CHAPTER 19 - WHOSE GOVERNMENT?

POLITICS, POPULISTS AND

PROGRESSIVES, 1880 - 1917
1. What were the four goals of Progressive reformers? - (Slideshare Images 2-9)
The four goals were: Cleaning up politics, limiting the power of big business, reducing
poverty and programming social justice. Basically these four goals would aid to eliminate the
problems caused by political corruption and would allow educated people to be in
government.
2. What was the spoils system and how did it relate to the Pendleton Act?

The spoils system makes reference to a practice in which the political parties of the
government distribute positions of power among their own people seen all over the world
when a certain party gains power. The spoils system ceased to exist with the Pendleton Act
of 1883 which was passed in the wake of James Garfield`s death and it is a nonpartisan civil
service commission to fill federal jobs by examination. It sought to ensure that government
positions were filled by trained, professional employees.

3. What was the Omaha Platform?

It was an 1892 statement by the populist party calling for stronger government to protect
ordinary Americans. It called for public ownership of railroad and telegraph systems,
protection of land from monopoly and foreign ownership, a federal income tax on the rich,
and a looser monetary policy to help borrowers.

4. Who was Jacob Coxey and why did he have an army?

Jacob Coxey of Ohio was a radical businessman. Coxey in the summer of 1894 proposed
that the U.S government hire the unemployed to fix America’s roads. He organized hundreds
of jobless men to march peacefully to Washington and appeal for the program. These people
were nicknamed Coxey’s army. However, the march didn’t end well and most were taken to
prison.

5. What was the Democrat’s “Solid South” and how did its development affect blacks?

The South was the only region where Democrats gained strength in the 1890s which is why
it was known as the “Solid South”. This strategy allowed an increase in political support
among white voters in the south by appealing to racism and denouncing populists for
advocating “Negro rule”. This allowed democrats to look for new ways to enforce white
supremacy and African Americans had to go through injustices such as Williams v.
Mississippi which stated they had a court ruling that allowed states to impose poll taxes and
literacy tests.

6. Briefly discuss Theodore Roosevelt’s approach to environmentalism? - (SSIs 19-21)

Roosevelt was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. By the end of his presidency he had issued
fifty-one executive orders creating wildlife refuges and signed several bills advocated by
environmentalists. He oversaw the creation of five national parks including Mesa Verde. 18
national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries and wildlife refugees and 150 national
forests. Just an additional fact he aided to the eventually worldwide phenomenon of “Teddy
Bears”
7. Who was W.E.B. DuBois and as you think about his ideas, does he or Booker T.
Washington seem like a more compelling advocate for the advancement of blacks at
this time?

W.E.B DuBois (1868 - 1963) was a Harvard educated sociologist (the first African American
to earn a PhD in philosophy) who called for the talented tenth of educated blacks to develop
new strategies. In 1905 he called along with trotter a meeting on the Canadian side of the
Niagara Falls. He was co-founder and became editor of the NAACP journal. His ideas were
much bolder than those of Booker and his followers opposed Booker’s ideals. In my opinion
Booker's ideas were much more progressive and important than those of Booker because
Booker compromised with the whites and encouraged African Americans to submit to white
political domination for a little representation in the South. DuBois was adamant on civil
rights and political representation with the talented tenth which in my opinion allowed more
advancement of blacks than those of Booker T. Washington.

8. For This Question: Do we need a Progressive Movement now, and could one
succeed? What sort of problems would this movement deal with, if you were in
charge? Please come up with three things that you think need reforming in the United
States at the current time.

In my opinion it would be good to have a new progressive movement because we have

grown as a country however there are still many things that we need to fix and improve and
with a good progressive movement that looks for a better government and that is made up of
good educated people that are responsible and whose main goal is to improve the nation we
can radically transform the United States as it was already transformed with the previous
progressive movement. However, we do have some setbacks because for this progressive
movement to work we would need a good president who is sympathetic to their ideas and
efforts.

If I were in charge of this progressive movement three things that I would reform would be:

● Education, mostly in ways so that it can be accessible to all without having to spend
most of our lives paying a student loan.
● The health care system so that it can also be accessible to all
● Law enforcement. In my opinion it needs to be reformed due to the amount of abuse
and lack of protection that the police force is providing, mostly to African Americans.

CHAPTER 20 - AN EMERGING WORLD POWER, 1890 - 1918

1. What were the so-called “foundations of empire”? (Slideshare Images 2-8)

The foundations of empire were all the events that led to Imperialism in the United States. It
all started with what interests were better for the US was it Isolationism or Internationalism?
The U.S grew rapidly it became stronger and more productive however they did face an
issue that other imperialists powers didn’t and it was that they didn’t have as much people or
interests to sell the things they were producing. This was due to the lack of imperialism in the
U.S.
It can all be broken down, quoting the slideshare, “in how the U.S acquired overseas
territories and Colonies. This was only possible because of the William Seward vision of the
importance of access to global markets, the need for dominance of the lesser peoples of the
world, the “frontier thesis” and the need for new frontiers to conquer, an increase in
American industrial productivity, and lastly a desire for glory.”

2. What was the Teller Amendment?

It was an amendment added to the 1898 U.S declaration of war against Spain, added by
Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado, disclaiming any intention by the U.S to occupy Cuba.
The Ammendment reassured Americans that their country would uphold democracy abroad
as well as at home.

3. What sort of interests did the U.S. have in China at this time, and what did this have
to do with our relationship with the Japanese?

The US after watching the spheres of influence in coastal China fearful of being shut out the
U.S secretary of State John Hay made the first move and sent the powers a note in 1899 for
an “open door” policy claiming a right of equal trade access. The second move was made by
Hay as well when “Boxers” rebelled against foreign occupation in 1900 and this allowed to
assert a second “open door” policy. Japan at this point was very powerful and was the first
non-western nation to defeat a European power in this case Russia and gained control of
both Korea and Manchuria, Roosevelt understood the power Japan had and in 1905 the US
approved Japan’s protectorate over Korea. Roosevelt even declined to aid China against
Japanese control over Manchuria. In 1908 the Root-Takahira Agreement was signed by the
US and Japan which in my opinion showed the respect the US had for Japan.

4. What was the importance of the Panama Canal? - (SSIs 16-17)

It gave the U.S power in the western hemisphere by having rapid access to two oceans. The
Panama Canal allowed easy access for trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It
also gave U.S naval vessels quick access to the pacific.

5. What was the general attitude of Americans toward World War I initially?

It was to remain neutral. Most people claimed that the U.S had nothing to do with the issues
going on within the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. Wilson thought he could influence
the post war settlement. Even after the creation of the U boat that cost many U.S lives
Americans had strong opinions against entering the war.

6. How did economics and submarines make it hard for the U.S. to remain neutral?

The U.S wanted to trade with all of the nations which was the main reason to remain neutral,
however Britain held command power at sea, and set a blockade on the central powers to
cut off supplies and equipment. If Germany won the war it would mean a great loss for the
U.S because it had lent only 56$ million to them in comparison to $3.2 Billion to Britain and
France in 1916. The creation of the U-boat from Germany was a setting point because they
torpedoed British luxury liner Lusitania killing 128 Americans.

7. How did women finally get the right to vote? - (SSIs 19-22)

Women got the right to vote thanks to world war I which led to women taking better jobs and
the creation of the National Woman’s Party in 1916 who marched to the Whit House and
stood silently with their banners, after they were arrested. Public shock to women’s
treatment drew attention to the suffrage cause. Wilson impressed by NAWSA and NWP
changed his position and in august 26, 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment became law,
white women began to vote.

8. What were the Fourteen Points? I don’t expect you to list all fourteen; just show
me you understand their significance?
The fourteen points were a blueprint for peace presented by Wilson. They were principles for
a new world order proposed in 1919 as a basis for peace at Versailles. Among them were:
open diplomacy, freedom of seas, free trade, territorial integrity, arms reduction, national
self-determination and creation of the league of Nations
9. What was done to Germany at Versailles, and what was the long-term significance
of this treatment?

The allies excluded Germany because they planned to dictate terms for them. France and
Britain imposed hard punishment on Germany. Germany’s African colonies were divided and
taken as spoils of war they forced them to pay 33 billion in reparations and made them
surrender coal supplies, merchant ships, valuable patents, and even territory along the
French border.

10. Why did Congress reject the Treaty of Versailles?

Congress rejected the treaty mainly because the outlook for U.S ratification was not
promising. Also, open hostile Republicans held a majority in the senate. One group called
the “irreconcilables” were opposed to U.S involvement in European affairs from the very
beginning. Another group worried that Article X would prevent the U.S from pursuing an
independent foreign policy. Wilson grew ill and there was not much he could do to pass the
treaty.

11. What was the Zimmerman telegram?

It was a 1917 intercepted dispatch in which German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann
urged Mexico to join the Central Powers and promised that if the U.S entered the war,
Germany would help them recover Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It was then published in
American newspapers and it created an outrage and helped the move towards U.S entry in
the war on the allied side.

12. What was the function of the Committee on Public Information? What did the
Espionage and Sedition Acts do? Do you agree with these sorts of governmental
actions taken during wartime?

The CPI, created by Wilson in April 1917, was a government propaganda agency headed by
Creel. It professed educating citizens about democracy, assimilating immigrants, and ending
the isolation of rural life, it set to turn Americans into war patriotism. It managed to distribute
75 million pieces of literature and enlisted volunteers named the four minute men to deliver
pro war speeches at movie theaters.

Both the Sedition Act of 1918 and the Espionage Act of 1917 led to the conviction of more
than a thousand people. I don’t agree with this actions because they lead to fear and no one
could express their opinions freely without having any consequences like being prosecuted.