Progressive Era & American Imperialism: Urbanization, Reforms & Foreign Policy (1890-1920), Study notes of World History

Download Progressive Era & American Imperialism: Urbanization, Reforms & Foreign Policy (1890-1920) and more Study notes World History in PDF only on Docsity! America in the 1890s 7/5/11 11:01 AM hyper patriotism Challenges to corporate order The Panic of 1893  major physical crisis. More of a depression than a recession • thousands of banks end up closing • industries laying off people right and left • those are followed by labor strikes The Pullman Strike (1894) • Started outside Chicago in the Pullman rail yards. Late spring and summer of 1894 • Workers that manufactured the nice Pullman sleeping rail cars • company laid off bunch of workers, which led to a strike by the remaining workers • mushroomed into a nationwide series of strikes to support the original strikers • something like 30,000 workers cross the nation are involved in this strike • pops up in lots of places throughout the country • strike is closed down by the intervention of federal troops, Grover Cleveland (lone democrat to win office in Republican domination) sends in federal troops to break the strike. One of the great labor leaders ad socialists politicians • Eugene V. Debs  arrested and the case goes to the federal court. Labor organizer and socialist leader in the 1890s. Reached a climax of his fame in the 19-teens. Also ran for president (one of the most successful 3rd party candidates in 1912 in American history. Very successful losing campaign) • spontaneous protest as Pullman factory yards. • railroad workers across the nation putting down tools and walking off the job in sympathy of their working brothers in Chicago. • democrats generally have been favorable to labor. Even democratic party is largely in the pockets of big business and industry. • both parties are basically conservative  based around protecting property and peoples rights, building an environment where people can prosper • democrats are more pro consumer, republicans tend to let business run itself • Cleveland was no more pro consumer than his counterparts, • in a sense the Pullman strike, it doesnʼt spell the end of the labor strikes, but it does put a big damper on it. Meanwhile out on the heartland of American, The Populist Revolt - knights of labor were much more focused on unskilled labor. Were never able to bridge that gap between urban working classes and rural laborers. Urban and rural divide. In 1890s still a rural country. - corporate urbanization in American society is impacting the agricultural sector. Push back by farmers and farm organizers as early of the 1870s. The Grange  organized in 1870s o incredibly popular in the south and mid-west, texas o small farmers are feeling the pressure of this corporate system. Increasingly feeling exploited by railroads and by a system that is built more toward big agriculture than toward small farmers. Small farmers felt left out of this system. Could not compete economically with large farms. Just the way things were. The ways things are today. o small farmer are feeling pressure increasing prices for fertilizer, farm implements, railroads. Working just as hard as ever, but getting less return. Competing against corporate interest. o working just as hard as ever, but getting just as far as before, small farmers get together collectively. o Mainly the grange is a response to low commodity prices and increased sense of exploitation at the hands of business interests and the railroads o pushes for:  public ownership of railroads and transportation network or better oversight. Need government to be an advocate for us and step in a provide some oversight  idea of collective bargaining or collectivization  build a larger network of small farmers that can pull their purchases power. Get better interest rate for buying in bulk. Bulk purchases of fertilizer, farm equipment, etc.  provide security and distribution plan for surplus crops. Collective warehousing and distribution chain. put your crop in a warehouse and hold it until prices rose and then sell it to make extra money. o wanted to establish a system where farmers could hold onto their crop and make more money for it. o Never really able to mobilize itself politically. Had larger economic goals but could never ever to translate that into political power. Fades away and was replaced in the early 1890s by the populous. o Also like a social club for men in rural communities to get together and play cards o Economic goals that were never really able to take off in that environment politically. Populous o Populous party is taking shape in 1889. The Birth of an American Empire 7/5/11 11:01 AM - America is a global or national power. - Once the frontier is conquered, it leaves sort of an area of global expansion. - Why do we think America is outside of history? Why are we different than other nations?  we are a young nation, donʼt have as much history. America is a country of immigrants, a mixture of other countries. - Our mission to spread the “good news” and political terms for America, spreading the good news of democracy to the far globe. - Foreign policy  sense of mission. - along with this idealistic goal of - American society is a capitalist nation, part of this expansion is driven as well by this sense of capitalist need. We need an outlet for commerce, for our production and consumer goods. The Nature of American Imperialism • • 1) spreading democracy  bringing benefits of American society to other parts of the world • 2) securing markets with goods  securing raw materials (rubber, oil, steel, coal, copper) o these are two competing interests o very often these two competing interests diverge.  Iraq  interest is oil, weapons of mass destruction, install western democracy and government and then hopefully a domino effect. Securing the Continent • how does this play out in the late 19th century? o America is being ripped apart internally. A civil war. And so this sense of manifest destiny is put on hold. There is a steady march across the United States. Americans could now turn their attention back towards establishing themselves. o Really the two outlying trouble spots were Mexico and Alaska. Two outstanding issues that needed to be cleared up to secure American supremacy on the continent. o Both of these dealt with moving European powers out of the western hemisphere. o both dealt with moving European powers out of the western hemisphere o • Mexico (1867) o Spanish o the French invaded the country and installed emperor Maximilian (Austrian noble) and wife Carlotta and tear down the established government and establish the kingdom of Mexico. o Established a monarchy and exert influence across country. o in 1860s, America is embroiled in civil war, so attention is divided at the time, however the north, (Abraham Lincoln), does not take lightly to the French o when the civil war ends, Lincoln (then Johnson) moves tens of thousands of troops to the Mexican American border. o Benito Juarez  mestizo. Represented the expansion of democracy within Mexico itself because he came from a class that were always kept out of the political process. o Juarez swept back into power with the help of US. Maximilian was captured and killed by firing squad. • Alaska (1867) o William Seward  purchase of Alaska from Russia. Implemented negations with Russia to purchase Alaska. o Russia had interest in Alaska for several hundred years. Were extensive settlementʼs mostly trappers. o Seward wanted to clear this last menace off the continent. o 1867 purchased. o unknown expanse of land. 7 million acres. 2 cents an acre o Russians didnʼt have major settlements, just had strong claims to it. • French had been pushed out of Mexico, Russians bought out of Alaska • 2 key parts of securing the north American continent for expansion. Securing American Interests Overseas - American start to look overseas. Especially interested in the pacific and far side of pacific - China seen as an untapped market.  its across the world. Isolated. Had a lot of people that werenʼt exposed to consumer society, cheap labor. had a huge market for consumer goods. Seen as mythical, unlimited market. Unlimited market of potential consumers. - interested in acquiring markets - maintain American presence in China, south America - china had been under siege by power  Britain (wanted to open up china market for there own goods. opium), France, Germany, - ching dynasty very weak and lost a lot in terms of its effectivmess as a government. America was a late comer in china. Had contact with china since the late 1700s. had an immigration of Chinese into US. Not until American industry develops that we need Chinese market. At that point we start to take a larger interest in the pacific. - massive amounts of coal. Needs places to stop in the pacific ocean. Primo spot in pacific is Hawaii island chains. • Hawaii  very centrally located. Excellent farmers. Can provide a stepping stone to movement farther west than the pacific ….. 1:22:49 o Queen Liliukalani (“Queen Lil”) • China o John Hay and the “Open Door” o Boxer Rebellion (1900) • Cuba and the Spanish- American War (1898) o the Philippines  Emilio Aguinaldo  declared himself president and established a Philippine republic and once the American military arrived they opposed him and led to a rebellion against the American Military.  messy and bloody affair  nationalists movements going on in Philippines and Cuba  involved in internal civil war. Between natives and the Spanish colonial authorities  America was still seen as a second or third rate power  Spanish/America war put us on the scene  Over night, the United States come son the scene all at once as a major international player. Main thrust. All of that is geared toward protecting American economic interest (in Iraq its oil, in Cuba it was sugar)  o Platt Amendment (cuba, 1901)  geared towards protecting American economic interests (in Iraq its oil, in Cuba it was sugar)  • Panama (1903) o was 7Columbia o panama broke away from Columbian government and negotiated with the US to run the panama canal o • Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904) o a very robust supporter of idea of American power o he was an outdoorsman served in Spanish American war. very robust sense of American power and authority o Monroe Doctrine o temperance, anti alcohol  movement towards prohibition (alcohol ate away from society from the inside, government had to cut away that disease from society, ban alcohol in 1919 (18th amendment), rid America of the cancer that was eating America from the inside out, cleansing of Americaʼs morals) failure after 14 years. o Womenʼs suffrage movements  include white women in the electoral process. female abolitionists were seen as outcasts in society. o reforming industry and making working and housing environment social ills.  Muckrackers- digging through the muck of American society Teddy Roosevelt and William H. Taft • He had a strong sympathy for the south. • As a youth was a sickly, but imposed on himself this strict physical regiment • came from money • Noblesse oblige  families that have so much money for so long that there is no danger of them ever losing their status or their wealth. – our duties as the leading members of society to bring up everyone else. • thought government should be involved in America economy • square deal • created national park system and wildlife refuges • conservation  • FDA  established to regulate Americas food and drug business (food supply, sanitation, transportation) • great white fleet  America has come onto the scene as a large player TAFT • trust buster • from the older republican party The Election of 1912 • very crucial and pivotal election in American history • 4 major candidates o Taft ® o Wilson (D) – rodes the split of the R party ad ends up winning the election o Roosevelt (“Bull moose” party, leading the Progressive party) o Eugene Debs • Woodrow Wilson in Office • born in Virginia, son of a minister, educated at Princeton and eventually becomes president of the university • established himself as a progressive and reformer at Princeton • runs for governor in NJ and wins and makes a national name for himself • The Underwood Tariff of 1913 o duties/ tariffs o trusts o The Income Tax (16th Amendment, 1913) Federal Reserve Act The Era of the First World War 3/16/10 wars tend to short our or end prematurely movements world war is the end to the progressive movement The War in Europe, 1914-1918 The German empire (Hungary, ) ranged against Russia, France and great Britain. Incredible amount of death over the next few years Europe descends into this orgy of violence death struggle between nations on a level that is unprecedented the war goes on and on, millions of men are killed. Something like 20 million dead. Spanish flu epidemic killed more worldwide lose about 120,000 soldiers and sailors killed. At same time as war is dying down, 650,000 Americans died of the Spanish flu trench warfare, use of machine guns, first chemical attacks, gas attacks, not only physically lots of this is fueled by advances in technology. America was able to mobilize American Neutrality Woodrow Wilson does not want to be involved and neither do other Americans. population is composed of Europeans. Many of them still have ties back to the old country. America is very divided. certain things are pushing him into going to war with the central powers (Germany and Hungary) • German use of submarine warfare. Submarine warfare in the German mind was going to be used to cut off great Britainʼs line of supply. A key part of Germanyʼs larger war strategy was cutting off supplies through the use of U-boats. America becomes great Britainʼs chief supplier of goods. • Freedom of the seas  American business can trade with anyone. Germany's navy is not strong enough to destroy the British Naval Blockade  stopping trade from going when a german U-boat fires at an American cargo ship, its an act of war. But since American boat is bringing guns and ammo to Britain to be used in war, Germany makes a war zone around Britain. If a ship enters these zones, then it can be shot with torpedoes - Sinking of the Lusitania (1915)  luxury ocean liner. Carrying largely civilians. 128 American citizens killed. - The Sussex Pledge (1916)  American ship is torpedoed accidentally and Wilson almost brings America into war with Germany. o Protectorates  - Wilson had to go home in 1919 to get the treaty agreed on - Wilson was an academic. - leaves the republicans out of it entirely. Republicans donʼt want the US involved in Europe. - united states (whose president starts the league of nations) refuses to ratify the treaty. The Fallout from War - the conflict generates and sets in motion one of the great social movements or movements of people in American history The Great Migration  1915/1916-1930 o about 4 million African Americans and black southerners will leave and head west. o driven by the panic in 1914 by the panic in the cotton o many sharecroppers are pushed off the land. o beginning 1915  America becomes the arsenal for great Britain. Jobs begin to open up in the north. 1919 Strikes and Race riots o period of great labor unrest at the end of the war o begins in the shipyards around Seattle. o throughout 1919 there are over 3500 strikes around the nation, involving something like 4 million workers. o in 1919 the Boston police dept went on strike and led to the national guard coming in. o leads to what is known as Americas first “Red Scare” Palmer Raids o IWW “Wobblies” o Cultural Foment in the 1920s 7/5/11 11:01 AM 1920s  First time in American census that Americans are more urban than rural American Progressive Gone Awry The 18th Amendment (prohibition) • passed as a war measure  Woodrow Wilson signs the ban of alcohol as a war measure. He doesnʼt sign the actual legislation till after the cease fire is over. • prohibition is sold as an all American thing to do • way to impose a moral order • Waspish  The Emergence of the Second Ku Klux Klan • societal uproar, several million new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, not of the protestant faith, donʼt come from western traditions, perceived to be more radical in their political beliefs, • 1919 labor strikes, ad race riots lead to the second klan in the 1920s • came into existence in Georgia. 1915. Started with the lynching of Leo Frank. Respected member of society. Accused of a murder of 13 yr old girl. • institution of the second klan in 1916. White Anglo Saxon/ protestant. • second klan  • birth of a nation  one of the first blockbusters in terms of popularity. Told the story of the south during the civil war and reconstruction period. Portrayed African Americans as barbarians out to rape white women. Then 1860s klan drives these black soldiers away. • not simply limited to the south, • goals are sort of nebulous. 100% Americanism. Against immigrants and against …. Belief of America as a Christian nations (protestant, not Catholic) • klan mushroomed in the The Native Origins Act (1924) • Ku Klux Klan almost completely disappears by the 1940s. • anti masking legislation  could not wear masks in public (except mardi gras) • supported by klan. Restore Christian America that they cherished and believed to be the right course for the united states. • puts a tremendous hole in immigration. Limits immigration into the country to 150,000 a year. • the percentages for each country are set at that countries numbers that were here in 1890. Birth of the “Consumer Society” release of tension that was built up during the world war years. American society went in all sorts of directions. Revolutions in Mobility and Technology • efficient distribution systems. Opens more people up to getting electricity • first passenger and cargo planes, chemical industries in all manor of different aspects of that. • tremendous period in American history. All the new technology enables production to go through the roof. American industrial production more than doubles in the 1920s. • workers pay increased. 40 hour week came into vogue. First at Henry Fordʼs river rouge plant. Institutes Five day work week/40 hour week. • Wages are generally good during the 20s. vacation and leisure time begins to circulate into American mind. Instead of people working six hours a week, they are working 5 days • corporate welfare  some start insurance plans, • Automobile went from 8000 in 1900 to over 3 million by the end of the 1920s • travel tourism, mobility, can go out and do different things • require gas, mechanics, roads, • 50 and 60s get interstate system. Providing highways for people to move from one place to the other. Huey Long ran on 1. Infrastructure and 2. Education when he ran for governor. • radio  opens up the mental landscape. Can be in backwoods LA and listen to opera from Philadelphia or new York. Came on the scene in 1934. People see it as a cutting edge technology. Explodes onto American scene. Provides entertainment, sports. The Expansion of Advertising • birth of a marketing revolution and consumer society. Increasingly advertising is about providing a lifestyle than about functionality. • Advertising taking over radio • going to move to take over tv later • The Revolt against Victorianism - emerging of modern sensibility - post wwi you saw sort of release of tension of the war years 1917-1919. Sort of rigid, hard years. - things start to pick up after 1921. Largely itʼs a revolt against all the constrictions of the Victorian period (Queen Victoria  proper, formal, distinct separation of classes, ) - black and white view into the world. Man needed to conquer his… - women were generally seen as being hysterical or prone to emotion. Men could suppress emotions and continue on through which ever challenges were there. Women were prone to let their feelings get in the way of business. - the modern woman or man sees things as much more ambiguous. - if we could pinpoint anything in the 1920s, it would be ambiguity and anxiety. - out of this comes a whole wave of new conception of the world in a lot of different groups. - were more interested in fulfilling their own interests and desires than fulfilling others.