Reconstruction, Westward Expansion,
and Industrialization
8/24/11
Mending a Divided Nation: Reconstruction, 1865-1877
Goals of Reconstruction:
1. Reunify the nation
2. Figure out what to do with the freed slaves
I. Abraham Lincoln and Reconstruction
During the course of the war, Lincoln began developing a policy to readmit southern nations as easily and quickly as possible
Wanted former confederates to take an oath of allegiance
Once they take the oath (only needed 1/10), they could then form a new nation
Oath was: Abolish slavery, repudiate the idea of succession (Louisiana was the first to be readmitted)
Did not require the readmitted states to recognize the rights of freed slaves
Lincoln assassinated, Johnson made President (develops his own policy)
II. Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction
Southerner by birth, opposed succession, anti-aristocratic
His policy was surprisingly more lenient
Appointed provisional governors for those states who had not yet been readmitted
The only people who were active in reorganization were those who were allowed to vote
The rest of the states were readmitted by 1866
A. Thirteenth Amendment: Abolished slavery
Congress troubled by:
“black codes”
Prohibited African-Americans from: right of citizenship, vote, owning of property
Population of southern states increased because freed slaves were now being counted as actual people
The Essay on Epochal War State Nation States
Still riding the Trojan horse The Shield of Achilles: War, Law and the Course of History by Philip Bobbitt 960 pp, Allen Lane This is a book of extraordinary ambition. It could well have been called A General Theory of War, Peace and History. For that is what it proffers, at least for political history over the last half-millennium as perceived through European and American eyes. And it has a ...
Congress decides to not allow southern states into congress. Made their own version of Reconstruction (They try to beef up Freedman’s Bureau)
Freedman’s Bureau
An agency designed to help freed slaves from their transition into active members of society
Provided education, access to healthcare & jobs
Always underfunded
B. Fourteenth Amendment
Provides for the right to citizenship for African-Americans. Cannot deny citizenship due to race
Does not provide right to vote.
If it did not allow them to vote, then they were not counted in population (used to contain control of Republican voters: if Rep. allow them to vote, that will increase Rep. voters)
III. Radical Republican Reconstruction
A. Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Turned south into 5 military districts and assigned a leader to each district (Congress tried to treat them like a conquered territory)
B. Tenure in Office Act
Congress took steps to limit Johnson’s control.
Any government official who was appointed by the President but had to receive congressional approval, they must go through that process again in order to leave.
Johnson fires the Secretary of War. He violated the Tenure of Office Act. Congress moves to impeach him.
Need 2/3 majority to remove from office. Falls one vote short, Johnson serves out term
C. Election of 1868
Republicans nominate Ulysses S. Grant
Democrats nominate Horatio Seymore (NY governor)
Very close election, which shows balance of power is pretty unsteady. Republicans wish to increase power.
D. Fifteenth Amendment
The right to vote should not be limited because of race
African-Americans win suffrage
Because Republicans pass this and force southern states to allow African-Americans to vote, those freed slaves were going to vote Republican
*
By 1870, all southern states were readmitted
Increase of African-Americans holding jobs and participating in politics, known as “Black Reconstruction”
No southern state elected black governor
Black participation increased, but rights are still limited
The Essay on United State Reconstruction Thomas Blacks
Reconstruction was a failure due to the opinion on race. Racism played a big part in the 1896 Plessey vs. Furguson case. Reconstruction began in 1865 and ended in 1877. Two goals were to rebuild the south and to reform society. Reconstruction should not be thought of as a bad idea. It was virtually impossible to just change ways in the south with out using some kind of force. "Black codes" did ...
Over time, participation declines
By 1877, all southern states go back to democratic control
IV. Interpreting Reconstruction
Was Reconstruction a success or failure?
Success: reunited all the states, bringing Republican vision of business throughout the country
Failure: Republicans had hidden agenda to increase power, most southern blacks did not have rights to citizenship
Northern Industrialism v. Southern Planters
8/26/11
Reconstruction and the Freedman
I. Transformation of War Aims
The Emancipation Proclamation (1863): frees the slaves only in those states that were in the confederacy
Southern perspective
Maintaining southern way of life
States having more power than federal gvt
Northern perspective
Reuniting the country
First year and a half the south had more victories
Many said to change the tide of the war they needed to free the slaves (if the south lost labor force, they would weaken)
Fear that Great Britain would join the war on the South side
II. African-American in the War Effort
Granted right to black men to fight in the war
Some supported, but others were afraid that it would give them equality
10% of all Union forces were African-American
21 received Congressional Medal of Honor
III. Black Suffrage
Citizenship is fine, but if you don’t have a voice in the government, do you really have a role in the nation?
Those who wanted black suffrage in the North were always a minority opinion
The reason it passes is more for pragmatic reasons than compassion reasons (to secure Republican voters)
IV. Failure at Reconstruction (for African-Americans)
A. Lack of Support for Equal Rights
Most people are unconcerned with fighting for equal rights of African-Americans
Election of 1876 brings and end to Reconstruction
Samuel B. Tilden (D)
Receives more popular votes
Falls short of electoral vote
Rutherford B. Hayes (R)
3 states have turned in two sets of returns (FL, NC, LA)
Compromise of 1877
The two sides come together to work this dispute out. In return for Presidency, Hayes promises to withdraw all federal troops from the South. Without the troops in the south, the African-Americans are unprotected.
The Essay on Struggle For Blacks Rights After Civil War
... the south did not however work out smoothly for the freed slaves. There were many road blocks along the way such as the "Black ... white people. Infact he incouraged southern states to inact laws limiting the blacks freedom.These laws were called "black codes". They ranged in ... After the Civil War and the emancipation proclamation by lincoln the slaves of america were free. This was a huge step in making ...
B. Condition of Freedman
The freed slaves are not in a situation to protest or fight for their privileges themselves.
Most freed slaves are illiterate, more concerned with making a living
Freedman’s Bureau underfunded and falls out
Only jobs available are from their former masters
Offered low wages, knowing that they had no other choice
*
C. Lack of Republican Support
Supposed to be looking out for freed slaves, they want them to vote Republican
They know the former slaves aren’t going to vote Democrat because their former masters are Democrat
Realize they have these votes in their pocket, so they don’t do anything else for the freed slaves
*
D. White Southern Resistance
Anything from ignoring the problem of the black community to outright violence
Ku Klux Klan
Threatening: “If I see you voting, you’re fired”
Burning crosses in their yards
The amount of violence declines over time
Not because they have given up, but because segregation has emerged
V. Segregation
The desire for segregation was both on black and white community
Black: do not want to hangout with former owners
White: feel superior to blacks
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Separate by equal facilities are constitutional
Hard to determine what constitutes as equal (in quality)
VI. Conclusion
When we talk about history, its difficult to say if it was good or bad. Some people benefit, other people are harmed. Not everyone can prosper from any event, there will always be winner and losers. Race, class, genders have a lot to do with it but are not solely the reason.
8/29/11
The New South, 1865-1890
I. Sharecroppers, Tenants, Renters, and Landlords
The old south was based on slavery and agriculture (one industry)
Economy very dependent on cotton- needs to diversify from just cotton
Plantation owners have land, and need workers to cultivate land; freed slaves have labor experience and need jobs
Different economic relationships develop (farm tenancy)
The Essay on Indians West Cattle Railroad
a. Why were the Indians treated so unjustly (12) The American settlers greed was the basis for the injustice forced upon the Indians. At first the Americans simply wanted the land that could be used to grow or create products. Then the Indians were viewed as hostile enemies. This was unfair because the Americans were too greedy to give the Indians the supplies they were promised; therefore, the ...
Land owner: Hires the workers, decides the crop to be planted
Sharecropper: landowner gives you work x how many acres on the land. Landowner gets a share of the crop yield. Sharecropper does not decide which crop to plant.
Tenant farmer: has even less control, a hired worker on the farm
Renters: rented a piece of property from a landowner. Get to decide what crop and when to plant (see the fewest of these because it gave the farmers a lot of control)
Land owners often took advantage of the poor renters and farmers and charged them for farm supplies and made them pay off debts by taking a share of their crop.
Farmers left with very little to live off of, or still in debt. If the owners kept them in debt, they kept their workers. Recreating slaves by leading them to debt
II. The New South Creed
Developed by Henry Grady
The problem with the south is that is cannot compete with the north economically
Too based in agriculture
People in charge are too concerned with political power and social status rather than economics
1) Need to change priorities
See the benefit of doing work themselves
2) Need to diversify
3) Need to move away from dependence of agriculture
4) Need to develop more cities
5) Need to cooperate with other parts of the country
6) Need to have harmonious race relations
white people have to control the south, black must be second-class citizens
*
* New South Creed put to work in 3 ways
*
III. Railroads in the South (1)
Need access for economic advance
1865-1880: Railroad miles doubles
1880-1900: it triples
Much of the railroads built end up going out of business
In the south, there is only one major city (New Orleans) so there are railroads through small cities; not enough to sustain business
IV. Industry in the New South (2)
The kind of industry that was extracted; getting natural resources out of the earth
A. Forest Products: low paying jobs (raw materials)
Lumber: Southern Yellow Pine becomes and important building wood
The Term Paper on The Land Robbery of the Native Land in Sarawak by the Barisan Nasional Government
The Land Robbery of the Native Land In Sarawak By The Barisan Nasional Government BN's Government Sarawak Strikes back at NCR land owners. This is the price that the dayak has to pay for Voting for BN in the previous State Election. The Top Iban traitor: He leads the rest of the Dayak YBs in Robbing Iban of their NCR Lands! Land Development Minister James Masing says he will table an amendment ...
Tar/Resin/Turpentine: end up with raw materials, not final products
B. Mining: coal/iron
More stable than forest industry; harvested solely for raw material
Temporary and dangerous
C. Processing of Farm Products: cotton, sugar, corn
Dealing with making a final product
The price fluctuates more and are less profitable
V. Urbanization in the New South (3)
Because industry fails and railroads are poor, you don’t see formation of cities in the south
1900 Census, percentage of people living in Urban Cities:
68%: North east
38%: Mid west
40%: West
less than 20%: South
The south could not collect on taxes and could not provide proper education and other public services
VI. A New South?
The South is behind, but is on the same trajectory as the rest of the country.
8/31/11
The Closing of the West, 1865-1890, Part I
I. State and Territories
At the start of the Civil War, most of the west was unclaimed territory. Kansas, Oregon, Texas and California were the only states
Not enough people there to form their own government
As people move out to these areas, they form their gvt and apply for entrance into the Union
Unique element: Native American population
One area (in present day Oklahoma) was reserved specifically for Native Americans. Was not going to be a recognized state, but also not an independent country.
Oklahoma later becomes a state, and Native Americans are pushed away once more
*
II. The Transcontinental Railroad
Need transportation in order for the west to develop
Wanted a railroad that connected the eastern cities to San Francisco for 4 major reasons
The US wants to be able to tap trade with China to gain raw materials
Gold rush, silver rush, other metal rushes
To access the cattle market
To get people to move out west to start farms
The government is in no position to build a RR, so they entice private companies to build them, by incentives
Pacific Railroad Bill (1862, 1864)
The Term Paper on The Mistreatment Of Native Americans
The Mistreatment of Native Americans United States of America claims to be one of the most democratic countries in the world. Every high school student knows that democracy means government of people, a society where every groups interests are represented and where the supreme power belongs to citizens of this particular country. On the surface, Americas system seems to be working well everybody ...
Authorizes Union Pac. and Central Pac. to build from Iowa to California.
In exchange for building railroad, they receive free of charge the land to build the railroad on, plots of land on either side of the tracks (10 sq mile per mile of track)
Those plots of land become very valuable because it is next to the railroad
They also get loans so the companies don’t have to use their own money up front
Union Pacific (Credit Mobilier) and Central Pacific (Credit and Finance Corp.
For two years, they held out saying its too risky.
1864- a new bill was created that double the land they receive
Because this was such a daunting task, they recruit Irish workers
A stipulation was that they had to sell their shares
The companies create sub companies that will actually doing the building for them (Credit Moblier and Credit & Finance Corp)
These companies can overcharge the company that owns them and don’t have to sell their share to the public
10% of public domain is owned by the US
Leland Stanford
Suggested recruiting Chinese workers
When laughed at, he explained these are the people who built the Great Wall of China
They could pay them less
They could exploit them in ways that white workers would not allow (forcing them to work in harsh conditions)
III. Cowboys and the Cattle Kingdom
A. Boom, 1865-1885
Cattle industry become popular because the land owned by the government wasn’t really controlled and the cattle ate on the land for free
The expense was taking them to market. The longer they have to drive, the less they will be worth
Chisholm Trail
James Brisban, Beef Bonanza, or How to Get Rich on the Plains (1881)
This book, basically explains how people can make a lot of money by investing in the cattle industry in the West
As a result, people started investing a lot in cattle; but the boom goes bust very fast
B. Decline, 1885-1890
(1885-1887) Severe drought, cattle suffer. In these three years, 90% of the cattle die
Small farms suffer, and big businesses still survive
Wyoming Stockgrowers Association
Maintained it control by becoming politically powerful
“Any unbranded cattle was assumed property of the WSA”
Ella “Cattle Kate” Watson
One of the main targets of the WSA
Started as a prostitute, and traded her services for cattle. Acquired a huge number of cattle
WSA smeared her so much, a vigilante mob captured her and hung her
Sheep herders also challenged the cattle industry, because sheep eat the grass much lower.
WSA get fed up with sheep herding, so they massacre a bunch of sheep.
* 9/2/11
* The Closing of the West, 1865-1890, Part 2
*
* I. Homesteaders
Took land out of use completely for grazing to cultivate it, more difficult for cattle ranchers to move their cattle across the plains
A. The Homestead Act (1862)
Passed same year as pacific railroad bill,
It provides US citizens with free land in the west, they have to be 21 and the head of a household, could never had given aid or comfort to enemies of the US, you had to live on the land for five years then the land became yours.
Could get up to 160 acres
Many ppl go out to the homesteads but cant make it a success so after 5 years they end up selling their farms
B. Bonanza Farms
Buys up all of the land homesteaders sell or leave
Huge farms
Not family run farms but rural factories
Owners live in the east and have no dealings on the farms, they hire managers who hire workers
II. From Frontier to Factory
Frederick Jackson Turner, “ The Significance of Frontier in America” (1893)
A. Arguing that American society and culture has up to 1890 been shaped by the experience of the frontier, Americans v. Europeans. emphasis on individualism, self sufficiency
If frontier is gone what is going to happen to the future of America
The loser in this is the Native Americans, we see the last stage of independent Native American society and culture
Whites thought they deserved the land and Natives did not, they believed they used the land much better than natives did
III. Death of a Culture
A. Colonel John M. Chivington
colonel in Colorado militia, anti-indian
leader of series of attacks against indians
B. Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
Chivingtons series of attacks, he attacked the village when men when out to hunt
C. Standing Bear (Poncas, 1868)
decided can’t fight settlers so they join them, live like the white settlers around them, problem
gov didn’t make allocations if they convert, so standing bear sues the government, court rules that he is right, gov says case only applies to standing bear but not the rest of his tribe, the rest have to go to his reservation
D. Little Big Horn (Custer v. Soux, 1874)
small victory but leads to retaliation
E. Chief Joesph (Nex Pierce, 1877)
had agreed to move to reservation but white settlers decide they want that land, Joseph said that’s enough, its our land, his solution is to get out of the way
takes his tribe to Canada, US army sees this as an aggressive event so they chase them to within 20 miles of the border and surround them
they don’t attack but try to starve them out, his tribe surrenders
F. Helen Hunt Jackson, A century of Dishonor (1881)
Criticized how the gov deals with the natives
Her book is a history of all the wrongs done by the government against the Natives
Some people still see Natives as a threat especially in the southwest
G. Geronimo (Apaches, 1886)
Biggest threat, able to capture him, gov seized the threat that Natives posed to Americans
H. Dawes Act (1887)
Since no longer a threat
Homestead act for Natives, breaks up the reservations and divides it out to each family
If they take the land they get to become american citzens
So much support because it reduced amount of land they owned
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* 9/7/11
* The Rise of Big Business, 1865-1890
*
* I. Business Before the Civil War
Small cities, self-sufficient (items created and sold locally)
Cities started expanding and relying on each other
Learned to do this due to the Civil War (demand for guns, uniforms and food)
Corporations allowed businesses to grow so quickly
* II. The Corporation
A. Laissez faire economics
A philosophy that the federal government should not interfere with business
The government should do things that will benefit business
Subsidize transcontinental railroad, subsidize harbors and ports, maintain tariffs
Very little taxation and little interference
Taxes
1870, Inheritance Tax (money you did not yourself earn) expires and is not renewed
Federal Income Tax expires and ruled unconstitutional
Main source of revenue for federal government: trade goods
Main source of income for business: property taxes
B. John D. Rockefeller
President of standard oil
wealthiest man $815 million
C. Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth (1889)
Owner of Carnegie Steel
$8 million a year
Said what they don’t want to do with their wealth is to give directly to the poor
If you give them handouts, they won’t work for themselves
With the wealth comes the responsibility to give resources for them to help themselves
Libraries, schools, foundations
Formation of Universities
Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Duke
D. Herbert Spencer
Based off of Darwin’s survival of the fittest (nature)
Adapted to humans
Those who are best fit to survive (wealthy) are better than poor people, and should not use their money to help the impoverished, because you are just helping those who should not be alive
III. Anti-Corporate Sentiment
People were put off by the immensity of the corporations and feared their power. Some corporations had budgets greater than some European countries.
In 1886, the supreme court ruled that the 14th amendment (no state can deny rights of life, liberty, and property based on race) applicable to corporations
Corporations are not human, have no conscience, and will do whatever it takes to become more profitable
Child labor, exploiting workers, hiring immigrants to pay them less
Regulations on corporations:
A. Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Covers only those business in which the federal government has control over (crosses state lines)
Railroads
Gives them the ability to start regulating prices, schedules, etc.
B. Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
Large monopolistic companies (trusts) were to be broken up if needed
Try to impose limits just like humans have limits imposed on themselves
9/9/11
Urbanization, 1865-1920
I. Growth
Was not until 1920 that the majority of Americans live in cities
1880-1910
Population of New York growth nearly doubles in size
Northeast is most urbanized
People on farms have less and less things available to them
As cities grow, each neighborhood tends to take on a certain function
Financial district (Wall Street), retail businesses (Broadway), Upper-class residential area (Fifth Avenue)
II. Technology and the City
A. Transportation
People need to get around these cities because of different specialized areas
Manhattan can only get a big as its boundaries
Development of bridges (Brooklyn Bridge)
Building upwards
Development of the elevator
Developed a railroad on elevated tracks
Steam engine, slow, cannot go uphill very well
New solution came from San Francisco (it could not support steam engines on hilly environment)
Developed a trolley car powered by an underground cable
Cable lines expensive, cheaper solution is electrical trolley cars powered by an overhead cable (ex: New Orleans streetcar)
Turn of the century, Boston created the first subway
B. Communications
1876: telephone invented
spreads very quickly across the US
By 1890s, cities were connecting to each other as far as Omaha, Nebraska (anything further was by telegraph)
C. Other Inventions
Electric Light bulb
Allows people to have illumination that is much better and safer than a candle
Allows businesses to extend hours of operation
Helps people engage in leisure activities
III. Problems of the City
City does not take responsibility for people’s waste
People throw out their shit through the window and into rivers
Diseases spread
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Horrific living/work environment
Paulie Newman recounts how she worked there when she was a child
Hid the children in crates when the inspector came because it was illegal to use child labor
Watched when you went to the bathroom, if you were 2 minutes late, it was deducted from your pay
No insulation in winter, no ventilation in summer
Her home (tenements) was just as awful; no windows, tiny, no insulation or ventilation, no running water
In 1911, there was a huge fire
Killed hundreds of people
Drew attention to a lot of the problems that no one was paying attention to
People jumped out of the windows of the 11th story
9/12/11
Migration and Immigration, Part I
I. African-Americans and “The Great Northern Divide”
A. Why they left: (push/pull factors)
“Jim Crow” Laws (push)
reformulated black codes (separate but equal)
economic opportunities (pull)
In the south there were fewer economic opportunities
As the black population grows, the whites get nervous that there may not be enough jobs for themselves
Blacks find better paying jobs
In the south, average was $0.75 a day
In the north, average was $2.50 a day
1918 in Pittsburgh, 5% of African-Americans earned less than $2 a day
at the same time in the south, 56% of AA earned less than $2 a day
better treatment (pull)
In the north, blacks didn’t have to say “sir” or “mamm” to every white persons they passed on the streets
While there is prejudice, it isn’t constant
Robert Abbott, Chicago Defender
Constantly filled the Defender about how well the black community was doing in Chicago
Would place his newspapers on trains headed south so that the southern blacks would read them and want to relocate north
Coined the term “Great Northern Drive”
B. Segregation
Housing
While families who don’t want black families moving in form organizations who make up rules such as “each new family must be voted in” or realtors only show houses to while people
Consequence: black neighborhoods
Housing is not as well maintained, rent is higher, further away from where they work
II. Immigration, Eastern
A. Who came
People from Italy, Greece, Russia, Poland, Baltic countries, Eastern Europe
1880-1910: over 3 million Italians; 1877: Jewish population was 250,000, 1927: over 4 million; 25% of all immigrants from this period were from Slavic countries;
Coming because
they have little economic opportunities where they come from
Religious prosecution
B. Where did they go
German/Scandinavians go inland to farm
80% end up in the cities of the Midwest and northeast
by 1910, 75% of the population of the northeast were immigrants or their children
end up taking over the lowest paying jobs
C. What did they do
Germans take over coal mining
Greek/Mediterranean take over New England textile mills
Used to be run by Irish immigrants, who are promoted
75% of all construction workers in New York City were Italian
opportunities to cater to your own heritage
able to grow their businesses and branch out
9/14/11
Immigration, Part II
III. Immigration, Western:
A. The Chinese
Came as a result of the discovery of gold in California
Also came (10,000) to work on the transcontinental railroad
Harsh conditions and unfair treatment
Average worker hired at $35, Chinese hired at $26 a month
Out of that $26, the Chinese workers had to buy their own place to live and meals
Given the most dangerous jobs
Forced to work much later into winter, 1,200 die building the railroad (avalanches, etc.).
Used in blasting operations
Not allowed to attend opening ceremony or ride the railroad. They are stranded in Utah
End up fighting for jobs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities
Animosity between white workers and Chinese workers
If white workers went on strike, they were replaced by Chinese
Whites claimed that Chinese could never become American and never assimilate
1876, California sends a committee to determine the standing on the “Chinese Problem”
the Chinese are inferior to any race god ever made, and if they have a soul to save, they are not worth saving
Dennis Kearney, Workingman’s Party
The Chinese men must leave their shores, and if they have to live life like the Chinese, they’d rather kill themselves
Chinese Exclusion Acts (1882, 1892, 1902)
1882, the first time in American history that a single ethnic group is excluded from immigration. Does allow for diplomats, students, etc. NOT for workers or families.
Able to do this because during this time, China is a weak nation
1892, expires but is renewed by Congress
1902, rather than extending for another 10 years, they make it permanent. Revoked in the 1940s, only because of the WWII, they become allies with China
B. The Japanese
The Japanese government is the dominant one in Asia, controls who immigrates to the US, only allow people who have the economic needs
Did not matter to the West
Out of the 100,000 Japanese immigrants, 70,000 live in California
That’s where you see most of the animosity
Japanese joined agriculture, and were very successful
Cultivated 1% of all cultivated land in California
10% of the dollar value of crops were cultivated by Japanese
able to do this because they are used to productivity of smaller land space in Japan
Animosity/conspiracy theories
Fear that Japanese are too powerful
Fear that Japan is sending over Japanese and marry white women in order to “beef up” Japanese men
Spies from Japan
Asiatic Exclusion League
Gentlemen’s Agreements (1907-1908)
Japan will stop allowing workers to immigrate to the United States, in return the US promises to protect those in the US
Sold as basically the Chinese Exclusion to the people
But really it has the opposite dissipating effect of the Chinese Exclusion Act
Allows any Japanese immigrants to bring over their parents, spouse, children, etc.
People feel betrayed by the federal government
States begin to control who can own properties
Can’t directly say “You can’t own land because you are Asian”
Alien Land Act (California, 1913)
You cannot own land in California if you are ineligible for citizenship
Those who are not white or of African descent
What the law did not take into account, once Asians have children in the US, those children become American citizens.
IV. Conclusion
All of this leads to an overhaul of immigration policy. In 1880-1920, immigration becomes more and more of a central issue, because people want to define what or who an American is.
* Imperialism, Progressivism, and World War I
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* 9/16/11
* The American Empire, Part I: 1865-1917
*
* I. The American Continent
Majority of Americans believe we should keep the continental US as the only states, but not everyone agreed with this
William Seward, “Seward’s Folly”
1867, makes and agreement with Russia to buy the territory which is now Alaska. Russia agrees and offers it to the US for $7.2 million
Most Americans believed this purchase was a complete mistake (dubbed it Seward’s Folly).
Seward gets last laugh because he discovers gold and oil there
*
* We see the idea of expansion in two major places: Asia and the Caribbean
II. Asia and the Pacific:
A. China
America wants to secure its trade with China; China gives America the “Most favored nation” status: meaning the US’s trade tariffs and rates are lowest
Great Britain, France, Germany, etc all have Asian colonies, and the US realizes it won’t be dealing with China, it will be dealing with Brits, French, Germans, etc. because they don’t have favorable trade agreements with them
Open Door Policy (made in order to keep their status with China)
1899, basically says that no nation should have the ability of interfering with trade agreements in China. Addressing not China itself, but the countries that have colonies in China
Chinese officials should have the ability to collect duties and tariffs, in order to maintain that it is China who determines prices
No nation discriminate against nationals from anywhere else. So an American is treated as fair as a British or German man
Nobody agrees or responds to them
Secretary of State (John Hay) makes a statement saying everyone has agreed to it
People who were really upset about this false claim were the Chinese. It is about them but not once are they mentioned; they get fed up that their wealth and resources are going to other nations, so they begin to rebel
Boxer Rebellion
The Chinese rise up and start attacking foreigners in general, burning down foreign businesses, etc.
Upsets the foreigners and they call in their militaries (American, French, German, Russian militaries all coming in to quell the rebellion)
America is the only country that does not have a physical presence in China, but after the Rebellion, the other countries decide to honor the status quo and the Open Door Policy basically come true
B. Japan
Japan is treated with the status of Great Britain/Germany/etc because they are very economically independent
One of the main differences is that the time when China is being colonized by other countries, Japan is isolating
Trade with Japan must be on an equal level and diplomatic
Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907-1908)
The agreement that Japan would stop allowing workers to come to US and in return the US would protect the Japanese in the US; actually leads to an increase in immigration with people bringing over their families
Fear that Japanese are our greatest threat and obstacle
Root-Takahira Agreement (1908)
Both countries are committed to maintaining the status quo in Asia
C. Pacific Islands
It is important for the US to create stopping points/refueling stations in between China and the US; they begin to look for islands in the Pacific not only for that, but bases for the US Navy so they can respond to problems in China fairly quickly
Midway Island
Purchases in 1867 as a convenient midway point between United States and Asia
There is no good place to put a harbor (too shallow)
They try to figure out other options
Samoa Island
Try to set up a naval base there, make an agreement with Samoa
They basically take over and it becomes a US possession in 1889
D. Hawaii
Find that the best place is Hawaii, because of good, deep water for harbors, and they already have an existing relationship with them
1860s, American citizens living in Hawaii and starting sugar cane plantations
Wealthy cash crop; it was the only source of sugar at the time and can only be grown in Hawaii and Louisiana
Louisiana growers did not like that and were able to keep the tariffs high on imported sugar cane, until the Treaty of Reciprocity
Treaty of Reciprocity (1875, 1887)
The US will allow Hawaiian sugar into the US duty free
Benefits the US because they can import and export without duties
Does not benefit Hawaiians, because they lose revenue from US trade
The King of Hawaiian is forced to create a new constitution that says whoever owns land can vote in elections; the most people who own land are American businessmen
Hawaii is basically taken over by US
Pearl Harbor is created
By 1890, 99% of the Hawaiian economy is sugar trade with the US
The US decides it is going to allow sugar to be imported from anywhere duty free
Also, American sugar producers get a payment from the government of 2 cents per pound; this does not include Hawaiian producers
Hawaiian economy tanks
Queen Liliuokalani
Much more formidable person than her brother
Disregards the new constitution that was forced upon them
American businessmen decide they are going to form their own government; therefore there are two governments
America has to decide which one they are going to honor
They decide it is the American businessmen’s government
Use Pearl Harbor to remove Queen Lil from power
1891, most Americans did not want US to annex Hawaii; Grover Cleveland vetoes and does not annex
every year after this, businessmen fight to annex Hawaii
Does not happen until 1898
Reason it happens because the public mood changes due to the Spanish-American War
9/19/11
The American Empire, Part II: 1865-1917
III. Latin America:
A. Spanish-American War
America wants to create strong financial and trade ties with Latin America
Still have European colonies in Latin America
Cuba: Spanish colony
1868: native Cubans rebel against Spain
Rebellion goes on for about 10 years/Americans don’t really care
Spanish agree to reform the country
Cubans wanted: slavery abolished and self-rule
Slavery isn’t abolished to 1880s and never really create a self-government for the Cubans (but it stops the fighting)
American investment in Cuba increases (sugar plantations)
1893: financial panic in the US and perfection of a process where sugar can be made from places other than sugar cane
a lot of competition for sugar cane growers; wipes out Cuban sugar industries
General Valeriano Weyler
Spain sends over the general as a dictator
Forms work camps
Over 200,000 Cubans killed from starvation/exhaustion
Joseph Pulitzer (New York World)
Urges people to help the Cubans (competing with the Journal)
William R. Hearst (New York Journal)
Competing against World; tries to outsell other newspaper by making their stories about Cuba sensational, makes it seem much, much worse than it was
The Maine
February 1898: explosion damages the Maine ship
Newspapers claim it to be an attack by the Spanish
US starts dealing with Spain
If Spain and Cuba stop fighting, we’ll find a solution; but the only solution is freedom for Cuba
Spain does not want to make a deal because it will make them look weak; Cuba will not ask for help
US decides to side with the Cubans
Protestants encourage US to get involved to hopefully convert the Catholic population of Cuba to Protestant
Spain surrenders because they realize they are out-manned
Solution: US favors Cuban independence; US should gain territory in the Philippines
Press notices that Americans have become much more pro-expansionists
B. American Imperialism
Aguinaldo (Filipino Nationalist)
Filipinos don’t like it; they just got rid of one colonial power and now they have to put up with another
Start a guerilla war against Americans
Made Americans want to get on board with the Treaty
One group believe US should not own colonies
Another group believes US should not take control of “brown, catholic men”
These two groups are enough to keep the treaty from getting ratified; until the guerilla war begins
Platt Amendment
US gains control of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico
Filipinos rebel for 3 years until they are subdued
Philippines becomes US territory until 1946
Cuba gains independence (sort of) with the proviso that the US has rights that other countries don’t
US has to include (Platt Amendment) in their Constitution:
US may intervene in Cuba for protection of property and Liberty
Cuba cannot withhold any land that US deems necessary for their protection
Shows that the US is in a position of power
Find a way to unify the defense of both coasts
Two separate navies (Pacific and Atlantic)
C. Panama Canal
Made to connect the Atlantic and Pacific
One of the first problems:
Must figure out where it will go (buy or lease area)
Two different areas: State of Panama (controlled under Colombia) or across Nicaragua
Colombians give US a favorable agreement
Colombia has a revolution and a new government is formed. New government cancels the deal
US get the people in Panama agitated against Colombia; says they will back them up if they want to rebel
Panama wins independence, and gives US a favorable price ($250,000 a year)
Result: US issues a protectorate in Panama
D. Roosevelt Corollary
Change in policy
Addition to the Monroe Doctrine
Warning European countries that if they see anything in the Americas that are a threat to the US or to the sovereignty to the Americas, that the US will step in and defend those American countries
9/21/11
Politics and Populism: The Gilded Age, 1876-1900
I. “The Politics of Dead Center”
A. The Parties
Very little distinction between two parties
Very different in terms of who they represent or who represents them
Republicans: 4 different groups. Main source of support is from businessmen (from the north mainly), Midwestern and western farmers. Also from Union veterans and African-Americans
Democrats: white southerners, new immigrants and workers (because their bosses are republican)
Every election is very close
Third Parties
Prohibition Party
Labor Party
(Single issue) Party
B. The Power of Congress
Has more power than the presidency
Does not set the agenda for Congress
The President was not seen as the one who would fix all the problems
Not a lot gets done because not one party is dominant in Congress
C. The Political Machines:
Lobby on behalf of the Republican or Democratic Party (politics on the local level)
Tammany Hall, Boss Tweed
Tammany Hall: the building where their offices were (democratic party)
Boss Tweed: Most powerful man in New York City; supported elected officials in NY and got his supporters to vote for them; basically owned the candidates
Gets the candidates to hire certain contractors to bid on contracts for city work and overcharge the city for their work and then what they overcharge end up going to Boss Tweed
Courthouse: Costs $3 million, built it for $11 million. $8 million goes to Boss Tweed
Finally brought down by a series of articles in the New York Times
Thomas Nast
A cartoonist who depicted Boss Tweed as a greedy, corrupt person
Eventually led to Boss Tweed’s demise
D. Reformers
Henry George, Progress and Poverty (1879)
Decided best way to reform was to reform taxes
Suggests a single tax only on property
Idea being those who have a bunch of land will be taxed a lot higher and those who do not own land won’t be taxed at all; hoping those will copious amounts of land will sell it
Very popular but not an idea that will get serious recognition by Congress
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward (1888)
Science-fiction where a man falls asleep in 1888 and wakes up in the year 2000
Thinks 2000 will be run by clockwork, no poverty and everyone is happy (utopia basically); thinks its because there is no private ownership, everything is owned by the state (socialism; calls it nationalism in the book)
Again, not a serious contender for Congress
Illustrates that there are enough supporters for such ideas and shows that people are not happy with the way things are being ran
E. Reforms:
Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)
Those people who work in the government should not be political appointees. Clerks/accountants/secretaries would not get replaced just because a new party came along. Civil Service Exam that people have to take for their jobs
Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Gives the federal government the ability to regulate railroads
McKinley Tariff (1890)
If the government places high tariffs on imported goods, it means companies in other countries, they have to sell their item in the US for a higher price (because they have to pay for shipping)
Gives American producers an advantage
There are a lot of people who don’t like high tariff
Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
Used to break up high monopolistic companies
II. Agrarian Revolt
Farmers are feeling more and more neglected and their job involves hard labor
A. Farmer’s Problems:
High Cost of Transportation
Have to use the railroads in order to get their goods to market
Railroads knowing farmers were dependant on them, charged them exactly how much they would make on their goods
Basically why it leads to the Interstate Commerce Act
Heavy Taxes and Tariffs
Taxes on products and land. Since farmers own a lot of land, they are taxed more
Railroads and industrial companies got tax breaks
In order to make up for that lost money, they charge other land owners higher taxes
Farm goods are not protected by tariffs (except for sugar cane, but even that goes away).
Competition from foreign farmers is always present
Falling Farm Prices
Steady decline of farm prices
1881, a bushel of wheat sold for $1.20, in 1895 that same bushel was only getting them 50 cents
Only way they can increase prices is to plant more; but the problem was the more you grow, the more you overproduce and the lower the prices fall
High Cost of Credit
The amount of interest farmers paid was much more than a businessman getting a business loan or a homeowner getting a home loan
Interest rate for farmers was 15% (Today a home loan is about 4%)
B. Farmer’s Organizations:
Set up to help each other out
Southern Alliance
Largest. Southern farmers, over a million members
National Farmer’s Alliance
Primarily northern and western farmers. Just under a million
Colored Farmer’s Alliance
Black farmers. Around a million members
C. The People’s Party (Populist Party)
Wanted greater participation; direct election of senators; nationalization of banks, railroads and electric companies; ability for the US to issue currency based on silver standard as well as gold standard
Silver Purchase Act (1890)
Allows the US to issue currency based on silver reserves as well as gold reserves, in order to increase the amount of money that circulates in the economy
People’s Party candidate in the 1892 election gets over a million votes
1893, country goes into a financial panic
Grover Cleveland repeals Silver Purchase Act in order to decrease amount of money circulating and increase the value of a dollar
What is does is set up the election of 1896 as one in which the Silver issue becomes the central issue
D. Election of 1896
Republicans: William McKinley
Says US should remain on Gold Standard
Democrats: William Jennings Bryan
Identified as a rural supporter, denounces Gold standard (Cross of Gold)
People’s Party: Should they nominate a candidate of their own who will say the same things as Bryan, or join forces with the democrats and lose their existence as a party?
They nominate Bryan, and he goes on the ballot as a Democrat
E. McKinley Prosperity
Dingley Tariff (1897)
Raises the tariff even higher, hurting small businesses but helps keep American business alive
Increases support for People’s Party
Gold is discovered in Alaska and other places on Earth
More money is printed
III. The End of Agrarian America
McKinley regulates railroads which satisfies the People’s Party
McKinley wins the next election
9/23/11
Reform and Progressivism, Part 1
I. The Problems of Industrial Society:
Muckrakers
Focus on the problems they see around them (poverty, bad housing) and start publishing this is newspapers and journals in order to try to get people to care about these issues
Took pictures of people in tenements
Can be written by journalists or even fiction writers
II. The Progressive Spirit:
Herbert Croly, The Promise of American Life (1909)
The US has enough resources and wealth for everyone in this society to live a prosperous and satisfying life (not rich, but out of filthy conditions)
Need to get people out of slums and feed them better, provide opportunities, and make it more possible for them to participate in the political process
Frederick W. Taylor, The Principles of Scientific Management (1911)
Ironically the same ideas that helped big businesses grow; progressives think they will help manage society and the country as a whole
In a factory, how you should arrange your workers so they don’t waste energy looking for tools, etc.
Progressives: Workers in order to be productive, need certain wages to be successful
III. Political Reform:
Came from the Galveston 1900 Hurricane
Managers reformed their city in such an efficient way, so Galveston people voted for them to run their city
City government become less about politics and more about proper management
Direct Primary, Initiative, Referendum (getting more people involved in the political process)
The two parties would nominate their candidates in one General Election
The creation of Primary Election
Initiative: (state-wide) allows citizens to propose laws and get a certain amount of signatures in order to get it on the ballot
Referendum: laws that are passed by state legislators have to be approved by the public
16th and 17th Amendments (1913)
16th: makes constitutional a federal income tax
17th: Direct election of senators
IV. Social Reform:
Labor Legislation
Insuring that people are safe in their workplaces, limiting hours that people can work, outlawing child labor (a lot of these laws were lobbied by women)
Railroads
Regulating railroad rates, making railroads stick to published schedules, treating farmers equally
Consumer Protection
1904 Pure Food and Drug Act
monitor the kind of food that’s sold (inspecting meat, prescription drugs, etc.)
Protecting people from paying too much for a certain good
V. Roosevelt and Taft:
Teddy Roosevelt becomes president 1901
Passes a bunch of these legislations (breaking up big monopolistic companies, and protecting consumers)
1904, he announces he won’t run for another term in 1908; announces he wants William Howard Taft as his successor
Taft doesn’t do the same thing Roosevelt did
Isn’t active in breaking up monopolies or overseeing legislations
Roosevelt tries to push Taft in a more Progressive direction
National Progressive Republican League
Formed by Roosevelt, Progressives within the Republican Party
Hope to gain enough support to get a progressive elected instead of Taft; doesn’t work, Taft gets a nomination to be reelected
Progressive “Bull Moose” Party
Progressives form their own party
Nominate Teddy Roosevelt
Great news to the Democrats because they see the Republican party is split
The election was going to come down between Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt
Wilson wins and democrats take control of house and senate (democrats for more reform, progressives for a little reform)
9/26/11
Reform and Progressivism, Part 2
I. Wilson and Reform:
Underwood Act (1913)
First real tariff reduction since the civil war, lowers the prices on goods
Federal Reserve Act (1913)
Established a system of Federal Reserve Banks; to make sure that people around the country had access to loans and other financial services that banks offer
Sets up 12 federal reserve banks across the country, each in charge of a district
Federal Trade Commission
System set up to recognize and prosecute monopolies
Clayton Act (1914)
Strengthens and extends the regulations in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Wilson created an Income Tax of 1%-6% in order to pay for the other regulations
II. Women and Progressivism:
National American Women Suffrage Association
Became more involved in pushing for women’s right to vote
Two groups; National Women Suffrage Association (gaining right to vote) and American Women Suffrage Association (right to vote as well as own property, etc.)
1890, the two join forces and fight together
Went state to state to try to get women suffrage (states rights) and convinced them by giving them more representation in government; realize
* it will take forever and they want national recognition
Not until WWI, that role that women play during the war is enough to convince American people that women should have the right to vote
19th Amendment (1920)
Women given the right to vote
III. Race and Progressivism:
The one area that Progressivism failed to recognize and fix was race
During this time was the Exclusion Acts and Imperialism
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
9/28/11
World War I: Over There
I. Neutrality
Central Powers: Germany, Austria, Hungary
Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, Russia (all of these places had colonies all over the world; these colonies ended up getting involved)
Reason for the world was generally European Politics
President Wilson declared the US neutral; most of the battle fought on the sea; American trade with European countries was going to be disrupted
A. Blockades and Submarines
Blockade was the Allied Powers against the Central Powers
Allied powers started borrowing money from American banks
Wilson argued that American citizens have the right to be on European ships that are at war and not be harmed
Lusitania
British ship that is unarmed but is used to ship munitions
Sunk by German submarines; 128 Americans die on board
Wilson reacts; says he will not tolerate the harming of Americans during their war; Americans begin seeing Germany in a negative light
Sussex pledge
1916, French Ships; no American lives lost
Creation of the Sussex Pledge; Germany agrees to not attack these kinds of ships without some type of warning (so passengers can escape and they can blow up the ammunitions); agrees to do this if US agrees to hold Great Britain to the same standard (Wilson doesn’t do this)
Jan 1916; Wilson comes to the conclusion that the US is going to get involved; expands the army, forms officer training, makes plans for industrial immobilization (fridges to guns)
B. Election of 1916
Justice Charles Evan Hughes
Republican nominee; Wilson running for re-election
Hughes becomes so wishy-washy on the subject of war that he just ignores it
Wilson says “I’ve been tough with Germany and I’ve kept us out of the war; I am the peace candidate”…although knowing the US is going to get involved
Wilson gets re-elected
Says the best way they can stay out of the war is to try to make peace in Europe (a war without victory) Goes to Europe to try to tell them to stop fighting; Europe just gets pissed off
1917, Germany REVOKES the Sussex Pledge in order to make one final push for victory (believing they can win the war before US troops get there, assume the US is not ready)
Zimmermann Telegram
Sent by Alfred Zimmermann (German foreign minister, to German ambassador in Mexico), intercepted by the British, decoded, and Wilson shows it to the American people
The telegram states that Mexico should get into a war with the US, so they can’t be sent over to Europe; and if they do this Germany will help Mexico get the land it lost with its past war
Leaves American very anti-German
Americans don’t have any interest in the real reason for the war; Wilson defines the war as a war between Democracy and Totalitarianism in order to prove to them that its worth fighting
Problem with this is that Russia is not a Democracy; lucky for Wilson, during the telegram, Russia has a revolution and they remove the czar (only for a little bit)
April 1917, American declares War
Because of Wilson’s preparedness, troops are able to make it to Europe by June
II. Over There
November 1918, fighting ends, but the war is not at an end
Altogether, 16 million die as a result of the war, US suffered the least (territory wise and lives lost wise)
48,000 die in battle
56,000 die of disease (flu outbreak)
11,000 MIA
III. The Politics of Peace
A. The 14 Points
Wilson brought what he thought was the solution
Everyone to agree to free trade, open seas, self-determinism of government, no secret treaties or alliances (want a war like this to never happen again)
Great Britain and France want Germany to pay for everything they’ve been through (not a good attitude to have because it may spark another war)
B. The Peace of Paris
Wilson’s 14 Points disappear, the only one that stays is the creation of the League of Nations
Determines Germany as the reason for the war, makes them pay, and gives land to Great Britain
Congress and the Senate has to approve the treaty
1918, Wilson lost his democracy majority in Congress when the treaty comes up for approval
C. The League Fight
“reservationists”
Opposed the treaty; if some things were removed they would be on board (did not like the League of Nations; viewed it was a world governement)
Henry Cabot Lodge
Lead the reservationists
“irreconcilables”
Not going to agree on the treaty no matter what changed to it; they didn’t want to enter the war at all
William Borah
Lead the irreconcilables
The treaty does NOT pass in Congress
Wilson tries to tour US to try to get Americans on board
Wilson has a stroke; becomes paralyzed
Unable to get American people to support the treaty; it never gets ratified and the US does not become a part of the League of Nations
Because the US never signs the treaty, they are technically at war
Congress signs a bill saying the US is out of the war
Wilson vetoes it
1920, democrats out of power, Republicans have control of government and the War is ended; begin separate treaties (1921) with Germany and France, etc.
The Twenties and the Great Depression
10/3/11
Prosperity Decade, the 1920s
I. Industrial and Economic Growth:
Times are better, workers are getting a better standard of living. Average worker worked 5 days a week and 8-10 hours a day. The majority of Americans live in cities instead of rural areas. Industrialists figure out how to maximize productivity by using new techniques.
A. Automobiles
Henry Ford
One of the first to use new industrial techniques, his automobile industry boomed in the 1920s, resulting in a construction boom as well
First car manufacturer to use interchangeable parts (each car was not an individually crafted machine)
Mass-produced, less expensive, sell more (can make a car in 14 hours)
1914, introduced conveyer belt; takes car and moves it along the factory to where the workers are
Workers only have to work 5 days a week and are paid well
1925, one car is finished every 10 seconds in his factory in Detroit
1929, one car is completed in an hour and a half
does this by studying how his workers need to work (reduce stress and hours)
Ford able to hire unskilled workers because they only do one task all day
River Rouge Plant (Ford)
Contains within its walls has everything Ford needs from raw materials to finished products
Port access (steel from his own iron mines, rubber from his own plantation in Africa, Coal from his own coal mines)
Ford is not dependent on anyone else, unlike other companies
Makes just one type of car; cheapest car on the market
Have of the cars in the world were Model-T Fords at this time
B. Construction
Development of suburbs (mainly a suburbanization of middle upper-class and upper-class people who are tired of living in cities with people in tenements)
Outside Manhattan, Long Island
Outside Detroit, Gross Point
Outside Los Angeles, Beverley Hills
Growing because of need for roads
New technologies that allow buildings to be even taller (Chrysler Building and Empire State Building)
C. A Businessman’s Country
Demand for land increases, and price goes up (People buy land and sell it later for profit)
Eventually people stopped buying it because they were overpaying; the ones who originally bought it can’t sell it and panic to sell it before it gets to the price that they paid for it; prices start tumbling (1924; Florida in particular)
What happens almost exactly later in the 1930s with the stock market
II. The Organizational Revolution
A. Functional Groups
The best way to organize groups is by functional lines (Distribution dept, management dept, production dept, etc.)
People refer to themselves as their job titles instead of where they are from (ties to community are not as important as they used to be)
B. Scientific Management
Frederick Taylor, The Principles of Scientific Management (1911)
Idea of organization and efficiency (what Ford uses to increase productivity)
Also applied to churches; National Convention of churches (Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, etc.)
C. The “New Middle Class”
A change from old middle class values of self-sufficiency to a new value of cooperation and “fitting in”
More likely to live in cities instead of old middle class living in rural areas
Not wealthy, but are not necessarily laborer; educated and have management jobs
III. Cultural Ambivalence
A. Henry Ford and Greenfield Village
Ford is pretty much responsible for rise of New Middle Class, although as a person he did not like the new values and tried to instill the old values on his workers
Not far from his River Rouge Plant, he creates Greenfield Village where he recreates a small 19th century town in hopes that his workers could live here where they had their own plots of land
Not where people wanted to live but becomes a museum
Had a school for the worker’s children on site and had textbooks from the 19th century (etiquette and things like that)
Doesn’t work; people end up embracing new values
B. Charles Lindbergh and “The Spirit of St. Louis”
1927, a young pilot who wanted to compete for a prize ($25,000) for the first plane to fly between New York and Paris
Most competitors had crews of many people (the bigger the plane the more fuel needed)
6 people died trying for the prize
Lindbergh builds a plane room enough for only one person
Takes off May 1927; lands in Paris 31 hours later
Celebrated as a hero
Cultural ambivalence because of how it is celebrated
Old Middle Class: focuses on how brave he was and how he did this solo; self-sufficiency
New Middle Class: an accomplishment of not just Lindbergh but as society as a whole; cooperation of everyone involved
10/5/11
The Rise of Consumer Culture
I. Consumer Culture and Advertising:
Producing making more products than there is a demand for; either hold back on production (lose profit) or entice more sales (advertising)
Dis-accumulation
The shift from going from production based to consumer based economy
One way to increase demands is to appeal to more customers by advertisements
Marginal Differentiation
Make your product distinct from other companies
Used to go to a store and ask for soap and you didn’t have a choice of soap. Soap companies made their different smells, sizes and colors to make the soap margin different
Mid 19th century-early 1900s, ads were more informative. The shift in the 1910s-20s were more persuasive
Walter Dill Scott, The Psychology of Advertising (1903)
Psych is a relatively new field of study
Use psych to sell their products
Play on peoples fears or desires; say that the purchase of your product will change their lives
II. Modernity and the Therapeutic Ethic:
Sigmund Freud
Most concerned about neurosis and neurotic behavior in women; what caused most women to be neurotic was because they were repressing their sexuality
Culture mandated that if you’re a proper woman, you don’t show your skin
The solution to this neurosis is to express instead of repress
Change in views: Protestant views (work was good in it of itself) to therapeutic views (life is being satisfied because of what you can earn with that work)
Flappers
Women begin seeing themselves as consumers, and rebel against what society wants them to be
Begin wearing short dresses which were loose fitting, cutting their hair short and smoking, going to parties, dancing, etc.
Advertisers want to promote these rebellions because they can sell more products to them (cosmetics, clothes, cigarettes)
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
Hedonistic lifestyle and flapper era illustrated in this novel
People try to hold onto Victorian style of living
Prohibition
Speaking out against immigration
Try to block the teaching of science (evolution)
10/7/11
The Revolt Against Modernity
I. Nativism
Antiradicalism: against any radical ideas
Starts when people begin to be afraid of communism
Limit people who are critical to good values
Christianity
Attacks on Jews and Catholics
Feared from Catholics that they were beholden to a foreign leader (pope)
Passing of laws to ban Catholic schools
Racial
Not just white and black, groups that are anti-ANYTHING that is not white
First begin to hear the term White Supremacy
Madison Grant, The Passing of the Great Race (1921)
By just studying people’s biology, you can draw up a hierarchy of human beings
Hierarchy in which the lightest skin and lightest haired are at the top
This thinking that leads to the rise of Hitler
Very popular in US
National Origins Act (1924)
Limits immigration based on country of origin
Small quotas in Africa, no quotas in Asia, severely limits quotas in Eastern and Southern Europe
Reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan
Much larger than it was during reconstruction
Not only against black people, they are against Jews and anti radicals
3 million members, strongest in Mid-West
II. Prohibition: Ban on alcohol
People are anti-German and associate beer with Germans; people associate alcohol with immigrants
18th Amendment (1919)
It is illegal to manufacture, distribute, sell or transport intoxicating beverages. Does allow for people to make their own wine, and for medicinal purposes
Supposed to limit to number of people who want to immigrate, but people believe it will make productivity better, end domestic battery
Volstead Act (1919)
Congress must determine what an intoxicating beverage was
They determined anything with a .5% alcohol content
As a result, instead of getting rid of society’s problems, it creates much more problems
Smugglers, bootleggers, lawlessness, gangsters, increase in number of people drinking
Increase in the disregard for law
III. Counter-Evolution
Science develops more and more ideas; if you want more religious values, you can’t teach science values
Scopes Monkey Trial (1925)
After Tennessee bans evolutionary teachings, the civil liberties group convinces a teacher (Scopes) to teach evolution and get arrested in order to go to trial
Clarence Darrow
Represented Scopes
Asked if the bible was literal and should be taken exactly literal
Wins the argument; by the end the American people believed evolution should be taught
William Jennings Bryan
Represented prosecution
Wins because all he has to do is prove that Scopes taught evolution and violated the law (Scopes is given $100 fine that the state waives and he is not punished)
*
* 10/10/11
* Hoover, Roosevelt, and the Great Depression
*
* I. Herbert Hoover and Associationism
Secretary of Commerce; believed that government should not interfere with business, but do studies to help businesses make good decisions
Associationism: based on the idea that businesses in an industry, if they work together, that they can create a stable industry; not only businesses but social club (Kiwanis and Rotary)
Big corporations are not concerned with community
Hoover also believed the economy was strong when it was actually not
Problems appeared that people did not notice
Automobile industry is over-produced
Values of land and stock rise faster than actual land company values rise
More people want to buy stocks, makes the price goes up instead of reflecting the value of the company
A lot of people are buying stocks with credit
*
* II. The Collapse of American Capitalism
A. The Crash (Oct. 1929)
Value of stocks drop over 30%
Average amount of stocks traded per day on that one day Oct. 29, 16 and a half million (mass panic to sell)
Tremendous fall in stock prices
NOT the cause of the Great Depression
Agriculture and farmers are not sharing in the prosperity (producing way more than there is a demand)
Greater and greater split between the rich and poor
By the end of the 1920s, people are spending more than what they are making (credit)
B. Hoover’s Response
Thinks that if he gives out free housing and free food then that would make morale bad and people would rely on the government
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
Basically a bailout; gives money to businesses and banks, then they loan it out to people
Too little to have an impact
The government needed a reaction as dramatic as the situation
Hoover gets the blame for it, even though it is not his fault
Unemployment is at 4 million
At 1932 (lowest point), unemployment is at 13 million
Hoover continually got on the radio and said the worst is over and things can only get better (not true)
C. The Bonus March
Sealed Hoovers fate as not getting reelected (Spring 1932)
Made up of WWI veterans, voted a bonus by Congress (promised money because they had to delay their income, but the bonus was not to be paid until 1945)
A movement started to hold a protest and demand their money (20,000 veterans come to the capital)
Congress denies them, then the veterans march onto the White House and Hoover refuses to talk to them (not a good idea)
Calls in the military to chase out the veterans
Anacostia Flats
The place where the veterans set up camp of makeshift buildings
Hoover still thinks they are a danger so he has the military go in and remove them
Douglas McArthur was a general and against Hoovers orders, he burns down their makeshift homes
All of this filmed by media, and seen as a national disgrace
III. The Election of 1932
A. The Brains Trust and the New Deal
Democrats nominate Franklin Roosevelt because during the campaign season, he actively tries to come up with ideas to get the nation out of a Depression by bringing in experts
Brains Trust: a group of advisors to help think of a plan of action
Was very evident that Roosevelt wanted to change and help the country
New Deal: redistribute the wealth of the country
Landslide victory
B. The Inauguration
The famous speech “The only we have to fear is fear itself”
The Great Depression was brought about because most of the country did not have access to wealth; it is not that we did not have the means, but what got mixed up was who is in charge
10/12/11
FDR and New Deal Relief
I. Relief and the First Hundred Days
A. Banking
Closes all the banks (because banks have been folding at a tremendous rate)
Emergency Banking Act
Written, passed in congress and passed by the president all within one day
Gives loans to banks so they can reopen, different than what Hoover did because:
A lot more money (bigger program)
The way that Roosevelt sold the program by going on the radio in what becomes the first of his “Fireside Chats”
As a result, there is more money being deposited in banks than being withdrawn
Banks are able to slowly recover and become financially stable
Security Exchange Commission
Their job is to make sure that regulations about getting investors to invest in your company are accurate
All of this is to insure that a huge stock market crash doesn’t happen again
B. Agriculture
Roosevelt saw that agriculture was suffering, and if you don’t fix agriculture, you cannot fix the economy
Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA)
Limit the amount that farmers produce and taking land out of cultivation
If you limit it, the price will be higher
C. Unemployment
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
Gives out loans to state emergency relief administrations
Could use this money to create housing, soup kitchens, etc.
Only meant to be temporary relief
National Industrial Recovery Act/National Recovery Administration (NRA)
A way to create jobs; designed to eliminate waste in industries (to have the government oversee industry standards)
Section 7a of NIRA
Specifically states that workers have the right to form unions and the rights to bargain on their behalf
National Labor Board
Designed after the War Labor Board
Acts as a mediator on disputes between management and labor
Public Works Administration (PWA)
An agency that engages in doing public works projects
Building libraries, post offices, bridges, dams, etc.
Hires many people for jobs
$3.3 billion given to this program
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Designed to take young men (18-25) away from their families (who were receiving relief) to go work on conservation projects
The idea was that the family did not have to provide to feed for that man, and the young man makes money to send back to his family
Very successful
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Most successful program
Huge project designed to control flooding in an area that was inundated annually by floods
Project was to build dams that created electricity
Helped to build up an area that was very rural
Employs a lot of people
Even though it is so successful, it is never reinstated because of lobbying from private power companies who say that they are stealing business from them
Important to note that these legislations do not bring the country out of the depression, but they do help Americans deal with it
10/17/11
The New Deal: Reaction and Reform
I. Reaction: getting attacked by people on the left criticizing for not doing enough
A. Huey Long (Louisiana governor)
Every Man a King (1933)
Discusses the Share Our Wealth Plan
Share Our Wealth Plan
1932: a plan of income redistribution
anyone who makes over 1 million a year should be taxed 100%
reasoning because no one needs over a million to live on/everyone guaranteed to have $5,000 to live on
Gained a lot of support , 27,000 SOW clubs, total membership of 7 million people
1935 Huey Long assassinated, and the movement dies
B. Dr. Francis Townsend
Townsend Old Age Pension
Pay senior citizens $200 a month on the grounds that they don’t work (retire) and they have to spend it by the end of the month in order to get their next payments
Open up jobs for younger workers
Making them spend that money helps fuel the economy
Gains a large following by seniors
C. Father Charles Coughlin (Michigan Catholic priest)
National Union for Social Justice
Broadcasts his sermons on the radio and gained a huge following, actually got more fan mail than the president
His sermons get more political and forms the National Union for Social Justice
Argues for the nationalization of the banks; should not be a for profit company
D. The Supreme Court
Schechter Poultry v. United States
Small butcher shop that argued the government’s regulations on meat was not how the government was supposed to work (it was not voted on by congress)
Court ruled that it is not constitutional
7 out of 9 New Deal plans that go to court are declared unconstitutional
Court-Packing Plan
Roosevelt’s proposal that argues that it’s a plan to help elderly justices (one supreme court justices get too old, they need help)
He should be able to appoint new justices for every justice that is over 70 (which was over half the court)
He could add 5 or 6 new members; those who would be supportive of his plans
People saw it for what it was and was defeated; leads to new ideas
II. Reform and the Second New Deal: a remaking of the first new deal, but it is not just focused on emergency relief, but on long-term reform
A. Banking
Banking Act of 1935
Not just about getting banks back to business, but reforming so the federal reserve has greater power
B. Agriculture
AAA of 1938
Still pays farmers subsidies not to grow crops, but it is reworded so it is constitutional
C. Industry
Every industry must come up with codes, and those codes become laws
Congress must come up with legislation geared towards industry standards
D. Labor
Wagner Act (1935)
Gives workers the rights to form unions and the right to bargain collectively
National Labor Relations
Same as the National Labor Board
E. Wealth and Income
Social Security Act (1935)
Basically borrows from Dr. Townsend Old Age Pension Plan
Gives pension to senior citizens and those who are disabled and cannot work
Fund set up by both employees and employers (a chunk of your check goes to social security fund)
III. Conclusion
It is a dramatic shift in the role that the government plays in peoples lives and the economy. Government becomes much bigger, and the New Deal makes it less worse; there is still a depression going on. The New Deal does NOT end the depression; the only way it does come out of it is when the country is gearing up for WWII. These are not programs that help EVERYONE.
10/19/11
Marginal Minorities and the New Deal
I. Women: more benefits went to men than to women
A. Work
The 20s were a great time of progress for women, until the depression hits; then women stay home to be housewives
The number of single women in the workforce increases
Quit once they get married or have children
The kind of work is domestic
Cooks, maids, clerical jobs (low paying)
Paid less than men, justified by employers by saying “The man is supporting the family, and the woman is just adding to the support”
1937; average income for women a year: $527, same year for men: $1,027
People believed a woman working is just taking a job away from a man
B. Social Status
Images on magazines, etc, were images of motherhood and housewives (belief that the way to keep society together was by having strong families)
Birthrate and weddings drop, and people worry about the future of society; so they have marriage and motherhood propaganda
C. Politics
Women are now voters, and are participants in politics
Senator Hattie Caraway (Arkansas)
First female senator
Became senator by her husband (who was a senator), he died and she filled in for him. Runs for reelection (along with Huey Long and campaigns around Arkansas) and actually becomes reelected
Frances Perkins, Sec. of Labor
First woman to hold a cabinet position
*
* II. African-Americans: The New Deal/the Depression did not do much benefit to them
A. and Hoover
His policies did not help the black community at all (at some times harmful)
One of his nominees was someone who campaigned for the disenfranchisement of African-Americans
Insisted on segregation
African-Americans still reluctant to abandon the republican party because although they hate Hoover, they traditionally have supported the Republican Party
By Roosevelt’s second campaign, 90% of AA voters are voting for Roosevelt
B. and FDR
Marion Anderson
Opera singer, invited by the Daughters of the American Revolution to sing at their banquet
Only realize after they invite her that she’s black and uninvited her
Eleanor Roosevelt finding this out, publically quits the DOAR, and throws a free concert with Marion Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
Lynching
Lynching increases
Anti-Lynching Legislation is implemented
Gives the government the right to indict people on vigilante charges
Walter White, NAACP
One of the strongest supporters of the anti-lynching legislation
FDR would not support the anti-lynching legislation
Not because he did not believe in it, but because in order to make it pass in congress, he needs to get congress on his side (The majority of democrats in congress were from the south, so they were against anti-lynching)
III. Native-Americans
A. Reorganization
John Collier
Indian Reorganization Act (1934)
World War II
10/24/11
From Isolation to Global War, Part I
I. Postwar Isolationism
A. War Debts and Reparations
Reparations are what Germany has to pay from WWI
War Debts are what the country borrowed to fight in the war
Without Germany paying reparations, the other countries can’t pay back war debts
Johnson Debt Default Act (1934)
Every country that had borrowed money from the US could not pay back their loans (except Finland)
American banks can no longer give loans to the countries that have defaulted on their loans
B. Disarmament: the fewer arms they have, the less likely they are to go to war
Washington Armaments Conference (1921)
Goal to get everyone agree to arms limitations
5 largest navies in the world agreeing to size limitations
“5 Power Naval Treaty”: GB and US largest navy, France and Japan have smaller navies (size due to ocean space)
Open-door Policy: US starting to exert their authority
Kellogg-Briad Pact (Pact of Paris, 1928)
Came about when the French foreign minister (Briad) approached the US foreign leader (Kellogg) to agree to never go to war with each other
To make sure that whomever France goes to war with, the US won’t side with the enemy
Kellogg says yes we will agree, but we will only agree if you open it up to anyone who wants to sign it: Briad doesn’t want this but he’s trapped
62 nations sign it (every country involved in WWII)
No way to enforce it: illustrates the desire to initiate peace
C. “Good Neighbor Policy”
The US and the rest of the Latin American countries attempt to isolate from the rest of the world
II. War Clouds
A. Asia: native Chinese hurt the most by the Depression
Kuomintang (Chinese National Party)
a growing nationalist movement in China
They want to take back their country; greatest strength in southern China
Japanese empire trying to expand and Chinese nationalists trying to take back their country
B. Italy and Germany
Benito Mussolini, Il Duce
Breaks with the socialist party and forms his own “Socialist/Nationalist” Party…names it the Fascist Party
Able to get a lot of support
Able to become a dictator because the people give him the power
Adolf Hitler, Reichsfuhrer
Germany is extremely worse off economically, and Hitler becomes more and more powerful
Nazi Party: National/socialist
Able to bring in Hitler as the chancellor of Germany, and when the President dies, he takes over as President and Chancellor. Becomes the Reichsfuhrer
. The Expanding Acts
Francisco Franco
The military against the government: Military is aided by Germany and Italy
The Spanish republic seeks help from western countries, no country actually accepts but there are volunteers
Anti-Comintern Pact (1937)
An agreement (of Japan, Italy and Germany) that they will all join forces against their common enemy (communism/Soviet Union)
What this pact does is create an axis between Rome, Tokyo and Berlin
10/28/11
Total War
I. The Official War
The US tries to “sell” the war to the people by presenting the war as a battle between freedom and slavery
Problem: Leads to everyone determining that everything the enemy does and is bad/ two sides: GOOD and BAD
Known as the “Good war” because it’s the forces of good fighting the forces of evil
In order to do whatever to defeat evil, they will give up control
“Uncle Joe” Stalin
Our biggest foe in the red scare is now our best friend; fighting the Nazis
Office of War Information (OWI)
Responsible for disseminating information about the war (propaganda)
Get filmmakers to make government films about why we are in the war (to show to soldiers during training)
Treasury Department
Sell war bonds
Uses war bonds for people to feel like they have involvement in the war
Used to convince that the war in good, and that the government needs their support
Rations
Fabric rationing
“Victory suits”
popular, used to decrease wool production, increase support for war
II. A Dissenting View
Dwight Macdonald, “The Responsibilities of Peoples” (1945)
He says even though we’re told its good (us) against evil (them), the reality is that when societies become larger, they become more bureaucratic. As they become bureaucratic, those countries have less control over what their government does (Germany and Japan)
But it is also happening in the US
New Deal, going through same process that Italy, Germany and Japan are going through
Saying what they need to do is take back control of the government
He says the people that are making decisions about war are appointed officials, not elected; and that is the real danger
III. War and Social Change
A. Big Government
Office of Price Administration
Controlled how much companies could charge for products during the war
Because there was such a shortage, instead of gauging prices and making them super high, the federal government put price caps on items
War Production Board
Makes sure that companies who need supplies to create items, they will give them their supplies
National War Labor Board
Similar to the labor board during the first World War
Settle disagreements between management and employees
War Manpower Commission
Move people from where there are no jobs to where jobs are plentiful
Build ships, airplanes, etc.
Provided housing for them too (like dorms)
B. Big Business
Cost-plus contracts
Assure these companies that they will make a profit and take on a government contract with no risk
Gross National Product: 1939- $88.6 billion
GNP: 1945- $197 billion
Military-Industrial Complex
The fact that American industry is basically being supported by the military. Those companies that provide for the military are the most successful
C. Big Agriculture
Agribusiness
Shift away from family farms to agribusiness
Increase in the number of migrant workers
D. Big Labor: Union formation has an increase by the end of the war- 15 million members
America Federation of Labor (AFL)
Primarily for skilled laborers
Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
Primarily for unskilled laborers
The bigger the union, the more power the union has, but, also the smaller the power of one person has
During the war, they can get better hours, healthcare plans, childcare, etc. After the war, they don’t get that many benefits
After the war, they merge to one union: AFLCIO
IV. Conclusion
If people feel like they don’t have control (over jobs/life), how much are they going to participate in democracy, when businesses and government are becoming more bureaucratic
Women and Families in WWII
10/31/11
I. Women and Work
Red Cross, United Service Organizations (USO)
Most jobs women could do were voluntary jobs
In the Military: even if they aren’t being sent to combat, they can still participate in the armed forces
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACS)
Women’s branch of Army
Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS)
Female pilots, ran not combat mission but supply missions
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES)
Women’s Navy
Army Nurse Corps
75,000 nurses (Army and Navy)
Initially only admitted white women, until they needed a greater amount of nurses
The African-American nurses were only allowed to care for African-American soldiers
In Industry: even more women were working in war-time industries
Industries did not want to recruit women: initially a lot of women did not want to be involved too
Companies train men, but those men get drafted to the military; so they recruit women (1943 we see a big push to try to recruit women)
90% of all new employees in factories in Detroit during 1943 were women
“Rosie the Riveter”
created to inspire those reluctant women to do their part
A dramatic shift in public opinion polls that say women should get full-time jobs outside the home
6 million women in the workforce during WWII
In Government:
One of the major employers of women during WWII
Hires 1 million women during the war (clerical/secretarial/some administrative)
Never become a majority of federal employees, but they do make up 40% of government employees
There is a difference between women’s rights and women in the workforce
Women not allowed to be in judicial positions because they are too emotional
Only 4 states allow the legislation that women should be paid the same as men for equal work
II. Women and the Family
Marriage and Children
Puts a strain on their position in the workforce, because they have a greater percentage of absenteeism and quitting because they have to still hold the responsibility of the household
People are getting married too quickly, and divorce rate rises
Shortage of men, so before the man ships off, they get married with the fear that if they don’t, the women will be left an old maid
Sexual Delinquency: A lot of teenagers are unsupervised due to the war (increase in petty theft and vandalism; not a huge increase, but made to seem like a huge deal) The war was also seen as creating a problem of “sexual delinquency”: more opportunities for sex (men and women interacting in workplace, and separation makes it easier for affairs) A rise in STDs happens
STDs blamed on women (the government says men can not control themselves. But for women sex is emotional and it is up to them to stop having sex)
Social Protection Division (SPD)
Government agency to get communities to crack down on VD in society
By getting them to instate incredibly oppressive laws against women
Office of Community War Services
Involved in getting people to plant victory gardens, etc
American Social Hygiene Association
Played up the idea that men can’t control their sexual urges
Sent brochures and things about VD, etc.
African-Americans
11/2/11
I. In Industry: migration from rural areas in the south to urban areas in the West (despite discrimination, they are still making more money)
Higher demand for jobs, so workers can demand more money
A. Philip Randolph
Leader in black workers: tries to end discrimination since workers have a voice
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
One of the largest African-American labor unions
1941: Randolph calls for a march on Washington; what he wants is for African-Americans to demand equality
Roosevelt does not want a big protest on Washington right before war; so he and Randolph have a meeting and come to a resolution
Roosevelt creates the FEPC if Randolph calls off the march
Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC)
Not legislation, but what it says is that any company doing business with the government cannot discriminate based on race
If they don’t follow it, they cannot prosecute, but they can take away from government contracts from companies that discriminate
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
1943: One of the main groups that becomes central to the civil rights movements in the 50s/60s
based on the ideas of Gandhi, non-violent resistance
* II. In the Military
The FEPC put an end to discrimination in government agencies EXCEPT the military; do this under the rationale that if you let African-Americans serve freely in the military, this would upset white people who were opposed to integration
If you have this discomfort in the ranks then the army is ineffective
Forced many African-Americans to come to the south
Face more discrimination
1942: Alexandria, LA: riots against African-American soldiers. Occurred on Lee St, pay day for soldiers so many are out and about on town. One soldier crosses the street, almost gets run over by a woman driver, and “talks back” to the woman, she calls the police and they arrest the soldiers, the rest of the African-American soldiers try to get the police to release him, riot ensues. Black soldiers were unarmed, and were shot by police
Military maintains separate blood supplies (because the determining of if you were black was blood, and if you have a drop of black blood, you are subject to discrimination)
*
* III. Zoot Suit Riots
These race riots spread around the country
Military personnel against Mexican-Americans
Begin when Marines are stationed in Los Angeles, and walking around Mexican-American neighborhoods and intimidating anyone wearing a “Zoot suit”: a flashy expensive suit; military did not like that these Hispanic people have expensive clothes and the military have to wear uniforms
Marines get pissed when the Hispanic men start dating white women
June 1943: group of sailors go into East LA and spot a group of young Hispanic youth and beat them up with baseball bats
Turns into any military beating up anyone in a Zoot Suit
LAPD doesn’t do anything because if the military is beating someone up, it must be for a good reason
Spread to populations of black communities, and the violence continues against those in zoot suits, etc (really against the rising aspirations of black people)
Japanese Americans and WWII
11/4/11
I. Japanese Americans
A. Issei and Nisei
Issei: First generation immigrants: not allowed to become citizens
Nisei: Their children (second generation) are born in the US and are automatically citizens
Japanese American Citizen’s League
Become the major organization for Japanese-Americans
Formed to show how American these immigrant’s children were
B. Invasion Hysteria
Japanese/Germany workers that deal with trade were rounded up by the government
Gen. John L. DeWitt
In charge of defending the West Coast
Immediately after Pearl Harbor, he argued that we need to protect this threat
There is “no way to determine the loyalty of a Japanese American”
Constantly made his argument to the press and to the government
Executive Order #9066
Gives the military the right to declare any space a military zone; and the control of who can have access to that zone or not
John L. DeWitt immediately claims the West Coast as a military area and basically asks all persons of Japanese decent to leave the area
The areas further inland were complaining about the west coast “dumping their problems” there, so DeWitt says they cannot leave the restricted zone, unless they go to a “specific area” for them, which they didn’t have, so they rented out race tracks, etc, and created camps for them to live in (in stables or tents)
Places a curfew, only applied to “enemy aliens” and Japanese Americans
C. The “American Way”
War Relocation Authority
Puts in charge, M. Eisenhower (older brother of Dwight)
Believes its wrong of them to lock up these people who have not been deemed guilty
Says they will not be “prisoner camps”
Create a series of 10 camps, all in secluded locations, called “Relocation Centers”
These camps were basically run by the Japanese themselves, young teachers, doctors, etc
Handed out a questionnaire to each Japanese American, two questions became controversial
“Will you renounce any allegiance to the Japanese emperor?”
2nd gen: offended because they never had any allegiance to begin with
1st gen: If they answer yes, they are left without a country of allegiance because they are not citizens of US
“Will you be willing to serve in the US military?”
2nd gen: felt if they answered yes, it means that the only right that they would get to exercise would be to serve in the military
1st gen: made no difference, they would never be asked to serve
D. Dissent
“No-No Boys”
Those who answer No and No these questions
These 8,000 were placed in a separate camp and were used by the US in prisoner exchanges with Japan
Considered the only ones that were disloyal
Hirabayashi v. U.S. (1943)
Involves a young law student, and when the first curfew was made, he wanted to challenge the constitutionality of this; tries to get arrested
His case goes all the way to Supreme Court
Says you cannot round people up based on their ancestry
Court rules against him, saying that during a time of war, anything that the military deems necessary is constitutional
Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)
Instead of curfew, its about the evacuation
High school student, he had a girlfriend who was not a Japanese American; does not want to leave with his family because he wants to stay with his girlfriend
Court rules again, during a time of war, anything that the military deems necessary is constitutional
Ex Parte Endo (1944)
Lady with last name Endo, answers the questionnaire and deemed loyal. Argues that the government has no right to hold her anymore
The Supreme Court agrees; all those who are American citizens and are deemed loyal can now leave the camps
*
II. Conclusion: The “Good” War?
125,000 Japanese in camps: 2/3 were American citizens
Is there ever a point where a country goes overboard in wanting to win a war?
Waging a war for democracy, and become less democratic in the process
Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, Sixties Rebellion
The Bomb and the Start of the Cold War
11/7/11
I. The Bomb
A. Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Should the US use this dangerous technology to end the war with Japan, and spare US soldiers from having to invade Japan
People had no idea of long-term effects; scientists who developed it said it should not be used on actual people, just to blow up some island to show force
Immediate flash wiped out 4 square miles and 60,000 people
People who did survive initial blast, were immediately affected with their skin falling off
3 days after, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan
After Nagasaki, Japan surrenders with the stipulation stay on the throne. US agrees but with a US representative that is higher than the emperor (General McArthur)
70 million soldiers participated in WWII, 17 million military deaths, 18 million civilian deaths (US suffered the least, 297,000 military death, 114,000 military death)
US suffered no infrastructure damage, and economy benefits from the war
US demonstrated as a world power, and most Americans (82%) want to be a part of the United Nations
Us has sympathy for the Soviet Union, but that quickly changes
They see them as the greatest threat
1948, Truman charges Soviet Union with trying to take over Europe
II. Origins of the Cold War
George Kennan
Writes in 1947, “The Containment Theory/Plan”
What the US has to do is to keep communism from spreading
A. The Truman Doctrine
Doctrine comes as a result of a civil war that breaks out in Greece after WWII, in Greece it’s a war against Communism and other factions
The US wants to provide economic aid to Greece, as a way to stabilize them, in order to make sure communism does not get a strong foothold
Ask for money from congress for economic aid for Greece and Turkey
B. The Marshall Plan
Wants to provide to European countries, US economic aid in order to rebuild economically devastated economies from the war
The idea is that if the US helps them, these countries won’t turn to communism
Soviet realizes this is their goal, and gets pissed, see it as a threat to communism
US pumped 13 billion into European economy
C. The Berlin Airlift
Germany was divided into 4 regions
French, US, British, Soviet Union
Never intended to be permanent
All on board for a democracy and capitalist, except for the Soviet Union sector
Cut off supplies to East Germany/ East Berlin where Soviet Union resides
Saying if we don’t defend West Berlin, it will fall to East Berlin communism
Sends a massive airlift of over a million tons of supplies to West Berlin
D. NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
An attack on one is an attack on all
GB, France, US, Canada, Denmark, Italy…
Isolating Soviet Union, known as the Iron Curtain
E. China and the Bomb
China breaks out in a civil war
Chiang Kai-Shek
nationalist
Mao Tse-Tung (Zedong)
Communism
1949, forces out Chiang Kai-Shek onto an island, and is named to Republic of China. US recognizes that government as the official government of China
Leads up to an accumulation of arms in both the US and Soviet Union, solely to have an upper hand.
F. Korea
Division of North and South Korea
1950, North invades South
The UN supplies troops, takes back South Korea, and hope to unite the two
China sees this, and does not want the West so close to China, so they provide help for North Korea
Both sides call a truce and you have two separate countries
The Domestic Cold War
11/9/11
I. The Anti-Communist Consensus
House Un-American Committee (HUAC)
A. Truman and Liberal Anti-Communism (means dealing with communism as a foreign policy issue)
Costly, many republicans did not like it
Also believed to not be working
Truman Doctrine (1947)
Alger Hiss
Convicted of selling secrets to the Soviet Union
Hurts Truman’s case, because he backs him up only to be proven wrong
Julius and Ethel Rosenburg
Found guilty of selling atomic secrets to the Soviet Union and sentenced to death
B. McCarthy and Conservative Anti-Communism
Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Tries to make a name for himself by making a speech about how many communists he knew there were in the government
Believed Hollywood was filled with communists
Constantly lied
Lavender Scare
Anyone who is suspected in anyway to blackmail/espionage/communism, they are targeted
Homosexuals are a communist threat (believed that they were much more susceptible to blackmail)
Large firings of any homosexual workers
McCarran Internal Security Act (1950)
Made it so you don’t have to do anything that is against America, but as long as you show sympathy to the idea of a communist government, that can be considered treason
II. Cold War Culture
A. Religion (96% of Americans claim to be religious)
Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking (1952)
The book makes the argument that religion is not only a good thing for you personally, but it is also a very good thing for business
American Legion begin this “Back to God” movement
Saying recognition of a supreme being, is necessary for Americanism
“Under God” added to the pledge in 1954, so that Americans will less likely become communist
“In God we trust” made national motto in 1956
B. Education
“Pro-America”
Progressive education: a trend in which teachers were moving away from rope memorization, instead they are being taught how to think critically
This idea come under attack by concerned parents, and schools should teach kids how to be good Americans
“Pro-America” was a group that attacked teachers that taught their kids critical thinking
Sputnik (1957)
Russians launches satellite into space
US loses “space race”, educational system is blamed, because they did not teach enough science and math, and are “too easy”
III. Conclusion
The Culture of Conformity
11/11/11
I. Growth
A. Economic Growth
Defense spending helps fuel economy
Expansion of advertising (TV commercials)
Companies start to make different models, so people are convinced they need to update and blend in more
Tourism booms
B. Populations Growth
The “baby boom”
Couples getting married earlier, and families having children, average 3 children per family
Swell in the population
C. Changes in Social Structure
Economic concentration
Even though there is a lot of money in the economy, that money is being controlled by only a few certain corporations
5% of all corporations are responsible for 87% of corporate profits
White collar majority
Number of white collar workers larger than blue collar
More towards office/service jobs instead of manufacturing jobs
II. The Ideology of Abundance and Adjustment
A. The Classless Society
Embourgeoisment thesis
B. The Organizational Family
C. Suburbia
William J. Levitt, “Levittowns”
Federal Housing Authority
III. Trouble in Paradise
A. The Other America (1962)
Michael Harrington
B. The Lonely Crowd (1950)
David Riesman
Civil Rights, Part I
11/14/11
I. Legalism in the Postwar Period
The attempt to keep African-Americans from voting; begin to recquire literacy test for all AAs. It is given orally and is left up to the judgment of the examiner, no written records. See a trend of whit voters passing and black voters failing.
NAACP begins trying to get rid of separate but equal
Smith v. Alright (1944)
Thurgood Marshall
George McLaurin
Law student at OSU. The school did not have a separate law school, and in the white school, he has to sit in a separate roped-off section of his lectures
McLaurin argues that he is not getting an equal education
Goes to the Supreme Court, and they rule in his favor
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Topeka, Kansas. Arguing that segregating students on the basis of race automatically makes the education experience unequal
Chief Justice Earl Warren
Appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
After the war, he regretted favoring Japanese internment camps
Very adamant supporter of civil rights
Rules that separate education is detrimental
II. Response to Brown
See more segregation
Eisenhower did not actively support the decision
Leads to widespread resistance in the south
*
III. White Southern Resistance
“Southern Manifesto”
1956, document saying the people who sign it, promise to oppose any attempt by the federal government to integrate
signed by 101 congressmen from the south (out of a possible 128)
A. Central High School
1957 in Little Rock, the school district was ordered to integrate and the school officials had made plans to integrate and were going along with it
Gov. Orville Faubus
Governor of Arkansas
Uses this as an issue for his reelection. Says the riots that will ensue are too great, and he will be responsible for all the danger, and won’t let integration happen
Calls in the national guard to block off the entry to the high school to black student
He calls of the guard and flees town. So because of his statements, an angry mob forms with no guard to protect the black students
Eisenhower finally sends in the guard to protect the students, then Faubus closes the school
Black community try a different approach
B. Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks
Sits in the front of the bus, gets arrested
Word of her arrest spreads quickly (she was the secretary of her local chapter of the NAACP)
Black community decides to boycott public buses
90% of the community participated
Bus company loses money
Demands started off small (not giving up seats to whites in black section)
As resistance grew, so did their demands
Buses eventually have to give in, and they receive full integration of buses
Important because:
It shows the black community was willing to give up a convenience in order to show how serious they were about their unhappiness
Shows the effectiveness of a mass movement (not a court case, 90% of black community showing strength)
Brings to light the leader of the boycott: MLKJ
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Civil Rights, Part II
11/16/11
I. Direct Non-Violent Action
SCLC and CORE
A. Sit Ins
Ella Baker
Executive secretary of the NAACP
Realized from these sit-ins that younger citizens are becoming more involved
James Lawson
Seminary student at Vanderbilt, who had been expelled for doing non-violent protests
Felt they need to protest any law they felt unjust (civil disobedience)
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Made up of students
Students faced fire hoses and people putting cigarettes out on them
B. Freedom Rides
All interstate busses had to be integrated (under federal jurisdiction)
Once they reach South Carolina, they face angry white mobs
They get off of the bus, and SNCC members fill their spots
Once they reach Birmingham, they are driven to Tennessee, and told to get off and never return
In Jacksonville, there are 300 protestors that get arrested
“Bull” Connor
Police chief in Birmingham
II. Civil Rights Legislation
Attorney General Robert Kennedy
Most involved in enforcing Civil Rights laws
Gov. George Wallace
Stands in the doorway at Bama to physically keep black students out of the school
Kennedy calls the national guard to protect these new students
Medgar Evers
NAACP leader, shot dead in his driveway at home
A. March on Washington (1963)
200,000 march at DC
MLKJ’s “I have a dream” speech
B. Civil Rights Act of 1964
Signed by Johnson
Outlaws discrimination in public places
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Job to investigate and prosecute equality claims
C. Voting Rights Act of 1965
An excess of 250,000 African Americans register to vote
III. From Civil Rights to Black Power
A. Watts and the “Long Hot Summer”
1965, a riot in the black community in response to another case of police brutality of LAPD
When the riot was over 34 were dead, property damage was over $35 million
1966, repeat of the riot in Chicago, Cleveland and 40 other cities
1967 in Detroit, tanks were called in to stop the riots
The riots did not help those living in black ghettos
Stokely Carmichael
New president of SNCC, and he proposed the idea of black power. The idea of wanting the black community to be self-sufficient and not dependent of white people
Black Panthers believed black power, and used violence to get their point across
B. Malcolm X
One of the biggest and well-known supporters of black power
In prison, he begins following the black prophet of Islam
Assassinated in 1965, MLK in 1968
IV. Civil Rights Legacy
Does not end because it is successful, but because it is difficult to see the common goal, and just continues
Feminism
11/21/11
I. The Women’s Movement
“cult of domesticity”
They were told they should give up their jobs to the soldiers coming home, and they should stay at home
If they do work, they should do work that seems nurturing (nurses, teachers) or supporting (secretary)
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963)
“The problem with no name”
Referring to the vast number of women going to see therapists about anxiety, but can’t describe it
Most women were unhappy, discontented and thought they were the only ones unhappy
II. Women’s Rights
American Woman (1963)
Report on how women are treated unequal
Equal Employment Opportunity Council (EEOC)
Once it gets started, it only prosecutes cases of racial discrimination, not sex discrimination
This failure results in the creation of NOW
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Lobbying group whose basic goal is to get the EEOC to prosecute cases of sex discrimination
Supported legislation of equal pay
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Rights should not be restricted based on sex
III. Women’s Liberation
“personal politics”
Women were only seen as there for aiding work, and were being treated very poorly. They were being forced to have sex in order to get into groups (such as SNCC)
“consciousness-raising sessions”
talk to women and raise their consciousness (make them aware that other women are having the same problems)
IV. Counter-Revolt
The advancements made by rights/liberation brought to a halt by men/some women
The Counter-Revolt brought upon by the ERA (38 states need to ratify it before it becomes and amendment)
21 state ratify it immediately
There is a stand-still at 35 states (in the 1970s)
Convince people not to support it by
Connecting it to the idea that it will make the women who do not work second-class citizens (does not do that)
Connecting it to abortion rights
Vietnam War
Vietnam, Part I
11/28/11
I. Truman and Containment
Ho Chi Minh
Leader of Vietminh
Wants to get rid of French and Japanese (who are occupying them during the war)
At the end of WWII, he declares them a free and independent country
US supports this
Vietminh
Vietnamese nationalists, fight with the US against the Japanese
Initially had a good relationship with the US
US wants to make sure communism does not spread
France at the end of WWII wants to become a world power, so they want to reclaim their colonies
Vietnam does not want to be occupied by France
US backs France instead of Vietnam
They are afraid of what would happen if France starts to look weak
France bombs Haiphong, killing 6,000 civilians
War between France and Vietnam begins
US backs France in order to put themselves in a better position with Europe
US comes up with an idea to make Vietnam important
Say that Vietnam is communist, and if they don’t stop them, all of southeast Asia is going to be communist (Domino Theory)
Initially they are not, they are nationalist
Majority of the country is poor, so communism is a good idea for them
Eisenhower is unable to convince Congress to send military power in Vietnam to help France
They are denied and France has to surrender
The peace treaty is signed in the Geneva Convention
Vietnam is split in two at the demarcation line
Ho Chi Minh in control of the north
Another government in the south (connected to the French, wealthy)
This split would last for two years, and after two years the whole country would vote on which government to use
II. Eisenhower and the Domino Theory
Dien Bien Phu
SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization)
Asian version of NATO
Not formed by these other countries, but majorly run by US
Ngo Dingh Diem
Leader of south Vietnam, supports US policies and goals
Majority of Vietnamese don’t like him, because he is of the elite and does not represent Vietnamese people
US provides him with a lot of economic aid
Most of the money goes to enlarging his military (4 out of 5 dollars)
US wants to break up the large plantations to give that land to the poor, Diem does not do this
When election time comes, he refuses to take part and declares South Vietnam an independent country
Holds his own election of approval, rigs it and gets “98.2%” to make him look like a popular leader
National Liberation Front (NLF)
People in the south who are against Diem form this group
Vietminh against Diem against NLF. A civil war within a civil war
Viet Cong (VC)
NLF’s guerilla army
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Vietminh begins supporting the Viet Cong through Laos and Cambodia
III. Kennedy and Diem
Catholic Moral Laws (1963)
Diem becomes extremely oppressive
Outlaws practices of Buddhism
Leads to a huge uprising of Buddhists
Protests include people lighting themselves on fire
Kennedy realizes Diem has to go
If Diem goes, the north and NLF will take control of the south
His funds go to the south military and suggest they get rid of Diem
November 1, 1963, a military coup rounds up Diem and his brother and assassinates them
a new government can come into control
November 1963, Kennedy is assassinated and Johnson takes over
Vietnam War, Part II
11/30/11
IV. Johnson and Escalation
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)
American Ship goes into North Vietnamese waters and gets attacked
Johnson uses this as “an attack on the US” and must retaliate
Asks congress to sign a resolution to begin an air attack on Vietnam, not a declaration of war
Johnson started search and destroy missions
Problem: they did not know who the enemy was
Search for the ways in which the Viet Cong were able to engage in military, and cut them off
Johnson is reelected in 1964
1968, over half a million troops in Vietnam
A. Tet Offensive (1968)
January 1968, Tet is the Vietnamese New Year
During Tet, both the North and Viet Cong coordinated attacks on various cities in South Vietnam, and on the American embassy in Saigon
What it shows is that the US was not succeeding
For the US to win, it would take 10 soldiers for each person living in Vietnam
Since they can’t overwhelm them with numbers, they will be more efficient
B. My Lai Massacre (1968)
March 1968, involves a platoon that go into a village of My Lai with a population of about 700
They had suffered a loss earlier, and Calley told them this was the time to “get even”
Without any enemy fire, they attacked
Killed about 500
Lt. William Calley
Commander of the platoon
Tried to cover it up for a year, but the story did come out
Turned public sentiment against the war
Sentenced to life to prison
Johnson lessens his sentence and he gets out on parole
C. Exit Johnson
Announces that 1) will not escalate the war any further 2) the US will stop bombing North Vietnam 3) not seek reelection
Still sends over 55,000 soldiers, continues to intensify bombing in the south
Nguyen Van Thieu
New leader of South Vietnam
Did not want to lose control of the south
V. Nixon and “Vietnamization”: turning the war back over the Vietnamese
Supported covert missions in Cambodia and Laos
Leads to more anti-war sentiments, march on Washington
Ignores these protests and issues an invasion on Cambodia
“we will not be humiliated”- Nixon
1972, Nixon runs for reelection and calls for a ceasefire and call the war over, as a result he wins the reelection
Paris Peace Accords (1973)
Calls for US to return all troops
Also calls for creation of coalition government of all representing gvts
Formed in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Virtually the same as the Geneva accords that were formed 20 years earlier
Khmer Rouge (Cambodia)
Communist party
By 1975, you have Vietnam and Cambodia under communist control
Domino Theory does not happen
