Unit+Two+-+Emerging+Into+a+Modern+World




 * 2.1 Industrialization (1877-1900) **

Readings: Textbook Chapters 9-10, 12.2

Daniel's Rockefeller Website



Introduction: In the late 1800s, the country changed drastically. Industry sprang into action and introduced a new level of production after the Civil War, often called the Second Industrial Revolution. Cities grew in the North, the West was won, and billions were made in profit. At the same time, poor workers struggled, corruption crippled American democracy, and the economy seemed unstable and shallow. The Gilded Age of industry was indeed the best and worst of times for many Americans.

Major Topics & Events:
 * New technologies and innovations spurred a Second Industrial Revolution at the end of the 19th century.
 * Big business owners made millions buying competitors and establishing monopolies.
 * Workers began to organize into unions to fight for better pay and working conditions.
 * Immigrants and poor farmers flocked to Northern cities looking for work in the factories.
 * Cities change as a result of the influx of immigrants and workers.
 * Americans become consumers and begin to share a national mass culture as newspaper circulation spreads.
 * Municipal corruption distorts the democratic process, and Americans begin to demand reform.
 * After the assassination of President Garfield, Congress pushes for reform of the corrupting spoils system.

Terms to Know: Industrialization, laissez-faire, mass production, corporation, monopoly, horizontal and vertical integration, Captains of Industry, Robber Barons, Social Darwinism, Interstate Commerce Commission, Sherman Antitrust Act, U.S. v. E.C. Knight, Co. (1895), sweatshops, child labor, company towns, labor unions, collective bargaining, strikes, The Great Strike, Knights of Labor, Haymarket Riot, American Federation of Labor, Homestead Strike, Pullman Strike, anti-union tactics, Sherman Antitrust Act, "old" and "new" immigrants, Ellis Island, assimilation, nativism, Chinese Exclusion Act, urbanization, skylines, electricity, mass transit, public parks, tenements, consumerism, mass culture, newspapers, mail order catalogs, leisure time, Gilded Age, corruption, Pendleton Act, civil service system, political machines, Tammany Hall, graft, Credit Mobilier scandal, Whiskey Ring scandal, Mugwumps


 * 2.2 Progressive Reform (1890-1920) **

Readings: Textbook Chapter 13 and 12.1



Introduction: As industrialization created immense wealth for the nation, it also caused serious social problems. Middle-class reformers, called Progressives, began to demand these problems be addressed in a democratic and orderly way. Around the turn of the 20th century, Progressives fought to clean up corruption in government and use government to address the issues faced by the growing poor. Child labor, urban slums, dangerous working conditions, unsafe consumer products, and monopolistic practices are just some of the problems address by Progressive policies. Achieving the women's right to vote proved very important in getting political support for reform policies. Without much help from the white, middle-class Progressives, African Americans and other minorities continued to fight for their rights and opportunities.

Major Topics & Events:
 * Progressives pick up where the Populists left off, pushing for government legislation that would regulate business, working conditions, and political corruption.
 * Muckrakers expose a wide range of problems in industrial society, from child labor to living conditions to unsanitary food processing.
 * Progressive lawmakers in both parties abandon the Gilded Age laissez-faire philosophy and create laws to regulate bad business practices and corrupt elections.
 * Women push for social changes and win the right to vote.
 * Segregation, discrimination, and intimidation continue to make it difficult for minorities to achieve equal rights.

Terms to Know: Progressivism, muckrakers, Social Gospel, urban slums, settlement house, Americanization, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, 16th amendment, direct primary, initiative, referendum, recall, 17th amendment, 18th amendment, women's rights, National Consumers League, birth control, suffrage, 19th amendment, Anthracite Coal Strike, Northern Securities v. US (1904), Mann-Elkins Act, Payne-Aldrich Tariff, American Tobacco v. US (1911), Standard Oil v. US (1911), Progressive (Bull Moose) Party, Election of 1912, Federal Reserve Act, Clayton Antitrust Act, Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, Ida B. Wells, lynching, Niagara Movement, NAACP, the Great Migration


 * 2.3 Becoming a World Power (1890-1914) **

Readings: Textbook Chapter 14



Spanish American War (LOC) Spanish American War (PBS)

Introduction: At the same time Progressives worked to improve the lives of many Americans, the US also focused on expanding its power beyond our continental borders. Up to this point, European imperialism had dominated the globe, and many Americans believed that the US would be left behind if it did not participate in the "race" for territory overseas. American imperialism, however, was different than the European brand. Whereas the Europeans saw the world as theirs for the taking, American interests tended to be more focused on finding new markets and consumers to buy the goods that were pouring out of our factories. One similarity between European and American types of imperialism may be identified as the racist attitudes of white supremacy that justified the spread of white culture and power around the world.

Major Topics & Events:
 * Businesses look overseas for new customers for their goods.
 * The US builds a new, technologically advanced navy, nicknamed the "Great White Fleet," to protect new interests around the world.
 * Annexation of Hawaii provides the US with a naval base in the Pacific to protect growing economic interests in Asia.
 * Victory over Spain gives the United States economic and military power over the Western Hemisphere, as well as the Philippines near China.
 * The United States attempts to establish a market presence in Asia.
 * US military backs up multiple interventions in developing Latin American countries.

Terms to Know: Imperialism, commodities, Great White Fleet, "White Man's Burden," Seward's Folly, annexation of Hawaii, Cuban revolution, Yellow Journalism, jingoism, Spanish American War, Treaty of Paris (1898), Platt Amendment, Filipino insurrection, Anti-Imperialism League, spheres of influence, Boxer Rebellion, Open Door Policy, "big stick" diplomacy, Roosevelt Corollary, Panama Canal, "dollar" diplomacy, "moral" (or "missionary") diplomacy, Pancho Villa Raids


 * 2.4 World War I (1914-1920) **

Readings: Textbook Chapter 15



Introduction: At the turn of the century, Americans continued to struggle with contradictory values. On the one hand, groups worked to reform the problems of industrialization, segregation, and corruption and establish more opportunity for more people. On the other hand, many Americans hoped to dominate other peoples of the world in order to compete with the economic powers of Europe. The United States' desire for overseas power, however, was limited to trade and economic expansion. When the call came from Britain and France to help fight in World War I, many Americans did not want to get involved. With Europe in ruins at the end of the Great War, the United States emerged as an international power of the modern 20th century.

Major Topics & Events:
 * European powers collapse into war with each other in "The Great War."
 * Trench warfare combined with new technologies results in a stalemate situation known as a "war of attrition."
 * Americans initially hope to stay isolated from the war, but eventually send troops to retaliate against German submarine attacks on US trade ships.
 * The United States experiences both an increase in federal power and a backlash against freedom of speech during the war effort.
 * A communist revolution in Russia causes many Americans to fear the spread of communism to the US.
 * After the war, the US refuses to join the League of Nations, but sets up a loan system (Dawes Plan) to help the European economy recover.

WWI: The US Enters the War WWI: Treaty of Versailles

Terms to Know: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism, Assassination of the Archduke, Triple Entente, Central Powers, mobilization, Western Front, Isolationism, Neutrality, U-boat submarine warfare, Lusitania, Election of 1916, Zimmermann Telegram, "Make the world safe for democracy," Selective Service Act, Committee on Public Information, Food Administration, War Industries Board, Espionage & Sedition Acts, Bolshevik Revolution, doughboys, armistice, "peace without victory," Fourteen Points, League of Nations, Treaty of Versailles, Palmer Raids, Sacco & Vanzetti trial, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Schenck v. US (1919), Election of 1920, creditor nation, Washington Naval Conference, Dawes Plan


 * Prosperity & Depression (1920-1940) **

Readings: Textbook Chapters 16-18



Economic Graphs Great Depression Photo Essay America In the 1930s New York Times Headlines WPA Posters

Great Depression Interviews

Introduction: After the First World War, the economy is strong and Americans just want to relax and have some fun. The Roaring Twenties has dancing, jazz, speakeasies, and flappers before the party comes to a crashing halt in 1929. A combination of a bad stock market crash and government inaction results in the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected in 1933 with plans to use the government to jump start the national economy by borrowing money and providing jobs. Some argue that the new government goes too far in controlling business and the economy.

Major Topics & Events:
 * The US shifted back toward a laissez-faire policy of government non-intervention in the economy.
 * Americans bought more - and put more on credit - than ever before.
 * Cultural tensions grew between traditional Americans and a more modern, urban culture.
 * Americans looked on as Tennessee debated the idea of teaching evolution in schools.
 * A brief experiment in the prohibition of alcohol resulted in an increase in organized crime.
 * Young women began to challenged traditional ideas of womanhood.
 * African Americans in New York's Harlem neighborhood celebrated black culture.
 * The party ended with a stock market crash which, combined with government non-intervention, resulted in a catastrophic economic depression.
 * Franklin Roosevelt is elected, promising to use the federal government to fix the broken economy.
 * Roosevelt's New Deal provides relief, but opposition to federal power grows.

Terms to Know: "return to normalcy," mass production innovations, Model T, workers-as-consumers, consumer culture, easy credit, installment plans, traditionalism, modernism, Scopes Trial, quota system, Ku Klux Klan, prohibition, organized crime, speakeasies, movies, radio, sports, flappers, Lost Generation, Marcus Garvey, Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance, Herbert Hoover, overproduction, buying on margin, speculation, Black Tuesday, business cycle, Great Depression, Hawley-Smoot Tariff, breadlines, Hoovervilles, Dust Bowl, Okies, rugged individualism, trickle-down economics, Bonus Army, Franklin D. Roosevelt, New Deal, direct relief, deficit spending, "brain trust," First Hundred Days, "fireside chats," Second New Deal, Social Security, New Deal opposition, welfare state, Black Cabinet, Hollywood, Dorothea Lange, Federal Arts Project


 * World War II (1930-1950) **

Readings: Textbook Chapters 19-20



WWII Crash Course US History WWII Homefront Crash Course US History WWII Horrible Histories Summary WWII Both Theaters Day-By-Day WWII Call of Duty Cutscenes WWII From Space

Introduction: When the Great Depression hit Britain, France, and Germany, they were still recovering from the damage of World War I. Without aid, loans, and trade from the US, the effects of the depression were even worse in Europe. Unfortunately, this left the door open to dictators in Germany and Italy who were promising economic recovery and strong nationalism. By the mid-1930s, Hitler had complete control over Germany, Mussolini dominated Italy, military generals controlled Japan, and another war loomed on the horizon. Faced with the struggles of the Great Depression, Americans were determined to stay isolated from the turmoil in Europe and Asia. This isolationist attitude changed dramatically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Major Topics & Events:
 * Totalitarian dictators rise to power in Europe and Asia in response to the Great Depression.
 * League of Nations fails to prevent aggressive expansion by Germany, Italy and Japan.
 * After the invasion of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany, but are quickly overpowered by the blitzkrieg tactics.
 * Americans hope to stay isolated, but slowly begin to supply Britain with an "arsenal of democracy" to resist German invasion.
 * With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US officially entered World War II.
 * The Allied Powers had little success against Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese until some major turning points were achieved in 1943.
 * By 1945, Hitler was defeated, and President Truman decided to use atomic bombs against Japan to avoid a devastating invasion.
 * The US leads an effort to establish the United Nations and other peacekeeping organizations to prevent another catastrophe.
 * The Soviet Union and the US compete for influence around the globe in the Cold War, lasting from 1947-1991.

Terms to Know: Totalitarianism, Fascism, Communism, anti-Semitism, Nuremberg Laws, appeasement, Third Reich, Munich Pact, Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, blitzkrieg, Axis Powers, Allied Powers, Neutrality Acts, "Four Freedoms" and "Quarantine" speeches, Battle of Britain, Lend-Lease Act, Atlantic Charter, Pearl Harbor, Pacific Theater, Bataan Death March, Battle of Coral Sea, Stalingrad, North African invasion, Casablanca Conference, Manhattan Project, War Production Board, Rosie the Riveter, A. Philip Randolph, bracero program, Japanese American internment, Korematsu v. US (1944), rationing, propaganda, Tehran Conference, D-Day invasion, Battle of the Bulge, Yalta Conference, V-E Day, Battle of Midway, island hopping, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Potsdam Conference, V-J Day, Holocaust, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Nuremberg Trials, Israel, United Nations, OAS, superpowers, Cold War, satellite nations, iron curtain, Truman Doctrine, containment policy, Marshall Plan, CIA, Berlin Airlift, NATO, Warsaw Pact, Chinese Revolution, Korean War, decolonization, Indochina, Geneva Accords, SEATO, domino theory, Eisenhower Doctrine, arms race, ICBMs, Sputnik, NASA, U-2 Incident, Cuban Revolution, Bay of Pigs invasion, Alliance for Progress, Peace Corps, Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis,

National Security Archive Primary Sources WWII Homefront Assignment