HIS 254 Exam 2
Chapter 20: The Progressive Era
1. Reform: led by a new generation of middle-class Americans, reform became the word
encompassing the demand for voting rights, higher wages, civil rights, and working rights
(safer conditions and union recognition)
2. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Occurred in 1911 at a factory in Manhattan. The doors were
chained shut to prevent 200 women employees from taking breaks; they were trapped when
the factory caught fire. The owners were brought up on manslaughter charges but acquitted.
3. “Muckrakers”: Term coined by Theodore Roosevelt, used to label journalists who exposed
business practices, poverty, and corruption. Responsible for rousing public demands for
reform, with magazines like McClure’s calling out political corruption and economic
malfeasance. Confirmed American’s suspicious about “runaway wealth and political
corruption.”
4. Looking Backward: popular novel written by Edward Bellamy in 1888. National sensation:
was about a man who awoke in 2000 to find society radically altered. Pushed readers onto
the road of reform as Bellamy’s story showed a utopia of social harmony and economic
prosperity.
5. Walter Rauschenbusch: German Baptist church pastor in NYC that advocated the social
gospel addressing crime, poverty, and other problems. Revived the phrase “the Kingdom of
God” and believed that every Christian should ask themselves what they could do to enact
the kingdom of God on Earth. Influenced twentieth-century life, fueled progressive reform,
and inspired activists like Martin Luther King Jr.
6. The Club Movement: Organizations that helped communities and women in a large
political sphere. Emphasized philanthropic activities, intellectual development, etc.
Flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the 1890s, clubs formed for
suffrage and women’s rights: General Federation of Women’s Clubs (NYC, 1890) and the
National Association of Colored Women (Washington, D.C., in 1896). Both dominated by
upper-middle-class, educated, northern women. Still rather prejudiced membership.
7. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union: A temperance organization meant to combat
drunkenness. Founded by Carrie A. Nation, who spent a lot of time destroying saloons in
Kansas (“hatchetation”). WCTU was founded in 1874, and from 1879 to 1898, was adapted
into a national political organization with the slogan “do everything”- adopted any and all
reasonable reforms that would improve social welfare and advance women’s rights.
Advocated for alleviation of urban poverty, prison reform, eight-hour workday, child labor
laws, “home protection”, and temperance.
8. Jane Addams and Hull House: Jane Addams was a graduate of the Rockford Female
Seminary and traveled Europe on the “grand tour” like other American graduates. She
founded the Hull House in Chicago where women and children were cared for with social
and educational opportunities. Later, Hull House began reporting and exposing local
sweatshops and became convincing advocates for antisweatshop legislation. Addams was
the first American woman to earn the Nobel Peace Prize and was an opponent of America’s
entry into WWI.
9. Women’s Suffrage: women’s right to vote. Slow but encouraging progress had been made
during the late nineteenth century. Women’s suffrage was tied up with a great deal of reform
efforts- some claimed the women’s vote would clean up politics, defeat social evil, while
others argued it was necessary to maintain white supremacy. Eve of WWI, the National
American Woman Suffrage Association developed a strategy focusing on the legislature
side, while Alice Paul led the National Woman’s Party to the streets and picket the White
House in January 1917. January 1918, Woodrow Wilson declared his support for the
women’s suffrage amendment, which became reality two years later as the Nineteenth
Amendment.
10. “The Trusts”: Firms or corporations that combined for the purpose of reducing
competition and controlling prices (establishing a monopoly). Targeted by the Sherman AntiTrust Act in 1890, which aimed to limit anticompetitive practices like those that are
institutionalized in cartels and monopolistic corporations. Declared monopolies that
“unreasonable” stifled free trade illegal (was used to target labor unions, however). 1914,
Congress passes the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, attempts to close loopholes. Trust-busting and
Northern Securities Company
11. Business Regulation: Government rules, regulations, and standards directed at
protecting competition in the marketplace. Series of federal and state laws. Goes hand-inhand with the above point. Prevention of monopolies and run-away businesses, targeted by
Roosevelt especially.
12. The 1912 Presidential Election: Roosevelt was spurned by the Republican Party and
formed his own “Bull Moose” Party. Republicans nominated Taft. Taft took an allencompassing view on the illegality of monopolies, while Roosevelt adopted a New
Nationalism program (emphasized the regulation of already existing corporations or the
expansion of federal power over the economy). Wilson was the Democratic Party nominee,
New Freedom agenda (small-business incentives). Wilson won then shifted to Roosevelt’s
position (Clayton Anti-Trust Act). Wilson won because the Republican vote was split between
Taft and Roosevelt, not because a majority endorsed him.
13. John Muir: the founder of the Sierra club and a naturalist. Believed the wilderness should
be preserved in its natural state; largely responsible for the creation of Yosemite National
Park in California. “God of the Mountains”. Side of the preservationists.
14. The Conservation Movement: Preservation versus conservation and Hetch Hetchy.
Gifford Pinchot- the father of American forestry and advocate for federal management of
national forests- emphasized conservation, or the protection of natural resources (the proper
use of nature) and their efficient use. Muir was on the side of preservation, or the protection
of nature from use. In the case of Hetch Hetchy, conservation won out. On a more general
note, the conservation movement was all about the political, social, and scientific
movements to protect natural resources. Environmental utilitarianism and zero waste kind of
deal.
15. Disfranchisement: A ‘legal’ (not ethical) way to deny someone the right to vote. Big issue
in the racist, segregated Jim Crow-era South. Disfranchisement was advocated by
progressives, electoral, and social reforms. Methods included a poll tax, stripping suffrage
from those convicted of petty crimes, and arbitrary literacy tests. Intentionally designed to
target African Americans. The Grandfather clause gave suffrage to anyone whose
grandfather was eligible to vote in 1867, which gave power back to the whites who would
have been otherwise excluded.
16. Segregation: designed by Southern legislatures. Easier to maintain in rural areas, where
maintaining white supremacy didn’t require segregation. In the cities, segregation was a way
to maintain white supremacy in restaurants, theaters, public restrooms, schools, water
fountains, train cars, and hospitals.
17. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Legal case that legalized segregation in publicly owned
facilities on the basis of “separate but equal.” Arose because of violations in a plain reading
of the Constitution (14th Amendment). The Fourteenth Amendment did not prevent
discrimination by individuals, businesses, or other entities. Southern states ran with this and
passed the first segregation of railroad cars in 1888. This segregation in Louisiana made it to
the Supreme Court, where “separate but equal” was established. Stupid constitutional
fallacy.
18. Booker T. Washington: Born into slavery in the south, went to university and became
head of the Tuskegee Institute, founded in 1881. Believed that through industrial and
vocational training, African Americans could achieve economic independence while
developing a sense of self-worth and pride during Jim Crow.
19. The “Atlanta Compromise” Speech: Booker T. Washington’s famous speech in 1895,
where he praised the south for some of the opportunities it had given Blacks, while asking
the whites to trust Blacks and provide them with opportunities so that both races could
advance in industry and agriculture. Praised as a race leader and pillories as an
accommodationist to America’s unjust racial hierarchy.
20. W.E.B. DuBois: disagreed with Washington. He was born as a free man in the north
(Massachusetts) in 1868, where he attended university and then traveled to the south. His
life’s work focused on studying the systemic racial and economic discrimination that he
believed would be the problem of the twentieth century. He then attended Harvard, went to
Germany for graduate work, came back to Harvard, and was the first Black American to
receive a PhD there. Was one of America’s foremost intellectual leaders on social justice and
addressed these issues through teaching, writing, and lecturing. Was vocal about the
problems of white supremacy and the power of social science to arrest its reach.
Chapter 21: World War I and Its Aftermath
1. European Diplomacy before World War I: German empire was a quiet but growing threat,
whose presence inspired new and multiple alliances. There was growing awareness and
tension between expanding empires and those who wanted to be an empire (Germany,
Austrio-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, British Empire, France, and Russia). Perhaps it
is useful to mention that the U.S. is a tad isolationist but went along with whatever benefited
the American economy across the Atlantic.
2. American Interventions in Mexico: America gets involved due to threats to American
business interests. Francisco Madero challenged Porfirio Diaz’s corrupt and unpopular
conservative regime, flees to San Antonia, and paves the way for the Mexican Revolution by
penning the Plan of San Luis Potosi. A scuffle between Marines at Veracruz results in
temporary occupation/supervision of the city government and prevent shipments of German
arms to Mexican leader Huerta until the Marines departed in November 1914. Served as a
reminder for American dependence on strong-arm Navy. The US watches, withdraws its
support of Diaz, and in 1916 a revolutionary named Pancho Villa raids Columbus, New
Mexico after being provoked by American support for his rivals. In response, Wilson
commissioned Army general John “Black Jack” Pershing to capture Villa and disperse his
rebels. The mission was plagued by technical difficulties which would later prove to be
useful field tests and information, and Wilson uses the new National Defense Act to mobilize
National Guardsmen across the country as a show of force. War in Europe probably
prevented war between U.S. and Mexico.
3. American Neutrality: Informed by good old George Washington’s words of wisdom in his
1796 Farewell Address, where he recommended the U.S. avoid “foreign alliances,
attachments, and intrigues.” Its neutrality reflected its interest of its home-grown industrial
economy and limited diplomatic tools and increasingly antiquated military. As America starts
becoming an empire in the 1880s, we see the construction of a modern navy, albeit small
and underfunded compared to others. Neutrality begins to fade with improvements to the
military, including the Davis Act of 1908 and the National Defense Act of 1916, which saw the
inauguration of what would become the National Guard and military reserves. The Naval Act
of 1916, in response to WWI, gives Wilson the Navy he wants. In direct response to WWI,
Wilson claims American neutrality.
In reality, the U.S. remained tied to the UK and France and definitely provided them more
loans and supplies than the Germans. Wilson even approved commercial credit loans to the
combatants…
4. Warfare in Europe: Dominoes of alliances gets the whole country involved following the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austria calls on its German ally, gives Serbia a
list of demands, Russia supports Serbia, Germany declares war or Russia to protect Austria,
and Germany invades Belgium and France. This annexation of Belgium forced Great Britain
to get involved, and the U.K declares war on Germany in 1914. Spreads all the way down to
the Middle East.
Unprecedented carnage and technology; cavalrymen and horses, illness, and trench
warfare. Crazy. First biological warfare too with mustard gas.
5. Challenges to American Neutrality: I’m assuming this is referencing the sinking of the
RMS Lusitania in 1915, where over a hundred Americans died, which when combined with
other German attacks on American and British shipping, raised the ire of the public. Then
you have the Zimmermann Telegram, courtesy of German diplomat Arthur Zimmermann,
who offered support to the Mexican government via a desperate bid to regain Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona. Mexican national leaders declined the offer, and the revelation of it
pushed the US into war.
6. Woodrow Wilson and World War I: Man did not want a German victory. Was responsible
for streamlining the Selective Service Act, creating a functional military, and later turned
‘diplomat’ with the basis of LoN before dying. I guess.
7. American Entrance into World War I: Congress declared war on Germany on April 4th,
1917, in response to submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram. America was not
super well-equipped for war, depending on volunteerism, but also prepared a draft.
8. The Selective Service Act: May 18th, 1917, passed by Congress and signed by Wilson.
The draft. Required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for
military service.
9. Race and America’s Armed Forces: attitudes of phrenology and eugenics affected IQ tests
for soldiers, which the Surgeon General coming to very racist conclusions. Segregation
continued into the service, as did fear of “hyphenated Americans”. Black Americans were
assigned to different units and prevented Black troops from serving in combat. Du Bois and
other Black leaders hoped that if Black men could assume all duties and responsibilities of
citizens, and prove they would die for their country, then white Americans would see they
deserved full citizenship. The army restricted privileges of Black soldiers to ensure they did
not see a better side of life or opportunity in Europe and question their place in American
society. They did not account for France, however.
10. Women and the War Effort: women now filled positions as telephone operators, as
yeomen, and even the Marine Corps. There were some 25,000 nurses stateside and
overseas, and about a hundred female physicians. However, since female nurses or doctors
were not commissioned officers, many suffered various physical and mental abuses from
their male coworkers with no system of redress in place. Women worked as translators too.
Women on the Homefront volunteered in organizations like the Red Cross, the YMCA, the
Salvation Army.
Black women were severely limited by the Jim Crow era of segregation, and they were
prohibited from serving as enlisted or appointed medical personnel. White leaders of the Red
Cross, YMCA, and Salvation Army refused to admit Black women as equals.
11. The Espionage Act in 1917: Passed shortly after entering the war. It made it a crime for a
person to convey information with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the
armed forces of the US or to promote the success of its enemies. Stripped dissenters and
protestors of their rights to publicly resist the war. Immigrants, labor unions, and political
radicals became targets of government investigations and public culture.
12. The Sedition Act in 1918: made it illegal for Americans to speak disloyally about the US
government, armed forces, constitution, or flag. Was a later addition to the Espionage Act.
13. American forces in Europe: 4.7 million American men served in all branches of the
military. Over one hundred thousand men died (fifty-three thousand in battle, even more from
disease).
14. The Flu Pandemic: began in Kansas in 1918. Spread like wildfire through military camps
in the US and then across the world. By September 1918, it spread to all training camps in
the US and then mutated. The mutated strain killed younger people (eighteen and thirtyfive). It then hit both sides of the Western Front, misnamed the “Spanish Influenza” or the
“Spanish Lady” because accounts of it first appeared in the uncensored newspapers of
neutral Spain. It resulted in the deaths of an estimated fifty million people worldwide. More
soldiers died from influenza than combat. The pandemic continued to spread after the
armistice before finally fading in the early 1920s.
15. The Treaty of Versailles: Signed on June 28th, 1919, it formally ended WWI. Required
that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas
colonies.
16. The Fourteen Points: Wilson’s plan for achieving lasting peace after WWI and settling
territorial issues. Called for the establishment of the League of Nations to “guarantee
independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” Proposed to Congress
in January 1918. Ultimately failed, especially on the U.S. side, mostly because he died. But it
also didn’t adequately address European tempers and anger over the cost of the war.
Finally, was signed in 1919 which included demanded for German reparations, provisions for
the LoN, and the promise of collective security.
17. The League of Nations: Failed in the U.S. because Wilson practically dropped dead but
succeeded abroad with fifty-eight sovereign numbers. It did eventually fail, but it was the
precursor of the United Nations. Was officially formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and
peace among nations.
18. The Postwar World: The Middle East enters the Mandate Era following the ignorance of
the King-Crane Commission, which we still see the deadly repercussions of today because
of dumb French and British involvement. Fueled by Western Orientalism, pettiness, and
dreams of empire. Russia broke down in 1917 due to the Bolshevik Revolution, which later
enflamed American fears of communism.
19. The First Red Scare: Case study: Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italianborn anarchists who were accused of robbery and murder in 1920 and executed. Their
arrest, trial, and execution inspired leftists and dissenting artists to express sympathy with
the accused, with the whole situation demonstrating an exacerbated nervousness about the
spread of radical (communist) ideas. More generally speaking, however, it was a period of
general fear of communists and that they were working to destroy the American way of life.
Swept through the US in 1919 and resulted in the suppression of dissent. Labor unrest,
postwar recession, the difficult peacetime readjustment, and the Soviet establishment of the
Comintern all contributed to it.
20. The Red Summer: 1919; used to describe the bloody race riots that occurred during the
summer and autumn. Race riots erupted in several cities in both the North and South of the
U.S., with large fatalities occurring in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Elain, Arkansas. A
result of wartime racial tensions, fueled by post-war labor shortages and migration of Black
southerners to the North and Midwest to escape southern poverty. The “Great Migration”
sparked conflict as white northerners and returning veterans fought to reclaim their jobs and
neighborhoods from new Black migrants.
21. American Protective League: a league of snitched; was an American nativist group that
would take out prejudices on “disloyal” minorities.
Chapter 22: The New Era
1. Warren G. Harding: the 29th president (1921 to 1923) and member of the republican party.
Promised a return to normalcy and signed legislation to restore a high protective tariff and
dismantle the last wartime controls over industry. Went down in history as “among the most
corrupt” partly due to his part in the Teapot Dome Scandal (several officials conspired to
lease government land in Wyoming to oil companies in exchange for cash). His Cabinet was
very nepo friendly. Died in 1923 and was succeeded by Calvin Coolidge.
2. Calvin Coolidge: Fellow Republican that went from city councilman to governor of
Massachusetts until his presidency. Supported businesses instead of workers or consumers,
as well as supported wealthy Americans by lowering taxes and maintaining a high tariff rate.
His policy was described as “active inactivity.”
3. The Equal Rights Amendment: Constitutional amendment passed by Congress but never
ratified that would have banned discrimination on the basis of gender. Alice Paul and the
National Woman’s Party called for the elimination of all legal distinctions “on account of sex”
through this proposed amendment.
4. The Defeat of Al Smith: Ran against Hoover in the presidential election of 1928, was a
four-time governor of NY. Part of the NY machine (Tammany Hall) and favored workers
protections. Opposed prohibition and immigrant restrictions. Had an immigrant background
himself. Aroused nativist suspicions. Much of the election was centered on his Catholic faith;
Hoover won be a lot because of his all-American, Midwestern Protestant background and
managerial prowess during WWI endeared him to voters.
5. Consumerism: Americans were fascinated with new consumer products in the 1920s and
began overspending and borrowing on credit. Would later lead to causes of the Great
Depression. There was clothing, convenience food, home appliances, automobiles, etc.
Feared supply had outpaced demand (overproduction) and department stores played a huge
role during this time (Marshall Field and Co.)
6. Popular Culture: “Gasoline and electricity”- embodied most dramatically for many
Americans in automobiles, films, and radios; propelled not only consumption but also
popular culture. Automobiles, Hollywood’s latest films, jazz records, radio broadcasts, etc.
7. Mary Pickford: A Canadian movie star who went to Hollywood in the 1920s and became
known as “America’s sweetheart.” Earning 1 million a year by 1920 through a combination of
film and endorsement contracts. Popularized the flapper.
8. Jazz: A uniquely American musical style popularized by the African-American community
in New Orleans. Spread through the radio stations and records. NY Times had ridiculed jazz
as ‘savage’ because of its racial heritage but the music represents cultural independence to
others. Al Johnson became the most popular singer in America.
9. Babe Ruth: Real name was George Herman Ruth, the “Sultan of Swat”. He had 54
homeruns in 1920, more than any other team combined. Played for the Red Sox and saved
the baseball world from the Black Sox Scandal.
10. The Flapper: carefree young women with short, bobbed hair, heavy makeup, and short
skirts. Symbolized the new “liberated” woman of the 1920s. Many people saw the bold,
boyish look and shocking behavior of flappers as a sign of changing morals. Though hardly
typical of American women, it reinforced the idea that women now had more freedom.
Materialism and individual pleasure.
11. Women in the workplace: “New Woman.” Only 10% of married women work outside the
home, but women were not able to vote which gave them more opportunity. Occupations
such as law and medicine remained for men while females were in feminized professions
such as teaching and nursing. Many became clerks in the office, but rarely ever had a
leadership position. For minority women work outside the home was not a cultural statement
but rather a financial necessity.
12. Sexual Attitudes: for many women, an attempt to rebel against what they saw as a
repressive Victorian notion of sexuality led to an increase in premarital sexual activity. Also, a
period of growth for the vibrant gay culture.
13. The Great Migration: movement of over 300,000 African Americans from the rural south
into Northern Cities between 1914 and 1920, with NYC as a key destination. Its population
grew 257% in 1910 to 1920. Many African Americans who migrated to the US made their
home in Manhattan’s Harlem District.
14. The Harlem Renaissance: Black literary and artistic movement centered in Harlem that
lasted from the 1920s into the early 1930s that both celebrated and lamented black life in
America. Included theater, art, music, and Broadway presented Black actors in serious roles.
15. “The New Negro”: an effort to promote racial equality by celebrating the cultural
contributions of African Americans. Alain Locke wrote about it, said “generation of
subservience is nor more”. A term popularized during the Harlem Renaissance implying a
more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit quietly to the practices and laws
of Jim Crow racial segregation.
16. Marcus Garvey: African American leader during the 1920s who founded the Universal
Negro Improvement Association and advocated mass migration of African Americans back to
Africa. He was deported to Jamaica in 1927. Sought to promote racial pride, encourage
Black economic independence, and root out racial oppression in Africa and the diaspora.
African Americans thought he was telling them to give up in surrender and created a
campaign known as “Garvey must go.”
17. The National Origins Act: act which restricted immigration from any one nation to two
percent of the number of people already in the U.S. of that national origin in 1890. Severely
restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and excluded Asians entirely.
18. Christian Fundamentalism: an individual who believes in a strict, literal interpretation of
the Bible as the foundation of the Christian faith. Concerned about relaxed sexual mores and
increased social freedom (lashed out against sagging public morality). Arose from a doctrinal
dispute among protestant leaders. Agreed that modernism was the enemy.
19. The Scopes Trial: A highly publicized trial in 1925 when John Thomas Scopes violated a
Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in high school. This violated the Butler act which
prevented any theory that denied the divine creation of man as taught in the bible. “Trial of
the century.” The jury delivered a guilty verdict, but the case was later thrown out on a
technicality.
20. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK): White supremacist organization that expanded beyond its
reconstruction era (anti-black) politics to now claim to protect American values and the
American way of life from Blacks, feminists, emigrants, Catholics, Jews, atheists,
bootleggers, etc. Two events in 1915 led to the rebirth: the lynching of Leo Frank and the film
The Birth of a Nation (valorized the reconstruction era klan as a protector of feminine virtue
and white racial purity). Colonel William Joseph Simmons organized the second Klan,
carried out acts of lynching and nightriding.