American History: Industrial Revolution to Modern Day
Content Areas
I. Big Business/Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution/Assembly Lines
Carnegie v. Rockefeller v. J.P. Morgan
1. Carnegie:
Growing up, he worked in bad conditions and for really low wages. Later, Carnegie created a huge steel business. Later in his life, Carnegie sold his steel company and gave 80% of his fortune away to educational, cultural, and scientific foundations. He gave away about 350 million dollars to 2500 public libraries, universities, and other foundations. Furthermore, Carnegie was a Captain of Industry for giving his workers higher wages than those of that period and protecting their jobs… at least for a while.
- Involved in the steel industry
- Company name: US steel
- Location: Pennsylvania
- Vertical integration (buys all steps for production)
- Gave 80% of his money away for education, libraries, arts… but bad working conditions for workers (paid for what they did, not by hours)
- Help the ones that want to help themselves.
2. Rockefeller:
Born into a Christian family, Rockefeller was taught to always give away some of his money to charity. He used most of his money in many philanthropic forms, such as educating people by building universities (University of Chicago), building libraries, and educating people in art. In addition to using half of his wealth to educate the public in numerous ways, he also treated his workers well. Rockefeller wanted his employees to feel as a part of the “Standard Oil Factory.”
- Involved in the Oil business
- Located in Ohio
- Horizontal integration (buy out competitors)
- Involved in philanthropy but like Carnegie, bad working conditions for workers
- Buying up competitors
3. Morgan:
Banks. Morgan achieved most of his success due to his successful financier father. He established Morgan and Company. Later on, Morgan expanded his wealth by creating the Federal Steel Company and merging with Carnegie Steel Company. He significantly contributed to art.
4. Vanderbilt:
He began a passenger ferry business in New York harbor with one boat, then started his own steamship company, eventually controlling Hudson River traffic. He also provided the first rail service between New York and Chicago. In his wake followed a growing reputation as a robber baron because the working conditions that he offered people were not well, he gave low wages to people, and he often fired people.
Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth:
“In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves.”
Unions:
They created strikes, used collective bargaining, made posters, and tried to pass reforms (using politicians).
- Knights of Labor
- AFL
- IWW
Muckrakers:
Someone who may exaggerate claims about horrible social conditions, so as to bring about change (Upton Sinclair: The Jungle – the meatpacking industry)
II. Immigration
Push/Pull Factors
Push Factors (reasons for leaving)
- Racism
- Low wages
- Wars
- Disease
- Religious intolerance
Pull Factors
- New job opportunities
- Religious and political freedom
- Native communities (friends, family)
- As good as advertised (American Dream)
- To own land/farmland
- Cheaper
Ellis Island:
In 1892, the federal government opened a huge reception center for steerage, a big open area beneath a ship’s deck which included hundreds of bedrooms, a large dining room, and a hospital. Ellis Island was where immigrants came before being allowed to enter the US. Immigrants arriving in the United States first had to pass a six-second medical test. Those who failed the test were sent for a full physical examination. Immigrants who passed the six-second test or the full examination were moved to the great hall to be processed. During processing, which lasted about 4 hours, immigrants were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money carried. About 2% of the immigrants were denied because of disease, criminal background, or insanity and were sent back to their countries. (Border control. Check immigrants)
Before 1900, most immigrants were from Northern/Western Europe; after 1900, more came from Eastern/Southern Europe (Slavic, Russian, Italian, and/or Jewish)
Growth of Cities:
Immigrants take factory jobs, usually in cities; gather in ethnic communities (poor conditions)
E.G. Chinatown
Nativism:
“Native” Americans don’t like immigrants, say they are taking jobs, don’t speak the language, etc.
Red Scare:
Anti-Communist raids where the attorney general deports suspected communists back to their homes (Cold War)
Race Riots:
In many northern cities, immigrants and African-Americans are competing over jobs; ends in bloodshed
III. Progressive Era
Women’s Suffrage (Iron Jawed Angels)
Two main factions initially about how to get women the right to vote:
- Get individual states to grant rights (Susan B. Anthony – conservative)
- Constitutional Amendment (change it all at once) (Alice Paul – extremist)
Susan B. Anthony: Get Congress to pass law; peaceful, non-violent
Alice Paul: Get Constitutional Amendment passed; use any means necessary (protest)
Labor Laws (children, women)
- Child labor laws (limiting hours)
- Fire escape laws (Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire)
- Women’s hours limited as well
- Minimum wage laws
- Maximum working hours
- Safety in the work environment
Muckrakers:
Someone who may exaggerate claims about horrible social conditions, so as to bring about change (Upton Sinclair: The Jungle – the meatpacking industry)
IV. Foreign Policy
Isolationism:
Before the Spanish-American War, the US stayed out of foreign affairs (only Monroe Doctrine to make sure the Americas were consistent with their interests)
Spanish-American War (Yellow Journalism) — 1898
USS Maine “explodes” in Havana harbor; US uses this as a reason to declare war on Spain (yellow journalism: exaggerating facts to sell newspapers!)
US uses it as a reason to become imperialist/expansionist
Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam
Interventionism:
US now becomes involved in many, many foreign conflicts
V. WWI
Assassination of Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand
- “The shot heard around the world”
- Germany pressures Austria to declare war on Serbia
Schlieffen Plan
- Germany has to take over France and then fights Russia (knowing that it could not defeat both France and Germany at the same time)
- To get to France faster, troops went through Belgium (Neutral Zone), angering the soon-to-be Triple Entente, they declare war on Germany
(Main) Starting Entente:
Great Britain, France, Russia
(Main) Starting Central Powers:
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
US’ Entry into World War I
Lusitania was carrying US passengers; was sunk by Germany (although it had British weapons on it too)
Zimmerman Telegram? Germany threatened to support Mexican invasion of US
Economic interests; more loans/supplies to Allies
Traditional links to UK
Chance to gain international influence
Trench Warfare:
Fought in the ground (often in France); thousands die with little land changing hands
Ending Entente:
France, Great Britain, US, Italy
Ending Central Powers:
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
Wilson’s 14 Points
- Do not blame/penalize Germany (losers of war)
- Freedom of the Seas
- League of Nations to avoid future conflicts
- Return territories
- Grant independence to new nations
Most of Wilson’s goals were ignored at Versailles
League of Nations:
Pre-cursor to UN; countries work out conflicts and avoid war
Failed because:
- US did not join
- Russia was busy (Bolshevik Revolution)
- Germany and Austria not allowed to join
- No means of penalizing wrong-doing nations
Treaty of Versailles:
Penalized Germany (reparations, limited army size, Rhineland part of France)
VI. Roaring Twenties
Disillusionment:
WWI led to a slight disillusionment of War, Politics, and Civil Rights
Prohibition:
No Alcohol (1920 – 1933); in the hopes that it would reduce criminal activity (fights, spousal abuse); in fact, it had the opposite effect
(Al Capone and bootleggers)
(Swing Dancing)/Jazz:
Jazz: African-American roots/Big Band sounds combined – brought down racial-social barriers
Swing: Young people unite to protest social norms
VII. Great Depression/World War II
Causes of Great Depression
- Overproduction
- Inflation (rise in prices)
- Stock market crash (speculation)
- Germany could not pay reparations
- Unemployment
- Money supply
- Interest rates
FDR’s New Deal (programs) — GOVERNMENT SPENDING + CREATING JOBS
- Provided jobs for the lower class (increased GOVERNMENT SPENDING)
- Works Progress Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Agricultural Adjustment Act
- Bank regulations (restore confidence in investors)
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Provided public works jobs (construction, schools, monuments, National Parks), gives benefits to old people (was popular among people)
→ Attempts to “pack” the Supreme Court with additional justices after the Supreme Court disallows some of his initiatives; it fails
Hitler’s Rise to Power/Appeasement:
Democratically elected; then takes over when Chancellor dies (many supported his ideals for economic reform); also nationalistic
Appeasement: Giving into demands so as to avoid conflict (the Western powers allow Hitler to take over Austria, Sudetenland); leads to war when Poland is invaded and Allies finally react
Pearl Harbor:
December 7th: Japanese bomb US naval base in Hawaii (US colony); US declares war
D-Day:
Invasion of Normandy by US, Britain, Canada; helps open up a Western front so that Germany must now defend east and west (June 6, 1944)
Fire Bombings/Proportionality:
US firebombed much of Japan even before the atomic bombs
Was it justifiable for the US to use such force/kill so many citizens to end the war?
Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima/Nagasaki:
August 1945; ends war, but at what costs? Thousands suffer from radiation sickness/cancer in years following;
Only time atomic weapons have ever been used
Holocaust:
6 – 10 million deaths
Targets Jews, minorities (handicapped, Jehovah’s witnesses, homosexuals)
Geography of World War II:
Germany controlled most of Europe except: Moscow/Russia; UK, Switzerland, Sweden (neutral)
Japan controlled most of southeast Asia (including much of China, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.)
VIII. Cold War:
With the Yalta Conference, the Cold War began. Growing out of post-World War II tensions, the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in mutual suspicions, heightened tensions, and a series of international incidents that brought the world’s superpowers to the brink of disaster.
Berlin Wall:
On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) began to build a wall between East and West Berlin. East Germany was Communist and controlled by the USSR. West Germany was Capitalist and controlled by the U.S. The purpose was to stop people from passing from one side to the other. (Around 100 people died trying to run away).
SYMBOL OF COLD WAR (real division between two doctrines)
Iron Curtain, Containment, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan:
- Iron Curtain: In March 1946, Winston Churchill delivered the “Iron Curtain Speech” in which he talked about the division between Communism and Capitalism. The iron curtain divided Europe into Communists and Capitalists.
- Truman Doctrine: To influence countries on the fence; the US agrees to provide aid (military and otherwise) to those with democratic/capitalist ideas; so as to contain the spread of communism
- Marshall Plan: The United States invested 400 million dollars in Greece and Turkey (under communist pressure). This plan provided financial aid in regards to money, food, and weaponry to western Europe. The US practically “bought its friends.”
Space Race:
With the Cold War, the world’s two great powers–the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union– competed with each other to show their power. Another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side sought to prove the superiority of its technology and its military, was the space race (late 1950s). The first man in space was sent by Russia. However, the first man to step on the moon was an American.
McCarthyism/HUAC
- McCarthyism: McCarthy was determined to find out any communists. Many actors and producers who were communists many years ago were ‘blacklisted’ (i.e.: their names were put on the list of people, suspected/actual communists that were not to be accepted to work, be employed). Some suspected communists were even executed. In McCarthy’s obsession to find these communists, he was so caught up in this witch hunt that he even started accusing their own military – the people who are supposed to protect him. This constant uneasiness regarding who is communist and who is not – was known as the Red Scare.
- HUAC (The House of Un-American Activities Committee): HUAC was originally created in 1938 to uncover citizens with Nazi ties within the United States and investigated allegations of communist activity in the U.S. during the early years of the Cold War (1945-91).
Arms Race (Military-Industrial Complex, Nuclear capabilities)
Military-Industrial Complex: US economy depends on the production of military supplies
US and USSR both produce extreme amounts of nuclear weapons to deter the other side from attack (MAD: Mutually-Assured Destruction)
Korean War:
South Korea – capitalist. North Korea – Communist. The US (with UN support) helps the capitalist side, pushing the communists back to the border with China; China eventually helps and the border goes back to where it originally was; Korea is still divided today between communist North and democratic South
38th parallel – the dispute over the border of North Korea and South Korea
Cuban Missile Crisis (Blockade, Espionage, UN, Agreement)
USSR installs missiles in Cuba; US discovers it and reacts
US decides to initiate “quarantine” (blockade) of ships entering Cuba
US appeals to OAS (Organization of American States) and UN to put blame on USSR
USSR eventually agrees to withdraw missiles if the US removes missiles from Turkey
Would have been part of Mutually-Assured Destruction argument?
Vietnam War (Images/Media, Causes, Protest, Gulf of Tonkin, Tet Offensive, My Lai Massacre)
Domino Theory: The US does not want Communist North taking over Capitalistic South; other countries may also become Communist
Gulf of Tonkin: The US says their ships were attacked on neutral waters; use this as an excuse to let the president send troops to Vietnam
US troops fail because the Vietnamese people do not support them; Vietcong use guerilla warfare and the US does not know who to attack (tunnels, not fighting for territory)
Tet Offensive: North Vietnamese mount a strong attack into South Vietnam during their new year; convinces many US journalists the war cannot be won
Public influenced by reports (My Lai Massacre where US troops killed villagers in retaliation); many anti-war protests/social division
IX. Civil Rights Movement
Black Codes (Poll Taxes, Grandfather Clause, Jim Crow Laws)
Poll Tax: Pay to vote (Blacks too poor)
Grandfather Clause: If your grandfather couldn’t vote, you couldn’t vote (penalizes African Americans)
Jim Crow Laws: Discriminatory laws based on race
Plessy v. Ferguson:
Separate but Equal is okay (black/white train cars)
Brown v. Board of Education:
Separate is inherently unequal (schools cannot be segregated — they’re not equal!)
Rosa Parks/Montgomery Bus Boycott:
Rosa Parks does not give up her seat to a white resident; black residents of Montgomery refuse to ride the bus for over one year until the policy is changed
Sit-Ins:
College students sit in restaurants where it was “white only” blocking white patrons from eating; financially hurt businesses
Freedom Rides:
Black/white ride buses to the deep south to confirm facilities are no longer segregated; they are attacked/beaten/bombed; creates great media attention
Birmingham (Letters from Birmingham Jail):
MLK’s defense of why he is protesting and not willing to wait any more
March on Washington:
MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech
Freedom Summer:
Campaign to get black voters to register in Mississippi; make their voice heard; 3 workers killed
1964 Civil Rights Act:
No longer allowed to discriminate based on race/gender in public places
Voting Rights Act of 1965:
No longer allowed to create voting barriers (poll taxes, grandfather clause, literacy tests, etc.)
Malcolm X versus Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Malcolm X: Violence is okay, it brings about change; Black power; separation of races to take back their rights
MLK: Non-violence, peaceful protest, love
Black Panthers:
Black power community organization; police not needed; Black people protecting the black community
Race Riots/Assassinations:
Black communities riot/burn cities after police arrest black citizens unfairly; growing frustration over lack of rights/poverty
X. The 1960s
Rock and Roll:
Dominates 1960s music (Elvis Presley, Beatlemania)
Counterculture:
Hippies, young people, “free love,” anti-war
Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
Women’s Movement (The Feminine Mystique):
Betty Friedan writes a book asking if women are only meant to be housewives; craves more; women call for equal rights/treatment/salaries
John F. Kennedy:
Marilyn Monroe? Assassination; inspires young people
Kent State:
Protesters against the Vietnam War are shot by the National Guard; shows division among young people
XI. Heading to the Modern-Day
Watergate Scandal:
President Nixon denies being involved with the break-in of the Watergate Hotel to wiretap Democratic National Headquarters; his denial/cover-up nearly leads him to get impeached; he resigns instead
Confidence in government shattered
Reaganomics:
Ronald Reagan Background:
He was president from 1981-89 (he served two four-year terms).
Known for:
- Tax cuts to the upper and middle class as well as their businesses. The tax cuts created debt because there was not enough balance and nobody paying the taxes, especially since the poor were certainly not going to pay the taxes. The problem was that the businesses did not have to pay certain taxes on inputs. With an increase in National Defense spending, the government was going into debt. The money was being borrowed or coming from nowhere.
- Supply-side economics – tax cuts for businesses and the upper and middle class increase productivity and will boost the economy.
- Reagan used the supply side to justify his tax cuts. But there was an imbalance of money coming into the government to pay for National Defense. None of the tax money used to pay for it was coming in from the businesses of the middle and upper classes.
- Increase in national defense spending – military
- Cut welfare – so people could not be free riders on the system. (This got rid of the counterculture of hippies.)
- Negotiated nuclear arms reduction agreement which ended the Cold War.
- He served on the HUAC House of Un-American Activities Committee for anti-communism.
- He survived an assassination attempt. He is famous for being humorous about it by saying: “I’m sorry Honey, I forgot to duck.” The bullet just missed his heart but it punctured his lung.
Clinton’s Near Impeachment:
He lied under oath as well as perjury and obstruction of justice (probably trying to cover up his scandal). He was later acquitted of all charges.
If you were in class and saw the interview with Monica Lewinsky, you’ll be fine for the exam. It says mostly everything about the scandal.
Clinton:
US president 1993-2001 which was a peaceful time. There was low unemployment, declining crime, and the appointment of the first female attorney general and secretary of state.
The second president ever to be considered for impeachment, but was acquitted of the charges.
He got impeached because he lied about the scandal but then they found proof using Monica Lewinsky.
He had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern (1995-97).
He is known as the .com president because he convinced people to invest in the internet.
Bush v. Gore:
Before becoming president, Bush was the governor of Texas who owned the baseball team.
He defeated Al Gore in 2000. Gore demanded a recount of ballots in Florida. It was obvious that there was something wrong and that they were counted accordingly.
Results:
- 271-266 Electoral votes in Bush’s favor
- 48.4 (Gore) 47.9 (Bush) Public popularity votes
The electoral votes counted more than the popular votes. It was the 4th election in history where electoral votes do not carry popular votes.
Bush’s first term was dominated by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
9/11:
The US invaded Afghanistan right after and overthrew the Taliban government (+Osama Bin Laden) through “Operation Enduring Freedom.”
The attacks resulted in a lot of mistrust from the US government like:
- The Patriot Act – Took away all rights of privacy if you were under suspicion. They could monitor internet activity, listen to phone calls, and read messages.
- TSA – i.e. airport security…
Spring 2003, the US invaded Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein who was rumored to support the terrorist group and have stockpiled weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The same year, Iraq officials captured and executed him. The WMD allegations were fabricated and used as an excuse to wage war on Iraq, again.
Essay Questions:
Reaganomics vs. FDR Policies:
Reagan: Conservative, favored the rich “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” as opposed to FDR who favored the middle and lower-middle classes, raising taxes for the rich.
Reconstruction and Civil Rights Movement
Similarities:
Both involved the military, multiple presidents presided over each era, affected different regions of the country differently, both were based in the South
Differences:
Reconstruction was, for the most part, a failure while the Civil Rights Movement was an overall success, the Civil Rights movement was unofficial while Reconstruction was governed by the federal government, Reconstruction was unpopular among both parties while the Civil Rights movement was not a party-based movement