Exam2USHist Flashcards
- Know the conditions proposed by President McKinley to avoid war with the Spanish government.—
Mhac, M1898, CAW–PI–ACCP–EFCR–CICI
While many Americans wanted retribution for the Maine, McKinley still hoped to avoid a conflict. In March 1898, the president notified the Spanish government of his conditions for avoiding war: Spain would pay an indemnity for the Maine, abandon its concentration camp policy, end the fighting with the Cuban rebels, and commit itself to Cuban independence.
- Why was the United States battleship Maine in Havana harbor?
In order to sell newspapers to the public before and during the Spanish-American War, publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer engaged in blatant sensationalizing of the news, which became known as “yellow journalism.” Although it did not cause the war with Spain, it helped turn U.S. public opinion against Spain’s actions in Cuba. Due to the civil strife between the Cubans and the Spanish government, President McKinley sent the Maine into Havana harbor in ate 1897 to protect U.S. citizens and property from supposed Spanish loyalists’ attacks. The battleship exploded in the harbor leading to its destruction and crew deaths. Americans were certain that the Spanish had sunk the ship, particularly after a hastily assembled naval court of inquiry declared inaccurately that an external explosion by a submarine mine had caused the disaster. Later evidence established that the incident occurred as a result of an accidental explosion in the engine.
- Know the reasons for the U.S. to annex/not annex Hawaii (include Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor). Know the military importance of the Samoan Islands.—
The debate over Hawaiian annexation, continuing through the 1890s, foreshadowed the later debate over the treaty to end the Spanish-American War. People in favor of annexation pointed to Hawaii’s strategic location, argued that Japan or other powers might seize the islands if the United States did not, and suggested that Americans had a responsibility to civilize and Christianize the native Hawaiians. Opponents warned that annexation might lead to a colonial army and colonial problems, the inclusion of a “mongrel” population in the United States, and rule over an area not destined for statehood. While annexation of Hawaii represented a step toward China, the Samoan Islands, three thousand miles to the south, offered a strategic location astride the sea-lanes of the South Pacific. Americans showed early interest in Samoa, and in 1872, a naval officer negotiated a treaty granting the United States the use of Pago Pago, a splendid harbor on one of its islands.
How did the United States come into the possession of Hawaii? Who was the last king of Hawaii?—
The islands of Hawaii offered a tempting way station to Asian markets. In the early 1800s, they were already called the “Crossroads of the Pacific,” and trading ships of many nations stopped there. In 1820, the first American missionaries arrived to convert the islanders to Christianity. After the Civil War, the United States tightened its connections with the islands. The reciprocity treaty of 1875 allowed Hawaiian sugar to enter the United States free of duty (A government tax, especially on imports.). The treaty bound the Hawaiian monarchy to make no territorial or economic concessions to other powers. The treaty increased Hawaiian economic dependence on the United States; its political clauses effectively made Hawaii an American protectorate (colony). In 1887, a new treaty reaffirmed these arrangements and granted the United States exclusive use of Pearl Harbor, a magnificent harbor that had early caught the eye of naval strategists. *King Kalakaua passed away in 1891 and he was succeeded to the throne by his sister, Queen Liliuokalani. She was a strong-willed nationalist who was resentful of white minority rule and decreed a new constitution that gave greater power to native Hawaiians. The first step toward American annexation of Hawaii came in 1893 when Queen Liliuokalani was removed fro the throne. Hawaii was annexed to the United States as a possession in 1898 and became a U.S. territory in 1900.
Know the different theories used to justify American expansionism.—
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Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution when applied to human and social development seemed to call for the triumph of the fit and the elimination of the unfit. John Fiske argued that Anglo-Saxon racial superiority was the result of the process of natural selection. Josiah Strong called on foreign missions to civilize the world under the Anglo-Saxon races. The “biogenetic law” formulated by German biologist Ernst Haeckel suggested that the development of the race paralleled the development of the individual. Primitive peoples were in the arrested stages of childhood or adolescence, requiring supervision and protection. John W. Burgess, a professor of political science at Columbia University taught that people of English origin were destined to impose their political institutions on the world.
- Know the definition of imperialism
In the 1870s and after, Americans began to take an increasing interest in events abroad. There was a growing sense of internationalism, which stemmed in part from the telegraphs, telephones, and undersea cables that kept people better informed about political and economic developments in distant lands. Many Americans continued to be interested in expansion of the country’s borders; relatively few were interested in imperialism. Expansion meant the kind of growth that had brough California and Oregon into the American system. *Imperialism meant the imposition of control over other peoples through annexation, military conquest, or economic domination.
- How did the Presidency of William McKinley differ from that of Grover Cleveland? Did he have a successful second term as President?—
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McKinley and the Republicans basked in the glow of victory following the election of 1896. They became the party of progress and prosperity, an image that helped them win victories until another depression hit in the 1930s. McKinley’s popularity soared. Open and accessible, in contrast to Cleveland’s isolation, he rode the Washington streetcars, walked the streets, and enjoyed looking in department store windows. Cleveland’s special police barracks vanished from the White House lawn. McKinley became the first president to ride in an automobile, reaching the speed of 18 miles an hour. An activist president, he set the policies of the administration. He maintained close ties with Congress, struck new relations with the press, and traveled far more than previous presidents. In 1898 and 1899, the McKinley administration focused on the war with Spain, the peace treaty that followed, and the dawning realization that the war had thrust the United States into a position of world power. Six months into his second term, McKinley was shot September 6, 1901 as he stood in a receiving line at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York by anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. He died eight days later.Czolgosz claimed to have killed McKinley because he was the head of what he thought was a corrupt government. (www.history.com
- Know the cause of the Pullman Strike (1894). How did the strike end?
Beginning in May 1894, this strike of employees at the Pullman Palace Car Company near Chicago was one of the largest strikes in American history. Workers struck to protest wage cuts, high rents for company housing, and layoffs; the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, joined the strike in June. Extending into twenty-seven states and territories, it effectively paralyzed the western half of the nation. President Grover Cleveland secured an injunction to break the strike on the grounds that it obstructed the mail and sent federal troops to enforce it. The Supreme Court upheld the use of the injunction in “In re Debs” (1895).
- Know the original names of the Northwestern Alliance and the Southern Alliance. What occupations were allowed to join the Southern Alliance? On what points did the Northern Alliance disagree with the Southern Alliance?—
Originally a social organization for farmers, the Grange lost many of its members as it turned more and more toward politics in the late 1870s. In its place, a multitude of farm societies sprang into existence. By the end of the 1880s, they had formed into two major organizations: the National Farmers’ Alliance, located on the Plains west of the Mississippi and known as the Northwestern Alliance, and the Farmer’s Alliance and Industrial Union, based in the South and known as the Southern Alliance. It welcomed to membership the farmer’s “natural friends”—country doctors, schoolteachers, preachers, and mechanics. It excluded lawyers, bankers, cotton merchants, and warehouse operators. On the Plains, the Northwestern Alliance, a smaller organization, was formed in 1880. It objectives were similar to those of the Southern Alliance, but it disagreed with the Southerners’ emphasis on secrecy, centralized control, and separate organizations for Blacks. In 1889, the Southern Alliance changed its name to the National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial union and persuaded the three strongest state alliances on the Plains—those in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Kansas—to join. Thereafter, the renamed organization dominated the Alliance movement.
- How did the court case , United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895), weaken the Sherman Antitrust Act?
With the end of the “disappearing quorum” by the Democrats to block Republican-sponsored laws, law after law poured out of the Republican Congress during 1890: McKinley Tariff Act, Dependent Pensions Act, Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Sherman Silver purchase Act. *One of the most important laws Congress passed, The Sherman Antitrust Act made the United States virtually the only industrial nation to regulate business combinations. It tried to harness big business without harming it. The Justice Department rarely filed suit under it, and in the United States v. E. C. Knight decision (1895), the first judicial interpretation of the law, the Supreme Court severely crippled it. Though the E. C. Knight Co. controlled 98% of all sugar refining in the country, the Court drew a sharp distinction between commerce and manufacturing, holding that the company, as a manufacturer, was not subject to the law.
- Describe the presidency of Grover Cleveland.—
The first Democratic president since 1861, Cleveland was slow and ponderous, known for his honesty, stubbornness, and hard work. His term in the White House from
1885 to 1889 reflected the Democratic party’s desire to curtail federal activities. Cleveland vetoed more than two-thirds of the bills presented to him, more than all his predecessors combined. Forthright and sincere, he brought a new respectability to a Democratic party still tainted by its link with secession. Working long into the night, he reviewed veterans’ pensions and civil service appointments. He continued Arthur’s naval construction program and forced railroad, lumber, and cattle companies to surrender millions of acres of fraudulently occupied public domain. Late in 1887, he devoted his annual message to an attack on the tariff, “the vicious, inequitable, and illogical source of unnecessary taxation,” and committed himself and the Democratic party to lowering the tariff.
- What was the Pendleton Act
As a result of the death of Garfield, Congress passed the Pendleton Act to reform civil service. The act created bipartisan Civil Service Commission to administer competitive examinations and appoint officeholders on the basis of merit. Initially, the act affected only about 14,000 of some 100,000government offices, but it laid the basis for the later expansion of the civil service.
- What happened to James A. Garfield?—
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican), James A. Garfield (Republican), Chester A. Arthur (Republican), Grover Cleveland (Democrat), and Benjamin Harrison (Republican) served as President between 1877-1893. None of these men were charismatic leaders, but circumstances, more than personal qualities, explain why none of these presidents made a larger mark on history. *The president’s most demanding job was to dispense political patronage. Under the spoils system, government jobs were treated as rewards for those who had served the winning party. Reform of this system became urgent after President Garfield was shot July 2, 1881 as he was leaving for a vacation in New England. Charles J. Guiteau, a deranged lawyer and disappointed office seeker, shot Garfield in the back. Suffering through the summer, Garfield died on September 19, 1881 and was succeeded by Vice-President, Chester A. Arthur
- What did Rutherford B. Hayes bring to the office of President?
In the aftermath of Reconstruction, Rutherford B. Hayes admirably embodied the “party of morality.” He brought to the White House in 1877 a new style of uprightness, a sharp contrast to the graft and corruption of the Grant administration. The son of an Ohio farmer, Hayes entered politics as a Whig, but became one of the early Republicans, was wounded four times in the civil war, and was promoted to Major-General. As a member of the House of Representatives for one term (1865-1867), he supported the congressional Reconstruction program. Elected governor of Ohio, he served three terms. Hayes’s presidency suffered from the manner of his election. He was derided as the “de facto President” and “His Fraudulence” and did not pursue a second term.
- How did the Panic of 1873 affect the country after the Civil War?
The depression raised the “money question” that continued to come up for twenty years. At the root of this issue was a long period of deflation following the Civil War. Price levels dropped because the production of goods was growing faster then the supply of money. Farmers are not necessarily hurt by a general deflation if all prices fall equally and farmers debt levels are low. Wheat, corn, and cotton prices, however, declined more than other prices in the late 19th century, and farmers also had borrowed heavily to expand production. They were thus caught in a debt squeeze—their mortgage payments remained high while the prices they received fell.
- Know the Supreme Court case of 1877 that supported Illinois and the 1886 case that weakened the 1877 decision. Know the wording of the decisions.—
In the important case of Munn v. Illinois (1877), the Supreme Court upheld the Illinois legislation, declaring that private property “affected with the public interest…must submit to being controlled by the public for the common good.” But the Court soon weakened that judgement. In the Wabash case of 1886 (Wabash, St. Louis, & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois), it narrowed the Munn ruling and held that states could not regulate commerce extending beyond their borders. Only Congress could.—The Wabash decision turned people’s attention back to the federal government. It spurred Congress to pass the Interstate Commerce Act (1877), which created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to investigate and oversee railroad activities.
