The United States on the Brink of Change

1890-1920

Chapters 19/20

Election of 1892

Grover Cleveland

NY

Democrat

5,556,918

46.0%

Benjamin Harrison

IN

Republican

5,176,108

43.0%

James Weaver

IO

Populist

1,041,028

8.5%

Cleveland Inherits a Depression

• 1893 – Overspeculation causes Stock Market to crash.

• Railroads went bankrupt.

• Farms went into foreclosure

• Unemployment reached 20%

Some was his own doing…

• He put down the Pullman Strike– Alienated labor

• Supported gold standard– Alienated farmers

• Supported lower tariff– Alienated manufactures

Cleveland’s Answer

• Gold standard– Repealed Sherman Silver Purchase Act of

1890

• Laissez-faire policy

Coxey’s Army

Election of 1896

Puck, June 24, 1896 Judge, July 1896

William McKinley

OH

Republican

7,112,138

51.0%

William Jennings Bryan

NE

Democrat

6,508,172

46.7%

A Turning Point

• Republicans gained legislative seats.

• Populists were also gaining legislative seats.

• Democratic party was slipping

Divide Democrats

• Gold Cleveland – Gold Bugs– Helped give Republicans an edge.

• Pro-Silver looking for leader

– After Cross of Gold Speech they found a leader.

Cross of Gold Speech

McKinley’s Great Luck

• Discovery of gold in Alaska (1897)– Increased money supply which resulted in increased

inflation (just what the silverites wanted)– McKinley made gold official money standard (as

promised)

• Farm prices rose• Factory production increased• Stock market climbed• McKinley raised tariffs (as promised)

– Dingley Tariff of 1897

1896 was a Significant Election

• Populist demise– Uniting black, whites and poor was a futile cause,

especially in South.– Thomas Watson would just not give up until he hit the

“brick wall”

• Urban dominance– Time of big business, conservative economics and

middle-class values.

• Beginning of Modern Politics– Time of active presidents.– U.S. become major political player in foreign affairs.

The Allegory• Wizard of Oz

– Wicked Witch of the East• Eastern industrialist and bankers who controlled the people (Munchkins)

– Scarecrow• Wise but naïve western farmer

– Tin Man• Stood for the dehumanized industrial worker

– Cowardly Lion• William Jennings Bryan

– Yellow Brick Road• The Gold Standard

– Dorothy’s silver slippers• The Populist’s solution to the nation’s economic woes

– Emerald City• Washington, D.C.

– The Wizard• Any of the Gilded Age presidents.

Isolation to Imperialism: The Foreign Policy Spectrum

A Hypothetical Situation• One day at school you notice a huge ring of students jostling and pushing.

As you get closer, you hear some of the students yelling “Fight!” Like the rest, you want to see what is happening. Finally finding a vantage point, you see two students threatening one another. One is a good friend; the other is a former friend and current enemy who owes you money. What will you do?

• Choose one of the following responses and write a one-paragraph explanation.

A. Turn away and leave because the fight does not concern you and getting involved will only mean trouble.

B. Convince a couple of friends to help you separate the two students before they hurt each other.

C. Get into the fight on your friend’s side and punch out the former friend who owes you money since he deserves it.

D. Punch out both students to show the rest of the school who is the toughest kid on campus.

The Spanish-American War

Latin American Problems

U.S. Interventions:1. Chile

• 1891• $75,000 to families of sailors killed in Valparaíso incident.

2. Ships to Rio de Janeiro• Rebellion in Brazil• Cleveland sent in the Navy to protect American shipping.

3. Great Britain• Great Britain and Venezuela disputing ownership over land

(Venezuela and British Guiana).• Olney-Pauncefont Treaty

For $20 Million Spain Gave Up…

• Philippines

• Puerto Rico

• Guam

A Conflicting Issue

• How Could the United States become a colonial power without violating the nation’s most basic principal – that all people have the right to liberty?

McKinley’s Justification

• Rebels in the Philippines were on the edge of war with one another.

• Filipino people were “unfit for self-government.”

• Race against European nations.

• Treaty of Paris – Signed December 10, 1898 – Ratified by U.S. Congress – February 6, 1899

In what ways was the Spanish-American War similar to the war between the United States and Mexico?

• In both wars the United States swiftly defeated weak and disorganized enemies, and acquired important new territories from the defeated nations in the ensuing peace treaties.

Simultaneous Happenings

• While the Spanish-American War was taking place the U.S. was involved in:

• Hawaii

• Samoa

• China

Hawaii

• Important to American business interest.

• Queen Liliuokalani removed in 1893.

• U.S. Marines and Sanford B. Dole.

• 1898, U.S. approved annexation.

The U.S. Flag raised at Iolani Palace during annexation ceremonies

Annexing Hawaii

2:07

Samoa

Benefits

• Another stepping stone to trade in Asia.

• 1878 protection treaty for lease on Pago Pago Harbor.– Treaty of Friendship

• 1889 – Treaty of Tripartite – German-UK-U.S. protectorate

China

• Spheres of Influence– Russia, Germany, Britain, France, and Japan

(and U.S.)– All wanted economic control.

• Open Door– John Hay wrote notes to European Powers– Purpose – U.S. would have equal access to

trade.

China: The Open Door Policy

3:28

Boxer Rebellion

• Resentment by China to foreign invasion.

• Righteous and Harmonious Fists– I Ho Ch'uan – Secret Society of Chinese– 1900 Rebellion against foreigners and

Chinese Christians.

Boxer Rebellion

1:36

Election of 1900

Revisiting Cuba• 1898 – Teller Amendment

– The U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people."

– Proposed by Sen. Henry M. Teller (CO)• The Teller clause stated that the United States "hereby disclaims any

disposition of intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people.“

• 1901 – Platt Amendment– Proposed by Sen. Orville H. Platt (R-CT) to replace Teller Amendment.– The Amendment ensured U.S. involvement in Cuban affairs, both

foreign and domestic, and gave legal standing to US claims to certain economic and military territories on the island including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

• September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, New York at the Pan-American Exposition

Czolgosz shoots President McKinley with a concealed revolver, at Pan-American Exposition reception, Sept. 6th, 1901.

[Source: American Memory]

Teddy Roosevelt Becomes President

5:13

The Bully Pulpit

• It gave him a stage to win public support for change.

• “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”• Points of his presidency:

– Civil Rights Proponent• Invited Booker T. Washington to dinner.

– Roosevelt’s Corollary• Increased scope of Monroe Doctrine

– Panama Canal– Trust Buster (Progressivism) – Conservationist

• Increased size of Yellowstone

Panama Canal

Panama Canal

• 44 miles long.• Began in 1880 under French leadership.• The U.S. wanted to complete, but faced problems.• Colombia controlled the isthmus.• Roosevelt supported a revolt.• Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty gave U.S. long-term control

over the canal zone.• Building – 1904-1914• 1921 – “guilt” payment of $25 million to Colombia. • U.S. maintained control until 2000.

49:32

The Panama Canal

The First Ship Through

• SS Ancon

Roosevelt’s Corollary

• Big stick = Navy.– The Great White Fleet

• U.S. only wanted “to see neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous.”

• But --- the U.S. would engage in “an international police power.”

• First test: Bankruptcy in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).

The Great White Fleet

Roosevelt the Peace Maker

• Wanted the Open Door Policy with China.• For it to work, Russia and Japan had to be kept in check.• Support Japan in war with Russia, but mediated a peace

agreement in 1905 (Treaty of Portsmouth).– Ensured balance of power.– Japan – small land grants and control over Korea.– Russia was to vacate Manchuria.– U.S. – California had to cease segregated schools (Japanese).– Further supported by the Root-Takahira Agreement (1908).

• Won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Teddy Roosevelt - Remembered Best For

Source: Clifford Berryman

The Man Who Never Wanted to be President

4:49

William Howard Taft

• Roosevelt’s secretary of war.

• Head of the commission that governed the Philippines.

• Goals:– Maintain open door in Asia.– Preserve stability in Latin America.

A Mixed Legacy

• Taft was mildly expansionist.

• Proponent of American investment in foreign countries.

• “Dollar Diplomacy”– Used at first in negative connotation, but later

became something positive.

• Programs were not as successful as he hoped.

Railroad Projects

• China and Manchuria.

• Russia and Japan opposed and worked together against the U.S.

• Many investments were lost in China in 1911 when the country collapsed in revolution.

• Administration did not do well due to growing anti-colonialism abroad and anti-imperialism at home.

The People’s Response to Imperialism

• At first, most favored…but

• “the evils of interference in affairs that do no specifically concern us.”

• After the annexation of the Philippines, opposition grew.

Harvard Philosopher William JamesMark TwainJosephine Shaw LowellJane Addams

William Jennings BryanEditor E.L. Godkin

Former Senator Carl Schurz

You Debate

• Anti-Imperialist stated that imperialism was:– Immoral– Politically incorrect– A race war

Paradox of Power