p. 258
a. a literature of dissent & protest arose
b. Henry George, a self-educated workingman from a poor Philadelphia family wrote “Progress & Poverty” that argued that the basis of wealth was land and that a single tax on land would equalize wealth in the nation
c. Edward Bellamy, a Massachusetts lawyer wrote “Looking Backward,” described socialism lovingly, a million copies were sold, embraced cooperative living
d. 1880s-1890s: great movements of farmers & workers
e. revolutionary talk was in the air
272, 273
a. Emma Goldman addressed a huge meeting of the unemployed and encouraged the hungry to go into stores and take it
b. Goldman was arrested for “inciting a riot”
c. 1894, strike @ the Pullman Company in Illinois
d. engineers made $957 but laborers made $124
e. 30,000 injuries a year, 2,000 deaths in railroad work
f. Eugene Debs promoted unionism & socialism, inspired by Bellamy’s “Looking Backward,”
g. 1893, Debs formed the American Railway Union to unite all railway workers
h. Debs wanted to include everyone but blacks were kept out
i. 1894, workers @ the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike
282, 283
a. the People’s party/Populist party met in convention in 1890 in Topeka, Kansas
b. Mary Ellen Lease told the people: “Wall street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street. Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags... the politicians said we suffered from overproduction. Overproduction, when 10,000 little children starve to death every year in the US and over 100,000 shop girls in New York are forced to sell their virtue for bread.”
c. 30 men in USA hold $1.5B in wealth
d. people want land, money, and transportation
e. want direct loans from the government
f. want an abolition of the National Banks
Ignatius Donelly:
a. “We meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the Congress, and touches even the ermine of the bench. The people are demoralized. The newspapers are subsidized or muzzled; public opinion silenced; business prostrate, our homes covered with mortgages, labor impoverished, and the land concentrating in the hands of capitalists. The urban workman are denied the right of organization for self-protection; imported pauperized labor beats down their wages; a hireling standing army established to shoot them down... The fruits of the toil of millions are badly stolen to build up colossal fortunes... From the same prolific womb of governmental injustice we breed two classes-paupers and millionaires.”(283)
b. 1892, James Weaver is nominated, a former general in the Union army
c. the Populist movement was now tied to the voting system
d. Polk: “they could link their hands and hearts together and march to the ballot box and take possession of the government, restore to it the principles of our fathers, and run it in the interest of the people.”(283)
e. Weaver got over 1M votes but lost
f. “The white and colored Alliance are united in their war against trusts, and in the promotion of the doctrine that farmers should establish cooperative stores, and manufactures, and publish their own newspapers, conduct their own schools, and have a hand in everything else that concerns them as citizens or affects them personally or collectively.”(283)
g. “The Bourbon Democracy are trying to down the Alliance with the old cry ‘nigger’. It won’t work though.”(283)
288, 289
a. populists were racist and nativist
b. “to emancipate all men.”
c. Homestead Strike: capital vs. labor
d. failure to unite blacks & whites
e. failure to unite city workers & farmers
f. 1896, Populists supported William Jennings Bryan
g. Populism would drown in the sea of Democratic politics
h. populism wanted to remain as an independent movement
i.1896, Bryan (D) was defeated by William McKinley: massive use of money in a election campaign
j. 1890, US soldiers attacked Indians camped at Wounded Knee
k. 1896, the state stood to crush labor strikes
l. McKinley drew a connection between money & the flag
m. two years after McKinley became President, the US declared war on Spain
294
a. oil became a big export in the 1880s, 1890s
b. 1891, Rockefeller’s Standard Oil controlled 90% of American exports of kerosene and controlled 70% of the world market
c. oil was the second largest export after cotton
d. demands for expansion by large commercial farmers
e. foreign markets were seen as important to prosperity
f. 1898, Cuban rebels tried to gain independence
g. initially, American business interests didn’t want military intervention in Cuba
h. William Jennings Bryan: anti-imperialist
i. some businessmen, intellectuals and politicians opposed traditional colonialism and advocated an open door policy where America’s economic strength would enter and dominate all of the underdeveloped areas of the world
j. the idea of “informal empire,”
353
a. Wilson promised that US would stay neutral
b. US wasn’t really neutral, they shipped supplies to Britain
c. the Lusitania was heavily armed
d. tough business climate: depression in business, deflated farm prices, high unemployment, heavy industries were operating under capacity, bank clearings were off
e. $2B in goods sold to the Allies
f. prosperity depended on foreign markets
g. $700M to $3.5B in private foreign investments in USA-1897 to 1914
h. William Jennings Bryan: believed in neutrality but believed US needed overseas markets
i. Bryan wanted: “an open door to the world” and “the righteous conquest of foreign markets”
j. JP Morgan lent much to the British cause
k. the industrialists spoke as if everyone benefitted from Morgan’s loans
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Midterm Review, The Context of W.E.B. Dubois Thoughts On The Status Of Blacks In The Early 1900s
Explain the context of W. E. B. Dubois’ thoughts on the status of African Americans in the early 20th century:
“The problem of the color line is still with us.” -Dubois, p. 23
a. not working as hard was a form of resistance, p. 171
b. Dubois described John Brown’s behavior, p. 181
c. if blacks stopped working, the Confederacy would starve, p. 188
d. Dubois believed a “new capitalism” included “enslavement” and “bribery”, whites were also becoming slaves, p. 205
e. working through a Marxist lens, Dubois was more likely to think in economic terms as opposed to racial terms. He was concerned about exploitation by the “capitalist classes” as opposed to solely just exploitation by the white race of the black race.
f. “vast capital held a dictatorship over the ballot.”, p. 205
g. black workers made 1/3 of the earnings of white workers
h. Samuel Gompers, head of the AFL made speeches about “a belief in equal opportunity” while the Negro was excluded from most AFL unions
i. the Negro needs to think in terms of class relations: “The net result of all this has been to convince the American Negro that his greatest enemy is not the employer who robs him, but his fellow workingman.”(321)
j. racism was practical for the AFL, the exclusion of women & foreigners was also practical
k. AFL officials drew large salaries and moved into high society
l. socialists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists formed the Industrial Workers of the World under Big Bill Haywood, a leader of the Western Federation of Miners
m. Eugene Debs, Mother Mary Jones-organizer for the United Mine Workers of America
n. Dubois, “Niagara Movement,” (1905)
o. “The Souls Of Black Folk,”
p. Dubois was a Socialist sympathizer
q. “We refuse to allow the impression to remain that the Negro-American assents to inferiority, is submissive under oppression and apologetic before insults. Through helplessness we may submit, but the voice of protest of ten million Americans must never cease to assail the ears of their fellows so long as America is unjust,”(340)
r. 1910, a race riot in Springfield, Illiois prompted the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Dubois was the only black officer
s. the NAACP: focus on legal action & education
t. “persistent manly agitation is the way to liberty,”(341)
u. Dubois said “Whence comes this new wealth? It comes primarily from the darker nations of the world-Asia and Africa, South & Central America, the West Indies, and the islands of the South Seas.”(354)
v. “American capitalism needed international rivalry-and periodic war-to create an artificial community of interest between rich and poor, supplanting the general community of interest among the poor that showed itself in sporadic movements.”(354)
w. “The Negro was not as anti-Communist as the white population.”(439)
y. “The black militant mood, flashing here and there in the thirties was reduced to a subsurface simmering during World War II, when the nation on the one hand denounced racism, and on the other hand maintained segregation in the armed forces and kept blacks in low paying jobs.” (44)
“The problem of the color line is still with us.” -Dubois, p. 23
a. not working as hard was a form of resistance, p. 171
b. Dubois described John Brown’s behavior, p. 181
c. if blacks stopped working, the Confederacy would starve, p. 188
d. Dubois believed a “new capitalism” included “enslavement” and “bribery”, whites were also becoming slaves, p. 205
e. working through a Marxist lens, Dubois was more likely to think in economic terms as opposed to racial terms. He was concerned about exploitation by the “capitalist classes” as opposed to solely just exploitation by the white race of the black race.
f. “vast capital held a dictatorship over the ballot.”, p. 205
g. black workers made 1/3 of the earnings of white workers
h. Samuel Gompers, head of the AFL made speeches about “a belief in equal opportunity” while the Negro was excluded from most AFL unions
i. the Negro needs to think in terms of class relations: “The net result of all this has been to convince the American Negro that his greatest enemy is not the employer who robs him, but his fellow workingman.”(321)
j. racism was practical for the AFL, the exclusion of women & foreigners was also practical
k. AFL officials drew large salaries and moved into high society
l. socialists, anarchists, and radical trade unionists formed the Industrial Workers of the World under Big Bill Haywood, a leader of the Western Federation of Miners
m. Eugene Debs, Mother Mary Jones-organizer for the United Mine Workers of America
n. Dubois, “Niagara Movement,” (1905)
o. “The Souls Of Black Folk,”
p. Dubois was a Socialist sympathizer
q. “We refuse to allow the impression to remain that the Negro-American assents to inferiority, is submissive under oppression and apologetic before insults. Through helplessness we may submit, but the voice of protest of ten million Americans must never cease to assail the ears of their fellows so long as America is unjust,”(340)
r. 1910, a race riot in Springfield, Illiois prompted the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Dubois was the only black officer
s. the NAACP: focus on legal action & education
t. “persistent manly agitation is the way to liberty,”(341)
u. Dubois said “Whence comes this new wealth? It comes primarily from the darker nations of the world-Asia and Africa, South & Central America, the West Indies, and the islands of the South Seas.”(354)
v. “American capitalism needed international rivalry-and periodic war-to create an artificial community of interest between rich and poor, supplanting the general community of interest among the poor that showed itself in sporadic movements.”(354)
w. “The Negro was not as anti-Communist as the white population.”(439)
y. “The black militant mood, flashing here and there in the thirties was reduced to a subsurface simmering during World War II, when the nation on the one hand denounced racism, and on the other hand maintained segregation in the armed forces and kept blacks in low paying jobs.” (44)
On The Edge, p. 86-103
On The Edge, 86-103
Neutrality & The European Crisis
- a. 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Hapsburg prince was assassinated by Slavic nationalists
- b. the Allies: Britain, France, Russia
- c. the Central Powers: Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire
- d. Wilson proclaimed a policy of neutrality
- e. 1890s, US foreign policy leaders saw Germany, not Britain as the greatest potential threat to national security because of commercial competition in Latin America & Asia
- f. the US & Britain were linked with strong cultural ties, the Anglo-Protestant officials of the State departments got along
- g. Wilson admired the British people & their institutions
- h. the Japanese had thwarted US efforts to invest private capital in major railroad projects in China & Manchuria
- i. US financiers offered huge loans to Britain & France
- j. 1917, 2.5B in loans to Britain & France
- k. Republican leaders warned Wilson to develop the US military
- l. US would need to provide leadership in forging a peace settlement based on international cooperation & free trade
- m. Britain & Germany tried to impose blockades on one another
- n. Washington did not challenge the British blockade of the North Sea, curbing neutral trade with Germany
- o. the British blockade, conventional naval warfare, few civilian casualties
- p. Germans used U-boats/submarines, weapon of stealth, great loss of US property, numerous civilian casualties
- q. Britain controlled the only transatlantic cable, the Allies determined war news to USA
- s. Germany was portrayed as an “outlaw nation,”, Germans were depicted as “Huns,” savages who severed the hands of Belgian babies & raped women
- t. Wilson believed merchants had the right to profit in war zones
- u. the Lusitania, a British passenger liner was sunk by a German submarine
- v. Sec. of State Bryan resigned from office,
- w. the McLemore Resolution, warned US citizens not to travel to Europe
- y. Wilson would not limit the rights of neutral nations
- z. 1915, Germans promised not to attack passenger ships but attacked armed British merchant vessels
- 1. a submarine sent a torpedo into the Sussex, an unarmed French passenger ship
The Coming of War, p. 90
- a. Wilson mobilized the armed forces
- b. 1903, state militias were placed under federal control
- c. 1916, the ROTC Reserve Of Officer’s Training Corps were placed on the nation’s college campuses
- d. the Revenue Act of 1916, major income & inheritance tax was imposed
- e. 1916, most US citizens wanted to remain at peace
- f. Jane Addams, against intervention, didn’t want to divert funds from domestic reform
- g. the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace successfully urged Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson to sign arbitration treaties with the major powers, agreements with all except Germany
- h. midwestern & western farmers & business interests: preached nonintervention
- i. the Nonpartisan League, 220,000 members
- j. Wilson sent Col. Edward House to negotiate between the two sides
- k. 1915, neither side would negotiate a peace
- l. 1916, Wilson invited the countries to negotiate a peace
- m. Germany wanted Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, and the Belgian Congo
- n. the Allies wanted Germany to withdraw from Belgium, to return Alsace-Lorraine to France & substantial monetary compensation
- o. Wilson wanted freedom of the seas, military disarmament, and international cooperation
- p. Germans decided to resume unrestricted submarine warfare
- q. Wilson severed diplomatic relations with Germany
- r. the Armed Ship bill, authorized the arming of merchant ships
- s. released the Zimmerman note, a secret German message intercepted by the British
- t. Mexico was encouraged to attack north of the border if the US entered the war
- u. Germany offered to help Mexico recover Texas, New Mexico & Arizona
- v. March 1917, the czar was overthrown in Russia, a constitutional government was installed
- w. April, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war, 3 more US merchant ships had been sunk
- y. antimilitarists in the South + noninterventionists in the West opposed the war
- z. La Follette believed the war would only benefit bankers & arms manufacturers
The Doughboys & Military Victory
- a. frustrating stalemate, enormous casualties
- b. Russia couldn’t hold the eastern front
- c. German submarines were disrupting British supplies
- d. Wilson wanted a selective service act
- e. 3M soldiers were drafted
- f. women served in the Army Nursing Corp
- g. Gen. John Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
- h. the AEF was supposed to be independent of British & French command to preserve US bargaining power in postwar negotiations
- i. only 40% of the AEF’s supplies came from the US
- j. Germany mounted a spring offensive in 1918
- k. French Gen. Ferdinand Foch was appointed
- l. US troops arrived at Chateau-Thierry & Belleau Wood in time to engage in trench warfare
- m. 1918, the Allies mounted a counteroffensive, US troops pushed the Germans out of the St. Mihiel salient
- n. 1M doughboys participated in the Allied drive along a 200mi front through the Argonne Forest
- o. 47 days, Germans were forced to seek a ceasefire, the imperial government dissolved
- p. Nov, 11, 1918: end of war, 1.8M Germans dead, 1.7M Russians dead (Allies), 1.4M French dead, 947,000 British dead
- q. 20M Europeans were wounded, US fatalities: 112,432
- r. the US helped secure the North Atlantic sea lanes against the submarine and allowed men and supplies to be shipped to the front
- s. AEF soldiers sustained Allied morale & tipped the balance of power
- t. Pres. Wilson was positioned to influence a lasting European settlement
George Creel
- a. chaired the Committee on Public Information (CPI)
- b. 1st government propaganda firm in US history, “advertising,” “public relations,”
- c. wanted to 1) improve public services, 2) protect workers, 3) make the political process more responsive to middle class interests
- d. organized public rallies & parades to support the military effort & the sale of government war bonds
- e. 75,000 speakers & millions of pamphlets were distributed
- f. The Prussian Czar & The Kaiser: The Beast Of Berlin, portrayed Germans as villains and Americans as virtuous
- g. persuaded the press to engage in voluntary censorship
- h. Wilson was portrayed as a hero
- i. wanted cultural conformity & political unity
- j. hated cultural pluralism of immigrants
- k. other languages besides English were “unpatriotic,”
- l. 1920 How We Advertised America, memoir, celebrated advertising and public relations to create a mass society with a uniform set of values
- m. class, sectional, and selfish interests had to be homogenized
- 96
Organizing For Victory
- a. immense mobilization of economic & human resources
- b. $32B war
- c. $23B from bonds, new taxes on “excess profits,” high incomes, and luxuries
- d. the War Industries Board set production goals for corporations in war industries
- e. financier Bernard Baruch, led WIB, promoted 1) price fixing, 2) collusive bidding, 3) guaranteed profits,
- f. 1917 law, corporate advertising became a tax-deductible expense, a public subsidy that endures
- g. Herbert Hoover: mining engineer > public servant
- h. the Food Administration oversaw agricultural production & distribution
- i. agricultural income, up 30%
- j. domestic, military, and foreign consumers were supplied
- k. the Fuel Administration distributed coal to citizens & defense plants
- l. the Railroad Administration provided central management of a private system owned by several companies
- m. 1918, the Webb-Pomerene Act of 1918, authorized corporations to coordinate price & marketing policies in overseas trade
- n. 1919, the Edge Act allowed bankers to cooperate to control investments abroad
- o. the reduction of immigrants > higher wages & collective bargaining
- p. the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organized workers in mining, logging, agriculture
- q. Samuel Gompers saw an opportunity to calm labor wars, worked with the War Labor Board (WLB) to obtain labor’s goals of 1) better wages, 2) shorter hours, 3) increased union membership, 4) an a voice in shaping government policy
- r. Wilson created the US Employment service: placed 4 M workers in war-related jobs
- s. union membership doubled to 5M
- t. the cost of living doubled, ate up increases in wages
- u. proposals for federal pensions and unemployment did not occur because they were considered socialist
- v. the IWW Wobblies faced prison for opposing the war
- w. AFl made no attempt to recruit black labor or protect temporary worker’s rights
- y. unions didn’t welcome women workers
- z. unions wanted women to give up their jobs in factories after the war
Gender & Race In Wartime, p. 98
- a. more opportunities for both women & racial minorities
- b. women helped in the Army Nurse’s Corp, the Red Cross or as civilian employees overseas
- c. some middle class women helped with the Food Administration
- d. Carrie Chapman Catt & Anna Howard Shaw joined the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense
- e. anarchist Emma Goldman & socialists Kate Richards O’Hare & Rose Pastor Stokes went to jail for political dissent
- f. Jane Addams, pacifist, founded the Woman’s Peace Party in 1915 was effectively silenced
- g. needed a sober workforce
- h. 1917, the 18th amendment, ended the sale of alcoholic beverages
- i. the government provided troops with regular medical exams and venereal disease info
- j. 35,000 women were put in detention centers on prostitution charges
- k. Alice Paul, women should have the right to vote, force-fed in jail because of hunger strikes
- l. 1919, the 19th amendment, women gained the right to vote, 2x the citizens eligible to vote
- m. 400,000 blacks joined the army
- n. blacks mostly received noncombat assignments like stevedores & road builders-strenuous labor
- o. officers were mostly white
- p. the NAACP promoted black combat units & created a black officer’s training camp
- q. blacks fought as part of the French army
- r. steel production, meatpacking: new opportunities in northern centers
- s. half of blacks from southern farms moved to northern and western cities
- t. W. E. B. Dubois supported the war in an effort to improve the position of blacks
- u. 1915, the Supreme Court agreed to overturn the grandfather clause in southern voting laws
- v. blacks were accepted as social & sexual equals in France
- w. 1919, race riots in 25 US cities, southerners lynched blacks in uniforms
- y. riots: whites felt blacks were taking their jobs & ruining their neighborhoods
The War Against Dissent,
- a. George Creel headed the Committee on Public Information (CPI), the 1st government propaganda agency
- b. employed 150,000 people
- c. distributed 75M pieces of literature & appointed 75,000 “Four Minute Men” to give patriotic speeches @ public gatherings
- d. Charles Chaplan, Douglas Fairbanks & Mary Pickford were chosen to sell war bonds @ public rallies
- e. the National Security League, drew its members from the academic community
- f. Randolph Bourne wrote “war is the health of the state”
- g. Eugene Debs believed the war was a defense of transatlantic capitalism & condemned Wilson’s attack on civil liberties
- h. socialists labeled the war a “crime against humanity,” won 30% of the vote in 1917 municipal elections in Chicago, Dayton, Toledo & Buffalo
- i. Oklahoma: sharecroppers & tenant farmers refused to be drafted
- j. 1918, Debb’s antiwar speech @ the Socialist Party convention brought him a 10 year prison sentence
- k. antiwar sentiment was strong in the Midwest: 1) resistance of bond drives, 2) food pledge campaigns were ignored, 3) many evaded conscription
- l. Robert La Follette, William Borah (ID), and S. representatives opposed compulsory military service, Follette wasn’t dismissed from the Senate after a vote, the faculty of U. Wisconsin condemned his behavior
- m. pressure for conformity
- n. 1917, Congress added a literacy test for new immigrants, overrode the presidential veto
- o. Wilson signed immigration laws that permitted authorities to deport aliens who belonged to revolutionary organizations
- p. the Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited any action that might be construed as aiding the enemy or discouraging military service
- q. the postmaster general could exclude “treasonable” publications from the mail
- r. Debbs was imprisoned, the government banned the mailing of Socialist periodicals
- s. Robert Goldstein received a 10 year sentence for showing British soldiers attacking US civilians during the Revolutionary War
- t. radicals & pacifists were persecuted by the government
- u. p. 102
- v. troops broke IWW strikes in Washington & Montana, 165 IWW leaders were arrested for organizing workers in lumber, mining, and farm industries
- w. 1919, Schenck case, the Supreme Court ruled that the protection of free speech did not apply during wartime
- y. the Court could deny free speech when a “clear and present danger” existed to public safety and national security
- z. the Espionage Act: Eugene Debs jailed for saying a “master” class made wars while the “subject class fought them.”
- a. a man in Indiana was shot for saying “To hell with the US.”
- b. 1917, IWW copper miners went on strike in Bisbee, Arizona, a local sheriff treated the 1,200 Mexican Americans as subversives & used vigilantes to deport them to the desert south of the border
- c. the American Protective League (APL) federal agents could spy on neighbors & monitor nonconformists
- d. German Americans faced special harassment
- e. German language publications, German language couldn’t be taught, German speakers were attacked
- f. German Americans were denounced as “Huns”
The League Of Nations & A New World Order, p. 103
- a. US involvement in WWI, a step toward a stable international order
- b. a new Soviet Union was formed after the 2nd Russian Revolution in 1917: the Communist/Bolshevik Party came to power
- c. Bolsheviks called for peace through international socialist revolution
- d. 14 Points: disarmament, freedom of the seas, open diplomacy, self-determination for colonized nations, a League of Nations to enforce the new world order
- e. 1919, Versailles Peace Conference
- f. Prime Minister David Lloyd George & French Premier Georges Clemenceau were reluctant to abandon their demands for national security & economic compensation
- g. Bolshevik leader V. I. Lenin declared “the future of the industrial world belonged to socialism,”: capitalists would continue to fight wars among themselves as they competed for overseas markets & raw materials until the working class took control & instituted a cooperative global system
- h. a communist world order: inconsistent with Wilson’s ideal of an international market economy built on democratic freedoms
- i. the president sought to contain revolution in Russia
- j. 1918, the President ordered US troops to Russia to join military attachments from France, Britain & Japan, foreign forces occupied N. Russia & Siberia until June 1919 and occupied Manchuria until April 1920
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
On The Edge, 70-75, 79-86
On The Edge, 70-75, 79-86
Taft & The Progressives
1. William Howard Taft assumes the Presidency after Roosevelt leaves
a. Taft had served as governor general in the Philippines
b. William Jennings Bryan ran as a Democrat for a third time, slogan: “Will the people rule?”
c. Bryan embraced a direct primary, popular election of US Senators, a graduated income tax, federal licensing of corporations, federal guarantees of bank deposits, campaign finance reform, & women’s suffrage
d. Taft, won 52% to 43%
e. Taft, 300lbs, played golf,
f. the Department of Justice continued antitrust activity
g. the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Commerce & Labor was created
h. offered confused & unproductive leadership
i. 1909, Taft wanted a moderate reduction of the high Dingley Tariff of 1897
j. accepted the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, raised rates on manufactured goods, threatened crop exports
k. James Garfield, Roosevelt’s conservation minded sec. of the interior was replaced with Western corporate attorney Richard Ballinger
l. Pinchot organized the National Conservation Association to protest such policies, Taft fired him, Ballinger resigned the next year
m. House Speaker Joe Cannon, staunch conservative with dictatorial powers
n. Roosevelt had insisted moral issues were involved with US interventions
o. Taft & Sec. of State Philander C. Knox hoped to minimize European influence in Latin America by encouraging US investment in the region
p. Taft advocated “dollar diplomacy,” a foreign policy that put the Dept. of State, War, and the Navy at the disposal of business interests
q. troops were sent in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti
r. progressives wanted a federal income tax, income taxes had been repealed in the early 1870s
s. enough states ratified the income tax provision to enable it to become the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913
t. 1910, Democrats gained 10 Senate seats
u. 1912, investigation of the nation’s financial & banking resources
v. the Pujo Committee exposed the interlocking interests of Morgan & Rockefeller
w. 1913, U.S. senators were selected by popular vote instead of by state legislatures
x. “The Promise of American Life,”(1909), Herbert Croly: corporations were necessary, overseas markets were necessary, a federal safety net for working people administered by trained professionals should be implemented
y. “New Nationalism,” the executive branch of the government should be a steward of the public welfare, corporations should be regulated as a matter of national interest, real democracy should triumph
The Election Of 1912
a.Roosevelt began to distance himself from Taft
b. Taft made Roosevelt appear to be a tool of Wall Street
c. Roosevelt decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency
d. 1912, Roosevelt “threw his hat in the ring.”
e. President Taft represented industrialists, bankers, and party loyalists who favored high tariffs and a minimum of government interference in the economy
f. Robert La Follette, founded the National Progressive League, an anti-corporate progressive, a) appealed to small businesspeople and independent farmers, b) promoted legislation to curb trusts, 3) wanted the initiative, referendum, and direct primary
g. Roosevelt, embraced corporate progressivism: corporations needed to be offset by government agencies working to ensure social justice
h. most of Republican leadership supported Taft
i. Roosevelt got backing from newspaper publisher Frank A. Munsey and Morgan partner George W. Perkins, created the Progressive Party
j. popular California governor Hiram W. Johnson was the Progressive Party vice presidential candidate
Progressive Platform
1. federal regulatory agencies
2. prohibition of child labor
3. 8 hour day
4. democratic reforms: women’s suffrage, popular election of Senators
a. social worker Jane Addams and journalists Walter Lippman and Herbert Croly supported Roosevelt
b. Democrats united behind New Jersey reform governor Woodrow Wilson, made his career in the North, had a PhD in government from John Hopkins, became president of Princeton.
c. Wilson, strong record of progressive reform
d. Wilson: a) agrarian/small business reformers, lower tariffs, banking reform, dismantling of unfair, inefficient trusts, urban progressives, labor activists
e. the Socialist Party also competed
f. Eugene Debs endorsed 1) unemployment insurance & 2) old-age pensions, 3) government ownership of railroads, grain elevators, mines and banks, 5) single term presidency, 6) elimination of the Senate, 7) removal of judicial review
g. Debs won 6% of the popular vote
h. Taft: 23% of the ballot, Roosevelt 27%, Wilson: 42%
i. Wilson, 2nd Democrat to win the White House since the 1850s
j. voters were concerned that concentration of wealth threatened personal autonomy and needed by monitored by an activist government
79-86
Wilsonian Reform & Global Order, 1912-1920
1. Wilson was a legislative activist
a. developed detailed programs & provided executive leadership in Congress
b. accepted the importance of big corporations
c. sought to regulate corporations
d. fulfilled many progressive promises in his domestic program
e. continued the Open Door policy of the 1890s
f. won with the reformist slogan, “New Freedom,” Wilson wanted to promote the “public interest.”
g. admired the British parliamentary system, believed a president should take a vigorous role in leading his party and securing legislation
h. addressed Congress in person (like John Adams)
i. installed a private telephone linking the White House with the Capital, dispatched lobbyists to gain support for his administration initiatives
j. Wilson used patronage to reward backers & punish opponents
k. held news conferences
l. called for a downward revision of the tariff
m. passed the Underwood-Simmons Act of 1913, the 1st significant tariff reform since before the Civil War
n. income tax, wealthy people had to pay a larger income tax
o. only 2% of the workforce had to file returns
p. 1916, 9% of the government budget came from income tax
q. Wilson kept Congress in session to consider banking reform
r. Louis Brandeis wrote “Other People’s Money & How Bankers Use It,” which criticized the concentration of financial resources
s. Robert La Follette, an anti-corporate progressive wanted the government to control the new banking system
t. Virginia’s Senator Cater Glass wanted to decentralize & rationalize the financial apparatus & leave authority with private lenders
u. Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
v. 12 Federal Reserve banks were created to represent the nation’s geographic regions
w. the Federal Reserve provided reserves to cover local financial crises and created coordinated check clearance procedures
y. Wilson pushed for the Clayton Antitrust Act
z. a trust is an arrangement to get rid of competition
1. the Federal Trade Commission, conducted investigations and issued restraining orders to prevent “unfair trade practices.”
2. most of Wilson’s FTC appointments were corporate attorneys
Wilson & The Liberal State
a. Wilson was a leader of a minority party
b. Wilson viewed the White House as a neutral broker among the economy’s organized interests
c. the Clayton Act exempted labor unions & agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution & restricted the use of court injunctions against union activities
d. 1916: 1) laws to improve the conditions of merchant seaman, 2) to regulate child labor, 3) to provide worker’s compensation for federal employees
e. the Adamson Act was approved, reduced the workday to 8 hours for railroad employees
f. created a federal highway bill
g. signed the Rural Credits Act of 1916, subsidized credit banks
h. an agricultural extension service was created
i. Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court,
j. ordered segregation of federal employees
k. praised D.W. Griffith’s racist film, “Birth Of A Nation,”
l. didn’t sympathize with the suffragist movement, believed in state legislation for it
m. Charles Evans Hughes was nominated by Republicans
n. Wilson adopted the slogan, “peace, prosperity, and progressivism,”
o. close contest, Wilson only won 49.4% of the popular vote
Louis Dembitz Brandeis,
a. studied economics, sociology
b. defended working people against corporate power
c. became a millionaire at fifty
d. upset about the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892
e. representatives from the state of Oregon challenged the 10 hour workday limit for women, used sociological data to support his ideas.
f. a political independent
g. supported La Follette and Wilson
h. believed the banking system should be under the control of the federal government, not banking interests
i. helped draft the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
j. had a reputation as a radical
k. served on the bench for 23 years
l. believed in government regulations & social justice legislation
Intervention In Latin America, p. 86-87
a. foreign markets were needed for domestic prosperity, supposedly...
b. a low-tariff policy increased foreign trade
c. amendments to the Federal Reserve Act stimulated investment overseas
d. 1900-1914: exports doubled to $3 mil, foreign investment: 3x to $3 billion
e. military force-might be used to sustain moral values in Latin America
f. intervention could promote “democracy, stability, order, & constitutional government,”
g. Wilson & Sec. of State William Jennings Bryan were against “dollar diplomacy,”
h. troops were sent to Cuba, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua
i. Wilson sent troops to Haiti, US gained control of the country’s finances, public works, army & foreign relations
j. 1916, Wilson told Denmark to sell the Virgin Islands to the US or have them seized by US forces
k. 1911, democratic forces began a revolution in Mexico
l. 1913, General Victoriano Huerta led a successful counterrevolution
m. US support was placed behind General Venustiano Carranza,
n. Wilson ordered the US navy to seize the Mexican port of Vera Cruz to prevent Huerta from receiving arms
o. Carranza couldn’t stop the chaotic fighting
p. Wilson turned to Gen. Francisco Villa: charismatic bandit & revolutionary reformer
q. Wilson placed Gen. John Pershing in command of a punitive expedition
r. Pershing led 7,000 US soldiers into Mexico
s. President Carranza demanded that Washington respect Mexican sovereignty
t. Wilson called off the futile mission in 1917
u. the US became increasingly concerned with Europe’s actions
Taft & The Progressives
1. William Howard Taft assumes the Presidency after Roosevelt leaves
a. Taft had served as governor general in the Philippines
b. William Jennings Bryan ran as a Democrat for a third time, slogan: “Will the people rule?”
c. Bryan embraced a direct primary, popular election of US Senators, a graduated income tax, federal licensing of corporations, federal guarantees of bank deposits, campaign finance reform, & women’s suffrage
d. Taft, won 52% to 43%
e. Taft, 300lbs, played golf,
f. the Department of Justice continued antitrust activity
g. the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Commerce & Labor was created
h. offered confused & unproductive leadership
i. 1909, Taft wanted a moderate reduction of the high Dingley Tariff of 1897
j. accepted the Payne-Aldrich Tariff, raised rates on manufactured goods, threatened crop exports
k. James Garfield, Roosevelt’s conservation minded sec. of the interior was replaced with Western corporate attorney Richard Ballinger
l. Pinchot organized the National Conservation Association to protest such policies, Taft fired him, Ballinger resigned the next year
m. House Speaker Joe Cannon, staunch conservative with dictatorial powers
n. Roosevelt had insisted moral issues were involved with US interventions
o. Taft & Sec. of State Philander C. Knox hoped to minimize European influence in Latin America by encouraging US investment in the region
p. Taft advocated “dollar diplomacy,” a foreign policy that put the Dept. of State, War, and the Navy at the disposal of business interests
q. troops were sent in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti
r. progressives wanted a federal income tax, income taxes had been repealed in the early 1870s
s. enough states ratified the income tax provision to enable it to become the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913
t. 1910, Democrats gained 10 Senate seats
u. 1912, investigation of the nation’s financial & banking resources
v. the Pujo Committee exposed the interlocking interests of Morgan & Rockefeller
w. 1913, U.S. senators were selected by popular vote instead of by state legislatures
x. “The Promise of American Life,”(1909), Herbert Croly: corporations were necessary, overseas markets were necessary, a federal safety net for working people administered by trained professionals should be implemented
y. “New Nationalism,” the executive branch of the government should be a steward of the public welfare, corporations should be regulated as a matter of national interest, real democracy should triumph
The Election Of 1912
a.Roosevelt began to distance himself from Taft
b. Taft made Roosevelt appear to be a tool of Wall Street
c. Roosevelt decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency
d. 1912, Roosevelt “threw his hat in the ring.”
e. President Taft represented industrialists, bankers, and party loyalists who favored high tariffs and a minimum of government interference in the economy
f. Robert La Follette, founded the National Progressive League, an anti-corporate progressive, a) appealed to small businesspeople and independent farmers, b) promoted legislation to curb trusts, 3) wanted the initiative, referendum, and direct primary
g. Roosevelt, embraced corporate progressivism: corporations needed to be offset by government agencies working to ensure social justice
h. most of Republican leadership supported Taft
i. Roosevelt got backing from newspaper publisher Frank A. Munsey and Morgan partner George W. Perkins, created the Progressive Party
j. popular California governor Hiram W. Johnson was the Progressive Party vice presidential candidate
Progressive Platform
1. federal regulatory agencies
2. prohibition of child labor
3. 8 hour day
4. democratic reforms: women’s suffrage, popular election of Senators
a. social worker Jane Addams and journalists Walter Lippman and Herbert Croly supported Roosevelt
b. Democrats united behind New Jersey reform governor Woodrow Wilson, made his career in the North, had a PhD in government from John Hopkins, became president of Princeton.
c. Wilson, strong record of progressive reform
d. Wilson: a) agrarian/small business reformers, lower tariffs, banking reform, dismantling of unfair, inefficient trusts, urban progressives, labor activists
e. the Socialist Party also competed
f. Eugene Debs endorsed 1) unemployment insurance & 2) old-age pensions, 3) government ownership of railroads, grain elevators, mines and banks, 5) single term presidency, 6) elimination of the Senate, 7) removal of judicial review
g. Debs won 6% of the popular vote
h. Taft: 23% of the ballot, Roosevelt 27%, Wilson: 42%
i. Wilson, 2nd Democrat to win the White House since the 1850s
j. voters were concerned that concentration of wealth threatened personal autonomy and needed by monitored by an activist government
79-86
Wilsonian Reform & Global Order, 1912-1920
1. Wilson was a legislative activist
a. developed detailed programs & provided executive leadership in Congress
b. accepted the importance of big corporations
c. sought to regulate corporations
d. fulfilled many progressive promises in his domestic program
e. continued the Open Door policy of the 1890s
f. won with the reformist slogan, “New Freedom,” Wilson wanted to promote the “public interest.”
g. admired the British parliamentary system, believed a president should take a vigorous role in leading his party and securing legislation
h. addressed Congress in person (like John Adams)
i. installed a private telephone linking the White House with the Capital, dispatched lobbyists to gain support for his administration initiatives
j. Wilson used patronage to reward backers & punish opponents
k. held news conferences
l. called for a downward revision of the tariff
m. passed the Underwood-Simmons Act of 1913, the 1st significant tariff reform since before the Civil War
n. income tax, wealthy people had to pay a larger income tax
o. only 2% of the workforce had to file returns
p. 1916, 9% of the government budget came from income tax
q. Wilson kept Congress in session to consider banking reform
r. Louis Brandeis wrote “Other People’s Money & How Bankers Use It,” which criticized the concentration of financial resources
s. Robert La Follette, an anti-corporate progressive wanted the government to control the new banking system
t. Virginia’s Senator Cater Glass wanted to decentralize & rationalize the financial apparatus & leave authority with private lenders
u. Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
v. 12 Federal Reserve banks were created to represent the nation’s geographic regions
w. the Federal Reserve provided reserves to cover local financial crises and created coordinated check clearance procedures
y. Wilson pushed for the Clayton Antitrust Act
z. a trust is an arrangement to get rid of competition
1. the Federal Trade Commission, conducted investigations and issued restraining orders to prevent “unfair trade practices.”
2. most of Wilson’s FTC appointments were corporate attorneys
Wilson & The Liberal State
a. Wilson was a leader of a minority party
b. Wilson viewed the White House as a neutral broker among the economy’s organized interests
c. the Clayton Act exempted labor unions & agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution & restricted the use of court injunctions against union activities
d. 1916: 1) laws to improve the conditions of merchant seaman, 2) to regulate child labor, 3) to provide worker’s compensation for federal employees
e. the Adamson Act was approved, reduced the workday to 8 hours for railroad employees
f. created a federal highway bill
g. signed the Rural Credits Act of 1916, subsidized credit banks
h. an agricultural extension service was created
i. Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court,
j. ordered segregation of federal employees
k. praised D.W. Griffith’s racist film, “Birth Of A Nation,”
l. didn’t sympathize with the suffragist movement, believed in state legislation for it
m. Charles Evans Hughes was nominated by Republicans
n. Wilson adopted the slogan, “peace, prosperity, and progressivism,”
o. close contest, Wilson only won 49.4% of the popular vote
Louis Dembitz Brandeis,
a. studied economics, sociology
b. defended working people against corporate power
c. became a millionaire at fifty
d. upset about the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892
e. representatives from the state of Oregon challenged the 10 hour workday limit for women, used sociological data to support his ideas.
f. a political independent
g. supported La Follette and Wilson
h. believed the banking system should be under the control of the federal government, not banking interests
i. helped draft the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
j. had a reputation as a radical
k. served on the bench for 23 years
l. believed in government regulations & social justice legislation
Intervention In Latin America, p. 86-87
a. foreign markets were needed for domestic prosperity, supposedly...
b. a low-tariff policy increased foreign trade
c. amendments to the Federal Reserve Act stimulated investment overseas
d. 1900-1914: exports doubled to $3 mil, foreign investment: 3x to $3 billion
e. military force-might be used to sustain moral values in Latin America
f. intervention could promote “democracy, stability, order, & constitutional government,”
g. Wilson & Sec. of State William Jennings Bryan were against “dollar diplomacy,”
h. troops were sent to Cuba, Santo Domingo, Nicaragua
i. Wilson sent troops to Haiti, US gained control of the country’s finances, public works, army & foreign relations
j. 1916, Wilson told Denmark to sell the Virgin Islands to the US or have them seized by US forces
k. 1911, democratic forces began a revolution in Mexico
l. 1913, General Victoriano Huerta led a successful counterrevolution
m. US support was placed behind General Venustiano Carranza,
n. Wilson ordered the US navy to seize the Mexican port of Vera Cruz to prevent Huerta from receiving arms
o. Carranza couldn’t stop the chaotic fighting
p. Wilson turned to Gen. Francisco Villa: charismatic bandit & revolutionary reformer
q. Wilson placed Gen. John Pershing in command of a punitive expedition
r. Pershing led 7,000 US soldiers into Mexico
s. President Carranza demanded that Washington respect Mexican sovereignty
t. Wilson called off the futile mission in 1917
u. the US became increasingly concerned with Europe’s actions
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Robert M. LaFolette and the Insurgent Spirit, David P. Thelen, 1976
Robert M. LaFolette and the Insurgent Spirit, David P. Thelen, 1976
a. January 4, 1906: Senator John Coit Spooner represented “old politics”
b. La Folette, represented “new politics”
c. different philosophies were struggling to control the Republican Party
d. the atmosphere of Washington was worried that LaFolette would “rock the boat”
e. 1906, people were looking to President Teddy Roosevelt for reform
f. Roosevelt gave “bully pulpits” which condemned the class that widened the gap between the rich & the poor
g. Roosevelt promoted corporate regulation, labor regulations, conservation
h. 1905, 5 Senators were convicted or involved in fraud or insurance scandals
i. 1899, Hearst’s magazine “Cosmopolitan” promoted direct election of senators
j. 1906, Hearst publishes “The Treason of the Senate,”: consumers, taxpayers and citizens were being abused/defrauded
k. Senators needed to resist/challenge powerful corporate interests
l. Americans needed to elect senators that would challenge the status quo and get rid of the corporate traitors
m. LaFolette was on an influential Indian Affairs Committee but decided to expose gouging of oil & coal consumers by monopolies, & introduced a resolution to ensure lower prices for consumers
n. April, 19, 1906: have a 148 page speech, other senators left
o. the people watching witnessed his condemnation of other senators as traitors
p. wanted the government to protect consumers
q. the organized rich received special privileges that defied the “natural law of trade and commerce.”
r. property acquired by special privilege is robbery
s. the thief can have no vested rights in stolen property
t. the promotion of community discipline is patriotic
u. the government might need to nationalize the railroads
v. ethics 1) love of competition (capitalist) & love of community (preindustrial)
a. January 4, 1906: Senator John Coit Spooner represented “old politics”
b. La Folette, represented “new politics”
c. different philosophies were struggling to control the Republican Party
d. the atmosphere of Washington was worried that LaFolette would “rock the boat”
e. 1906, people were looking to President Teddy Roosevelt for reform
f. Roosevelt gave “bully pulpits” which condemned the class that widened the gap between the rich & the poor
g. Roosevelt promoted corporate regulation, labor regulations, conservation
h. 1905, 5 Senators were convicted or involved in fraud or insurance scandals
i. 1899, Hearst’s magazine “Cosmopolitan” promoted direct election of senators
j. 1906, Hearst publishes “The Treason of the Senate,”: consumers, taxpayers and citizens were being abused/defrauded
k. Senators needed to resist/challenge powerful corporate interests
l. Americans needed to elect senators that would challenge the status quo and get rid of the corporate traitors
m. LaFolette was on an influential Indian Affairs Committee but decided to expose gouging of oil & coal consumers by monopolies, & introduced a resolution to ensure lower prices for consumers
n. April, 19, 1906: have a 148 page speech, other senators left
o. the people watching witnessed his condemnation of other senators as traitors
p. wanted the government to protect consumers
q. the organized rich received special privileges that defied the “natural law of trade and commerce.”
r. property acquired by special privilege is robbery
s. the thief can have no vested rights in stolen property
t. the promotion of community discipline is patriotic
u. the government might need to nationalize the railroads
v. ethics 1) love of competition (capitalist) & love of community (preindustrial)
McClure’s Magazine, January, 1903, “The Shame Of Minneapolis,”
McClure’s Magazine, January, 1903, “The Shame Of Minneapolis,”
a. political parties are instruments of bosses
b. bosses rule the people as autocrats
c. Tammany Hall, Democrats in NY, a Republican machine rules Philadelphia
d. bosses have control of more than 1/2 of the voters
e. St. Louis & Minneapolis are especially corrupt
f. Col. Ed. Butler corrupted St. Louis
g. “Doc” Ames corrupted Minneapolis
a. political parties are instruments of bosses
b. bosses rule the people as autocrats
c. Tammany Hall, Democrats in NY, a Republican machine rules Philadelphia
d. bosses have control of more than 1/2 of the voters
e. St. Louis & Minneapolis are especially corrupt
f. Col. Ed. Butler corrupted St. Louis
g. “Doc” Ames corrupted Minneapolis
On The Edge, p. 16-44.
On The Edge, p. 16-44.
Life In The City
1. The Industrial economy led to the growth of cities
2. urban population tripled between 1890 and 1920(10x that of rural population)
3. 2/3 of urban dwellers were in the Northeast
4. sewage problems were overwhelming
5. 1916, NYC: 500M gallons of sewage into the rivers each day
6. electric trolley lines, underground railways,
a. poor health practices
b. malnutrition
c. childhood diseases
d. infant mortality rate: 1/100 live births
7. horse drawn vehicles were replaced > reduced animal waste
8. improved sanitation
a. cures for malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, diphtheria
b. 1/3 decline in the national death rate after 1900
c. life expectancy was 48 years for whites, 33 years for non-whites
d. intense overcrowding, deplorable housing conditions
e. 5 story tenements
f. NY had a higher population density than Bombay, India in some parts
g. rapid disease spread, dangers of fire
Crime
1. one arrest per 11 resident s in Chicago
2. 8x as many murders as Paris
a. Joseph Pulitzer & William Randolph Hearst- “yellow journalists” used color comic strips,
b. McClure & Cosmopolitan
c. “Frenzied Finance” by Thomas Lawson, about insurance company fraud
d. “How the Other Half Lives,” Joseph Riis, life in tenements on the Lower East Side
e. “The Treason of the Senate,” David Graham Phillips
f. Roosevelt derided journalists as muckrackers
g. “The Shame Of The Cities,” Lincoln Steffen (1904) about boss-rule
h. “The Jungle,” Upton Sinclair, conditions in Chicago’s meat-packing industry
17
Immigrants & Nativists
a. 18 million foreign people arrived in USA between 1890 and 1917
b. 130,000 Japanese in the West
c. 270,000 migrants from Mexico
d. 1910, 3/5 of the residents of the 12 largest cities were “new” immigrants
e. immigrants from England, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia (post-Civil War)
f. 1890s, 3/4 of arrivals were from eastern, central and S. Europe
g. peasants from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, & Jewish faiths
h. most immigrants left repressive & undemocratic governments
i. almost 1/2 of Greeks, Italians & Slavs returned home, bought small farms & businesses
j. women: 1/3 of Catholic immigrants from S. & E. Europe
k. upper class patricians had a strong nativist reaction
Hierarchy:
1. Teutonic
2. Alpine
3. Mediterranean
a. Francis Walker, President of MIT declared “immigrants were beaten men from beaten races, representing the worst failures in the struggle for existence.”
b. nativists were concerned about “race suicide.”
c. Roosevelt lamented that well-to-do families tend to die out
d. “The Passing Of The Great Race,” (1916) Madison Grant, celebrated the supremacy of the white man, Southern & Eastern Europeans threatened the older American stock with “mongrelization.”
e. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred immigration from China, 90,000 Chinese to 60,000 Chinese in 1920
f. Japanese immigrants were equally unwelcome
g. West Coast labor unions saw Asian immigrants as competitors for employment
h. Japanese were pushed into agricultural work, > 1910: Japanese farmers were growing 70% of California’s strawberry crop
i. 1906, San Francisco: segregated schools for Japanese & white students
j. Roosevelt persuaded the school authorities to rescind the vote because of relations with Tokyo
k. the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907 was signed with Japan: restricted the immigration of male workers
l. 1913, California passed an alien land law abolishing the right of Japanese-born farmers to own property
Ethnic Enclaves
1. Irish Americans were the most populous of the “old immigrants,” dominated public life in cities
a. Irish had the highest citizenship & voting rates of any immigrant group
b. many Irish workers had skilled jobs in construction, industrial crafts & supported trade unions
c. 1890: 40% of US born Irish had white-collar jobs, attended college in greater proportions to their Protestant counterparts
d. 1890, NY’s John Kelly controlled the Democratic Party in the major urban centers of the North-NY, Chicago, Boston & San Francisco: 30% of the municipal employees in America
e. politicians used public payrolls to distribute wealth to communities ostracized because of their working class & Roman Catholic backgrounds
f. Irish American police, firefighters, & civil servants: a mainstay of urban life
g. 1910: Irish women were 20% of the public school teachers, & many found better paying white-collar work as secretaries, clerical employees & nurses
h. Czech immigrants served as skilled workers & artisans
i. Portuguese: fisherman
j. Greeks, Italians: ran fish, vegetable & fruit markets, restaurants, construction companies
k. A. P. Gianinni created the Bank of Italy, became the Bank of america so that fish & vegetable sellers could do business
l. Chinese Americans organized newspapers, local associations, and theaters
m. Mexican Americans: established economic and cultural centers in San Antonio & Los Angeles
n. Catholic hospitals, cemeteries, bookstores solidified Catholic identity
o. 1900: Catholic institutions provided education from kindergarden to university in every major city
p. German, Polish, Italian, Hispanic Catholics were denied the use of their native languages
q. the Catholic Church assumed Irish traditions while Italian & Hispanic immigrants missed their means of worship
The Jews Of The Lower East Side
1. Jewish immigrants had very little interest in returning to Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary
a. 2 million Jews fled to the US
b. the Jews migrated as families
c. Eastern European customs excluded Jews from owning land, Jews pursued business & artisan trades
d. 2/3 of Jews identified themselves as skilled workers but more than 70% were illiterate
e. Jews clustered in Manhattan’s Lower East Side,
f. Jews brought their skills to the garment industry, over 70% of Jewish women over 16 worked in the garment trade
g. mass production: oppressive labor conditions, unhealthy sweatshops > encouraged the democratization of national dress habits, freed many immigrants from destitution, and accustomed many Jewish women to working outside the home
h. Yiddish, a German-based dialect spoken in the ghettos of E. Europe: language of poetry, song, drama, & socialist writing
i. Zionism, a religious & political ideology: only a national state in Palestine could offer protection from anti-Semitism
j. Jewish immigrants experienced more upward mobility than any other immigrant group, placed a greater emphasis on education than property ownership
k. 1910, the Jewish community contained a higher proportion of over 16-ers that attended colleges. The Ivy League actually imposed quotas on Jewish enrollments
l. the Anglo-Protestant elite denied Jews entry into exclusive residential neighborhoods, country clubs & resorts & many private schools
Nuevos Mexicanos & Native Americans
1. US educators strove to “Americanize” European immigrants
a. legal barriers & racial discrimination sometimes blocked their opportunities for assimilation, economic improvement, & political participation
b. Hispanic residents in the SW had their territory invaded by US owned railroad corporations & ranchers lost their lands to commercial farms > became day workers in Arizona mines or Texas ranches
c. 1912, New Mexico enters the Union, English-only public schools there.
d. 1890, irrigation projects in the SW and CA stimulated fruit & vegetable production which created agricultural jobs for Mexican migrants
e. 1900: 100,000 Mexicans, 1910: 200,000, 1920: 400,000 Mexicans
f. many Mexicans headed back to Mexico in bad times
g. married women worked in the fields or in domestic service
h. 1920, Mexicans formed small, struggling communities in Denver and Los Angeles
i. The Dawes Act of 1887, broke up tribal landholdings
j. poor-soil + cheating by white speculators made farming difficult on the 160 acre allotments
k. 1906, the Burke Act, accelerated land grants to white purchasers by waiving the government’s 25 year trusteeship of Native Property
l. 1917, Native Americans had lost 62% of their lands that they held 30 years earlier
m. Washington, DC reduced federal $ for education
n. the curriculum was changed to provide vocational training & encouraged natives to become farmworkers
o. “bright” children were sent to private boarding schools to Christianize them
p. Charles Eastman believed Jesus embodied Indian principles & white civilization did not live by Jesus’ principles
Maintaining The Racial Divide, p. 23
1. Dubois: why can’t a nation of immigrants accept blacks?
2. prejudice, discrimination & violence against blacks dates back to the days of slavery
a. 1900, psuedo-scientific racist theories achieved an aura of respectability
b. 1900, 80% of blacks lived in the South
c. 3/4 of the black labor force worked as farmers or sharecroppers in a declining cotton economy
d. blacks worked at low paying jobs: domestic servants, janitors, day laborers
e. blacks created a small middle class of clergy, physicians, educators, funeral directors, barbers & beauticians
f. 1896, the National Association of Colored Women wanted to promote the social & intellectual uplift of their people
g. George H. White of NC declared his constituents as “a rising people, full of potential.”
h. segregation codes, political disenfranchisement & terror were imposed
i. 1890s, S. Legislatures imposed Jim Crow Laws: segregation in transportation, schools & public places
j. Plessy v. Ferguson maintained separate but equal
k. mixed races were legally black
l. S. Populists were not able to build a coalition against the Democrats in 1890s
m. Ben Pitchfork Tillman, Mississippi “White Knight” Vardaman, Georgia’s Hoke Smith rose to the top of the Democratic party by bashing blacks
n. blacks were effectively denied from voting
o. Democrats won support for a poll tax
p. poor whites could avoid restrictions through “grandfather” clauses
q. 1884-1914: white vigilantes/mobs lynched 3,600 black men to “protect the purity of white women from black sexual assault.”
r. Southern leaders cited pseudoscientific literature: biological & cultural inferiority of African peoples
s. blacks had “primitive nerve impulses.”
t. G. Stanley Hall, blacks should be treated by veterinarians
u. Woodrow Wilson: portrayed Reconstruction as a corrupt attempt by N. “carpet baggers” to integrate slaves into social & political life on equal terms
v. “The Clansman,” (1905), Thomas Dixon
w. “The Birth Of A Nation,” (1915) D. W. Griffith
y. major race riots in NYC in 1900 & in Springfield, IL, the hometown of Abraham Lincoln
z. Roosevelt issued dishonorable discharges to an all-black regiment for reacting violently to racial slurs
1. Booker T. Washington, leader of the nation’s African Americans
a. born a slave, graduated from a vocational training school designed by N. philanthropists
b. headed Alabama’s Normal & Industrial Institute @ Tuskegee
c. promoted hard work, frugality, cleanliness, proper manners
d. believed blacks would do better as S. artisans than as northern wage earners
e. encouraged blacks to accept a separate social status from whites
f. the S. plantation economy was stagnant > blacks migrated to the N.
g. the Chicago Defender alerted black migrants to new opportunities in auto plants, steel mills & packing houses
1. W.E. B. Dubois:
a. history & sociology professor
b. organized a conference dedicated to Negro “freedom & growth”
c. met on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls with Boston activist William Monroe Trotter
d. 1st black American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard
e. accused Booker Washington of failing to adjust to the urban-industrial age
f. blacks needed political power to achieve economic success
g. promoted the “Talented Tenth,” college-educated blacks
h. 1909. DuBois partners with social-worker Lillian Wald, activist Mary Ovington, socialist William English Walling > organize the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s 1st civil rights organization
i. published the Crisis, the nation’s leading voice of African American rights
The Plight Of Working People, p. 29
1. blacks, Mexicans, European immigrants earned paltry wages
a. hard working conditions, 60% of men didn’t earn enough to support a family
b. 1916, 2/3 of the population held 5% of the national wealth
c. 1911, industrial fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in NYC
d. 100s of Italian & Jewish immigrant women were trapped in a 10 story building
e. the doors were locked to prevent theft of materials & unionization
f. 80,000 people marched in the funeral procession
g. women workers were an essential part of industrial labor
h. hierarchy 1) teachers, nurses, small # of doctors & lawyers, 2) clerical work, 3) retail sales, factory work, domestic service
i. white women sold goods, black women washed floors
j. 1900, 10% of all girls between 10 & 15 held jobs, 20% of boys between 10 & 15 held jobs
k. 1913, 20% of the nation’s children earned their own livings
l. labor abuses increased in S. manufacturing, 62% of the labor force worked in low-wage extractive industries
m. the American Tobacco Company processed tobacco in the Carolinas & in Virginia, employees earned subsistence wages
n. 1880-1900: massive investment in S. cotton mills, surpassed New England
o. 17,000 to 100,000 textile workers in the S.
p. 1890: child labor increased 130% in S. mills
q. employees wanted their children to work, earnings had to be pooled, blacks were assigned the most menial tasks
r. Mexican workers in Texas & the Southwest faced exploitative conditions
s. Chicanos, new Mexican Americans became a permanent migrant workforce that travelled across the country cultivating & picking crops
t. corporate growers persuaded Congress to waive immigration restrictions on farmworkers in 1917
A Rising Labor Movement, p. 32
a. corporations were prosperous
b. the cost of food was increasing
c. 1900: 800,000 union members, 1917: 2M union members
d. John Mitchell, head of the United Mine Workers Union, gained influence through walkouts in the Pennsylvania & West Virginia coal mines
e. the American Federation of labor thrived by organizing skilled workers
f. 1900, Jewish labor activists organized the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), mobilized female apparel employees,
g. 1910, ILGWU lost a struggle against the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, company guards beat female strikers
h. Chicago police killed 10 female demonstrators
i. Sidney Hillman’s Amalgamated Clothing Workers combined a conciliatory approach to management with innovative union practices such as cooperative housing & banking
j. common laborers in the South faced greater challenges: piecework, long hours, low wages, competition from child labor, strikers lost when management used blacks to evict them from company-rented housing
k. more violent conflicts erupted in the West, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) became a major force in the 1890s
l. 1903, union strike in Colorado coal fields, the governor declared martial law
m. WFM formed alliances with Mexican American miners
n. 1913, 15 month strike of Greek, Italian, Slavic, & Mexican workers in Ludlow, Colorado
o. the Colorado Fuel Company evicted strikers from company housing with the National Guard
p. 1903, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the Wobblies, organized by “Big Bill” Haywood & other socialists
q. the working class & the employing class have nothing in common
r. rejected labor contracts, wanted to create a classless society
s. mobilized miners, loggers, migrant workers
t. used songbooks, hymns and “free speech” crusades to create worker solidarity
u. IWW: sit-down strikes against General Electric, a walkout in Paterson, NJ & unionized the textile mills of Lawrence, MA
v. US workers wouldn’t develop class loyalty, difficult to link the labor movement to republican, producer or socialist values
w. the ethnic/cultural diversity of the working class made it difficult to force labor unity, racial tensions limited the movement
y. 1903, Japanese & Mexican farmworkers went on strike in California, the AFL refused to charter the union
z. most AFL groups were racially exclusive, rejected women, ethnic minorities & unskilled labor, blacks were likely to act as strikebreakers & the task orientation of female jobs discouraged collective bargaining
Socialists, Anarchists & Cultural Radicals, p. 34
1. the militancy of organized labor sparked greater support for a vibrant socialist movement
a. 1900, Eugene Debs organizes the Socialist Party of America, brought together industrial workers, agrarian monetarists, radical intellectuals, middle class reformers
b. a pragmatic agenda of workplace democracy & participation in elections
c. unions could develop sufficient class consciousness to elect political leaders & eventually turn government over to working class syndicates
d. Morris Hillquit, skillful Marxist orator in NY, appealed to immigrants
e. 1907, the International Association of Machinists is taken control of by Socialists
f. Samuel Gompers & building trade unions prevented a socialist takeover of the AFL
g. Debs wanted a mass movement that crossed class lines
h. the Socialist party abandoned the call to nationalize private land
i. endorsed municipal ownership of public utilities such as gas, water & sewer systems
j. Socialists placed 33 members in state legislatures
k. Victor Berger, a German American from Milwaukee was elected to Congress
l. 1912, Debs won 1,000,000 votes, 6% of the vote
m. anarchism, the state is an oppressive instrument that only serves the propertied classes
n. utopian collectivists: Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Johann Most disparaged property ownership & sought to dismantle all power structures
o. Berkman advocated the use of violence or armed rebellion to appropriate property for collective use to create a cooperative society
p. Goldman: feminist, “free-love” advocate, opponent of wedlock, pacifist. Believed marriage, organized religion & bourgeois politics were only extensions of male power
q. Goldman didn’t want the poor to have children, distributed pamphlets in Portland, OR. 1915, arrested.
r. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the century’s leading critic of gender roles, published “Women & Economics (1898) & “The Man Made World.”(1911)
s. Gilman dismissed housekeeping, believed women should be free to join the paid work-force
t. 1910, political dissent + free-spirits + bohemians, rejected Victorian hierarchy & genteel propriety
u. NY’s Greenwich Village, Taos, NM,
v. Floyd Dell & Waldo Frank criticized capitalism through a Marxist lens and adopted Freud’s opinions, against puritanism
w. Randolph Bourne, upset about social injustice
y. The Masses, Max Eastman’s magazine for radical poets, novelists, artists, intellectuals, journalists & cartoonists
New Families And Popular Culture, p. 35
a. different family patterns, different gender roles, new class of consumers
b. middle class urbanites relied less on the family as an economic unit of survival
c. increased use in contraceptives, advocated by Margaret Sanger
d. expanded opportunities for middle class women
e. 1880 to 1890: increase of divorce rate from 5 to 10%
f. greater educational opportunities for women, 1920: 47.3% of college students were women
g. long period between physical maturity and economic independence
h. 1898-1914: increased elementary school attendance
i. 1917, 38 states required young people to attend school until 16
j. psychologist Stanley Hall created the term “adolescence,” and asserted that modern industrial society required a long period of disciplined physical development and postponed sexuality
k. working class parents contested consensual sexual relations of their children
l. 1900-1920: the average work week for middle class employees decreased from 56 to 41 hours
m. college football became a middle-class fad and baseball was popular in industrial cities
n. amusement parks appeared on city outskirts: arcades, carousels, roller coasters, food concessions, live orchestras, dance pavilions
o. NY’s Coney Island: more than a million showed up on hot summer days
p. Middle class consumers bought sheet music to play on parlor pianos
q. NY’s “Tin Pan Alley” district used mass-production techniques to market popular songs
r. 1915, the industry was selling 200M music sheets a year
s. 1900, “rag” or “ragtime” crossed racial, ethnic, and class lines
t. ragtime was popularized by Scott Joplin, used syncopated African-derived rhythm & European melody: clubs & brothels to amusement parks/dance halls > blended with blues & jazz forms in the black south
u. urban men & women mixed together in the informal atmosphere, other attended ethnic comedy and vaudeville stages
v. 1880s, Eastman pioneered the photographic process
w. Thomas Edison developed a movie camera & kinetoscope
y. 1896, “The Kiss,” appeared in penny arcades of urban vice districts
z. 1903, “The Great Train Robbery” by Edwin W. Porter, first film with a consistent plot line
1. Jewish entrepreneurs: Samuel Goldwyn, Adolph Zukor moved exhibitions to “nickelodeon” 5 cent a ticket storefronts in tenement neighborhoods
2. 1908, 10,000 movie establishments
3. movie entrepreneurs moved to Hollywood: escaped harsh weather, high costs, production restrictions, troublesome labor unions,
a. consolidated casting, production, distribution, exhibition
b. 1913, “The Perils of Pauline,” and “Ruth of the Rockies” were smash hits
c. Mack Sennett created the “Keystone Kops,” a series of slapstick comedies that parodied police & social authorities
d. stars: Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplain-the latter two negotiated million dollar contracts
e. Chaplain’s “little tramp,” an underdog in baggy pants resonated with millions of immigrants & rural migrants who faced snobbery & middle class hostility
f. 1915, “The Cheat,” was directed by Cecil de Mille
g. Birth Of A Nation, D. W. Griffiths controversial history film
h. Mary Pickford & her co-star Douglas Fairbanks flaunted new styles of material consumption in lavish romance stories
i. 1920, the motion picture industry became a major influence on popular consumer tastes & values
Pragmatist Philosophers & Realist Artists, p. 37
1. America’s middle class began to face the tensions & dislocations of urban-industrial life
a. the literary & artistic conventions of the Victorian era began to fade
b. a “Little Renaissance” emerged around realist & naturalist writers
c. 1900, “Sister Carrie,” Theodore Dreiser, depicted a young woman’s corruption by city life
d. 1912, “The Financier,”
e. 1914, “The Titan,”
f. Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Willa Cather, Ellen Glasgow: other naturalists
g. 1910s, young poets rebelled against the Victorian genteel tradition by experimenting with new methods & more contemporary themes
h. 1912, Harriet Monroe founded the influential journal “Poetry” which published works by Robert Frost, Edgar Lee Masters, E. E. Cummings, Carl Sandburg, Amy Lowell, Edna St. Vincent Millay: drew material & language from the experiences of common people
i. modern art: shattered Victorian sensibilities
j. John Sloan, George Bellows: depicted the harshness of the contemporary world forcefully
k. Robert Henri, “paint pictures of what interests you.”
l. 1913, Alfred Stieglitz helped to organize the Armory Show, an exhibition which included abstract paintings by Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso
m. break with 19th century formalism, explored the internal dimensions of modern life
n. William James, Harvard psychologist & philosopher, suggested an open-ended universe
o. John Dewey, Columbia University Educator, schools should be democratically organized & rooted in direct experience and serve as agents for social reform and to transmit culture
p. public education could stabilize the social order
q. Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen: believed “progressive” technicians and reformers could apply rational planning to offset vested interests and mere precedent
Social Justice, p. 38
1. Social Gospel: “progressive Christians for social reform.”
a. spiritual regeneration led to social justice
b. government promotion of communal property ownership could reduce class conflict
c. 1907, Walter Rauschenbusch, “Christianity And The Social Crisis,” believed social environment shaped personal character, called for an activist ministry among the urban poor
d. middle class women had smaller families + increased leisure time
e. middle class women wanted to restore morality to public life
f. the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, a) focused on improving working conditions for women and children, b) 50,000 members (1898) to more than a million members (1914)
g. 1889, Jane Addams made a career in the newly developed field of social work
h. 1889, Addams helped start Hull House, a pioneer settlement house: 1) wanted to provide child-care, a library, meeting-rooms, classes in housekeeping, cooking, music & art
i. Social feminists helped the National Child Labor Committee, lobbied 1) to prohibit children under 14 from working in factories, less than 16 from working in mines, 2) eliminate night work & shifts of more than 8hrs,
j. 22 state legislatures establishing programs to pay child support to widows or abandoned wives
k. 1912, the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Commerce & Labor was created
l. the National Consumer’s League led by Florence Kelley + the National Woman’s Trade Union League won passage of women’s minimum wage bills in 15 state and maximum hour law in 39 states
m. 1908, Muller v. Oregon, Louis D. Brandeis “cited expert testimony on the effect of extended labor on women’s health to convince the Supreme Court to uphold a ten-hour daily work limit for female workers. Viewed as a “progressive” decision, the ruling provided a constitutional basis to limit women’s equality in the workplace until the 1960s.”(39)
Purity & Social Feminism, p. 39
1. social reform often overlapped the purity crusade
a. roots in pre-Civil War evangelical temperance campaigns
b. personal character & disciplined families depend on a wholesome social environment?
c. the liquor trade was thought to be a threat to stable family life
d. 1900, 2,000,000 members in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded by Frances Willard in 1874
e. the purity crusade also targeted prostitution
f. prostitution: 6x the wages of wage labor
g. Elizabeth Blackwell & Caroline Wilson (the 1st two women physicians) & Antoinette Blackwell, the 1st women ordained as a Protestant minister campaigned against the double standard which allows white men to have promiscuous relations but insisted that their wives avoid extramarital liaisons
h. reformers wanted to destroy the sexual marketplace, p, 42
i. the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) & the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) & the Traveler’s Aid Society (YWCA) were created
j. most states raised the age of legal consent for sexual activity & imposed penalties for statutory rape, reforms promoted juvenile courts and reformatories to prevent sexuality before marriage
k. 1908, Lola Baldwin, stationed in Portland, OR, became the nation’s 1st municipally paid police-women to prevent sex crimes
l. prostitution was a public health issue: syphilis, gonorrhea, “silent infections,”
m. 1910, Congress passed the Mann Act, made transportation of a woman to another state for immoral purposes a federal crime
n. Margaret Sanger, birth control could prevent the ill effects of excessive pregnancies, Emma Goldman believed contraception gave woman greater control over their lives, others wanted to reduce high birthrates among immigrants & the poor
o. some purity groups believed birth control would make women more promiscuous, the NY Society for the Prevention of Vice campaigned against allowing birth control medications through the mail
p. 1916, Margaret Sanger was forced to close her birth control clinic on indictment of obscenity charges
q. stricter licensing of cabarets, curbs of liquor sales on dance floors, and the stationing of police women at amusement parks
r. reformers were worried by motion pictures which glamorized crime and sexuality
s. Social workers John Collier & Jane Addams supported the National Board of Review in 1908 to preview films and eliminate objectionable material
t. 1910, San Francisco censors rejected 32 films- “Saved by a Sailor,” “In Hot Pursuit,” & “The Black Viper,” as “unfit for public exhibition
u. 1920s, dozens of cities and 8 states created similar commissions to monitor the fantasies presented on screen
Prohibition & Woman’s Suffrage, p. 43
a. purity reformers crusaded against the dangers of substance abuse
b. the use of opium, morphine, and cocaine grew in the 19th century
c. physicians prescribed diluted opium
d. Coca Cola had small amounts of cocaine until 1903
e. America had 250,000 narcotics addicts
f. doctors/pharmacists embraced the idea that widespread drug use was socially harmful
g. only professionals with the appropriate credentials should be able to dispense drugs
h. 1906, the Pure Food & Drug Act
i. 1909, prohibition: opium could not be imported
j. 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Act, narcotics could only be used for medical purposes & required federal registration of all drug producers as well as a doctor’s prescription for all drugs
k. alcohol: main focus of social reformers
l. evangelical Protestants denounced the use of liquor as a sin
m. Henry Ford, drinking was an obstacle to efficient production
n. the National Safety council noted the connection between alcohol use & industrial accidents in 1912
o. Anglo Protestants emphasized rationality, efficiency and discipline
p. white supremacists believed abstinence would prevent blacks from raping white women
q. social feminists were concerned about spousal abuse by drunken husbands
r. 2/3 of the counties in the South “voted dry.”
s. William Jennings Bryan praised antiliquor laws as a triumph over the corrupt and exploitative liquor interests
t. the Anti-Saloon League, nationwide lobby, professional agents were sent to influence public officials
u. 1909, 6 states had passed prohibition laws
v. 1913, the Webb-Kenyon Act permitted dry states to stop the transportation of liquor across their boundaries
w. prohibition brought middle class women into the political arena, dramatized the potential power of the women’s vote
y. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) watched 4 western states give women the right to vote
z. right to vote = economic independence = sexual freedom
1.Carrie Chapman Catt appealed to the white middle class
2.. conservatives & liberals looked to the political arena to solve social problems
3. suffrage
4. prohibition
5. sanitation
6. economic regulation
Life In The City
1. The Industrial economy led to the growth of cities
2. urban population tripled between 1890 and 1920(10x that of rural population)
3. 2/3 of urban dwellers were in the Northeast
4. sewage problems were overwhelming
5. 1916, NYC: 500M gallons of sewage into the rivers each day
6. electric trolley lines, underground railways,
a. poor health practices
b. malnutrition
c. childhood diseases
d. infant mortality rate: 1/100 live births
7. horse drawn vehicles were replaced > reduced animal waste
8. improved sanitation
a. cures for malaria, yellow fever, typhoid, diphtheria
b. 1/3 decline in the national death rate after 1900
c. life expectancy was 48 years for whites, 33 years for non-whites
d. intense overcrowding, deplorable housing conditions
e. 5 story tenements
f. NY had a higher population density than Bombay, India in some parts
g. rapid disease spread, dangers of fire
Crime
1. one arrest per 11 resident s in Chicago
2. 8x as many murders as Paris
a. Joseph Pulitzer & William Randolph Hearst- “yellow journalists” used color comic strips,
b. McClure & Cosmopolitan
c. “Frenzied Finance” by Thomas Lawson, about insurance company fraud
d. “How the Other Half Lives,” Joseph Riis, life in tenements on the Lower East Side
e. “The Treason of the Senate,” David Graham Phillips
f. Roosevelt derided journalists as muckrackers
g. “The Shame Of The Cities,” Lincoln Steffen (1904) about boss-rule
h. “The Jungle,” Upton Sinclair, conditions in Chicago’s meat-packing industry
17
Immigrants & Nativists
a. 18 million foreign people arrived in USA between 1890 and 1917
b. 130,000 Japanese in the West
c. 270,000 migrants from Mexico
d. 1910, 3/5 of the residents of the 12 largest cities were “new” immigrants
e. immigrants from England, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia (post-Civil War)
f. 1890s, 3/4 of arrivals were from eastern, central and S. Europe
g. peasants from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, & Jewish faiths
h. most immigrants left repressive & undemocratic governments
i. almost 1/2 of Greeks, Italians & Slavs returned home, bought small farms & businesses
j. women: 1/3 of Catholic immigrants from S. & E. Europe
k. upper class patricians had a strong nativist reaction
Hierarchy:
1. Teutonic
2. Alpine
3. Mediterranean
a. Francis Walker, President of MIT declared “immigrants were beaten men from beaten races, representing the worst failures in the struggle for existence.”
b. nativists were concerned about “race suicide.”
c. Roosevelt lamented that well-to-do families tend to die out
d. “The Passing Of The Great Race,” (1916) Madison Grant, celebrated the supremacy of the white man, Southern & Eastern Europeans threatened the older American stock with “mongrelization.”
e. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred immigration from China, 90,000 Chinese to 60,000 Chinese in 1920
f. Japanese immigrants were equally unwelcome
g. West Coast labor unions saw Asian immigrants as competitors for employment
h. Japanese were pushed into agricultural work, > 1910: Japanese farmers were growing 70% of California’s strawberry crop
i. 1906, San Francisco: segregated schools for Japanese & white students
j. Roosevelt persuaded the school authorities to rescind the vote because of relations with Tokyo
k. the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907 was signed with Japan: restricted the immigration of male workers
l. 1913, California passed an alien land law abolishing the right of Japanese-born farmers to own property
Ethnic Enclaves
1. Irish Americans were the most populous of the “old immigrants,” dominated public life in cities
a. Irish had the highest citizenship & voting rates of any immigrant group
b. many Irish workers had skilled jobs in construction, industrial crafts & supported trade unions
c. 1890: 40% of US born Irish had white-collar jobs, attended college in greater proportions to their Protestant counterparts
d. 1890, NY’s John Kelly controlled the Democratic Party in the major urban centers of the North-NY, Chicago, Boston & San Francisco: 30% of the municipal employees in America
e. politicians used public payrolls to distribute wealth to communities ostracized because of their working class & Roman Catholic backgrounds
f. Irish American police, firefighters, & civil servants: a mainstay of urban life
g. 1910: Irish women were 20% of the public school teachers, & many found better paying white-collar work as secretaries, clerical employees & nurses
h. Czech immigrants served as skilled workers & artisans
i. Portuguese: fisherman
j. Greeks, Italians: ran fish, vegetable & fruit markets, restaurants, construction companies
k. A. P. Gianinni created the Bank of Italy, became the Bank of america so that fish & vegetable sellers could do business
l. Chinese Americans organized newspapers, local associations, and theaters
m. Mexican Americans: established economic and cultural centers in San Antonio & Los Angeles
n. Catholic hospitals, cemeteries, bookstores solidified Catholic identity
o. 1900: Catholic institutions provided education from kindergarden to university in every major city
p. German, Polish, Italian, Hispanic Catholics were denied the use of their native languages
q. the Catholic Church assumed Irish traditions while Italian & Hispanic immigrants missed their means of worship
The Jews Of The Lower East Side
1. Jewish immigrants had very little interest in returning to Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary
a. 2 million Jews fled to the US
b. the Jews migrated as families
c. Eastern European customs excluded Jews from owning land, Jews pursued business & artisan trades
d. 2/3 of Jews identified themselves as skilled workers but more than 70% were illiterate
e. Jews clustered in Manhattan’s Lower East Side,
f. Jews brought their skills to the garment industry, over 70% of Jewish women over 16 worked in the garment trade
g. mass production: oppressive labor conditions, unhealthy sweatshops > encouraged the democratization of national dress habits, freed many immigrants from destitution, and accustomed many Jewish women to working outside the home
h. Yiddish, a German-based dialect spoken in the ghettos of E. Europe: language of poetry, song, drama, & socialist writing
i. Zionism, a religious & political ideology: only a national state in Palestine could offer protection from anti-Semitism
j. Jewish immigrants experienced more upward mobility than any other immigrant group, placed a greater emphasis on education than property ownership
k. 1910, the Jewish community contained a higher proportion of over 16-ers that attended colleges. The Ivy League actually imposed quotas on Jewish enrollments
l. the Anglo-Protestant elite denied Jews entry into exclusive residential neighborhoods, country clubs & resorts & many private schools
Nuevos Mexicanos & Native Americans
1. US educators strove to “Americanize” European immigrants
a. legal barriers & racial discrimination sometimes blocked their opportunities for assimilation, economic improvement, & political participation
b. Hispanic residents in the SW had their territory invaded by US owned railroad corporations & ranchers lost their lands to commercial farms > became day workers in Arizona mines or Texas ranches
c. 1912, New Mexico enters the Union, English-only public schools there.
d. 1890, irrigation projects in the SW and CA stimulated fruit & vegetable production which created agricultural jobs for Mexican migrants
e. 1900: 100,000 Mexicans, 1910: 200,000, 1920: 400,000 Mexicans
f. many Mexicans headed back to Mexico in bad times
g. married women worked in the fields or in domestic service
h. 1920, Mexicans formed small, struggling communities in Denver and Los Angeles
i. The Dawes Act of 1887, broke up tribal landholdings
j. poor-soil + cheating by white speculators made farming difficult on the 160 acre allotments
k. 1906, the Burke Act, accelerated land grants to white purchasers by waiving the government’s 25 year trusteeship of Native Property
l. 1917, Native Americans had lost 62% of their lands that they held 30 years earlier
m. Washington, DC reduced federal $ for education
n. the curriculum was changed to provide vocational training & encouraged natives to become farmworkers
o. “bright” children were sent to private boarding schools to Christianize them
p. Charles Eastman believed Jesus embodied Indian principles & white civilization did not live by Jesus’ principles
Maintaining The Racial Divide, p. 23
1. Dubois: why can’t a nation of immigrants accept blacks?
2. prejudice, discrimination & violence against blacks dates back to the days of slavery
a. 1900, psuedo-scientific racist theories achieved an aura of respectability
b. 1900, 80% of blacks lived in the South
c. 3/4 of the black labor force worked as farmers or sharecroppers in a declining cotton economy
d. blacks worked at low paying jobs: domestic servants, janitors, day laborers
e. blacks created a small middle class of clergy, physicians, educators, funeral directors, barbers & beauticians
f. 1896, the National Association of Colored Women wanted to promote the social & intellectual uplift of their people
g. George H. White of NC declared his constituents as “a rising people, full of potential.”
h. segregation codes, political disenfranchisement & terror were imposed
i. 1890s, S. Legislatures imposed Jim Crow Laws: segregation in transportation, schools & public places
j. Plessy v. Ferguson maintained separate but equal
k. mixed races were legally black
l. S. Populists were not able to build a coalition against the Democrats in 1890s
m. Ben Pitchfork Tillman, Mississippi “White Knight” Vardaman, Georgia’s Hoke Smith rose to the top of the Democratic party by bashing blacks
n. blacks were effectively denied from voting
o. Democrats won support for a poll tax
p. poor whites could avoid restrictions through “grandfather” clauses
q. 1884-1914: white vigilantes/mobs lynched 3,600 black men to “protect the purity of white women from black sexual assault.”
r. Southern leaders cited pseudoscientific literature: biological & cultural inferiority of African peoples
s. blacks had “primitive nerve impulses.”
t. G. Stanley Hall, blacks should be treated by veterinarians
u. Woodrow Wilson: portrayed Reconstruction as a corrupt attempt by N. “carpet baggers” to integrate slaves into social & political life on equal terms
v. “The Clansman,” (1905), Thomas Dixon
w. “The Birth Of A Nation,” (1915) D. W. Griffith
y. major race riots in NYC in 1900 & in Springfield, IL, the hometown of Abraham Lincoln
z. Roosevelt issued dishonorable discharges to an all-black regiment for reacting violently to racial slurs
1. Booker T. Washington, leader of the nation’s African Americans
a. born a slave, graduated from a vocational training school designed by N. philanthropists
b. headed Alabama’s Normal & Industrial Institute @ Tuskegee
c. promoted hard work, frugality, cleanliness, proper manners
d. believed blacks would do better as S. artisans than as northern wage earners
e. encouraged blacks to accept a separate social status from whites
f. the S. plantation economy was stagnant > blacks migrated to the N.
g. the Chicago Defender alerted black migrants to new opportunities in auto plants, steel mills & packing houses
1. W.E. B. Dubois:
a. history & sociology professor
b. organized a conference dedicated to Negro “freedom & growth”
c. met on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls with Boston activist William Monroe Trotter
d. 1st black American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard
e. accused Booker Washington of failing to adjust to the urban-industrial age
f. blacks needed political power to achieve economic success
g. promoted the “Talented Tenth,” college-educated blacks
h. 1909. DuBois partners with social-worker Lillian Wald, activist Mary Ovington, socialist William English Walling > organize the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s 1st civil rights organization
i. published the Crisis, the nation’s leading voice of African American rights
The Plight Of Working People, p. 29
1. blacks, Mexicans, European immigrants earned paltry wages
a. hard working conditions, 60% of men didn’t earn enough to support a family
b. 1916, 2/3 of the population held 5% of the national wealth
c. 1911, industrial fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in NYC
d. 100s of Italian & Jewish immigrant women were trapped in a 10 story building
e. the doors were locked to prevent theft of materials & unionization
f. 80,000 people marched in the funeral procession
g. women workers were an essential part of industrial labor
h. hierarchy 1) teachers, nurses, small # of doctors & lawyers, 2) clerical work, 3) retail sales, factory work, domestic service
i. white women sold goods, black women washed floors
j. 1900, 10% of all girls between 10 & 15 held jobs, 20% of boys between 10 & 15 held jobs
k. 1913, 20% of the nation’s children earned their own livings
l. labor abuses increased in S. manufacturing, 62% of the labor force worked in low-wage extractive industries
m. the American Tobacco Company processed tobacco in the Carolinas & in Virginia, employees earned subsistence wages
n. 1880-1900: massive investment in S. cotton mills, surpassed New England
o. 17,000 to 100,000 textile workers in the S.
p. 1890: child labor increased 130% in S. mills
q. employees wanted their children to work, earnings had to be pooled, blacks were assigned the most menial tasks
r. Mexican workers in Texas & the Southwest faced exploitative conditions
s. Chicanos, new Mexican Americans became a permanent migrant workforce that travelled across the country cultivating & picking crops
t. corporate growers persuaded Congress to waive immigration restrictions on farmworkers in 1917
A Rising Labor Movement, p. 32
a. corporations were prosperous
b. the cost of food was increasing
c. 1900: 800,000 union members, 1917: 2M union members
d. John Mitchell, head of the United Mine Workers Union, gained influence through walkouts in the Pennsylvania & West Virginia coal mines
e. the American Federation of labor thrived by organizing skilled workers
f. 1900, Jewish labor activists organized the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), mobilized female apparel employees,
g. 1910, ILGWU lost a struggle against the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, company guards beat female strikers
h. Chicago police killed 10 female demonstrators
i. Sidney Hillman’s Amalgamated Clothing Workers combined a conciliatory approach to management with innovative union practices such as cooperative housing & banking
j. common laborers in the South faced greater challenges: piecework, long hours, low wages, competition from child labor, strikers lost when management used blacks to evict them from company-rented housing
k. more violent conflicts erupted in the West, the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) became a major force in the 1890s
l. 1903, union strike in Colorado coal fields, the governor declared martial law
m. WFM formed alliances with Mexican American miners
n. 1913, 15 month strike of Greek, Italian, Slavic, & Mexican workers in Ludlow, Colorado
o. the Colorado Fuel Company evicted strikers from company housing with the National Guard
p. 1903, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the Wobblies, organized by “Big Bill” Haywood & other socialists
q. the working class & the employing class have nothing in common
r. rejected labor contracts, wanted to create a classless society
s. mobilized miners, loggers, migrant workers
t. used songbooks, hymns and “free speech” crusades to create worker solidarity
u. IWW: sit-down strikes against General Electric, a walkout in Paterson, NJ & unionized the textile mills of Lawrence, MA
v. US workers wouldn’t develop class loyalty, difficult to link the labor movement to republican, producer or socialist values
w. the ethnic/cultural diversity of the working class made it difficult to force labor unity, racial tensions limited the movement
y. 1903, Japanese & Mexican farmworkers went on strike in California, the AFL refused to charter the union
z. most AFL groups were racially exclusive, rejected women, ethnic minorities & unskilled labor, blacks were likely to act as strikebreakers & the task orientation of female jobs discouraged collective bargaining
Socialists, Anarchists & Cultural Radicals, p. 34
1. the militancy of organized labor sparked greater support for a vibrant socialist movement
a. 1900, Eugene Debs organizes the Socialist Party of America, brought together industrial workers, agrarian monetarists, radical intellectuals, middle class reformers
b. a pragmatic agenda of workplace democracy & participation in elections
c. unions could develop sufficient class consciousness to elect political leaders & eventually turn government over to working class syndicates
d. Morris Hillquit, skillful Marxist orator in NY, appealed to immigrants
e. 1907, the International Association of Machinists is taken control of by Socialists
f. Samuel Gompers & building trade unions prevented a socialist takeover of the AFL
g. Debs wanted a mass movement that crossed class lines
h. the Socialist party abandoned the call to nationalize private land
i. endorsed municipal ownership of public utilities such as gas, water & sewer systems
j. Socialists placed 33 members in state legislatures
k. Victor Berger, a German American from Milwaukee was elected to Congress
l. 1912, Debs won 1,000,000 votes, 6% of the vote
m. anarchism, the state is an oppressive instrument that only serves the propertied classes
n. utopian collectivists: Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Johann Most disparaged property ownership & sought to dismantle all power structures
o. Berkman advocated the use of violence or armed rebellion to appropriate property for collective use to create a cooperative society
p. Goldman: feminist, “free-love” advocate, opponent of wedlock, pacifist. Believed marriage, organized religion & bourgeois politics were only extensions of male power
q. Goldman didn’t want the poor to have children, distributed pamphlets in Portland, OR. 1915, arrested.
r. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the century’s leading critic of gender roles, published “Women & Economics (1898) & “The Man Made World.”(1911)
s. Gilman dismissed housekeeping, believed women should be free to join the paid work-force
t. 1910, political dissent + free-spirits + bohemians, rejected Victorian hierarchy & genteel propriety
u. NY’s Greenwich Village, Taos, NM,
v. Floyd Dell & Waldo Frank criticized capitalism through a Marxist lens and adopted Freud’s opinions, against puritanism
w. Randolph Bourne, upset about social injustice
y. The Masses, Max Eastman’s magazine for radical poets, novelists, artists, intellectuals, journalists & cartoonists
New Families And Popular Culture, p. 35
a. different family patterns, different gender roles, new class of consumers
b. middle class urbanites relied less on the family as an economic unit of survival
c. increased use in contraceptives, advocated by Margaret Sanger
d. expanded opportunities for middle class women
e. 1880 to 1890: increase of divorce rate from 5 to 10%
f. greater educational opportunities for women, 1920: 47.3% of college students were women
g. long period between physical maturity and economic independence
h. 1898-1914: increased elementary school attendance
i. 1917, 38 states required young people to attend school until 16
j. psychologist Stanley Hall created the term “adolescence,” and asserted that modern industrial society required a long period of disciplined physical development and postponed sexuality
k. working class parents contested consensual sexual relations of their children
l. 1900-1920: the average work week for middle class employees decreased from 56 to 41 hours
m. college football became a middle-class fad and baseball was popular in industrial cities
n. amusement parks appeared on city outskirts: arcades, carousels, roller coasters, food concessions, live orchestras, dance pavilions
o. NY’s Coney Island: more than a million showed up on hot summer days
p. Middle class consumers bought sheet music to play on parlor pianos
q. NY’s “Tin Pan Alley” district used mass-production techniques to market popular songs
r. 1915, the industry was selling 200M music sheets a year
s. 1900, “rag” or “ragtime” crossed racial, ethnic, and class lines
t. ragtime was popularized by Scott Joplin, used syncopated African-derived rhythm & European melody: clubs & brothels to amusement parks/dance halls > blended with blues & jazz forms in the black south
u. urban men & women mixed together in the informal atmosphere, other attended ethnic comedy and vaudeville stages
v. 1880s, Eastman pioneered the photographic process
w. Thomas Edison developed a movie camera & kinetoscope
y. 1896, “The Kiss,” appeared in penny arcades of urban vice districts
z. 1903, “The Great Train Robbery” by Edwin W. Porter, first film with a consistent plot line
1. Jewish entrepreneurs: Samuel Goldwyn, Adolph Zukor moved exhibitions to “nickelodeon” 5 cent a ticket storefronts in tenement neighborhoods
2. 1908, 10,000 movie establishments
3. movie entrepreneurs moved to Hollywood: escaped harsh weather, high costs, production restrictions, troublesome labor unions,
a. consolidated casting, production, distribution, exhibition
b. 1913, “The Perils of Pauline,” and “Ruth of the Rockies” were smash hits
c. Mack Sennett created the “Keystone Kops,” a series of slapstick comedies that parodied police & social authorities
d. stars: Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplain-the latter two negotiated million dollar contracts
e. Chaplain’s “little tramp,” an underdog in baggy pants resonated with millions of immigrants & rural migrants who faced snobbery & middle class hostility
f. 1915, “The Cheat,” was directed by Cecil de Mille
g. Birth Of A Nation, D. W. Griffiths controversial history film
h. Mary Pickford & her co-star Douglas Fairbanks flaunted new styles of material consumption in lavish romance stories
i. 1920, the motion picture industry became a major influence on popular consumer tastes & values
Pragmatist Philosophers & Realist Artists, p. 37
1. America’s middle class began to face the tensions & dislocations of urban-industrial life
a. the literary & artistic conventions of the Victorian era began to fade
b. a “Little Renaissance” emerged around realist & naturalist writers
c. 1900, “Sister Carrie,” Theodore Dreiser, depicted a young woman’s corruption by city life
d. 1912, “The Financier,”
e. 1914, “The Titan,”
f. Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Willa Cather, Ellen Glasgow: other naturalists
g. 1910s, young poets rebelled against the Victorian genteel tradition by experimenting with new methods & more contemporary themes
h. 1912, Harriet Monroe founded the influential journal “Poetry” which published works by Robert Frost, Edgar Lee Masters, E. E. Cummings, Carl Sandburg, Amy Lowell, Edna St. Vincent Millay: drew material & language from the experiences of common people
i. modern art: shattered Victorian sensibilities
j. John Sloan, George Bellows: depicted the harshness of the contemporary world forcefully
k. Robert Henri, “paint pictures of what interests you.”
l. 1913, Alfred Stieglitz helped to organize the Armory Show, an exhibition which included abstract paintings by Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso
m. break with 19th century formalism, explored the internal dimensions of modern life
n. William James, Harvard psychologist & philosopher, suggested an open-ended universe
o. John Dewey, Columbia University Educator, schools should be democratically organized & rooted in direct experience and serve as agents for social reform and to transmit culture
p. public education could stabilize the social order
q. Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen: believed “progressive” technicians and reformers could apply rational planning to offset vested interests and mere precedent
Social Justice, p. 38
1. Social Gospel: “progressive Christians for social reform.”
a. spiritual regeneration led to social justice
b. government promotion of communal property ownership could reduce class conflict
c. 1907, Walter Rauschenbusch, “Christianity And The Social Crisis,” believed social environment shaped personal character, called for an activist ministry among the urban poor
d. middle class women had smaller families + increased leisure time
e. middle class women wanted to restore morality to public life
f. the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, a) focused on improving working conditions for women and children, b) 50,000 members (1898) to more than a million members (1914)
g. 1889, Jane Addams made a career in the newly developed field of social work
h. 1889, Addams helped start Hull House, a pioneer settlement house: 1) wanted to provide child-care, a library, meeting-rooms, classes in housekeeping, cooking, music & art
i. Social feminists helped the National Child Labor Committee, lobbied 1) to prohibit children under 14 from working in factories, less than 16 from working in mines, 2) eliminate night work & shifts of more than 8hrs,
j. 22 state legislatures establishing programs to pay child support to widows or abandoned wives
k. 1912, the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Commerce & Labor was created
l. the National Consumer’s League led by Florence Kelley + the National Woman’s Trade Union League won passage of women’s minimum wage bills in 15 state and maximum hour law in 39 states
m. 1908, Muller v. Oregon, Louis D. Brandeis “cited expert testimony on the effect of extended labor on women’s health to convince the Supreme Court to uphold a ten-hour daily work limit for female workers. Viewed as a “progressive” decision, the ruling provided a constitutional basis to limit women’s equality in the workplace until the 1960s.”(39)
Purity & Social Feminism, p. 39
1. social reform often overlapped the purity crusade
a. roots in pre-Civil War evangelical temperance campaigns
b. personal character & disciplined families depend on a wholesome social environment?
c. the liquor trade was thought to be a threat to stable family life
d. 1900, 2,000,000 members in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded by Frances Willard in 1874
e. the purity crusade also targeted prostitution
f. prostitution: 6x the wages of wage labor
g. Elizabeth Blackwell & Caroline Wilson (the 1st two women physicians) & Antoinette Blackwell, the 1st women ordained as a Protestant minister campaigned against the double standard which allows white men to have promiscuous relations but insisted that their wives avoid extramarital liaisons
h. reformers wanted to destroy the sexual marketplace, p, 42
i. the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) & the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) & the Traveler’s Aid Society (YWCA) were created
j. most states raised the age of legal consent for sexual activity & imposed penalties for statutory rape, reforms promoted juvenile courts and reformatories to prevent sexuality before marriage
k. 1908, Lola Baldwin, stationed in Portland, OR, became the nation’s 1st municipally paid police-women to prevent sex crimes
l. prostitution was a public health issue: syphilis, gonorrhea, “silent infections,”
m. 1910, Congress passed the Mann Act, made transportation of a woman to another state for immoral purposes a federal crime
n. Margaret Sanger, birth control could prevent the ill effects of excessive pregnancies, Emma Goldman believed contraception gave woman greater control over their lives, others wanted to reduce high birthrates among immigrants & the poor
o. some purity groups believed birth control would make women more promiscuous, the NY Society for the Prevention of Vice campaigned against allowing birth control medications through the mail
p. 1916, Margaret Sanger was forced to close her birth control clinic on indictment of obscenity charges
q. stricter licensing of cabarets, curbs of liquor sales on dance floors, and the stationing of police women at amusement parks
r. reformers were worried by motion pictures which glamorized crime and sexuality
s. Social workers John Collier & Jane Addams supported the National Board of Review in 1908 to preview films and eliminate objectionable material
t. 1910, San Francisco censors rejected 32 films- “Saved by a Sailor,” “In Hot Pursuit,” & “The Black Viper,” as “unfit for public exhibition
u. 1920s, dozens of cities and 8 states created similar commissions to monitor the fantasies presented on screen
Prohibition & Woman’s Suffrage, p. 43
a. purity reformers crusaded against the dangers of substance abuse
b. the use of opium, morphine, and cocaine grew in the 19th century
c. physicians prescribed diluted opium
d. Coca Cola had small amounts of cocaine until 1903
e. America had 250,000 narcotics addicts
f. doctors/pharmacists embraced the idea that widespread drug use was socially harmful
g. only professionals with the appropriate credentials should be able to dispense drugs
h. 1906, the Pure Food & Drug Act
i. 1909, prohibition: opium could not be imported
j. 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Act, narcotics could only be used for medical purposes & required federal registration of all drug producers as well as a doctor’s prescription for all drugs
k. alcohol: main focus of social reformers
l. evangelical Protestants denounced the use of liquor as a sin
m. Henry Ford, drinking was an obstacle to efficient production
n. the National Safety council noted the connection between alcohol use & industrial accidents in 1912
o. Anglo Protestants emphasized rationality, efficiency and discipline
p. white supremacists believed abstinence would prevent blacks from raping white women
q. social feminists were concerned about spousal abuse by drunken husbands
r. 2/3 of the counties in the South “voted dry.”
s. William Jennings Bryan praised antiliquor laws as a triumph over the corrupt and exploitative liquor interests
t. the Anti-Saloon League, nationwide lobby, professional agents were sent to influence public officials
u. 1909, 6 states had passed prohibition laws
v. 1913, the Webb-Kenyon Act permitted dry states to stop the transportation of liquor across their boundaries
w. prohibition brought middle class women into the political arena, dramatized the potential power of the women’s vote
y. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) watched 4 western states give women the right to vote
z. right to vote = economic independence = sexual freedom
1.Carrie Chapman Catt appealed to the white middle class
2.. conservatives & liberals looked to the political arena to solve social problems
3. suffrage
4. prohibition
5. sanitation
6. economic regulation
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