The Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries

Native Americans in Pre-Columbian North America-

• 1-5 Million Native Americans in North America
• They were farmers or hunters and gathers
• The tribes were independent of each other and often competed for the same natural resources
The Early Colonial Era: Spain Colonizes the New World-
• Europe had the resources and technology to establish colonies
• Spain dominated the new world through ruthlessness of the conquistadores and advanced weaponry
• The Spanish Armada limited the ability of other countries to begin international exploits
• They settled in costal towns and attempted to enslave the natives, erasing their past culture and replacing it with
Catholicism
• Smallpox killed many natives
• The Spanish armada was defeated by the English and now other countries began colonizing
The English Arrive-
• Sir Walter Raleigh started a settlement on Roanoke Island which failed and became known as the lost colony.
It lacked resources and support from England.
• Jamestown was the second attempt. It was a joint-stock company (a group of investors bought the right to
establish New World Plantations from the King) called the Virginia company.
• It nearly failed because the colonists were ill-adapted for survival. Captain John Smith imposed strict martial
law to save the colony.
• The “starving time” was the worst point for the colonists; some resorted to cannibalism, while some defected
to Indian tribes.
• The colony would have perished, but they were helped by the local group of tribes, the Powhatan
Confederacy.
• The daughter of the chief married John Rolfe to ease tensions and hoped an alliance would give them
advantages over tribes. After many conflicts they were destroyed by the English “Indian fighters.”
• Tobacco began to be planted and this area was named the Chesapeake
• Overpopulation in England, Financial motives, and low chance of improvement in England caused migration
• Indentured Servants provided 7 years labor in return for passage and when released they received small
parcels of land allowing them to survive and vote.
• About 75% of migrants were indentured servants and most did not survive.
• In Virginia The House of Burgesses was established, where property-holding white males could vote, however
approving by the Virginia Company was necessary. First form of democracy in the Americas.
• Slavery began in the colonies at the same time.
The Pilgrims and the Massachusetts Bay Company
• Puritan Separatists, appalled at the corruption of the English Church, sailed for the new world on the
Mayflower, and landed in off-course Massachusetts instead of Virginia.
• The Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, creating a body politic, a basic legal system, and asserted that
government power derived form the governed. This colony was the Plymouth Bay Colony.
• Once again Indians helped save the colony, but interactions were rare because the Natives were wary of
suffering a plague as they once had from contact
• The Massachusetts Bay Colony was formed by Congressionalists (Puritans wanting to reform the Anglican
Church)
• This began “the great puritan migration”
• Led by governor John Winthrop, the colony believed in a covenant with god.
• Their government was a covenant among people, work was to serve a communal ideal, and religious freedom
was not tolerated.
• Roger Williams was banished for his controversial ideas such as separation of church and state. He found the
colony of Rhode Island which allowed freedom of religion and voters not to have to be church members
• Anne Hutchinson- she believed in antinomianism, the belief that faith and god’s grace sufficed to achieve
heaven. She was a woman and she challenged the Puritan clergy, turning many against her. She was banished.
 • During the Interregnum where England was under Puritan control there was little immigration
• Differences between settlers in New England and the Chesapeake
1. Entire families emigrated to New England, while Chesapeake immigrants were mainly male
2. The climate in New England was more hospitable, allowing longer lives and larger families
3. a sense of community and the absence of cash crop led new Englanders to settle in large towns.
4. Chesapeake people lived in small, spread out farming communities.
5. Both were religious, but the Puritans were the more religious of the two.
Other Early Colonies
• When the Peuqots Indians tried to resist English incursions they attacked the Wakefield settlement, to which
the colonists reacted by burning the main Peuqot village and devastating the tribe, the Pequot War.
• Connecticut and Maryland were proprietorships, colonies owned by one person, Maryland by Lord Baltimore.
• Maryland became a religious haven for all Christians. It had the Maryland Toleration Act which guaranteed
religious tolerance to Christians and is considered a precursor to the first amendment. Thomas Hooker founded
Connecticut. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was an early constitution that gave government
guarantee of individual rights and the limits of the power of government.
• New York was given to the King’s brother James, and was handed over without conflict by the Dutch.
• New Jersey was given to a few of the kings friends who sold it off mainly to Quakers
• Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn, a Quaker. He established civil liberties, religious toleration, and
fair treatment of the Indians. Delaware was leased to William Penn because he wanted access for his colony to
the sea.
• Carolina which split into North Carolina, settled by Virginians and made into a Virginia like colony, and
South Carolina which was settled by Englishmen from the Barbados and poor farmers of Virginia. This held
the beginning of wide spread slavery
• Georgia was created by James Oglethorpe to provide a place for the poor and imprisoned debtors of England.
• Most of these proprietary colonies became royal colonies and were taken over by the king.
Slavery in the Early Colonies-
• Indentured Servants became too few and too dangerous, Native Americans were difficult to enslave and could
easily escape, but blacks did not know the land, had communication barriers between each other, and initially
proved easy to control.
• The Middle Passage was the middle leg of the triangle trade among the colonies, Europe, and Africa.
Conditions were terrible on the boats, but slightly better in the new world.
• The new cash crops were tobacco, rice, and indigo.
• Only the wealthy owned slaves, and northern slaves were mainly household servants.
The Age of Salutary Neglect (1650 to 1750)-
• British treatment toward the colonies before the French and Indian War or Seven Years’ War is often
described as “salutary neglect” because England interfered little in colonial affairs and occasionally turned its
back to colonial wrongdoing. This fueled a degree of autonomy and helped start the revolutionary war
• During this period, the colonies formed fledgling economies
English Regulation of Colonial Trade-
• Mercantilism is the idea that a balance of trade (exporting more than you import) and control of specie (hard
currency such as coins). Europeans believed this was rooted in economic power.
• The West Indian colonies were seen as more important and the colonies as a market for British goods
• Protective Tariffs were placed on the colonies to ensure the purchase of English goods
• The Navigation Acts required colonists to buy goods only from England, sell certain goods to England, and
route all non-English goods through English ports. It gave England large control over Colonial commerce.
• Vice-admiralty courts, military style courts, were created in the colonies to try individuals who breeched the
laws of the navigations acts, colonists were not entitled to a jury
• The Boards of Trade were created to regulate colonial commerce, review colonial legislation, revoke laws
conflicting with British laws, and administer government appointments.
• However the colonists did not protests these actions.
Colonial Governments-
 • Every colony had a governor appointed by the king or proprietor
• He was dependent on colonial legislatures for money
• Besides Pennsylvania all colonies had Bicameral legislatures modeled after British Parliament.
• The New England Confederation was an attempt for a unified central government, but although it had no real
power, it helped it solving colonial disputes and mutual issues
Major Events of the Period-
• Bacon’s Rebellion- The farming land in Virginia was filling up. People moved west to acquire new lands, but
were attacked my Indians. They believed Sir William Berkley and the government weren’t trying hard enough
to protect them and using these settlers as a “human shield.” Rallying be hind Nathaniel Bacon the settlers
attacked the Deog and Susquehannock Indians and then turned their attentions to the governor.
• King Philip’s War- The Wampanoags, or Pokanokets, were led by Metacomet, or King Phillip, on several
attacks of surrounding white settlements for their intrusion on their territory. Metacomet died and the alliance
he formed with two other tribes fell apart, and the tribes were destroyed and forced into slavery.
• Stono Uprising was where slaves stole guns and ammunition, liberated other slaves, and then fled to Florida in
the hope of freedom. They were caught and killed by the colonial militia. It caused more strict laws to govern
slave behavior in the colonies.
• Salem Witch Trials- People were tried and executed on the charge of witchcraft.
• The Dominion of New England was an English Government attempt to clamp down on illegal trade. It had
autocratic control. Colonies then became royal colonies after the Glorious Revolution
• Puritans feared that the new generations were becoming less devout and lacked the fervor of original puritans
• This led to the halfway covenant was a move designed to liberalize membership rules and bolster the church's
position in the community
• Between 1730 and 1760 the Great Awakening occurred. Led by Congressionalist minister John Edwards and
Methodist preacher George Whitefield these new churches were called “new lights.” Edwards preached the
severe, predeterministic doctrines of Calvinism and became famous for his depictions of hell. “Sinners at the
Hands of an angry god” sermon was famous. Whitefield preached a basis of emotionalism and spirituality.
“Old Lights” were conservative and traditional.
• Ben Franklin was a successful printer who published Poor Richard’s Almanack. He was a major influence
over early America
• Peter Zenger case- Zenger was brought to trial on charges of printing false and seditious statements about
colonial officials. He was let off as innocent of all charges. Freedom of the press.
• King William’s War was marked the first war in the Northern region between the British and their Indian allies
against the French and their Indian allies. It greatly heightened tensions in the region.
• Queen Anne’s War was part of the war of Spanish successions and now the Spanish allied with the French. It
was the second conflict.
• King George’s War was a further conflict in the region and a result of Austrian Succession.
Life in the Colonies-
• From 1700-1750 the population in the colonies increased from 250,000 to 1,250,000 people
• A non-English population began to form, mainly from Ireland, Scotland, and Germany.
• Over 90 percent of colonists lived in rural areas, and only in the cities did people live in destitution
• Most were yeoman, small time freeholders, and worked in the household mode of production system, where
goods and services were traded.
• Labor was divided along gender lines
• Conditions in cities were worse then in the country, most immigrants settled in cities. Sanitary conditions were
primitive, poverty was widespread, pay was low, and epidemics occurred.
• Colleges during the time were created mainly to educate ministers. Harvard however was the first academic
college. Yale was created to preserve the tradition of European liberal education in the New World. The
College of William and Mary was created by a royal charter to provide higher learning to whites and natives.
• New England society centered on trade and they farmed for subsistence, the middle colonies focused on
farming, the lower south concentrated on cash crops. The Chesapeake colonies combined features of the middle
and south and had a very diverse economy.
• The middle colonies had the most diversity because they were the most tolerant.
The Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries-
Events Leading to the Revolutionary War (1750-1776)-
Albany Plan of Union-
• The Albany Plan of Union wad adopted by seven colonies and developed by Benjamin Franklin. The plan
provided for an intercolonial government and a system for collecting taxes for the colonies’ defense. He also
tried to make a treaty with the Iroquois
The Seven Years’ War and Other Wars-
• Finally the French and Indian War or Seven Years War began as a cause of colonial expansion and inter-
European struggles. England declared war on France and the Indians joined the French thinking them the lesser
of the two evils.
• The beginnings of Anti-British Sentiment began during the war through the colonists’ prolonged contact to
British troops.
• The Treaty of Paris marked the end of the war and the beginning of British dominance. Land East of the
Mississippi was given to Britain.
• The English victory was trouble for the natives who usually pitted the French and English against each other
• In response to the British raising the cost of goods and no longer paying rent on Indian land, chief Pontiac lead
a group of tribes in the Ohio River Valley in a uprising know as Pontiac’s Uprising. In response to attacks the
British government issued the Proclamation of 1763, forbidding the settlement west of the Appalachians. This
agitated colonists.
• The War of the Regulation was a North Carolina uprising, lasting from approximately 1764 to 1771, against
corrupt colonial officials. While unsuccessful, some historians consider it as a catalyst to the American
Revolutionary War.
The Sugar Act, the Currency Act, and the Stamp Act-
• The French and Indian War created a massive debt for England
• George III and Prime Minister George Grenville thought the colonists should help pay the debt.
• The Sugar Act established a number of new duties and also contained provisions aimed at deterring molasses
smugglers. It was explicitly designed to generate revenue for the government unlike previous acts.
• The Currency Act forbade the colonists to issue paper money.
• These acts collectively caused a good deal of discontent in the colonies; however protests were ineffective and
uncoordinated.
• The Stamp Act was another specific revenue raising tax on the colonists. The colonists believed that their
policy of self-taxation was being usurped. It was a broad based tax that covered all legal documents and
licenses. It also established vice-admiralty courts to try violators under a non-colonial jurisdiction.
• Protests were more forceful then before this act was passed. The stamp act congress was a reaction to both of
these events. They believed colonial legislatures should control the taxation of the colonies.
• James Otis’ The Right of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved was the foundation of the colonists’
argument. The colonists were most upset that they did not have representation in parliament, but they were
granted virtual representation by the British which stated that the members of Parliament represented all of
British subjects regardless of who elected them. Opponents of the Stamp act united and Patrick Henry drafted
the Virginia Stamp Act Resolves protesting the tax and supporting self-government. The Sons of Liberty were
mobs in Boston who protested.
• Lord Rockingham replaced Grenville as Prime Minister and repealed the stamp act, however he passed the
Declaratory Act which asserted the British government’s ability to tax and legislate in all cases anywhere in
the colonies.
The Townshend Acts-
• William Pitt replaced Rockingham and drafted the Townshend Acts. They taxed goods imported from Britain,
some of the taxes were set aside for payment of the tax collectors, which meant colonial assemblies no longer
could withhold government officials’ wages, they created more vice-admiralty courts, and instituted writs of
assistance which allowed the British to search any place suspected of smuggling.
• The Massachusetts Assembly responded by trying to unite all protesting assemblies. These legislators created
sometimes dissolved colonist governments. The townshend duties besides tea were repealed 2 years later
• As a result to the mass protest and rallies troops were stationed and led to heightened tensions. The Boston
Massacre occurred when soldiers shot into a mob.
• The Gaspee incident occurred when Colonists set fire to a British commerce enforcing ship that had run
aground chasing a colonist ship suspected of smuggling.
The Calm and then The Storm-
• Nothing happened for the next two years
• The colonists created the Committees of Correspondence in a reaction to the Townshend acts, and to discuss
political mood
• In response to the East India Tea Company being granted a monopoly which lowered the price on tea for the
colonists, they revolted and dumped tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party.
• The English responded with the Coercive or Intolerable Acts. The measures included closing Boston Harbor,
the tightening of English government over Massachusetts courts and the Quartering Act, requiring colonists to
house British soldiers.
• The Quebec Act was also past which granted greater liberties to Catholics and impeded westward expansion.
• The First Continental Congress met to discuss their grievances to which all colonies but Georgia had
delegates. They boycotted British goods until their grievances were heard. They wanted towns to create
Committees of Observation to enforce the boycotts. They also disrupted the British and began to plan for war
The Shot Heard Round the World-
• The British believed that arresting the leaders and seizing the weapons would put down any rebellion
• To defend their weapons and leaders the minute men, small colonial militia, were called upon to defend against
the British army.
• The war began at the Battle of Lexington where the British were victorious and then proceeded to Concord.
• The minutemen repelled the British at Concord
• Not all colonists were convinced of Revolution, these people were the Loyalists
• Slaves believed they had a better chance of freedom under the British and escaped to join the British army
• Pro-revolutionaries were called Patriots
• The Second Continental Congress convened just before these battles and prepared to establish a Continental
Army, print money, and create government offices. George Washington was chosen to be the leader of this
army.
The Declaration of Independence-
• Thomas Paine produced the pamphlet Common Sense which advocated for colonial independence and
supported a republic form of government
• Thomas Jefferson began work on the Declaration of independence in which the colonists grievances were
written and individual liberty and government for the people was supported.
• The Olive Branch Petition was a last ditch effort to prevent war between England and the Colonies
• The war was fought and the Franco-American Alliance was formed, negotiated by Ben Franklin.
• The Treaty of Paris granted the Untied States independence and generous territorial rights, the Mississippi
Creating a Functioning Government (1776-1800)-
The Articles of Confederation-
• The Articles of Confederation were began to be written after independence wad declared. They contained
several major flaws for the federal government did not have the power to tax or regulate trade and amendments
required unanimous consent. They were aimed at preventing the government from gaining too much power
• Unable to levy taxes the government had to print money which led to drastic inflation
• Shay’s Rebellion occurred when 1500 farmers marched on Boston to protest a number of unfair policies
both economic and political.
• The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 sold government land to settlers, but also guaranteed trial by jury,
freedom of religion, and freedom from excessive punishment. It abolished slavery in the Northwest Territories
and also set up regulations of statehood. It was a forerunner to the bill of rights. It claimed native American
land without consent
• The Land Ordinance organized the selling of western lands to raise funds since it could not tax.
• The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Judiciary Branch of the government
A New Constitution-
• The Constitutional convention gathered to fix the Articles of confederation. The New Jersey Plan called
for modifications, but keeping the articles, The Virginia Plan, lead by James Madison, wanted to scrap the
whole government and create a new system of Checks and Balances.
• They created the Constitution, a closer representation of the Virginia plan, in response to the great
compromise. It had a bicameral legislature with the house of representatives elected by the people, and the
senate elected by state governors. It also counted slaves as 3/5 of a person. The three branches were the
Judiciary, Executive, and Legislative branches.
• The Anti-Federalists were opposed to the new constitution, seeing it as making government too powerful.
They held out for the promise of a Bill of Rights to protect the citizens in return for ratification.
• The Federalists supported the ratification, and in the Federalist Papers, written by James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, they were published and widely circulated
The Washington Presidency-
• George Washington was the first presidency and exercised authority with care and restraint
• He only used the veto to shut down an unconstitutional bill and delegated responsibilities to different leaders
of the time, creating his cabinet. Thomas Jefferson was the secretary of state, Alexander Hamilton was the
secretary of treasury, and Henry Knox was the Secretary of War.
• Hamilton supported a strong central government and a weak state government, a policy known as
Federalism.
• Jefferson favored a small federal government only to defend the country and regulate international
commerce and he believed that the main power should be in the state governments
• Hamilton’s report on public credit analyzed the financial standing of the United States of America
• Hamilton’s report on manufacturers recommended economic policies to stimulate the countries economy
• Hamilton proposed a National Bank to help regulate and strengthen the economy. It was passed by both
houses but Washington considered a veto because he questioned its constitutionality. The strict
constitutionalists led by Madison and Jefferson only allowed for specific, enumerated powers. They said the
creation was not necessary. Hamilton, a broad constructionist, argued that the creation of the bank was an
implied power because the government already had the power to coin money, borrow money, and collect taxes.
He pointed out the Necessary and Proper Clause and that the government could do anything not expressly
forbidden
• Hamilton successfully handled the National Debt and planned for the national government to assume state
debts and repay those debts by giving debt holders land on the western frontier. The plan favored the National
Bank, and Southern states had less remaining debt then northern states. In return for this plan, the capital was
moved farther south to Washington D.C.
• Hamilton was for high tariffs but Jefferson was not. Hamilton was for industrialization, Jefferson was for a
country of farmers.
• The French Revolution caused a debate because Jefferson wanted to support the revolution while Hamilton
wanted to avoid it. When the British entered the conflict America remained neutral because Britain was their
greatest trading partner. Citizen Edmond Genet visited to seek assistance but Washington refused.
• Supporters of the revolution formed into the Democratic-Republican party.
• The founders disliked political parties and Washington accused the Democratic Republicans of starting the
Whiskey Rebellion. It was a protest to a new tax on Whiskey and the armed rebels were disbanded when
Washington sent troops. This controversial action was the beginning of the end of the Federalist party
• The Jay Treaty was a response to British impressments of American sailors, the need to withdraw British
soldiers from American outposts, establish a boarder between the U.S. and Canada, and pay back the loyalists.
It was seen as failed by many and Washington instituted executive privilege to conceal many of the facts.
• Chisholm v. Georgia decided that the federal government/supreme court had power of cases between
individuals and the state
• In his Farewell Address Washington told America to steer clear of entangling alliances and political
parties.
The Adams Presidency-
• He was a Federalist and Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson became vice-president
 • He was an elitist and argumentative and did not always take control
• He avoided war with France even after when he sent three delegates to France to negotiate the ending of
seizing ships, France demanded a huge bribe even to begin talks. The XYZ affair.
• The Quasi War or Undeclared naval warfare with France was in response to France capturing American
vessels
• Pinckney’s Treaty made that Spain recognized the U.S. boarder of the Mississippi and granted them the
right to ship through New Orleans
• The Alien and Sedition Acts allowed the government to forcibly expel foreigners and jail writers for
scandalous or malicious publications. They were aimed at destroying the Democratic-Republicans
• Jefferson and Madison drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions which argued that states had the
right to challenge the constitutionality of Federal law, creating a policy of Nullification.
The Election of 1800-
• The Federalist party was split and the two Democratic-Republican candidates, Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Burr had the best chance. They tied in the electoral college, and then the House of Representatives
chose Jefferson.
• The Twelfth Amendment allowed electors to vote for a party ticket.
The Jeffersonian Republic (1800-1823)
Jefferson’s First Term-
• Before Adams left town, he made midnight appointments filling as many government positions with
federalists as he could. Jefferson did not recognize these appointments and then replaced as many federalists as
he could.
• In the court case of Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall decided that Jefferson had to
accept Marbury’s appointment. This established judicial review and declared the power to enforce
appointments unconstitutional
• Tripoli War- It occurred when the U.S. stopped bribing Tripoli pirates not to attack their ships. Naval
warfare ensued, the u.s. won and also rescued some prisoners.
•
• Hamilton believed that debt was good, because if the wealthy invested in the country, then they would want
it to grow
• The Louisiana Purchase was one of the main successes of Jefferson’s presidency which he bought for $15
million. Although an anti-federalist, this was the biggest federal move up to that point.
• Explorers Lewis and Clark were sent to explore and document the new territory.
Jefferson’s Second Term-
• The U.S. was caught in a dispute between France and England, which culminated in the War of 1812
• British Orders in Council resumed warfare for economic gains, and stopped trade with allies or neutrals of
France, therefore the United States.
• The u.s. suffered from trade blockades with both countries, and England began to impress and take their
ships. Jefferson boycotted Britain in return which was a disaster for the American economy. This was the
Embargo Act of 1807 and it shut down American import and export businesses.
• Chesapeake Affair occurred when the Chesapeake American ship was boarded by the British and her
sailors impressed
• The non-intercourse act lifted the embargos on France and England
• Force act it was used by congress to force Jefferson’s embargos to be repealed
• Macon’s Bill #2- it was intended to stop France and England seizing American Ships
Madison’s Presidency and the War of 1812-
• He easily defeated the Federalists and helped remove the Embargo
• However the British increased their attacks on American ships
• The British burn Washington D.C.
• The Southern War Hawks lead by Henry Clay and John Calhoun wanted to seize south-west land
• In the War of 1812 the Indians aligned with the British and the chief Tecumseh unified the tribes to stop
American expansion. His brother Prophet led an extensive revival of traditional and Indian culture and religion.
 • The Treaty of Ghent ended the war, but news had not spread yet, and General Andrew Jackson won the
Battle of New Orleans
• The Federalists, against the war, met at the Hartford Convention, to discuss session or rewriting the
constitution
• During the rest of his presidency Madison established protective tariffs on imports, improvements on
interstate roads, and rechartered the national bank. The programs were known as the American System. Henry
Clay strongly supported them
Monroe’s Presidency-
• The unity of government under the Democratic-Republicans lead to the “era of good feelings” during
which period Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in to strengthen the federal government. In McCulloch v.
Maryland he ruled that the states could not tax the National Bank.
• Andrew Jackson kicked out the Seminole Indians and also conquered lands in the Spanish colony of Florida
• The Panic of 1819 threw the American economy into turmoil. The panic followed a period of economic
growth, inflation, and land speculation, all of which destabilized the economy. When the National Bank called
in its loans, the debtors could not pay.
• Secretary of state John Quincy Adams helped negotiate many treaties that fixed u,s. boarders, opened new
territories, and acquired Florida. These were the Rush-Bagot Treaty, which created a fixed boundary along
Canada, demilitarized the Great Lakes, and in the Adams-Onis treaty the U.S. received Florida for $5 million.
• South American tensions and America’s feeling of superiority caused the creation of the Monroe Doctrine
a policy of mutual noninterference, meaning that the U.S. would stay out of European squabbles, but said that
America would intervene if it felt threatened by anything it its own hemisphere.
• The Tallmadge Amendment was solved by the Missouri Compromise because it did not pass, but raised a
heated debate about the expansion of slavery in congress.
• As the country expanded a new debate about slavery arose. The balance in the union between free and slave
states was desired to remain so. The Missouri Compromise stated that Missouri would be a slave state, Maine
would be added as a free state, and established that the southern border of Missouri was the limit for slavery in
Western states. It split the Democratic Republicans.
• Dartmouth College v. Woodward- The decision was far-reaching in its application to business charters,
protecting businesses and corporations from much government regulation.
• Cohens v. Virginia represented many states challenge to previous decisions in the McCulloch v. Maryland
trial and increased the power of the state judiciary
• Gibbons v. Ogden established that states could not, by legislative enactment, interfere with the power of
Congress to regulate interstate commerce.
Beginnings of Modern American Democracy
The Election of 1824 and John Quincy Adam’s Presidency-
• The election of 1824 was the first election where more states now began to allow voters to choose their
presidential electors directly. The caucus nominee no longer necessarily represented the party.
• None of the candidates won a majority in this election, but Clay swung his favor towards Adams, and in
return was made secretary of state. This was called the corrupt bargain.
• Adams was for federal power but most of his actions were rejected
The Jacksonian Presidency and Jacksonian Democracy-
• The election of 1828 ushered in the beginning of the modern political party system. Jackson’s support
encompassed a coalition of political state organizations, paper publishers, and other community leaders.
• It became the present day democratic party. Both candidates campaigned viciously, attacking each other
and not focusing on real issues.
• Jackson won the election. He replaced former officials with his own supporters, the beginning of the spoil
system.
• Jacksonian Democracy was based on universal manhood suffrage meaning the extension of voting rights
to all white males even those who did not own property. He challenged both congress and the supreme court.
• Jackson received much support from western frontier states for he supported expansion.
• Accordingly he pursued an aggressive Indian Removal program. In the cases of Cherokee Nation v.
Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia the supreme court defended the native Americans. However Jackson
 ignored this ruling and forcibly evicted the tribes. The Removal Act of 1830 resulted in the Trail of tears and
the deaths of thousands of Indians.
• Jackson spent his two terms downsizing the federal government and he crushed the Second Bank of the
United States. He fought reform movements where government activism would help with social and
economic problems
• He halted clay’s American system and made extensive use of the presidential veto
• One of the major issues was Nullification.
• The tariff of 1828 also known as the tariff of abominations was passed during the Adams administration
but it almost turned into a national crisis during Jackson’s administration. Some states began to nullify the tariff
but it failed. Jackson then enacted the tariff of 1832 which he threatened to enforce with the army which he
was entitled to under the Force Bill. The South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification. A deals was made and
The Compromise Tariff of 1833 was delivered by Henery Clay in order to decrease gradually the tariff imposed
on the manufactured goods coming from the north.
• Jackson’s economic policies grew more controversial. His specie circular ended the policy of selling
government land on credit and caused a money shortage and economic hardship.
• Slavery began to be a more important issue. Slave revolts such as Nat Turner’s Rebellion occurred more
often. Restrictive laws known as the Black Codes prohibiting blacks from learning to read or congregate were
an attempt to stop revolts.
• The Maysville Road veto occurred on May 27, 1830 when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill which
would allow the Federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington
Turnpike Road Company, which had been organized to construct a road linking Lexington and the Ohio River,
the entirety of which would be in the state of Kentucky
The Election of 1836 and the Rise of the Whigs-
• Antimasionic party- Popular movement in the U.S. in the 1830s opposed to Freemasonry. The movement
was ignited in 1826 by the disappearance and presumed murder of a New York bricklayer and former Mason,
who had supposedly intended to reveal the order's secrets. It was absorbed by the Whigs.
• The Whigs were formed as an opposition to Jackson and the democrats
• Whigs believed in government activism, were deeply religious, and differed on many issues.
• Jackson supported Martin Van Buren who took over as the Panic of 1837 began. His continuation of the
hard currency policy increased the economic downturn.
• Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge- It was decided that the general welfare of the people should
sometimes overcome and is more important than property rights or charters.
• In 1840 William Harrison became the first Whig President. He died a month after taking office, and John
Tyler was, a former democrat received the presidency. Tyler supported states’ rights, and alienated the Whigs
by vetoing their bills. Eventually his whole cabinet resigned.
• Independent Treasury Act removed the federal government from involvement with the nation's banking
system by establishing federal depositories for public funds instead of keeping the money in national, state, or
private banks.
• Commonwealth v hunt supported labor unions by ruling that a combination of workers to protect their
interests by peaceable collective action was not an indictable criminal conspiracy.
• The Webster- Ashburton Treaty was between the U.S. and Britain establishing the northeastern boundary
of the U.S, present day Maine.
Economic History (1800-1860)
Beginnings of a Market Economy-
• The market economy was born when goods began to be easily transported and produced. It favored those
who specialized in a single product or crop, but farmers therefore were no longer self-sufficient and fell victim
to over-production. They made people independent but were also very prone to change.
• Boom and bust cycles occurred during this transition
• Eli Whitney developed the cotton gin which made it easier to remove the seeds from cotton. He also
invented interchangeable parts. This was created by his mass producing of rifles. It gave birth to the
machine tool industry which produced specialized machines for growing industries. He also helped promote
assembly line production.
The North and the Textile Industry-
• Machine technology and the embargo on British goods greatly aided the industry. The power loom allowed
textile manufacturers to make fabric in their own factories and do so quickly and efficiently.
• The Lowell system enticed women to work for factories by providing them boardinghouses, cash wages,
and participation in social and cultural events.
• When working conditions began to deteriorate labor unions were formed. They were strong, shortened the
work day to 10 hours, and received the right to organize.
• Clothing manufacturers, retailers, brokers, commercial banks, and transportation industries all grew.
Transportation: Canals, Railroads, highways, and steamships-
• The National road made travel from east to west easier
• The completion of the Erie Canal by the state of New York was incredibly successful and revolutionized
transport. Duplicates arose and the canal era was born. However railroads sprung up and then it ended
• The steamship was created by Robert Fulton traveled faster then sailing vessels and became freighters for
long distance voyages.
• Railroads were built to a standard gauge and most of the main cities became linked by rail
• The invention of the telegraph and Morse code revolutionized communication across the country.
Eventually the transatlantic cable connected Europe and the United States.
Farming-
• Mechanical plow, sower, reaper, thresher, baler, and cottin gin all helped production
• The north land was poor and rock and began to be over farmed. The west was well suited to grow crops and
raise livestock.
• Western framers were much larger, and economic advances allowed them to double production
• Banks sprang up to lend money to farmers in the west to loan money to farmers to buy tool and then pay
them off
Westward Expansion-
• Manifest Destiny began to rise as an idea and people even took it far enough to believe that one day
Mexico and Canada would be annexed.
• In the west the climate was dangerous and the natives and Mexicans put up a fight
• Texas enticed Americans to come and settle if they became Mexican citizens. The Americans ignored
Mexican law and fought for independence. The battle of the Alamo was fought and Texas was an independent
country for a while.
• The Oregon Territory was jointly controlled by British and Americans.
• California became a center of migration during the Gold Rush attracting over 100,000 people. Major cities
such as San Francisco developed into major trade centers.
Economic Reasons For Regional Differences-
• All regions developed in different directions, creating a sectional strife.
• The North was becoming industrialized with large technological advances while slavery was illegal and
farming was growing to be less of a factor
• The South remained almost entirely agrarian still relying on slaves and cash crops. They looked to create
new slave territory in the west, which the North fought against.
• Western economic interests were varied, but were mainly rooted in commercial farming. They distrusted
the North because they controlled the banks and had little use for the south. They wanted to avoid the slavery
issue
Social History, 1800-1860
• The cotton gin increased reliance on slave labor, commerce created a larger middle class, industrialization
led to bigger cities with impoverished immigrant neighborhoods, westward migration created a new social
frontier.
The North American Cities-
• Originally cities lacked control, waste disposal, plumbing, sewers, and the close proximity spawned
epidemics
 • However, the cities offered ample jobs, opportunities for social advancement, labor unions began to form,
and a wide range of leisure activities was provided
• In the south there was a great gap in the distribution of wealth. The very few of the aristocracy controlled
most of the power, and beneath them was the middle class made up of tradesmen brokers, and other
professionals. Men worked hard to be the only producer in the household, and leave the women at home.
• The notion of the cult of domesticity was glorified by popular magazines and stated that women should
stay home to raise the children and keep the house.
• Members of the middle class often rose from the working class where men worked in factories and women
worked from the home.
• Most of the impoverished were immigrants and during this time there was a wave of immigration from
Ireland and Germany. They were met with hostility because they worked for less then the Americans did.
• Occasionally tensions would over boil into riots, and this was the main issue for the police.
• Elizabeth Blackwell became the first women to receive a medical degree and opened hospitals for Women
and Children.
The South and Rural Life-
• There were few major urban centers in the south, because most southerners lived in isolation.
• Family played a dominant role in social life and family and church were the two most important things.
There was not a very organized culture
• They lacked a center of commerce and were far behind on technological developments. Their economy was
much weaker then the north’s
• Plantation owners were the richest, and of the minority that owned slaves, were the main part that owned 20
or more
• The attitude of Southern paternalism was the idea that everyone benefited from slavery, even slaves, and
blacks as child like.
• Slaves converted to Christianity and were in a constant state of poverty. They lived in overcrowded
unsanitary conditions. They worked long tough hours
• In 1808 the importation of slaves was band, making it necessary to keep them healthy and reproducing
• Small time planters might own a few slaves, but yeomen owned no slaves and worked on small tracts of
land. They were mainly of Scottish or Irish decent and grew crops in difficult lands, mainly growing sustenance
crop. The lowest whites were landless whites who either farmed as tenants or were manual laborers. The class
structure was quite stiff
• There were 250,000 free blacks in the south and black codes stopped them from owning guns, drinking
liquor, and assembling in groups of more then three.
The West and Frontier Living-
• The frontier was constantly expanding during this period
• Government encouraged settlers to move west by giving away land, selling it, giving it to war veterans, or
selling it at reduced rates to civilians. However, squatters ignored the requirement to buy land and simply
moved onto land.
• Soon the west was found to be very hospitable to grains and dairy industries. Plows and reapers increased
profitability
• Fur trading was always a step ahead of the settlers, and hunted their game near extinction. The frontier
was also home to cattle ranchers, and miners.
• Frontier life was tough but there was still a great ability to make a living
Religious and Social Movements-
• The second great awakening was a period of religious resurgence where numerous churches formed in
places where there used to be only occasional religious meetings. Many societies sprang up, dedicated to
protecting society from its worst impulses
• Temperance Societies, mainly led by middle and upper class women, were dedicated to the prohibition of
liquor were powerful and achieved nationwide prohibition in the 1900’s Other groups attacked gambling and
eventually all states outlawed lotteries. Other societies also focused on rehabilitating prostitutes in the city
 • Reforms also developed in penitentiaries, asylums, and orphanages by popularizing the idea that society is
responsible for the less fortunate. Dorthea Dix sought to rehabilitate criminals. Asylums, orphanages, and
houses of refuge were built for the poor.
• The Shakers were a utopian group that splintered from the Quakers, they believed that all churches became
too interested in this world, no the afterlife. They lived in isolated communities where women had near equal
rights and they practiced celibacy. Other utopian communities included the Oneida Community, the New
Harmony committee, and book farms.
• The Mormons also thrived. Joseph Smith formed the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day
Saints and preached acceptance of polygamy. He was killed by an angry mob. They migrated to Utah and
formed a successful community.
• This era also marked the beginnings of the women’s rights movement. The Seneca Falls Convention was
led by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton. Stanton and Susan B. Anthony later joined to form the National
Women’s Suffrage Association in 1869.
• Horace Mann pushed for public education and education reform
The abolition Movement-
• The Second Great Awakening was one of the main factors that caused the North to think slavery a great evil
• Moderates wanted emancipation to take place slowly, while immediatists wanted emancipation at once.
One of these individuals was William Garrison who published the abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator. He
fought against slavery and moderates and was against relocation to Africa.
• Abolition societies formed in every large black community to assist fugitive slaves and publicize the
struggle
• Fredrick Douglas began publishing his influential newspaper The North Star. He was an escaped slave
transformed into an eloquent advocate of freedom and equality. Harriet Tubman ran the Underground
Railroad to help slaves escape. Sojourner Truth was a charismatic speaker who campaigned for women’s
rights and emancipation.
• Denmark Vesey was executed under suspicion of starting a slave rebellion.
• The Liberty Party was a U.S. political party formed by a splinter group of abolitionists who hoped to free
blacks politically. They opposed William Garrison.
Heading Toward the Civil War (1845-1860)
• The election of 1844 pitted James Polk a democrat expansionalist, against the Whig leader Henry Clay.
Polk’s slogan 54*40’ or fight referred to the Northwestern boarder’s extension into Canadian territory. He
also wanted the annexation of Texas, and the expansion into Mexican claimed territories. Polk won Texas was
annexed, they broke diplomatic relations, making war likely. Before war, he sent diplomat John Slidell on the
Slidell Mission to offer to buy Mexico’s vast Northern territory for $50 million, but he was rejected.
The Polk Presidency-
• Polk realized he could not fight both the Mexicans and British, so he signed the Oregon Treaty, which gave
American a number of North-western territories, but established a lower border then promised.
• When attempts to peacefully acquire territory from Mexico, he provoked the Mexicans to attack American
Troops by stationing them near the boarder, an attempt to justify the war and not looking like they are picking
on a smaller country. Emerson and Thoreau were two transcendentalists who saw this purely as a grab for
land and power. Then the Mexican-American War began.
• In addition Lincoln challenged Polk’s word with the Spot Resolutions that required Polk to say where
exactly blood was spilled on American soil to prompt the war.
• Not everyone was for the war, Abolitionists were worried it would create more slave states while rich
Southerners supported it and the idea that a few slave owners were the reason why the war was started was
called Slave Power by abolitionists
• The gag rule shot down the Wilmot Proviso which was a congressional bill prohibiting slavery in
territories gained by Mexico. It was strongly supported in the North, and led to the creation of the Free Soil
Party, a party mainly devoted to the goals of the Wilmot Proviso.
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and Mexico gave over modern day Arizona, New
Mexico, California, Nevada, and Utah.
 • This new territory greatly increased the nation’s wealth, but it also posed a major problem regarding the
issue of slavery. The democrats supported the south and settled on the policy of popular sovereignty. It mean
that the territories themselves would decide by vote whether to allow slavery within their borders.
• When the Whigs also refused to oppose slavery, a party split occurred, where Anti-slavery Whigs joined the
free soil party. The Whigs won the election by electing the war hero Zachary Taylor. When Daniel Webster
and Henry Clay died, the Whig party fell apart. Taylor died a year later and Millard Fillmore became
president.
• The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was an attempt to ease tensions between the U.S. and Britain in central
America, and agreed to the sharing of the Panama canal.
• During this time, in 1852, Naval commander Mathew Perry forced trade with Japan by threatening to open
fire on them form the bay.
The Compromise of 1850-
• When settlers flooded to California and the population drastically increased they wanted statehood. The
south opposed California’s bid because California’s state constitution outlawed slavery. The south argued that
Southern California should be able to have slavery, and when refused, began to consider succession.
• Democrat Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay created the Compromise of 1850. It was defeated in congress,
but Douglass broke it down into many separate bills, and each were passed. This admitted California as a free
state, created the territories of Utah and New Mexico, but left the choice of slaver up to these states, reinforcing
Popular sovereignty, and enacted the fugitive state law. The definition of popular sovereignty was so vague it
was free to interpretation both ways, and the compromise left the status of slaves undetermined in each territory
joining the union. Abolitionists considered the fugitive slave law immoral.
• Harriet Breecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin raised Antislavery sentiments in the north. It became a best-
seller and even reached a European audience.
• Franklin Pierce was next elected, perceived as a moderate by both sides
• The Ostend Manifesto was an attempt by the U.S. to buy Cuba. It angered Northerners who thought it
might become a slave state.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act and “Bleeding Kansas”-
• Stephen Douglas addressed the issues over lack of control of these two territories in the Kansas Nebraska
Act of 1854 which left the fate of slavery up to the residents. It was seen as a betrayal by the North and in
response many Northern states passed laws weakening the fugitive slave act. These personal liberty laws
required a trial by jury for all alleged fugitive slaves and give them a right to a lawyer.
• It destroyed the Whig Party. The antislavery supporters joined the free soilers and northern democrats to
form the Republican party. They supported abolition, creation of national roads, more liberal distribution of
the West, and increased protective tariffs.
• This act caused violence in both territories. Just prior to elections in Kansas, thousands of proslavery
Missourians temporarily relocated to Kansas resulting in an illegal government. These people were called
Border Ruffians. Proslavery forces then expelled the abolitionists and demolished the abolitionist city of
Lawrence. In return, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on a proslavery camp, killing 5. After that gangs from
both sides roamed the territory attacking and murdering the other. This became known as Bleeding Kansas.
• The Lecompton Constitution was an attempt of pro-slavery supporters to force through a state constitution
in Kansas that legalized slavery.
• This further set the nations on different sides. Tensions were further increased by the Bully Brooks
incident where Congressmen Preston Brooks pummeled abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with a cane. This
crisis destroyed Pierce’s career.
• James Buchanan was elected by the Democrats
• The American or Know-Nothings began to form as a political party. They hated foreigners. It spread anti-
race and religion propaganda. The party then destructed over slavery.
Buchanan, Dred Scott, and the Election of 1860-
• James Buchanan worked to impose the fugitive slave act and also oppose abolition activists in the South
and West.
• The Dred Scott Case was a ruling where a former slave whose master had taken him in to territories where
slaves were illegal, declared himself a free man and sued for his freedom. Scott won the case, then lost the
 appeal, finally the case arrived in the supreme court where he lost. Chief Justice Roger Taney decided that
blacks were property not citizens and that no black person could ever be a citizen. Taney said therefore they
could not sue in federal courts, and congress could not regulate slavery in the territories. This nullified the
Missouri compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Wilmot Proviso, and the concept of popular sovereignty.
• In the north this decision was denounced and even moderates feared that this tilted the balance of power to
far to the south. It was another piece of evidence pointing to slave power taking over the government. This
could also force states that did not want slavery to adopt it.
• John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry was when Harper tried to spark a slave revolt, but he was stopped
and executed. He became a martyr for the north. He wanted to create a colony in Africa for the Blacks
• The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a bid by both for the Senate seat of Illinois. It drew the attention of the
whole nation. Lincoln believed the country could not survive being split into slave and free states, while
Douglas was for popular sovereignty.
• Democrat Stephen Douglas attempted to create a concept of popular sovereignty to get around Taney’s
decision and pull the party together. The bill said states could not pursue the police action that made slavery
work. His solution was the Freeport Doctrine which was doomed to fail. This split the Northern and Southern
democrats who were backed by John Breckenridge.
• A new party, the Constitutional Union Party, led by John Bell arose.
• The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln who won.
• Lincoln refused to compromise with the South, demanding that all territories become free.
• South Carolina soon seceded from the Union to create the Confederate States of America and chose
Jefferson Davis to lead them. The confederacy attacked Fort Sumter and the Civil war began.
The Civil War and Reconstruction
• For many people of the era the civil war was not about slavery, but to preserve the Union. While it was also
a secondary issue to the south.
• Southerners believed that they were fighting for States Rights and more ability to govern themselves.
The Civil War the Confederacy-
• Jefferson Davis understood that the south would need to be strongly unified to mount an effective defense,
placing them under greater federal control then they ever experience while in the Union
• He imposed taxes on the south economy, took control of railroads and commercial shipping, and created a
large government bureaucracy to oversee economic development.
• He declared martial law when southerners opposed his moves and suspended habeas corpus, the protection
against improper imprisonment.
• The south used these measures to try and stimulate the economy and catch up with the north, but they were
far to behind in the factor of industrialization to catch up. Furthermore the rapid economic growth, brought
rapid inflation. Crops and paychecks became worthless. The confederacy then imposed conscription
requiring farmers and yeoman to serve because money or slaves could buy the rich out (also exempting people
who owned more then 25 slaves). This caused great poverty because families could not adequately attend to
their crops.
• As a result class tensions increased, leading to widespread desertion, carry on as if there were not any war,
and resist aiding the troops.
The Civil War and the Union-
• Manufacturing created a boost for the northern economy, and made up for loss of the Southern market.
Some took advantage of the union selling them useless food and clothing called shoddy. Corruption was
widespread causing a yearlong congressional investigation.
• The north also experience inflation around 10 to 20 percent, while the South’s was over 300%
• Workers formed Unions (don’t confuse THE UNION and UNIONS) because of increased mechanization
and the lowering of wages.
• This caused blacklists to be created, violence to break strikes, and works signing that they would not join
unions
• The Republican Party support Business over the Unions.
 • Lincoln increased the power of the central government, implemented economic programs without waiting
for congress, championed numerous government loans and grants to business, and raised tariffs to protect union
trade
• He also suspended habeas corpus in the border states, strengthened the national bank, and initiated the
printing of national currency.
• The Trent Affair occurred during the early years of the war. Two diplomats en route to England from the
confederacy, one was John Slidell, were captured by the Union. The British saw this as a great violation of
freedom of the seas and called for war, but the Union made a quick apology and released the two diplomats.
• The Confiscation Act released slaves and property that under the authority of the confederate army, or any
person who did not surrender to the union
• The Appomattox Court House is where Lee officially surrendered his army to Grant.
Emancipation of the Slaves-
• Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction- Allowed for a full pardon for and restoration of
property to all engaged in the rebellion with the exception of the highest Confederate officials and military
leaders. Second, it allowed for a new state government to be formed when 10 percent of the eligible voters had
taken an oath of allegiance to the United States. Third, the southern states admitted in this fashion were
encouraged to enact plans to deal with the freed slaves so long as their freedom was not compromised.
• The Radical Republican wing of congress wanted immediate emancipation of the slaves. They introduced
confiscation acts in congress that gave the government the right to seize any slaves used for “insurrectionary
purposes,” and allowed the government to liberate any slave of anyone supporting the rebellion (even taxes to
the confederate government!). It gave the union the power to liberate all slaves, but Lincoln did not enforce it
• Lincoln later issued the Emancipation Proclamation which liberated all slaves in those states still in
rebellion, but not the slaves in the border states or Southern counties under union army control. Abolitionists
said this only released slaves where the union had no power to enforce it and maintained slavery where it could
be ended. It also allowed southern states to rejoin the Union without giving up slavery.
• 200,000 Escaped slaves and free blacks enlisted in the union army, which helped discourage European
nations from recognizing, trading, or making a military alliance with the Confederacy.
• Lincoln’s Thirteenth Amendment prohibited slavery. He tried to allow the South to vote on this, during
negotiations at Hampton Roads Conference.
• He offered a 5 year delay on implementing passed, as well as $400 million in compensation to slave owners.
The south refused.
• Wade-Davis Bill- the bill called for provisional military government of the seceded states, an oath of
allegiance from a majority of the state's whites, and new state constitutions that would abolish slavery and
disqualify Confederate officials from holding office. Lincoln considered the bill too harsh and allowed it to
expire by using a pocket veto.
The Election of 1864 and End of the Civil War-
• The north began to dominate the war, a huge part in Lincoln’s reelection over general McClellan.
• When victory was assured the Freedman’s Bureau was created to help newly liberated blacks establish a
place in postwar society by helping with immediate problems of survival such as food, housing, and social
institutions
• John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln just before the surrender took place
• Millions fought in the war, half a million died, it caused debt in both nations, and the south was destroyed.
• During Sherman’s March from Atlanta to the sea the union army burned everything.
• The civil war permanently expanded the role of government.
Reconstruction and Johnson’s Impeachment-
• The two questions proceeding the civil war was how the south would reenter the union, and the status of
blacks in the postwar nation. Blacks hoped military service would have earned them equal rights. Newly freed
slaves, called Freedmen, were most interested in earning a wage and working their own land.
• Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency after Lincoln was assassinated.
• Johnson’s reconstruction plan called for the creation of provisional military governments to run the
confederate states until they were reentered into the union. It also required all Southern Citizens to swear a
loyalty oath before receiving amnesty for the rebellion. It banned the elite from taking the vow, and therefore,
 future government. It did not work because Johnson pardoned too many Southern Elite. The south then
rewrote state constitutions, hardly different from the originals, and created laws outlining the rights of freedmen
called black codes. These limited the rights to assemble, travel, access to public institutions, curfew laws, and
blacks to carry special passes. Sometimes the word slave was just replaced with freedman in the old laws.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1866 protected the rights of freed slaves and to guarantee equal rights to blacks and
was vetoed by Johnson, but was still passed.
• Congress was divided into conservative Republicans who agreed with Johnson, and Radical Republicans.
The radicals wanted to punish the south, confiscate land from the rich, and redistribute it among the poor.
Although everyone believed Johnson’s plan need changes, he refused to compromise, declaring reconstruction
over and done, and vetoing a compromise to extend the freedman’s bureau and enforce uniform civil rights.
• The Radicals then began Congressional Reconstruction. The Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution
prohibited states from depriving any citizen life, liberty, or property without due process, give states the choice
to allow freedmen to vote, or have them not count toward population, barred important Confederates from
holding office, and excused the Confederacy’s war debt.
• The Command of the Army Act required Johnson to issue all military orders through the General of the
Army (at that time General Ulysses S. Grant) instead of dealing directly with military governors in the South.
The Tenure of Office Act required the consent of the Senate for the President to remove an officeholder whose
appointment had been originally confirmed by the Senate.
• The new congress also passed Military Reconstruction Act of 1867. It imposed martial law on the south,
created new constitutional conventions, and allowed blacks to vote for their delegates.
• Knowing that Johnson would oppose their actions, they passed several laws limiting the power of the
president. Johnson, as for see tried to stop these bills, and the House Judiciary Committee initiated
impeachment proceeding against Johnson, using the violation of the Tenure of Office Act where Johnson fired
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The impeachment failed by 1 vote, but the trial rendered Johnson politically
impotent.
• Next Ulysses S. Grant was elected. The Fifteenth Amendment, required states to enfranchise black men.
• The Fisk-Gould Scandal by Jay Gould and James Fisk to drive up gold prices by preventing the sale of
government gold, arranged by connections. Grant heard of the scheme, he ordered the government to sell $4
million in gold, which caused the price to drop and produced a panic selling of other stocks.
They Failure of Reconstruction-
• Reconstruction had some successes. New state constitutions allowed all Southern men to vote, replaced
appointed positions with elected positions, created public schools, and caused reform movements in social
institutions. It also stimulated industrial and rail development in the south.
• Ultimately Reconstruction failed. The industrialization plans aimed to rebuild the south cost a lot of money,
and high tax rates turned public opinion more against reconstruction. Opponents called Southerners who
cooperated scalawags, and northerners who ran the programs carpetbaggers. Many who participated with
reconstruction were indeed corrupt. The Ku Klux Klan targeted those who supported Reconstruction and
attacked scalawags, black and Republican leaders, community activists, and teachers. They intimidated many
of their opponents
• Reconstruction also failed to alter the power structure of the south, redistribute the wealth, guarantee the
freedmen would own property, and they let things return much like the way before reconstruction.
• Grant enforced laws loosely in the hopes of lessening tensions. The Supreme court restricted the scope of
the 14th and 15th amendment. In the case of Slauguhter-House the court ruled that the 14th amendment applied
only to the federal government no the state government, a decision strengthened by United States v.
Cruickshank. In United States v. Reese, the court cleared the way for the grandfather clause, poll taxes,
property taxes, literary tests, and other restrictions to stop blacks voting, Eventually Grant’s administration was
so corrupt it tainted everything which it was associated.
• During the election of 1872 moderates calling themselves Liberal Republicans abandoned supporting
reconstruction. They wanted to end federal control of the south.
• The Amnesty Act of 1872 pardoned many of the rebels, allowing them to reenter public life.
• The financial Panic of 1873 drew the nation’s attention away from reconstruction.
• This also led to the Bland-Allison Act, which required the U.S. treasury to buy a certain amount of silver to
put into circulation
 • In the election of 1876 a bargain was struck that ended Reconstruction. Democrat Samuel Tilden led
Republican Rutherford Hayes in popular vote, and the electoral college, but fraud and violence in the south left
20 electoral votes in doubt. The Compromise of 1877 stated that the South would accept Hayes’s election and
protect black rights if Republicans would provide federal aid for internal improvements, patronage, and home
rule.
• Rutherford B. Hayes won the next election. He began the final withdrawal of troops.
• The Credit Mobilier scandal- illegal manipulation of construction contracts for the Union Pacific Railroad
that became a symbol of corruption after the American Civil War.
• Salary Grab Act increased the salary of the president by double and congress by ½. It led to public outcry,
and the congressional bonus was rescinded.
• The Green Back Party campaigned for the expansion of paper money.
• The Whiskey Ring was a group of U.S. whiskey distillers who defrauded the government of taxes.
Southern Blacks During and After Reconstruction-
• Most slaves remained on their plantations.
• The Freedman’s Bureau helped find new jobs and housing for slaves, and provided money and food for
those in need. It also established schools at all levels for blacks
• Blacks preferred sharecropping to get their pay. This is where they traded a portion of their crop in order
for the right to work on someone else’s land. It was eventually used as a way to keep blacks in debt and in a
near slave states.
• Some blacks moved far away, and churches sprang up to bring blacks together, and give them autonomy.
The people who left the south, especially to go west, and possibly join a black community, were called
exodusters
• The Bradwell v. Illinois decision ruled that the privileges or immunities clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment did not include the right to practice a profession, so it was properly reguable by the states.
The Machine Age (1877-1900)
• Thomas Edison produced the light bulb and power plants. Electricity helped fuel cities, the home, and
industry. This age is also called the age of invention. These opportunities for mass production caused the
economy to grow at a tremendous rate. The Bessemer Process was the first inexpensive way to mass produce
steel.
• The Wright Brothers would begin testing plains at the tail end of the century.
Industrialization, Corporate Consolidation, and the Gospel of Wealth-
• As faster machines were produced the cost of making a unit went down and the number of products made
went up
• The faster the machines ran, the minimal cost of labor, the least electricity cost per unit, made lower the
costs, which allowed them to sell the product for less, the cheaper the product the more they sold. This was the
concept of economies of scale.
• This required efficiency and the assembly line production which had works perform a single task 12-14
hours a day. Factories were dangerous and there were over 500,000 injuries to workers a year.
• Profits in most businesses increased rapidly.
• Businesses wanted a greater economic scale and achieved it through vertical or horizontal integration.
• Vertical integration was aimed at controlling all facets of production, and create a central holding
company that owned the controlling interest in production of raw material.
• The other conclusion is a monopoly. Horizontal integration is one holding companies attempt to control
one industry, or one step of creating a final product in order to be able to easily leverage and earn more money.
• Consolidation of power caused numerous issues-
• Businesses had to borrow a lot of money, and when they occasionally failed, sometimes banks failed.
Investors caused the panics, and the lower class felt them mainly through job shortages.
• Second, monopolies created a class of extremely more powerful men who clashed with society, and laws to
restrict monopolies were born
• The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was led by public pressure. It disallowed combination or conspiracy
in restraint of trade. However although it was meant to hurt the trusts and monopolies, it backfired and was
used against workers’ unions.
 • Andrew Carnegie also had a philosophy based on Darwinism in relation to business. The theory was
social Darwinism and it said that only the most fit businesses should survive and was against government
regulation.
• He believed in a Gospel of Wealth where he argued concentration of the wealth among a few was natural,
but also that it was necessary for those to help benefit society as a whole by donating money.
• John D. Rockefeller owned the Standard Oil Company which through elimination of competitors, and
mergers, it controlled over 90 percent of all oil produced in the United States.
• The Munn V. Illinois case ruled that states could regulate businesses within their borders. It is commonly
regarded as a milestone in the growth of federal government regulation.
• The Wabash Case resulted in the denial of state’s ability to regulate interstate rates for railroads, leading to
the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission. It was formally established by the Interstate Commerce
Act which allowed federal government regulation of economic affairs. It prohibited trusts and discriminatory
fairs for the railroad industry. It could not change the rate, but said that it must be reasonable and just.
• The case of U.S. v. Knight Co. occurred when the American Sugar Refining Company gained a virtual
monopoly over the industry. Under the Sherman anti-trust act, Grover Cleveland attempted to break up this
trust, but the federal government lost, and their was a wave of consolidation of business that followed.
• The U.S. Steel Corporation was a combination of Carnegie Steel, and J.P. Morgan’s Federal Steel
Company. They became the main producer in the industry and created many sub ventures associated with steel.
Factory and City Life-
• Manufacturers found every way possible to cut costs and increase profits including hiring women and
children
• They also hired immigrants who were eager for work.
• Employees suffered of poverty crime, disease, and the lack of livable housing because of their low wages
• Injuries were common and workmen’s compensation did not exist. Factories also polluted the area.
• Mass transport allowed the middle class to live in nice neighborhoods, while immigrants and migrants
lived in the city
• Starting from around 1880, most immigrants began coming from southern and eastern Europe
• Prejudice was widespread causing ethnic neighborhoods to form. Blacks and Latinos were even worse off
then European immigrants.
• Municipal governments did not exist, and societies and communities were expected to aid the poor.
• However, political bosses, helped the poor find homes and jobs, and repaid them by gaining citizenship and
voting rights
• These political bosses formed the political machine and gave communities services in return for votes
• Labor Unions formed to try to counter the poor treatment of workers. They were considered radical by
many, the government was nervous about them, and they made business and courts hostile
• The National Labor Union, lead by William Sylvis, was a coalition of trade unionists, feminists, and social
reformers.
• The Workingmen’s Party was one of the first labor oriented U.S. political parties. It contained craftsmen
and reformers.
• Strikebreakers hired by the company or troops were called in to end dangerous strikes
• Haymarket Square damaged the image of unions when a bomb went off killing police. It permanently
destroyed the Knights of Labors image for being related.
• The American Federation of Labor led by Samuel Gompers avoided large political questions and
focused on attaining higher wages, and shorter work days. The AFL excluded unskilled workers and soon
became a confederation trade union
• The Homestead Strike was a labor strike at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant. The Amalgamated Association
of Iron and Steel Workers went on strike following the companies merger. Strikebreakers were sent, shots were
fired, violence ensued, and the federal government stepped in on the side of business. It was a major blow to
labor.
• The American Railway Union led by Eugene Debs, was bent on creating on large labor force of railroad
workers
 • The Pullman Strike was caused when the Pullman Palace Car Co. cut wages by 25%. Union leader Eugene
Debs led for a nationwide boycott of Pullman cars. Federal troops were called in and Debs was convicted under
the Sherman Antitrust act.
• The American Protective Association was a secret anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant society in Iowa. Its
members, mainly farmers, were afraid of the growth and political power of immigrant-populated cities.
• Most urban reform was led by middle class women. They lobbied for better sanitation, building-safety
codes, and public schools. They founded settlement houses in poor neighborhoods, they were community
centers that provided for the needs of children. Jane Addams found the Hull House to provide English lessons
for immigrants, day care for children, child care, adult classes, and playgrounds. She won the Nobel Peace
Prize.
• During this period life improved for the wealth and middle class. America’s entertainment industry grew
and people began to read popular novels and newspapers.
• Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst aided the growth of the industry by participating in yellow
journalism where sensational and greatly exaggerated stories were told.
• The Brooklyn Bridge in New York became a milestone of modern construction.
• The Chautauqua Movement was an educational reform movement that increased general education.
• The Aschcan School was an early 1900’s art movement that portrayed scenes of daily life in poorer
neighborhoods.
Jim Crow Laws and the Other Developments in the South-
• Although some textile mills arose in the south, it remained mainly unindustrialized, although reconstruction
did make small improvements.
• Postwar economics caused farmers to sell their land, which was bought by large farm owners and
consolidated into larger farms. Landless farmers had to sharecrop and rented land in the crop lien system
which was designed to keep the poor constantly in debt. They borrowed money to buy tools, with their
unharvested produce as collateral, and then were unable to pay the huge loan rates.
• The Jim Crow Laws arose once government influence declined over the south. The Supreme Court
decided that the 14th amendment did not protect blacks from discrimination by privately owned businesses.
• The court ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that separate, but equal facilities were legal.
• Booker T. Washington believed that blacks should achieve economic independence, and founded the
Tuskegee institute to educate blacks. He was thought to be an accomodationalist because he did not press for
immediate equal rights. W.E.B. DuBois was his more militant rival. In his Atlanta Exposition Address he
stated that blacks should work for their salvation through economic advancement.
• The case of Guinn v. United States found the grandfather clause exemption to the literacy test in state
constitutions unconstitutional.
The Railroad and Developments in the West-
• Ranching and Mining were growing industries. Ranchers disregarded property rights, miners prospected,
and sold finds to mining companies.
• The railroad changed the west. They were built privately at the public’s expense. The railroads however
still fought hard against government regulation. Their practices of overcharging when they had monopolies and
undercharging in competitive areas hurt farmers.
• The Union Pacific and Central Pacific joined to create the Transcontinental Line.
• The railroads started buffalo hunts, driving them to near extinction, greatly harming the native Americans.
The Sioux fought back at Little Big Horn and other battles, but were ultimately defeated.
• The railroads changed depot towns into vital cities, travel became easier and more ideas and technology was
shared, boosted the industrial revolution, and began the first method of standardizing time-telling.
• At this point, Frederick Jackson Turner declared that the American Frontier was gone.
• In the Great Plains, farming and ranching were the main forms of employment. It was lonely and difficult.
The Morrill Land Grant Act provided money for agricultural colleges, realizing the importance of the industry
• The Native Americans were the biggest losers in the expansionist era. Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of
Dishonor detailed the injustices of the reservation system, leading to the Dawes Severalty Act. This gave land
to those who left reservations, to attempt to accelerate assimilation.
 • The Bureau of Indian Affairs was aimed at protecting Natives civil rights, and providing service to the
Natives
• The Homestead Act gave public land grants of up to 160 acres to small farmers
• Chief Joseph was the leader of the Nez Perce tribe. He tried to protect his lands but the Indians were
defeated at the Battle of Bear Paw Mountains in Montana.
• The Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major encounter between the Native Americans and the U.S.
Army. The U.S. army massacred nearly the entire inhabitants of the village.
• The “Significance of the Frontier in American History,” by Frederick Turner, where he wrote how the
frontier drove American history.
• The Newlands Reclamation Act was a federal law that funded irrigation projects for 17 states in the West.
National Politics-
• This was the Gilded Age of Politics because although it looked good on top, it was really dirty on the inside
• Political machines, not municipal governments ran the cities, big businesses bought votes in congress, and
workers had little protection from the greed of their employers. Tammany Hall and the Tweed Ring were two
of the largest political machines, creators of corruption.
• The presidents of this era were weak but generally not corrupt.
• In response to public outcry, government attempt to regulate business by employing railroad regulations
because of price gouging. The Interstate Commerce Act created a federal Interstate Commerce Commission
to regulate unfair railroad practices. Civil service reform came with the Pendleton Act which was passed in
response to the spoil system. It created the Civil service commission to oversee examinations of government
employees
• Woman’s suffrage grew into a political issue during this period. Susan B. Anthony led the fight. The
American Suffrage Association fought for women’s suffrage. They also fought for social reforming, gaining
better public schools.
• The Mongrel Tariff Act reduced high tariff rates, only marginally, and left in place fairly strong
protectionist barriers.
• The McKinley Tariff protected manufacturing and was detrimental for farmers.
• The Wilson-Gorman Tariff slightly reduced these tariff rates.
• Minor v. Happersett allowed a state to constitutionally forbid woman citizen the vote. It narrowed down
the term citizen to being a member of a nation and nothing more.
The Silver Issue and the Populist Movement-
• Production increased after the civil war, leading to a drop in prices. It meant trouble for farmers. Their
solution was a more generous money supply, which meant use of free silver. This meant they wanted to mint
coins out of silver, not just gold. This would add support for miners in the region, decrease the value of farmers
debts through inflation, and increase available money.
• Farmers organized for this issue in the Grange Movement, led by Oliver Kelley, which in its height had
more then a million members. They began as cooperative ways to buy and sell produce and machinery in bulk,
and then developed into a political force. Lack of money led to their fall, but they were replaced by the
Farmers’ Alliance. It was even more successful than the grange movement and led to the People’s Party or
Populist movement.
• It supported free silver, government control of railroads and telegraphs, a graduated income tax, direct
election of U.S. senators, and shorter work days.
• Under Cleveland a four year financial crisis occurred, increasing their popularity. Times got so bad, the
Socialists, led by Eugene Debs gained support.
• The populists backed democrat William Jennings Bryan against republican William McKinley. His
powerful cross of gold speech appealed strongly to free-silver delegates. Bryan lost, and along with an
improved economy, the populists died out.
• As with the Bland-Allison Act, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was lead by silver democrats who
argued that free coinage of silver would combat deflation and promote economic expansion. The act increased
the amount of silver the government was required to buy each month.
• Coxey’s Army was a group of unemployed men who marched to Washington D.C. in the hope of
persuading congress to authorize pubic-works programs to provide jobs
American Imperialism: Foreign Policy-
• As production increased, American began to find new markets oversees. Americans began to become
more certain that their way was best, and that they were becoming an economic super power.
• William H. Seward, secretary of state under Lincoln and Johnson engineered the purchasing of Alaska, and
invoked the Monroe Doctrine to force France out of Mexico. It began to develop markets and production
facilities in Latin America.
• American expansion into other countries for business is called expansionism, while taking control of
another country was imperialism.
• Captain Alfred Mahan’s book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History raised government interest in
imperialism. He argued foreign trade relied on foreign ports, and a navy was needed to defend it. His idea of a
New Navy was popularized and the government began upgrading its ships
• The search for a port between the U.S. and Asia led America to Hawaii. The White sugar planter minority
revolted and took control of the island which was soon admitted as a state. Queen Liliuokalani was deposed.
• The Spanish American War- Another opportunity for American expansion arose when Cuban natives
revolted against Spanish control. Like Hawaii the revolution was stimulated by the U.S. damaging the
economy. Another catalyst was the De Lome Letter, written by a Spanish diplomat that accused McKinley of
being very weak, which fired him up. When the Maine warship exploded in a Cuban harbor, the U.S. attacked
and gained control of the Spanish controlled Philippines and chased them out of Cuba. The Rough Riders
were famous for their exploits in this war. The Battle of Manila Bay occurred when George Dewey
completely destroyed the Spanish ships anchored in Manila Bay. The treaty of Paris gained Cuban
independence and ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the U.S. The Teller Amendment
authorized the use of U.S. military force to establish Cuba independence from Spain.
• On annexing the Philippines, promoters wanted to protect it form control by other countries, while
opponents felt that it would make them no better then these imperialist nations. The senate voted to annex the
Philippines, but Filipino nationalists waged a guerrilla war and although the United states gained control, it
remained controversial. The Jones Act created a framework for the creation of an autonomous government
• America sought an open door policy for all western nations to trade with Asian Markets. The open door
notes were a statement of U.S. foreign policy towards China that reaffirmed the idea of equal access.
• The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising in China that attempted to rid foreigners from the country. The
rebellion was crushed, the U.S. helped.
• The Venezuela Boundary Dispute was a disagreement between Britain and the U.S. over the border of
Venezuela and British Guiana.
• The U.S. soon spread its territorial island nations to Samoa, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
• The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty permitted construction and control of a canal solely under the U.S. The Hay-
Banau-Varilla Treaty allowed the United States to build a canal through Panama.
The Twentieth Century-
The Progressive Era And World War 1 (1900-1920)
• Building on the achievements of the populists, the Progressives were the new face of reform
The Progressive Movement-
• Unlike the farmers, who could not be very politically active due to their need to make a living, the
Progressives were headed by a middle class who could devote time to their cause. It also had not class clash.
• It began with the increasing number of associations and organizations dedicated to reform. The National
Woman’s Suffrage Association, The American Bar Association, and the National Municipal league are some of
the largest reform groups. They were motivated by social and political corruption, and the plight of the poor.
• The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was instrumental in the adopting of nation wide Prohibition.
The Anti-Saloon League was dedicated to advancing prohibition through political means.
• The Women’s Trade Union League was an organization of working and middle class women who were
dedicated to improving the lives of America’s working women.
• Muller v. Oregon set a maximum of ten hours work a day for women employed in factories in Oregon.
• The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was the worst fire in New York history. The event galvanized
support for additional efforts to increase safety in the work place.
 • However despite union’s and progressive aid, events like Lochner v. New York where the limit of hours of
labor for bakers was rescinded, represented a step back.
• The Hepburn Act increased the authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission over railroads and other
carrier industries. It allowed the commission to fix maximum rates, establish routes, and enforce uniform
systems of accounts. The Elkins Act was strengthened by this. This act set maximum railroad freight rates.
• The muckrakers were journalists who revealed corporate misconduct and greed. Lincoln Steffens The
Shame of the Cities revealed corruption of urban management, Ida Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil on oil
companies, and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle which revealed the dirty side of the meat packing industry. Jacob
Riis’s How The other Half Lived was photojournalism about the living condition in New York slums.
• The Jungle inspired Roosevelt to create the Meat inspection act and pure food and drug act.
• The National Municipal League, a meeting of politicians, journalists, and educators, was a way for them
to meet and discuss the future of American cities.
• The progressives gained reform success on local and national levels.
• Discrimination was a further cause that was fought for. W.E.B. DeBois headed the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People.
• The Urban League was created in New York to protect blacks against racial discrimination.
• Marcus Garvey started the Universal Negro Improvement Association and began speaking out publicly in
favor of worldwide black unity and an end to colonialism. He wanted blacks to return to Africa. The UNIA
published a newspaper called the Negro World
• The Feminist movement was advocated by Margaret Sanger who promoted the use of illegal
contraceptives, and ending in the right to vote under the Nineteenth Amendment.
• Wisconsin Governor Robert LaFollete implemented plans for direct primary elections, progressive
taxation, and rail regulations. He helped states extend greater powers to voters through ballot initiative where
voters could propose new laws, the referendum which allowed the public to vote on new laws, and recall
election which gave voters the power to remove officials from office.
• Workers also gained legislation that limited the length of the work day, minimum wage-requirements, child
labor laws, and urban housing codes. Taxes were also adopted to help redistribute the nation’s wealth.
• President Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to use the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against
monopolies earning him the nick-name, the “trustbuster.”
• During his presidency the court case of Northern Securities CO. V. United States busted the trust of the
three largest railroads in the country, the Northern Securities Company.
• He tightened food and drug regulations, created national parks, and protected land from overdevelopment.
• Roosevelt and his hand picked predecessor Taft had numerous disagreements upon the election of 1912.
Taft was more conservative, less bent towards environmental and social reform, and more eager to bust trusts.
Roosevelt did not receive the republican nomination but started the Bull Moose Party
• William Taft drove for constitutional amendments that instituted a national income tax, and allowed for
direct election of senators. He was even more aggressive towards monopolies then Roosevelt. The
Ballinger/Pinchot Affair was when Ballinger was accused of opening Alaskan coalfields to private mining
interests. Ballinger had believed that Roosevelt had improperly made large tracts of lands into reserves. Upon
coming into office he also immediately got the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, which lowered tariffs, passed.
• In, the case of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the Supreme court found the standard oil
company guilty of monopolizing the petroleum industry.
• Woodrow Wilson created the Federal Trade Commission, which protected consumers from price-fixing
and companies, lobbied for and enforced the Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914. He also gave women the right
to vote
• The Underwood Tariff re-imposed the federal income tax, and lowered basic tariff rates significantly.
• The 16th amendment allowed the levying of an income tax by congress.
• In 1916 The Federal Farm Loan Act provided a low interest rural credit system that was long demanded
by farmers.
Foreign Policy and U.S. Entry into World War I-
 • The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited immigration of the Chinese for 10 years, repudiating the 1868
Burlingame Treaty promising free immigration between the U.S. and China. The United States Immigration
Commission was a committee formed to study the consequences of recent immigration to the United States.
• The Gentlemen’s Agreement was when Roosevelt prohibited the immigration of new Japanese laborers.
• The Russo-Japanese war was an indecisive war, resulting in the Russian Revolution and appearing to be an
earlier, smaller version of World War I. The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, it was mediated by Roosevelt.
The Taft-Katsura Agreement was merely a number of notes of a conversation between Secretary of State Taft
and a Japanese diplomat.
• The Root-Takahira Agreement was when both countries acknowledge each others interests in developing
commerce in the pacific. It revealed both countries intentions to defend an open-door policy and keep the
independence of China.
• Roosevelt strong-armed Cuba into accepting the Platt Amendment, which committed Cuba to Semi-
American control
• Cuba could no longer make a treaty with another nation without U.S. approval and the U.S. had the right to
intervene in Cuban affairs. American marines soon occupied the island
• Under Roosevelt, congress approved the building of a canal through Panama. The government encouraged
a rebellion in Panama against Columbia, because Columbia was charging too much for canal rights. The new
government gave the U.S. a much better deal.
• U.S. troops constantly interfered in Latin American affairs, claiming that instability hurt America,
prompting the Roosevelt Crollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The u.s. adhered strongly to the Monroe Doctrine
in this era
• U.S. isolationism in Europe would soon be tested by World War I where the U.S. and England soon
formed an alliance when England remained out of conflicts in Latin America.
• Wilson won the election of 1912 where a third-party candidate, Roosevelt, part of the Bull-Moose party,
beat Taft, the Republican. Wilson and congress both believed in staying out of the war.
• When the war began, the U.S. declared neutrality, however, a number of the U.S.’s policies favored its
closer relation and main trading partner, England.
• England’s better navy soon blockaded ships headed for the Axis powers, confiscating and turning back
American ships, although they did pay for all damages and costs.
• The National Defense Act endorsed a $1 billion dollar military buildup and created the Council of national
defense which was in charge of planning industrial mobilization in the event of war.
• Germany countered the blockade with their submarine u-boats. The Sussex Pledge was Germany’s
attempt to appease the U.S. in promising reforms in its submarine warfare in relation to passenger ships.
International law stated that attackers had to warn civilian ships before attacking, but since stealth was their
main advantage they didn’t. These ships were sunk under reasonable suspicion of carrying arms, and the
conflict climaxed then 1,200 people died when the Lusitania was sunk. The Germans
• Wilson then but the country in a state of preparedness for war. Finally, the Zimmerman Note was
intercepted by the British. It attempted to persuade Mexico to attack the U.S., and caused the U.S. to enter
World War I.
• The Triple Entente was the alliance between the England, France, and Russia. The Triple Alliance was
the alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
World War I and Its Aftermath-
• Government power was greatly increased during the wartime. It took control of telephone, telegraph, and
rail industries, all handled by the War Industries Board. It also coordinated all facets of industrial and
agricultural production.
• Individual liberties were also curtailed, the Espionage Act made it illegal to convince someone to dodge the
draft, and the Sedition Act made it illegal to try and prevent the sale of war bonds, or speak badly about the
government.
• The Russian Revolution, and the fear of communism, caused Americans to turn against Radical labor
unions, such as the International Workers of the World. Eugene Debs, the socialist leader, was imprisoned for
criticizing the war. Joe Hill was a member who was executed under controversial charges. Bill Haywood was
another member of this party, accused of killing an anti-labor politician, he was eventually thrown out of the
union for advocating violence.
 • The Federal Bureau of Investigation was created to prevent radicals from taking over. J. Edgar Hoover
headed the agency.
• The Palmer Raids occurred when its agents raided union halls, pool halls, social clubs, and residencies,
arresting 4,000 suspected radicals, deporting 600 for supporting the communist movement.
• The Committee on Public Information created propaganda in the governments interest.
• The Selective Service Act demonstrated the increasing impact of the state on an ordinary citizen. It was a
draft, but it did not cause riots.
• Congress passed the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act in 1917 to mobilize food and fuel resources for
World War I.
• The Overman Act increased the power of the executive branch during WWI.
• The Trading with the Enemy Act restricted the content of foreign language publication.
• As the war progressed its stories became more sensational and portrayed the Germans as despicable people.
• During this time, many women began to work in factories, however they were replaced once the men
returned from war. Blacks migrated to work in factories in the North, or joined the army. DeBois believed
military service would create an inroad to social equality, however they were segregated and given menial tasks.
• Wilson made a speech called the “Peace without victory speech” that hoped to end the war with terms of
peace.
• When the war was over, Wilson wanted the treaty to be based around his Fourteen Points plan. It called
for free trade through lower tariffs, freedom of the seas, arms reduction, and the promotion of self-
determination. It also called for the creation of the League of nations.
• However, the Allies wanted to punish Germany, and they got it. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany
was forced to cede German and colonial territories, to disarm, pay huge war reparations, and admit fault for the
war
• Despite Wilson’s attempts, the Senate rejected the league of nations.
• The Washington Naval Conference was a meeting of many naval superpowers, where the shipbuilding
was halted for 10 years, and the number of ships in service was limited.
• The Tenaka Memorial was believed to be a strategy by the Japanese to take over the world.
• In the case of Schenck v. United States the supreme court convicted Schenck of the Socialist party, of
mailing pamphlets urging draftees to resist induction.
• Abrams v. U.S. was an example of the violation of the Espionage act, for criminal offense of urging the
curtailment of production of the materials necessary to the war.
• From 1917-1920 the government took control of the railroads through the Esch-Cummins Transportation
Act which gave them control of the railroads, however bad maintenance left them in a terrible state.
The Jazz Age and the Great Depression (1920-1933)
• After WWI the American economy boomed. Electricity became the driving force behind this.
Pro-Business Republican Administrations-
• The new government and the people became more pro-business. Agencies began to assist businesses rather
then regulate them, and Labor unions fell further out of public favor. The supreme-court overturned minimum
wage laws for women (Adkins v. Children’s Hospital), and nullified child labor restrictions.
• The three presidents were William Harding, Calving Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. Harding, an honest
man, surrounded himself with corrupt advisors. One incident, the Teapot Dome scandal, where oil companies
bribed the Secretary of the Interior in order to drill on public lands. Harding supported antilynching laws and
tried to help farmers by providing more money for loans. He died in office.
• His vice-president Coolidge replaced him. He then won the next presidency and continued Hardin’s
conservative principles. He lowered income-tax rates.
• As unions died, businesses wooed workers with pension plans, profit sharing, company parties and events,
and other benefits in a practice called welfare capitalism.
• The Fordney McCumber Act increased tariffs and advocated a policy of protectionalism and economic
nationalism.
Modern Culture-
 • This was the beginning of the consumer nation. The automobile, made affordable by Henry Ford, allowed
people to move away from the cities, into the suburbs. The Federal Highway Act had the federal government
help the states construct highways and roads.
• The Radio followed the automobile. The advertising industry grew up during the decade to hype the new
products. The first licensed commercial radio station in the U.S. was KDKA Radio.
• American modernization was also reflected in the entertainment industry. Movies grew popular, reflecting
an idealized self-image, sports grew popular, especially baseball. Literature gained international prominence
through the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and playwright Eugene O’neil. Most of these
writers became alienated from the modern era, earning the name, the lost generation.
• The Harlem Renaissance developed in black neighborhoods of New York. W.E.B. Debois helped by
opening writing centers. Poets were Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. Jazz music was another popular
art form, one of the greatest was Louis Armstrong.
• The Jazz Singer was the first full length feature film to offer sound.
• Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York centered musicians.
• Charles Lindbergh captivated the public when he flew the first flight nonstop flight across the Atlantic in
the “Spirit of Saint Louis”
Backlash Against Modern Culture-
• The Ku Klux Klan grew to more then 5 million members and began attacking anyone who deviated form
the Klan’s code of acceptable Christian behavior
• Anti-immigration groups strengthened. Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested on charges of murder, and even
though the evidence was non-conclusive, they were executed.
• The Emergency Quota Act of 1924 set immigration quotas from pre-1890 standards, when south-eastern
European was quite low. The National Origins Act reduced immigration, indeed to specifically limit
immigrates from southern and eastern Europe.
• Tennessee also passed a law against the teaching of evolution. John Scopes broke the law and during his
trial, drew attention to the nation. Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryam were the two prominent
figures and attorneys in the case. It was the representation of the clash between the old and the new.
• Prohibition was instituted. It began the gangster era. The Volstead Act fixed punishments for the sale of
alcohol.
Herbert Hoover and the Beginning of the Great Depression-
• Hoover was nominated by the republicans and he predicted that soon there would be an end to poverty.
• Margin buying, buying on credit, the purchasing of items with borrowed money, caused the collapse of the
stock market. Huge banks, and corporations, now found themselves on the verge of bankruptcy, unable to pay
employees, guarantee bank deposits, and also had to call in loans early.
• Other factors, were that farmers and manufacturers had been over-producing for years.
• The depression caused people to lose their jobs, lose their life savings as banks failed, and lose their homes
as they could not keep up with their payments.
• Hoovervilles, towns of homeless people arose, also called shantytowns.
• In rural areas, farmers struggled to survive as prices dropped more then 50 percent.
• The great plains tuned into a Dust Bowl as a drought hit. This situation caused agrarian unrest, an farmers
fought evictions and foreclosures by attacking those who enforced it. They formed the Farmers Holiday
Association which organized demonstrations and threatened a nationwide walkout by farmers in order to raise
prices.
• Hoover initially opposed federal relief efforts, but as the depression worsened he initiated farm assistance
programs and campaigned for federal work projects.
• The Hawley-Smoot Tariff actually worsened the economy because it lowered export rates.
• A group of WWI veterans called the Bonus Expeditionary Force or Bonus Army came to Washington to
lobby for early payments of their benefits.
• He ordered the army to expel them from Washington, causing outrage among the people.
• Hoover’s last minute attempt to take initiative was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which was
the first federal institution created to intervene directly in the economy during peacetime. It made federal loans
to railroads, financial institutions, banks, and insurance companies, in a strategy called priming the pump.
 Thinking that these benefits would trickle down to the rest of the economy. He also instituted the Home Loan
Act which attempted to make housing more affordable.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt argued for more government intervention and also promised relief payments.
The New Deal and World War II (1934-1945)
The First New Deal-
• Upon election Roosevelt summoned congress to an emergency session called the First Hundred Days
• The Emergency Banking Relief Bill put poorly managed banks under control of the Treasury department
and granted licenses to the successful ones.
• Through his fireside chats Roosevelt reassured the public that the banks were safe and the depression
would be fixed.
• The Banking Act of 1933 created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
• The Agricultural Adjustment Act, AAA, provided farmers payment in return for their agreement to cut
production by up to ½. It taxed meat packers, millers, and food processors.
• The Farm Credit Act provided loans to farmers in danger of foreclosure.
• The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) consolidated businesses and coordinated their activities
with the aim of eliminating overproduction, and by doing so, stabilizing prices.
• The Public Works Administration (PWA) set aside $3 billion to create jobs building roads, sewers, public
housing, and other civic necessities.
• The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided grants to states to manage projects.
• The government took over the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) which provided energy to the
Tennessee Valley region, expanding its operations and aiding the economy.
• The National Labor Relations Board mediated labor disputes, and the Securities Exchange Commission
regulated the stock market.
• The Home Owners Refinancing Act helped to aid homeowners from losing their homes by allowing them
to refinance.
• The Frazier-Lemke Act restricted the banks ability to repossess farms.
• The Federal Housing Authority was aimed at providing affordable and decent housing to people.
• The 21st amendment was past, and prohibition was repealed.
• The Gold Reserve Act required all gold to be nationalized and transported from the federal reserve to the
treasury. The Silver Purchase Act dropped the value of silver drastically.
• The First new deal was an immediate success, both politically and economically. Unemployment dropped
and wages rose.
The Second New Deal-
• Conservatives opposed higher tax rates that the New Deal brought, and they also disliked the increase in
government power over business. They also believed the poor should lift themselves out of poverty.
• Deficit Spending was implemented to fund all the New Deal programs.
• Leftists complained that the AAA was immoral by telling farmers not to grow crops and they thought the
government position towards businesses was too favorable.
• The socialists wanted nationalization of key industries.
• In 1935 the supreme court began dismantling some of his programs. The NIRA and AAA were declared
illegal.
• Roosevelt responded with the second new deal.
• The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act created the Works Progress Administration which created more
then 8 million jobs paid for by the government. It also employed people to document local and personal
histories, as well as to create travel guides and art.
• One was a collection of stories of former slaves called the Bullwhip Days.
• The summer of 1935 is called Roosevelt’s Second Hundred Days.
• The powers of the NLRB were broadened, unions were democratized, and businesses with anti-union
policies were punished.
• The Social Security Administration provided retirement benefits for many workers.
• The government increased taxes on the wealthy.
 • The Wagner Act offered a degree of protection to labor. It upheld the right of industrial workers to join a
unions, and outlawed many unfair labor practices used to stop unions.
• The Congress of Industrial Organizations organized both skilled and unskilled workers into one union
and was the epitome of unionism.
• All of this led to the creation of a new Democratic coalition made up of union members, urbanites, the
underclass, and blacks.
• In the court case of Schecter v. U.S. the supreme court ruled that the National Industrial Recovery Act was
unconstitutional.
Roosevelt’s Troubled Second Term
• Roosevelt drafted a Judicial Reorganization bill. It proposed that Roosevelt be allowed to name new
federal judges. People believed he was packing the courts to pass his new deal legislation and he came under
intense criticism.
• In 1937, a small recession occurred. Roosevelt pulling back on his programs to balance the budget, and the
Federal Reserve Board tightening inflation caused a short money supply.
• The second AAA was passed and the Fair Labor Standards Act which set a minimum wage and
established the 40 hour work week for many jobs, was created. The National Housing Act of 1937 mandated
the construction of low-cust public housing.
Foreign Policy Leading up to World War II-
• The Washington Conference gathered 8 world leaders and set limits on stockpiling armaments and
reaffirmed the open door policy of China.
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact condemned warfare as a use of diplomacy.
• The Good Neighbor Policy caused America to conceal more their control of South America, and appear to
be nicer.
• The U.S. Mainly achieved its foreign policy objectives through economic coercion and support of pro-
American leaders.
• In 1931, by invading Manchuria Japan broke the Kellog-Briand Pact. When Japan went to war against
China in 1937, the U.S. sold arms to China and called for an embargo against all arms sales to Japan.
• During this time, the U.S. set tariffs high, a policy called protectionalism. The government used economic
leverage as a foreign policy tool. The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act allowed the president to reduce
tariffs to try and achieve foreign policy goals.
• Countries granted most-favored-nation trade status were eligible for the lowest tariff rates.
• The U.S. used the old tactic of isolationism to attempt to remain out of the European conflict. The Nye
Commission revealed the unwholesome activities of arms manufacturers who bribed politicians to enter World
War I, and were supplying arms to the fascists.
• The Neutrality Acts prohibited the sale of arms to either belligerent nation in a war, and also banned loans
to them.
• During the time when war became very apparent Roosevelt poured money into the military and repealed the
arms embargo of the first neutrality act.
• When war broke out a third Neutrality Act allowed arms sales. However it required the Allies to pay cash
for their weapons and come to the united states to purchase them, with their own ships.
• Roosevelt instituted the Lend-Lease Act, which permitted the U.S. to lend armaments to England which
could no longer pay for war.
• The Munich Conference is where Germany was allowed to annex Czechoslovakia The nazi-soviet pact
was an agreement of peace, until Northern Europe had been conquered.
• Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter Conference, which declared the Allies’ war aims,
which included disarmament, self-determinations, freedom of the seas, and guarantees of each nation’s security.
• Japan soon entered into an alliance with Germany and Italy called the Tripartite Pact.
• As a result, Roosevelt imposed a fuel embargo on Japan in the hopes of weakening their air force. Next,
Japan invaded the Philippines, an American Ally, causing Roosevelt to freeze Japanese assets in the U.S.
• On December 7th the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor causing U.S. entry into World War II. Hideki Tojo
was prime minister of Japan during most of the war.
World War II-
 • Russia paid the largest price during World War II. The Allied forces caused the greatest turning point at D-
Day.
• Rationing of consumer goods was imposed ruing the war. Radar was developed as was the atomic bomb
• The Labor Disputes Act of 1943 allowed the government to takeover businesses deemed necessary to
national security. It also gave them the power to settle labor disputes. Women like Rosie the Riveter worked
at home on defense stuff. The film and new industry, with such newscasters as Edward Murrow, boomed in
this time.
• Hollywood was enlisted to create propaganda films to boost the moral of the troops and encourage people
on the home front
• The size of the government tripled during World War II
• The internment of Japanese Americans occurred, when fearful that the Japanese might serve as enemy
agents, the government imprisoned them, even those born in the United States. Most lost everything they had
when they were moved to the camps.
• The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act provided education, job training, medical care, pensions, and
mortgage loans for men and women who had served in the armed forces during the war.
The End of The War-
• The Casablanca Conference was a plan of the allies, except Stalin, on the Italian Campaign, the cross
channel invasion, and unconditional surrender. The Conference of Teheran was the discussion of military and
political issues of the allies during WWII.
• At the end of the war, the allied leaders met at Yalta to redraw the world map. It was agreed that the USSR
would attack Japan once the war in Europe was over. A League of Nations was also created to mediate future
international disputes. Russia was allowed to have a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe in return, a barrier
between Russia and Germany.
• The Allies met again at Potsdam to decide how to implement the agreements of Yalta. Harry S. Truman
represented the U.S. and the differences between the USSR and U.S. became apparent.
• Some argue this relation caused the dropping of the atomic bomb to intimidate the Russians.
Truman and the Beginning of the Cold War-
• The two question emerging from world war II were concerning the survival of the combatants and the shape
of the new world and the alliances that were to be formed
• At this point, America’s economy was growing more dependent on exports, a process that requires open
trade, and friendly relations with countries that can provide materials.
Truman and Foreign Policy-
• The differences between these two nations were quickly apparent when the Soviets refused to recognize
Poland’s government. Communism soon took over in Hungary and Czechoslovakia as well.
• When communist coups threatened Turkey and Greece, Truman gave $500 million in aid to the countries.
This policy became known as the Truman Doctrine which called for a policy of containment, which deemed
that the best way to fight communism was the defense of countries in danger of Soviet take over. This curtailed
Soviet expansion and aggression. Containment= George Kennan.
• The Marshall Plan sent more than $12 billion to Europe to help rebuild cities and economies in return for
the countries becoming allies of the U.S.
• The United States also created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which was a mutual defense
alliance. This was formed much like its predecessor which linked these nations against Soviet Invasion, called
the Brussels Pact.
• The Warsaw Pact was created by the USSR in response.
• The soviets imposed a blockade on Berlin when they discovered that the other nations were merging their
holdings in Germany. Truman refused to surrender, so he used an airlift to supply food to Western Berlin.
• The soviets soon detonated their own atomic bomb. Fear of soviet invasion or attack the National Security
Council was created to advise the President on foreign affairs. The Central Intelligence Agency was also
created to do the United State’s spy work.
• Two issues that dominated U.S. policy in Asia were the reconstruction of Japan and the Chinese
Revolution. General Douglas Macarthur led the control of Japan, which was allowed its own government after
adopting a democratic constitution.
 • However in China, Mao Zedong’s communist insurgents were taking over the country. China became
communist, resulting in the Americans making many treaties in the region.
• The McCarran-Walter Act ended the exclusion of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean immigrants.
• The Bretton Wood System established the dollar as the capitalist world’s principal reserve currency. The
international Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or the world bank, and the International Monetary
Fund, were created. The World Bank provided private loans for reconstruction of war torn Europe. The IMF
was set up to stabilize the value of currencies.
• The Organization of American States promoted economic, military, and cultural cooperation among its
members, which include almost all the independent states of the Western Hemisphere The OAS's main goals are
to maintain peace in the Western Hemisphere and to prevent intervention in the region by any outside state.
The Red Scare-
• Truman ordered the investigation of 3 million federal employees. People who were associated to
communists or perceived as weak under blackmail were fired.
• Alger Hiss was found guilty of consorting with a Communist spy. A charge made by acquaintance
Whittaker Chambers.
• Joseph McCarthy claimed to have a list of more than 200 known communists working for the government.
His campaign ruined thousands of peoples lives.
• Industries created lists of people tainted by McCarthy’s accusations, called the blacklists. In the Army-
McCarthy hearings he was finally over powered and made to look foolish.
• The Loyalty Boards held hearings attempting to find treasonous or disloyal people, firing the culprits.
• The House Un-American Activities Committee conducted investigations into alleged communist
activates, such as in the Hollywood industry.
Truman’s Domestic Policy and the Election of 1948-
• At this time when war veterans returned and the war industry shut down, inflation and unemployment
drastically increased. Truman offered some New-Deal like programs to solve America’s economic woes, but
many were rejected and others had little effect.
• A new feeling of anti-unionism was brought about by the countries. The United Mine Workers cut off the
energy supply to other industries. Truman responded by ordering a government seizure of the mines. Truman
also dealt with railroad strikes. He alienated labor.
• He also alienated Southern voters by pursuing a civil rights agenda. He convened the President’s
committee on Civil Rights which called for an end to segregation, poll taxes, and also was more aggressive in
enforcing anti-lynching laws. He also issued an executive order forbidding racial discrimination in the hiring of
employees.
• Blacks began on further inroads. The NAACP won some initial lawsuits against segregated schools and
buses, and Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for baseball.
• Truman, having alienated some of his democratic base, received a boost when he vetoed the Taft-Hartley
Act, which although it passed over Truman’s veto, gained him favor with unions. This act prohibited “Closed
Shops,” restricted Labor’s right to strike, prohibited the use of union funds for political purposes, and gave the
government power to intervene on strikes.
• The Eightieth Congress also rebuked Truman’s efforts to pass health-care reform, increase aid to schools,
framers, the elderly, the disabled, and promote civil rights to blacks.
• The Employment Act of 1946 allowed the federal government to begin to develop mechanisms to pursue a
more coherent economic policy. It implemented using programs to have full-employment, not just during
economic crisis.
The Korean War-
• When Korea was invaded caused a back and forth tussle over the country which resulted in it to returning to
the originally decided line. U.S. commander Douglas Macarthur wanted an all out confrontation with China
and maybe even use Nukes. When Macarthur started to publicly criticize Truman, he was fired.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower became the next, republican president.
The Eisenhower Years (1953 to 1960)-
 • The fifties are often depicted as a time of conformity. Across much of America, a consensus of values
reigned. The civil rights movement began to make its first strides, and the economy was plagued by frequent
recessions.
• Beat poetry and novels, teen movies, and rock and roll emerged.
Domestic Politics in the Fifties-
• Eisenhower prepared to impose conservative values on the federal government.
• He sought to balance the budget, cut federal spending, and ease government regulation of business. He
reduced military spending be hiring fewer troops and funding more powerful weapon systems, shaping the New
Look Army.
• The government also began developing the Interstate Highway System. The new roads sped up travel,
promoted tourism and the development of the suburbs.
• As a result of these expenses, Eisenhower could only balance the budget 3 out of 8 years.
• Eisenhower’s policy of termination liquidated Native American reservations, ended Native American
federal support, and subjected them to termination.
• In the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, argued by Thurgood Marshall, overturned the
“separate but equal” standard as it applied to education. The Plessy V. Ferguson decision was reversed and
separate facilities were declared unequal. Southern states worked hard to keep schools segregated by closing
public schools or funding private schools. The governor of Arkansas called in the national guard to stop black
students form attending a Little Rock school. Eisenhower was forced to enforce the law and he closed all public
high schools in the city for two year.
• He supported the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960 which strengthened the voting rights of Southern
Blacks and the punishments for crimes against blacks.
• The Montgomery Bus Boycotts caused by the arrest of Rosa Parks, and the long-term resentment over
unfair-treatment, caused a year-long boycott of the bus system. Martin Luther King Jr. came to prominence
as the leader. He encouraged peaceful protest. In 1960, the Greensboro sit-ins inspired a sit-in movement that
spread across the nation to combat segregation.
• The Landrum-Griffin Act attempted to stop the corruption in labor unions, when leaders miss used union
funds or prevented members from executing their legal rights.
America vs. the Communists-
• Eisenhower and his secretary of state John Foster Dulles followed a policy of containment, but called it
liberation.
• Dulles coined the phrase “massive retaliation” to describe the nuclear attack that the U.S. would launch if
the Soviets tried anything too daring. Deterrence described how Soviet fear of massive retaliation would
prevent their challenging the U.S. Dulles stated that the U.S. could allow confrontations to escalate to war,
called brinkmanship. They also argued that the spread of communism had to be checked quickly saying that
once one country was taken over, the neighboring countries might fall too. This was called the domino theory.
• Both Eisenhower and Khrushchev recognized the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction where if one
country tried to annihilate the other, both countries would be utterly destroyed.
• The Baghdad Pact was much like NATO and SEATO in that it used the policy of containment and
collective security by construction an alliance of middle-eastern countries against the soviets.
• After the death of Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev offered hope. He denounced totalitarianism and called for
“peaceful coexistence.” Some satellite state took this to be a sign of weakness, and rebellions occurred in
Poland and Hungary. The soviets crushed the uprising.
• The soviets then exploded their first Hydrogen bomb 1 year after the U.S. and the U.S.S.R launched the first
satellite, sputnik. This caused the U.S. to quickly create NASA. The United States also enacted the National
Defense Education Act, to give government help to students trying to get degrees in science, and overhalling
the system. Also, conceived under Eisenhower, the Apollo Project, was born, determined to beat the Russians
to the moon.
• American ally Taiwan occupied two islands close to the mainland of China, Quemoy and Matsu. The
Taiwanese used the island to raid China, and China got annoyed and bombed them.
 • The U-2 Incident occurred when a u-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia while during a Reconnaissance
and spying flight. It greatly heightened tensions, called off the summit meeting, and stopped flights over
Russia.
Third World Politics-
• World War II resulted in the breakup of Europe’s huge overseas empires. Countries that neither allied
themselves with the USSR or the U.S. were known as third world countries.
• Both America and the Soviets sought to bring these countries into their spheres of influence as these
nations represented markers and sources of raw material. The Russian sphere of influence was the Eastern
Bloc, which was cut off from the democratic west by the theoretical iron curtain barrier. America’s wealth
fostered distrust and resentment, while the Soviets were viewed badly by how they treated eastern Europe.
Nationalism swept through most third world countries. The “voice of America” was a radio station that
broadcasted new reports and American propaganda into the Easter Bloc and other communist territories.
• The U.S. tried to gain favor in Egypt by building the Aswan Dam. America also used CIA Covert
operations to provide a more forceful method of increasing its influence abroad. It slanted new in other
countries to favor the U.S., bribed local politicians, and tried to influence business and politics. The CIA helped
overthrow the governments of Iran and Guatemala in order to replace anti-american governments. It also tried,
unsuccessfully, to assassinate Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro
The 1960 Presidential Elecion-
• Richard Nixon, received the Republican nomination and John F. Kennedy received the Democratic
nomination. Both candidates campaigned against communism and each other. Kennedy chose Lyndon B.
Johnson as his running mate to ensure southern voters.
• In his final days in office, Eisenhower warned the nation to be aware of the military-industrial complex.
He warned that the combination of military might and the highly profitable arms industries created a powerful
alliance whose interests did not correspond to those of the general public.
The Sixties and Beyond (1961-The Near Present-
• The Washington Conference gathered 8 world leaders and set limits on stockpiling armaments and
reaffirmed the open door policy of China.
• Kennedy surrounded himself with an entourage of young, ambitious intellectuals, who served as his
advisers.
• His domestic program, the New Frontier, promised that the fight to conquer poverty, racism, and other
domestic woest.
Kennedy and Foreign Policy-
• Kennedy perceived the Soviet Union as a major threat to the security of America and its allies.
• The two major evens during Kennedy’s first year heightened tensions. The first involved Cuba where a
U.S. friendly dictatorship was overthrown by communists forces led by Fidel Castro. Castro seized and
nationalized American property. Castro soon signed a treaty with the USSR. In response Eisenhower imposed
an embargo on Cuba, and finally broke diplomatic relations with them.
• The Bay of Pigs was a failed attempt by the CIA to have Cuban exiles invade and cause a revolution in
Cuba.
• The Berlin Wall was soon built to prevent east-Germans from leaving the country.
• The Cuba Missile Crisis occurred when an American spy plane spotted Soviet Nuclear Missiles in Cuba.
The united states imposed a naval quarantine on Cuba, preventing any other weapons shipments. Kennedy
negotiated a settlement that if America never again invaded Cuba, and removed its missiles from Turkey, while
the Soviets would have to remove their missiles from Cuba.
• The Peace Corps’ mission was to provide teachers and specialists in agriculture, health care, transportation,
and communication to the Third World in order to build America like new worlds. This process was called
nation building. The Alliance for Progress provided funds for food, education, medicine, and other services
in 3rd world countries.
Kennedy and Domestic Policy-
• In his New Frontier program, Kennedy promised a series of programs that would increase government aid
to the elderly, combat racism, improve American education, assist the many farmers who were facing business
 failure, and halt the recession that had dogged the American economy throughout the fifties. However, little
change occurred.
• Kennedy supported women’s rights and later embraced the black civil rights movement.
• During his presidency, Martin Luther King Jr. led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which
coordinated a number of sit-ins and peaceful protests. The Congress of Racial Equality organized the
Freedom Riders movement, who basically staged sit-ins on buses. The student non-violent coordination
committee did grass-roots work in the areas of voters registration and antisegregationalist activism. NAACP
director Medger Evers was shot to death, demonstrators were attacked by the police and their dogs and fire
hoses. News reports of this helped bolster the movement.
Lyndon Johnson’s Social Agenda-
• Civil Rights- Johnson lobbied hard for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based
on a person’s race, color, religion, or gender. The law prohibited discrimination in employment as well as in
public facilities. He also oversaw the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to
enforce the employment clause of the Civil Rights Act. During his second term, he signed the Voting Rights
Act, which cracked down on those states that denied blacks the right to cote. He signed a second civil rights act
banning discrimination in housing, and yet another that extended voting rights to Native Americans.
• “The Other America” by Michael Harrington was an influential study on poverty that drove the war on
poverty.
• Social Welfare- The Minimum Wage Act raised the minimum wage, and the Medical Care Act provided
medical care for the poor (medicade). He fought for the Economic Opportunity Act, which appropriated
nearly $1 billion for poverty relief. His war on poverty continued with Project Head Start that helped under
privileged children with schooling. Upward Bound did the same with high school students. Job Corps
trained the unskilled so they could get better jobs, and the Volunteers in Service to America acted as a
domestic Peace Corps. In addition, Legal services for the poor guaranteed legal counsel to those who could
not afford their own lawyer.
• The Elementary and Secondary Education Act granted federal aid for education of poor children, and the
Higher education act gave federal scholarships. The National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities
provided federal funding and support for artists and scholars.
• Housing and Urban Devlopment- Johnson believed that social justice stemmed from economic equality.
He also founded the Department of Housing and Urban Development which increased federal aid to low-
income apartment renters and built more federal housing projects. Urban Mass Transportation Act funded
urban transit.
• Environment- The Wilderness Preservation act designated 9.1 million more acres as wilderness areas,
and the Air and Water Quality Acts set tougher standards for the qualities of both these entities.
• Johnson’s agenda earned the name, Great Society. Tax payers felt little pain because the revenues came
form the expanding economy.
The Civil Rights Movement-
• The movement won cases in the supreme court. Chief justice Earl Warren ran a court that was for a brief
moment in history, very liberal.
• The Warren Court worked to enforce voting rights for blacks, forced states to redraw congressional
districts so that minorities would receive greater representation. It also made several decisions concerning the
rights of the accused, in Giddeon v. Wainwright the court ruled that a defendant in a felony must be provided a
lawyer, and in the Miranda v. Arizona Case the court ruled that upon arrest, a suspect must be advised of his or
her right to remain silent and to consult with a lawyer. The Escobedo v. Illinois case guaranteed arrestees the
right to a counsel and the right to remain silent before indictment of crimes. In the Enegel v. Vitale Case
organized prayer was band in public schools. In Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims the Court put forth the
doctrine of “one person, one vote,” meaning that all citizen’s votes should have equal weight.
• Civil rights victories did not come easy, and resistance was strong. In Selma, police prevented blacks from
registering to vote. In Birmingham, police and firemen attacked civil rights protestors. All over the South, the
Ku Klux Klan and other racists bombed black churches and the homes of civil rights activists. In Mississippi,
civil rights workers were murdered by a gang including members of the police department.
• Soon blacks began to abandon a passive approach. Malcom X a minister of the Nation of Islam advocated
an aggressive approach. The SNCC and CORE expelled their white members and advocated the more
 separatists radical program of Black Power. When king was assassinated the civil rights movement
fragmented.
The New Left, Feminism, and Counter Culture-
• The Students For a Democratic Society formed. Its leftist political agenda laid out in a platform called the
Port Huron Statement set the tone for other progressive groups on college campuses. These groups became
known as the New Left. Many of their ideals included the elimination of poverty, racism, and an end to cold
war politics. Students on the campus of Berkeley protested when the university banned civil rights and antiwar
demonstrators. These protests grew into the Free Speech Movement.
• The case of James Meredith v. The University of Mississippi ruled that Meredith, a black, should be
admitted to the all-white school. Federal troops had to enforce the ruling.
• Most New Left groups were male-dominated and insensitive to the cause of women’s rights. Soon women
started their own political groups. Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique openly challenged many
people’s assumptions about women’s place in society. The National Organization of Women formed to fight
for legislative change including the ill-fated equal rights amendment to the Constitution. Feminists fought
against discrimination in hiring, pay, and college admissions. They also fought for control of reproductive
rights, in Roe v. Wade, which decriminalized abortion
• Rebellion against the establishment also took the form of nonconformity. The hippy way of life became
know as the counterculture because of its unconventionality and variety. All these groups opposed American
participation in Vietnam, provoking a huge divide in the country over the war.
• At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago urban riots broke out, led partially by the SDS, and
the “whole world watched” as the police clashed with the rioters using tear gas, and other weapons. The
Chicago Seven were the leaders of the riot who were brought to court on the charge of inciting a riot.
• The Case of Furman vs. Georgia made reforms into what and what was not an offense punishable by death.
American Involvement in Vietnam 1950-1963-
• Ho Chi Minh led a resistance called the Vietminh which expelled the French. The U.S. did not recognize
this government, but the Bao Dai government. It was agreed that a democratic election would occur in
Vietnam, but when it became apparent that Minh would win, the U.S. sabotaged it. The U.S. created the
Southeast Asian Treaty Organization to provide for South Vietnam’s defense against communist takeover.
• Diem, the place leader, was harsh, and caused many Southern Vietnamese to sympathize with the North.
These people were called the Vietcong. The U.S. then stage a coup where Diem was killed because he was
turning the South Vietnamese towards the North.
American Involvement in Vietnam 1964-1968-
• President Johnson was determined to achieve total victory in Vietnam
• The U.S. started another coup, and also began to bomb the neighboring country of Laos through which the
Vietcong was receiving weapons.
• Reports came that two North Vietnamese ships had fired on two U.S. ships in Tonkin Gulf. Johnson used
this even to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which allowed the president to take any measures he deemed
necessary to protect American interests in the region.
• Johnson then flooded the region with American troops and began bombing campaigns. America took over
the war.
• The Tet Offensive held massive causalities for the U.S. by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong. This
convinced Johnson and many other people that Vietnam was a lost cause.
The Summer of 1968 and the 1968 Election-
• The murder of Martin Luther King Jr. ignited black riots in more than 150 towns and cities.
• Robert Kennedy was assassinated, he was thought to be the last bastion of hope for many Americans.
• When protestors were attacked and disbanded by police, the pictures reached all of America.
• Richard Nixon, the republican candidate won the election
• Democrat Hubert Humphrey lost because he alienated his progressive urban base, and was losing support
in the south
Nixon, The End of the Vietnam War, and Detente
• Nixon, once elected, began withdrawing troops, but he did increase the intensity of the airstrikes.
 • He believed that America could, and must win in Vietnam. In 1973, the South Vietnamese government fell
after another 2 years. The North launched one final attack and surrounded Saigon. Saigon fell, and South
Vietnamese rushed the United States embassy.
• Soon Secretary of State Henry Kissinger completed negotiations with the North Vietnamese. The Paris
Peace Talks/Accords were signed and the war was ended.
• However, the peace was quickly ended and Vietnam became entirely Communist, Congress also passed the
War Powers Resolution in order to prevent any future president form involving the military in another
Vietnam-type situation. This requires presidents to obtain congressional approval for any troop commitment
lasting longer then 60 days.
• The United States soon began to better relations with China and the USSR. The U.S. began increased trade
with the Soviets, and negotiated arms reducing treaties with the two countries.
• Nixon then took a trip to China, which eased tensions and opened trade relations. Nixon used his friendship
with both countries to leverage one against the other.
• Nixon and Kissinger’s approach was called détente which called for countries to respect each other’s
differences and cooperate more closely. The Nixon Doctrine announced that the U.S. would withdraw from
many of its overseas troop commitments, relying instead on alliances with local governments to check the
spread of communism. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (Salt) limited the production of ICBMs
(intercontinental ballistic missiles) and AMBs (antiballistic missile systems.) The treaty signified that both
nations could no longer afford the cost of the arms race.
Nixon’s Domestic Policy-
• During Nixon’s presidency the economy worsened going through recession and inflation, called stagflation.
He attempted to combat these woes with a number of interventionalist measures such as price and wage
freezing and increased federal spending. None of which produced the intended results.
• An increased division occurred between the rich and the poor, and the progressives and the conservatives.
Several confrontations on college campuses heightened political tensions, most notably when a national
guardsmen shot and killed four protesters at Kent State University. Urban crime levels rose also.
• Nixon won the reelection easily.
• Nixon agreed to the growth of Medicare, Medicaid, and social security. He established the environmental
protection agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Consumer Products
Safety Commission.
Watergate and Nixon’s Resignation-
• In 1971 two major newspapers published the Pentagon Papers, a top secret government study of the history
of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Revealed by the ruling of The New York Times v. United States, the New
York Times gained rights to publish this document, which revealed numerous military miscalculations and flat-
out lies the government had told the public. Currently involved in secrete diplomatic relations with Vietnam,
China, and the USSR, Kissinger believed that the revelation of secret government dealings could damage these
talks.
• Nixon put together a team of investigators called the plumbers for his CREEP (Committee to Re-elect the
president) organization. They undertook such disgraceful projects as burglary. During he 1972 elections, the
plumbers sabotaged the campaigns of several Democratic hopefuls, and then botched a burglary of democratic
headquarters in the Watergate hotel.
• Then the plumbers were arrested, a cover up began. News trickled out that Nixon and his advisers were
involved. The Saturday Night Massacre was the name given to the day when many high ranking government
officials resigned or were dismissed. The supreme court ordered Nixon to turn over the recorded tapes. Nixon
soon resigned, and his vice-president, Gerald Ford took office, and he almost immediately granted Nixon a
presidential Pardon. During these court hearings Nixon’s Enemies List was discovered and presented to the
court.
Gerald Ford-
• Gerald Ford replaced Nixon’s first vice-president Spiro Agnew who resigned impending criminal charges.
• The Helsinki Accords were signed which returned European boundaries to the post WWII state, and the 35
nation’s who signed agreed to increase liberties and treatment of people in their respective countries.
 • Ford enter into a weak economy and the oil embargo organized by OPEC increased fuel prices, causing
almost all prices to rise. Inflation and increasing unemployment rate allowed Democrat Jimmy Carter to beat
Ford.
Jimmy Carter-
• Carter inherited a weakening economy, slow economic growth and inflation worsened the economic
stagflation. He tried to balance the federal budget, but failed like every President since Eisenhower.
• He increased funding to research for alternative sources of power. He created the Department of Energy
to oversee these efforts. Many Americans saw nuclear power as a solution to the nation’s energy woes.
Opponents said that if they failed, they were too dangerous, as seen with Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
• He brokered a peace agreement with Israel and Egpyt. He invited the leaders to the Camp David
Accords and personally brokered an agreement with the two nations.
• When the U.S.S.R. invaded Afghanistan Carter’s efforts proved powerless in forcing a withdrawal. He also
flip-flopped in Nicaragua, where he first befriended the revolutionary Sandinistas, and then turned on them and
allied with the USSR and Cuba. His worst crisis was when American Hostages were taken in Iran when the
deposed Shah was allowed into America for medical help. These prisoners were only released when Reagan
took office.
The Eighties-
• Ronald Regan saw that the nation was ready for a major change. People liked his “can-do” attitude.
Supply-Side Economics-
• Reagan tried to revive the economy by applying the theory of supply-side economics. Reagan believed that
if corporate taxes were reduced, these corporations would earn greater profits and that his money could be used
to hire new employees. He believed that the wealth would “trickle down” by creating more jobs and
reinvigorating the economy. He deregulated the areas of banking, industry, and the environment. Most
Americans like his policy, but the poor complained about the tax cuts for the rich.
• At first his programs had little effect, and in the end the results were mixed. Inflation subsided, the
unemployment rate continued to rise, and the rich were getting richer, and the poor poorer.
Military Spending and Budget Deficits-
• Reagan tried to eliminate the federal deficit by decreasing the size of the federal government. He called his
plan the New Federalism and its goal was to shift the governmental power from the national government to the
states. He suggested that the states take complete responsibility for welfare programs. In return, the
government would assume the entire cause of Medicaid. This shift never occurred though.
• He funded the Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars, arguing that America needed to more quickly
develop superior arms.
• Tax cuts, increased military spending, and the failure of New Federalism escalated the federal budged
deficit.
• Spending increased while revenues shrank. Congress called for a tax increase. Reagan called for
decreasing funding of social welfare programs. Neither budged so the federal deficit reached a record high.
Foreign Policy Under Reagan-
• Reagan was a Cold War hawk. He supported repressive regimes and right-wing insurgents in El Salvador,
Panama, the Philippines, and Mozambique because they opposed communism. The U.S. military led an
international invasion of Grenada to topple a new communist government there.
• One of his top priorities was to support a group of Nicaraguan insurgents called the contras. Reports of
their misconduct cut aid.
• The government secretly sold weapons to Iran and used the money to buy guns for contras, known as the
Iran-contra affair. It represented a constitutional crisis, pointing out that it denied the system of checks and
balances
• Reagan also sent marines to Lebanon. A suicide bomb killed 240 people, causing a pullout.
• The Reagan administration worsened relations with the USSR. Eventually the two sides began to talk
because neither could afford the cost of the arms race. Reformer Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the
Soviet Union. He loosened Soviet Control in Eastern Europe, increased personal liberties in the Soviet Union,
and eventually allowed some forms of free-market commerce in the country. Reagan and Gorbachev finally
agreed to remove all nuclear warheads form Europe.