1888
Spanish-American War
Background
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
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.
September 14, 1901
President McKinley was assassinated and Teddy Roosevelt became president
September1917
Espionage Act of 1917
Definition
Anyone who tried to incite rebellion or obstruct the draft would go to prison
September1918
Sedition act of 1918
Definition
Prohibited anyone from making negative comments about the government
September1919
18th amendment passed
Definition
Banned the sale of alcohol. They thought it would right the moral wrongs of society, but it had the opposite effect
September1921
Immigration Quotas
Definition
Limited the number of eastern European and Asian immigrants
September1925
Scopes Monkey trial
Definition
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
Since the trial played out in plain view of the public, Fundamentalism was discredited because it was unable to defend itself against modernist protestants
October 29, 1929
Great depression
Definition
The stock market collapsed on black Tuesday. People borrowed money to invest in the stock market. Everyone lost their money.
October1932
Franklin D. Roosevelt elected
Definition
Believed in active government and he grew the government more than any president before him.
American imperialism |
Ideas about expansion and manifest destiny were engrained into the American identity. America purchased Alaska in 1867. |
Spanish-American War |
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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 |
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Big stick diplomacy Speak softly, and carry a big stick |
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 |
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 17th amendment |
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 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People |
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 |
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 |
18th amendment passed Prohibition |
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 |
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. |
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. |
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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 |
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. |
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 |
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 |