Transcript Imperialism and Progressivism - Yeshiva of Greater Washington

Imperialism and Progressivism
What is progressivism
• Definition:
• 1. Belief that humans are progressing in a
positive direction
• 2. Using science and expertise to solve
problems like poverty, injustice and corruption
Corruption in government
• Graft: Politicians using their influence and
power to earn money through illicit deals and
contracts
• Kickbacks:
– Giving money to politicians to influence their
decision making. Usually bribing politicians to get
government contracts
– Common at the time due to a lack of ethics laws
Boss Tweed
Boss Tweed
• William Tweed ran New York City from his
base in Tammany Hall. Using corrupt electoral
politics he repeatedly got himself elected
mayor, rewarding those who voted for him
with easy, high-paying government jobs, and
lucrative contracts
Consequences of Boss System
• Businesses and powerful people close to boss
commonly abused workers, polluted and
cheated customers.
– Escaped justice due to connections
– Lead to the Progressive Movement to target
corrupt politicians
The Pendelton Act
• Designed to Reform the Civil Service
(bureaucracy) by requiring anyone applying to
take a test proving they were literate and able
to do the work. This idea was so unpopular
that the Republicans refused to re-nominate
sitting President Chester A. Arthur
Solving the Boss Problem
• Progressives pushed for more control of
government with the 17th Amendment
• Definition: All senators will be directly elected
by the people rather than state legislatures.
Designed to give people more direct access
and break party control.
Muckrakers
• Reporters and writers who dedicated
themselves to unearthing scandals and
corruption in business and government.
Given the name by Teddy Roosevelt since they
were always digging up muck on people
Famous Muckrakers
• Upton Sinclair: Set out to expose the
mistreatment of workers in Chicago’s
meatpacking industry, exposed unsafe
practices. Led to the passage of the Clean
Food and Drug Act
Famous Muckrakers
• Lincoln Steffans: Began by investigation
corruption in the city government of
Minneapolis. Wrote about monopolies in
banks and rampant corruption. Led to the
creation of the Federal Reserve which
regulates bank activity
Famous Muckrakers
• Ida B. Wells: African American activist who
sought to expose the horrors of lynching to
the rest of America. Wrote extensively about
the abuse of segregation in the South.
Became a founding member of the NAACP
and the first black woman to run for political
office in America
The Temperance Movement
• A movement designed to outlaw the sale and
manufacture of alcohol. Also known as
Teetotalers
Temperance
• Organizations included the Anti-Saloon League
led by Carry Nation, known for violently
busting up bars
Women and temperance
• Women were becoming more politically active
on moral issues
• Argued that alcohol destroyed the home,
ruining men and leaving women and children
destitute
Result
• The 18th Amendment: Outlaws the sale and
manufacture of alcohol passed in 1919
The First Wave of Feminism
• Women begin organizing to achieve suffrage,
the right to vote
• Efforts from suffragists like Susan B. Anthony
and Alice Paul led to the 19th Amendment in
1919
• Definition: The right to vote in the United
States will not be restricted on account of sex
Other Progressive Achievements
• Schools: Progressives pushed for the expansion
of public schools, and wealthy donors helped
create Land Grant Colleges on state land
• Aiding the Poor: Progressives helped create
Settlement Houses, clean places for the poor to
live that provided job training
• Interstate Commerce Act of 1887: Designed to
stop abuse by railroads, allowed Congress to
regulate fares and rates
– Created the Interstate Commerce Commission to
oversee railroads
Progressive President
• Teddy “Bull Moose” Roosevelt, President
1901-1909
Background (Do Not Write)
• Came from a rich family. Small man with very
soft voice. Became a military man in order to
be a hero, and went on long hunting trips into
the wilderness. As a young man, happened to
be in New York when Boss Tweed was brought
down, became a lawyer and politician to fight
corruption
Trustbusting
Trustbusting
Definition: Using the power of the Sherman
Anti-Trust Act, Roosevelt sued big corporations
for illegally monopolizing the economy, forcing
them to break apart into smaller, competing
companies
– Broke up J.P. Morgan’s holdings
– Broke up Standard Oil (Rockefeller made sure he
had majority shares in the daughter companies)
Roosevelt
• Roosevelt used the White House to arbitrate
disputes, often in favor of workers
• Increased government regulation of business
to protect workers under a program he called
the Square Deal
• Increase in conservationism
Excluded from progress
• Black Americans, Catholics and Jews were
often excluded from Progressive Movements
due to racism and bigotry
• 1910 saw the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan
• Growth of eugenics a movement designed to
create a master race of humans
– Several states passed eugenics laws
• Forced sterilization of inmates, people in mental
hospitals
• Forced sterilization of the handicapped
Imperialism
• Question: What is an Empire?
U.S. Policy
• Prior to the 20th Century the U.S. followed a
policy of isolationism
– Definition: A policy whereby a country removes
itself from global political affairs by declining to
enter into treaties, alliances or economic
partnerships.
Expansionism and the Frontier
• American thinkers felt that constantly
expanding the frontier made America a robust
and powerful nation.
– Saw the frontier as the thing that made Americans
unique
Review: The Monroe Doctrine
• U.S. policy stated that any attempt by
European powers to colonize or land in North,
Central or South America would be seen as an
act of aggression against the United States
The Roosevelt Corollary
• Roosevelt amended the Monroe Doctrine to
say that, rather than protecting South and
Central America, the United States instead
claimed the sole right to rule and control it
The “Opening of Japan”
• The American open door policy held that no
country could stop trade. When isolationist
Japan cut off relations with the West,
American warships entered Japanese harbors
and shelled them in 1853, forcing Japan to
reopen trade.
Hawaii
• Hawaii was originally an independent
Kingdom
Hawaii
• In 1820-30 Missionaries introduce sugar
plantations to the island, and the industry
takes off
• The United States convinces King Kalakua to
allow a naval base at Pearl Harbor
• Hawaiians begin to resist sugar planters led by
Queen Lilioukalani
U.S. Response
• The United States, to protect its sugar and
naval interests, invades Hawaii and sets up a
governor.
• United States officially Annexes Hawaii in 1900
• Hawaii becomes a state in 1959
Samoa
• The United States used Samoan islands as
refueling stations for their coal fired ships. In
1904, in response to German attempts to
establish a naval base, the U.S. formally
occupied several Samoan Islands to protect its
interest. American Samoa remains a U.S.
territory.
Naval Power
• To demonstrate U.S. power Roosevelt
commissioned The Great White Fleet
– A fleet of steam powered battleships to project
U.S. power. Painted white and gold to impress
and intimidate
Gunboat Diplomacy
• Gunboat Diplomacy refers to using the power
of the military to force other nations to make
diplomatic concessions
• Roosevelt was infamous for using the Navy to
gain beneficial treaties for the U.S.
Spanish-American War
• 1857 Cuban Revolution: Cubans under the
control of Spanish increasingly desire to be
free of oppressive, and corrupt colonial
regime. Led by Jose Marti, in 1868 Cubans
launch a rebellion against Spain.
• Marti is widely support by Americans called
the “Cuban George Washington”
U.S. Involvement
• U.S sees a chance to expand into the
Caribbean by support Cuban independence
against the Spanish
– See a chance to show off U.S. military might
• Newspapermen, eager for war, promote the
idea using Yellow Journalism depicting
propaganda
Yellow Journalism
The Maine Incident
• The U.S. sends the warship Maine into Havana
harbor to monitor the Spanish.
• While anchored, the boiler onboard explodes
and the ship sinks.
– Yellow Journalists claim this was a deliberate
attack by Spanish on the U.S. and demand war.
This begins the Spanish-American War
The Maine Incident
Spanish-American War
• U.S. launches simultaneous naval attacks
against the Spanish in Caribbean, Atlantic, and
Pacific, invades Cuba to support the
Revolution.
Battle of San Juan Hill
Treaty of Paris
• Outgunned and overwhelmed the Spanish sue
for peace, leading to the Treaty of Paris
• American Concessions
– Cuba declared a “protectorate” of the United
States
• U.S. helps write new Cuban Constitution including an
Immunity Clause for American Citizens, and control of
large swaths of Cuban territory
Treaty of Paris
• U.S. also claims Puerto Rico as a territory
• Gains control of the Philippine Islands which it
does not relinquish control of until after World
War II
• Result: The United States is now an Imperial
Power on par with France, Britain, Spain and
Germany
“The White Man’s Burden”
Uncle Sam’s Classroom
The New Diplomacy
• The Roosevelt Corollary: If Europe became
involved in conflict with countries in Central,
or South America the United States had a right
and duty to intervene
• Example: U.S. invaded Nicaragua to overturn
an election that favored European interests
over American mining companies
Dollar Diplomacy
• A plan designed by Theodore Roosevelt to
expand American dominance over Central
America and the Caribbean using loans, and
trade backed up by military force
• Example: U.S. gave millions in loans to new
governments in Dominican Republic and Haiti
to head off foreign investors from Europe.
Panama
• In 1879 the French attempted to build a canal
across the Panama Isthmus
• They failed due to a malaria outbreak
Panamanian Revolution
• Panama was under control of the Colombians.
Roosevelt, eager to get control of part of
Panama to build a canal, sent a U.S. warship to
Colon to aid the rebels. Shelled Colombian
army and landed marines. Panama
successfully broke off and formed its own
country
The Bargain
• U.S. aided Panama in exchange for sovereign
control of a stretch of territory across its
narrowest part.
• U.S. built canal, solving the problem of the
French by draining the swamps and clear
cutting jungle.
Relations with Mexico
• In 1910 Mexico entered a period of extended
anarchy
– Definition: a period of chaos in which no central
authority can govern or enforce law
President Wilson
• Ran as a Democrat against Roosevelt and his
former Vice President, Howard Taft, a brilliant
administrator but terrible politician
• Raised as a Progressive, believed in creating a
morally sound government
Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy
• Wilson believed in leading by example. Argued
that rather than aid in revolutions, U.S. should
teach republicanism by example.
• Failure of Moral Diplomacy: Mexico
– A corrupt military official, General Huerta seizes
power
– In response, a partisan group led by Pancho Villa
begins raiding and killing both in the U.S. and Mexico
– Wilson forced to supply weapons to military dictator
to stop Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
Conclusion
• Unsatisfied with Huerta, U.S. invades Mexico
in 1917
– Wilson forced to settle for violence over leading
by example
– United States is now an imperial power just like
Britain and Spain