APUSH Unit 7

• This video covers the time period 1898 to 1945, which kicks off with the American foray into imperial expansion
• Imperialism


  The expansion of one country's political, economic, and military influence over another country
• America went ahead and dipped its toes into the imperialist waters with the purchase of Alaska in 1867
• The purchase of Alaska was branded "Seward's Folly" because the territory was viewed as a polar icebox with no particular value, until gold was discovered there in 1898
• Territorial expansion was basically in the DNA of Americans, with the 19th century being the story of further westward expansion across the continent
• Two groups debating imperial expansion

  • Imperialists
  • Anti-imperialists
• Imperialists


  • Wanted expanded access to raw materials
  • Wanted to secure new markets for American made goods
  • Used Social Darwinism to justify expansion
  • Wanted America to join the game of European nations expanding their empires
• Social Darwinism


  The idea that the natural order of the strong eating the weak and only the fittest surviving should also apply to politics and economics
• Reverend Josiah Strong's book "Our Country: It's Possible Future and Present Crisis" argued that the white, Anglo-Saxon race was the pinnacle of human evolution and had a Christian duty to expand and bring western civilization to "dark and backward lands"
• Alfred Thayer Mahan's book "The Influence of Sea Power on History"


  • Argued that a robust navy was the only way to truly secure the foreign markets that industrialists were lusting after
  • Argued that this would require securing many Pacific and Caribbean territories to facilitate American naval dominance
• Anti-imperialists


  • Argued for the principle of self-determination for nations
  • Invoked George Washington's warning against foreign entanglement
  • Argued that the Constitution should follow the flag, but this was a ruse to hide their true argument against taking over countries of "brown people"
• The main debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists was whether the Constitution would follow the flag if America took over other countries
• Yellow journalism


  A group of journalists competing with each other for greater and greater readership under the competing leadership of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, publishing increasingly sensational stories that danced on the other edges of truth and responsible journalism
• Yellow journalists published stories exaggerating Spanish atrocities against Cubans


  This led the American public to conclude that America must intervene in Cuba on humanitarian grounds
• The explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898, killing over 200 Americans, was found to be accidental, not caused by the Spanish</b>
• Yellow journalists claimed the explosion was ignited by the Spanish due to resentment of U.S. interference, despite the investigation finding it was accidental
• President McKinley issued an ultimatum to Spain to back off, and Spain agreed, leading to the start of the Spanish-American War which America won
• The Spanish-American War itself was not very important, but its effects were significant
• Platt Amendment


  Allowed the U.S. to intervene militarily in Cuba if American economic interests were threatened, making it difficult for the new Cuban government to conduct its own foreign policy
• The U.S. annexed the Philippines from Spain after the war for $20 million, despite Filipino expectations of independence
• The Filipinos gathered under Emilio Aguinaldo to throw off U.S. rule, leading to a 3-year war with more limited conflicts lasting 10 years, but the U.S. held on to the Philippines until after WWII
• The U.S. also annexed Hawaii in 1898 after American settlers had overthrown the Hawaiian monarch in 1893
• Open Door Policy


  Policy where the U.S. Secretary of State John Hay sent a note to European powers in China asking them to observe an open door of trading privileges, which the powers did not reject, allowing the U.S. to maintain some trading rights in China
• The Spanish-American War led to the U.S. expanding its global influence
• Progressives


  A diverse group who worked on issues like the growing power of big business, uncertainties in the economy, violent conflicts between labor groups and their employers, breaking control that political machines exercised over urban residents, taking on Jim Crow segregation in the South, securing the right of women to vote, and dealing with the problem of alcohol
• Progressives believed that true societal change wouldn't occur from grassroots efforts, but that the government must get involved in a vigorous and invasive manner
• Muckrakers


  Investigative journalists who sought to expose the rotten underbelly of American corruption
• Muckrakers


  • Upton Sinclair (The Jungle)
  • Ida Tarbell (exposing Standard Oil)
  • Jacob Riis (How the Other Half Lives)
• The goal of the muckrakers was to shine a light on corruption in society, hoping this would influence people to put pressure on those in power to make changes
• Secret ballot


  Voting done in secret, which cut off the power of urban political machines
• Direct election of senators


  Transferring the responsibility of electing senators from state legislatures to the people, to correct for senators being in the pockets of big business
• Progressive constitutional amendments


  • 18th amendment (Prohibition)
  • 19th amendment (Women's suffrage)
• Initiative, referendum, recall


  Legislative reforms to give more power to the people, allowing them to propose, vote on, and remove corrupt politicians
• Scientific management


  Approach advocated by Frederick Taylor to make factory work more efficient by closely studying and timing every detail of a worker's workflow
• Niagara Movement


  Organization led by W.E.B. DuBois to plan protests and secure rights for the black population
• NAACP


  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, aimed to abolish segregation and expand educational opportunities for black children
• The black plight barely made it on the Progressive agenda writ large
• Square Deal


  Teddy Roosevelt's program that took a middle ground between the interests of big business and the interests of the people
• Trust buster


  Teddy Roosevelt's role in enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act and breaking up monopolistic businesses, distinguishing between "good" and "bad" trusts
• Consumer protection


  Teddy Roosevelt's efforts to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in response to public outcry over unsanitary conditions in the meat packing industry