Unit 7 Important info

Question 1

define pragmatism and relativism

Answer 1

develop in late 19th century
PRAGMATISM:
things are true if they can be proven
focus on practical results
ends justify the means
unless proven otherwise, your thoughts are true
religion + science coexisting
RELATIVISM:
truth is relative to your perspective
optimism -> science can be used to fix government + solve other problems
pessimism -> if there are no fixed truths life has no meaning
- no fixed morality -> science can be used for anything, like chemical warfare
- eugenics
- no moral truths -> movement back to traditional structures, KKK revival
BOTH:
there are no absolute truths!!

Question 2

what is populism?

Answer 2

ideology involving organizing the people against the elites
populist party wants to advance interests of poor farmers in south and west

Question 3

what is chatauqua

Answer 3

moving university / festival thing
driver of 3rd great awakening
gathering here causes unity among farmers

Question 4

what different factors drive deflation which hurts farmers?

Answer 4

new farming machines increase output and decrease prices of agricultural products
industrial competition
gold standard

Question 5

what happens to farms when there is deflation?

Answer 5

can’t pay back their debts
foreclose on their farms
bought up by bonanza farms

Question 6

what does the national grange do

Answer 6

work for policies that cause inflation
want state govs to regulate railroads -> success with munn v illinois, creation of ICC, lose with wabash cases
role in compromise of 1890
- accept mckinley tariff of 48%
- sherman silver purchase act, antitrust act
evolve into farmers alliances

Question 7

describe the compromise of 1890

Answer 7

compromise between interests of farmers and industrialists, but mostly favors industry
mckinley tariff (48%)
sherman silver purchase act
sherman antitrust act

Question 8

describe the mckinley tariff

Answer 8

part of compromise of 1890
48%
not super great for farmers but grange leaders accepted it

Question 9

describe the sherman silver purchase act

Answer 9

part of compromise of 1890
government will buy some silver every month from miners to put into currency
not enough silver is going to be bought to cause the inflation that farmers want

Question 10

describe the farmer’s alliances

Answer 10

successor to grange movement
1877-1890s
more fragmented, coordinated in states but not nationally
unity between southerners, westerners, african americans
successful in local 1890s elections, not nationally

Question 11

describe the platform of the people’s party

Answer 11

1. currency reform - 16:1 ratio of silver:gold in circulation
   - unlimited coinage of silver
2. direct election of senators
3. referendums - people vote on some laws directly
4. sub-treasury to buy and store goods from farmers
5. nationalization of railroads
6. income tax

Question 12

what is a referendum

Answer 12

law which the people vote on directly
contrast to laws which are voted on by representatives
people’s party wants more of them

Question 13

describe the election of 1892

Answer 13

populists: james weaver
republicans: benjamin harrison
- not very effective
democrats: grover cleveland
- not very pro-farmer
cleveland wins with a small margin
populists win in some farming / mining states

Question 14

what is the panic of 1893?

Answer 14

worst depression of the 19th century!!
unemployment!!
cleveland responds by sticking with gold standard which upsets + alienates farmers
causes class conflict (pullman strike, coxey’s army)

Question 15

describe coxey’s army

Answer 15

march on DC as a result of panic of 1893 and subsequent depression
demanded government help for unemployed
not really successful but its cool that they made it to DC

Question 16

what is the significance of the 1894 midterms

Answer 16

democrats are losing control of government
- reps win house, populists win some stuff
democrat party splits!!
pro-silver align with populists to be new democrat party
pro-gold join republicans

Question 17

what is the fourth party system

Answer 17

democrats are pro-silver (merged with former populists)
republicans are pro-gold

Question 18

describe the election of 1896
differences in platform, beliefs on economy, how campaign is run

Answer 18

republicans: william mckinley
- gold standard
- kicks out silver republicans
- supply-side economics, let businesses do what they want
- front porch campaign - just an average guy answering questions from my home
democrats: william jennings bryan
- basically people’s party
- cross of gold speech
- percolator theory - government should create good conditions for citizens to boost economy (workers can buy more)
- train campaign - travels across country and gives speeches

Question 19

define the cross of gold speech

Answer 19

1896
william jennings bryan
electrifying speech supporting silver in currency and tearing down gold standard
gold standard causes deflation which hurts farmers
represents increase in partisan divisions over gold standard
really motivated democrats to nominate bryan for president

Question 20

define supply-side economics

Answer 20

republican platform in election of 1896
government should allow businesses to do what they want to solve depression

Question 21

define percolator theory

Answer 21

democrat platform in election of 1896
to fix depression, government should create good conditions for citizens so that workers can buy more

Question 22

describe the front porch campaign

Answer 22

william mckinley in election of 1896
“I’m just an average guy answering questions at my home :)”
meanwhile campaign staff is active getting donations

Question 23

describe the train campaign

Answer 23

william jennings bryan in election of 1896
travels across country and gives speeches
focuses on farmers and ignores east coast workers -> alienated from democrat party
- they don’t like inflation because it increases food prices

Question 24

how is the depression from the panic of 1893 eventually resolved?

Answer 24

during mckinley administration
gold is discovered in new territory of alaska -> more gold in circulation -> everyone is happy :)
natural disasters in europe -> more international demand for agricultural goods -> prices increase -> farmers are happy

Question 25

Until the late 19th century, how was us foreign policy?

Answer 25

mostly isolationist
-> washington’s farewell address, expansion mostly limited to north america
starts to shift after civil war

Question 26

describe the significance of the us’s purchase of alaska

Answer 26

1867
bought from russia
exemplifies shift after civil war from isolationism to interest in expansion past north america
seems a bit silly at the time but there is actually a lot of gold and oil there which is really great for the economy
-> gold found there resolves depression from panic of 1893

Question 27

describe the economic motivations for empire

Answer 27

want new markets for selling crops, manufactured goods
want raw materials for industry
depression of 1893 makes us want these things even more
want to prevent worker unrest with feeling of nationalism that comes with expansion

Question 28

describe the cultural motivations for empire

Answer 28

spread “civilization,” christianity
white man’s burden
us is racially superior -> we need to improve everyone else

Question 29

describe the intellectual motivations for empire

Answer 29

frontier thesis - democracy is formed by expansion, so we need more expansion to save democracy
social darwinism
- expansion helps nations prove themselves
- need a canal to unite oceans to improve naval power

Question 30

describe the formal empire in hawaii

Answer 30

US missionaries and pineapple companies had been there for a while
- mckinley tariff would have made us businessmen in hawaii pay to export goods to us
-> pressure Hawaii government to be annexed by US
overthrow queen liliukalani and ask for annexation from us
- initially us says no but later say yes and take over hawaii

Question 31

how does the us revive the monroe doctrine?

Answer 31

controversy between britain + venezuela in 1895
- territorial disputes
- us gets involved under cleveland and threatens britain to back off
- maybe cleveland just did that so that irish people would vote for him

Question 32

when was the spanish american war

Answer 32

1898

Question 33

why does the us declare war on spain in the spanish american war

Answer 33

big us business presence in cuba which is under spanish control
economic decline causes increase in cuban independence movement -> spain violently suppresses it
public outrage in us!
- yellow press facilitates outrage by pumping out often false sensationalist articles
- jingoism - demands military action immediately
delome letter causes more outrage
uss main explodes mysteriously -> even more calls for war
mckinley is hesitant (wobbly willy) but he declares war so that he can be reelected next term

Question 34

what is the yellow press?

Answer 34

type of journalism which prioritizes sensationalism and outrage-causing headlines over fact-checking
especially surrounding situation in cuba pre spanish american war
caused widespread outrage in us over situation in cuba -> us involvement with spanish american war
important writer : william randolph hearst with the new york journal
- makes up outrageous stuff to outsell competitors

Question 35

what is jingoism

Answer 35

advocacy for military aggression in foreign policy, extreme nationalism
result of sensationalism in yellow press, caused spanish american war

Question 36

who was william randolph hearst

Answer 36

yellow press guy
wrote for new york journal
made up outrageous stuff about cuba to outsell competitors

Question 37

what was the delome letter

Answer 37

written by spanish ambassador to us
criticized and humiliated mckinley
- called him weak and only trying to get the favor of the crowd
used as justification for declaring war on spain

Question 38

what is the significance of the uss maine

Answer 38

stationed in havana harbor, cuba to protect us business presence there
mysteriously explodes in 1898
-> causes increased outrage against spain, leading to spanish american war

Question 39

what are the major results of the spanish american war

Answer 39

new territory: guam, puerto rico, philippines
cuba is independent
theodore roosevelt becomes war hero -> becomes mckinley’s vice president
treaty of paris
-> debates in us over imperialism

Question 40

what did the treaty of paris 1899 do

Answer 40

us buys philippines from spain for $20 million
cuba is free
us takes puerto rico and guam as territories
-> help us get across ocean to philippines (they take hawaii around here too)
-> puerto rico can protect future canal in central american

Question 41

what was the anti-imperialist league

Answer 41

1898-1920
response to us taking territories of guam, puerto rico, phillippines after spanish american war
imperialism is bad!! what about washington’s farewell address?
wars drain resources that could be used on welfare programs

Question 42

what is the argument for the treaty of paris 1899

Answer 42

all the other world powers have empires
imperialism is good for business
we can spread democracy

Question 43

describe the election of 1900

Answer 43

mckinley wins because public likes treaty of paris 1899

Question 44

how do the philippines respond to being taken over by the us

Answer 44

filipino-american war (1899-1902)
- us militarily occupies philippines -> rebellion, us brutality (including the concentration camps that everyone freaked out about in cuba!!)
- racial disparity (white minority in power)
people back home in us freak out about all this -> gentler imperialism
- send over white us teachers to spread civilization

Question 45

how does puerto rico respond to being taken over by the us

Answer 45

question: do constitutional rights and citizenship extend to colonies??
-> foraker act (1900) - PR gets limited local self government
-> insular cases (1901) - puerto ricans want to vote
- downes v bidwell (1901) - no, constitution doesn’t apply to territories

Question 46

what are unincorporated vs incorporated territories

Answer 46

unincorporated: constitution doesn’t apply, regulated by congress
incorporated: more white settlers -> eventually become states

Question 47

describe the foraker act

Answer 47

1900
puerto rico gets some local self government
governor is appointed by us president
citizens aren’t us citizens
(by 1917 they get citizenship but not voting)

Question 48

what are the insular cases?

Answer 48

“opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War”
included downes v bidwell - said that constitution doesn’t apply to to unincorporated territories

Question 49

describe downes v bidwell

Answer 49

1901
part of insular cases
over issue of puerto ricans wanting to vote in us elections
conclusion that constitution doesn’t apply to territories
- congress regulates them

Question 50

describe the teller amendment

Answer 50

1898
amendment declaring that the us will never annex cuba
still a lot of informal empire there but formally cuba is allowed to remain independent

Question 51

describe the platt amendment

Answer 51

1903
treaty between us and cuba
us gets a naval base in cuba
us can send in troops if it perceives cuba’s independence to be threatened
came after teller amendment, which declared that us would not annex cuba
kind of working around that to exert control over cuba
allows us to interfere a bunch

Question 52

how does the us’s informal empire expand to china?

Answer 52

us really wants to export textiles and food to china and own chinese railroads, but so do all the other world powers
open door notes say that all of the world powers should be able to use china’s ports equally and be treated the same by china

Question 53

describe the open door notes

Answer 53

1899, 1902
declarations by the us that all world powers should be able to use china’s ports equally
china should remain independent
china should treat all powers equally
did this because everyone else had been dividing up china so that different countries can trade at different ports
example of us interest in expanding its informal empire to china

Question 54

describe the big stick policy

Answer 54

theodore roosevelt’s approach to foreign policy
in case negotiating peacefully goes wrong, we should have a strong military so that we can maintain our interests worldwide

Question 55

describe the roosevelt corollary

Answer 55

1904
addition to monroe doctrine
us has the right to militarily intervene in latin america to stabilize economies
motivated by uk + german blockade of venezuela, meant to scare them away
used by us as excuse to interfere with latin america using the military to protect us business interests

Question 56

how did the panama canal come to be?

Answer 56

started by france controlled columbia and finished by us
us wants an easier way to get to island territories
columbia doesn’t want to give the land to the us
-> us supports revolution for panama’s independence -> treaty which gives panama canal to us