Unit 8 APUSH Terms

Moral Diplomacy

Moral Diplomacy is a form of Diplomacy proposed by US President Woodrow Wilson in his 1912 election. Moral Diplomacy is the system in which support is given only to countries whose moral beliefs are analogous to that of the nation. This promotes the growth of the nation's ideals and damages nations with different ideologies. [1] It was used by Woodrow Wilson to support countries with democratic governments and to economically injure non-democratic countries (seen as possible threats to the U.S.). He also hoped to increase the number of democratic nations, particularly in Latin America.[2]

New Nationalism

New Nationalism, in U.S. history, political philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt, an espousal of active federal intervention to promote social justice and the economic welfare of the underprivileged; its precepts were strongly influenced by Herbert Croly's The Promise of American Life (1910). Roosevelt used the phrase "New Nationalism" in a 1910 speech in which he attempted to reconcile the liberal and conservative wings of the Republican Party. Unsuccessful, he became a Progressive and went on to promulgate his ideas as that party's presidential candidate in the election of November 1912. His program called for a great increase of federal power to regulate interstate industry and a sweeping program of social reform designed to put human rights above property rights. With the Republican vote split, Roosevelt and his New Nationalism went down to defeat before Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson and his New Freedom. See also Croly, Herbert David.

"He kept us out of war!"

"He kept us out of war." This was the slogan used by the Woodrow Wilson campaign that led the incumbent President to a narrow victory over Charles Evans Hughes in November 1916. (However, five months later, President Wilson brought America to war with Germany after the latter launched unrestricted submarine warfare.)

ABC mediation

ABC countries, or ABC Powers, is a term sometimes used to describe the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil and Chile, which are seen as three of the most powerful and wealthy countries in South America. The term was mostly used in the first half of the 20th century when they worked together to develop common interests and a coordinated approach to issues in the region with relatively little influence from outside powers in contrast with the Cold War governments.

16th-19th Amendments

16th amendment Amendment to the United States Constitution (1913) gave Congress the power to tax income. 17th amendment Passed in 1913, this amendment to the Constitution calls for the direct election of senators by the voters instead of their election by state legislatures. 18th amendment Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcoholic beverages 19th amendment Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (1920) extended the right to vote to women in federal or state elections.

Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire

1911 - in a New York City high0rise garment factory took 146 lives, mostly women. The tragedy sparked greater women's activism and motivated states to pass laws to improve safety and working conditions in factories. One unforeseen consequence of efforts to protect women in the workplace was that the legislation kept women out of physically demanding work but high paying jobs in industry and mining. Later, many in the women's movement wanted these restrictions lifted so that women could compete as equals with men.

Liberty Loans

A Liberty Bond was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time. The Act of Congress which authorized the Liberty Bonds is still used today as the authority under which all U.S. Treasury bonds are issued. Securities, also known as Liberty Bonds, were issued in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to finance the rebuilding of the areas affected.[1]

Gentlemen's Agreement

A major cause of friction between Japan and the United States concerned the laws of California, which discriminated against Japanese Americans. San Francisco's practice of requiring Japanese American children to attend segregated schools was considered a national insult in Japan. In 1908, President Roosevelt arranged a compromise by means of an informal understanding or "____." The Japanese government secretly agreed to restrict the emigration of Japanese workers to the US in return for Roosevelt persuading California to repeal its discriminatory laws.

Vera Cruz

several American sailors were arrested at Vera Cruz by the Mexican gov. US responded by capturing Vera Cruz when Huerta refused to apologize. Huerta soon lost popular support and was replaced by Carranza (a pro-US leader) (1914)

John Hay

After Lincoln's death, Hay spent several years at diplomatic posts in Europe, then worked for the New-York Tribune under Horace Greeley and Whitelaw Reid. Yet, Hay remained active in politics, and from 1879 to 1881 served as Assistant Secretary of State. Afterwards, he remained in the private sector, until President McKinley, for whom he had been a major backer, made him Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1897. Hay became Secretary of State the following year. Hay served for almost seven years as Secretary of State under President McKinley, and after his assassination, under Theodore Roosevelt. Hay was responsible for negotiating the Open Door Policy, which kept China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, with international powers. By negotiating the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with the United Kingdom, the (ultimately unratified) Hay-Herrán Treaty with Colombia, and finally the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with the newly-independent Republic of Panama, Hay also cleared the way for the building of the Panama Canal.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Alfred Thayer Mahan (September 27, 1840 - December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy admiral, geostrategist, and historian, who has been called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century."[1] His concept of "sea power" was based on the idea that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide impact; it was most famously presented in The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (1890). The concept had an enormous influence in shaping the strategic thought of navies across the world, especially in the United States, Germany, Japan and Great Britain, ultimately causing a European naval arms race in the 1890s, which included the United States. His ideas still permeate the US Navy doctrine. Several ships have been named as the USS Mahan, including the lead vessel of a class of destroyers.

Alice Paul

Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 - July 9, 1977) was an American suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and the main leader and strategist of the 1910s campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. Along with Lucy Burns and others, Paul strategized the events, such as the Silent Sentinels, which led the successful campaign that resulted in its passage in 1920.[1] After 1920 Paul spent a half century as leader of the National Woman's Party, which fought for her Equal Rights Amendment to secure constitutional equality for women. She won a large degree of success with the inclusion of women as a group protected against discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Hepburn Act

Also strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission. Started in 1906 where the commission could fix "just and reasonable" rates for railroads.

Ida Tarbell

An Irish immigrant, Samuel Sidney McClure founded McClure's Magazine in 1893, which became a major success by running a series of muckraking articles by Lincoln Steffens (Tweed Days in St. Louis, 1902) and another series by ______ (The History of the Standard Oil Company, also in 1912). Combing careful research with sensationalism, these articles set a standard for the deluge of muckraking that followed. Popular 10 and 15 cent magazines such as McClure's, Collier's, Cosmopolitan competed fiercely to outdo their rivals with shocking exposes of political and economic corruption.

Gifford Pinchot

As a lover of the wilderness and the outdoor life, Roosevelt enthusiastically championed the cause of conservation. In fact, Roosevelt's most original and lasting contribution in domestic policy may have been his efforts to protect the nation's natural resources. In 1908, the president publicized the need for conservation by hosting a White House Conference of Governors to promote coordinated conservation planning by federal and state governments. Following this conference, a National Conservation Commission was established under _______ of Pennsylvania, whom Roosevelt had earlier appointed to be the first director of the US Forest Service.

Roosevelt Corollary

As the 20th century began, Japan and the US were both relatively new imperialist powers in East Asia, and their relationship grew during Roosevelt's presidency, though at first friendly, they became incredibly competitive. Imperialist rivalry between Japan and Russia led to war in 1904, a war Japan was winning. To end the conflict, Roosevelt arranged a diplomatic conference between the two at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1905. Although both Japan and Russia agreed to the ______, Japanese nationalists blamed the US for not giving their country all that they believed they deserved from Russia.

Hay-Pauncefort Treaty

Because of Spanish-American War, new American empire stretched from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean to the Philippines in the Pacific. To hold on to these far flung islands, US desired a canal through Central America to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but it would be difficult. And before it could even try to build this canal, it needed to negotiate an agreement with the British to cancel an earlier treaty of 1850 where any canal in Central America was to be under joint British-US control. This agreement, called _____, was signed in 1901. With the British agreement to let the US build a canal alone, the young and activist President Roosevelt took charge.

Muckrakers

Before the public could be roused to action, it first had to be well-informed about the scandalous realities of politics, factories, and slums. Newspaper and magazine publishers found that their middle class readers loved to read about underhanded schemes in politics. Therefore, many publications featured in depth, investigative stories. Writers specializing in such stories were referred to as "muckrakers" by President Theodore Roosevelt. The popularity of muckraking books and magazine articles began to decline after 1910 for several reasons. First, writers found it more and more difficult to top the sensationalism of the last story. Second, publishers were expanding and faced economic pressures from banks and advertisers to tone down their treatment of business. Third, by 1910 corporations were becoming more aware of their public image and developing a new specialty: the field of public relations. Nevertheless, muckraking had a lasting effect on the Progressive era. It exposed inequities, educated the public about corruption in high places, and prepared the way for corrective action.

Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Clayton Antitrust Act, 1914, passed by the U.S. Congress as an amendment to clarify and supplement the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. It was drafted by Henry De Lamar Clayton. The act prohibited exclusive sales contracts, local price cutting to freeze out competitors, rebates, interlocking directorates in corporations capitalized at $1 million or more in the same field of business, and intercorporate stock holdings. Labor unions and agricultural cooperatives were excluded from the forbidden combinations in the restraint of trade. The act restricted the use of the injunction against labor, and it legalized peaceful strikes, picketing, and boycotts. It declared that "the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce." Organized labor was as heartened by the act as it had been dejected by the doctrine of the Danbury Hatters' Case, but subsequent judicial construction weakened the act's labor provisions. The Clayton Antitrust Act was the basis for a great many important and much-publicized suits against large corporations. Later amendments to the act strengthened its provisions against unfair price cutting (1936) and intercorporate stock holdings (1950).

Settlement Houses

Concerned about the lives of the poor, a number of young, well-educated women and men of the middle class settled into immigrant neighborhoods to learn about the problems of immigrant families first hand. Living and working in places called settlement houses, the young reformers hoped to relieve the effects of poverty by providing social services for people in the neighborhood. The most famous such experiment was Hull House in Chicago founded by Jane Addams and a college classmate in 1889. Settlement houses taught English to immigrants, pioneered early-childhood education, taught industrial arts, and established neighborhood theaters and music schools. By 1910, there were more than 400 0f them in America's largest cities. Settlement workers were civic-minded volunteers who created the foundation for the later job of social worker. They were also political activists who crusaded for child labor laws, housing reform, and women's rights. Two settlement worker, Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins went on to leadership roles in President Franklin Roosevelt's reform program, the New Deal in 1930s.

Main explosion

Concerned with the situation in Cuba, in January 1897 the US sent a warship, the USS Maine, to Cuba under captain Charles D. Sigsbee. The Maine's mission was purportedly friendly, its job to investigate the situation and provide an escape for American should things get out of hand. Shortly after the Maine set out, Hearst's newspaper intercepted a letter from Spain's minister in Washington, Dupuy du Lome. The letter spoke rudely of President McKinley. Of course, Hearst did not refrain from publishing the scandalous Lome letter. The letter appeared in the February 9, 1898 of the New York Journal. The letter outraged Americans and embarrassed Spain. Dupuy du Lome was forced to resign over the matter, and tensions between the US and Spain increased. Six days after Hearst published the Lome letter, the USS Maine sailed into Havana harbor. The surprised Spanish, who had only been given a few hours notice that the Maine was coming, were quite upset. Although the Maine claimed to be on a friendly mission, it was a powerful warship. The Spanish authorities felt that the US was trying to intimidate them and was interfering with Spanish sovereignty by trying to affect Spanish policy toward the Cuban insurrectos. On February 15, 1898, in an event that still remains a mystery, the Maine suddenly exploded as it sailed around Havana harbor. This was a tragedy for the United States, as 260 out of 350 American sailors and officers died in the explosion. Hearst's newspaper immediately published a story with the headline, "The Warship Maine Was Split In Two By An Enemy's Secret Infernal Machine!'' The destruction of the Maine created an uproar in America, which, influenced by Hearst, immediately held Spain responsible. In fact, the details of the explosion were still not clear. Investigations by both the US and Spain began, and not surprisingly, they disagreed. While the Spanish investigation team claimed that the explosion was only an accident caused by some internal problem on the ship, the American investigation said the explosion must have been caused by a Spanish mine in the harbor. The yellow press exploited this story, whipping the US into an anti-Spanish frenzy. Newspaper circulation soared as the public demanded war with Spain. War would come, and when it did, the cry of "Remember the Maine" would be heard frequently.

Emiliano Zappata

Emiliano Zapata Salazar (Spanish pronunciation: [emiˈljano saˈpata]; 8 August 1879-10 April 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, the main leader of the peasant revolution in the state of Morelos, and the founder of the agrarian movement called Zapatismo. Zapata remains an iconic figure in Mexico, used both as a nationalist symbol as well as a symbol of the neo-Zapatista movement.

Conscription

Conscription in the United States, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the federal government on three occasions. The third incarnation of the draft came into being in 1940 through the Selective Training and Service Act. It was the country's first peacetime draft.[1] From 1940 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means. The draft was ended when the United States military moved to an all-volunteer military force. However, the Selective Service System remains in place as a contingency plan; men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register so that a draft can be readily resumed if needed.[2]

Downes v Biddell

Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244 (1901), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided whether United States territories were subject to the provisions and protections of the United States Constitution. This question is sometimes stated as "does the Constitution follow the flag?". The resulting decision narrowly held that the U.S. Constitution did not necessarily apply to territories. Instead, the United States Congress had jurisdiction to create law within territories in certain circumstances, particularly dealing with revenue, that would not be allowed by the U.S. Constitution for proper states within the union. It has become known as one of the "Insular Cases". One of the insular cases.

Payne-Aldrich Tariff

During his 1903 campaign, Taft had promised to lower the tariff. Instead, conservative Republicans in Congress passed the _____ in 1909, which raised the tariff on most imports. Taft angered the Progressives in his party not only by signing the tariff bill but by making a public statement in his defense.

Muller v. Oregon

Florence Kelley and the National Consumers' League promoted the passage of state laws to protect women from long working hours. While in Lochner v. New York (1905), the Supreme Court ruled against a state law limiting workers to a ten hour workday, later in _____ (1908), a high court ruled that health of women needed special protection from long hours.

Square Deal

Following President McKinley's assassination in September 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became, at the age of 42, the youngest president in US history. He was also one of the most athletic. He was unusual not simple because of his age and vigor but also because he believed that the president should do much more than lead the executive departments. He thought it was the president's job to set the legislative agenda for Congress as well. The Progressive movement suddenly shot into high gear under the dynamic leadership of an activist, reform-minded president. Presidents in the 19th century had consistently taken the side of owners in conflicts with labor) most notably Hayes in the railroad strike of 1877 and Cleveland in the Pullman strike of 1894). However, in the first economic crisis in his presidency, Roosevelt quickly demonstrated that he favored neither business nor labor and insisted on a _____ for both. The crisis involved a strike of anthracite coal miners through much of 1902. If the strike continued, many Americans feared that--without coal--they would freeze to death when winter came. Roosevelt took the unusual step of trying to mediate the labor dispute by calling a union leader and coal mine owners to the White House. The mine owners' stubborn refusal to compromise angered the president. To ensure the delivery of coal to consumers. he threatened to take findings of a special commission, which granted a 10 percent wage increase and a nine hour work day to the miners. However, the owners did not have to recognize the union. Voters seem to approve of Roosevelt and his _______, and they elected him with a landslide in 1904.

George Creel

George Creel (December 1, 1876 - October 2, 1953) was an investigative journalist, a politician, and, most famously, the head of the United States Committee on Public Information, a propaganda organization created by President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. He said of himself that "an open mind is not part of my inheritance. I took in prejudices with mother's milk and was weaned on partisanship."[1]

Venustiano Carranza

José Venustiano Carranza Garza (Spanish pronunciation: [benusˈtjano kaˈransa]; 28 December 1859 - 21 May 1920) was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Victoriano Huerta regime in the summer of 1914, and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted. He was assassinated near the end of his term of office at the behest of a cabal of army generals resentful at his insistence that his successor be a civilian.

Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)

Hammer v. Dagenhart, (1918), legal case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Keating-Owen Act, which had regulated child labour. The act, passed in 1916, had prohibited the interstate shipment of goods produced in factories or mines in which children under age 14 were employed or adolescents between ages 14 and 16 worked more than an eight-hour day. Hammer v. Dagenhart was a test case in 1918 brought by employers outraged at this regulation of their employment practices. Dagenhart was the father of two boys who would have lost jobs at a Charlotte, N.C., mill if Keating-Owen were upheld; Hammer was the U.S. attorney in Charlotte. In a 5 to 4 decision, the Court ruled that the Keating-Owen Act exceeded federal authority and represented an unwarranted encroachment on state powers to determine local labour conditions. In a notable dissent, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes pointed to the evils of excessive child labour, to the inability of states to regulate child labour, and to the unqualified right of Congress to regulate interstate commerce—including the right to prohibit. Hammer v. Dagenhart was overturned when the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Fair Labor Standards Act in U.S. v. Darby Lumber Company (1941).

Henry Cabot Lodge

Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 - November 9, 1924) was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. A PhD in history from Harvard, he was a long-time friend and confidant of Theodore Roosevelt. Lodge had the role (but not the official title) of the first Senate Majority Leader. He is best known for his positions on foreign policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles. Lodge demanded Congressional control of declarations of war; Wilson refused and blocked Lodge's move to ratify the treaty with reservations. As a result the United States never joined the League of Nations.

General Victoriano Huerta

Huerta, Victoriano (vēktōryäˈnō) [key], 1854-1916, Mexican general and president (1913-14). He served under Porfirio Díaz. After the revolution of Francisco I. Madero (1911) he aided the new president, who, reluctantly, made him (1912) commander of the federal forces. In 1913 he plotted secretly with Madero's enemies, including U.S. ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, and overthrew the president. Huerta established a military dictatorship, notable for political corruption and rule by imprisonment and assassination. Numerous counterrevolutions broke out; the most important insurgent leaders were Venustiano Carranza, Francisco Villa, and Emiliano Zapata. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was openly hostile to Huerta, and unpleasant international incidents occurred at Tampico and Veracruz. Steady insurgent military pressure forced Huerta to resign in July, 1914. He fled to Europe and returned to the United States, where he was subsequently arrested for revolutionary activities; an alcoholic, he died in El Paso shortly after being released from an army jail.

Panama Canal

In 1902, the British dispatched warships to Venezuela to force that country to pay its debts, and in 1904, it appeared that European powers stood ready to intervene in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) for the same reason. Instead of letting European powers intervene, which was against the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt declared in 1904 that the US would intervene instead, whenever necessary. This policy became known as _____to the Monroe Doctrine. It meant that the US would send gunboats to a Latin American country that was delinquent in paying debts. US sailors and marines would occupy the country's major ports to manage the collection of customs taxes until European debts were satisfied. Over 20 years, US presidents used the Roosevelt Corollary to justify sending US forces into Haiti, Honduras, the DR, and Nicaragua. Long term result was poor US relations with the entire region of Latin America.

Robert M. LaFollette

In 1903, the Progressive governor of Wisconsin, _____, introduced a new system for bypassing politicians and placing the nominating process directly in the hands of the voters--the direct primary. By 1915, some form of direct primary was used in every state. The system's effectiveness in overthrowing boss rule was limited, as politicians devised ways of confusing the voters and splitting the antimachine vote. Some southern states even used white only primaries to exclude African Americans from voting.

Teller Amendment

In April 1898 Senator Henry M. Teller (Colorado) proposed an amendment to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain which proclaimed that the United States would not establish permanent control over Cuba. It stated that the United States "hereby disclaims any disposition of intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people." The Senate passed the amendment on April 19. True to the letter of the Teller Amendment, after Spanish troops left the island in 1898, the United States occupied Cuba until 1902. The Teller Amendment was succeeded by the Platt Amendment introduced by Senator Orville Platt (R-Connecticut) in February 1901. It allowed the United States "the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty..." The Platt Amendment was finally abrogated on May 29, 1934.

Josiah Strong

Josiah Strong (1847-1916) was an American Protestant clergyman, organizer, editor and author. He was a leader of the Social Gospel movement, calling for social justice and combating social evils. He supported missionary work so that all races could be improved and uplifted and thereby brought to Christ. The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean environment, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war.

Assassination of the Archduke

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were shot dead in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of six assassins (five Serbs and one Bosniak) coordinated by Danilo Ilić, a Bosnian Serb and a member of the Black Hand secret society. The political objective of the assassination was to break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces so they could be combined into a Yugoslavia. The assassins' motives were consistent with the movement that later became known as Young Bosnia. The assassination led directly to the First World War when Austria-Hungary subsequently issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, which was partially rejected. Austria-Hungary then declared war. On top of these Serbian military conspirators was Chief of Serbian Military Intelligence Dragutin Dimitrijević, his right-hand man Major Vojislav Tankosić, and the spy Rade Malobabić. Major Tankosić armed the assassins with bombs and pistols and trained them. The assassins were given access to the same clandestine network of safe-houses and agents that Rade Malobabić used for the infiltration of weapons and operatives into Austria-Hungary. The assassins, the key members of the clandestine network, and the key Serbian military conspirators who were still alive were arrested, tried, convicted and punished. Those who were arrested in Bosnia were tried in Sarajevo in October 1914. The other conspirators were arrested and tried before a Serbian kangaroo court on the French-controlled Salonika Front in 1916-1917 on unrelated false charges; Serbia executed three of the top military conspirators. Much of what is known about the assassinations comes from these two trials and related records.

Philippines debate

On April 19, 1898, the U.S. Congress declared war on Spain. The Congress proclaimed Cuba to be free, demanded Spain withdraw from Cuba, directed the President to use armed force to insure this demand, and denied any intention by the U.S. to take Cuba. Spain's rule over Cuba had been cruel, and Americans were outraged by it. American newspapers run by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst exaggerated the Spanish atrocities in order to sell more papers, and the American public began to demand war with Spain. Then the U.S. battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana harbor, with a loss of over 250 officers and men. American anger reached the boiling point. Congress promised not to annex Cuba because it wanted to assure the American people that this war was to be a selfless humanitarian crusade to defend the Cubans. It also wanted to help American sugar companies by keeping Cuban sugar out of the U.S. (or: Congress wanted to assure the.....[and at end,] therefore Congress promised not to annex Cuba.) The war, however, began in the distant Philippine Islands. When war was declared, the Asiatic Squadron of the U.S. Navy, under the command of Admiral George Dewey, sailed immediately for the Philippines. There it surprised and destroyed the Spanish fleet in a "glorious victory" that astonished and thrilled the American people and government. The dilemma for Americans was this: Congress had pledged no annexation of Cuba. But what about other Spanish territories that might be conquered during the war? At the turn of the century, debate about the future of the Philippines divided Senators and Presidential candidates. Should the United States allow the Philippines to pursue self - rule, or should the government annex the Philippines, and under what conditions? Although the nation experienced growth and expansion during much of the nineteenth-century, it pursued the foreign policy President Washington advocated in his farewell address.

Foraker Act

On April 2, 1900, U.S. President McKinley signed a civil law that established a civilian government in Puerto Rico. This law was known as the Foraker Act for its sponsor, Joseph Benson Foraker (an Ohio statesman), and also as the Organic Act of 1900. The new government had a governor and an executive council appointed by the President, a House of Representatives with 35 elected members, a judicial system with a Supreme Court, and a non-voting Resident Commissioner in Congress. In addition, all federal laws of the United States were to be in effect on the island. The first civil governor of the island under the Foraker Act was Charles H. Allen, inaugurated on May 1, 1900 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Declaration of War

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Wilson cited Germany's violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war. On April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917.

Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I (1914-18) erupted across Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner en route from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the more than 1,900 passengers and crew members on board, more than 1,100 perished, including more than 120 Americans. Nearly two years would pass before the United States formally entered World War I, but the sinking of the Lusitania played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany, both in the United States and abroad.

Pan American Union

Pan-American Union, Organization formed in 1890 to promote cooperation among the countries of Latin America and the U.S. It was established (as the International Union of American Republics) at the first Pan-American conference, which was called by U.S. secretary of state James Blaine in order to reach agreements on various common commercial and juridical problems among the countries of the Americas. In 1948 it was reconstituted as the Organization of American States.

Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa (1878-1923) was a famed Mexican revolutionary and guerilla leader. He joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Mexican President Porfirio Díaz in 1909, and later became leader of the División del Norte cavalry and governor of Chihuahua. After clashing with former revolutionary ally Venustiano Carranza, Villa killed more than 30 Americans in a pair of attacks in 1916. That drew the deployment of a U.S. military expedition into Mexico, but Villa eluded capture during the 11-month manhunt. Pardoned by Mexican President Adolfo de la Huerta in 1920, Villa retired to a quiet life at his ranch until his assassination.

Elkins Act

President Roosevelt also took the initiative in persuading a Republican majority in Congress to pass two laws that significantly strengthened the regulatory powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Under the ____ (1903), the ICC had greater authority to stop railroads from granting rebates to favored customers.

Progressive (Bull Moose) Party

Progressivism came to the forefront of our national politics for the first time in the election of 1912. The two leading candidates after the votes were tallied were both Progressives: the Democratic Party's Woodrow Wilson, who won the presidency, and the Progressive Party's Theodore Roosevelt. The election was truly transformative. It challenged voters to think seriously about their rights and the Constitution and marked a fundamental departure from the decentralized republic that had prevailed since the early 19th century. The 1912 election did not completely remake American democracy, but it marked a critical way station on the long road to doing so. In a very real sense, Theodore Roosevelt won the 1912 election: The causes he championed with extraordinary panache still live on today

Meat Inspection Act

The Jungle, a muckraking book by Upton Sinclair, described in horrifying detail the conditions in the Chicago stockyards and meatpacking industry. The public outcry following the publication of Sinclair's novel caused Congress to enact two regulatory laws in 1906, one of them being this one. This one provided that federal inspectors visit meatpacking plants to ensure that they met minimum standards of sanitation.

Queen Liliuokalani & Hawaii

Queen Liliuokalani (1838-1917) was the last sovereign of the Kamehameha dynasty, which had ruled a unified Hawaiian kingdom since 1810. Born Lydia Kamakaeha, she became crown princess in 1877, after the death of her youngest brother made her the heir apparent to her elder brother, King Kalakaua. By the time she took the throne herself in 1891, a new Hawaiian constitution had removed much of the monarchy's powers in favor of an elite class of businessmen and wealthy landowners (many of them American). When Liliuokalani acted to restore these powers, a U.S. military-backed coup deposed her in 1893 and formed a provisional government; Hawaii was declared a republic in 1894. Liliuokalani signed a formal abdication in 1895 but continued to appeal to U.S. President Grover Cleveland for reinstatement, without success. The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898.

Underwood Simmons Tariff

Re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909. It was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 3, 1913, and was sponsored by Alabama Representative Oscar Underwood.

Trustbusting

Roosevelt further increased his popularity by being the first president since the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 to enforce that poorly written law. The trust that he most wanted to bust was a combination of railroads known as the Northern Securities Company. Reversing its position on earlier cases, the Supreme Court in 1904 upheld Roosevelt's action in breaking up the railroad monopoly. Roosevelt later directed his attorney general to take antitrust action against Standard Oil and more than 40 other large corporations. Roosevelt did make a distinction between breaking up "bad trusts," which harmed the public and stifled competition, and regulating "good trusts," which through efficiency and low prices dominated the market.

Panamanian rebellion

Roosevelt was eager to begin the construction of a canal through the narrow but rugged terrain of the isthmus of Panama, but he was frustrated by Colombia's control of this isthmus and its refusal to agree to US terms for digging the canal through its territory. Losing patience with Colombia's demands of more money and sovereignty over the canal, Roosevelt orchestrated a revolt for Panama's independence in 1903. With the support of the US navy, the rebellion succeeded immediately and almost without bloodshed. The new government of an independent Panama, however, had to sign the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 that granted thge US all rights over the 51 mile long and 10 mile wide Canal Zone "as if it were sovereign...in perpetuity" to keep US protection.

Dollar Diplomacy

Roosevelt's successor, William Howard Taft (1909-1913), did not carry a big stick. He adopted a foreign policy that was mildly expansionist but depended more on investors' dollars than on the navy's battleships. His policy of promising US trade by supporting American enterprises abroad was known as _____. Taft believed that private American financial investments in China and Central America would lead to greater stabiility there, while at the same time promising US business interests. His policy, however, was thwarted b growing anti-imperialism both in the US and overseas.

Upton Sinclair

The Jungle, a muckraking book, written by ___ described in horrifying detail the conditions in the Chicago stockyards and meatpacking industry. The public outcry following the publication of Sinclair's novel caused Congress to enact two regulatory laws in 1906: 1) The Pure Food and Drug Act forbade the manufacture, sale, and transportation of adulterated or mislabeled foods and drugs. 2) The Meat Inspection provided that federal inspectors visit meatpacking plants to ensure that they met minimum standards of sanitation.

Schenck v. United States

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), is a United States Supreme Court decision concerning enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917 during World War I. A unanimous Supreme Court, in a famous opinion by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., concluded that defendants who distributed leaflets to draft-age men, urging resistance to induction, could be convicted of an attempt to obstruct the draft, a criminal offense. The First Amendment did not alter the well established law in cases where the attempt was made through expressions that would be protected in other circumstances. In this opinion, Holmes said that expressions which in the circumstances were intended to result in a crime, and posed a "clear and present danger" of succeeding, could be punished. The Court continued to follow this reasoning to uphold a series of convictions arising out of prosecutions during war time, but Holmes began to dissent in the case of Abrams v. United States, insisting that the Court had departed from the standard he had crafted for them, and had begun to allow punishment for ideas. The "clear and present danger" standard remains the test of criminal prosecutions, but the Court has set another line of precedents to govern cases in which the constitutionality of a statute is challenged on its face.

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

Started in 1904, the ___ was completed in 1914. Built to connect Atlantic and Pacific oceans for Americans to access lands that they gained in Mexican War. Hundreds of laborers lost their lives in the effort, and the work was completed thanks in great measure to the skills of two Army colonels--George Goethals, the chief engineer of the canal, and Dr. William Gorgas whose efforts eliminated the mosquitoes that spread deadly yellow fever. Most Americans approved of Roosevelt's determination to build the canal, but many were unhappy with his high-handed tactics to secure the Canal Zone, and Latin Americans were resentful. Congress voted in 1921 to pay Columbia an indemnity of 25 million for the loss of Panama and returned it in 1999.

Fourteen Points

The "Fourteen Points" was a statement given on January 8, 1918 by United States President Woodrow Wilson declaring that World War I was being fought for a moral cause and calling for postwar peace in Europe. Europeans generally welcomed Wilson's intervention, but his main Allied colleagues (Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom, and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy) were skeptical of the applicability of Wilsonian idealism.[1] The U.S. had joined the Allied Powers in fighting the Central Powers on April 6, 1917. Its entry into the war had in part been due to Germany's resumption of submarine warfare against merchant ships trading with France and Britain. However, Wilson wanted to avoid the U.S.'s involvement in the long-standing European tensions between the great powers; if America was going to fight, he would try to unlink the war from nationalistic disputes or ambitions. The need for moral aims was made more important, when after the fall of the Russian Regime, the Bolsheviks disclosed secret treaties made between the allies. Wilson's speech also responded to Vladimir Lenin's Decree on Peace of November 1917, immediately after the October Revolution, which proposed an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the war, calling for a just and democratic peace that was not compromised by territorial annexations, and led to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. The speech made by Wilson on January 8, 1918 laid out a policy (free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination). The Fourteen Points speech was the only explicit statement of war aims by any of the nations fighting in World War I. Some belligerents gave general indications of their aims, but most kept their post-war goals private. The Fourteen Points in the speech were based on the research of the Inquiry, a team of about 150 advisors led by foreign-policy advisor Edward M. House, into the topics likely to erect in the anticipated peace conference.

Ballinger-Pinchot controversy

The Ballinger-Pinchot scandal erupts when Colliers magazine accuses Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger of shady dealings in Alaskan coal lands. It is, in essence, a conflict rooted in contrasting ideas about how to best use and conserve western natural resources. Ballinger was an appointee of President William Taft, the man who had succeeded the committed conservationist President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt had developed most of his environmentally friendly policies with the assistance of his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot. By 1909, Roosevelt, Pinchot, and other conservationists feared that Taft, though a fellow Republican, and Ballinger were systematically undermining the accomplishments of the previous administration by reopening to exploitation public lands that had been closed. The Colliers article charged that Ballinger improperly used his office to help the Guggenheims and other powerful interests illegally gain access to Alaskan coal fields, confirming the worst fears of Pinchot and Roosevelt. Despite the fact that he had stayed on as chief forester in the Taft administration, Pinchot began to criticize openly both Ballinger and Taft, claiming they were violating the fundamental principles of both conservation and democracy. Livid with anger, Taft immediately fired Pinchot, inspiring yet another round of scandalous headlines. The controversy over the Ballinger-Pinchot affair soon became a major factor in splitting the Republican Party. After returning from an African safari, Roosevelt concluded that Taft had so badly betrayed the ethics of conservation that he had to be ousted. Roosevelt mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Taft on the independent Bull Moose ticket in 1912. In truth, subsequent scholarship has shown that Ballinger had not technically misused the power of his office and the charges of corruption were unjustified. However, the Ballinger-Pinchot scandal reflected the ongoing tension between those who emphasized the immediate use of natural resources and those who wanted them conserved for the future, a discussion that remains active today.

Bureau of Corporations

The Bureau of Corporations, predecessor to the Federal Trade Commission was created as an investigatory agency within the Department of Commerce and Labor in the United States. The Bureau and the Department were created by Congress on February 14, 1903, during the Progressive Era. The main role of the Bureau was to study and report on industry, looking especially for monopolistic practices. Its 1906 report on petroleum transportation made recommendations that became part of the Hepburn Act of 1906, and was used when the Justice Department successfully prosecuted and broke up Standard Oil in 1911. In 1912 the Bureau issued a report on the development of water power in the United States, including its ownership or control, and fundamental economic principles involved in utilization of this new and rapidly growing energy source. The report noted an increasing concentration of ownership and control of widely separated waterpower developments in the hands of a few; a substantial interrelationship among leading water-power interests, as well as a significant and increasing affiliation between water-power companies and street-railway and electric-lighting companies. The report stressed the importance of promptly adopting a definitive public policy concerning water-power development.[1] The various concerns expressed would initially be regulated by the Federal Water Power Act of 1920. The business, managerial, and financial practices of these early utility holding companies would proliferate,[2] but remain largely unregulated until the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. The Bureau also conducted studies of tobacco, steel, lumber and other industries. The Bureau became part of the new Federal Trade Commission in 1915. The new Commission took over both staff and ongoing investigations from the Bureau. Commissioner of Corporations, Joseph E. Davies, became the FTC's first Chairman and Davies' deputy Francis Walker became the chief economist of the FTC

Central Powers vs. Allies

The Central Powers consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria - hence also known as the Quadruple Alliance[1] (German: Vierbund) - was one of the two main factions during World War I (1914-18). It faced and was defeated by the Allied Powers that had formed around the Triple Entente, after which it was dissolved. The Powers' origin was the alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria did not join until after World War I had begun. Allied Powers, also called Allies, those nations allied in opposition to the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) in World War I or to the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) in World War II. The major Allied Powers in World War I were the British Empire, France, and the Russian Empire, formally linked by the Treaty of London of Sept. 5, 1914; other nations that had been, or came to be, allied by treaty to one or more of these powers were also called Allies: Portugal and Japan by treaty with Britain; Italy by the Treaty of London of April 26, 1915, with all three powers. Other nations—including the United States after its entry on April 6, 1917—that were arrayed against the Central Powers were called "Associated Powers," not Allied Powers; U.S. President Woodrow Wilson emphasized this distinction to preserve America's free hand. The Treaty of Versailles concluding the war listed 27 "Allied and Associated Powers" (Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, the British Empire, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hejaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Siam, the United States, and Uruguay).

Clayton Bulwer Treaty (1850)

The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was a treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom, negotiated in 1850 by John M. Clayton and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, later Lord Dalling. It was negotiated in response to attempts to build the Nicaragua Canal, a canal in Nicaragua that would connect the Pacific and the Atlantic.[1] Britain had large and indefinite territorial claims in three regions: British Honduras (present-day Belize), the Mosquito Coast (the region along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras) and the Bay Islands (now part of Honduras). The United States, while not making any territorial claims, held in reserve, ready for ratification, treaties with Nicaragua and Honduras which gave the United States a certain diplomatic advantage with which to balance the de facto British dominion. Agreement on these points being impossible and agreement on the canal question possible, the latter was put in the foreground

Anthracite coal strike

The Coal strike of 1902, also known as the anthracite coal strike,[1][2] was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. Miners were on strike asking for higher wages, shorter workdays and the recognition of their union. The strike threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to all major cities (homes and apartments were heated with anthracite or "hard" coal because it had higher heat value and less smoke than "soft" or bituminous coal). President Theodore Roosevelt became involved and set up a fact-finding commission that suspended the strike. The strike never resumed, as the miners received more pay for fewer hours; the owners got a higher price for coal, and did not recognize the trade union as a bargaining agent. It was the first labor episode in which the federal government intervened as a neutral arbitrator.

Committee on Public Information

The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. Over just 28 months, from April 14, 1917, to June 30, 1919, it used every medium available to create enthusiasm for the war effort and enlist public support against foreign attempts to undercut America's war aims. It primarily used the propaganda techniques to accomplish these goals.

De Lome Letter

The De Lôme letter, a note written by Señor Don Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, to Don José Canelejas, the Foreign Minister of Spain, reveals de Lôme's opinion about the Spanish involvement in Cuba and US President McKinley's diplomacy. Cuban revolutionaries intercepted the letter from the mail and released it to the Hearst press, which published it on February 9, 1898, in the New York Journal, in an article with the titled "Worst Insult to the United States in its History." Much of the press in New York began to demand De Lôme's resignation, and Hearst's New York Journal began a "Go Home De Lôme" campaign. These campaigns did, ultimately, lead to De Lôme's resignation. De Lôme's unflattering remarks about McKinley helped fuel the United States of America's aggressive, warlike foreign policy.[citation needed] Two months later, on April 11, 1898, McKinley delivered a war message to Congress asking for "forcible intervention" by the United States to establish peace in Cuba [1]

Espionage Act of 1917

The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War) but is now found under Title 18, Crime. Specifically, it is 18 U.S.C. ch. 37 (18 U.S.C. § 792 et seq.) It was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment, to prevent insubordination in the military, and to prevent the support of U.S. enemies during wartime. In 1919, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled through Schenck v. United States that the act did not violate the freedom of speech of those convicted under its provisions. The constitutionality of the law, its relationship to free speech, and the meaning of its language have been contested in court ever since. Among those charged with offenses under the Act are German-American socialist congressman and newspaper editor Victor Berger, former Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society president Joseph Franklin Rutherford, communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Cablegate whistleblower Chelsea Manning, and NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden. Rutherford's conviction was overturned on appeal.[1] Although the most controversial sections of the Act—a set of amendments commonly called the Sedition Act of 1918—were repealed on March 3, 1921, the original Espionage Act was left intact.[2]

Workingmen's Compensation Act

The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), is a United States federal law, enacted on September 7, 1916.[1][2][3] Sponsored by Sen. John W. Kern (D) of Indiana and Rep. Daniel J. McGillicuddy (D) of Maine, it established compensation to federal civil service employees for wages lost due to job-related injuries.[1][3] This act became the precedent for "disability insurance" across the country and the precursor to broad-coverage health insurance.[citation needed] President Woodrow Wilson signed H.R. 15316 into law on September 7, 1916.[citation needed] The Federal Employees' Compensation Commission was the original administrator of the FECA. However, the Commission did not exist at the time the FECA went into effect and claims accumulated for more than six months while members were selected and sworn into office. The Federal Employees' Compensation Commission officially began its duties on March 14, 1917. The Commission was abolished on May 16, 1946 by President Harry S. Truman as part of the Reorganization Act of 1939. Its duties were transferred to the Federal Security Agency on July 16, 1946.[4]

Federal Farm Loan Act

The Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 (Pub.L. 64-158, 39 Stat. 360, enacted July 17, 1916) was a United States federal law aimed at increasing credit to rural family farmers. It did so by creating a federal farm loan board, twelve regional farm loan banks and tens of farm loan associations. The act was signed into law by President of the United States Woodrow Wilson.In 1908, the Administration of Theodore Roosevelt commissioned a study on the problems facing rural families. At this point in U.S. history, these families made up the largest demographic. The commission concluded that access to credit was one of the most serious problems facing rural farmers and recommended the introduction of a cooperative credit system. Four years later, Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson sent a commission of Americans to study cooperative credit systems for farmers in Europe. Components of such European programs at the time included cooperative land-mortgage banks and rural credit unions. This commission concluded that the best form of cooperative credit system would include both long-term credit to cover land mortgages and short-term credit to cover regular business needs.[1] The most visible component of the Act were the loans to individual farmers and their families. Under the act, farmers could borrow up to 50% of the value of their land and 20% of the value of their improvements. The minimum loan was $100 and the maximum was $10,000. Loans made through the Act were paid off through amortization over 5 to 40 years. Borrowers also purchased shares of the National Farm Loan Association. This meant that it served as a cooperative agency that lent money from farmer to farmer. This was heavily influenced by a successful cooperative credit system in Germany called Landschaft. The next most visible component of the Act were the mortgage-backed bonds that were issued. The rate of interest on the mortgages could be no more than 1 percent higher than the rate of interest on the bonds. This spread covered the issuers' administrative costs, but did not lead to a significant profit. In addition, the maximum rate of interest on the bonds was 6 percent, ensuring that borrowing costs for farmers was often much lower than before the Act was passed.[2] The act furthered Wilson's reputation against trusts and big business. By providing small farmers with competitive loans, they were now more able to compete with big business. As a result, the likelihood of agricultural monopolies decreased. While Wilson's commission suggested that short-term credit also be incorporated in any nationalized credit system, the Act lacked this crucial component. Due to increased competition and the need for agriculture machinery, a system for short-term credit was incorporated into the current system in Agricultural Credits Act of 1923. Sponsored by Senator Henry F. Hollis (D) of New Hampshire and Representative Asbury F. Lever (D) of South Carolina, it was a reintroduced version of the Hollis-Bulkley Act of 1914 that had not passed Congress due to Wilson's opposition.[3]

Fuel Administration

The Federal Fuel Administration was a World War I-era agency of the Federal government of the United States established by Executive Order 2690 of August 23, 1917 pursuant to the Food and Fuel Control Act. managed use of coal and oil. to conserve energy, it introduced daylight saving time, shortened work weeks for civilian goods factories, and encouraged Heatless Mondays. Even prior to a declaration of war by the United States, shortages of coal were experienced in the winter of 1916-17. To address concerns about a steady supply of fuel to support military and industrial operations and for use by consumers, in 1917 the Federal Fuel Administration was established and US President Woodrow Wilson appointed Harry A. Garfield to lead the agency. Garfield in turn selected local administrators for each state. Fuel committees were organized down to the county level.[1] The activities of the administration included setting and enforcing the prices of coal.[2] The administration had broad powers to set the price of coal at various points (mine, dock) and the cost of transportation (by rail), and in regards to end use (home, factory, or business, etc.).[3] Daylight Saving Time was formally adopted in the United States in 1918 by the Fuel Administration.[citation needed] The Standard Time Act of 1918 established both standard time zones and set summer DST to begin on March 31, 1918. The idea was unpopular, however, and Congress abolished DST after the war, overriding President Woodrow Wilson's veto. DST became a local option and was observed in some states until World War II, when President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round DST, called "War Time," on February 9, 1942. It lasted until the last Sunday in September 1945. The next year, many states and localities adopted summer DST. By mid-1922, the administration's activities were declining and some states were taking a more active role in managing coal production.[

Federal Reserve Act

The Federal Reserve Act (ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251, enacted December 23, 1913, 12 U.S.C. ch. 3) is an Act of Congress that created and established the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America, and granted it the legal authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes (now commonly known as the U.S. Dollar) and Federal Reserve Bank Notes as legal tender. The Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.

Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 (15 U.S.C §§ 41-58, as amended) (FTC Act) established the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As initially established it consisted of a bipartisan body of five members appointed by the president of the United States for seven-year terms. The FTC Act was one of President Woodrow Wilson's major acts against trusts,[1] and the Clayton Antitrust Act would be signed three weeks later. While trusts and trust-busting long had been a significant political concern during the Progressive Era, the two Supreme Court decisions against Standard Oil and American Tobacco in May 1911 made it a dominant issue in the 1912 election. These acts were the culmination of that national debate.[2] This commission was authorized to issue "cease and desist" orders to large corporations to curb unfair trade practices. Some of the unfair methods of competition that were targeted include deceptive advertisements and pricing. It passed the Senate by a 43-5 vote on September 8, 1914; passed the House on September 10, without a tally of yeas and nays, and was signed into law by President Wilson on September 26.

Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 also known as Wick's Bill, was a short-lived statute enacted by the U.S. Congress which sought to address child labor by prohibiting the sale in interstate commerce of goods produced by factories that employed children under fourteen, mines that employed children younger than sixteen, and any facility where children under sixteen worked at night or more than eight hours daily. The basis for the action was the constitutional clause giving Congress the task of regulating interstate commerce. The Act specified that the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor would convene a board to publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations to comply with this Act. To enforce this Act, the Secretary of Labor would assign inspectors to perform inspections of workplaces that produce goods for commerce. These inspectors would have the authority to make unannounced visits and would be given full access to the facility in question. Anyone found in violation of this Act or who makes false statements or produces false evidence would be subject to fine and/or imprisonment. The bill was named for its sponsors, Edward Keating and Robert Latham Owen. The work of Alexander McKelway and the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC),[2] it was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson (who had lobbied heavily for its passage) in 1916 and went into effect September 1, 1917; however nine months later in Hammer v. Dagenhart, 247 U.S. 251 (1918),[3] the Act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States (see also Lochner era).

New Freedom

The New Freedom has two meanings. The first comprises the campaign speeches and promises of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential campaign; it called for limited government. The second meaning, the more common, comprises the Progressive programs enacted by Wilson as president during his first term (1913-1916), when the Democrats controlled Congress. Wartime policies are not generally considered part of the New Freedom; and after the 1918 elections the Republicans took control of Congress, and were generally hostile to the New Freedom. As President, Wilson focused on three types of reform:[1] 1. Tariff Reform:[1] This came through the passage of the Underwood Tariff Act of 1913,[1] which lowered tariffs for the first time since 1857 and went against the protectionist lobby.[1] 2. Business Reform:[1] This was established in 1914 through the passage of the Federal Trade Act, which established the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and halt unfair and illegal business practices by issuing "cease and desist" orders,[1] and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. 3. Banking Reform: This came in 1913, through the creation of the Federal Reserve System, and in 1916, through the passage of the Federal Farm Loan Act,[1] which set up Farm Loan Banks to support farmers.[1]

19th Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920. The Constitution allows the states to determine the qualifications of voters, subject to limitations imposed by later amendments. Until the 1910s, most states disenfranchised women. The amendment was the culmination of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, which fought at both state and national levels to achieve the vote. It effectively overruled Minor v. Happersett, in which a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not give women the right to vote. The Nineteenth Amendment was first introduced in Congress in 1878 by Senator Aaron A. Sargent. Forty-one years later, in 1919, Congress approved the amendment and submitted it to the states for ratification. It was ratified by the requisite number of states a year later, with Tennessee's ratification being the final vote needed to add the amendment to the Constitution. In Leser v. Garnett (1922), the Supreme Court rejected claims that the amendment was unconstitutionally adopted.

Open Door Policy

The Open Door Policy is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy in the late 19th century and 20th century outlined in Secretary of State John Hay's Open Door Note, dispatched in 1899 to his European counterparts.[1] The policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis; thus, no international power would have total control of the country. The policy called upon foreign powers, within their spheres of influence, to refrain from interfering with any treaty port or any vested interest, to permit Chinese authorities to collect tariffs on an equal basis, and to show no favors to their own nationals in the matter of harbor dues or railroad charges.

Platt Amendment

The Platt Amendment stipulated the conditions for U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs and permitted the United States to lease or buy lands for the purpose of the establishing naval bases (the main one was Guantánamo Bay) and coaling stations in Cuba. It barred Cuba from making a treaty that gave another nation power over its affairs, going into debt, or stopping the United States from imposing a sanitation program on the island. Specifically, Article III required that the government of Cuba consent to the right of the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs for "the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the Government of Cuba." The Platt Amendment supplied the terms under which the United States intervened in Cuban affairs in 1906, 1912, 1917, and 1920. By 1934, rising Cuban nationalism and widespread criticism of the Platt Amendment resulted in its repeal as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy toward Latin America. The United States, however, retained its lease on Guantánamo Bay, where a naval base was established.

Rough Riders

The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War roughly thirty years prior. As a result, President William McKinley called upon 1,250 volunteers to assist in the war efforts.[1] It was also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" after its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood, as an acknowledgment of the fact that despite being a cavalry unit they ended up fighting on foot as infantry. Wood's second in command was former assistant secretary of the United States Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, a man who had pushed for American involvement in Cuban independence. When Colonel Wood became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the Rough Riders then became "Roosevelt's Rough Riders." That term was familiar in 1898, from Buffalo Bill who called his famous western show "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World." The Rough Riders were mostly made of college athletes, cowboys, and ranchers.

Sedition Act of 1918

The Sedition Act of 1918, enacted during World War I, made it a crime to "willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of the Government of the United States" or to "willfully urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of the production" of the things "necessary or essential to the prosecution of the war." The act, along with other similar federal laws, was used to convict at least 877 people in 1919 and 1920, according to a report by the attorney general. In 1919, the Court heard several important free speech cases -- including Debs v. United States and Abrams v. United States -- involving the constitutionality of the law. In both cases, the Court upheld the convictions as well as the law.

Platt Amendment

The Spanish-American War (1898) was a conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, which began in February 1895. Spain's brutally repressive measures to halt the rebellion were graphically portrayed for the U.S. public by several sensational newspapers, and American sympathy for the rebels rose. The growing popular demand for U.S. intervention became an insistent chorus after the unexplained sinking in Havana harbour of the battleship USS Maine (Feb. 15, 1898; see Maine, destruction of the), which had been sent to protect U.S. citizens and property after anti-Spanish rioting in Havana. Spain announced an armistice on April 9 and speeded up its new program to grant Cuba limited powers of self-government, but the U.S. Congress soon afterward issued resolutions that declared Cuba's right to independence, demanded the withdrawal of Spain's armed forces from the island, and authorized the President's use of force to secure that withdrawal while renouncing any U.S. design for annexing Cuba. Spain declared war on the United States on April 24, followed by a U.S. declaration of war on the 25th, which was made retroactive to April 21. The ensuing war was pathetically one-sided, since Spain had readied neither its army nor its navy for a distant war with the formidable power of the United States. Commo. George Dewey led a U.S. naval squadron into Manila Bay in the Philippines on May 1, 1898, and destroyed the anchored Spanish fleet in a leisurely morning engagement that cost only seven American seamen wounded. Manila itself was occupied by U.S. troops by August. The elusive Spanish Caribbean fleet under Adm. Pascual Cervera was located in Santiago harbour in Cuba by U.S. reconnaissance. An army of regular troops and volunteers under Gen. William Shafter (and including Theodore Roosevelt and his 1st Volunteer Cavalry, the "Rough Riders") landed on the coast east of Santiago and slowly advanced on the city in an effort to force Cervera's fleet out of the harbour. Cervera led his squadron out of Santiago on July 3 and tried to escape westward along the coast. In the ensuing battle all of his ships came under heavy fire from U.S. guns and were beached in a burning or sinking condition. Santiago surrendered to Shafter on July 17, thus effectively ending the war. By the Treaty of Paris (signed Dec. 10, 1898), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States for $20,000,000. The Spanish-American War was an important turning point in the history of both antagonists. Spain's defeat decisively turned the nation's attention away from its overseas colonial adventures and inward upon its domestic needs, a process that led to both a cultural and a literary renaissance and two decades of much-needed economic development in Spain. The victorious United States, on the other hand, emerged from the war a world power with far-flung overseas possessions and a new stake in international politics that would soon lead it to play a determining role in the affairs of Europe.

Spanish American War

The Spanish-American War (1898) was a conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, which began in February 1895. Spain's brutally repressive measures to halt the rebellion were graphically portrayed for the U.S. public by several sensational newspapers, and American sympathy for the rebels rose. The growing popular demand for U.S. intervention became an insistent chorus after the unexplained sinking in Havana harbour of the battleship USS Maine (Feb. 15, 1898; see Maine, destruction of the), which had been sent to protect U.S. citizens and property after anti-Spanish rioting in Havana. Spain announced an armistice on April 9 and speeded up its new program to grant Cuba limited powers of self-government, but the U.S. Congress soon afterward issued resolutions that declared Cuba's right to independence, demanded the withdrawal of Spain's armed forces from the island, and authorized the President's use of force to secure that withdrawal while renouncing any U.S. design for annexing Cuba. Spain declared war on the United States on April 24, followed by a U.S. declaration of war on the 25th, which was made retroactive to April 21. The ensuing war was pathetically one-sided, since Spain had readied neither its army nor its navy for a distant war with the formidable power of the United States. Commo. George Dewey led a U.S. naval squadron into Manila Bay in the Philippines on May 1, 1898, and destroyed the anchored Spanish fleet in a leisurely morning engagement that cost only seven American seamen wounded. Manila itself was occupied by U.S. troops by August. The elusive Spanish Caribbean fleet under Adm. Pascual Cervera was located in Santiago harbour in Cuba by U.S. reconnaissance. An army of regular troops and volunteers under Gen. William Shafter (and including Theodore Roosevelt and his 1st Volunteer Cavalry, the "Rough Riders") landed on the coast east of Santiago and slowly advanced on the city in an effort to force Cervera's fleet out of the harbour. Cervera led his squadron out of Santiago on July 3 and tried to escape westward along the coast. In the ensuing battle all of his ships came under heavy fire from U.S. guns and were beached in a burning or sinking condition. Santiago surrendered to Shafter on July 17, thus effectively ending the war. By the Treaty of Paris (signed Dec. 10, 1898), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States for $20,000,000. The Spanish-American War was an important turning point in the history of both antagonists. Spain's defeat decisively turned the nation's attention away from its overseas colonial adventures and inward upon its domestic needs, a process that led to both a cultural and a literary renaissance and two decades of much-needed economic development in Spain. The victorious United States, on the other hand, emerged from the war a world power with far-flung overseas possessions and a new stake in international politics that would soon lead it to play a determining role in the affairs of Europe.

Sussex Pledge

The Sussex Pledge was a promise made in 1916 during World War I by Germany to the United States prior to the latter's entry into the war. Early in 1915, Germany had instituted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare,[1] allowing armed merchant ships, but not passenger ships, to be torpedoed without warning. Despite this avowed restriction, a French cross-channel passenger ferry, the Sussex, was torpedoed without warning on March 24, 1916; the ship was severely damaged and about 50 lives were taken.[2] Although no US citizens were killed in this attack, it prompted President Woodrow Wilson to declare that if Germany were to continue this practice, the United States would break diplomatic relations with Germany. Fearing the entry of the United States into World War I, Germany attempted to appease the United States by issuing, on May 4, 1916, the Sussex pledge, which promised a change in Germany's naval warfare policy. These were the primary elements of the undertaking: Passenger ships would not be targeted; Merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of weapons had been established, if necessary by a search of the ship; Merchant ships would not be sunk without provision for the safety of passengers and crew. In 1917, Germany became convinced they could defeat the Allied Forces by instituting unrestricted submarine warfare before the United States could enter the war. The Sussex pledge was therefore rescinded in January 1917, thereby initiating the decisive stage of the so-called First Battle of the Atlantic. The resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram caused the United States to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917

German U-boat warfare

The U-boat Campaign from 1914 to 1918 was the World War I naval campaign fought by German U-boats against the trade routes of the Allies. It took place largely in the seas around the British Isles and in the Mediterranean. The German Empire relied on imports for food and domestic food production (especially fertilizer) and the United Kingdom relied heavily on imports to feed its population, and both required raw materials to supply their war industry; the powers aimed, therefore, to blockade one another. The British had the Royal Navy which was superior in numbers and could operate on most of the world's oceans because of the British Empire, whereas the Imperial German Navy surface fleet was mainly restricted to the German Bight, and used commerce raiders and unrestricted submarine warfare to operate elsewhere.[citation needed] In the course of events, German U-boats sank almost 5,000 ships with nearly 13 million gross register ton, losing 178 boats and about 5,000 men in combat.

Proclamation of Neutrality

The U.S. was determined to adopt a stance of rigid neutrality at the start of the war, and President Wilson announced the American stance to this effect shortly after war broke out, on 19 August 1914, reflecting U.S. popular opinion. During his address, he warned U.S. citizens against taking sides in the war for fear of endangering the wider U.S. policy. Found below are excerpts from Wilson's address, as well as a photograph of Wilson.

Department of Commerce and Labor

The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with controlling the excesses of big business. It was created on February 14, 1903, during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. Investigations were the province of its Bureau of Corporations. The department was renamed the Department of Commerce on March 4, 1913, and its bureaus and agencies specializing in labor were transferred to the new Department of Labor. The Bureau of Corporations was spun off as an independent agency in 1915, the Federal Trade Commission

Railroad Administration

The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between 1917 and 1920.[1] It was possibly the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken against a background of war emergency.

Election of 1912

The United States presidential election of 1912 was the 32nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1912. The election was a rare four-way contest.[1] Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called his own convention and created the Progressive Party (nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party"). It nominated Roosevelt and ran candidates for other offices in major states. Democrat Woodrow Wilson was finally nominated on the 46th ballot of a contentious convention, thanks to the support of William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate who still had a large and loyal following in 1912. Eugene V. Debs, running for a fourth time, was the nominee of the Socialist Party of America. Wilson won the election, gaining a large majority in the Electoral College and winning 42% of the popular vote, while Roosevelt won 27%, Taft 23% and Debs 6%. Wilson became the only elected president from the Democratic Party between 1892 and 1932, and the second of only two Democrats to be elected president between 1860 and 1932. This was the last election in which a candidate who was not a Republican or Democrat came second in either the popular vote or the Electoral College, and the first election in which all 48 states of the contiguous United States participated.

Mann Act

The White-Slave Traffic Act, better known as the Mann Act, is a United States federal law, passed June 25, 1910 (ch. 395, 36 Stat. 825; codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421-2424). It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann of Illinois, and in its original form made it a felony to engage in interstate or foreign commerce transport of "any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose". Its primary stated intent was to address prostitution, "immorality", and human trafficking particularly where it was trafficking for the purposes of prostitution. This is one of several acts of protective legislation aimed at moral reform during the progressive era. Its ambiguous language of "immorality" meant it could be used to criminalize consensual sexual behavior between adults.[1] It was amended by Congress in 1978 and again in 1986 to apply to transport for the purpose of prostitution or illegal sexual acts.[2]

Zimmerman Telegram

The Zimmermann Telegram (or Zimmermann Note) was a 1917 diplomatic proposal from the German Empire offering a military alliance with Mexico, in the event of the United States entering World War I against Germany. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. Revelation of the contents outraged American public opinion, and helped generate support for the United States declaration of war on Germany in April of that year.[1] President Woodrow Wilson moved to arm American merchant ships to defend themselves against German submarines, which had started to attack them, although this was blocked by the US Congress. The message came as a coded telegram dispatched by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmermann, on January 16, 1917. The message was sent to the German ambassador for Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. Zimmermann sent the telegram in anticipation of the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany on 1 February, an act which the German government presumed would almost certainly lead to war with the United States. The telegram instructed Ambassador Eckardt that if the U.S. appeared certain to enter the war, he was to approach the Mexican Government with a proposal for military alliance, with funding from Germany. As part of the alliance, Germany would assist Mexico to reconquer Texas and the Southwest. Eckardt was instructed to urge Mexico to help broker an alliance between Germany and the Empire of Japan. Mexico, in the middle of the Mexican Revolution - and far weaker militarily, economically and politically than the US - ignored the proposal; after the US entered the war, it officially rejected it.

Lincoln Steffens

The most popular series of muckraking articles were usually collected and published as best selling books. _____'s book The Shame of the Cities (1904) also caused a sensation by describing in detail the corrupt deals that characterized big-city politics from Philadelphia to Minneapolis.

General "Butcher" Weyler & Cuba

The war was not going well for Spain, and General Martínez Campos was forced to resign in shame during the early days of January 1896. This was a great symbolic victory for the Mambises, since Campos had been credited with the Spanish "victory" in the Ten Year War eighteen years earlier. Within a few days of Campos' resignation, General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau (nicknamed the "butcher") was sent to Havana as a replacement. One of Weyler's first orders was the fortification of the "trochas." The modernized "trocha" featured electric lights across the narrow waist of the island from Mariel to Majana, on the border of Havana and Pinar Del Rio. He ordered 14,000 soldiers to be placed in key fortified positions along the "trocha." After the new "trocha" was in place, Weyler concentrated his efforts on pursuing Maceo. He sent 3,000 veteran troops, under the command of General Suárez Inclán, to attack Maceo's forces, which at the time totaled 250 men. Another tool implemented by Weyler was the system of "re-concentration," in which various fortified areas were designated, and all inhabitants were given eight days to move in, including cattle and other animals. Anyone caught outside was considered the enemy and killed. These "re-concentration" towns were very crowded and unhealthy, since Spaniards and soldiers occupied the best accommodations and took the best food. Many died of disease and starvation.

Pure Food and Drug Act

This part of the regulatory acts passed as a result of Upton Sinclar's book, the Jungle. It forbade the manufacture, sale, and transportation of adulterated or mislabeled food or drugs.

Mann-Elkins Act

Under President William Howard Taft, this act of 1910 gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to suspend new railroad rates and oversee telephone, telegraph, and cable companies. The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified by the states in 1913, authorized the US government to collect an income tax. (This reform was originally proposed by the Populists in their 1892 platform). Progressives heartily approved the new tax because, at first, it applied only to the very wealthy.

Lodge Reservations

United States Senator Henry Cabot Lodge from Massachusetts was the Republican Majority Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and a member of the U.S. Senate since 1893. In response to the Treaty of Versailles, Senator Lodge penned twelve reservations to the proposed post-war agreements. Heavily influenced by Wilson's Fourteen Points, the Treaty called for the creation of a League of Nations in which the promise of mutual security would prevent another major world war. Differing from his Democratic contemporary, Woodrow Wilson, Henry Cabot Lodge held that the United States should take a cautionary approach towards international arbitration after the Great War. As a result of Henry Cabot Lodge's Reservations, the United States Senate voted down the Treaty of Versailles after momentous debate. The denial of this Treaty by the United States prevented the United States from joining the newly formed League of Nations.

Unrestricted submarine warfare

Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink vessels such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules"). Prize rules call for submarines to surface and search for merchantmen[1] and place crews in "a place of safety" (for which lifeboats did not qualify, except under particular circumstances)[2] before sinking them, unless the ship has shown "persistent refusal to stop ... or active resistance to visit or search".[3] Following the use of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany in the First World War, countries tried to limit or even abolish submarines. Instead, the London Naval Treaty required submarines to abide by prize rules. These regulations did not prohibit arming merchantmen,[4] but arming them or having them report contact with submarines (or raiders) made them de facto naval auxiliaries and removed the protection of the prize rules.[5] This rendered the restrictions on submarines effectively useless.[6] While such tactics increase the combat effectiveness of the submarine and improve its chances of survival, they are considered by some[7] to be a breach of the rules of war, especially when employed against neutral country vessels in a war zone.

Jane Addams

Urban life in the Progressive era was improved not only by political reformers but also by the efforts of settlement house workers and other civic-minded volunteers. _____, Florence Kelley, and other leaders of the social justice movement found that they needed political support in the state legislatures for meeting the needs of immigrants and the working class. They lobbied vigorously and with considerable success for better schools, juvenile courts, liberalized divorce laws, and safety regulations for tenements and factories. Believing that criminals could learn to become effective citizens, reformers fought for such measures as a system of parole, separate reformatories for juveniles, and limits on the death penalty.

Venezuela boundary Dispute

Venezuela Boundary Dispute, diplomatic controversy, notable for the tension caused between Great Britain and the United States during much of the 19th cent. Of long standing, the dispute concerned the boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana (now Guyana); the Venezuelan claim, extending E to the Essequibo River (and thus taking in most of the settled areas of British Guiana) had been inherited from Spain, and that of Great Britain, stretching W to the Orinoco, was acquired from the Dutch in 1810. The controversy did not gain importance until Great Britain in 1841 had a provisional line (the Schomburgk Line) run. Discovery of gold in the region intensified the dispute. Great Britain refused to arbitrate concerning the settled area; Venezuela, however, maintained that the British were delaying in order to push settlements farther into the disputed area. Venezuela sought aid from the United States and in 1887 broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain. President Grover Cleveland's secretary of state, Thomas Francis Bayard, began negotiations, but the matter lapsed. In 1895, Secretary of State Olney, invoking a new and broader interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, virtually demanded arbitration, basing the right of the United States to intercede on the ground that any state whose interests or prestige is involved in a quarrel may intervene. Lord Salisbury, the British prime minister, offered to submit some of the area to arbitration but refused to allow British settlements to be submitted to adjudication. That reply, a rebuff to Olney, brought Cleveland's momentous message to Congress on Dec. 17, 1895, which denounced British refusal to arbitrate and maintained that it was the duty of the United States to take steps to determine the boundary and to resist any British aggression beyond that line once it had been determined. The president's message caused a commotion; Congress supported him but, although there was some war talk, neither nation desired to fight. Salisbury, involved in European troubles and disturbed by difficulties in South Africa, sent a conciliatory note recognizing the broad interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. An American commission was appointed, and the line that was finally drawn in 1899 made an award generally favorable to Great Britain. Venezuela has periodically revived its claims to the disputed territory, most recently in 2000 under the nationalist President Hugo Chávez.

Big Bill Haywood

William Dudley Haywood (February 4, 1869 - May 18, 1928), better known as "Big Bill" Haywood, was a founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and a member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America. During the first two decades of the 20th century, he was involved in several important labor battles, including the Colorado Labor Wars, the Lawrence textile strike, and other textile strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey. Haywood was an advocate of industrial unionism,[1] a labor philosophy that favors organizing all workers in an industry under one union, regardless of the specific trade or skill level; this was in contrast to the craft unions that were prevalent at the time, such as the AFL.[2] His belief that workers of all ethnicities should be united also clashed with many unions.[3] His strong preference for direct action over political tactics alienated him from the Socialist Party, and contributed to his dismissal in 1912.[4]

Food Administration

With America's entry into World War I (April, 1917) President Woodrow Wilson requested Herbert Hoover to leave his position as Chairman of the Commission for Relief in Belgium and return to this country to take charge of its wartime Food Administration. Three years of intense fighting in western Europe had devastated its people and their ability to farm. The Food Administration's goals were to provide food for its own troops and those of its Allies in war-torn Europe as well as to feed the American and Allied populations. Hoover believed that unlike Europe, where strict food rationing had been instituted, food policy in the United States would be based on an entirely different idea: "Our conception of the problem in the United States is that we should assemble the voluntary effort of the people...We propose to mobilize the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice in this country." "Food Will Win the War" became the slogan and the Food Administration's widely disseminated posters, articles, workshops and educational material resulted in a 15% reduction in domestic food consumption without rationing. This meant that in a 12-month period of 1918-1919, this country furnished 18,500,000 tons of food to the Allies.

Treaty of Versailles

World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations. After strict enforcement for five years, the French assented to the modification of important provisions. Germany agreed to pay reparations under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan, but those plans were cancelled in 1932, and Hitler's rise to power and subsequent actions rendered moot the remaining terms of the treaty. The treaty, negotiated between January and June 1919 in Paris, was written by the Allies with almost no participation by the Germans. The negotiations revealed a split between the French, who wanted to dismember Germany to make it impossible for it to renew war with France, and the British and Americans, who did not want to create pretexts for a new war. The eventual treaty included fifteen parts and 440 articles. Part I created the Covenant of the New League of Nations, which Germany was not allowed to join until 1926. Part II specified Germany's new boundaries, giving Eupen-Malm[eacute]dy to Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine back to France, substantial eastern districts to Poland, Memel to Lithuania, and large portions of Schleswig to Denmark. Part III stipulated a demilitarized zone and separated the Saar from Germany for fifteen years. Part IV stripped Germany of all its colonies, and Part V reduced Germany's armed forces to very low levels and prohibited Germany from possessing certain classes of weapons, while committing the Allies to eventual disarmament as well. Part VIII established Germany's liability for reparations without stating a specific figure and began with Article 231, in which Germany accepted the responsibility of itself and its allies for the losses and damages of the Allies "as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies." Part IX imposed numerous other financial obligations upon Germany. The German government signed the treaty under protest. Right-wing German parties attacked it as a betrayal, and terrorists assassinated several politicians whom they considered responsible. The U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty, and the U.S. government took no responsibility for most of its provisions.

Yellow Press

Yellow journalism, or the yellow press, is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers.[1] Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism.[1] By extension, the term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.[2

Insular cases

he Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish-American War. The Supreme Court held that full constitutional rights do not automatically (or ex proprio vigore—i.e., of its own force) extend to all places under American control. This meant that inhabitants of unincorporated territories such as Puerto Rico—"even if they are U.S. citizens"—may lack some constitutional rights (e.g., the right to remain part of the United States in case of de-annexation).[1] The Court also established the doctrine of territorial incorporation, under which the Constitution applied fully only in incorporated territories such as Alaska and Hawaii, whereas it applied only partially in the newly unincorporated Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. The term "insular" signifies that the territories were islands administered by the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs.