A
Walk
Through
Modern
U.S.
History
Rutherford B. Hayes
1877 – 1881
Republican
from: Ohio
Gilded Age President
Compromise of 1877
1. Election of 1876 between Samuel Tilden and
Rutherford B. Hayes filled with corruption –
both sides claim victory.
2. Compromise of 1877 gives Hayes the election in
return for removing federal troops from the
south.
3. Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction and
removal of troops paves the way for segregation
– leads to Exoduster migration – freed slaves
moving west for land.
Western Frontier
1. Native Americans protesting U.S. policy of
assimilation – making them like us – Chief
Joseph of the Nez Perce is the most
outspoken critic.
2. The Ghost Dance causes the U.S. army to
become more aggressive in forcing the Native
Americans onto reservations.
Politics
1. Patronage – Also known
as the spoils system,
political officials reward
their supports with
government jobs – leads
to corruption.
2. Political machines (like
Boss Tweed and
Tammany Hall in New
York) keep their power
by aiding the
poor/immigrants in
exchange for support.
Economy
1. The economy operates under the principle of
laissez – faire (hands off), so there is no
government regulation of business.
2. Bland-Allison Act – Bimetalism – gold and
silver used as currency in the U.S.
3. Thomas Edison invents the light bulb,
allowing factories to work around the clock.
Labor
1. Factory workers work long hours for low wages
in terrible conditions.
2. Leads to the rise of labor unions.
3. Railroad Strike of 1877 – 2/3’s of the nations
railroads were idle. Hayes called in troops to
stop the strike – 100 were killed.
4. Munn vs. Illinois says states have the right to
regulate railroad rates.
5. Knights of Labor, led by Terence Powderly,
becomes the first large labor union – accepts
anyone.
James Garfield
1881 - 1881
Republican
from: Ohio
Gilded Age President
Election of 1880
1. Republican Party splits:
Stalwarts – Chester Arthur – favor the spoils
system
Half-Breeds – James Garfield – support civil
service reform
2. Garfield wins nomination (and election) with
Arthur as his running mate.
Western Frontier
1. Helen Hunt Jackson
writes A Century of
Dishonor, describing
the treatment of the
Native Americans.
2. She’s part of the Social
Gospel movement –
push to apply Christian
principles to social
problems.
Politics
1. The big issue is civil
service reform.
2. The spoils system has
led to corruption in
government, especially
under the influence of
big businesses.
Economy
1. Corporations, trusts and monopolies have
developed.
2. Laissez – faire practices and Social Darwinism
have combined to create a large gap between
the factory owners and labor.
3. The Salvation Army, another aspect of the
Social Gospel movement, develops to help
the lower classes.
1. Garfield will be
assassinated by Charles
Guiteau at a
Washington D.C. train
station.
2. Guiteau was upset that
he didn’t get a job in the
government.
3. His death led to the
passage of the
Pendleton Civil Service
Act.
4. The bullet didn’t kill
Garfield, his doctors did.
Garfield’s
Assassination
Chester Arthur
1881 – 1885
Republican
from: New York
Gilded Age President
Pendleton Civil Service Act
1. The Pendleton Civil Service Act applicants for
government jobs to take an exam to prove
they were qualified for the position.
2. This law created much more accountability in
government (at the federal level – state and
local levels still dealing with the spoils system
and corruption).
Western Frontier
1. Live on the Great Plains difficult but new
inventions like barbed wire and improved
plows are making it easier.
2. Transcontinental railroad completed –
Chinese laborers no longer necessary so the
Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits the
immigration of Chinese (now seen as
competition for jobs).
Politics
1. Nativism developing – don’t like the new
immigrants coming from Eastern and
Southern Europe.
2. They don’t assimilate into “American”
culture.
3. Tenements developing to house the influx of
immigrants – overcrowded, unsanitary and
full of crime.
Economy
1. Standard Oil formed by John D. Rockefeller –
develops a monopoly on the oil trade using
horizontal integration.
2. Robber Baron v. Captain of Industry debate
develops.
3. Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth says what they
are doing is good but they have a
responsibility to give back.
Social Changes
1. Booker T. Washington starts the Tuskegee
Institute.
2. The Brooklyn Bridge is completed –
Bessemer process for making steel will lead
to skyscrapers eventually.
3. Time zones established to make train
schedules run smoother.
Grover Cleveland (#1)
1885 – 1889
Democrat
from: New Jersey
Gilded Age President
Election of 1884
1. The Republicans nominated James Blaine
and the Democrats nominated Cleveland.
2. The election is a mud-slinging contest.
Blaine’s corrupt and Cleveland had a premarital affair and a bastard child.
3. Charges of corruption (Mulligan Letters) lead
to Blaine losing the election.
Western Frontier
1. Railroad has a detrimental effect on the Native
Americans – it brings more settlers west and it also
brings the buffalo hunters.
2. The wide-spread slaughter of the buffalo does more
to force the Native Americans onto the reservations
than the U.S. army does.
3. 1886, Geronimo arrested – last of the major fighting
between the Native Americans and the U.S. army.
4. In 1887 the Dawes-Severalty Act was passed – it
broke up the reservations in order to get more land
for settlers – Native Americans were encouraged to
assimilate into U.S. society.
Politics
1. The case Wabash vs. Illinois reversed the
Munn vs. Illinois case, ruling that state’s
couldn’t regulate railroads because it
interfered with interstate commerce.
2. In response, the Interstate Commerce Act
was passed to regulate railroads – not very
effective because no real enforcement power.
Labor
1. Haymarket Square Riot occurs – strikers
blamed for the violence and the Knights of
Labor go on the decline.
2. Samuel Gompers forms the American
Federation of Labor – only allowed skilled
workers in – no women or minorities. Strikes
still the main weapon of the union.
1. The Flatiron Building
is built in New York
City.
2. The countries first
“skyscraper”, it will
lead to cities growing
up instead of out –
along with the
invention of the
elevator.
3. The Statue of Liberty
goes up in New York
Harbor (Staten Island).
Social Changes
Benjamin Harrison
1889 – 1893
Republican
from: Indiana
Gilded Age President
Election of 1888
1. The Republicans nominate Benjamin
Harrison to run against Grover Cleveland.
2. Cleveland won the popular votes by 100,000
but lost the electoral votes by 36.
3. Harrison promised a strong, protective tariff
as part of his campaign.
Fredrick Jackson Turner
1. In his thesis, Frederick Jackson Turner is going to
claim that the American frontier is gone.
2. The Oklahoma Territory will be set aside for the
Native Americans.
3. The Battle of Wounded Knee marks the last fighting
between the Native Americans and the U.S. army.
Politics
1. The Populist Party forms to fight for the rights
of the American farmer – income tax, direction
election of Senators, coining silver and
controlling the railroads.
2. The Sherman Antitrust Act is passed in an
attempt to regulate monopolies.
3. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act is passed –
requires the government to buy silver and
redeem currency in gold or silver.
4. The McKinley Tariff is passed – the highest tariff
in American history.
Economy
1. The McKinley Tariff is going to create a huge
surplus that Harrison is going to use for many
internal improvements around the country –
the Billion Dollar Congress.
Labor
1. The Homestead Strike occurs in 1892.
2. Company town where workers live in
deplorable conditions – go on strike to
demand better pay and living conditions.
3. Pinkerton detectives come in to bust up the
strike and ten people are killed.
4. In the end, the union survives but the
working conditions remain.
Social
1. Jane Addams opens
the Hull House.
2. The Hull House is a
settlement house.
3. Its purpose is to aid
immigrant women and
children in the
crowded tenements.
4. Provided a place to
live, day care, job
training and
educational services.
Grover Cleveland (#2)
1893 – 1897
Democrat
from: New Jersey
Gilded Age President
Election of 1892
1. The Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland
to run against Harrison again.
2. The Populist Party nominates James Weaver.
3. Cleveland wins, becoming the only president
to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Frontier
Remember, there is no frontier any more.
However, farmers living in the west are
struggling due to the high tariffs, unfair
practices of the railroads, corporate greed and
general and by the fact that the Sherman
Silver Purchase Act is about to be repealed
and we are going to go onto the Gold
Standard, making currency even more scarce
in the west. This will lead to the growth of the
Populist Party.
Politics
1. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act is repealed
in response to the Panic of 1893.
Economy
1. The Panic of 1893 was the worst economic
depression the country had faced at that time.
2. Cleveland did little to address the situation
because he believed the economy would fix
itself.
3. Coxey’s Army was a group of unemployed
workers who marched on Washington D.C. –
want the government to create jobs using tax
dollars – they were eventually arrested for
trespassing on the Capital grounds – maybe led
to the Wizard of Oz.
Labor
1. Eugene V. Debs become president of the
American Railway Union.
2. In 1894 the workers at the Pullman factory go
on strike over wagers and high rents.
3. Cleveland eventually sends in troops to stop
the strike because its interfering with the
delivery of the mail.
4. Debs was arrested and jailed.
Social
1. Plessy vs. Ferguson opens the door for
legalized segregation in the south.
2. Booker T. Washington gives the Atlanta
Compromise speech – draws criticism from
northern African Americans.
3. Hurst and Pulitzer are competing to attract
customers with yellow journalism.
4. Williams Jennings Bryan gives his Cross of Gold
speech and begins preparing for his stay in the
White House (not).
William McKinley
1897 - 1901
Republican
from: Ohio
Progressive President
Election of 1896
1. The Republicans run William McKinley
against Williams Jennings Bryan and the
Democrats (try #1).
2. The big issues were the tariff and the gold
standard.
3. McKinley won easily.
Frontier/Imperialism
1. There is no frontier, so some are pushing for
the U.S. to expand her borders for both
trading and military purposes.
2. We will get into the Spanish-American War
and be involved in the Boxer Rebellion during
this time – part of our Open Door Policy to
keep China open for trade.
Politics
1. The Gold Standard Act will be passed,
requiring all U.S. currency to be backed by
gold.
2. The Teller Amendment said that the U.S.
wouldn’t take over Cuba.
3. We annexed Haiwaii.
Social
1. The first grandfather clause is enacted in
Louisiana. That combined with the poll tax
and literacy test effectively allowed poor,
uneducated whites to vote while keeping
African Americans from voting.
Spanish-American War
Causes:
1. Atrocities committed by the Spanish against
the Cubans.
2. DeLome Letter – Spanish diplomat accused
McKinley of pushing for war – leaked to the
press.
3. Yellow journalism.
4. Sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor
– blamed on the Spanish but probably came from
within the ship.
Spanish-American War
Effects:
1. Teddy Roosevelt becomes famous with his
Rough Riders squadron.
2. We get the Philippines, Guam and Puerto
Rico - later put down a rebellion in the
Philippines.
3. War ended with the Treaty of Paris.
Election of 1900
1. The Republicans run McKinley with Teddy
Roosevelt (his first vice president died in
office) against Williams Jennings Bryan and
the Democrats (try #2).
2. The big issue was imperialism – isolationists
are opposed to the U.S. operating in other
areas of the world.
McKinley Assassination
1. McKinley was
assassinated in a
receiving line in
Buffalo, N.Y.
2. He was shot by Leon
Czolgosz, an anarchist.
3. His vice president
Teddy Roosevelt
became president.
Theodore Roosevelt
1901 - 1909
Republican
from: New York
Progressive President
The Square Deal
1. Roosevelt’s social platform was called the
Square Deal.
2. It involved the Three C’s:
1. Control of corporations (not all were bad though)
2. Consumer protection
3. Conservation of natural resources
Controlling Corporations
1. The Coal Strike of 1902 occurred in Pennsylvania
and Roosevelt brought both sides to the White
House and threatened the owners to agree to
arbitration.
2. The Elkins Act strengthened the Interstate
Commerce Act – gave it enforcement powers.
3. The Department of Commerce and Labor was
created to look into business operations. They
used the courts to bust up “bad” monopolies.
4. The Hepburn Act strengthened the Interstate
Commerce Act - allowed the government to
regulate railroad rates.
Consumer Protection
1. The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat
Inspection Act were passed to protect the
public from impure products.
Conservation of Natural Resources
1. The Newlands-Reclamation Act allowed the
government to collect money from the sale
of public lands and use it to improve other
government lands.
2. The National Conservation Commission
compiled an inventory of U.S. natural
resources for the purpose of resource
management.
Imperialism
1. Roosevelt introduced the Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine.
2. The “Big Stick Policy” said that the U.S. would protect the
entire Western Hemisphere, especially the Caribbean
(and our business interests there) – also called gunboat
diplomacy.
3. The Platt Amendment said that Cuba couldn’t make a
treaty with another nation with out U.S. approval.
4. He encouraged a rebellion in Panama (against Columbia)
so he could build the Panama Canal.
5. He sent his “Great White Fleet” around the world to
show off the might of the U.S. Navy.
6. He continued to support the Open Door Policy in China.
7. He received a Nobel Peace Prize for using arbitration to
get a peace treaty in the Russo/Japanese War.
Labor
1. The Industrial Workers of the World Union or
the Wobblies was created in 1905.
2. This union was made up of socialists, anarchists
and radical unionists from all over the U.S.
3. Their goal was to promote worker solidarity in
the revolutionary struggle to overthrow the
employing class.
4. This organization helped fuel the U.S. public’s
later association of labor with communism.
Social
1. Muckrakers like Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair
and Lincoln Steffens were using their literary
abilities to draw attention to the ills of U.S.
society.
2. The San Francisco Earthquake occurred.
3. The Ford Motor Company was established.
4. U.S. Steel was formed (J.P. Morgan).
William Taft
1909 - 1913
Republican
from: Ohio
Progressive President
Election of 1908
1. Teddy Roosevelt handpicked Taft to succeed
him, believing he would carry on with his
policies – the Democrats ran William
Jennings Bryan again (try #3).
2. Eugene V. Debs ran as a socialist.
3. Taft won easily.
Politics
1. The Supreme Court decided Muller vs. Oregon, which
allowed a state to regulate how long women worked.
2. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff was passed, putting very high
tariffs on important imports (Taft didn’t like but didn’t
stop it – the issue split the Republican Party).
3. The Dawes Act opened up more tribal lands for U.S.
settlers.
4. The Mann-Elkins Act reinforced the powers of the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
5. The case Standard Oil vs. U.S. found Standard Oil guilty
of monopolizing the petroleum industry and it was
forced to break up into competing firms.
Imperialism
1. Taft instituted dollar diplomacy in regard to
Latin America, using economic influences
instead of military force to promote American
business interests abroad.
The Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy
The Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger
opened up some federal lands to
development. Gifford Pinchot (the head of
the U.S. Forestry Service) claimed he was
putting private business over conservation.
Taft sided with Ballinger – he supported
conservation but not as much as Roosevelt
did. This made Teddy mad!
Social
1. WEB Dubois forms the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP).
2. Henry Ford develops the assembly line
method and introduced the Model T –
inexpensive cars that will increase the
number of U.S. citizens with vehicles – the
assembly line method will also be copied by
other industries.
Woodrow Wilson
1913 - 1921
Democrat
from: New Jersey
Progressive President
Election of 1912
1. Teddy Roosevelt was upset with Taft so he
decided to run again in 1912:
1. The Republicans nominate Taft.
2. The Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson.
3. Teddy Roosevelt runs for the Progressive
Party/Bull Moose Party.
4. Teddy splits the Republican vote, allowing Wilson
to win.
Progressive Amendments
1.
2.
3.
4.
16th – Graduated income tax
17th – direct election of Senators
18th – Prohibition
19th – suffrage for women
Politics
1. The Underwood Tariff reduced the PayneAldrich Tariff.
2. The Federal Reserve Act created the Federal
Reserve Board, which managed the Federal
Reserve Banks, which were used to keep some
of the money of private banks.
3. The Clayton Antitrust Act put more limits on
monopolies to protect small businesses.
4. The Federal Trade Commission was created to
investigate the business practices of
corporations.
Social
1. The Panama Canal was completed.
2. The film Birth of a Nation was released,
which was about the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
3. Margaret Sanger began advocating the use
of birth control.
World War I Begins
1. Begins with the assassination of Arch Duke
Franz Ferdinand in Serbia. The underlying
causes were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Nationalism in Europe.
Militarism in Europe.
Imperialism in Europe.
Secret alliances in Europe.
Wilson and the War
1. Most people in the U.S. were isolationists
who believed World War I was a European
affair and that the U.S. should not get
involved.
2. Woodrow Wilson was reelected in 1916 with
the slogan “He Kept us out of War”.
The U.S. Enters WWI
Causes:
1. The sinking of the Lusitania.
2. The Sussex Pledge after the French
passenger ferry the Sussex was sunk.
3. The Zimmerman Telegram.
4. The unrestricted submarine (u boats)
warfare against U.S. merchant ships.
In the U.S. During WWI
1. The Selective Service Act was passed to draft soldiers into the
military.
2. The War Industries Board was created to encourage factories
to use mass production techniques to make war materials.
3. The Espionage Act and Sedition Act are passed to prevent
spying and anti-war protests.
4. The Palmer Raids were used against suspected radicals and
“hyphenated” Americans and the court case Schnenck vs.
U.S. said leaflets opposing the draft weren’t protected under
the 1st Amendment.
5. The Great Migration occurred, which large number of African
Americans leaving the south to find jobs in the north and to
escape the segregation of the south – led to race riots in
northern cities.
6. Daylight Savings Time is started to conserve fuel.
7. First radio broadcast occurred in Pittsburg.
U.S. Enters WWI
1. The U.S. entered the war – Wilson sees it as a chance to
spread democracy – missionary diplomacy.
2. The Bolshevik Revolution happens in Russia – the
communist take over and withdraw Russia from WWI.
3. When we win, Wilson makes his Fourteen Points
address, outlining his plans for peace after the war – the
main item being the League of Nations.
4. The Treaty of Versailles ends the war – Germany takes all
the blame and has to pay reparations and loses territory
– we refuse to ratify the treaty because of U.S. Senators
(led by Henry Cabot Lodge) don’t want to be in the
League of Nations.
Warren Harding
1921 - 1923
Republican
from: Ohio
Return to Normalcy/Isolationism
Election of 1920
1. The Republicans nominate Warren G.
Harding and Calvin Coolidge.
2. The Democrats nominate James M. Cox and
FDR.
3. Harding wins by promising a “return to
normalcy” and future isolationism.
Politics
1. The Washington Disarmament Conference was
held to discuss limiting arms. Other agreements
were made to respect other people’s holdings and
to keep the Open Door Policy going in China.
2. The Immigration Restriction Act/Emergency
Quota Act were passed to limit the number of
immigrants entering the U.S.
3. The Federal Highway Act was passed to build more
roads for the growing number of cars in the U.S.
4. The Ford-McCumber Act put extremely high tariffs
on foreign goods – led to huge decline in foreign
trade.
Red Scare
1. The first Red Scare occurs in the U.S. as
Vladimir Lenin forms the Soviet Union.
2. Communism developing from the working
class in the U.S. a real fear of the U.S. public.
Scandals
1. Harding’s
presidency
was full of
scandal.
2. The worst was
the Teapot
Dome
Scandal.
Death of Harding
1. Harding died of a heart attack in 1923,
causing Calvin Coolidge to become president.
2. Coolidge’s first order of business was to clean
up the scandals that occurred under Harding
– fired many people.
Calvin Coolidge
1923 - 1929
Republican
from: Ohio
Roaring 20’s
Politics
1. The McNary-Haugen Bill provided for the
government to buy surplus crops to sell them
abroad (trying to help farmers – no real market for
the goods though).
2. The Dawes Act of 1924 – U.S. treaty with Germany
after World War I.
3. The National Origins Act – limited immigration
based on where you were from.
4. The Kellog-Briand Pact – Group of 64 nations
agreeing to settle dispute peacefully (no way to
enforce it).
5. Laissez-faire business practices – headed towards
the Great Depression.
Social
1. Scopes Monkey Trial – creationism vs. evolution
2. Jazz Age – Great Gatsby, Charles Lindberg flight,
Golden Age of Sports, Harlem Renaissance, the
Lost Generation
3. Sacco and Vannzetti Trial – nativism
4. Prohibition effects: flappers, speakeasies, rise
of organized crime
5. Influence of automobile in the U.S. – jobs,
independence, architecture, growth/sprawl of
cities
Herbert Hoover
1929 - 1933
Republican
from: California
Great Depression
Politics
1. The Agricultural Marketing Act – tried to help
farmers use their own organizations to be more
efficient
2. The Young Plan – program to try to help Germany
meet the demands of their war debt
3. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff – toughest U.S. tariff ever
– designed to protect U.S. industry – brings world
trade to a standstill
4. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation –
Hoover’s only effort to stop the Great Depression –
gave money to the states to do what they wanted
with – nothing for individuals – rugged
individualism!!!
Japan
1. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 – U.S. told
Japan to back out or else but Japan ignores
us – we do nothing
2. We make the Hoover-Stimpson Doctrine,
saying we won’t recognize any changes to
China’s territory or sovereignty
Stock Market Crash
1. Black Tuesday – October 29, 1929 – stock
prices plummet because of:
1. speculation – buying stocks and bonds for a
quick profit
2. buying on margin – paying a small part of the
stock’s price and borrowing the rest – pay back
debt from profits when you sell
Causes of the Great Depression
1. Tariff and war debt policies
2. U.S. overproduction of goods and low
demand
3. Farm problems
4. Easy credit
5. Unequal distribution of wealth
The Bonus Army
1. 15,000 World War I vets march on
Washington wanting their bonus that was
promised them in 1945.
2. Hoover tells them to go home and they
refuse.
3. Hoover sends in troops to disperse them –
led by Eisenhower and McArthur – guns go
off, fire starts – Hoover looks really bad doing
this to veterans
Franklin D. Roosevelt
1933 - 1945
Democrat
from: New York
New Deal and World War II
First 100 Days/New Deal
1. FDR used his fireside chats to reassure the
U.S. public that everything would be okay.
2. Calls for a bank holiday – closes them down
and then reopens only the strongest.
3. The New Deal programs have three goals:
1. Relief
2. Recovery
3. Reform
New Deal Amendments
1. 20th – “lame duck” amendment – changes
president’s inauguration date from March to
January.
2. 21st – repeals the 18th – no more Prohibition
– more money coming into the economy
through taxes on alcohol
World War II Begins
1. Congress passes the Neutrality Acts, keeping
the U.S. out of the war.
2. FDR kept the U.S. neutral but he aided the
Allies with the cash and carry and the lendlease policies.
3. He established the good neighbor policy with
Latin America.
Social
1. The Indian Reorganization Act is passed,
allowing the tribes to govern themselves.
2. The Congress of Industrial Organizations is
formed (new labor union).
3. The Dust Bowl is going on.
December 7, 1941
1. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and the U.S.
enters World War II.
2. The Selective Service Act is passed and the
War Production Board and the War Labor
Board is formed.
3. U.S. citizens of Japanese heritage are
imprisoned in the interment camps
Korematsu v. U.S. says that’s okay.