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Part 2 THE PROGRESSIVE ERA (1895-1920) September 6 United States proposes "Open Door" policy toward China. CHRONOLOGY r895 1900 JuIy United States intervenes in boundary dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela. February.24 Rebellion against Spanish rule breals out in Cuba. Seprcmber 18 Booker T. \Øashington speals at the Atlanta Exposition. r896 January 4tJtah becomes the 45th state. April 23 Demonstration of Thomas Edison's motion picture invention occuts. May 18 Supreme Court in Plessy a, Ferguson legalizes segregation. November 3 Villiam McKinley elected president' Ma¡ch 6 Social Democratic (later SocialisÐ Patty founded by Eugene Debs. September 18 First direct primary elecdon in nation held in Hennepin Counry, Minnesota. 6 McKinley reelected president; Theodore Roosevelt elected vice president; noted Progressive Robert 'Wisconsin. M. La Follette elected governor of November r90t January 10 First great oil strike in Texas occurs. February 25 U.S. Steel Corporation founded, which later grows into nation's first billion-dollar corpgration. Ma¡ch 2 Congress passes Platt Amendment making Cuba a quasi-protectorate of the United States' 1897 September 14 McKinley dies eight days after assassination attempt; Roosevelt takes office. J"rrorty Gold rush starts in Klondike, Alaska. 1898 9 No¡thern Securities Company, a railroad holding company controlled byJ'P' Morgan, is incorporated. November February 15 The U.S. battleship Maine sunk in Havana Harbor in Cuba after mysterious explosion. 1 U.S. victory and acqu the Philippines; Cuba April 2l-December results in Rico, and SPain. July 28 Hawaii annexed by the United States. 1902 February McCIure! magazine begins to publish articles by Lincoln Sceffens, Ida M. Tarbell, and other "muckackers." 1899 March 10 Roosevelt sues Northern Securities Company in first "trust-busdng" suit. February 4 Filipino rebels under Emilio Aguinaldo attack Mray American troops three years. in Manila, starting rebellion that lasts L2 United Mine \)7'orkers strike idles 140,000 *oik .r; President Roosevelt intervenes in October; strike¡s end walkout on October 21. 27 Pat't 2: The Progressíae Era (1895-1920) 1903 1909 June 16 Ford Motor Company formed. June February I The Soub of Black Folh by \ø.E.8. Du Bois I National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded. published. I9r0 May 23'SØisconsin is first state to adopt direct primary for parry elections. Ma¡ch 26 United States forbids immigration of criminals, paupers, and ana¡chists. October Baseball holds first \Øorld Series. August 31 Theodore Roosevelt gives his "New Nationalism" November United States secures rights to Panama Canal route after Panama, with assistance f¡om rhe U.S. Navy, secedes f¡om Colombia. December 17'$Tilbur a¡d Orville \Tright achieve world's ûrst successful airplane flight. speech. 191 I Ma¡ch 25 Triangle Shirrwaist factory fire kills workers in New York City. trapped May 15 Supreme Court orders dissolution of Standard Oil 1904 Company. Ma¡ch 14 Supreme Court orders dissolution of Northern 1912 Securities Company for violating anti-trust laws. l4l June 4 Massachusetts becomes first state to December 6 Pronouncement of the "Roosevelt Corollary" minimum wage legislation for women and children. to the Monroe Doctrine occurs. J"tru"ty 6 New Mexico becomes the 47th 1905 February 14 Arizona admitted as 48th state. Jrno"¡y 4 U.S. takes ove¡ customs and international debt August U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua. June Industrial \Øorkers of the rùØorld (I\ØWl founded. August 24 Naska receives territorial status. November 5 February Upton Sinclair's The Jungle published. April 18-19 Great San Francisco Earthquake devastates state. April 15 SS Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage. of the Dominican Republic. r906 adopt 'S7oodrow \Øilson elected president. 1913 September 3 Congress passes Hetch Hetchy dam bill. the city. February 25 Sixteenth Amendment added to Constitution. June 30 Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act May 31 Swenteenth Amendment added to Constitution. passed by Congress. December 13 Federal Reserve System established. April 17 ln Lochner u. Neta larÉ Supreme Court finds state law limiting maximum working hours unconstitutional. 1914 September 29 U.S. troops occupy Cuba. January 5 Henry Ford perfects assembly line; announces adoption of five-dollar minimum daily wage for his workers. 1907 August \Øorld \Øar I begins in Europe: President \Øilson proclaims U.S. neuuality and offers ro mediare the conflict. January-December Peak year of immigration brings 1,285,349 immigrants to the United States. October Panc of 1907 rweals pitlls of U.S. monera-ry q6rem. August 15 Panama Canal opens. September 26 Federal Trade Commission established. Novembe¡ 16 Oklahoma enters the Union. 19r5 r908 January 25 First transconrinental telephone call is made. February 24 Supreme Court in Muller o. Oregon upholds Oregon's law mandating ten-hour maximum workday for iMay 7 British passenger liner L*çitania sunk by a German submarine; 114 Americans drowned. women. December 4 Ku Klux Klan revived October 1 Henry Ford's Model T automobile goes on rhe 1916 market. November 3 \Øilliam Howard Taft elected president. 28 in Georgia, Ma¡ch Clashes occur between U.S. troops and Mexican guerrilla leader "Pancho" Villa. OPPOSING VIE\íPOINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY Chronolog May 4 Germany pledges to resrict its submarine wa¡fa¡e and not to aftack merchant ships without warning. October 16 Margaret Sanger opens nation's first birth 1918 January 8 \Øilson's "Fourteen Points" speech to Congress outlines U.S. war aims. control clinic. May 16 Sedition Act November 7'\üToodrow'Wilson reeleced president. the war effort. November 11 lVorld'Wa¡ r917 3 United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany after it resumes submarine attacks on U.S. February passed outlawing speech critical ships. Ma¡ch 2 Pue¡to Rico made a U.S. territory. April 2 W'ilson asks Congress for de_cla¡ation of war afainst Germany; Jeannette Rankin of Montana, Congiess's first woman, is one of the 50 rePresentâtives to vote no. October First U.S. detachments arrive at military front lines in France. November Bolshevist revolution in Russia occurs; United States refuses to recognize new regime' VOL.2: FROM RECONSTRUCTION TO THE I of ends. 1919 J"rro.ty 29 Eighteenth Amendment added to Constitution; its prohibition of alcohol is to take effect January 16, 1920. June 28 Treaty of Versailles signed and includes proposal for a League of Nations. 'W'ilson's 1920 Ma¡ch 19 A final attempt to ratifr the Treaty of Versailles fails in the Senate. August 26 Nineteenth ,{mendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, added to Constitution. November 2 \Warren G. Harding elected president. PRESENT 29 appeal among the educated middle class and therefore attracted the support of more writers, academics, and intellectuals than did the Populist movemenr. The progressives also opted to work within the two major political parties ¡ather than try ro repeat the Populist arrempr PREFACE Berween 1895 and 1920 the United States witnessed significant developments in both domestic and foreign affairs. In the domestic sphere the country debated and enacted numerous social, economic, and political reforms that have become known collectively as progressivism. In foreign affairs the United States participated in two wars that signified the counrry's emergence as a world power. By 1920, however, the American people were reacting against both domestic reform and foreign entalglements. to create a new third party. Those who called themselves progressives varied widely in occupation and in their beliefs. They included politicians, preachers, social welfare workers, academics, business owners, journalists, and others. They often disagreed on particular issues or on which cause or reform \¡/as most important. Some progressives believed that the main problem to be addressed was the dominance of business monopolies; others believed it to be the unequal status of women. Some focused on the conservation of natural resources, while others focused on corruption in city government or the influx of immigrants. In many respects, progressivism can be considered an aggregate of causes rather than one cohesive movement. PROGRESSIVE REFORMS THE PROGRESSIVE MOYEMENT AND REFORMERS The progressive movement was a response to trends in the country's social and economic conditions since the Civil \Øar-trends many Americans found disturbing. These changes included the rise of big business and the formation of monopolies; corruption in local, state, and federal goyernmenrs; the widening of class divisions; and the growing numbers of poor people in the nation's cities. Progressives believed that all of these developments In its infancy, the progressive movemenr was most active at the state and local levels. Mayors such as Hazen Pingree threatened American ideals of fairness and equal opportu- nity. To counter this threat they sponsored numerous ¡eform efforts (although most progressives rejected radical changes such as those prescribed by socialism). !7hile not all Americans agreed with progressives on the need for change, the reforms that were proposed, debated, and in many cases enacted during this time had a lasting impact on American society. Progressivism had much in common with the agrarian-based Populist movement that peaked in the early and mid-1890s. Populists, like progressives, decried the unequal distribution of wealth and power in the nation. (At the turn of the century, 2 percent of the nation's population controlled 60 percent of its wealth.) Both movements condemned the power of large business corporations and trusts that controlled whole industries, and they called for greater government regulation of the economy. Both movements also advocated reformed and stronger governments ro protect the public interest. Some former Populists played major roles in the progressive movement itself. Important differences between tlre tu/o movements existed, however. Progressivism differed from Populism in that it had an urban rather than a rural base of support. Progressivism also had grearer 30 of Detroit and Tom Johnson of Cleveland forcefully attacked urban poverry and municipal corruption. Governors such as Robert La Follette of \Øisconsin and Hiram Johnson of California capitalized on reformist sentimenr to break the control of business over rheir respective state governments, La Follette and other governors then helped create neìM laws regulating railroads and utilities, setting minimum wages and maximum hours for workers, abolishing child labor, and ensuring more democratic participation in the nomination and election of public officials. Notable progressives worked outside of politics as well. Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889 and began a lifelong career ofhelping poor residents of urban slums. Journalist "mucLcakers" such as Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, and Lincoln Steffens exposed shady business pracrices and political scandals in widely read bools and magazine articles. Scholars such as John Dewey and Charles A. Beard applied progressive ideas to the study of philosoph¡ history, and economics. Three of the leading figures of the Progressive Era were U.S. presidents: Theodore Roosevelt, Villiam H. Taft , and'W'oodrow'\í'ilson. Roosevelt bec¿me president in i901 following the assassination of Villiam McKinley. The former New York governor immediately began to use his office (which he called his "bully pulpit") to give progressivism a place on rhe national agenda. Roosevelt was particularly concerned about environmental issues, but he also lent his support to strengrhening antitrust laws and regulating business, including the railroad, meatpacking, Preface and oil industries. Taft, president from 1909 to 1913, carried forward many of Roosevelt's policies (although by the end of his term many Progressives were clamoring for a new presidenc). \Øilson, president from 1913 to l92l and leader of the progressive wing of the Demogovernment reforms, including the creation of the Federal Reserve System to manage the nation's currency and the Federal Trade Commission, a government agency with broad cretic Party, accomplished numerous powers to regulate business Practices. The Progressive Era produced four constitutional amendments, each of which addressed a major progressive concern. The Sixteenth Amendment authorized a federal Japan la¡rd. tions Eur tbe Grant wrote northern noncitizens to lease d immigration restricof foreigners not of a his 1916 book The Passing of Progressive Madison n restrictions, racial of "worthless race forced sterilization and segregetion, blacks, Jews, and (which to include defined he ,yþ"rn Europeans). eastern southern and THE I.INITED STATES BECOMES A \ü'ORLD PO\øER income tax, which was intended in part to ensure a greater rneasure of economic equality among.American established popu(who had previously been lar elections for U.S. senators selected by state legislators), advancing the progressive goal of incr of their repr consumptio Amendmen transpottation of intoxicating liquors," ushered in the era ol Prohibition. Finally, the Nineteenth Amendment .irir..r.. The Seventeenth Amendment extended the right to vote to women, a victory for the women's suffrage movement' which was the leading feminist cause of the Progressive Era. world beyond America's shores. However, by the 1890s several trends came together to draw Americans' attention to international issues. One development was the growing importance of trade and investment in America's economy. Another was the increasing international comPetition for colonies. \Øith Great Britain, France, German¡ and other European nations jockeying for colonies in Asia and Africa, iome Americans worried that the United out on a potendal source of wealth and international stature. They believed that in order to be States was missing BLACKS AND OTHER MINORITIES Blacks fared poorly during che Progressive Era' In the southern states, where most blacls lived, white-dominated state and local governments enforced the segregation of the races in schools, public buildings, and virtually all '\(i'hite politicians devised numerous other areas of life. mechanisms, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, designed s killed hunted to north- ;äï::iffl were plentiful (especially after the United States entered Vorlã \Øar I), but gains in employment were offset by continued racial discrimination and poor living conditions in urban slums' The black community was divided over how best to respond to the continued denial ofequal rights in American socierY. Although a few progressives supported equal rights for blacks, many did not' President'Woodrow for example, formally segr \W'ilson, eurployees. Other minorities by some of the policies advo ers, many of whom believed life was threatened as much by unfamiliar immigrants as by corrupt politicians. Progressives in California suppo.t.d tÎre passage of laws restricting the ability of VOL.2: FROM RECONSTRUCTION TO THE nial statement, the Declaration of Independence' America's first signifìcant venture into colonialism 'W'ar' The war followed the 1898 Spanish-American ended with the United States taking the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico from the defeated Spanish' three-year war to put down a Filipino rebellion for independence. Under Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, and \Øilson, the United States undertook several ventures to expand and protect what were deemed to be America's strategic a-nd economic interests abroad, especially in the \Øestern Hemisphere' Between 1900 and 1914 American troops intewened repeatedly in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, the bominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico' Americans took over the customs houses and supervised elections of a number of these countries. One of the most celebrated-and criticized-foreign policy undertakings of the United States was its support of Panama's revolution from Colombia in 1903 in order to gâin cont¡ol of a site to build the Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914. PRESENT 3r Part 2: Tlte Progressioe Era (1595-192O) The progressive movement assumed no single posi- tion on foreign affairs or on American imperialism. Some progressives argued that imperialism betrayed American ideals of equality and selÊgovernmenr. Others held that America was in a good position to improve life in other countries by remaking their economies and governments in the image of the United States. "I will teach those Latin American countries to elect good men," said progressive president \Øoodrow'!7'ilson near the start of his administration. ]üØORLD ]ùøAR I Progressives were equally divided on the merits and draw'$Var backs of entering '\ùØorld L \I(/'hen war began in Europe in 1914, few Americans, progressive or orherwise, favored taking sides in the conflict. However, in May 1915, when a German submarine sa¡k the British passenger liner Lusitania, killing 128 Americans and hundreds of other people, ex-president Theodore Roosevelt and others argued that the United States should enter rhe war against Germany, or at leasr undergo a massive military "preparedness" program. But other notable progres- sives, including social reformer Jane Addams and Visconsin leader Robert La Follette (by then a U.S. senator), argued that America should remain neutral in the war. They worried that domestic reforms would be 32 sacrificed if the United States plunged into war. President \Øilson himself struggled to maintain "peace with honor" for three years before finally asking Congress for a declaration of rvar against Germany on April 2, 1917, citing German submarine attacls on U.S. ships as the primary reason for his decision. America would subsequently send 2 million soldiers to fight in Europe, of which 112,000 would perish. Both during and after the war, Wilson tried to preserve his progressive ideals by arguing that the United States, through its military and diplomatic interventions in Europe, sought to establish a world "safe for democracy" and to end the era of colonialism and power politics. The League of Nations, an international orga- nization of member nations created by 'S?'oodrow during the l9l9 peace talks in Europe, was to be the centerpiece of his vision of a progressive new world. However, the mood of the nation was changing. After long and acrimonious debate the Senate rejected U.S. membership in the League of Nations. Running for president in 7920, Republican 'S?'arren G. Harding promised a return to "normalcy," a word that to many Americans signified the rejection both of drastic domestic reforms and involvemenr in world affairs. Harding's 1920 election victory marked the end of '$Tilson the Progressive Era. OPPOSING VIE\øPOINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY