history unit 3

American Federation of Labor

The nations dominant union in the 1890s. Leader Samuel Gompers organized the Union as a federation of skilled trades. Focused on issues such as higher wages, shorter hours, industrial safety and the right to organize. Gompers believed in the value of the strike but not in direct political action. Focused all its efforts on economic gains for its members. Rarely strayed into political issues other than those that had a direct impact on working conditions. Keep strict policy of not interfering in each Union's individual business. Gompers often settled disputes between Unions, using this to represent all unions of matters of federal legislation that could affect all workers, such as an eight hour work day. Grew enormously from 1900-1920. Excluded many factory workers and thus, even at its height, represented only 15 percent of the nonfarm workers in the country. Even as the country moved toward an increasingly industrial age, the majority of American workers still lacked support, protection from ownership, and access to upward mobility.

Franklin Roosevelt

Served as Assistant Secretary of Navy in WWI. Paralyzed from the waist down in 1921. This president and others who knew his illness assumed it was due to poliomyelitis. Gravitated toward new reform movement of "liberalism". Liberalism is government should not regulate capitalism and should not tell people how to behave. Avoided the "busybody" aspects of Progressivism. Inherited a comatose economy. Brought in advisors and economists to deal with the crisis. All ideas were welcomed; he was determined to try anything until something worked. Not all of the things he tried worked, but most people loved him for trying. For the 1936 election, he had support from almost everyone. He campaigned on strong anti-corporate rhetoric and as for the rich, he claimed he "welcomed their hatred". He was re-elected in the second biggest landslide in American history (both electoral and popular vote). There was a sizable gap between this president's rhetoric and reality. He received significant support from some capitalists. From a leftist perspective: he was a man just socialist enough to save capitalism. Was getting hammered by the GOP over deficits. Slight economic improvements in late 1937 led him to cut back on spending. He proposed a bill allowing appointment of one new justice for each one over 70.5. For the average American in the Great Depression, he was "the man". His moderate liberalism kept millions of Americans out of poverty. Arguably prevented something much more radical, up to and including a true revolution - whether from the right or left, hard to say. Had frequent infidelities. Sizable gap between his rhetoric and reality. His election signaled both immediate relief for the American public as well as a permanent shift in the role of the federal government in guiding the economy and providing direct assistance to the people, albeit through expensive programs that made extensive budget deficits commonplace. Herbert Hoover was gone, and the situation could not grow worse under this president. But as his New Deal unfolded, Americans learned more about the fundamental changes their new president brought with him to the Oval Office. He understood the need to create jobs, through such programs as the Works Progress Administration, which provided employment to over eight million Americans as well as reconfiguring the structure of the American economy. In pursuit of these two goals, Americans re-elected him for three additional terms in the White House and became full partners in the reshaping of their country. He was part of the political establishment and the wealthy elite, but in the 1932 presidential campaign, he did not want to be perceived that way. He felt that the country needed sweeping change, and he ran a campaign intended to convince the American people that he could deliver that change. Born to wealth and educated at the best schools, and he still offered the change people sought. Previously had a seat in the New York State legislature, he had a vice-presidential nomination, and a stint as a governor in New York. Exuded confidence. Americans felt he could relate to their suffering due to his own physical hardships. Sought to show he was different, that he could defy expectations, and through his actions could find creative solutions to address the nation's problems while restoring public confidence in fundamental American values. Hoover assumed at first that this man would be easy to defeat, confident that he could never carry the eastern states and the business vote. Changed the nation's economic fortunes with reforms, preserved the constitution, and expanded rather than limited the reach of democratic principles into the market economy. He remained gracious but refused to begin his administration as the incumbent's advisor without any legal authority necessary to change policy. Almost was assassinated. He emerged from the assassination attempt unscathed. He was not sure what his plan was before he took office. Believed in federal relief, public works, social security, and unemployment insurance. He wanted to restore public confidence in banks, wanted a stronger government regulation of the economy, and he wanted to directly help farmers. When he took office, he faced one of the worst moments in banking history. Held "fireside chats". In his initial radio address to the American people, he explained what the bank examiners had been doing over the previous week. He assured people that any bank open the next day had the federal governments stamp of approval. The combination of his reassuring manner and the promise that the government was addressing the problems worked wonders in changing the popular mindset. Replaced the Emergency Banking Act with the more permanent Glass-Steagall Banking Act. Pledged to reduce government spending by reducing salaries, including his own and those of Congress. Recognized that the unemployed millions required jobs more quickly than the economy could provide. Committed to addressing the underlying problems inherent in the American economy. His relief efforts provided jobs to many and benefitted communities with the construction of several essential building projects. His quickly implemented policies reversed the economy's long slide. Recognized some of the criticisms of the New Deal were valid. Created the country's present-day social safety net with the Second New Deal. Entered the 1936 presidential election on a wave of popularity. Blamed the downturn on his decision to significantly curtail federal government spending in job relief programs. His willingness to adapt in 1938 avoided another disaster. On the issue of race relations, he has a mixed legacy. He became the first to appoint a black federal judge, as well as the first commander in chief to promote an African American to brigadier general. First president to speak against lynching as a vile form of collective murder. Was able to work with Congress to significantly improve the lives of Indians. Despite the obvious gender limitations, many women strongly supported his New Deal, as much for its direct relief handouts for women as for its employment opportunities for men.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

This arose to protect individual freedoms and rights. Clarence Darrow was hired by this as attorney for the defense. Hoped to challenge the Butler Act as an infringement of the freedom of speech. As a defendant, this union enlisted teacher and coach John Scopes, who suggested that he may have taught evolution while substituting for an ill biology teacher. Town leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, for their part, sensed an opportunity to promote their town, which has cost more than one-third of its population, and welcomed this to stage a test case against the Butler Act. They and the town got their wish as the Scopes Monkey Trial, as the newspapers publicized it, quickly turned into a carnival that captured the attention of the country and epitomized the nations urban and rural divide.

Father Charles Coughlin

Used radio program to rail about "international capitalists" (Jews). Eventually restrained by the Church. A "radio priest" from Michigan who, although he initially supported the New Deal, subsequently argued that Roosevelt stopped too short in his defense of labor, monetary reform, and the nationalization of key industries. The president's plan, he proclaimed, was inadequate. He created the National Union for Social Justice and used his weekly radio show to gain followers. The popularity of his movement gave the president more leverage to push forward legislation about unemployment insurance.

Charles Dawes

After WWI, European countries owed the US $10 billion. France and Britain could not pay and tried to get the US to forgive the debt. The situation wasn't helped by high US tariffs and by inability of Germany to pay the reparations it owed. US booked a plan engineered by this guy too reconstruct German debt payments, with a loan to Germany. An American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and a Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States. For his work on the Dawes plan for World War I reparations, he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925.

16th Amendment

Allowed congress to tax incomes in all forms. Gradually eased reliance on tariffs for national revenue. Being progressive, the income tax helped prevent concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment along the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Initiative/Referendum/Recall

Allowed some percent of voters to "initiate" laws directly onto the ballot or in state legislatures. The percent necessary and the method vary among the states that allow them. Reaction to Progressivism set in as initiatives failed and courts struck down legislation. Another series of reforms pushed forward by progressives that sought to side step the power of special interests in state legislatures and restore the democratic political process were three election innovations- these. The first permitted voters to enact legislation by petitioning to place an idea on a ballot. In 1898, South Dakota became the first state to allow these to appear on a ballot. By 1920, twenty states had adopted the procedure. The second innovation allowed voters to counteract legislation by holding this - that is, putting an existing law on the ballot for voters to either affirm or reject. Currently 24 states allow some form of initiative or referendum. The third element of this direct democracy agenda was the recall. The third permitted citizens to remove a public official from office through a process of petition and vote. In some states votes can pass initiatives directly into law. In others, this meant some laws passed by the legislative would then need final approval by voters. By petition, voters could force an official to stand for re-election at any time.

Frances Perkins

Among the few, but notable, women who directly impacted Roosevelt's policies was this woman. Secretary of Labor was the first female member of any presidential cabinet. She, one of only two original Cabinet members to stay with Roosevelt for his entire presidency, was directly involved in the administration of the CCC, PWA, NRA, and the Social Security Act. Among several important measures, she took the greatest pleasure in championing minimum wage statutes as well as the penultimate piece of New Deal legislation, the Fair Labor Standards Act. Roosevelt came to trust her advice with few questions or concerns, and steadfastly supported her work through the end of his life.

History

An interpretation of incomplete or conflicting records.

Homestead Strike

Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick tried to break the Union at the __________ steel mills in Pennsylvania. After three months of negotiations over a new wage contract, Frick locked out the workers. The governor of Pennsylvania sent 8000 troops to crush the strike and the Union. After many violent encounters, the strike-breakers prevailed. Carnegie lowered wages and replaced any workers unwilling to take a pay cut. Crushed the labor movement for the next forty years, leaving public opinion of labor strikes lower than ever and workers unprotected. Occurred at this location of the Carnegie Steel Company. Workers represented by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and steel workers enjoyed relatively good managment until Henry C. Frick became factory manager in 1889. When the Union contact was up for renewal, Carnegie - long a champion of living wages for his employees - had left for Scotland and trusted Frick - noted for his strong anti-union stance - to manage the negotiations. When no settlement was reached, Frick ordered a lockout of the workers and hired Pinkerton detectives to protect company property. The Pinkertons arrived on barges on the river, Union workers along the shore engaged them in a gunfight that resulted in the deaths of three Pinkerton's and six workers. One week later, the Pennsylvania militia arrived to escort strike - breakers into the factory to resume production. Ended in Union defeat and individual workers asking for their jobs back. A subsequent failed assassination attempt by anarchist Alexander Berkman on Frick further strengthened public animosity towards the Union.

17th Amendment

Another progressive goal was to make the US Senate more accountable to the people. State legislatures were seen as too easily corrupted. Senate seats could be bought for relatively little. Ratification meant direct, popular election of Senators for the first time. In an effort to achieve a fairer representation of state constituencies in US Congress, they lobbied for approval of this to the US Constitution, which mandated the direct election of US Senators. This replaced the previous system of having state legislatures choose Senators. William Jennings Bryan, the 1896 Democratic presidential candidate who received significant support from the populist party, was among the leading progressives who championed this cause. Gives voters the power to directly elect their senators.

21st Amendment

As this amendment, which would repeal the eighteenth amendment establishing Prohibition, moved towards ratification, this law authorized the manufacture of 3.2 percent beer and levied a tax on it. The article was inoperative unless it had been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission to the States by the Congress.

Upton Sinclair

Attacked the meat-packing industry. Prompted Theodore Roosevelt to order an investigation of his accusations about unsanitary meatpacking. Roosevelt read the novel. He originally questioned it due to the authors professed socialist leanings, a subsequent presidential commission investigated the industry and corroborated the deplorable and conditions under which Chicagos meatpackers processed meats for American consumers. Alarmed by the results and under pressure from an outraged public disgusted with the revelations, Roosevelt moved quickly to protect public health. He urged the passage of two laws to do so. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906, established a system of government inspection for meat products, including grading the meat based on its quality. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which required labels on all food and drug products that clearly stated the materials in the product. For the author, this outcome was disappointing, since he had sought to draw attention to the plight of workers in the slaughterhouses, not the poor quality of the meat products.

Jack London

Author of Call to the Wild, To Build a Fire, and other stories set during the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s.

Muller vs Oregon

Brandeis beliefs: pioneered by Louis Brandeis in this. 1908, the Supreme Court agreed to state-level regulation of women's working hours to protect their delicate health and childbearing abilities. Women were provided by state mandate lesser work hours than allotted to men. The posed question was whether women's liberty to negotiate a contract with an employer should be equal to mans.

Woodrow Wilson

Campaigned to "make the world safe for democracy". Enlightened to the injustice toward all American Women, he changed his mind in support of a woman's constitutional right to vote. Former progressive governor of New Jersey. The Democrat's candidate. A former history teacher and president at Princeton University, he had an academic demeanor that appealed to many Progressive reformers. Many democrats also viewed him as a Washington outsider who had made far fewer political enemies than Roosevelt and Taft. In their campaigns, him and Roosevelt formulated competing Progressive platforms. He described his more moderate approach as one of New Freedom, which stood for a smaller federal government to protect public interests from the evils associated with big businesses and banks. Won the 1912 election with over 6 million votes, with 4 million votes going to Roosevelt and the three and one-half million going to Taft. When taking office, he immediately met with Congress to outline his New Freedom agenda for now progressive interests could be best preserved. His plan was to regulate the banks and big businesses, and lower tariff rates to increase international trade, increasing competition in the interest of consumers. He took the unusual step of calling a special session of Congress in April to tackle the tariff question, which resulted in the Revenue Act of 1913 (Underwood Tariff Act). He signed the Federal Reserve Act to regulate the banking industry and establish a federal banking system. Completed his New Freedom Agenda with the passage of the Clayton Anti Trust Act. His New Freedom agenda complete, Wilson turned his attention to foreign affairs, as war was quickly encompassing Europe. As the 1916 election approached, his focus on foreign affairs, as well as the natural effect of his small government agenda, left 60 percent of the American public who had not voted for him the first time disinclined to change their minds and keep him in office. Began a new flurry of Progressive reforms that impressed the voting public. Passed Federal Farm Act, the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act, and the Adamson Act. Gained significant support from Jewish voters for hiring the first Jewish US Supreme Court Justice: Louis D Brandeis. Secured a second term by defeating former New York governor Charles Evans Hughes. Could not avoid the reach of WWI much longer.

19th Amendment

Charlotte Perkins Gilman called domesticity an obsolete value for American women. Margaret Sanger led the movement to provide birth control to the poor. Suffragists urged that women be given the right to vote, which came nationally with this. By 1900, some Western frontier states had already responded to women's movements with the right to vote in state and local elections, regardless of gender. They conceded to the suffragists demands, partly in order to attract more women to these male-dominated regions. But women's lives in the West also rarely fit with the nineteenth-century ideology of "separate spheres" that had legitimized the exclusion of women from the rough and tumble party competitions of public politics. In 1890, the National American Women's Suffrage Association organized several hundred state and local chapters to urge the passage of a federal amendment to guarantee a woman's right to vote. Catt and Paul's combined efforts brought enough pressure to bear for Congress to pass this, which prohibited voter discrimination on the bases of sex, during a special session in the summer of 1919. Subsequently., the required thirty-six states approved it's adoption, with Tennessee doing so in August of 1920, in time for that years presidential election. The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of sex.

Red Scare of 1919

Communist uprisings in Hungary and Bavaria further frightened Americans. Truth: in 1919, the United States had quite a few communists. There were radical labor groups fully capable of violence - even if their demands fell well short of overturning the government. Initiated numerous tactics characteristic of totalitarian states. Federal raids on offices of labor & radical organizations, based on little more than suspicion. Arrests and in some cases, deportations of individuals were known to hang around "the wrong people". Secret files and wiretaps. This and Palmer Raids encourage fear and intolerance, which continued throughout the decade. Set labor organizations back 15 years. This, plus fear of foreigners and radicals, helped convict two Italian anarchists who were accused of murdering a guard during a robbery. This was a pervasive American fear of Communist infiltrators prompted by the success of the Bolshevik Revolution. WWI, fundamentalism, and this all left their mark on individuals. The waning of this took with it the last vestiges of progressive zeal.

Sacco & Vanzetti

Convicted of murdering a guard during a robbery with the help of the Red Scare, plus fear of foreigners and radicals. Both were convicted and sentenced on what seemed like flimsy evidence. The case took on symbolic significance and many intellectuals in the US and Europe rallied to their defense. A special commission reaffirmed the verdict and the two were executed in August 1927. The sense of anxiety over the rising tide of immigration came head to head with the trial of these guys. They were Italian immigrants who were accused of being part of a robbery and murder in Braintree, Massachusetts. There was no direct evidence linking them to the crime, but (in addition to being immigrants) both men were anarchists who favored the deconstruction of the American market-based, capitalistic society through violence. At their trial, the district attorney emphasized their radical views and the jury found them guilty on July 14, 1921. Despite subsequent motions and appeals based on ballistics testing, recanted testimony, and an ex-convicts confession, both men were executed.

Eugene V. Debs

Created the American Railway Union. Membership of a large percentage of the industry. Gained victory against the Great Northern Railroad. Led the ARU in a sympathy strike against Pullman. Orders to use no violence and stop no trains. After the strike collapsed, he became a socialist. Ordered rail workers throughout the country to stop handling any trains that had Pullman cars on them. The government ordered the strike to end but he refused and was arrested and imprisoned for his interference with the delivery of US mail. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to six months in prison for disobeying the court injunction. Contemplated alternatives to a capitalist-based economy. Was a founding member and leader of the Socialist Party of America. Ran for president as the SPA candidate in five elections between 1900 & 1920, twice earning nearly one million votes.

Theodore Roosevelt

Energetically came to the White house and used the office of the presidency as no president since Lincoln. Loved to fight those he felt weren't acting in Americas best interest. When mine owners refused to deal with the Union, this president summoned all sides to the White House. Threatened to use army troops to keep the mines open if no solution was reached. The owners backed down and he was credited with ending the strike. Ordered an investigation of Upton Sinclair's accusations about unsanitary meatpacking. Used results of that investigation to pressure Congress into approving new federal legislation to inspect meatpacking. Left office in March 1909, went big-game hunting in Africa but grew bored. Still a healthy rigorous man in his early 50s. While campaigning in Milwaukee, he was shot in the chest by a would be assassin. The bullet slowed by an eyeglass case and a copy of his speech, didn't penetrate far. He insisted on giving the 90 minute speech, blood seeping through his shirt, telling the crowd it took more than that "to kill a bull moose". Considered himself progressive. Gave the journalists the name "muckrakers". A dynamic leader with a Progressive agenda. Many Republican Party leaders disliked his progressive ideas and popular appeal and hoped to end his career with a nomination to the Vice Presidency - long considered a dead end in politics. McKinley was assassinated, putting this man in the office. Moved cautiously with his agenda as he finished out McKinley's term. Kept men of McKinley's cabinet intact, and his initial message to Congress gave only one overriding Progressive goal for his presidency: to eliminate business trusts. Created the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903, which included the Bureau of Corporations, whose job it was to investigate trusts. Asked the Department of Justice to resume precautions under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. Launched his first antitrust suit against the Northern Securities Trust Company, and controlled many of the large midwestern railroads. "The Trustbuster". Did not consider all trusts dangerous to public welfare. Used the presidency as a "bully pulpit" to publicly denounce "bad trusts" - those corporations that exploited their market positions for short term gains - before he ordered prosecutions by the Justice Department. Dared to face the power of corporations. Believed that the federal government should adopt a more progressive role and serve as a steward of all Americans. Won his second term. Moved quickly to enact his own brand of Progressivism, which he called a Square Deal for the American people. Moved quickly to protect public health. Key element of his progressivism was the protection of public land. Longtime outdoorsman, with an interest that went back to his childhood and college days. Conserved land for regulated use for future generations. Signed legislation on Progressive issues such as factory inspections, child labor, and business regulation. Promised he would not seek a third term. Hand-picked William Howard Taft as a successor. Upon his return from Africa, he appeared primed to attack. He referred to the sitting president as a "fathead" and a "puzzle nut" and announced his intention to throw my hat in the ring for the 1912 presidential election. This man and other progressive republicans bolted the Republican party and formed the progressive party. He campaigned on the promise of New Nationalism, a change that he said required a rigorous and powerful federal government to protect public interests.

Federal Reserve Act of 1913

Established the _________ ___________ System as the central bank of the United States to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. The _______ ________ followed a brief postwar recession in 1920-1921 with a policy of setting interest rates artificially low, as well as easing the reserve requirements on the nation's biggest banks. Many banks failed due to their dwindling cash reserves. This was part due to this lowering the limits of cash reserves that banks were traditionally required to hold in their vaults, as well as the fact that many banks invested in the stock market themselves. A partial reason for the collapse of the stock market was the _________ _________ questionable policies and misguided banking practices. Encouraged by Hoover to raise the discount rate to make it more costly for local banks to lend money to potential speculators. Banking Act of 1935 was the most far-reaching revision of banking laws since the creation of the _________ __________ System in 1914. Previously, regional reserve banks had dominated policy-making at the ________ _________. Historians continue to debate the causes of this recession within a depression. Some believe the fear of increased taxes forced factory owners to curtail planned expansion; others blame the _______ ________ for tightening the nation's money supply.

Eleanor Roosevelt

FDR's wife. Niece of Teddy Roosevelt & FDR's 5th cousin. She defined the modern role of a First Lady. A strong, independent thinker, she was possibly more beloved than her husband. Impacted her husbands policies, was a strong and public advocate for social causes. More so than any other individual, came to represent the strongest influence upon the president; and she used her unique position to champion several causes for women, African Americans, and the rural poor. She married in 1905 and subsequently had six children, one of whom died at only seven months old. A strong supporter of her husband's political ambitions, she campaigned by his side through the failed vice-presidential bid in 1920 and on his behalf after he was diagnosed with polio in 1921. When she discovered letters of her husband's affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer, the marriage became less one of romance and more one of a political partnership that would continue—strained at times—until the president's death in 1945. She was so active in her public appearances that, by 1940, she began holding regular press conferences to answer reporters' questions. Among her first substantial projects was the creation of Arthurdale—a resettlement community for displaced coal miners in West Virginia. Although the planned community became less of an administration priority as the years progressed (eventually folding in 1940), for seven years, she remained committed to its success as a model of assistance for the rural poor. Exposed to issues of racial segregation in the Arthurdale experiment, she subsequently supported many civil rights causes through the remainder of the Roosevelt presidency. When it further became clear that racial discrimination was rampant in the administration of virtually all New Deal job programs—especially in the southern states—she continued to pressure her husband for remedies. In 1934, she openly lobbied for passage of the federal anti-lynching bill that the president privately supported but could not politically endorse. Despite the subsequent failure of the Senate to pass such legislation, she succeeded in arranging a meeting between her husband and then-NAACP president Walter White to discuss anti-lynching and other pertinent calls for civil rights legislation. With regard to race relations in particular, she was able to accomplish what her husband—for delicate political reasons—could not: become the administration's face for civil rights.

Booker T. Washington

Founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. His Atlanta compromise argued for self-help and a focus on economic gains over social equality. Tacit acceptance of segregation. Born into slavery in Virginia. Became an influential African American leader at the outset of the progressive era. In 1881, he became the first principle for the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, a position he held until he died in 1915. Tuskegee was an all black "normal school" - an old term for a teachers college - teaching African Americans a curriculum geared towards practical skills such as cooking, farming, and housekeeping. Graduates would often then travel through the South, teaching new farming and industrial techniques to rural communities. Washington extolled the school's new graduates to focus on the black community's self-improvement and prove that they were productive members of society even in freedom - something white Americans throughout the nation had always doubted. Called for African Americans to accommodate white racism and focus solely on self-improvement. The progressive commitment to promoting democracy and social justice created an environment within which the movements for Women's and African American rights grew and flourished. African Americans guided by leaders such as him, WEB Dubois - strove for civil. rights and economic opportunity, although their philosophies and strategies. differed significantly.

John Muir

Founder of the Sierra Club. Friends with Teddy Roosevelt. An influential Scottish- American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the US.

Pullman Strike

George _________ name meant luxury for those who could afford it. These tain cars were the first class of the day. Built a whole town to house workers. The company cut wages by 35%. He refused to arbitrate in June, Debs led the ARU in a sympathy strike. Orders to use no violence and stop no trains. ARU members simply refused to connect his cars to any train. This effectively stopped most lines since they all used his cars. The strike spread and the General Management Association came to his support. Hired strikebreakers, appealed to state and federal governments for military and judicial support. US attorney general obtained a court injunction declaring the strike to be a conspiracy in restraint of trade. President Cleveland ordered federal troops to crush the strikes. Violence escalated, the strike collapsed. Debs became a socialist and the ARU was dead. The Supreme Court decision in re: Debs upheld the legality of using an injunction to stop a strike. Crushed the labor movement for the next forty years leaving public opinion of labor strikes lower than ever and workers unprotected. Began in the company town in Illinois, where ________ "sleeper" cars were manufactured for America's railroads. When the depression of 1893 unfolded in the wake of the failure of several northeastern railroad companies, mostly due to over construction and poor financing, company owner George Pullman fired three thousand of the factory's six thousand employees, cut the remaining wages by an average of 25 percent and then continued to charge the same high rents and prices in the company homes and store where workers were required to live and shop. Workers began the strike on May 11, when Eugene V Debs, the president of the American Railway Union, ordered rail workers throughout the country in this category to strike. The strike created a nationwide train stoppage, right on the heels of the depression in 1893. Seeking justification for sending federal troops, President Grover Cleveland turned to his attorney general, who came up with a solution: attach a mail car to every train and then send in troops to ensure the delivery of the mail. The government also ordered the strike to end; when Debs refused, he was arrested and imprisoned for his interference with the delivery of US mail. The troops protected the hiring of new workers, thus rendering the strike tactic largely ineffective. The strike ended abruptly on July 13, with no labor gains and much lost in the way of public opinion.

Schenk vs US

He was secretary of the Socialist Party, convicted under the Sedition Act for distributing pamphlets to draft-eligible men. In his trial, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and essentially declared free speech didn't exist during war time. Justice Holmes coined the "clear and present danger" doctrine and famously compared this man's actions to "shouting fire in a crowded theatre".

John T Scopes

High school teacher that was accused of violating a state law which barred teaching, at any state-funded establishment. Trial quickly became a circus, a cause to celebrate which pitted modernists who accepted the views of Charles Darwin and most scientists vs evangelical Christian fundamentalists who believed in the literal reading of the bible. Clarence Darrow: hired by the American Civil Liberties Union as attorney for the defense. Despite Darrow's humiliation of Bryan on the witness stand, the jury found this guy guilty. Darrow's questioning of Bryan took place with the jury out of the room and the judge ruled it irrelevant. In the 1950s a popular play called Inherit the Wind was based on this trial. The ACLU enlisted this teacher and coach who suggested that he may have taught evolution while substituting for an ill biology teacher. Town leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, sensed an opportunity to promote their town, which had lost more than one-third of its population, and welcomed the ACLU to a state case against the Butler Act. The ACLU and the town got their wish as the ________ Monkey Trial. The outcome of the trial, in which he was found guilty and fined $100, was never really in question, as the man himself had confessed to violating the law.

Bonus Army

Hoover sent cavalry and tanks to eject them from Washington. Mistreatment of veterans shocked the nation and contributed to Hoovers defeat in 1932. One of the most notable protest movements and occurred toward the end of Hoover's presidency. In this protest, approximately fifteen thousand World War 1 veterans marched on Washington to demand early payment of their veteran bonuses, which were not due to be paid until 1945. The group camped out in vacant federal buildings and set up camps in Anacostia Flats near the Capitol building.

Critics/ Opponents of the New Deal

Huey Long - "The Kingfish". Proposed redistribution of wealth far beyond anything Roosevelt did. Assassinated in 1935, could have challenged FDR in 1936. Father Charles E Coughlin and the National Union for Social Justice. Used radio program to rail about "international capitalists" (Jews). Eventually restrained by the church. Critics were plentiful, and the President would be forced to address them in the years ahead. While many were pleased with the president's bold plans, there were numerous critics of this. Roosevelt won his second term in a landslide, but that did not mean he was immune to criticism. His critics came from both the left and the right, with conservatives deeply concerned over his expansion of government spending and power, and liberals angered that he had not done more to help those still struggling. Adding to Roosevelts challenges, the Supreme Court stuck down general key elements of the First of these, angered Roosevelt and spurring him to try and stack the courts in his second term. While many people supported Roosevelt, especially in the first few years of his presidency, this did receive significant criticism, both from conservatives who felt that it was a radical agenda to ruin the country's model of free enterprise, and from liberals who felt that it did not provide enough help to those who needed it most. Industrialists and wealthy Americans led to the conservative criticism against the President. Whether attacking his character or simply stating that he was moving away from American values toward fascism and socialism, they sought to undermine his power and popularity. Most notably, the American Liberty League - compromised largely of conservative Democrats who lamented the excesses of several of Roosevelt's ____________ programs - labeled the AAA as fascist and proclaimed later ___________ programs to be key threats to the very nature of democracy. Additional criticism came from the National Association of Manufacturers, which urged businessmen to outright ignore portions of the NRA that promoted collective bargaining, as well as subsequent labor protection legislation. The US Supreme Court dealt the most crushing blow to Roosevelt's vision, striking down several pieces of this as unconstitutional. They found that both the AAA and the NRA overreached federal authority. Doctor Francis E Townsend of California was one who felt that Roosevelt had failed to adequately address the country's tremendous problems. Father Charles Coughlin was a "radio priest" from Michigan who although he initially supported this, subsequently argued that Roosevelt stopped far too short in his defense of labor, monetary reform, and the nationalization of key industries. The presidents plan, he proclaimed, was inadequate. Upton Sinclair pursued the California governorship in 1934 through a campaign based upon criticism of its shortcomings. The biggest threat to the president, came from the corrupt but beloved Louisiana senator Huey "Kingfish" Long. His disapproval of Roosevelt came in part from his own ambitions for higher office; Long stated that the President was not doing enough to help people and proposed his own Share Our Wealth program. Although the growth of the GDP between 1934 and 1940 approached an average of 7.5 percent - higher than in any other peace time period in US history, critical of this printout that unemployment still hovered around 15 percent in 1940. Critics point out African Americans were left out of this.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

In June 1933, Roosevelt replaced the Emergency Banking Act with the more permanent Glass-Steagall Banking Act. This law prohibited commercial banks from engaging in investment banking, therefore stopping the practice of banks speculating in the stock market with deposits. This law also created this corporation, which insured personal bank deposits up to $2,500. Insures bank deposits.

100 days

In this time, the new president, Franklin Roosevelt, pushed forward an unprecedented number of new bills, all geared towards stabilizing the economy, providing relief to individuals, creating jobs, and helping businesses. A sympathetic Democrat-controlled Congress helped propel his agenda forward. Roosevelt was committed to addressing the underlying problems inherent in the American economy. In his efforts to do so, he created two of the most significant pieces of New Deal legislation: The Agricultural Adjustment Act, and the National Industry Recovery Act. This time in the beginning of his administration was not a master plan that Roosevelt dreamed up and executed on his own. In fact, it was no master plan at all, but rather a series of disjointed efforts made from different assumptions. But after taking office and analyzing the crisis, Roosevelt and his advisors did feel they had a larger sense of what had caused the Great Depression and thus attempted a variety of solutions to fix it. This time. showed up public confidence and stopped the most drastic of problems. Roosevelt signed numerous other significant pieces of legislation that were geared towards creating jobs, showing up industry and agriculture, and providing relief to individuals through refinancing options and direct hand outs. Not all of his programs were effective, and many generated significant criticism . Overall, these programs helped to stabilize the economy, restore confidence, and change the pessimistic mindset that had overrun the country.

New Deal Criticisms

It didn't end the Great Depression. By 1939, employment had increased but was still high. International trade was weak. Industrial output still depressed. People more optimistic, but still struggling. The advent of World War II in. 1939 finally ended the Great Depression. Established trend of "big government" & chronic deficit spending. Led Congress to hand over the regulatory process to agencies insulated from voters. Introduced some free market distortions that have proved politically difficult to get rid of (e.g. farm subsidies). Accused of decreasing individual initiative & undercutting the "work ethic". Seemed to lose steam by 1937-38. Employment programs may have put men back to work and provided much needed relief, but the fundamental flaws in the system required additional attention—attention that Roosevelt was unable to pay in the early days of the New Deal. Likewise, as with several other New Deal programs, women did not directly benefit from these employment opportunities, as they were explicitly excluded for the benefit of men who most Americans still considered the family's primary breadwinner. While many people supported Roosevelt, especially in the first few years of his presidency, the New Deal did receive significant criticism, both from conservatives who felt that it was a radical agenda to ruin the country's model of free enterprise, and from liberals who felt that it did not provide enough help to those who needed it most. Critics of the welfare state pointed to Roosevelt's presidency as the start of a slippery slope towards entitlement and the destruction of the individualist spirit upon which the United States had presumably developed in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It further became clear that racial discrimination was rampant in the administration of virtually all New Deal job programs—especially in the southern states.

Settlement Houses

Jane Addams and others established group homes in city slums to aid the urban poor. Promoted public health reform in cities, chlorinating water and sanitary regulations. Developed education and craft programs for residents. Created neighborhood health clinics and dispensaries. Vida Scudder helped organize college women to work in these. This movement had its origins in middle class English socialists, European social prophets, American visionaries, and the ethical teachings of Jesus. Blended idealism and practicality. Stressed education, documented social misery in order to spur legislative action. Led by women. The women's work to provide social services, education, and health care to working class women and children was among the earliest in the country.

Hull House

Jane Addams founded this in Chicago in 1889, she said to "aid in the solution of social and industrial problems... engendered by the modern conditions of life in a great city". A home in city slums to aid urban poor. Promoted public health reform in cities, chlorinating water and sanitary regulations. Developed education and craft programs for residents. Created neighborhood health clinics and dispensaries.

Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)

Lowered farm production by paying farmers not to plant as much. Landowners allowed to choose which areas to withdraw from production. These were often the ones farmed by tenants and sharecroppers. Thousands of the poorest, landless, farmers were displaced. Farm program designed to raise process by curtailing production. While much of the legislation of the first hundred days focused on immediate relief and job creation through federal programs. Roosevelt was committed to addressing the underlying problems inherent in the American economy. In his efforts to do so, he created two of the most significant pieces of the New Deal legislation, one of them being this.

Henry Ford

Much of the growth in the suburbs was thanks to an emerging automobile society. He was a deeply weird man. Anti-semitic but unusually race-blind for the time. He adapted the assembly line and inter-changeable parts to auto production. He thought his employees should be able to afford to buy the cars they produced. He offered minimum wage of $5 per day- for workers of any race. This was almost twice the national average for factory workers and helped ensure a dependable workforce, since the work was repetitious and numbing. His model T set the standard when it was first made and sold by the millions. But he ruthlessly pressured dealers and used them to solve his financial difficulties. Used spies one the assembly like and fired workers and executives at the least provocation. If a line shut down, workers were released without pay. By late 20s, his refusal to make major changes put the model T at a major disadvantage behind other sleeker, more modern cars. His wages dropped below the industry average. In 1927, he introduced the Model A and built the gigantic Rouge River plant to mass produce it. It helped, but more customers turned to General Motor's more stylish products. He did not invent the automobile - the Duryea brothers with Gotlieb W. Daimler and Karl Friedrich Benz did. Made car ownership a real possibility for a large share of the population. As prices dropped, more and more people could afford their own car. The assembly line helped him reduce labor costs within the production process by moving the product from one team of workers to the next, each of them completing a step so simple they had to be no smarter than an ox. His reliance on the moving assembly line, scientific managment, and time-motion studies added to his emphasis on efficiency over craftsmanship. Seeking his equal wages, many African Americans from the South moved to Detroit and other large northern cities to work in factories. Didn't allow his workers to unionize, and the boring, repetitive nature of the assembly line work generated a high turnover rate.

Ku Klux Klan

Nativism and prejudice led to its revival. The new edition was organized in Georgia by William J Simmons. While this of the 1870s took almost anyone who was white, this of the 20s was thoroughly Protestant and explicitly anti-foreign, anti-semitic and ant-catholic. As always, members wanted to keep blacks in their place. Violence was always an option when intimidation and harassment didn't work. The 1920s saw rapid growth in this. In some states, women of this made up more than half the memberships. They campaigned for women's rights and equal treatment of all white, protestant women. For both sexes, this served as a social club. At least half the members came from Urban areas. This was especially strong in working-class Detroit, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Chicago. At the peak of its power, it had several million members, many of them middle class. In some states, it influenced politics and determined some elections. Its power declined after 1925 because of international power struggles and several scandals, changing the role of African Americans, immigrants, Catholics, and Jewish Americans. Release of the film The Birth of A Nation offering a racist, white-centric, view of the reconstruction era resulted in a resurgence of attention from this. The new edition publicly showed violence and received mainstream support. Women members also participated in activities like burning crosses and the denunciation of Catholics and Jews. Laws began barring the wearing of masks publicly. Great Depression put an end to it. As dues-paying members dwindled, it lost its organizational power and sunk into irrelevance until the 1950s.

Okies

Not all farmers tried to keep their land. Many, especially those who had arrived only recently, in an attempt to capitalize on the earlier prosperity, simply walked away. In hard-hit Oklahoma, thousands of farmers packed up what they could and walked or drive away from the land they thought would be their future. They, along with other displaced farmers from throughout the Great Plains, became known as this. These were an emblem of the failure of the American breadbasket to deliver on its promise, and their story was made famous in Grapes of Wrath. Maltreated by the Californians who wished to avoid the unwanted competition for jobs that these represented, many of the dust bowl farmers were left wandering as a result.

Knights of Labor

Originally the Noble and Holy Order of ___________. Became public in 1879 when Terence V. Powderly was elected Grand Master Workman. Sought to secure for workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they created. Proposed a cooperative system of production. to provide workers with the economic independence necessary for citizenship and an eight hour work day to allow time for moral, intellectual, and political pursuits. Open to all American "producers" defined as contributing members of society. They excluded the "idle and corrupt" lawyers and bankers. Were unusual in accepting both blacks and female workers. Black delegate Frank J Farrell introduces Terrence V Powderly, head of the organization. Had women as full members. Powderly frowned on strikes, but the organization still benefitted from grassroots strike activity. They lobbied for national contract labor law. Required work contracts and state laws outlawing convict labor. Pressed successfully for the creation of a federal Department of Labor. The Haymarket Riot led to strong growth in the group. Americans sympathy quickly cooled in the face of violence. Membership plummeted and their group faded away. This organization was more able to attract a sympathetic following by widening its base and appealing to more members. Philadelphia tailer Uriah Stephens grew the organization from a small presence during the Panic to an organization of national importance. That was the year they held their first general assembly, where they adopted a broad reform platform, including a renewed call for an eight hour work day, equal pay regardless of gender, the elimination of convict labor, and the creation of greater cooperative enterprises with worker ownership of businesses. Much of its strength came from their concept of "One Big Union" - the idea that it welcomed all wage workers, regardless of occupation, with the exception of doctors, lawyers, and bankers. It welcomed women, African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants, of all trades and skill levels. When Terence V Powderly became leader, he gained even more followers due to his marketing and promotional efforts. Although largely opposed to strikes, they claimed victories in several railroad strikes, including one against the notorious Robber Baron Jay Gould and their popularity rose among workers. They were blamed for the Haymarket affair despite the fact that they had nothing to do with it.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Regulation of working conditions for women became a national concern after a New York workplace incident. Fire broke out at this factory which occupied the top three floors of a ten story building. Company manufactured women's blouses. Around 600 workers, mostly young immigrant women. Some as young as twelve or thirteen. 14 hour shifts, a 60 to 72 hour week. Average weekly wage: six to seven dollars. Flammable textiles were everywhere. Fabric littered the floors, tissue paper patterns hung over tables. Illumination was open gas lighting. Only a few buckets of water in case of fire. One of two 9th floor exits had been locked. The single fire escape had collapsed. Dozens of young women leapt nine stories rather than waiting to be burned to death. The factory owners fled at the first sign of flames. They were later acquitted of criminal charges. Invigorated the International Ladies' Garment Worker's Union. Management had previously blockaded doors and fire escapes in an effort to control workers and keep out Union organizers; in the blaze, many died due to the crush of bodies trying to evacuate the building. Others died when they fell off the flimsy fire escape or jumped down to escape the flames.

Social Security

Roosevelt believed in this. With the implementation of the Second New Deal, Roosevelt created the country's present-day social safety net. This Act established programs intended to help the most vulnerable: the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled, and the young. It included a pension fund for all retired people—except domestic workers and farmers, which therefore left many women and African Americans beyond the scope of its benefits—over the age of sixty-five, to be paid through a payroll tax on both employee and employer. Related to this act, Congress also passed a law on unemployment insurance, to be funded by a tax on employers, and programs for unwed mothers, as well as for those who were blind, deaf, or disabled. Although he never received the support to make these changes, Roosevelt appeared to succeed in politically intimidating the current justices into supporting his newer programs, and this and the Wagner Act. Many would also agree that the postwar economic stability of the 1950s found its roots in the stabilizing influences introduced by this, the job stability that union contracts provided, and federal housing mortgage programs introduced in the New Deal. Even this originally excluded domestic workers, a primary source of employment for African American women. Perkins, one of only two original Cabinet members to stay with Roosevelt for his entire presidency, was directly involved in the administration of this. A series of programs designed to help the population's most vulnerable—the unemployed, those over age sixty-five, unwed mothers, and the disabled—through various pension, insurance, and aid programs.

Banking Crisis of 1933

Roosevelt brought in advisors and economists to deal with this. All ideas were welcomed: Roosevelt was determined to try anything until something worked. A panicked Congress passed legislation as fast at the "Brain Trust" could churn out ideas. In order to attract more investors, banks and brokers had begun to loan investors up to 90% of stock's cost. When stock values began to fall, small investors faced a margin call and were asked to repay some or all of the money - which they didn't have. Banks faced massive losses on bad loans and this led many banks to fail. When Roosevelt took office, he faced one of the worst moments in the country's banking history. States were in disarray. New York and Illinois had ordered the closure of their banks in hopes of avoiding further "bank runs" which occurred when hundreds of individuals ran to their banks to withdraw all of their savings. In all, over five-thousand banks had been shuttered. Within forty-eight hours of his inauguration, Roosevelt proclaimed an official bank holiday and called Congress into a special session to address the crisis. The resulting Emergency Banking Act was signed into law on March 9, 1933, a scant eight hours after Congress saw it. The law officially took the country off the gold standard, a restrictive practice that, although conservative and traditionally viewed as safe, severely limited the circulation of paper money. Those who had gold were told to sell it to the US Treasury for a discounted rate of a little over twenty dollars an ounce. Dollar bills were no longer redeemable in gold. The law also gave the comptroller of currency the power to recognize all national banks faced with insolvency, a level of federal oversight seldom seen prior to the Great Depression. In March, auditors from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, the Treasury Department, and other federal agencies swept through the country, examining each bank. 70% of banks were declared solvent and allowed to reopen.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Roosevelt was aware of the need for immediate help, but he mostly wanted to create more jobs. A work program was this Relief Act. This provided government jobs for young men aged fourteen to twenty-four who came from relief families. They would earn thirty dollars per month planting trees, fighting forest fires, and refurbishing historic sites and parks, building an infrastructure that families would continue to enjoy for generations to come. Within the first two months, this corporation employed its first 250,000 men and eventually established about twenty-five hundred camps. African Americans were left out, with overt discrimination in hiring practices with the federal job programs such as this one and others. By the close of this organization, this program had employed over 300,000 African Americans, increasing the black percentage of its workforce at the outset to nearly 11 percent at its close.

Wagner Act

Set hours and work conditions for most workers. In a push to create new jobs, Roosevelt signed this act, creating the United States Employment Service, which promised states matching funds if they created local employment opportunities. To the benefit of industrial workers, Roosevelt signed into law this act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act. The protections previously afforded to workers under the NIRA were inadvertently lost when the Supreme Court struck down the original law due to larger regulatory concerns, leaving workers vulnerable. Roosevelt sought to salvage this important piece of labor legislation, doing so with this act. The act created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to once again protect American workers' right to unionize and bargain collectively, as well as to provide a federal vehicle for labor grievances to be heard. Although roundly criticized by the Republican Party and factory owners, this act withstood several challenges and eventually received constitutional sanction by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1937. The law received the strong support of John L. Lewis and the Congress of Industrial Organizations who had long sought government protection of industrial unionism, from the time they split from the American Federation of Labor in 1935 over disputes on whether to organize workers along craft or industrial lines. This act permanently established government-secured workers' rights and protections from their employers, and it marked the beginning of labor's political support for the Democratic Party. Although he never received the support to make these changes, Roosevelt appeared to succeed in politically intimidating the current justices into supporting his newer programs, and they upheld both this act and the Social Security Act.

Dust Bowl

Soil Conservation Service created help to deal with the problem of this, erosion and soil loss and depletion in general. It also encouraged better crop/farming practices and encourages use of shelter belts to tame prairie winds and erosion. Farmers, ranchers, and their families suffered more than any group other than African Americans during the Depression. From the turn of the century through much of Work War I, farmers in the Great Plains experienced prosperity due to unusually good growing conditions, high commodity prices, and generous government farming policies that led to a rush for land. As the federal government continued to purchase all excess produce for the war effort, farmers and ranchers fell into several bad practices, including mortgaging their farms and borrowing money against future production even further to take full advantage of their available land and machinery, farmers plowed under native grasses to plant acre after acre of wheat, with little regard for the long-term repercussions to the soil. Regardless of these misguided efforts, commodity prices continued to drop, finally plummeting in 1929, when the price of wheat dropped from two dollars to forty cents per bushel. Exacerbating the problem was a massive drought that began in 1931 and lasted for eight terrible years. Dust storms roiled through the Great Plains, creating huge, choking clouds that piled up in doorways and filtered into homes through closed windows. Even more quickly than it had boomed, the land of agricultural opportunity went bust, due to widespread overproduction and overuse of the land, as well as to the harsh weather conditions that followed, resulting in the creation of the Dust Bowl. Livestock died, or had to be sold, as there was no money for feed. Crops intended to feed the family withered and died in the drought. Terrifying dust storms became more and more frequent, as "black blizzards" of dirt blew across the landscape and created a new illness known as "dust pneumonia". In their desperation to get more from the land, farmers had stripped it of the delicate balance that kept it healthy. Unaware of the consequences, they had moved away from such traditional practices as crop rotation and allowing land to regain its strength by permitting it to lie fallow between plantings, working the land to death. Farmers lost their homes when they lost their livelihood. Most farms and ranches were originally mortgaged to small country banks that understood the dynamics of farming, but as these banks failed, they often sold rural mortgages to larger eastern banks that were less concerned with the specifics of farm life. With the effects of the drought and low commodity prices, farmers could not pay their local banks, which in turn lacked funds to pay the large urban banks. The large banks foreclosed on the farms, often swallowing up the small country banks in the process. Prices continued to decline, and as farmers tried to stay afloat, they produced more crops, which drove prices even lower. Farms failed, and sold at super low prices. Many, especially new farmers, just got up and walked away from their land. Okies were the ones that left their farms.

Tariff

Taft proved less progressive than Theodore Roosevelt in this reform and conservation. The Payne-Aldreich _______ protected industries and kept consumer prices high. Woodrow Wilson called for low ______ among other things. The Underwood _______ was the first significant reduction in _____ rates since the 1860s. 16th Amendment gradually eased reliance on these for national revenue. A national income tax helped replace _____ revenues and break up inherited fortunes. These are taxes on international imports to the United States. Long been a controversial topic in the US. Lower _______, would reduce prices and lower the average American's cost of living, and were therefore favored by many working-class families and farmers. Cleveland agreed with Arthurs position that ______ remained far too high and were clearly designed to protect big domestic industries at the expense of average consumers who could benefit from international competition. These were a serious problem for farmers. Rising ______ on industrial products made purchased items more expensive, yet they were not being used to keep farm prices artificially high. Political infighting within his own party exposed the limitations of Taft's presidential authority, especially on the issue of protective _______. Wilson's plan was partly to lower rates of these in order to increase international trade. The Revenue Act of 1913 lowered their rates across the board by approximately 15 percent and completely eliminated them on several imports.

Northern Securities

Teddy Roosevelt used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to attack a railroad monopoly. The court, to almost everyone's surprise, ordered the company to dissolve. After that, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act would be aimed more at monopolies and many were broken up into smaller companies. Anti-Trust suit launched by Roosevelt controlled many of the large midwestern railroads. The suit wound through the judicial system, all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1904, the highest court in the land ultimately affirmed the ruling to break up the trust in a narrow five to four vote. For Roosevelt, that was enough of a mandate, he immediately moved against other corporations as well, including the American Tobacco Company and most significantly - Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.

Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

The New Deal partly promoted development of areas that a fully free, unregulated market wouldn't have found profitable. This provides public utilities in rural areas.

W.E.B. DuBois

The Niagara Movement used African-Americans to assert themselves and demanded their political and economic rights. He helped found the NAACP (National Association. for the Advancement of Colored People) to challenge racial discrimination in courts of law as well as courts of public opinion. In 1905, a group of prominent civil rights leaders, led by him, met in a small hotel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls - where segregation laws did not bar them from hotel accommodations - to discuss what immediate steps were needed for equal rights. A professor of all-black Atlanta University and the first African American with a doctorate from Harvard, emerged as the prominent spokesperson for what would later be dubbed the Niagara Movement. He had grown weary of Booker T Washington's calls for African Americans to accommodate white racism and focus solely on self-improvement. He, and others alongside him, wished to carve a more direct path towards equality that drew on the political leadership and litigation skills of black, educated elite, which he termed the "talented tenth". At the meeting, he led the others in drafting the "Declaration of Principles", which he called for immediate political, economic, and social equality for African Americans. Served as the influential director of publications for the NAACP from its inception until 1933. As the editor of the journal; The Crisis, he had a platform to express his view on a variety of issues facing African Americans in later Progressive Era.

Court Packing Plan

The Supreme Court was filled with elderly, very conservative justices. Roosevelt proposed a bill allowing appointment of one new justice for each one over 70.5 (which at the time would have meant six new justices). Although the Constitution says nothing about the composition of the Court, the plan came under sharp criticism from all sides. The plan failed. Death and retirement eventually gave FDR the chance to re-make the Court through eight new appointments. Believing it to be his moment of strongest public support, Roosevelt chose to exact a measure of revenge against the US Supreme Court for challenging his programs and to pressure them against challenging his more recent Second New Deal provisions. To this end, Roosevelt created the informally named plan and tried to pack the court in his favor by expanding the number of justices and adding new ones who supported his views. His plan was to add one justice for every current justice over 70 who refused to step down. This would have allowed him to add six more justices, expanding the bench from nine to fifteen. Opposition was quick and thorough from both the Supreme Court and Congress, as well as from his own party. The subsequent retirement of Justice Van Devanter from the court, as well as the sudden death of Senator Joe T Robinson, who championed Roosevelt's plan before the Senate, all but signaled Roosevelt's defeat. However, although he never received the support to make these changes, Roosevelt appeared to succeed in politically intimidating the current justices into supporting his newer programs, and they upheld both the Wagner Act and the Social Security Act. Never again during his presidency would the Supreme Court strike down any significant elements of his New Deal.

18th Amendment

The Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League had fought alcoholism for decades. On the state level through blue laws, and on the national level with a proposed constitutional amendment. Teetotalers and bluenoses celebrated passage and ratification of this. It prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of "intoxicating beverages." The Volstead Act was the enabling legislation that defined "intoxicating beverages". Saw alcohol as both a moral vice and a practical concern, as workingmen spent their wages on liquor and saloons, often turning violent towards each other or their families at home. The WCTU and Anti-Saloon League moved the efforts to eliminate the sale of alcohol from a bar-to-bar public opinion campaign to one of city-to-city and state-to-state votes. Through local option votes and subsequent statewide initiatives and referendums, the Anti-Saloon League succeeded in urging 40% of the nations countries to "go dry" by 1906 and a full dozen states to do the same by 1909. Their political pressure culminated in the passage of this to the US constitution, ratified 1919, which prohibited the manufacture, sale & transportation of alcoholic beverages nationwide.

Huey Long

The biggest threat to the president came from corrupt but beloved Louisiana. "Kingfish". His disapproval of Roosevelt came in part from his own ambitions for higher office; he stated that the president was not doing enough to help people and proposed his own Share Our Wealth program. Under this plan, he recommended the liquidation of all large personal fortunes in order to fund direct payments to less fortunate Americans. He foresaw giving $5,000 to every family, $2,500 to every worker, as well as a series of elderly pensions and education funds. Despite his questionable math, which numerous economists quickly pointed out rendered his program unworkable, by 1935, he had a significant following of over four million people. If he had not been assassinated by the son-in-law of a local political rival, he may well have been a contender against Roosevelt for the 1936 presidential nomination."Spread the wealth among all our people". Proposed a redistribution of wealth far beyond anything Roosevelt did. Assassinated in 1935, could have challenged FDR in 1936.

Progressives

The following fueled _______ reform: industrialization with all its increase in productivity and the number of consumer goods created unemployment, waste of natural resources, abuses of corporate power. Growing cities, influx of immigrants, and rise of mid level managerial class upset traditional class alignments. Massive depression (1893-1897). These were mainly urban in residence and orientation. Mostly middle class, mostly white, often young professionals. Strong faith in progress and the ability of educated people to overcome problems. Wanted educated professionals to address social problems. Rejected the socialists as too extreme. ________ education - John Dewey advocated personal growth and "hands-on" learning vs vote memorization. Promoted free public schools. Pushed enrollments to record levels. Less successful in assessing how well schools were actually doing. These kinds of legal theories struggled at first. William Howard Taft proved to be less of this than Teddy Roosevelt in tarred reform and conservation. Taft kept the nomination but many of the more ________ Republicans walked out. Along with Teddy, they organized the National __________ "Bull Moose" Party. The platform included a long list of these kinds of demands. Many "Bull Moose" Republicans never went back to the Republican party. Most of these and reformers became part of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal coalition. Once major issues had been addressed, they began to come across as busy-bodies trying to legislate their version of morality. This Era was a time of wide-ranging causes and varied movements where activists and reformers were reacting to the challenges that faced the country at the end of the 19th century: rapid urban sprawl, immigration, corruption, industrial working conditions, the growth of large corporations, women rights, and surging anti-black violence and white supremacy in the South. What united them beyond their different backgrounds and causes was a set of uniting principles. Most strove for perfection of democracy, which required the expansion of suffrage to worthy citizens and the restriction of political participation for those considered "unfit" on account of health, education, or race. They also agreed that democracy had to be balanced with an emphasis on efficiency, a reliance on science and technology, and difference to the expertise of professionals. They repudiated party politics but looked to government to regulate the modern market economy. Saw themselves as the agents of social justice and reform, as well as the stewards and guides of workers and the urban poor. It was not until Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became president that the federal government would engage in their reforms. Before then, this belief was work done by people, for the people. What knit them together was the feeling that the country was moving at a dangerous pace in a dangerous direction and required the efforts of everyday Americans to help put it back on track. Considered the concept of perfected democracy vital to the growth of the country. Felt that Americans needed to exert more control over the government. This shift would ultimately lead to a system of government that was better able to address the needs of its citizens. Pushed forward their agenda of direct democracy through the passage of three state-level reforms. Another series of reforms pushed forward by them that sought to side step the lower of special interests in state legislatures and restore the democratic political process were three election innovations - initiative, referendum, and recall. Pushed for democratic reform that affected the federal government. Lobbied for approval of the 17th Amendment. William Jennings Bryan, the 1896 Democratic presidential candidate who received significant support from the Populist party, was among these who championed the cause. Fought to rid politics of inefficiency, waste, and corruption. Those in large cities were particularly frustrated with the corruption and favoritism of machine politics, which wasted enormous sums of taxpayer money and ultimately stalled the progress of cities for the sake of entranced politicians. Worked towards social justice by focusing on those who suffered due to pervasive inequality, such as African Americans, other ethnic groups, and women. Prohibition garnered support from a key group of these. The progressive era also witnessed a wave of radicalism, with leaders who believed that America was beyond reform and that only had a complete revolution of sorts would bring about the necessary changes. One reason why mainstream ________ felt the need to succeed on issues of social inequity was because radicals offered remedies that middle class Americans considered far more dangerous. These groups made tremendous strides on issues involving democracy, efficiency, and social justice. But they found that their grassroots approach was ill-equipped to push back against the most powerful beneficiaries of growing inequality, economic concentration, and corruption - big business. In their fight against the trusts, they needed the leadership of the federal government, and they found it in Teddy Roosevelt through an accident in history. Taft angered these in his party when he created the US Chamber of Commerce in 1912, viewed by many as an attempt to offset the growing influence of the labor union movement at the time. The riff between Taft and these in his party widened when the President supported conservative party candidates. They were not a homogenous group: The movement counted African Americans, both men and women, and urban as well as rural dwellers among its ranks. Some efforts pushed for federal legislation, most of these initiatives took place at the state and local levels, as they sought to harness public support to place pressure on politicians. While radicals generally shared the goals of their more mainstream counterparts, their strategies differed significantly.

Stock Market Crash of 1929

The prosperity of the decade came to a screeching halt in 1929 with this. Even at the peak of the boom only about 1.5 million Americans owned stock. However, many investors had bought stocks on margin (with borrowed money). In order to attract more investors, banks and brokers had begun to loan investors up to 90 percent of stocks cost. When stock values began to fall, small investors faced a margin call and were asked to repay some or all of the money - which they didn't have. Banks faced massive losses on bad loans and this led many banks to fail. Since stock prices had been inflated beyond all reason, the crash represented a loss of over $26 billion on paper. The "roaring twenties" skidded to an abrupt halt. Ended a decade of Republican ascendancy.

New Deal Achievements

This was the peak of a long arc of progressive/liberal politics. Many measures promoted during the Progressive Era finally succeeded during this: unionization, end of child labor, nationalized social safety net, etc. Helped prevent armed revolution & gave US a renewed sense of hope. Contributed infrastructure (dams, highways, parks, etc.) at fairly low cost. Promoted development of areas that a fully free, unregulated market wouldn't have found profitable (TVA, rural electrification). Established that government intervention in the economy (i.e., a moderate social safety net) could help ordinary citizens lead better lives, & that regulated capitalism was more egalitarian/democratic and served to limit human greed and the worst excesses of "Social Darwinism". Saved the Banks. Glass-Steagall Act. Major measures of the Second New Deal addressed long-sought progressive goals. Provided old age pensions. Set hours and work conditions for most workers. Subsidized electric power in areas unprofitable to private enterprise. Public works jobs for all sorts of workers. Followed international course after initial flirtation with nationalism. Goal was to stimulate international trade and boost US exports. Roosevelt introduced many state-level reforms that later formed the basis of this as well as worked with several advisors who later formed the Brains Trust that advised his federal agenda. Together, these men, along with others, advised Roosevelt through the earliest days of this and helped to craft significant legislative programs for congressional review and approval. Later this legislation created the Federal Housing Authority, which eventually standardized the thirty-year mortgage and promoted the housing boom of the post- World War II era. Throughout his presidency, Roosevelt frequently pointed to the TVA as one of the glowing accomplishments of this and its ability to bring together the machinery of the federal government along with private interests to revitalize a regional economy. It put new capital into ailing banks. It rescued homeowners and farmers from foreclosure and helped people keep their homes. It offered some direct relief to the unemployed poor. It gave new incentives to farmers and industry alike, and put people back to work in an effort to both create jobs and boost consumer spending. The total number of working Americans rose from twenty-four to twenty-seven million between 1933 and 1935, in contrast to the seven- million-worker decline during the Hoover administration. Perhaps most importantly, the first of these changed the pervasive pessimism that had held the country in its grip since the end of 1929. While the First of these focused largely on stemming the immediate suffering of the American people, the Second of these put in place legislation that changed America's social safety net for good. Although he was still reeling from the Supreme Court's invalidation of key statutes, he decided to face his re-election bid in 1936 by unveiling another wave of legislation that he dubbed the Second of these. Whereas the policies of the first hundred days may have shored up public confidence and stopped the most drastic of the problems, the second hundred days changed the face of America for the next sixty years. With the implementation of the Second of these, Roosevelt also created the country's present-day social safety net. The Social Security Act established programs intended to help the most vulnerable: the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled, and the young. Related to this act, Congress also passed a law on unemployment insurance, to be funded by a tax on employers, and programs for unwed mothers, as well as for those who were blind, deaf, or disabled. The legacy of the this is in part seen in the vast increase in national power: The federal government accepted responsibility for the nation's economic stability and prosperity. In retrospect, the majority of historians and economists judge it to have been a tremendous success. This not only established minimum standards for wages, working conditions, and overall welfare, it also allowed millions of Americans to hold onto their homes, farms, and savings. This state that embraced its responsibility for the citizens' welfare and proved willing to use its power and resources to spread the nation's prosperity lasted. Many would also agree that the postwar economic stability of the 1950s found its roots in the stabilizing influences introduced by social security, the job stability that union contracts provided, and federal housing mortgage programs introduced in this. The environment of the American West in particular, benefited from it's projects such as the Soil Conservation program. Despite the obvious gender limitations, many women strongly supported this, as much for its direct relief handouts for women as for its employment opportunities for men.

1893 Columbian Exhibition

World's fair in Chicago was meant to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage. Exhibit halls and grounds were rapidly built on a sketchy area of ground next to Lake Michigan. Known as the "White City", the gleaming, scrupulously clean grounds gave millions a vision of how cities could look. Organizers deemed Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show insufficiently "elevated" to include. Bill simply set up shop on vacant ground outside the Exhibition area. Known as the "midway", it was more risqué, tawdry, and probably a lot more fun. George Washington Ferris built the first ferris wheel for this exhibition. City of the Future was the "White City". Spotlessly clean and expensive. Lots of electricity in main building, people were amazed. Ferris wheel had railroad cars that could carry 60 people at a time.

Louis Brandeis

_______ beliefs: pioneered by him in Muller vs Oregon. Wilson gained significant support from the Jewish voters with his 1916 appointment of the first Jewish US Supreme Court Justice (this guy). Popular amongst social justice progressives, he went on to become one of the most renowned justices on the court for his defense of freedom of speech and right to privacy issues.