organized parades, rallies, campaigns
 Alice Paul – organized marches with picket signs; more radical approach to protesting
o arrested often
o led hunger strikes in jail – was force fed

11.5-11.6
imperialism … what is it?

 when strong countries want to expand the size of their nation

o economic, political or military control over weaker nations
 the Monroe doctrine
o western hemisphere is no longer open to European colonization
 3 motives for US to imperialize…
3 motives of imperialism

 1. military advantages and alliances

o coaling stations
o Alfred T. Mahan… construction of large, modern navy
 2. american superiority
o nationalism – strong pride in your country
o white man’s burden – responsibility to spread Christianity and “civilization” to the world
 3. economic growth
o foreign trade would create new markets
let’s start with… Alaska

 William Seward, bought Alaska from Russia in 1867

 wanted AK for 2 reasons
o reduce foreign ownership in north america
o natural resources
 why was the purchase called Seward’s folly?
next… pacific

 US takes over midway islands and Hawaii… why?

o served as a coaling station
o sugar
 queen Liliuokalani put up a fight
 annexed Hawaii in 1898
o annex… to incorporate territory into an existing country or state

trouble in Cuba

 one of Spain’s last colonies

 US busines invested $50 million+ in Cuba – sugar and railroads
 Cuba rebelled against Spain
o destroyed property to encourage US intervention
 25. William McKinley (R) – Ohio
o swore to protect US $$ in Cuba
o hoped to avoid war

war fever grows

 spain sends “butcher” general wyeyler to stop rebellion

 headline wars…
o William Randolph Hearst vs. Joseph Pulitzer
o wanted to sell the mot papers
 yellow journalism: sensational and exaggerated stories to gain american sympathy to cuba
 spain’s foreign minister, De Lomé, sent a letter
the last straw…

 USS Maine blows up in Havana Harbor

o April11, 1898
o 266 americans killed
 cause of the explosion is unknown, but US blamed Spain
o remember the Maine!
 why did McKinley finally declare war? promised to protect american people and business
causes of the Spanish american war
1. cuban rebellion against spain
2. needed to protect american investments
3. yellow journalism
 4. USS Maine

wartime in the pacific and on land

 US declares war on spain; Teddy Roosevelt prepares on the navy

o battle in the Philippines and cuba
 armies unprepared – how so? poorly trained and supplied
 TR and the rough riders
o cavalry men
o battle and San Juan Hill
 led a successful uphill charge
treaty of paris

 ended the war

o spain lost miserably
 cuba free from Spanish control
 US now owns Puerto Rice, Guam, and Philippines
 US now an imperial power
cuban “freedom” if…

 platt amendment
o no treaties may be made
o let US buy/rent cuba coaling stations
o keep debt low
o US may step in to protect cuba

consequences of imperialism

 destroys local economy

 causes war and rebellion
 negative perception by the world
 high cost of maintaining overseas territory

11.4 and 11.7

emerging as a world power

 McKinley reelected in 1900

o teddy chosen as VP
 McKinley assassinated in NY
 TR became the youngest president in the US at 42
getting to know teddy

 boyish energy
  wanted to end corruption in government and business
 strong foreign policy, made US a world power

Roosevelt foreign policy

 “speak softly and carry a big stick”

 traveled around world to showcase US navy
 TR helps Panama gain independence from Columbia
o signed treaty to build a canal

panama canal

 one of the world’s greatest engineering accomplishments

 cut 8,000 miles off travel around south america
 why is the panama canal useful to the US?
Roosevelt corollary

 addition to the Monroe doctrine

 US would be the police force in latin america
o intervene when necessary

teddy the trust buster

 square deal – fair and equal treatment for all

 regulated trusts and big biz
 enforced Sherman anti-trust act
 passed laws to protect consumers
meat packing industry

 horrible working conditions for immigrants

 Upton Sinclair – the jungle
o discovered unsanitary practices in meat packing
 TR ordered an investigation
o meat inspection act
o food and drug administration
o pure food and drug act
o Roosevelt’s conservation plans
 John Muir – legislation to conserve land
 Gifford Pinchot – preserve forests for public use
 TR worked with both men to create the national park service
o established protected forests, parks, and wildlife reservations
o set regulations for protected land and animals from overuse, hunting, and destruction

Taft is handpicked

 27. William Howard Taft (rep)

 o Tariff reform, breaking up trusts
o dollar diplomacy – using US $ to promote business in Latin america
 took harsher stance on trusts than TR
 election of 1912 – 3 parties
o TR runs again; progressive party “bull moose”
o what was TR/Taft’s disadvantage?

meet mr. Wilson

 28. Woodrow Wilson (d)

o progressive ideas
o destroy monopolies – not regulate
o lower tariffs
 16 amendment – created income tax
th

o graduated income tax – a percentage instead of a flat rate – wealthy people end up paying “more”

the “fed” and the FTC

 needed to restore confidence in banking

o create supervision over country’s $$
 federal reserve system
o controls deposits, reserve banks
o controls $$ supply and credit
o regulates interest rates
 federal trade commission – monitors business, false advertising, and dishonest labeling

12.1
4 MAIN causes of WWI

 militarism – building up armed forces; preparing for war – biggest army? Germany. navy? England
 alliances – agreements to defend and aid other countries
 imperialism – building an empire (nations competed for natural resources)
 nationalism – having pride in your country and being ready to defend it
pre-war alliances

 the triple entente

o France
o Russia
o Britain (UK)
o Italy
o eventually, the allied powers
 the triple alliance
o Germany
o Austria-Hungary (AH)
o eventually, the central powers
  neutral countries – Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, and others
a spark ignites Europe

 European leaders “felt” the war coming

o not “of” but “when”
o major arms race put countries on edge
 Archduke Ferdinand of AH is assassinated by a Serbian nationalist
 powder-keg example? baseball fights
 AH declares war on Serbia
o July 28, 1914

the great war begins

 in Europe
o fighting begins
 western front
 trench warfare and new weapons caused an extremely deadly war
 in the US
o propaganda from Allies to help fight
o division among immigrants
o President Wilson declared neutrality
 fighting far away
 didn’t want to risk lives
 still trade with both sides
trench warfare

 trench – network of ditches and tunnels on the battlefield

o many casualties
o won minimal ground
o no man’s land
 “war of attrition”
 battle of the Somme
o lost 1.2 million lives
o gained only 7 miles

new era of modern warfare

 poison gas, armored cars and tanks, airplanes, flame throwers, and automatic machine guns
opinions on WWI

 after Germany’s attack on Belgium, 3 major opinions emerge in the US

o isolationist
o interventionist
o internationalist

meanwhile, in the water

  seas around Britain were a war zone
 Britain set up blockades
 German U-boats
o submarines
o surprise attacks on ALL boats
o sinking of Lusitania
o British passenger ship
 did this send US into war? no

Wilson remains neutral

 after Lusitania, Wilson does not call for war

 runs for re-election
 tries to make peace with Germany
Zimmerman note (1917)

 secret telegram sent from Germany to Mexico

 encouraged Mexico to attack the US in the event of war

12.2
wartime america

 US government took on a new power in WWI

o production
o public opinion
 Selective service act
o military draft
 register at 18
 lottery system, some exempt
 *Spanish Flu – 1918 – 1919
o H1N1 pandemic
o 25 – 50 million killed
o horrific symptoms

economy shifts gears

 peacetime  wartime production

 war industries board
o converted factories to production of war-related goods
 *food administration
o public produces more, eat less
o rationing and victory gardens
 *national war labor board
o guaranteed workers’ requests in exchange for no strikes
 o “work or fight”

US business naturally supports the Allies – exports with Germany goes down when war begins but others go up
committee on public information

 created to educate the public on the war; to gain public support

 George Creel
 1st propaganda agency
 posters, slogans, articles
 “four-minute men”
 difference between YJ and
liberty bonds

 US citizens loan the US government $$

 government need to pay for the war
 how did the government pay for the war? raise taxes
civil liberties – not so much

 conscientious objectors
o fought the draft
 espionage act
o harsh penalties for spying, aiding the enemy, or interfering with army recruitment
 sedition act
o crime to say/write anything against the war

major social change

 labor shortage
o new job opportunities for women and minorities
 great migration
o AA men and women moving north for jobs
o 6 million 1910 – 1970
 harsh treatment of German – Americans – examples? stop teaching German in schools

12.3
turning the tide

 allies were skeptical of US troops changing outcome of war

 germans increased attacks
 allies responded with convoy systems
 US was able to send mass amounts of troops and supplies
biggest advantage the allies had

 fresh, eager, group of soldiers

 o doughboys
 central powers had the same men fighting
o basketball example

shell shock

 soldiers spent long period of time down in the trenches

 effects of ever-ending gun fire led to discovery of a new mental disorder
 combat stress reaction
 post – traumatic stress order (PTSD)

TN WWI hero

 Alvin C York
o mountaineer from TN
o conscientious objector
 killed about 25 germans and captured 132
o congressional medal of honor

powers collapse … war is over!

 germans were exhausted and signed an armistice to end the war

 ***November 11, 1918
 nations meet in Paris to discuss peace
president Wilson’s 14 points

 plan for peace

o ways to prevent another war
o no secret treaties, freedom of the seas, reduce arms, free trade
o self-determination
o league of nations
 eventually rejected by the allies
o except for the league of nations

treaty of Versailles

 paris peace conference – the big 4

o leaders from England, France, US, and Italy
 treaty of versailles humiliated Germany
o forced to admit sole responsibility for starting the war
o limited size of the German army
o reparations
 established 9 new countries
o Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia
o how did the treaties create more problems in Europe?
  established league of nations
president Wilson

 promoted his peace plan all over the US

 suffered a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed
 US congress refused to join the league of nations – what message does this send? not important
consequences of WWI

 treaty of Versailles did not solve problems in Europe

 intensified anti – immigrant feelings in america
 caused unrest and instability in European countries
 extreme loss of life