HIST 2112 Midterm
*Social Darwinism*
"Survival of the fittest" -Idea that people became powerful in society because they are innately better
*Laissez-faire*
- A policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering. -"Free market" -Gave businesses more autonomy from government/regulations that would make it difficult for a company -Makes it easier for companies to take on more risk and re-invest into economy
*Immigration Act of 1924*
- Also known as the Johnson-Reed Act. Federal law limiting the number of immigrants that could be admitted from any country to 2% of the amount of people from that country who were already living in the U.S. as of the census of 1890. -Immigration backlash
*Garveyism*
- Marcus Garvey - urged black americans to be proud of their identity -Black americans created unique art and enjoyed cultural success -Came during the Harlem Renaissance -Jazz
More on progressivism
-"Civilizing" the city -Social Gospel: What would Jesus Do -Child labor epitomized capitalist greed
Taylorism
-"Scientific management" helped rationalize business practices, eliminate waste and create thousands of white-collar jobs
*Return to normalcy*
-"return to normalcy" In the 1920 presidential election, Republican nominee Warren G. Harding campaigned on the promise of a "return to normalcy," which would mean a return to conservative values and a turning away from President Wilson's internationalism -Tax cuts, anti-union policies, high tariffs -"This is a business country, and it wants a business government" -This caused a scandalous presidency due to the close ties between business and government
Big business
-1865 US was very rural and local -Emergence of telegraph, railroad and industrial capitalism obliterated old boundaries -Most dramatic change in late 19th century was the emergence of these big companies and growth of wages
*Lusitania*
-1915 -The sinking of the Lusitania refers to the torpedoing and sinking of the passenger ship, Lusitania, by a German submarine during WWI. Of the 1,198 people who died, 128 were Americans. The tragedy swayed American public opinion towards intervening in the war -Germany after pledged to stop unrestricted submarine warfare -This move greatly turned the US opinion on Germany and heavily swayed involvement in war
Immigration backlash
-1920s the first time urban dwellers outnumbered rural Americans. Fear of marginalization often led rural white Americans in ugly directions -WW1 was the catalyst for dramatic immigration restriction -*Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924* -*The First Red Scare (1919-20)
Native American West Diversity
-350K living in the West before Euro-American settlement, mainly in great plains where they'd eat bison
Harlem Renaissance (1920s)
-African americans flocked to urban centers during and after the war, creating vibrant communities in northeastern cities -The "New Negro" embraced his/her blackness and used art as a mechanism for achieving racial equality -A different approach: *Garveyism*
Leading up to Welfare Capitalism
-After the war, government pulled out of business and a period of laissez-faire followed (Repub. administrations throughout 1920s) -Lax anti-trust enforcement, high tariffs, friendly pro-business government -Wave of strikes came in 1919, unions began to be associated with communism -New type of industrial capitalism: *welfare capitalism* -Hopes rarely met reality. Workers would demand these benefits from the government during the Depression
Post War
-Allied countries seek vengeance; Wilson seeks peace -League of Nations centerpiece of Wilson's postwar vision; international cooperation to achieve peace
African American war Experience
-America relied on african americans and women to maintain industrial production -500,000 african americans migrate north during war - Great Migration for promise of good jobs and lack of segregation -Discrimination in military - segregated and placed in menial positions
Diplomacy in the twenties
-America's rejection of Versailles and the LON (League of Nations) did not signal its withdrawal from the world stage -American money kept the world economy afloat. When the US economy crashed in 1929, the world followed
Car Culture
-Automobiles transformed possibilities and landscape of American society -Ford's assembly line -Car registration 9.2M(1920) - 26.5M (1927) -Gov't subsidized a massive road building and paving program -Cars transformed recreational habits
Spanish Influenza Pandemic
-Bagan as a flue in American midwest; carried to France by soldiers -Spread all over the world -Transmission of airborne viruses poorly misunderstood -30million people die worldwide from flu
The Great Westward Migration
-Beginning in mid 1850s millions of settlers would move out west -Exodusters (african americans moving out west to avoid hardships) -*Homestead Act (1862)* ; Pacific Railway Act (1862)
African Americans response to segregation
-Booker T Washington: accommodationism -W.E.B DuBois: "Talented Tenth" -Niagra Platform 1905 -NAACP founded in 1909
*Dawes Severalty Act 1887*
-Break up reservations to make individual plots for native american families -The policy proved to be a disaster, leading to the loss of much tribal land and the erosion of Indian cultural traditions (Eric Foner) -Directly responsible for the loss of 90million acres of NA land
Populist party
-Called for reform to address corporate greed -Wanted to eliminate monopolies -1892 saw 1,500 populists elected around the country -Thing was back then the "laissez-faire" thing was going on which led to little federal involvement
*Welfare Capitalism*
-Capitalism that includes social welfare policies and/or the practice of businesses providing welfare services to their employees -Henry Ford gives out 10 mill from 1914 profits to his employees -Came after war when gov't let businesses do whatever, causing a lot of strikes/unions
Creating a mass market
-Consumer culture develops during late 19th century -Growth of department store and professional ads -By 1920 americans were united less by political and social culture than a shared consumer culture
Economic transformation of west
-Development of railroads fueled westward migration and growth -Railroads opened up new markets for goods and facilitated the movement of peoples and products -Also promoted urban growth and development of major cities: Denver, San Fran, Portland -Fueled agriculture output: between 1860-1900 farms go from 2 to 6mil, output increases from $1.6 to $4.3 billion
*First Red Scare (1919-20)*
-During the Red Scare of 1919-1920, many in the United States feared recent immigrants and dissidents, particularly those who embraced communist, socialist, or anarchist ideology -
*Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)*
-Economic competition led to violent confrontations and outright exclusion -Excluded Chinese from immigrating to the states for 10 years -Did so due to the economic and cultural tensions
*Plessy V Ferguson (1896)*
-Enshrines doctrine of "separate but equal" into law -Segregation laws did not violate equal protection clause amendment 14
*Committee on Public Information*
-Established in 1917 by Woodrow Wilson to mobilize the public opinion on the war -Controlled the flow of information to shape the public opinion -Even arranged for thousands of speakers to appear all over the nation making the case for Americans to fight (four-minute men) -Worked to promote the war as a battle for freedom and democracy, portrayed people who didn't fight as unpatriotic
Freedmen's Bureau
-Founded schools and hospitals but failed to bring peace in the south -More crucially, failed to secure land for former slaves
War in Europe
-Growth of militarism and nationalism made war increasingly likely -Entangling system of alliances bound nations to go to war if any allies were threatened -Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: June 28, 1914 -By August 1914 all of Europe was ablaze with war. Triple Entente vs. Triple Alliance -War quickly devolved into static trench warfare on the Western Front, while Russia endured a series of punishing defeats in the East
*Fordism*
-Henry Ford symbolic of Progressive emphasis on efficiency and management -Standardized parts, improved machinery, assembly production made Ford's products affordable -Offered workers living wages in exchange for a loyal workforce
The First World War Focus Q's
-How did the US attempt to maintain neutrality? What events ultimately compelled the US to join the war effort? -How did the federal government attempt to maintain loyalty and obedience at home? -How did the war impact women and African Americans? Which changes were temporary, and which were permanent? -What was Woodrow Wilson's postwar vision in the League of Nations? Why did that vision fail?
Jazz Age focus Q's
-How did the US fashion a new role for itself in world affairs during the twenties? -How did a new mass culture change Americans' lifestyles and attitudes? -What motivated a reactionary backlash during the 1920's? how did this backlash manifest itself? -Were the 1920s a time of political, economic, and social liberation for women? -What was the Harlem Renaissance, and what role did it play in furthering black civil rights?
The War at Home
-How does the federal government coordinate the millions of Americans needed to fight the war? -For a brief moment, government power expands dramatically - *Committee on Public Information* -Power had drawbacks: civil liberties were trampled -1917 Espionage Act; 1918 Sedition Act -"Coercive voluntarism": vigilante groups enforce patriotism
The West Myth + Reality Focus Q's
-How was the American West transformed by economic and technological forces in the decades following the Civil War? -What were some of the challenges faced by settlers and farms in the West? - What critical factors led to the conquest of Native American tribes and their forced relocation to reservations? -How has the American West been mythologized in historical literature and popular culture? What stories have been privileged, and what stories have been elided? Why? -Lowkey use playground for help on these
What groups did progressivism leave out?
-In the South & West, progressivism was tainted with anti-asian and anti-black prejudice -Mainly for white men -Women's suffrage was controversial, male and female -Segregation flourishes under progressivism
*New Souths Economy*
-Industrialization main way to rebuild the devastated postwar South (Henry Grady) -Low taxes and friendly pro business environment caused northern industrialists to move down -Most labor done by poor whites -Still lagged far behind north in terms of econ development -Due to sharecropping many southerners were very poor
*Knights of Labor*
-Labor union who emphasized economic justice and democracy, 8 hour workday, equal pay for men and women, state labor bureaus and abolition of child and convict labor -Destroyed by Haymarket Riot
New Urban Culture
-Leisure time develops in late 19th century -Growth of suburbs -New "leisure" activities like amusement parks, sports became a mainstay in American life -Beginning of a national popular culture
Sharecropping
-Most African Americans and poor whites were consigned to work on former plantations under the "sharecropping" system -Gave freedmen some autonomy but caught them in a cycle of debt and poverty -70% of South farmers in 1900 were sharecroppers
Rise and Fall of organized labor
-Most critiques of capitalism came from workers -Most were not socialists but believed in reforming the excesses of industry -*Knights of Labor (1869)*
*NAWSA*
-National American Woman Suffrage Association; founded in 1890 to help women win the right to vote -Wanted to do it on a state by state basis -NWP wanted to gain this right through the federal government
The world of work transformed
-New manufacturing technology increased manufacturing output and eliminated jobs once considered "skilled" -Put people out of jobs, including children -Workers also dealt with long hours, lwo pay, dangerous work conditions
W.E.B DuBois
-Opposite of BT Washington -Niagra Platform, brought 30 men together and made a bunch of requests that didn't make it too far -Wanted to fight for political and social equality
Reconstruction?
-Period after Civil War where the US attempts to address the new political, economic and social realities -The US developed radical new definitions of citizenship and freedom
*How the Other Half Lives (1890)* Jacob Riis
-Photojournalism documented the terrible living conditions in New York slums -Stimulated first significant legislation to curb poor conditions in tenement housing -This was at a time where cities had problems mitigating so many people (nativists blamed immigrants, others thought urban reform i.e police, healthy, fire services)
*Presidential Reconstruction*
-Post Lincoln Assassination, Andrew Johnson implements his own vision for the reconstructed south -Lenient: pardons most southerners allows them to rule in new state governments -Almost impeached in 1867 -Black Codes -Cicil Rights Act of 1866 -Important to note that Johnson was in heavy favor of south returning to a seceded state
*Rise of New South*
-Reconstruction ends in 1877 with the democratic party's complete takeover of the South and the removal of federal troops -New southern elite were not planters but leaders in ney key industries i.e lumber, textiles and railroads -This caused anxiety for white southerners but were necessary for segregation to flourish (needed them to compete with/ worry about african americans)
Radical Reconstruction (1867-1870)
-Republicans in Congress take control in 1867 -Fourteenth Amendment (1868) -Reconstruction Act (1867) -Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
White backlash
-South resorted to terror: KKK, White Rifle Clubs, Redshirts -Panic of 1873 death of radical repub. leadership -Mid 1870s: repubs on defensive, democrats "redeem" white south from corruption of "northern and black control"
*The Scopes Trial (1925)*
-The 1925 prosecution of science teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution in a Tennessee public school, which a recent bill had made illegal (Butter Act) -During the rise of fundamentalism -Cultural debates around prohibition and immigration extended into religion
America attempt to stay neutral
-The dilemma: How to remain neutral without damaging US economy? -From beginning US maintained closer ties with the Allies (Britain & France) -May 1915: Sinking of the *Lusitania* and unrestricted submarine warfare -"Peace without victory" Jan, 1917 -Zimmerman Telegram, March 1917 -April 2, 1917: Congress declares war on Germany
Progressive President: Theodore Roosevelt
-Transformed the presidency into an activist institution -Insisted on a Square Deal for labor and capital
Wounded Knee massacre, 1890
-US soldiers indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of NA men, women and children -Marked the definitive end to the resistance to the encroachments of white settlers
Sources of the Industrial Revolution
-US was a latecomer but within 40 years eclipsed the nations of western europe why? -US had vast reserves of cheap raw material and cheap labor -Development of new tech -Government policy: "laissez-faire" (let do, lave alone)
Progressivism
-Unchecked capitalism, strikes and growth of radical political ideologies threatened democracy -Progressivism offered a solution -Was at heart a conservative movement; sought to preserve the status quo while smoothing over capitalism's rougher edges
American Theater at War
-WW1 was first major war conflict to enlist national stars in selling the war -Female stars played a significant role in raising war bonds, performing for soldiers in the training and abroad
Women suffrage
-War provided momentum to women suffrage and *temperance movements* -Suffragists: women helped win war; we've earned the right to vote -Radical conservative suffragists pressed Wilson administration for amendment (NWP v *NAWSA*) -18th (prohibition) & 19th (women can vote) amendments pass near end of war, fulfilling two major progressive goals
War on the Plains
-Westward expansion was devastating for native americans -Many treaties made with them were broken -By close of 19th century, NA resistance had ceased and most tribes were sequestered on small reservations
The Gilded Age Focus Q's
-What strengths did the US possess in terms of resources, culture, technology, and public policy that facilitated industrialization after 1865 -Why were the supreme court and congress so slow to curb the power of big business -Why did labor have such a difficult time mobilizing against abusive and exploitative employers? -Do we live in a Second Gilded Age today?
Progressive Era Focus Q's
-What was "Progressivism"? Who made up this diverse coalition of reformers? What were their goals? -What role did government, including presidents, the Supreme Court and state and local governments, play during the Progressive Era? -Which groups did the progressive vision leave behind or overlook? -How did Progressivism transform the role of the federal government? How did it impact the development of twentieth-century liberalism?
Jim Crow Focus Q's
-What was the "New South"? -Why did segregation develop in the post Civil War South? What concerns was it intended to address? -How did consumer culture facilitate the spread of segregation? -How did the black community and its white allies attempt to combat the racial violence at the heart of segregation?
Industrial America Focus Q's
-What were some of the problems associated with urbanization during the Gilded Age? -How did reformers attempt to solve the issues of the city life? -How did the new leisure and entertainment activities reflect the economic and social transformations taking place in Industrial America? -What developments led to the formation of the People's Party (Populists)? What was the Populist platform?
*Temperance movement*
-social movement against the consumption of alcohol -Alcohol was seen as a vice in camps, wanted to stamp it out or risk losing war
Reconstruction Amendments
13th, 14th, and 15th amendments: federal government expanded power and its commitment to equality -Redefined American's relationship to federal government -Amendments transformed constitution being concerned with federal-state relations to a vehicle minorities could stake a claim to freedom and seek protection against misconduct -But left out women lmao
Black Codes
1865-1866 laws/ codes enacted in the southern states after the end of reconstruction. These codes were designed to maintain the social and economic structure of racial slavery in the absence of slavery itself.a. They restricted the civic participation of freedmen by, depriving them of the right to vote, the right to serve on juries, the right to carry weapons and even the right to rent or own land.b. Black codes used a variety of ways to tie slaves to land, such as forcing them to sign contracts in order to work and preventing them from participating in a free wage market which caused them to work for extremely low pay and incur debt.c. The main component of these laws was to fulfill the economic need in the postwar south in order to maintain agricultural production. (Andrew Johnson)
*Open Door Policy*
A policy proposed by the US in 1899, under which ALL nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China. -US had vested interest in world markets, taking more active role in world affairs
What is Freedom for African-Americans vs. Southern Whites?
A) Freedom from slavery, start a family, learn to read, cast a ballot, own land B) Freedom as a hierarchy, a legal status "A (former slave) was free, but only free to labor"
Two conflicting view of industrial capitilism
A) New consumer good, better transportation, growth of literacy -Carnegies "gospel of wealth" -*Social Darwinism* B) Growth of income inequality -Democracy incompatible with industrial capitalism -Progress and poverty -Edward Bellamy (didn't like the unjust and unequal disparity of wealth, said it'd bring us back into barbarism)
*Horizontal Integration*
Absorption into a single firm of several firms -Standard Oil (holding company)
Reconstruction Re Examined
Check last slide in the trials of reconstruction interesting -Pretty much this time was I guess a brief period but got talked a lot during Jim Crow because people claimed that "blacks had a lot of control for a while" which wasnt the case at all
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Declared all persons born in the US to be citizens "without distinction of race/color or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude" -Johnson vetoed this but got overturned
14th Amendment (1868)
Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws
Motivations for migration
Economic opportunity, land, freedom, religion
*Robber Barons*
Refers to the industrialists or big business owners who gained huge profits by paying their employees extremely low wages. They also drove their competitors out of business by selling their products cheaper than it cost to produce it. Then when they controlled the market, they hiked prices high above original price. -Essentially creating a monopoly using unethical business practices
Panic of 1893
Serious economic depression beginning in 1893. Began due to rail road companies over-extending themselves, causing bank failures. Was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country until that point, and, some say, as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s. -LED MANY PEOPLE TO POPULIST PARTY -Democrats recognizes this and co-opts many of its major policy goals
*Cross of Gold Speech (1896)*
The Cross of Gold speech had two purposes. First, it was to argue in favor of allowing silver to be a part of the American economy as well as gold. Second, it was meant to earn William Jennings Bryan the nomination for president from the Democratic Party in 1896, which it did -Democratic party lost though and populist party faded away but their ideas became mainstream
15th Amendment (1870)
U.S. cannot prevent a person from voting because of race, color, or creed
*Haymarket Riot (1866)*
Violent uprising in Haymarket Square, Chicago, where police clashed with labor demonstrators in the aftermath of a bombing -Resulted in the death of policemen and protestors -KOL was blamed for the riot and had to disban
Accommodationism
a black who adapts to the ideals/attitudes of whites, B.T. Washington -Rejected the pursuit of political and social equality and instead wanted to focus on vocational skills, literature... pretty much to blend in with whites
13th Amendment (1865)
abolished slavery
*vertigal integration*
owns all of the different businesses on which it depends for its operation -Carnegie steel (trusts)
American Imperialism
the period when America sought to control the political and economic fortunes of weaker nations such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War -Did some really bad things and had terrible propaganda that was later used for wars in vietnam and others