US History Mid-Year Study Guide

The Civil War:

Causes of the Civil War:
• Long-Term causes were economic, social, cultural, and political factors.
• Short-Term causes usually consisted of a specific problem or crisis and how it was handled.
Long Term Causes of the Civil War:
Sectionalism: People felt greater loyalty to their section -the North, South, or West- than to the
nation as a whole.
Slavery: Abolitionists wanted to end slavery. Escaped slaves like Frederick Douglas spoke out
against the horrors of slavery. Pro-slavery apologists in the south argued that slaves were better
off than Northern factory workers.
Extension of Slavery: Many northerners did not want to see slavery extend to new territories;
Southerners feared being outnumbered by free states if slavery did not spread.
States’ Rights: Many southerners believed that states had the right to leave the union if they
wished.
The Breakdown of Compromise:
Early compromises over the slavery question:
(a) Missouri Compromise (1820) - Missouri admitted as a slave state and Maine as a free state;
slavery prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase
(b) Compromise of 1850 - California admitted as a free state; the sale of slaves banned in
Washington, D.C.; Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 enacted; popular sovereignty applied to the slavery
question in the rest of Mexican Cession.
The Breakdown of Compromise:
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Popular sovereignty to determine the slavery question in remaining
territories of Louisiana Purchase, reopening the slavery issue there.
Birth of the Republican Party (1854): Republicans opposed the extension of slavery.
The Ostend Manifesto (1854): Attempt by U.S. diplomats from the South to purchase Cuba as a
new slave state.
“Bleeding Kansas” (1855-1856): Anti-slavery and pro-slavery settlers violently contested control
of the Kansas Territory.
Dred Scott Decision (1857): Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, an African American, was not
a citizen and had no right to sue in court; the Court also ruled that Congress had no right to forbid
slavery in the territories.
Freeport Doctrine (1858): View of Stephen Douglas that local communities could still choose to
ban slavery despite the Dred Scott decision.
John Brown’s Raid (1859): John Brown, a white abolitionist, attacked a federal arsenal in Virginia,
hoping to stir up slave revolts throughout the South.
The Secession Crisis:
Presidential Election of 1860: Democrats were divided, helping Republican candidate
Abraham Lincoln to win the election with 39% of the vote.
Secession: South Carolina immediately seceded. Six Southern states followed, forming the
Confederacy. Four states of the upper South seceded after war broke out.
Fort Sumter: Lincoln sent supplies to this fort in Charleston Harbor. Confederate forces
fired on the fort, starting the Civil War. Border states stayed loyal to the Union.
Course of the Civil War:
• The North had a larger population, more industry and resources, and the navy. Lincoln
imposed a naval blockade on the South. The Anaconda plan was the North's strategy for
winning the war.
• Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862, freeing all slaves in states
still in rebellion on January 1, 1863. He acted on the basis of his emergency wartime powers.
• Florida was valued for its cattle and food supplies; the Battle of Olustee was fought in
northern Florida in 1864.
• The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) was the turning point of war; Lincoln gave the Gettysburg
Address; Grant captured Vicksburg and became Union commander; Lee surrendered at
Appomattox in April 1865.
Consequences of the Civil War
• Preservation of the Union
• Abolition of slavery
• Tremendous loss of life and destruction of property
• Power of the federal government strengthened
Reconstruction:
The Battle over Reconstruction:
Freedmen's Bureau: was set up to help freedmen; 13th amendment abolished slavery.
Presidential Reconstruction:
• Lincoln wanted to readmit southern states when 10% voters pledged allegiance to the Union
and recognized the end of slavery.
• Johnson insists confederate leaders seek personal pardons.
Black Codes: New southern state governments with former confederate leaders pass “Black Codes,”
restricting the rights of freedmen.
Congressional Reconstruction:
• Shocked black codes and the election of confederate leaders, radical republicans refused to
seat southerners in congress.
• Civil Rights act, passed over Johnson’s veto, grants freedmen rights of citizenship,
overturning Black Codes
• Civil Rights act is rewritten as 14th amendment, granting all citizens:
- Due Process of Law: right to fair procedures before a state government takes away a
person’s property or freedom
- Equal Protection of the Laws: State laws should treat people equally
• Reconstruction Act (1867) ~ Divides the south into military occupation zones
Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson:
• Radical Republicans pass the Tenure of Office Act: the President needs the Senate's
consent to remove cabinet members
• Johnson was impeached for removing his secretary of war. He is the first president to be
impeached. When tried in the senate, Johnson was saved from removal by one vote.
Reconstruction Governments:
• Carpetbaggers, scalawags, and freedmen participate in Reconstruction governments
• African Americans vote and serve in government during this experiment of biracial
democracy. Hiram Rhodes Revels becomes the first African American in Congress.
• Reconstruction governments ban racial discrimination, establish public schools, and
encourage railroad construction - but they were also guilty of corruption.
Reconstruction Economics:
Sharecroppers: uses land and tools of the landlord in exchange for part of the crop
Tenant Farmer: rents land from landlord
Debt Peonage: loss of freedom to move away because of debts to landlord or business
owner
New South: new economy of south with greater crop diversity, more railroads, and some
manufacturing
The End of Reconstruction:
• North loses interest after the economic depression of 1873
• Rutherford B. Hayes withdraws troops in a deal to win the disputed 1877 presidential
election
• Southern democrats return to power
• Ku Klux Klan and other groups terrorize African Americans
The Jim Crow Laws: the Nadir in Race Relations
• Southern state governments take steps to stop African-Americans from voting: literacy
tests, poll taxes, residency requirements. Whites exempted by the Grandfather Clause
• African Americans were intimidated by violence and economic dependence
• Southern state governments pass Jim Crow laws requiring racial segregation, or separation
of whites and blacks, in schools, railroads, restaurants, and other public places
• Jim Crow laws upheld by the supreme court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): facilities can be
separate but equal. Many consider this the Nadir, or low point, in race relations.
Settlements of the West:
Key Terms:
Migration: The movement of people from one place to another
Push Factors: Factors that cause people to leave a place, like ethnic persecution, drought or
poverty
Pull Factors: Factors that attract people to a new place, such as cheap land, political freedoms,
mineral discoveries, or other economic opportunities
Frontier: The imaginary line separating settled and unsettled areas
Settlement of the Last American Frontier:
Great Plains: Rolling, treeless grassy plains with little rail but fertile soil
Pull Factors Leading to Settlement of the West:
1 - Discoveries of precious metals
2 - Completion of transcontinental railroad
3 - Relocation of Indians: Indian wars & Reservations
4 - Cheap or Free Land: Homestead Act of 1862
Evolution of Different Parts of the American West:
Mining: Boomtowns sprang up overnight were gold and silver were discovered
Cattle Kingdom: Cowboys drove cattle, grazing on the open range, to railroads. The open range
ended in the late 1880s, to be replaced by the closed range.
Farmers: Adapted to the dry conditions of the great plains by using barbed wire fences, sod
houses, wells for groundwater, windmills to pump water, steel plows and farm machinery.
The American Indian Experience:
Plains Indians: Hunted buffalo on the great plains
Indian Wars (1864-1890): Federal troops stationed in forts defeated the indians in a series of
clashes and removed them to remote reservations
• The cheyenne and the sand creek massacre (1864)
• Sioux ~ Black hills; Custer and Crazy Horse at the Little BigHorn; Wounded Knee Massacre
(1890)
• Chief Joseph and Nez Perce flight to Canada
• Apaches and Comanches in the southwest
Reservation System: Tribes forced onto reserved lands, often dry and undesirable. Federal Indian
agents and religious teachers provided some services like schools, but government agents often did
not keep their promises.
Dawes Act (1887): Shock at the mistreatment of Indians identified by Helen Hunt Jackson and
other reformers led to this attempt to "Americanize" Indians. An Indian could apply to take his own
private land from the tribe's reservation land. The Dawes Act actually led to a sell-off of Indian
lands.
America’s Second Industrial Revolution:
Factors behind American Economic Growth:
• Abundant Natural Resources
• Growing population provided labor
• Free Enterprise System ~ Market Economy: Laissez Faire capitalism encouraged individual
initiative
• Legacy of First Industrial Revolution: use of new source power (steam); mass production;
factory system
• Role of Government:
- Patents encouraged new inventions
- Tariffs protect American manufactured goods
- Laws protected property and contracts
- Land grants encouraged railroad construction
- Government regulated currency and banks
• Stimulus of the Civil War ~ Tariffs, Banking Act, Pacific Act, Railway Act, Homestead Act.
America’s Second Industrial Revolution:
• Spread of Railways
• Technological Innovation:
~ Telegraph
~ Telephone
~ Transatlantic Cable
~ Elevator
~ Sewing Machine
~ Electric Light Bulb
~ Internal Combustion Engine
• Emergence of national market
• Rise of corporations (limited liability; ability to raise more capital)
• Contributions of Entrepreneurs
Spread of Railways:
• Provided stimulus to iron, coal, and steel industries
• Provided cheaper transportation costs for carrying raw materials and finished goods
• Forged a national market
- Henry Flagler: Florida East Coast Railroad
Key Industries:
• Steel
Bessemer Process: Air blown into a hot pig iron to remove impurities; reduces cost of making steel
by 80%
Andrew Carnegie adopted the Bessemer process; built large steelworks
• Communications
Telegraph: Samuel Morse (Morse Code, dots and dashes)
Telephone: Alexander Graham Bell
Transatlantic Cable: Cyrus Field
• Electricity
Thomas Edison: Phonograph (1877); electric light bulb (1879); motion picture (1896); improved
battery; electric power station backed by J.P. Morgan
Nicola Tesla: Alternating Current
• Oil
Edwin Drake: First oil well drilled in Pennsylvania (1859)
John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil Company; kerosene and gasoline; railroad rebates; pipeline
transport
• Transportation
Internal Combustion Engine: created near the end of the 19th century, used controlled explosions
to move piston in a cylinder
Henry Ford: less expensive automobile (for the common man)
Wilbur and Orville Wright: Created the airplane in 1903)
African-American and Women Inventors:
Elijah McCoy: Oil-Drip cups for trains
Sarah Goode: fold away bed
Lewis Howard Latimer: New process for making carbon filaments in light bulbs
Jan Ernst Matzeliger: Machine for attaching soles to shoes
Garrett Morgan: Breathing apparatus for use by firemen; a patent for a traffic signal
Madam C.J. Walker: Hair-care products, especially for African-American Women
Granville Wood: Multiplex telegraph
Josephine Cochran: First automatic dishwasher
Captains of Industry or Robber Barons

• Andrew Carnegie (Steel)

~ Adopted the Bessemer process
~ Homestead Strike
~ Vertical integration
~ Gospel of Wealth
• John D. Rockefeller (Oil)
~ Secret rebates from railroads
~ Standard Oil
~ Horizontal Integration
• John Piermont Morgan (Financier)
~ Financed Edison
~ Formed General Electric
~ Formed U.S. Steel in 1901
Invention vs. Innovation
Invention: To design something new
Innovation: To apply or adopt new machines, processes, and or products
New Business Practices
Advantages of large Companies:
• Economies of scale
• Cheaper source of supply
• More efficient management
Dangers of Monopoly:
• Less incentive to improve products
• Monopolists can overcharge consumers
• Forms of business consolidation; pooling agreement; trust; holding company
U.S. Supreme Court Cases
• Munn v. Illinois: State governments can regulate grain elevators
• Wabash v. Illinois: State governments cannot regulate interstate railroads
Federal Laws Regulating Business:
Interstate Commerce Act: Congress regulates interstate railroads; sets up enforcement agencies
Sherman Antitrust Act: Combinations “in restraint of trade” are prohibited
The Labor Movement:
Problems Faced by Industrial Workers
- Impersonal conditions / boring, repetitive tasks
- Long workdays
- Low wages / periodic unemployment
- Dangerous conditions / No workers' compensation
- Lack of opportunity for advancement
- Child labor
The First National Labor Unions
• Knights of Labor: Terrence Powderly / skilled and unskilled workers / Women & minorities
welcomed as members / collapsed shortly after Haymarket Riot
• American Federation of Labor (AFL): a federation of different unions of skilled workers
(such as carpenters, shoemakers, etc.) / Samuel Gompers / focused on improving conditions
and raising wages / hostile to immigration /most member unions refused women or African
Americans
Milestones of Early Labor Movement
• Haymarket Riot (1886): After an explosion during a demonstration in Haymarket Square,
labor leaders were arrested and put on trial. Four were hanged. In the public mind, the labor
movement became associated with violence and anarchism.
• Homestead Strike (1892): Carnegie and Frick decided to "break" the union and locked out
workers from Homestead Steelworks when they failed to negotiate a new contract.
Workers went on strike, surrounded the mill with picket lines, and defeated Pinkertons in
the pitched battle. The state militia was called out to protect the plants, and Frick sent in
strike-breakers. Workers gave in, ending unionization in steel mills.
• Pullman Strike (1894): Pullman workers went on strike when Pullman lowered wages but not
prices in his company town. Eugene Debs' American Railway Union joined in sympathy and
would not work on Pullman cars, bringing trains in the west to a standstill. President
Cleveland sent in federal troops to end the strike.
Advantages of Labor Unions
• Collective Bargaining: Workers act together in negotiating new contracts for higher wages
and better working conditions
• Mutual Aid Society: Save money for emergencies
• Strikes: Workers walk off their jobs and picket the factory or workplace
• "Closed Shop": Only union members can work there
Tactics of Management
• Lockout: Closing down a factory or mill so that workers cannot work there
• Strike-breakers ("scabs"): Temporary workers who fill jobs during a strike, often from a
different ethnic group than most of the strikers
• Blacklisting: Circulating names of fired employees to other employers
• "Yellow-Dog" contract: Forcing workers to sign an agreement not to unionize
• Pinkertons: Private detectives used to break up strikes
• Injunction: A court order to end a strike
Ideologies of the Industrial Age
• Ideology: A system of beliefs about society
• Capitalism: Market-based economic system in which individuals or corporations privately own
the means of production
• Socialism: Ideology in favor of government ownership of the means of production to improve
conditions for workers
• Communism: Ideology developed by Karl Marx, calling for violent revolution by workers
(proletariat) to overthrow the "bourgeoisie" and establish a classless society
• Social Darwinism: Belief that humans, like other forms of life, compete for survival and
that those who are naturally superior will meet with the greatest success
• Anarchism: A radical political theory opposing all forms of government in favor of self-
governing communities
Cities, Immigrants, and Farmers:
Cities:
Urbanization: The movement of population from the countryside to cities
Problems of Cities:
• Overcrowding and slums cheap tenement housing often lacked air ventilation or proper
sanitation
• Traffic congestion- horse-drawn cars, trains, narrow streets
• Lack of garbage collection services and proper sewage led to water contamination and
diseases like cholera
• Vast differences in wealth sharpened social antagonisms
Political Machines -corruption- Example: Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall
• The "Boss" and members of the machine provided various social services to the immigrants
and the poor.
• The "political machine" encouraged immigrants and the poor to vote for its candidates.
• Officials elected by the "political machine" then charged excessive amounts on public
contracts or received "Kickbacks,” making huge fortunes.
Immigration:
Before 1880: "Old Immigrants" came from Great Britain, Ireland and Germany. Most people spoke
English.
1880-1924: "New Immigrants"
• The "New Immigrants" came from Southern and Eastern Europe: Poland, Russia, Italy,
Greece.
• Most were Catholic, Jewish, or Greek Orthodox. Many spoke no English. Most were
desperately poor.
• They had different traditions than most "mainstream" Americans and faced prejudice and
discrimination.
Asian Immigrants:
• Chinese men began arriving during the California Gold Rush and helped to build the
transcontinental railroad in California. Afterwards, they faced prejudice and discrimination.
• The Naturalization Law of 1870 prevented Asian immigrants from becoming naturalized
citizens.
• The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) banned almost all immigrants from China, and was the
first restriction ever placed on immigration to the United States (other than against
criminals or unhealthy persons.
• Japanese Americans began arriving at the end of the century; their immigration was cut off
by the Gentlemen's Agreement (1907) between Japan and the United States.
The Immigration Experience:
The Voyage: Steamship companies made it more affordable to come to America.
Admission:
• After 1892, poorer Europeans in "steerage" class were processed at Ellis Island.
• They could be sent back if they did not pass a medical examination.
• After 1910, Asians generally were processed on Angel Island in San Francisco, where they
faced even longer delays - sometimes for several months.
Ethnic "Ghettos":
• Most immigrants went to live in ethnic neighborhoods in cities, known to historians as
"ghettos."
• There they lived with others who spoke the same language and practiced the same
traditions.
"Americanization":
• Usually the children of the immigrants were the first to be "Americanized" - or assimilated
into "mainstream" society by learning the values and behaviors of American culture.
• By attending public schools, immigrant children learned English and American ways. This
often led to conflict between generations.
Nativism:
• Nativists generally believed that white, Protestant native-born Americans were superior to
others, and that immigrants and their diverse cultural influences were undesirable.
• Nativist feelings led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and later restrictions on
immigration in the 1920s.
Farmers' Problems:
In the late 19th century, a large number of Americans were still farmers, growing crops or raising
livestock for sale. They began experiencing problems when food prices fell even though their costs
remained high.
Why Food Prices Fell:
• Agricultural overproduction
• International competition
• Scarcity of money kept food prices low: the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was passed in
1890 but repealed three years later.
Other Problems Faced by Farmers:
• High costs of manufactured products-protective tariffs and trusts
• Farmer indebtedness
• Profits of middlemen
• Natural disasters
• High shipping costs-unfair railroad rates
• Rural isolation
Farmers Organize:
Farmers organized into social and political groups to meet these challenges.
Grange Movement: National association of farmers' social clubs--served social and educational
purposes
Farmers' Cooperatives: Attempts by Grangers to set up their own businesses for buying and selling
bulk
Populist Party: Grangers formed "Farmers' Alliances," which formed the Populist Party in the early
1890s--a new national political party to represent the common interests of farmers and workers.
Granger Laws:
• Grangers entered state legislatures and passed laws to regulate grain elevators and
railroads.
• The Supreme Court upheld state regulation of a grain elevator in Munn v. Illinois (1877).
• The Supreme Court overruled a state law regulating railroad rates in Wabash . Illinois
(1886) on the grounds that only Congress could regulate interstate commerce.
Interstate Commerce Act (1887):
• Passed by Congress after the Wabash decision.
• The first federal law to regulate business practices.
• Railroads could not give different rates for hauling the same freight the same distance.
• Railroads could not charge more for short hauls than long hauls.
• Congress set up a new agency, the interstate Commerce Commission, to oversee
enforcement of the act.
The Populist Party:
Populist Platform of 1892 ("Omaha Platform"):
• Included many far-reaching proposals that were later adopted: direct election of U.S.
Senators, secret ballot, progressive income tax, initiative and referendum procedures,
eight-hour workday, restrictions on immigration.
• Other ideas were never adopted: government ownership of railroads and utilities, postal
savings banks, unlimited silver coinage.
~ William Jennings Bryan’s "Cross of Gold” Speech: Bryan chosen as Democratic Party nominee in
1896. Populist party follows suit rather than divide the "free silver" vote.
~ 1896 Presidential election campaign: Populists and Democrats focused on "bimetallism"- basing
money on silver as well as gold to raise prices and make it easier for farmers to repay their debts.
~ Byran lost to McKinley in a close election: Populists won support in the South, Great Plains and
the Rocky Mountain States.
The Progressive Era:
The Progressive Movement:
• Progressivism flourished from 1890 until the outbreak of World War I
• The aim of Progressivism was to remedy the political and economic Injustices that had
resulted from America's rapid industrialization.
• Progressives believed in using government power to reform and to correct these abuses.
Roots of Progressivism:
1 - Many new problems created by industrial society needed to be addressed.
• Brutal working conditions
• Urban overcrowding
• Child labor
• Environmental exploitation
• Extreme inequalities of wealth
• Defective, substandard consumer products.
• Political corruption
2 - The Reform Tradition: Reform has been a continuing process in American history; based on the
belief her society can be made better.
3 - The legacy of the Populists: Progressives adopted many of their ideas.
4 - The influence of the middle class:
• Progressivism was middle class, urban, and nationwide in contrast to Populism, which was
rural and had its main support in the South and West.
• Progressive leaders were generally members of the professional classes: professors,
lawyers, doctors, religious ministers, and writers. They were supported by the lower middle-
classes: technicians, clerical workers, small business owners, and service personnel.
• The middle classes saw Progressive reform as preferable to socialism, Communism or
anarchy.
5 - The "Social Gospel" movement: Progressives often acted out of a sense of moral responsibility
based on religion. Protestant ministers of the Social Gospel movement inspired the Progressives.
6 - New forms of journalism: The "Muckrakers" gave widespread exposure to the abuses of
industrial society and stimulated the desire for reform.
7 - Rising consumer consciousness: Progressives believed that government intervention was needed
to control the market and ensure that mass-produced goods were safe.
8 - Progressives favored women's suffrage, social reform, and better regulation of Big Business.
Women reformers and organized labor supported the Progressives.
The Early Progressives
• Muckrakers published articles in magazines and newspapers exposing abuses and corruption
and stimulating a public outcry for reform. For example, Ida Tarbell exposed the unfair
business practices of Rockefeller in her History of the Standard Oil Company. Upton
Sinclair exposed the unhealthy practices of the meat-packing industry in The Jungle.
• Social reformers like Jane Addams established "settlement houses" for the poor; others
formed associations and clubs to promote social change, such as the National Woman
Suffrage Association, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League.
• Municipal reformers cleaned up city government by eliminating political machines and
introducing new forms of municipal government such as by a commission or a professional
city manager.
Progressive Reforms in State Government:
Progressives elected state governors and legislators to promote reforms. One example was
Governor Napoleon Broward of Florida.
• Initiative: voters could directly introduce bills into the state legislature.
• Referendum: voters could repeal a law passed by the legislature.
• Recall voters could dismiss elected officials as a special election.
• Secret ballot
• Direct primary: party members voted on candidates to represent their party on running for
office
• Direct election of U.S Senators: 17th Amendment
• Women's suffrage: many individual states gave women the right to vote
Progressive Social and Economic Reforms:
Many state governments also passed the following:
• Laws regulating conditions in urban housing
• Child labor laws
• Laws regulating safety and health in factories
• Workers' compensation for work-related injuries
• Laws limiting the number of hours that women could work in factories
• Laws conserving natural resources and wildlife
• Laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol (Temperance Movement)
The Progressive Presidents:
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909):
• Believed that the President was the steward of the people's interests.
• Greatly expanded the powers of the Presidency.
• His efforts were meant to give Americans a "Square Deal," especially in natural resource
conservation control of corporations and protection of the consumers:
• Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act
• Trust buster: "good" vs. "bad" trusts
• 1902 Coal Strike: intervened to settle the dispute and get coal to consumers.
• Conservation: appointed Gifford Pinchot; created new national parks and monuments;
formed the National Conservation Commission.
William Howard Taft (1909-1913):
• Continued many of Roosevelt's policies, but was a clumsy politician and later came into
conflict with Roosevelt.
• Introduced 16th Amendment, making a federal tax on individual incomes possible.
• Election of 1912: Republicans divided between Taft and Roosevelt's new Progressive Party -
gave Democrats the election.
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921):
• His "New Freedom" attacked the "triple wall of privilege": banks, tariffs and trusts.
• Lowered tariffs, introduced the graduated income tax, created the Federal Reserve
System (1913), and strengthened antitrust legislation with the Clayton Antitrust Act.
• Passed a federal law prohibiting child labor in 1916, which the Supreme Court declared
unconstitutional
• Progressive Era came to an end with World War I.
American Imperialism:
The Debate over Imperial Expansion
Imperialism is when a country rules over foreign areas. Since America had once been a colony, many
Americans opposed imperialism on principle. Yet newly acquired territories from Spain turned the
United States into an imperial power.
Arguments of the Imperialists:
1. Colonies were needed to provide raw materials and as markets for American industry.
2. America had a moral obligation to help colonial peoples and spread Christianity and American
institutions. It was an extended part of our "Manifest Destiny" as a superior nation.
3. Americans should grab remaining territories as colonies before European powers did.
4. Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that colonies would provide strategic naval bases and
encourage trade; America would develop a larger merchant marine and strengthen its navy;
increased naval power would bring wealth and power.
Arguments of the Anti-imperialists:
1. Americans had fought British imperialism and should not become imperialists themselves.
2. Imperialism was anti-democratic.
3. Colonies created a danger of being pulled into future global conflicts.
4. Organized labor feared cheap colonial labor would lead to lower wages in the United States.
5. The American Anti-Imperialist League included prominent members such as Mark Twain and
Andrew Carnegie.
The Spanish-American War (1898)
Background
• Cuba was a Spanish colony. Cubans wanted their independence and rebelled in 1985. Spain
suppressed Cuban guerilla warfare with brutal force.
Motives for Intervention:
• Americans were motivated by both humanitarian concerns and self-interest to help Cuba.
• Sensational works of yellow journalism ( Hearst and Pulitzer ) distorted events, which
fanned the American desire to intervene.
• Some Americans argued that their business investments and opportunities in Cuba needed
protection..
• Others believed Cuba provided greater security and wealth to the United States.
Immediate Causes:
• Spanish ambassador De Lome's letter was leaked to the press. De Lome criticized President
McKinley as incompetent.
• USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. Yellow journalists blamed Spain.
• The De Lome letter and the explosion of the American battleship fueled popular support for
a more aggressive U.S. Foreign Policy. President McKinley gave in to popular pressure and
asked Congress for a declaration of war on Spain.
Causes of War:
• The U.S. quickly defeated Spain with the aid of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders” in
Cuba: Commodore Dewey quickly defeated the Spanish Navy in the Philippines.
Consequences:
• U.S. annexed the former Spanish Colonies: Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
• Based on the Teller Amendment, Cuba remained independent but came under indirect US
control.
The American Colonial Empire
New U.S. territories in the Pacific and Caribbean provided raw materials, coaling stations, and naval
stations for the U.S.
Philippines:
• Instead of granting independence, the United States annexed this former Spanish colony.
• Filipinos fought a guerilla war for self-rule for several years. The United States finally
ended the rebellion in 1902 and assisted in rebuilding the defeated colony.
• The Jones Act of 1916 announced that the United States would eventually grant the
Philippines its independence.
Hawaii:
• These islands provided a useful coaling station in the Pacific Ocean. American merchants
established profitable sugar cane and pineapple plantations. When Queen Liliuokalani of
• Hawaii began her reign in 1893, she sought to rewrite her country's constitution.
• With the help of the U.S. Marines, American landowners in Hawaii forcibly removed the
queen and set up a republic.
• The U.S. Congress voted not to annex Hawaii but the anti-imperialist tide then turned.
• After the United States defeated Spain, Congress approved the annexation of Hawaii.
• The United States also annexed Guam and Samoa in the Pacific Ocean.
Puerto Rico:
• Became an American possession in the Caribbean.
Cuba:
• Although Cuban independence was guaranteed by the Teller Amendment, Cuba became an
American protectorate.
• In 1901, the Platt Amendment gave the United States military bases in Cuba and the right
to intervene in Cuban affairs at any time.
U.S. Foreign Policy in East Asia

European powers had established their own, “Spheres of Influence”, in China. American feared
European powers might cut off their trade with China.
• In 1899 Secretary of State John Hay declared the “Open Door” policy, stating that trading
rights in China were open to all foreigners in China. An International Military expedition,
which included the US, put down the Boxer Rebellion. However, the United States
announced it would oppose any attempts to turn China into colonies.
• Commodore Perry had opened Japan to the west, which then adopted Western ways,
including creation of a modern army and navy. Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese
War, giving it control of Taiwan and Korea Japan then defeated the Russians in the Russo-
Japanese War. President Theodore Roosevelt mediated, and war ended with the two sides
agreeing on the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905). The United States concluded the Gentlemen's
Agreement (1907), halting Japanese immigration to America.
U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America
Panama Canal:
• Influenced by the ideas of Alfred Thayer Mahan and the experience of the Spanish-
American War, Theodore Roosevelt and other U.S. leaders wanted to build an American-
controlled canal through Central America for easier access between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans.
• At first, Roosevelt negotiated with Colombia to build the canal across the Isthmus of
Panama. When talks stalled, Roosevelt supported a Panamanian revolution.
• In exchange for recognition and protection, the newly formed country of Panama granted
perpetual control of the Panama Canal Zone to the United States.
• This project firmly established American power while antagonizing Latin American nations.
The Canal took a decade to build and was the most complicated engineering project of its
day.
Caribbean Region:
• The Monroe Doctrine (1823) had stated that the United States would oppose any new
European intervention in the Western Hemisphere.
• At the turn of the 20th century, debt-ridden Latin American nations were unable to pay
their European investors. European powers in turn sent military ships to collect their debts.
• The U.S. government appointed itself the arbiter and collected customs duties to repay the
debts and avoid European interference in the Western Hemisphere.
• This approach, known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine or the "Big Stick"
policy, asserted that the United States would intervene in any Latin American disputes with
foreign powers by acting as "policeman."
The US in World War I:
Long-Term Causes of World War I:
• Nationalism: Nationalist feelings increased the rivalries between the "Great Powers" of
Europe and encouraged ethnic groups in multinational empires to form their own nation-
states.
• Economic Rivalries and Imperialism of the "Great Powers" increased the spirit of
competition and conflict.
• The Alliance Systems (Germany and Austria vs. Russia, France, and Great Britain). Any
conflict between nations in the opposing alliances threatened to draw in all the others.
• Militarism: glorification of the military, military planning, and arms races played key roles in
pushing Europeans to war. Generals felt they had to be the first to mobilize and attack.
Flashpoint of World War I
• Flashpoint: the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary on June 28, 1914,
by Serb nationalists.
• Austria invaded Serbia to teach the Serbs a lesson.
• This brought Russia and the other Great Powers into the conflict because of their alliances.
Germany invaded France by marching through Belgium, ensuring British entry into the war.
Fighting In Europe
New weapons employed in the war prevented either side from quickly defeating the other.
• Trench warfare: the use of machine guns led soldiers to dig trenches. The trenches were
separated by barbed wire and land mines known as "no man's land." Heavy artillery and
chemical warfare (poison gas) were sometimes used.
• Naval Blockade: British blockade of the North Sea prevented foreign arms and food from
reaching Germany. In retaliation, Germany used submarines (U-boats) to prevent supply
ships from reaching Britain.
• Airplanes: Used for reconnaissance and "dogfights.” They did not play a major role but this
was a precursor for later wars.
Why Americans Went to War:
• Cultural Ties: a common language and history with Britain.
• Allied Propaganda and German Atrocities: The German invasion of neutral Belgium led to
exaggerated stories of German atrocities- largely false--which shocked Americans.
• Isolation of the Central Powers: Because of the British naval blockade, the Central Powers
were isolated from the United States. Because Americans only heard the British side of the
story, they grew more favorable to the Allies. U.S. trade with Germany dropped to almost
nothing while the United States became the main provider of arms, food and supplies to the
Allies.
• Zimmerman Telegram (March 1917): Germany promised the return of New Mexico,
Arizona, and Texas to Mexico, if Mexico allied itself with Germany. The publication of this
telegram in U.S. newspapers outraged the public.
German Submarine Warfare:
• British Blockade: The British blockade of Germany led to German submarine warfare
against ships bringing supplies to Britain. German submarines were too small to announce
themselves in advance of attack or to carry survivors.
• Lusitania: In May 1915, a German submarine sank the Lusitania, a British passenger ship.
The attack led to over a thousand deaths, including 128 Americans and 94 children, and
greatly stirred anti-German feelings among Americans.
• Sussex Pledge: Another German submarine sank the Sussex, a French passenger ship in
1916. Germany pledged not to sink any more ocean liners or merchant ships without warning
or rescuing survivors.
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare: In January 1917, Germany declared "unrestricted
submarine warfare." German leaders felt they could defeat the Allies before the United
States entered the war. The sinking of more U.S. merchant ships in 1917 led to a U.S.
declaration of war on Germany. Wilson called for intervention not only to protect freedom
of the seas but as a crusade to make the "world safe for democracy”
America At War
Mobilization: President Wilson appointed General Pershing to command the million-man American
Expeditionary Force (AEF).
Selective Service Act required conscription (compulsory military service known as the "draft”)
Conscientious Objectors (COs): Those who refused to fight on moral grounds. They still had to
serve in noncombatant roles, such as ambulance drivers, caring for the wounded, working on farms,
or as firefighters. Some were imprisoned and treated unfairly.
The Committee of Public Information: This federal agency was responsible for propaganda in
favor of the war effort, creating posters, pamphlets, billboards, press releases, newsreels, and
anti-German films.
The War-Time Economy:
The U.S. government collaborated with Big Business and organized labor to further the war effort.
• War Industries Board: Coordinated wartime manufacturing.
• Food Administration: Oversaw the production and distribution of food.
• Fuel Administration: Regulated coal and gasoline, and called for voluntary conservation.
• Railroad Administration: Nationalized the railways during the war.
• The Emergency Ship Corporation: Built a fleet of ships to transport men and supplies to
Europe.
• War Labor Board: Mediated disputes between owners and workers.
Paying for the War:
• Total war costs were $30 billion-30 times the total revenues of the federal government in
1916.
• Higher taxes on the wealthy raised 1/3 of the war costs.
• Liberty Bonds. The rest of the war was financed through borrowing. Liberty bonds were
government bonds sold to the public and paid a low interest rate. The national debt rose
from $1 billion in 1916 to $20 billion by the war's end.
• One-third of this money was lent to the Allies. The United States turned from being a
"debtor" to a "creditor" nation.
Civil Rights on the Home Front:
During the war, individual rights were restricted in the interests of national security:
• The Espionage Act of 1917: allowed the government censorship of the mail and
imprisonment of those who interfered with the draft.
• The Sedition Act of 1918: made it a crime to use "disloyal" language.
These wartime restrictions were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court:
• Schenck v US. (1919): speech can be restricted whenever a "clear and present danger" is
evident.
• Debs v. US. and Abrams v. U.S. (1919): also upheld restrictions on speech.
US Minorities During World War I:
When men went off to war, women, African Americans, and other minorities filled the gap by taking
jobs in factories, farms, and railroads.
Women:
• At the time war was declared, many women were campaigning for a constitutional
amendment granting them the right to vote.
• The National American Woman Suffrage Association and its members supported the war
effort by selling war bonds, knitting socks, cooking meatless dinners, joining the Red Cross,
and serving as nurses.
• The National Woman's Party opposed the war.
German Americans:
• Great prejudice was shown against German Americans.
• More than 4,000 were imprisoned.
• One German American was attacked by a mob and killed.
American Indians:
• American Indians enlisted in World War I and fought bravely in Europe.
Jewish Americans:
• Despite prejudice against them, a great number enlisted.
• The American Jewish community raised funds to help people in Europe.
African Americans:
• African-American leaders urged their followers to fight for freedom and democracy abroad
so they could achieve them more rapidly at home.
• Over 100,000 joined the war in Europe, although they were forced to serve in segregated
units.
• African Americans were also recruited in large numbers to jobs in cities in the Northeast
and Midwest. They left the South in the Great Migration.
Hispanic Americans:
• Large numbers crossed the Mexican border to work on U.S. farms. Puerto Ricans were given
U.S. citizenship and drafted.
• Many Latinos, like Marcelino Serna, fought with great bravery.
Asian Americans:
• Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, and Filipino Americans enlisted in the armed
services even though they faced discrimination.
Allied Victory in 1918
• The American Expeditionary Force (ABF) gave the Allies overwhelming superiority. The
German army surrendered in November 1918. An armistice for a ceasefire was signed and
the fighting stopped.
The Fourteen Points:
In January 1918, Wilson announced America's war aims in the "Fourteen Points. These reflected his
view that the war was a crusade for democracy. The Fourteen Points included:
• Self-determination for the people of Europe
• Freedom of the seas
• Equal trade terms
• Reduced Armaments
• An end to secret diplomacy
• Creation of the League of Nation
Treaty of Versailles and related treaties:
• Treaty terms were determined by the Big Four Britain, France, Italy and the United States
• Germany lost territory to France and Poland, and lost all of its colonies.
• Germany lost its Navy, while its once powerful army was reduced to the size of a police
force.
• Germans were forced to sign the ‘War Guilt' clause, accepting the blame for starting the
war, On these grounds, they were also required to pay huge reparations (payment for
damages) to the Allied victors.
• Austria-Hungary was divided into several smaller national states.
• The Sultan was overthrown and Turkey became a republic. The Ottoman Empire lost most of
its territories in the Middle East. These territories became mandates of Britain and France.
• A League of Nations was established to prevent aggression and protect the peace.
The U.S. Senate Rejects the Treaty of Versailles:
• Americans were generally disappointed with the war's outcome.
• Many Americans retreated into isolation.
• The congressional elections of 1918 reflected this disappointment and gave control of the
Senate to Republicans. Wilson ordered his supporters to reject the Treaty of Versailles
rather than accept it with republican changes
• The United States never joined the League of Nations; Instead, it signed a separate peace
treaty with Germany in 1921.
The Roaring Twenties:
Economic Outcomes of Demobilization:
• Demobilization: Soldiers retire from military service and economic production returns to
civilian purposes.
• Returning soldiers looking for work, a series of strikes, and the end of wartime spending led
to the Depression of 1920-1921.
Republican Presidents of the Twenties
Presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover each pursued policies favorable to
business:
• Low taxation on companies and the rich
• High tariffs (Ford-McCumber Act)
• Lax enforcement of regulations
Harding called for a "return to normalcy, Coolidge said the "business of America is business, and
Hoover favored "rugged individualism."
Harding died in office in 1923. Shortly after his death, the Teapot Dome Scandal exposed
corruption in his administration.
How the Economic Boom Affected Manufacturing and Marketing
The spread of automobiles and new electric appliances contributed to the general economic
prosperity.
Assembly-line production lowered prices.
• Advertising and installment buying encouraged greater consumption.
• Speculation on the stock market, including buying on margin, added to the feelings of
prosperity.
Florida experienced a boom from improvements in transportation, rising property values, and real
estate speculation; but the state experienced an economic collapse in the late 1920s.
The "Red Scare"
• The triumph of Bolshevism in Russia, a series of strikes, and random bombings by anarchists
led many Americans to fear a Communist revolution at home during the "Red Scare" of
1919.
• “Palmer Raids": Attorney General Palmer, assisted by J. Edgar Hoover, arrested and
deported foreign-born radicals, including Emma Goldman.
• Sacco and Vanzetti: Iwo Italian anarchists were arrested in 1920 for the murder of a
guard during a robbery. After an unfair trial they were convicted on flimsy evidence and
executed.
Immigration

• The Twenties saw the first restrictions on immigration from Europe.

• The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924 placed new
restrictions on immigration to keep out Eastern and Southern Europeans and preserve
America's existing ethnic composition. A quota was set for each country for the number of
legal immigrants it could send.
• The 1921 Act limited total immigration to 350,000; the 1924 Act reduced this to 150,000.
The quota system favored countries from Northern and Western Europe.
• No immigration at all was allowed from East Asia. On the other hand, no restrictions were
placed on immigration from the Americas.
Minorities during the Twenties
Most minorities did not share in the prosperity of the 1920s.
• The number of Hispanic Americans increased since immigration from Mexico was still un-
restricted. Many worked as migrant farm laborers.
• American Indians were made citizens in 1924 but continued to suffer from widespread
poverty. The Seminoles of Florida increased their interaction with tourists to survive
changes to the Everglades.
• Asian Americans were few in number and continued to face discrimination: for example,
Asian immigrants could not own property.
U.S. Foreign Economic Policy in the Twenties
While refusing to join the League of Nations, the Republican Presidents were still tempted to
promote world peace and U.S. business interests.
• Washington Naval Conference 1921): The world's leading naval powers agreed to limit the
numbers.of their battleships to fixed ratios proposed by the United States: United States
X 5; Britain X5; Japan X 3
• Four Power Treaty: Guaranteed peace in the Pacific region.
• Nine Power Treaty: Promised to respect China's sovereignty.
• Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928); Fifteen countries pledged to give up war except for self-
defense.
American Presidents also promoted the US. business overseas and intervened in the Caribbean
region.
• Allied War Debts: Americans had lent money to the Allies during the war and insisted on
being repaid.
France and Britain took the reparations money they received from Germany to pay their war debts
to the United States. The Dawes Plan lent money to Germany while temporarily reducing German
reparations payments.
Traditional Values vs. New Values
The inhabitants of small towns and even some cities supported the prohibition of alcoholic
beverages and
Fundamentalist Christianity:
• The 18th Amendment (1919) and the Volstead Act introduced Prohibition, but many
Americans failed to obey it.
• Fundamentalists took the Bible literally.
• John Scopes was put on trial and convicted for teaching the theory of evolution in
Tennessee. Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan participated in his trial.
• The Ku Klux Klan experienced a rebirth in 1915. Klan members opposed African Americans,
immigrants, Catholics, Jews, unions, and women's suffrage. Others, especially in the growing
cities, supported greater freedom for women and young people:
• The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote, while flappers wore looser
clothing and went out without chaperones. Women had increased opportunities in
employment and education.
• The writers of the "Lost Generation": such as Hemingway and Fitzgerald- expressed the
feelings of many young Americans.
• Hollywood, the center of the movie industry, helped circulate new values.
The African-American Experience
• African Americans continued to face "Jim Crow" laws, lynchings, racism, and economic
inequality.
• Booker T. Washington urged African Americans to seek vocational training for the moment
out
• WE.B. Du Bois favored an immediate struggle for full civil rights.
• Many African Americans moved to the North during the Great Migration.
• Even in Northern cities they faced racism, discrimination, and violence. Some of the worst
race riots occurred in Chicago in 1919, Tulsa in 1921, and Rosewood, Florida in 1923.
• The Harlem Renaissance, based in New York City, saw a flourishing of African-American
culture, with jazz music, the essays of Alain Locke, the novels of Jean Toomer, the poetry
of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, and the stories of Zora Neal Hurston. African
Americans demonstrated they could create great literary works. The "New Negro" took
pride in being black and resisting racism. Marcus Garvey encouraged African Americans to
rely more on themselves and to separate from whites.
The Great Depression and the New Deal
Long-Term Causes of the Great Depression
• Economic weaknesses in the 1920s actually led to the Great Depression.
• Mass production created a surplus of goods. By the end of the 1920s, most people who could
afford those goods had already bought them. Unsold goods piled up in warehouses and
workers lost their jobs.
• High tariffs like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930) protected American markets from foreign
competition but also prevented surplus American goods from being sold abroad.
• An expansion of credit, practices like buying stocks on margin, and a lack of government
regulation meant that speculation in the stock market soared.
• On October 29, 1929, known as "Black Tuesday," the stock market crashed. Stock prices
dropped suddenly. Everyone was trying to sell but no one wanted to buy.
Effects of the Stock Market Crash: From Wall Street to Main Street
The stock market crash set off a "chain reaction" in the American economy.
People who lost money on the market could no longer invest or buy as many goods. Businesses
became nervous about the new economic environment.
Businesses went bankrupt and laid off workers, creating mass unemployment.
People lost their savings and could not pay off loans. Banks failed. Prices and demand for goods fell.
American banks that had given loans to European countries to rebuild their war-torn economies now
wanted their money back. The Depression spread to Europe when these loans were recalled.
The Human Impact of the Great Depression
• More than 10 million Americans became unemployed. There was no federal safety net of
unemployment relief or insurance, and local or private charities were overwhelmed.
• Many people lost homes and some had to beg for food. Many jobless, homeless men became
vagrant "Hoboes” others built shantytowns on the outskirts of cities. Minority groups
particularly suffered , with the highest unemployment and the least savings.
• On the Great Plains, a series of droughts combined with the effects of unsuitable plowing
techniques to cause the disaster known as the "Dust Bowl ''. Farmers could not grow their
crops, livestock died, and farmers lost their fields and homes. Some fled west to California
to find work. Known as "Okies'' they were often mistreated and unemployed.
The First Presidential Response: Herbert Hoover
• President Hoover was a Republican who believed in laissez-faire economics. He did not think
the federal government should interfere too directly in the free-market economy. Hoover
believed the strong work ethic of independent Americans would end the crisis.
• Hoover still took early steps to help end the Depression, like cutting taxes, increasing
federal spending and meeting with business leaders. Later, he established the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (REC) to give emergency loans to stop banks and
businesses from going bankrupt. Hoover's steps were too few and too limited to stop the
crisis.
• The Federal Reserve made the Depression worse by contracting (shrinking) the money
supply.
• Hoover became so unpopular that Americans began calling the new shantytowns of homeless
people "Hoovervilles." Hoover's defeat in the 1932 election was sealed when he used the
army to break up a peaceful protest by the "Bonus Expeditionary Force," a group of World
War I veterans and their families.
The First New Deal
• The First New Deal, from 1933 to 1935, was focused on relief and recovery.
• Many new federal agencies were known by their abbreviations that they were called
"alphabet soup”.
• Many of these programs aimed to "prime the pump" into consumers' hands.
• Some "recovery" programs aimed to make banks and the stock market safer. Roosevelt
declared a "Bank Holiday'' to prevent bank runs, allow federal inspections, and renew public
confidence in banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured bank
deposits. The Securities and Exchange Commission was created to regulate the stock
market.
• Other "Recovery" programs aimed at assisting industry and agriculture. The National
Recovery Administration (NRA) encouraged businesses to establish codes that set prices,
wages, and work hours to promote cooperation and fairness. The Agricultural Adjustment
Act (AAA) limited production of crops and livestock to prevent surpluses and protect
farmers.
• Some "relief" programs aimed at helping the unemployed. The Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC), Public Works Administration (PWA), and Civil Works Administration (CWA)
provided young men with work on public projects.
• Other "relief" programs sought to improve living conditions. The Home-owners Loan
Corporation and Agricultural Adjustment Act gave emergency loans to homeowners and
farmers facing foreclosure. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built dams to control
floods and to provide electricity to one of the poorest areas in the South.
The Second New Deal
• 'The Supreme Court struck down many of Roosevelt's early New Deal programs. He began a
"Second New Deal" in 1935, aiming more at reform and security.
• 'The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created new public works projects to increase
employment and stimulate the arts, It hired construction workers, artists, writers and
musicians,
• The Social Security Act was the most important and long lasting achievement of the New
Deal. It created a "safety net" for Americans in the event of another Depression. It
established unemployment insurance, retirement benefits, and aid to the disabled and
orphaned,
• 'The National Labor Relations Act ("Wagner Act) gave workers the right to unionize and to
submit their grievances to the National Labor Relations Board. Other measures that
benefitted labor were Roosevelt's refusal to use federal power to intervene in the
successful "it-down strike" at General Motors in 1936, and the passage of the Fair Labor
Standards Act, which set maximum working hours, a minimum wage, and prohibited child
labor.
Reactions to the New Deal
• The New Deal was supported by many Americans. Roosevelt created a new Democratic
coalition: workers, the poor, minority groups such as African Americans, and the "Solid
South”
• Some critics did not think the New Deal did enough. Senator Huey Long wanted to tax the
rich and provide a guaranteed family income; another critic wanted to nationalize banks and
utilities.
• The greatest threat to the New Deal was from the Supreme Court, which overturned some
of the First New Deal. Roosevelt attempted to halt further attacks on the New Deal by the
Court with his "Court-packing" scheme. He proposed that he should have the power to
appoint new Justices. His plan was widely condemned and rejected by Congress. However,
the Supreme Court stopped overturning New Deal programs.
• The New Deal did aid the economy, but only World War I ended the Depression.
The Cultural Impact of the Great Depression
• The Depression created disillusionment with traditional American beliefs in the free market
and consumerism.
• John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath depicted the plight of the "Okies." Langston
Hughes was an African-American poet who wrote of the sufferings of the African-American
community.
• Dorothea Lange took photographs of poor migrants and sharecroppers, including the famous
image "Migrant Mother." Walker Evans and Margaret Bourke also published famous
photographs of suffering all around America.
• These photos, poems, and books gave a human face to the Depression and spurred calls for
relief.
• Many people turned to popular culture for "escapism" during the Depression. Optimistic, fun
movies, musical shows, radio singers, and comic strips were very popular.
• The WA supported the arts by hiring artists, dancers, musicians, and actors. WA historians
traveled
• South to record narratives from a dying generation of former slaves.