Unit 11
Imperialism and
Progressives
QUIZ
• 1. The Platt Amendment was added to which
country’s constitution?
• 2. The Open Door Notes were written to help
facilitate trade with which country?
• 3. WEB DuBois and a group of his supporters
founded this group to help promote the African
American civil rights (Acronym is ok…)
• 4. Which amendment outlawed alcohol sales?
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
3
506-511 Quiz
• 1. This person led a cavalry charge up San Juan Hill,
and later claimed it was the best day of his life.
• 2. This is the nickname of the cavalry unit in #1.
• 3. This present-day country sparked intense debate
in America over the moral consequences of
annexation.
• 4. This person was President throughout America’s
imperial expansion.
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
4
Politics of Equilibrium

The Party System
 Stability and Stalemate
 Little changed in the Rep. and Dem. Parties
 High Turnout
 78% of eligible voters turned out 1860-1900
 Who voted Democrat? Why?
 Republican? Why?
6
Politics of Equilibrium

Nat. Govt. Didn’t do much
 Collected taxes, foreign policy, mail, military, civil war pension

Presidents and Patronage
 Rutherford B. Hayes

Stalwarts and Half-Breeds
Election of 1880
 Garfield wins
 July 2, 1881 – Garfield assassinated
 Chester A. Arthur is president


Pendleton Act
 What did the Pendleton Act do?
7
The Politics of Equilibrium
– Cleveland, Harrison, and the Tariff
 1884
 Grover Cleveland Elected
 Tough on crime, corruption and
politics
 1888
 Harrison defeats Cleveland
 What was unique about this
election?
 1892
 Cleveland defeats Harrison….
Grover Cleveland
(Library of Congress)
8
New Public Issues
 Public opinion was forcing Harrison to act
 Sherman Antitrust Act
 Tried to limit corporations. Not very successful.
 McKinley Tariff
 Why were people angry about this?
 Interstate Commerce Act
 Made all RR rates “reasonable and just”
9
Populism

Farmers ally themselves against the Railroads
 Why?

July 1892 – People’s Party (Populism) created




Immediately gained seats in govt. but their potential was limited.
Populist Ideas
Ocala Demands
 Allow farmers to borrow money with low interest
 Abolition of National Banks
 Direct election of Senators
 Govt. ownership of RRs, telephones, and telegraphs
F
10
Crisis of the 1890s
– The Panic of 1893
 America’s Interconnected Economy
 Railroads, banks, loan dependent businesses….
 Within 8 months 8,000 businesses, 156 RRs,
and 400 banks failed.
 “Coxey’s Army”
 What is Coxey’s Army?
– The Silver Question
 “Bimetallism”
 “Crime of 73”
What was the crime of 73? How does this affect farmers?
11
“A Cross of Gold”

William McKinley elected as the Republican
candidate
 “A Cross of Gold”
Having behind us the commercial interests and the
laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we
shall answer their demands for a gold standard by
saying to them, you shall not press down upon the
brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not
crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.
 Bryan nominated for the Democrats
William McKinley
(Library of Congress)
 Why are the populists annoyed?
 “Fusion”
 What is Fusion? Why did the
Populists agree to it?
NBC Learn:
“Free Silver”
Conservative Victory

Birth of modern campaigning

Bryan traveled 18,000 miles and
addressed an estimated 5 million
people!

End of the People’s Party

They gambled on Bryan and lost…

Gold Standard Act

Confirmed the nation’s commitment to
the gold standard

More gold was discovered and the
amount of gold in the economy was
almost tripled, this alleviated concerns
for bimetallism.
Election of 1896
13
Stirrings of Imperialism

The “end of Manifest Destiny” caused
some to look abroad

Provided new markets

Americans felt it natural to exert
control over other weaker nations

Alfred Thayer Mahan
 Influence of Sea Power Upon
History
 Most powerful countries are strong
in the sea
14
Screen clipping taken: 3/2/2011, 11:01 AM
First Conquest…Hawaii
• 1790: Americans first arrive in Hawaii,
eventually become very connected to
Hawaiian trade
• 1891: Queen Lilioukalani of Hawaii proposes
removing rights of non-native Hawaiians…why?
• 1893: Americans lead a revolution and take control
• Why was it in Hawaii’s best interest to
become a state?
• American businessman Sanford Dole becomes
President
• 1898: Congress annexes Hawaii
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc. All Rights Reserved.
17
Identify the Causes of
Imperialism
Imperialism
Identify the Causes of
Imperialism
Competition/
Darwinism
Media
Industrialism
Navy
Imperialism
American
attitude
War with Spain

1895 – Cuban Revolt

More attention it paid to it now….why?

Dupuy de Lôme Letter
 Spanish minister in Washington has letter intercepted…
 What did his letter say?
YELLOW
JOURNALISM!
The Maine
 Blows up in Havana Harbor, killing 260
 Why was this so important?

“You furnish the pictures…and I’ll furnish the war”
William Randolph Hearst
20
War With Spain

“A Splendid Little War”

“Mopping up duties”
Only 460 Americans died in battle
Much of the Span. Forces had been
weakened by the Cuban revolts


Jose Marti
Cuban revolutionary in NY
Why is he important?

Supply and Mobilization Problems
 What were some of the issues?

Seizing the Philippines
 Dewey Victorious
 Spanish doesn’t put up a fight….
21
Spanish-American War
Explain the connection
De Lome
letter
Maine
Cuban
Revolt
SpanishAmerican
War
1898
Yellow
Journalism
War With Spain

The Battle for Cuba

The Rough Riders
Led by Teddy Roosevelt
Charge up Kettle Hill!
“the great day of my life”





Puerto Rico Occupied
Theodore Roosevelt
War is ended……
and the Rough Riders
(Library of Congress)
 Spain recognizes independence of Cuba
 U.S. gains Puerto Rico and Guam
 U.S. Continues occupation of Philippines
23
War With Spain

War with Spain
– Puerto Rico and the United States
 Foraker Act
 Ended military rule, established a civilian govt.
 P.R. becomes a territory in 1917
24
The Debate Over the Philippines
 The Philippines Question
 What to do with the Philippines?
 Reasons the U.S. took it over:
 1.Returning it to Spain would be cowardly and dishonorable
 2. Can’t let any other powers take it
 3. They can’t rule themselves
 Anti-Imperialist League
 What are some reasons why people were opposed to Imperialism?




Supporters of Annexation
Invigorate the nation
Business opportunity
We already possessed it!
Election of 1900:
McKinley defeats
Bryan again
25
The Republic As Empire

Governing the Colonies

America helped Cuba move towards independence, but
Cuba didn’t mention the U.S.A. in their constitution!

Platt Amendment…


Cuba couldn’t make treaties
Allowed for American intervention to preserve life, liberty,
independence
27
The Philippine War

Why would some Filipinos think
Americans were hypocrites?

Emilio Aguinaldo


The Philippines Brutally
Subjugated


Led rebellions against American
occupation
Murders, executions, concentration
camps
The Philippines eventually
gained their independence
in 1946
Gradual Shift to Self-Rule


Aguinaldo gave up
USA built schools, road,
hospitals, bridges etc…
28
The Open Door Policy

Hay’s Open Door Notes
 What did these notes say?




Boxer Rebellion
Group of Chinese martial artists,
rebelled against occupation
Why did America want to help
put down the rebellion?
A Modern Military System
 America Retooled their military
system
“Asking only the open door for
ourselves, we are ready to accord the
open door to others.” - McKinley
29
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
The American South Pacific Empire, 1900
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc. All Rights Reserved.
30
31
Chapter Twenty:
The Progressives
PROGRESSIVISM
 Progressives believed in progress but thought that
direct intervention was necessary
 Did NOT believe in Laissez faire or Social Darwinism
 Believed in social cohesion and antimonopoly
 Muckrakers and Social Gospel
 Tried to expose scandal, corruption and injustice
 By the new century, they focused mostly on “machine
governments” and “boss rule” in cities
 Social Gospel was using faith to make social reform
 Chiefly concerned with redeeming the nation’s cities.
34
35
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
 “Natural Rights” Women deserves the
same rights as men, that
includes the right to
vote!
 “The arbiter of her own
destiny…if we are to
consider her as a citizen,
as a member of a great
nation, she must have
the same rights as all
other members.”
 Challenged “female
sphere”
 National American
Woman Suffrage
Association (NAWSA) – 2
million members in 1917
 help the temperance movement
 End war??
 Nineteenth Amendment
 Passed in 1920, gave women
the right to vote
 Equal Rights Amendment
37
ELECTION
DAY
Election Day
Critics of the womansuffrage movement,
including this
cartoonist, believed that
women's place was in
the home, not in the
public sphere. (Library
of Congress)
ASSAULT ON THE PARTIES

Before
Progressives could
reform society,
they needed to
reform
government




Initiative
Referendum
Direct Primary
Recall
 Robert La Follette




Secret Ballot
Muckrakers
City-manager plan
Believed that the
state legislatures
were corrupted
 From Wisc.
 Regulated RRs,
utilities, regulate the
workplace, and provide
compensation for
injured laborers.
41
SOURCES OF PROGRESSIVE REFORM
Labor, the Machine and Reform
 California passed a child labor law and limited
working hours
 Some political machines began to use their
power for reform


1911- Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Killed 146 workers
 Began to research issues with work conditions
 NY passed labor laws that imposed strict
regulations on factory owners and
established mechanisms for enforcement

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
(Library of Congress)
42
AFRICAN AMERICANS AND REFORM

Booker T. Washington vs.
W.E.B. Du Bois

National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP)
“Is it possible and probable that nine millions
of men can make effective progress in economic lines
if they are deprived of political rights, made a
servile caste, and allowed only the most meager
chance for developing their exceptional men?”
W. E. B. Du Bois
44
THE TEMPERANCE CRUSADE
Violence, crime, drunkenness were on the
rise
 Women pushed for temperance
 Women’s Christian Temperance
Union (WCTU) had 245,000
members in 1911


1920 – 18th Amendment passed
production, distribution or sale of alcohol
is prohibited!
45
46
SOCIALISM

Eugene V. Debs

Received 1 million votes in 1912
Structural changes to the economy




Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) – “Wobblies”
Refused to support World War I
Constant harassment and persecution
48
THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND
THE MODERN PRESIDENCY

Took over when McKinley was assassinated

Champion of moderate change

Vision of Federal Power

1902 - forced the Sherman Antitrust Act against
the Northern Securities Company
 Filed more than 40 antitrust suits as
President!

1902 – United Mine Workers Strike
10% pay raise, nine-hour day

49
THE “SQUARE DEAL”

Changing Ideas of Power

Hepburn Act
 Gave Congress power to regulate RRs

Pure Food and Drug Act
 Could not sell dangerous or ineffective
medicine

Meat Inspection Act
 In response to reading Upton Sinclair’s The
Jungle
Advertising The Jungle
(Library of Congress)
50
ROOSEVELT AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Restricted development on millions of acres of
govt. land

First President to take an interest in
conservation

Added to the National Parks System
Panic and Retirement
Theodore Roosevelt and
 1907 – Panic and recession hurt his popularity John Muir in Yosemite
(Library of Congress)
 Retired after two terms…..temporarily

51
Establishment of National Parks and Forests
52
TAFT’S PRESIDENCY
 “Never felt like the President”
 Busted 90 trusts but never got the credit he
deserved
 Payne-Aldrich Tariff
 Signed into law by Taft
 Didn’t really lower tariffs like
Progressives wanted to
 Why were Progressives in favor of
lowering tariffs?
 Public Land problems – Taft ended up
selling many western lands to big business
angering conservationists
REPUBLICAN PARTY SPLITS
 Conservative Republicans and Progressive
Republicans split
 Speaker of House Joseph Cannon often
ignored Progressive bills
 He was supported by Taft
 Election of 1910 - the Democrats regain Congress in
1910 for first time in 16 years
 Roosevelt begins to campaign with “New
Nationalism”
BULL MOOSE PARTY
 Angry at Taft’s lack of success, Roosevelt ran for
President again
 Chaos at the Republican Convention
 Created the Progressive Party which came to be
known as the Bull Moose Party.
 People boasted Teddy was strong as a “bull
moose”
 Were in favor of Progressive reforms
 Initiative, referendum, women’s suffrage,
minimum wage etc.
 Democrats selected Woodrow Wilson to
represent them.
ELECTION OF 1912
 “New Nationalism” vs. “New Freedom
 Wilson was a progressive Democrat
 Taft and Roosevelt split the
Republican vote!
 HOW THEY WERE DIFFERENT:
 Taft – lenient on Big Business
 Roosevelt – govt. action to support
big business, but didn’t oppose all of
them
 Wilson – small business and free market competition, ALL big business
= EVIL. Not as socially progressive.
 Debs – end to capitalism
Election of 1912
56
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
57
WILSON’S PRESIDENCY

Lowering Tariffs



Federal Trade Act (business)



Underwood-Simmons Tariff
Income tax (16th Amendment) 1-6%
Could let businesses know if their actions
were allowable
Prosecute “unfair trade practices”
Federal Reserve Act (banks)


Kept reserves of money all over U.S.
Allowed for credit to be supported by U.S.
govt.
Child Labor Laws
Woodrow Wilson
(Library of Congress)
58