1914 WWI: The Nations of Europe went to war.
"Muckrackers" were writers who exposed the bad conduct and unfair practices of coporations, government, and society.
Zinn: Chapters 11-16
Ch. 13: Class Struggle
The Progressive Movement and the Colorado Coal Strike
1914: National Guardsmen, who were employeed by the Rockefellers, killed thirteen women and children.
President Woodrow Wilson sent federal troops to end another strike, killing sixty-six women, men, and children.
1913: Eleven thousand Colorado coal miners went on strike after a union organizer was murdered, resulting in one of the most violent battles in the growing class war.
1910: Victor Berger became the firs Socialist elected to U.S. Congress.
1911: There were seventy-three Socialist mayors and twelve hundred Socialists town offices.
The "Progressive" period was a time of some reform because many laws were put in place to control the growth of monopolies, keep the nation's food and medicines safe, set standards for wages and hours, and regulate railroads, but ordinary people did not benefit from these new laws and changes.
Socialism, Sex, and Race
1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded to focus on education and legal actions to end racism.
1905: W.E.B. Dubois was a teacher and author who founded the Niagara Movement due to the high numbers of lynching and race riots that had been occuring in the early part of the twentieth century.
Susan B. Anthony: a feminist who fought for suffrage.
Helen Keller: a socialist, though deaf and blind, also fought for change.
1901: The Socialist political party formed.
Eugene Deb: Spokesman of Socialist party who ran for President five times as the Socialist candidate.
1890s: A thousand strikes a year.
1904: Four thousand strikes a year.
Sweatshops and Wobblies
1905: The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) a.k.a. the Wobblies was one large union that was undivided by race, sex, or skills.
Although the American Federation of Labor was a union movement, it mostly represented while, male, skilled labors. It did not represent blacks and most women.
Many immigrants worked in garment factories called sweatshops where they worked for very low wages, under unhealthy working conditions, and were paid based on how many pieces of clothing they sewed instead of how many hours they worked.
1911: The Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire killed 146 workers due to illegal working conditions.
Ch. 14: World War I
After the Fighting
The Radical Response
Charles Schenck & Eugene Debs were both sent to jail for protesting the war.
The press, government, U.S. Post Office, and the Committee on Public Information all participated in punish
Espionage Act- a law passed by the U.S. government to imprison Americans who spoke or wrote against the war.
Blood and Money
American prosperity was tied to England's war which is why President Wilson and Congress declared war on Germany.
Committee on Public Information and a draft were both created by Congress to support the war.
1917: Germany declares that their submarines would sink any ships that were carrying supplies to their enemies.
1914: the U.S. economy had declined causing the war to be beneficial to the U.S. due selling 2 billion dollars worth of goods to the Allies.
1917: The United States joins in WWI due concerns regarding shipping in the North Atlantic Ocean.
(1915) Lusitania
Germany vs. Allies (France & Great Britain) with millions killed between both sides.
Subtopic
Ch. 15: Hard Times
Struggling to Survive
The Great Depression
The Truth about the Twenties
Ch. 12: The American Empire
Revolt and Racism in the Philippines
In the U.S., many African-Americans turned against the Philippine war because they saw it as a racial conflict, the white race fighting to conquer the brown.
By now the United States had taken over the Hawaiian Islands, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Imperialist League worked to educate the American public about the horrors of the Philippine war and the evils of imperialism, or empire building.
1899: Filipinos revolted against the U.S. which resulted in the U.S. firing the first shot that would lead into a three year war.
The Spanish-American War
Platt Amendment: an American law that was forced into Cuba's new constitution that gave the United States the right to involve itself in Cuba's whenever the U.S. wanted.
The Spanish-American War resulted in the defeat of Spanish forces within three months, the death of 5,500 American soldiers (379 in battle), and the U.S. invading and taking control of Cuba.
An explosion in the harbor of Havana destroyed a U.S. battleship, Maine, which led to the request to declare war by President McKinley in 1898.
Winston Churchill: British empire builder who wrote a magazine article urging against the U.S. helping Cuba and the rebels because he feared a black republic.
1895: Cubans rebelled against Spanish rule.
The Taste of Empire
The Monroe Doctrine, by President James Monroe, explained the United States interest in the politics of the entire Western Hemisphere yet warning for the nations of Europe to not meddle with the countries of the Americas.
1798-1895: The U.S. had sent troops to other countries, taking an active role in their affairs 103 times.
Ch. 11: Robbers Barons and Rebels
The Rise and Fall of Populism
Populism was a movement created in an attempt to form a political party for the people because they were against monopolies and capitalism. Unable to accept blacks or immigrants and unite, the movement did not last.
Farmers, who suffered as well, created union-like organizations to financially survive.
Eugene Debs was one of many railroad workers who took part in the largest and most violent strike. He later became a lifelong activist for labor unions and socialism.
1893: The depression was the nation's biggest economic crisis, lasting for years and causing continuous strikes.
1886: It was "the year of the great uprising of labor" throughout the country which ultimately the government kept under control with the use of militia forces.
The Haymarket Affair
Police wounded two hundred people as well as killed several others in reaction to the bomb. Without evidence, a jury sentenced eight anarchists to death. These harsh and unjust sentences caused an uproar throughout the world and in Chicago twenty-five thousand marched in protest.
Haymarket Sqaure: a peaceful meeting of anarchists resulted in the death of seven policemen and the injury of sixty-six policemen due to an unexpected bomb.
1886: The American Federation of Labor called for nationwide strikes wherever employers refused to shorten the workday to 8 hours.
Voices of Protest
1880s & 1890s: there were movements, protests, rallies, and strikes against the ruling elites.
Newspaperman and economist, Henry George wrote a book in 1879 called "Progress and Poverty" which depicted how the government could truly fix poverty in the country.
In order to maintain order over the lower classes, churches, schools, businesses, and government tried to control their thinking.
Government feared the people would consider political ideas such as socialism, communism, or anarchism due to their opposition of the power of giant corporations.
Unlike Democratic President Grover Cleveland (1884) who abandoned the needy public and favored the rich, Senator John Sherman tried to break up monopolies with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1877).
The Rich Get Richer
The "robber barons" were able to create empires by keeping high prices, low wages, crushing their competition, and receiving assistance from the government.
Robber barons were the successful businessmen of the late 19th century who gained most of their power and wealth through greedy and dishonest methods.
Rockefeller created a monopoly with the oil companies which made him a fortune.
The Central Pacific line was the first transcontinental railroad and was built on blood, sweat, politics, and thievery.
J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, James Mellon, and Jay Gould were some of the very few millionaires of the time who were able to buy their way out of war and get richer with the help of the government whom they were also able to influence with their money.
Ch. 16: World War II and the Cold War
New Wars
The War at Home
America at War
