US History timeline & concept chart: 1789-1860 Early Republic to Antebellum
US History timeline & concept chart: U.S. History Decade-by-decade timeline, 1890s-1900
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Objective:
Main page
Concepts & themes overview
Previous timelines:
- US History timeline & concept chart: American colonies 17th & mid-18th centuries
- US History timeline & concept chart: French-Indian War to the American Revolution
Next timelines:
See also:
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1790s Washington & Adams administrations[edit | edit source]
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BIG IDEAS
National Debt
Whiskey Rebellion 1794
Hamilton "Report on Manufactures"
European wars & domestic U.S. politics
Washington Farewell Address
Adams presidency
Alien & Sedition Acts 1798
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
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Washington presidency, 1789-1797[edit | edit source]
click EXPAND for excerpt from Washington expressing his reluctance to become president in 1788, Washington wrote: I should unfeignedly rejoice, in case the Electors, by giving their votes to another person would save me from the dreaded dilemma of being forced to accept or refuse... If that may not be–I am, in the next place, earnestly desirous of searching out the truth, and knowing whether there does not exist a probability that the government would be just as happily and effectually carried into execution without my aid."(First President’s Election Was the Last Thing He Wanted (washingtonpapers.org) Upon election in 1791, Washington wrote that he had give up "all expectations of private happiness in this world." (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/george-washington-the-reluctant-president-49492/ George Washington: The Reluctant President (Smithsonian Magazine)]
** establish precedents for the office of the President, esp. regarding
election of 1789
Bill of Rights adopted 1791 (BOR)
Hamilton-Jefferson split
Residence Act of 1790[edit | edit source]
Hamilton's 1791 "Report on Manufactures"[edit | edit source]
=== rise of Political parties ===\
Constitutional interpretations[edit | edit source]
European conflicts[edit | edit source]click EXPAND for list of French Revolution & Napoleonic era wars
European wars & domestic U.S. politics[edit | edit source]
Citizen Genet affair, 1793[edit | edit source]
Jay's Treaty (or "Jay Treaty")[edit | edit source]
"Pinckney's Treaty"[edit | edit source]
Washington declines to run for a 3rd term[edit | edit source]
Washington's "Farewell Address"
click EXPAND for excerpt from Washington's Farewell Address: The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts(for full text see Washington's Farewell Address (wikisource) John Adams presidency[edit | edit source]
Quasi-War 1798[edit | edit source]
XYZ Affair. 1797-98[edit | edit source]
Alien & Sedition Acts, 1798[edit | edit source]
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions 1798-99[edit | edit source]
Taxation and Fries's Rebellion, 1799[edit | edit source]
Washington DC opened as national capital, 1800[edit | edit source]
Midnight appointments[edit | edit source]
Leads to the "landmark" case, Marbury v. Madison that established judicial review (see below)
new States in 1790s[edit | edit source]
Northwest Territories and Northwest Ordinance of 1787[edit | edit source]
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1800-1810 Jefferson & Madison administrations[edit | edit source]
PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS Jefferson presidency
Marbury v Madison
European wars continued impact on domestic U.S. politics
Revolution of 1800
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Revolution of 1800[edit | edit source]
Jefferson Inaugural Address, 1801[edit | edit source]
roll-back of Federalist policies[edit | edit source]
Louisiana Purchase, 1802[edit | edit source]
Essex Junto[edit | edit source]
12th Amendment to the Constitution, 1804[edit | edit source]
European blockades of US ports[edit | edit source]
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, 1807[edit | edit source]
Madison presidency, 1809-1817[edit | edit source] |
1810s Madison & Monroe administrations[edit | edit source]
PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS French/ British blockades British impressment of U.S. sailors Indian Wars in Northwest Territories border dispute w/ Canada War of 1812 Monroe & the ""Era of Good Feelings"
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- Napoleonic Wars impact on U.S.: > trade/ blockades > both French and British trying to isolate U.S. trade from the other > British impressment of U.S. sailors/ merchant ships - War of 1812 - economic expansion following War - “American System” adopted, including > 2nd National Bank > federal roads > tariffs - demise of Federalists, rise of Whig party by election of 1824
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1820s: Monroe & Jackson administrations[edit | edit source]
PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS Era of Good Feelings
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<br 2nd Great Awakening, 1820s-1830s/40s
<br Moralism / reform movements
<br Alexis de Tocqueville & "Democracy in America
<br Henry Clay & the "American System"
National Bank
<br Rise of the Whig Party
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Monroe presidency 1st term[edit | edit source]
Era of Good Feelings[edit | edit source]
Monroe Doctrine, 1823[edit | edit source]
rise of Whig party[edit | edit source]
Democratic party[edit | edit source]
Sectionalism[edit | edit source]Election of 1826[edit | edit source]
Rise of Jackson and "Jacksonian democracy"[edit | edit source]
Second Great Awakening[edit | edit source]Second Great Awakening - religious revival, esp, Methodist & Baptists - Charles Finney ran religious revivals and promoted reform movements - new religions arose, including Mormons and Shakers, utopians > some preached apocalyptic visions, end of the world, etc. (“repent the end is near!”) - women involved, reform societies, esp against drinking (temperance), gambling & prostitution (vice) and slavery (abolition) - reformers built orphanages, asylums Alexis de Tocqueville * “Democracy in America”[edit | edit source]> if these people consider themselves each other’s equal, what will they do? - observed how democracies created >> culture of equality >> culture of civic engagement << everyone in a democracy wants to talk politics >> a fluid sociopolitical-economic society Henry Clay's "American system"[edit | edit source]Promoted by Henry Clay (from Kentucky) roads and canal building new technologies: railroads, telegraph = unifying effect, promotes commerce > allows for more western expansion and integration into national economy - internal improvements = main Whig policy (the American System)
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1830s Jackson, Van Buren & >> administrations[edit | edit source]
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sectionalism[edit | edit source]
Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)[edit | edit source]
Republic of Texas[edit | edit source]
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1840s: xx administrations[edit | edit source]
PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS Manifest Destiny & western expansion
Expansion of Slavery (Texas)
<>big>Mexican-American War
Gold Rush of 1849
Abolition, Women's suffrage & other reform movements
Transcendentalism |
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Western expansion leads to Mexican-American war Manifest Destiny > Manifest -= plain, easy to see, clear + Destiny = going to happen >> to move westward Justifies western expansion, settlement >> v. Indians and Spain / Mexico = notion that the nation will expand and it is good and right also: Gold Rush of 1849 Effects: transportation, movement, banking (also slavery tensions) > political activism, especially in response to Compromise of 1850 > American anti-slavery society >> William Lloyd Garrison< abolitionist leader, publisher >> inspired by David Walker, a free black in Boston in 1820s > Frederic Douglass > Harriett Tubman > Sojourner Truth > underground railroad Reform Movements >> combined activism: suffrage, abolitions, temperance, education Transcendentalism = belief that god exists in humans, man & society can be perfected > Ralph Waldo Emerson > Nathaniel Hawthorne (Scarlett Letter) > David Thoreau - Sectional dispute over where to build transcontinental railroad > northern or southern route?
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1850s: xx administrations[edit | edit source]
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Compromise of 1850 New territories & states from Mexican-American War & Western expansion = End of Missouri Compromise (1820) Sectional Tensions rise Slavery issues Hardening of politics: pro-/anti-slavery Heading towards war, 1850s presidents do nothing about it Panic of 1857 / Southern economic stability subsection
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Ends the Missouri Compromise (of 1820) Last of the “Great Compromisers” Clay (KY), Calhoun (CS) & Daniel Webster (MA) - Clay divided larger bill into parts in order to pass Parts of the Compromise of 1850 > California admitted as free state > Fugitive Slave Law >> super upsetting to northerners >> concession to Norhterners: banned the slave trade in DC (but not slavery itself) > Utah & New Mexico added as territories w/ each to write its own constitution (popular sovereignty concept re. slavery) > after Compromise of 1850 new generation of leaders take over, more strident, more sectional-minded, more radical / ideological on both sides > decline of Whig power > No Nothings party > American Party, anti-immigrant (“nativism”), anti-catholic >> both sides radicalize >> no way to compromise - Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) > book about slave life by Harriett Beecher Stowe > sold 2 mm copies > compared to Common Sense in influence on public - Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) >> popular sovereignty for KS and NB territories >> radicalizes the public > marks end of Whig party >> “Free Soil” party has KN as its sole issue << Republican can take a wider appeal - “personal liberty laws” passed in north to require trial by jury for disputes over fugitive slaves - Bleeding Kansas or Bloody Kansas (1854-1861) > territories > Lawrence, KS = location of battles between pro- and anti-slavery factions >> John Brown started anti-slave movement there > “Border Ruffians” (rough houser – proslvery MO go to KS / NB to get into a fight - Dred Scott decision by Roger Taney, 1857 > Scott, a slave, went to North, and declared himself free >> owner sues to get him back >> Supreme Rules that slave/blacks are not citizens << >> radicalizes the public - John Brown’s raid (1859) > messianic anti-slavery leader >> God wants us to do this! > Harpers Ferry, VA to instigate a slave rebellion > put down by Federal troops, Brown hanged for treason Panic of 1857 - Contributing factors: > tremendous growth after Mexi-Amer war led to overexpansion > over-extension of credit during boom years accelerated losses after Panic > railroads and telegraph made US more interconnected, so impact of Panic was widespread - Triggers: > sinking of gold ship SS Central America w/ 30K lbs of gold (California gold) > British bank crisis following suspension of reserve requiements (reliance on paper money) led to panic in Britain - Impact: > railroad expansion & hiring halts > grain prices drop, impacting farmers > land prices drop, impacting tax revenues and causing land-tax delinquencies > growth in westward expansion halted until after Civil War - Federal response: > Pres Buchanan blamed panic on use of paper-money withdraws bank notes under $20 >> impact was to force banks to increase hard money (specie) reserves and lower inflation << this worked - Long term impact: > southern economy largely untouched, which led to less pressure on slavery institution from northern > northern bankers and railroads impacted but recovered > midwestern expansion most impacted === subheading
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1860s: Lincoln * Johnson administrations[edit | edit source]
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Election of 1860 Lincoln Republican Party Southern secession Civil War Lincoln war measures (shutting down press, draft, keeping the border states)
Civil War economic impact North wins in war and economics Southern economy in ruins Republican policies enacted CIVIL WAR ERA CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDENTS
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Election of 1860[edit | edit source]Lincoln position on slavery: no expansion but left where it was >> but argued against slavery as unethical = argues against slavery but not its abolition >> Southerners and northern abolitions don’t like Lincoln >> southerners assume he is against slavery >> abolitionists assume he is no strong on the issue - 4-way split election: > Democratic party split between north (Douglas) Southern candidates (Breckenridge) > the 4th candidate was a border-state, pro-Union, pro-slavery but anti-spread of slavery former Democrat, John Bell, who carried border states and Virginia > Lincoln won w/ mostly northern votes which gave him Electoral College majority = clear winner > South Carolina secedes, followed by others up to March 1861 when Lincoln took office Civil War: Lincoln's policies[edit | edit source]
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>> but argued against slavery as unethical = argues against slavery but not its abolition >> Southerners and northern abolitions don’t like Lincoln >> southerners assume he is against slavery >> abolitionists assume he is no strong on the issue - 4-way split election: > Democratic party split between north (Douglas) Southern candidates (Breckenridge) > the 4th candidate was a border-state, pro-Union, pro-slavery but anti-spread of slavery former Democrat, John Bell, who carried border states and Virginia > Lincoln won w/ mostly northern votes which gave him Electoral College majority = clear winner > South Carolina secedes, followed by others up to March 1861 when Lincoln took office Lincoln positions during war - does not recognize secession - U.S. Gov will defend its properties > Ft. Sumter = 1st battle of the war, off coast of Charleston, SC - War is about UNION Meaning of the War - to Southerners: > felt they were defending Constitutional rights > considered the North the aggressors - to Northerners > many but not all were anti-slavery > to save the Union >> the question for Union: can a people rule themselves? (self-government) >> Europeans looked upon Civil War as demonstration that democracy can’t work Both sides started with enthusiasm for war and expectation that it would be short Slavery - Lincoln’s position was originally that slavery should not be expanded > but during the war, he used the issue as a wartime measure > he did not ban slavery in loyal border states >> to keep them loyal to the Union > Emancipation Proclamation was huge diplomatic victory, as it made the conflict about slavery, so Europeans could not support the South = Lincoln ended up using slavery as an issue to give purpose to the war Important Battles: - Antietam, 1862 = Union victory, gave Lincoln excuse to launch the Emancipation Proclamation (1862) > freed slaves in states under rebellion >> he previously abolished slavery in federal territories, including DC - Gettysburg, 1863 > along with losing control of the Mississippi River, Gettysburg ended the southern chances to win the war > Lincoln used battlefield for Gettysburg Address, needed a big victory for impact - Lincoln moves the meaning of the war from just preserving the union and self-government to equality and ending slavery (liberty) in Gettysburg Address Why north wins? - bigger population, bigger army - industrial base - strategies >> Annaconda strategy << to isolate the south by controlling the coasts and Mississippi River (accomplished by Jul 1863) Partisans: - many Democrats in north are anti-war (Esp. immigrant areas, NYC riots) >>critical of Lincoln’s wartime measures to block bad press Radical Republicans – block of senators who are strongly anti-slavery > criticize Lincoln for not doing enough - south destroyed - industrialization in north < ex,. Andrew Carnegie steel industry titan, gained fortune in Civil War - railroads expand: > transcontinental railroad > the country is more connected (markets, politics, economics) - urbanization - presidential powers enhanced > esp via enforcement of Constitutional Amendments and Civil Rights Laws - with the South in rebellion, the Northern states could enact legislation they had been unable to pass otherwise, including: - Transcontinental Railroad via the northern route (Pacific Railroad Act, 1862) - Homestead Act (1862) that gave 160 acres to “homesteaders” who agreed to stay on the land for 5 years (ie, not sell it) >> Morrill Land-Grant Act was part of this legislation: gave proceeds of federal land sales to states for building of state colleges - Confiscation Acts, which allowed for taking property of anyone in rebellion and freeing their slaves - Freedman’s bureau: to lease lands to freed slaves 13. Outlawed slavery 14. a. Citizenship for former slaves b. Protect “privileges & immunities” and “due process” c. Equal Protection for all citizens 15. Voting rights for black men |
1870s Grant & Hayes administrations[edit | edit source]
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RECONSTRUCTION Northern occupation of South How to bring South back into union while protecting rights of freedmen? = northern army occupation of the South enforce Civil War outcomes = to enforce the amendments and civil right laws = to bring the south back into the union >> Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address >>> goal is to end war and heal wounds Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South Compromise of 1877 - 1876 election disputed, sent to House for decision - deal cut to elect Hayes in exchange for removing federal troops from south, effectively ending Reconstruction End of Reconstruction - Segregation imposed by whites > “Jim Crow” laws restricted blacks’ rights - Klu Klux Klan gained power and intimidated blacks - sharecropping system grows: > poor farmers, black and white, had to pay rent to farm land and loaned money for seeds and tools at high rates >> indebted them to the landowners - Plessy v. Ferguson, 1883 > court case that created “separate but equal” rule that legalized segregation (until 1950s, when overturned by Brown v. Board of Education, 1954) > overturned Civil Rights Act of 1875 that prohibited discrimination in public businesses and facilities Western frontier Indian Wars Railroads connect to the West
Immigration drives urban growth Political Machines in northern cities Growth of cites, especially New York - rail and trolly networks lead to and through cities = growth - immigration explodes: pay better in the U.S. than home countries > chain migration leads to ethnic neighborhoods > “tenements” = multi-family housing > immigrants compete with blacks for labor - “factory towns” > poor living conditions, reliance on the factories - Political bosses used immigrants for votes to control city governments > “political machines” > bosses provided services to residents in exchange for political support > “Boss Tweed” = corrupt NYC mayor, 1870s, finally jailed in 1878 >> Thomas Nast drew cartoons criticized Tweed & corruption
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1880s .> administrations[edit | edit source]
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1870s-1890s concepts, themes & trends[edit | edit source]
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close of the frontier & Indian wars[edit | edit source]- By 1890, ND, SK, WA, MT were states - Little Bighorn: Sioux tribes opposed western settlements; US Army sent to oppose them, leading to battle of Little Bighorn, which marked the end of Indian resistance to U.S. western expansion - Ghost Dance movement 1890: Indian revivalist movement that preached liberation of Indians from US occupation - Wounded Knee: battle between Federal troops and Indians, many from the Ghost Dance movement, massacre of the Indians who resisted - railroads had connected the West to the East > “standardized time” adopted to manage rail schedules, leading to time zones - Note: Turner Frontier Thesis: a 20th century historian claimed that the “closing” of the frontier, i.e. filling up the country, changed America because the frontier had allowed the country to grow, promoted democracy and gave opportunity to people moving west; and that the “closing” of the frontier reduced those aspects Urbanization
Industrialism Gilded Age Monopolies / Anti-Trust - railroads, trolleys, electricity, telegraphs, etc. spread across country > railroads are “natural monopolies” because they control the railroad they built >> also, railroads require government support to take land to build >>> resentment over rail construction >>> resentment over rail prices along routes, especially to move farm products - rapid economic growth leads to creation of big companies > Andrew Carnegie, steel, John Rockefeller, oil, etc. > “holding companies” buy multiple companies to control an industry >> monopolies = “horizontal integration” = controlling an industry >>> versus “vertical integration” = controlling all aspects of a business (raw materials, supply chains, manufacture, sale) -Sherman Anti-Trust Law of 1890 passed to outlaw monopolies > made illegal actions “in restraint of trade” , especially “combinations” (holding companies, conglomerates) - “mass production” and “assembly line” production = mechanized, automated factories with thousands of workers - “Social Darwinism” = competition will lead to the survival of the fittest companies - “laissez faire”= “let it be” = let markets run themselves - “Gilded Age” = named by Mark Twain as time of huge wealth and ridiculous displays of the wealth (“gilded”) - “Gospel of wealth” = Andrew Carnegie theory that in exchange for wealth created by markets, the rich should give back to society via philanthropy >> Carnegie built libraries across the country Labor movements Unionization Rights of workers Strikes (and legality of them) - Knights of Labor, started 1869, to organized urban factory workers and demand better working conditions, pay, and prohibition on child labor (under age 14) - Haymarket Square Riot, 1886: labor activists set off bomb that killed police, turned popular support against labor - Homestead Strike, 1892, steel factory strike put down by private army that killed several strikers > Pinkerton Detectives: hired by factory owners to put down strikes, protect strike-breakers (“scabs”) - Pullman Palace Car Factory strike, 1894: first national strike, when one strike was joined by others and rail travel was shut down - Labor movements split between: > socialists, led by Eugene Debs, who wanted to overthrow capitalism > trade unions, especially American Federation of Labor (AFL), led by Samuel Gompers, who denounced revolution and sought to negotiate with industry to raise wages and better work conditions >> AFL restricted union membership to white men, mostly, excluding blacks and many immigrants Populist Movements What about the little guy? Hard v. Soft Money Gold v. Silver Small famers want to pay debts in silver Wm J. Bryan: “Cross of Gold Speech” - as the national economy become more interconnected, railroads, markets, grain prices, etc. become local issues dependent upon national systems > as result, local interests organized into movements to defend the interests of farmers, especially, versus the railroads and industrial companies > key was debt: farmers wanted “soft money” (silver) debt instead of “hard money” debt (gold) - Silver arose as an issue because of huge mines discovered that led to flood of silver into the markets, inflating the price of silver (thus soft money) versus gold, which was more scarce and kept its value - Grange Movement, starting 1867, grew as “cooperatives” and political candidates to represent the interest of farmers - Farmer’s Alliances: grew out of Grange and extended more into politics - People’s Party: grew out of the Farmer’s alliances into a full political party > movement made up of small farmers mostly from the Midwest > 1892 election: Omaha platform called for silver money, government takeover of railroads and telegraphs, income tax, labor reform - Socialists party arose I n1894, but was less influential > leader was Eugene Debs - William Jennings Bryan became Democratic party candidate in 1896, 1900 and 1908, largely by adopting the platform of the Grange/People’s party >> Bryan: “Cross of gold” speech became famous argument for “soft money, ie silver >> 1890s: silver mines in CO & NV Reform movements Women’s rights Urban reform Anti-corruption Workplace reform Child Labor reform - urban reformers, including: > Jane Addams and “Hull House” to help working mothers - newspapers & “yellow journalism” > highlighted social problems > exaggerated or created scandals to sell more papers - Women’s Suffrage movement > movement advances into 1890s > Susan B. Anthony promoted women’s suffrage amendment > American Suffrage Association won victories in various states for participation of women in state elections - beginnings of the Progressive movement Radical movements Socialism, anarchism, radicalism > anarchy, socialism, political agitation campaigns were common during this time, as some segments of society were not able to process changes in the economy and social structure (from farm to industry, from artisan to factory worker) > industrial strikes were sources of agitation and infiltration by radical groups into labor movements > President McKinley was assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist > most Americans were against violence but many Americans did worry about the meaning and impact of social and economic changes going on around them > many Americans blame immigrants for the agitation
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1890s Cleveland & McKinley administrations[edit | edit source]
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Imperialism Expanding Democracy or just capitalism? - Alfred Mahan “Influence of Sea Power” (1890) > argued for need for navy to enforce access to foreign ports for trade > logic is: strong navy allows for imperialism which creates need for strong navy > coaling stations in Hawaii in order to allow boats to cross the Pacific >> to support American commerce w/ Asia - Spanish-American war, 1898 > Cuban revolutionaries appealed to Americans for help for independence from Spain > “remember the Maine” << USS Maine blew up at Havana harbor > Yellow journalism promoted the war, blaming Spanish for blowing up the Maine > US attacked Spanish holdings in Cuba, Puerto Rico & Philippines, turning each into US possessions > “Treaty of Paris” 1898, US agreed to independence for Cuba and possession of Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam (Pacific islands) === subheading
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1890s=1910s: Progressive Era[edit | edit source]
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1890s-1910s Progressive Era
Anti-Corruption “Scientific Approach” to public policy” “Direct Democracy”
>> which fueled political agitation and demand for government reform > governments, local, state and national responded with regulations and greater enforcement of laws, especially for food, drugs, workplace conditions > womens’ suffrage advanced during progressive era, although it took WWI for the constitutional amendment to protect the right of women to vote (19th amendments, 1920 - “Direct democracy” : progressives believed that government corruption would be fixed by more “direct” participation of voters in laws and government. > successful in many cities and some states, they promoted: 1. initiative: voters could propose new laws to be voted on by the public 2. referendum: voters could vote on proposals set for popular vote by officials or legislatures 3. recall: voters could vote to remove public officials from office - Commissions: progressives wanted governments to be “scientific” and not political, so they promoted use of “commissions” as independent governing bodies, especially for regulatory bodies - economic reforms: > anti-trust (banning monopolies) > railroad regulations, especially prices for passengers and freight > child labor, workplace, maximum work hours, & other workplace rules > food and drug safety, sanitation, and truthful advertising - other reforms: > municipal sanitation > anti-corruption > forest and park management 1890s-1910s Progressive Era personalities - Robert LaFollette: WI Senator, progressive movement leader - President Theodore Roosevelt - WEB DuBois: founder of the NAACP - Margaret Sanger: womens’ suffrage & rights, promoted contraceptives and abortion 1890s-1910s Progressive Era Constitutional Amendments Progressive Era legislation - 16th Amendment, 1913: federal income tax - 17th Amendment, 1913: direct election of Senators (states previously selected Senators by vote in the legislature; by the time of this amendment, most states had already allowed for “direct” or “popular” election of Senators by the public - 18th Amendment, 1919: banned sale of alcohol - 19th Amendment, 1920: guaranteed right to vote for women Laws/ Agencies: - Pure Food & Drug Act, 1906 (following publication of “The Jungle” exposing meat industry conditions) - Federal Trade Commission - Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 - Federal Reserve Act === subheading
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1900s: McKinley, (T) Roosevelt & Taft administrations[edit | edit source]
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1910s: Taft & Wilson administrations[edit | edit source]
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World War I, 1914-1918, US: 1917-18 Neutrality “Foreign War” Protest/ dissent Ensuring Peace - American neutrality = official US policy at beginning of the European war - English blockade of US ports to block shipments to Germany > Germany responded with U-Boats (submarine) attacks on ships supplying Great Britain - Zimmerman telegram: German ambassador to Mexico tried to get Mexico to declare war on U.S.; his telegraph was intercepted by British and sparked anti-German outrage in U.S. - Espionage Act, 1917, Sedition Act , 1918: laws prohibiting dissent against U.S. (reminiscent of Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798) - Selective Service Act of 1917: authorized draft of soldiers - Spanish Flu, 1917-18: massive pandemic exacerbated by wartime preparations with concentrations of young solders - Committee on Public Information (CPI) ran anti-German and anti-Russian propaganda during the war - Worldwide attempts to prevent future wars: > Washington Conference (limiting arms stockpiling) > Kellogg-Briand Pact: international agreement to outlaw war U.S. Prohibition, Red Scare Communist Revolution in Russia Radicalism in US (bombs, strikes) - 18th Amendment put into law the long temperance fight to ban alcohol - Red Scare: socialists and anti-war radicals demonstrated and led strikes during the War, which they saw as a capitalist enterprise > many radical leaders were immigrants, who were often blamed for those movements > bombings: during 1918-1920 a series of bombs were set off by radicals, including the Wall Street Bombing, which killed 30 - Palmer Raids, 1920s: US government responded to bombings and agitations by arresting 10,000+ people under suspicion of anti-American and pro-Russian sympathies - FBI created to investigate radicals during WWI and was used to enforce prohibition laws > J. Edgar Hoover ran the agency, led it like his own kingdom - following WWI and anti-war agitation, public turned anti-immigrant and immigration was largely shut down through 1920s until after WWII === subheading
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1920s: Wilson, Harding, Coolidge & Hoover administrations[edit | edit source]
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1910-1920s Court Cases “Incorporation” of the Bill of Rights into state law Expanding federal jurisdiction over states - Supreme Court began to apply the protections of the Bill of Rights to state law > process called “Incorporation” > BOR originally applied only to federal government > 14th amendment opened door to “incorporation” > cases tended to be >> freedom of speech, especially regarding protests during WWI >> protections against illegal search and seizures Cases: - Schenk v. US: socialist agitator arrested for violating Espionage Act of 1917 that prohibited “interference” w/ War effort >> court ruled that some speech can be regulated if it endangers others (presents a “clear and present danger” such as “yelling fire in a crowded theatre”) 1920s Themes: - return to normalcy after WWI - economic boom - consumerism / consumer loans - technology spread, esp. autos, telephones, radio - women’s expanding roles in economy, politics - Great migration: black social & economic change - Economic boom - business oriented governance > Republican presidents reduced income taxes but kept tariffs, including to enact the disastrous Smoot-Hawley tariff, which was “protectionist” or “protectionism” > labor unions lost favor, growth of “welfare capitalism” under which businesses offered workers benefits in exchange for not forming unions or striking - consumer culture: > expansion of consumer credit fueled consumer purchases, esp: > automobiles, appliances, radios, suburbs growth > “labor saving devices” < freed women from many household tasks - Jazz Age: > flappers > jazz > “Lost Generation” writers: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, O’Neill Also: - Prohibition era > bathtub gin (home-made alcohol) > gangster era (Al Capone, rum runners) - Stock market frenzy > stock market crash, 1929 - restrictions on Immigration: Emergency Quota Act of 1924 - Scopes Monkey Trial: over teaching evolution 1929-32 Stock Market Crash of 1920 Leads to Great Depression
- Hoovervilles: shantytowns of unemployed, named for President Hoover - Bonus Expeditionary Force (protest in DC by impoverished veterans) - Dust Bowl - New Deal > “ABC” Agencies: created to respond to every aspect of life > see FDR for more > Workers Progress Administration (WPA): to put people to work, including artisans, artists, writers
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1930s: Hoover & (F) Roosevelt administrations[edit | edit source]
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1940s (F) Roosevelt & Truman administrations[edit | edit source]
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