Ideas about expansion and manifest destiny were engrained into the American identity. America purchased Alaska in 1867.
Imperialists: American imperialism
Wanted more sources for raw materials, and more markets to sell to. Also believed in social Darwinism.
Anti-Imperialists: American imperialism
Believed in self-determination for other nations. Also appealed to America's history of isolationism
Spanish-American War
: Spanish-American War
Background: Spanish-American War
Cuba was a Spanish colony. In 1885 Cuban nationalists failed to overthrow the Spanish colonists. Yellow journalists persuaded Americans to intervene by talking about the humanitarian disaster in Cuba. In 1888 the battleship Maine exploded while it was docked in Havana
Definition: Spanish-American War
President McKinley demanded a ceasefire from Spain, and when they agreed, he went to war anyway. The war was over in a few short months. America got a bunch of territory in the Pacific.
Philippines
Teddy Roosevelt sent an American fleet to attack the Spanish colony. They staged a ground invasion in collaboration with Filipino nationalists and overthrew the Spanish, before buying it from them
President McKinley was assassinated and Teddy Roosevelt became president
Big stick diplomacy
An aggressive foreign policy that got the U.S. involved in many foreign conflicts
Progressive's concerns
Rising power of big businesses
Uncertainties in the economy
Violence between labor groups and employers
Influence of political machines
Jim Crow segregation
Rights of women
: Progressive's concerns
Progressivism
The idea that the problems within American society could only be fixed through vigorous government intervention.
Muckrakers
Investigative journalists who exposed the underbelly of corruption rampant in American.
Ida Tarbell
Published a devastating investigation of standard oil in 1902
Jacob Riis
A photojournalist who published a book called 'How the Other Half Lives' which showed the horrifying conditions of the people living in urban tenements
Upton Sinclair
Wrote the book 'The Jungle' to expose the dangerous conditions of factory workers and the unsanitary meat packers
Secret ballot
Helped make voting more fair by giving voters privacy and preventing party bosses from pressuring people into voting for them
Direct election of senators
Gave citizens the right to vote for their senators. Progressives argued this helped take senators out of the pockets of millionaires and big business
Booker T. Washington
He argued that to achieve political equality, African Americans had to engage themselves in education and economic endavors
W.E.B. Dubois
Argued that for african americans to have any shot at economic equality, they needed to be recognized as politically equal first.
Niagra movement
Led by W.E.B. Dubois who organized a group of black intellectuals who met and organized to secure rights for African americans
N.A.A.C.P
Sought to abolish all forms of segregation and expand educational opportunities for black children (and others)
Teddy Roosevelt progressivism
Believed the president should set the legislative agenda for Congress. He led congress to pass a series of laws on consumer protection and enviornmental conservation
Pure food and drug act
Ensured Americans were eating safe and uncontaminated food
Meat inspection act
Set standards of sanitation for meat packing plants
Enforcing the Sherman Anti-trust Act
Roosevelt began enforcing the act more strictly and dismantled over 40 large companies (only bad trusts)
Square deal
When coal miners began to strike, Roosevelt stepped in to negotiate what he called a 'square deal' for both the workers and the corperation
Background: Square deal
There was a growing conflict between labor unions and big bussiness
Woodrow Wilson's Triple wall of privilege
On his first day in office, WW addressed Congress on the need to provide relief to Americans by lowering tariffs
Banks: Woodrow Wilson's Triple wall of privilege
Argued that the gold standard was inflexible and that banks served the interests of Wall Street instead of the people. He created the federal reserve system
Trusts: Woodrow Wilson's Triple wall of privilege
Continued breaking up even more trusts. Passed the Clayton antitrust act which closed many loopholes in the sherman anti-trust act
18th amendment passed
Banned the sale of alcohol. They thought it would right the moral wrongs of society, but it had the opposite effect
Sinking of the Lusitania
A German U-Boat sank a passenger ship with 128 Americans on board
Effects: Sinking of the Lusitania
The U.S. threatened to break off diplomatic relations and Germany backed off.
Unrestricted submarine warfare
Germany resumed sinking passenger ships two years later
Zimmermann telegram
Germany solicited Mexico to become an ally of theirs, and in return they would help Mexico regain the land that they had lost in the Mexican-American war.
Effects: Zimmermann telegram
It was intercepted by the British and sparked American outrages, and America entered the war
Wilson created many wartime agencies to coordinate the war. They encouraged Americans to ration resources and food, took control of railroads, and revitalized industries, causing more urban migration.
The great migration
Over 1.5 million African Americans moved north in search of economic opportunities created by the war effort and an escape from southern discrimination
Espionage Act of 1917
Anyone who tried to incite rebellion or obstruct the draft would go to prison
Sedition act of 1918
Prohibited anyone from making negative comments about the government
fourteen points
Wilson articulated his vision for the post-war world. Freedom of navigation, self-determination of nations, and a league of Nations (before the UN)
Red Scare
Anti-german sentiment shifted to anti-communist sentiment as people feared communist infiltration from Russia
Palmer raids
The AG tasked FBI Director Hoover to gather information on suspected communists and led to mass arrests and deportations
1920's politics
A Republican president was elected. He promised to reduce the government's involvement in people's lives and return to normalcy.
1920's economic boom
The standard of living for most Americans increased during the 1920s.
Assembly line
A new and more efficient way to manufacture products like cars
Flappers
Women who rejected stereotypical gender roles by drinking and smoking and having short hair
Increased nativism
Increased immigration from eastern Europe after the war created another wave of nativism. Led to the passage of the immigration quotas
Immigration Quotas
Limited the number of eastern European and Asian immigrants
Harlem Renaissance
Black artists and performers developed a distinct art that grew out of the black experience
Mass culture
The growing popularity of technologies like movies and the radio meant that everyone was listening to the same things, which helped create a more unified culture and distinct identity
Crisis in American values
Embraced the changing culture with respect to gender roles and scientific discoveries
Lived in urban areas
Fundamentalists: Crisis in American values
Condemed the changing of morals
Argued that every word in the bible should be taken literally
Lived in rural areas
Scopes Monkey trial
In Tennessee it was illegal to teach Darwin's theory of evolution to children. A teacher was arrested for teaching it to his class. In the end, the conviction was thrown out on a technicality.
Effects: Scopes Monkey trial
Since the trial played out in plain view of the public, Fundamentalism was discredited because it was unable to defend itself against modernist protestants
Great depression
The stock market collapsed on black Tuesday. People borrowed money to invest in the stock market. Everyone lost their money.
Hoovervilles
People who lost their homes had to live in shanty towns. The name mocked President Hoover for not intervening
Franklin D. Roosevelt elected
Believed in active government and he grew the government more than any president before him.
New deal
Public works administration: employed people to work on infrastructure projects
Tennessee Valley Authority: Hired people to control power plants and control flooding
Recovery for business: New deal
Glass-Stragall act: Increased bank regulation
FDIC: Insured people's bank deposits
Reform of economic institutions: New deal
Social Security act: Collected a portion of workers wages and then paid them monthly when they retired
Cash and Carry
Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass a looser version of the neutrality act that allowed anyone to purchase arms from the U.S. as long as they paid in cash and used their own ships to transport it
Lend-Lease Act
Allowed Britain to 'borrow' the weapons they needed
Korematsu vs. U.S.
Challenged the practice of Japanese Internment, but SCOTUS ruled that it was a wartime necessity