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Chapter 20 Study Guide
APUSH
Overview
This chapter covers the conflicts between the Populist movements and those groups that held
most of the nation’s wealth and power. Mass political movements of farmers and workers were
organized. These movements were also actively supported and shaped by women who were
struggling to gain their own civil and voting rights. There was a moment of democratic
promise when Americans might have established a commonwealth based on agreement of the
people for the common good. Instead, a national governing class and a growing bureaucratic
state emerged. While debating their domestic future, most Americans seemed united in
pursuing an empire. Anti-imperialists could do little more than criticize from the sidelines as
the United States acquired numerous territories and took an interventionist stance toward
others.
Learning Goals:
Explain the meaning of “a moment of democratic promise” as envisioned by Edward Bellamy
and his followers in Point Loma, California, as well as other reformers and populist organizers.
Compare to what extent government at all levels kept pace with the rapid growth of the
economy in the late nineteenth century.
Describe the alternative governmental system as viewed by the Populist movement.
Discuss the depression of the 1890s and other crises of that decade, particularly the effects
they had on people’s views of the political system.
Explain why the election of 1896 was a turning point in American politics.
Summarize the interests and issues that persuaded many Americans of the need for an
overseas empire.
Outline the steps by which the United States gained an empire and developed a foreign policy
for that empire.
Summarize the arguments of the Anti-Imperialists.
Compare the “Gospel of Wealth” to the “Social Gospel.” (Review Chapter 19.)
Key Terms:
Populist Movement
Grange
Farmer’s Alliance
Granger laws
Great Uprising
Coxey’s Army
Free Silver
Solid South
Nativism
Jim Crow Laws
Segregation
Plessy v. Ferguson
Grandfather clause
Short Answer Questions
1. Discuss some of the problems accompanying the expansion of government during the
late nineteenth century. What role did political parties play in this process? Explain how a
prominent reformer such as James Garfield might become a leading “machine”
politician?
2. What were the major causes and consequences of the Populist movement of the 1880s
and 1890s? Why did the election of 1896 prove so important to the future of American
politics?
3. Discuss the role of women in both the Grange and the People’s Party. What were their
specific goals?
4. Discuss the causes and consequences of the financial crisis of the 1890s. How did
various reformers and politicians respond to the event? What kinds of programs did they
offer to restore the economy or reduce poverty?
5. How did the exclusion of African Americans affect the outcome of populism? Explain
the rise of Jim Crow legislation in the South, and discuss its impact on the status of
African Americans.
6. Describe American foreign policy during the 1890s. Why did the United States
intervene in Cuba and the Philippines? What were some of the leading arguments for and
against overseas expansion?
7. What factors contributed to the growth of government in the late nineteenth century?
8.What were the goals of the Grange?
9.Who preached the social gospel?
10.What policies did the populists advocate?
11.How did proponents of imperialism justify colonization?
12.What critiques of empire were put forward in the years after the Spanish-American
War?