29 Flashcards
Underwood Tariff Bill
Wilson met with Congress in 1913 and convinced them to pass the Underwood Tariff Bill, significantly reducing the tariff.
The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913. This enabled Congress to collect a graduated income tax.
National Banking Act
Passed during the Civil War, its biggest problem was that banking reserves, located in large cities, could not distribute money fast enough during financial stress.
Federal Reserve Act
The president appointed a Federal Reserve Board which oversaw 12 nationwide Federal Reserve Banks, each the central bank for its region. Guaranteed substantial public control and could issue paper money, money in circulation increased as needed for businesses.
Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
Passed by Congress, it created the FTC which oversaw industries in interstate commerce. It could issue cease and desists because of unfair trade tactics.
Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914
lengthened the Sherman Act’s list of objectionable business practices. It exempted labor and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution while legalizing strikes and peaceful picketing.
Federal Farm Loan and Warehouse Acts of 1916
Low interest rate loans for farmers and they could take out loans against the value of their crops stored in government warehouses.
La Follette Seamen’s Act of 1915
Required decent treatment and a living wage on American ships.
Workingmen’s Compensation and Adamson Acts of 1916
Gave assistance to federal civil-service employees during periods of disability and established an 8-hour work day for all employees on trains in interstate commerce.
Child labor was restricted on products flowing into interstate commerce.
Panama Canal Tolls Act of 1912
Wilson persuaded Congress in 1914 to repeal it, which had exempted American coastal shipping from tolls.
Jones Act of 1916
Wilsion signed it, granted the Philippines territorial status and promised independence as soon as a stable government could be established.
Haiti in 1915
Wilson dispatched marines to protect American lives and property when political turmoil broke out. He signed a treaty in 1916 with them for U.S. supervision of finances and the police.
Mexican Revolution of 1913
General Victoriano Huerta, a brutal dictator, replaced the Mexican President. Millions of Spanish-speaking immigrants came to America.
Wilson refused to engage because he wanted Mexicans to overthrow their governent but after a small party of American sailors was accidentally captured, Wilson ordered the navy to seize the Mexican port of Vera Cruza.
Argentina, Brazil, and Chile intervened and pressured Huerta to step down. Venustiano Carranza became the president of Mexico.
Francisco Villa, a rival, attempted to provoke a war between Mexico and the U.S by killing Americans. Wilson ordered General John J. Perishing to break up Villa’s band of outlaws. The invading American army was withdrawn from Mexico in 1917 as the threat of war with Germany loomed.
WW1
President Wilson issued the neutrality proclamation at the outbreak of WWI.
Most Americans were anti-German from the start of the war and viewed the leader of Germany as the embodiment of arrogant autocracy.
American Trade with Germany
America continued trade with Germany during WW1 because it wasn’t breaking any neutrality laws. Britain didn’t like this and blocked the trade off.
Germany then sunk two ships before saying that they wouldn’t sink anymore passenger ships without warning. Despite this, they sunk another passenger ship and since America could convince the Allies to allow them to continue trade, war was imminent.
Election of 1916
The Republican platform condemned the Democratic tariff, assaults on the trusts, and Wilson’s dealings with Mexico and Germany.
The Democrats chose Wilson and ran an anti-war campaign. Woodrow Wilson won the election of 1916.
Zimmerman Note
Germany sent Mexico a proposal to side together which infuriated Americans. Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war after Germany sunk 3 more ships.
He convinced Americans to go to war by saying it would make the world a safe place for democracy
3 Main Causes
Zimmerman Note
Germany’s unrestricted aquatic war
Bolshevik Revolution
Committee of Public Information
Created to rally public support for the war and was led by Creel whose job was to sell America on the war and sell the world on Wilson’s war goals
Sedition Act of 1918
Made it illegal to speak out against the government, the Supreme Court upheld it in Schenck V US because the speech could pose a danger to the nation.
Civilian Council of National Defense
Created before the war to study problems of economic mobilization along with increasing the size of the army and creating a shipbuilding program.
Fears of big government restricted efforts to coordinate the economy from Washington.
In 1918, Baruch appointed as head of the War Industries Board to create order over the economic confusion. It ever had much control, but it set a precedent for how the Federal government would handle the economy in times of crisis.
NWLB, IWW, and AF of L
National War Labor Board tried to fix labor disputes before they hurt the war effort.
The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) had some of the worst working conditions in the country.
The AF of L’s (American Federation of Labor) supported the war and because of this, membership had more than doubled by the end of the war.
Inflation and Striking
Wartime inflation reduced wage gains; this led to thousands of strikes across the country.
In 1919 more than 250,000 steelworkers went on strike, seeking the right to organize and collectively bargain. The steel companies refused to negotiate, and they brought in 30,000 African-Americans to keep the mills running. The strike eventually collapsed, crippling the union movement.
Suffrage Movement
The larger part of the suffrage movement, represented by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, supported the war.
After men left the country to fight in the war, women took up the factory and field jobs. Impressed by this work, President Wilson supported passage of the 19th Amendment (1920), which gave all American women the right to vote.
Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921
It gave federally financed instruction in maternal and infant health care.
