Ch 22 – History – Flashcards

Act that provided federal funds for the construction of dams, reservoirs, and canals in the West. These would open new lands for cultivation. The act had little effect for the first twenty years of its existence, but eventually it provided for years of federal aid for irrigation and the development of electrical power in the western states.

One of the first instances when the federal government tried an evenhanded approach to labor /business conflicts. • In contrast to earlier strikes, President Theodore Roosevelt took an even handed approach to the strike and threatened to send troops in to operate the coal mines if the workers and mine owners refused federal arbitration. • The mine owners agreed to arbitration and while the miners did not get everything they wanted, they got more than they would have without Roosevelt's intervention.

This act strengthened the rate-making authority of the Interstate Commerce Commission. • The [] Act gave the ICC the power to set reasonable railroad rates, and broadened its jurisdiction. It also made ICC rulings binding pending court appeals.

President Theodore Roosevelt supported this act which restricted the sale of dangerous or ineffective medicines. It was the first law of its kind although it lacked strong methods of enforcement.

The panic was a result of United States production outstripping domestic and international demand. Speculation contributed to the panic. Financier J.P. Morgan brought bankers together to stem a panic that threatened the United States banking system. Morgan was effective, but growing concern with his control of investment banking, led the United States government to appoint a commission that recommended the creation of a central bank. The commission's report helped set the stage for the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

This tariff was intended to lower protective rates, but in actuality it hardly dropped them and, in some instances, actually raised them. This widened the rift between the Progressives and President Taft whom the Progressives blamed for not standing up to conservative Republicans to ensure the tariff actually dropped rates.

Dispute between Richard Ballinger, Secretary of the Interior, and Gifford Pinchot, head of the Forest Service. • Conservationists were angry about Ballinger opening almost 1 million acres of forest land to private development. When Ballinger was accused of opening valuable public coal lands for personal gain, Taft ordered the charges investigated and Ballinger was cleared. • Taft's actions angered Progressives and the dispute illustrated the divide over the economic development of the West. Pinchot and the Progressives wanted strictly managed economic growth and Ballinger and other western entrepreneurs saw federal regulations as obstacles to their economic goals.

The Payne-Aldrich Tariff in 1909 had somewhat reduced tariffs, but it was not enough to satisfy popular demand. After the Democratic victories in the presidential and congressional elections in 1912, President Wilson sponsored this act that reduced the Payne-Aldrich Tariff by about 15 percent. It also levied a graduated income tax to make up for the lost revenue.

One of the most important laws in the history of the United States because it created a central banking system. It was an attempt to provide the United States with a sound yet flexible currency. The Board it created still plays a vital role in today's American economy. • The previous system under the National Bank Act of 1864 did not always have enough cash reserves to meet demand in a financial panic and so there were banking crises in 1873, 1884, 1893, and 1907. • The Panic of 1907 (see Panic of 1907) led to the formation of a commission, whose report set the stage for the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. • The Act established a 7-member Board of Governors and 12 Federal Reserve banks. The Board of Governors set the reserve requirements for the commercial banks that belonged to the 12 Federal Reserve banks.

Theodore Roosevelt brought suit under the Sherman Antitrust Act against the [], a group of several railroad companies organized into a trust. Two of the owners were financier J.P. Morgan and railroad magnate James Hill. • Roosevelt's attorney general sued []for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act which outlawed such trusts. The government won and the trust was disbanded, but Roosevelt assured business that no general action against trusts was planned. • This policy was indicative of Roosevelt's belief that distinctions should be made between "good" trusts (more efficient which brought lower prices for Americans) vs. "bad" trusts (crushing competition so the trust could charge unfair prices to Americans).

This act increased government regulatory powers. Under this act the government could launch prosecution against "unfair trade practices" and investigate corporate practices.

The [] Act attempted to improve the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It outlawed interlocking directorates, forbad policies that created monopolies, and made corporate officers responsible for antitrust violations. It also declared that unions were not conspiracies in restraint of trade and outlawed the use of injunctions in labor disputes unless they were necessary to protect property.

Taft, like Roosevelt, wanted to expand United States influence abroad. His plan was to replace "dollars for bullets." The plan was known as dollar diplomacy. • Taft encouraged United States bankers and industrialists to invest abroad and used diplomatic pressure to force United States capital into regions where "it would not go of its own accord." One of the first regions he chose was China, where he persuaded United States bankers to finance railroad construction. In Latin America, Taft worked to replace European loans with United States loans.

Roosevelt said, "walk softly and carry a big stick." What this meant in international affairs was "ask first, but bring along a big army' to help convince them. Roosevelt believed in a strong military to back up American diplomacy

England, Germany and Italy had blockaded Venezuelan ports because Latin American countries failed to make payments on debts owed to foreign banks. Under President Roosevelt, the United States invoked the Monroe Doctrine and pressured the European powers to back off.

President Theodore Roosevelt's addendum to the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt's assertion that the United States would act as a "policeman" in the Caribbean region and intervene in the affairs of nations that were guilty of "wrongdoing" or incapable of keeping order. The purpose of the policy was to prohibit European intervention in Latin America and to protect United States interests in Latin America. • Roosevelt added this policy to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine that stated European nations would no longer be allowed to establish colonies in the Western Hemisphere.

Japan had attacked the Russian Pacific fleet over Russia's refusal to withdraw its troops from Manchuria after the Boxer Rebellion (1904-1905) The war was fought mainly in Korea. Japan was victorious and President Roosevelt mediated the end of the war. • Negotiating the treaty in the United States increased American prestige. Roosevelt received a Nobel Peace Prize for the mediation

Japan / United States agreement in which both nations agreed to respect each other's territories in the Pacific, renounced any intentions of aggression, endorsed the status quo, and agreed to uphold the Open Door policy in China. • The agreement marked the beginning of several years of better relations between Japan and the United States • Strained relations between the two nations dated back to 1906 when Japan formally protested discrimination against Japanese children in the San Francisco schools. • Roosevelt's administration ironed out most of the problems between 1905-1908. In the secret Taft-Katsura Memorandum in 1905 the United States recognized Japan's interest in Korea and Japan, in turn, renounced any aggressive designs on the Philippines. In the Gentlemen's Agreement worked out in 1906-1907, Roosevelt 15 promised to stop the passage of a law prohibiting the immigration of Japanese laborers in return for Japan's promise to stop issuing passports for the United States to Japanese laborers.

This incident demonstrates how "dollar diplomacy" could turn into military action. • The United States supported revolutionists in Nicaragua in 1909 and gave large loans to the new government. When there was a revolution against the new government two years later, the United States sent troops to protect the new government and United States troops remained there for over a decade.

President Wilson introduced "moral diplomacy" to the Western Hemisphere. • The central idea behind this policy was to influence and control foreign nations and events through the exercise of economic power. • However, when things got rough, "moral diplomacy" seldom provided enough to combat problems, and the United States often resulted to armed confrontation to solve problems.

President Wilson sent United States Marines to Haiti to put down a revolution that that ended in the murder of an unpopular Haiti president. The new Haitian constitution was adopted in 1919 and United States military forces remained until 1934. • The act demonstrated, despite his professed belief in "moral diplomacy" Wilson's willingness to intervene when he believed United States interests were threatened.

President Wilson refused to recognize the new reactionary government of Huerta. Wilson offered his support to Huerta's opposition -- the Constitutionalists headed by Carranza. • Wilson then used an incident involving American sailors to seize the port of Veracruz. • When Carranza's former lieutenant Pancho Villa raided New Mexico, Wilson sent a force under General John Pershing. Pershing enjoyed little success and when Mexico and the United States were on the brink of war, Wilson ordered the American troops withdrawn. • Wilson's actions in Mexico demonstrated his belief that the United States could dictate policy in the internal affairs of other countries.

Lessened the tension in the feuds between the United States and Japan by recognizing Japan's sphere of influence in China in exchange for Japan's continued recognition of the Open Door policy in China.

Just as in 1896, William McKinley (R) ran against William Jennings Bryan (D) once again. Bryan, having lost the previous election with a reform platform, based his campaign on the question of imperialism. Bryan argued that no nation could endure as half republic and half empire. • McKinley's running mate was the ardent interventionist and reformer Theodore Roosevelt, who had returned a hero from the Spanish-American War to become governor of New York. 16 • McKinley based his campaign on the issue of prosperity, promising to maintain a "full dinner pail" for the next four years. He was reelected with the largest popular victory in a presidential election to that date, 7,218,491 votes to Bryan's 6,356,734.

Roosevelt was McKinley's vice-president who was considered the "accidental president" after he became president when McKinley died from the wounds inflicted by his assassin.

Roosevelt (R) vs. Parker (D) Democrats tried to distance themselves from the silver issue - Parker was an advocate of the gold standard. Roosevelt took the party in a more liberal direction. Although Roosevelt's campaign pledge not to seek a "third term" (Vice-president Roosevelt served nearly all of the assassinated McKinley's term) was something he later regretted, he easily won the election.

Roosevelt's 1904 campaign slogan was based on his actions in the anthracite coal strike which he said gave all Americans, regardless of class or income, a "square deal." In many respects, Roosevelt's presidency was the first modern one since he considered the office a "bully pulpit" to influence policy and public opinion.

For the third time, Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt's former vice-president and his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft ran on the Republican ticket. Taft was embraced by the Progressives as one of their own. Taft won easily

Taft served as Theodore Roosevelt's vice-president from 1904-1908. In 1908, Roosevelt bowed to tradition and instead of running himself, backed Taft's candidacy. • Taft was more conservative than Roosevelt, although he actually went after more trusts. • He ended up alienating the progressives and Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party in 1912 to challenge him and Wilson for the Presidency. Taft did not campaign and came in a distant third to Wilson and Roosevelt.

When Theodore Roosevelt failed to take the Republican nomination away from incumbent President Taft, Roosevelt led his supporters out of the party and formed the Progressive aka "Bull Moose" party. Democrats nominated Progressive reformer Woodrow Wilson and Eugene Debs ran on the Socialist ticket. • Wilson ran on "New Freedom" vs. Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" - both brands of progressive reform. Taft placed third and Debs and the Socialist party made their best ever showing with nearly 1 million votes. • It was a very close race, but the Republican split gave Wilson the election, albeit with just 42% of the vote.

Formed by Theodore Roosevelt in an attempt to advance progressive ideas and unseat President William Howard Taft in the election of 1912. After Taft won the Republican party's nomination, Roosevelt ran on the Progressive party ticket. • The party nickname of "Bull Moose" stemmed from Roosevelt's reply to a reporter who asked how he was feeling - Roosevelt answered he felt as "fit as a bull moose."

Woodrow Wilson's campaign slogan from the 1912 election. "New Freedom" expressed Wilson's belief in states' rights and limited government Wilson also railed against big business, promising to employ antitrust legislation to get rid of big corporations and give small business and farmers better opportunities in the marketplace. • In contrast to Theodore Roosevelt's "New Nationalism," Wilson's program sought to revive competition rather than regulate large corporations.

Theodore Roosevelt's campaign slogan from the 1912 election. New Nationalism expressed Roosevelt's belief in federal planning and regulation. • He accepted the inevitability of big business but demanded that government act as a "steward of the people" to regulate the giant corporations. Roosevelt called for an increase in the power of the federal government, a decrease in the power of the courts, and an active role for the president. He hoped to use the government to promote social justice and democracy.

Election of 1916: Wilson (D) vs. Hughes (R) Woodrow Wilson (D) ran against Charles Evans Hughes (R), a progressive New York governor. Wilson's slogan was "He Kept Us Out of the War." With a record of reform and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, Hughes expected to garner support from conservatives and liberals. Hughes turned out to be an unimpressive campaigner. • In one of the closest elections in American history, the "Solid South" and an almost solid West gave Wilson the victory

The Republicans nominated undistinguished Ohio Senator Warren Harding. Harding faced the Democratic slate of Governor James M. Cox of Ohio for president and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt for vice president. • Following the advice of his managers, Harding ran a front-porch campaign from his Ohio home. In his few campaign speeches, Harding relied mainly on the political effectiveness of bland generalities and called for a "return to normalcy." • Cox tried to keep Wilsonian ideals alive, but many voters, who blamed Wilson for entering the war and for high postwar prices, probably voted against the Democrats, rather than for Harding. • This was a landslide for Republicans with 61% of the vote and they carried all states outside the South.

American naturalist, explorer, and writer. He was an influential conservationist, who worked to preserve wilderness areas and wildlife. In 1890 his efforts led Congress to establish Yosemite and Sequoia national parks. In 1892 Muir and some of his supporters founded the Sierra Club, dedicated to exploring and preserving American wildlife and wilderness. Muir influenced President Theodore Roosevelt to set aside national monuments, national forest reserves, and national parks

The United States and Britain pledged cooperation if either one decided to take on the project of building a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. • The treaty was overridden by the [] Treaty with Britain in 1901, when Britain and the United States agreed that the United States alone could build and regulate a canal.

The treaty gave the United States a perpetual lease on a section of central Panama some ten miles wide where the canal would be built; the right to take over more Panamanian land if needed; and the right to use troops to intervene in Panama. In return, the United States guaranteed Panama's independence and paid $10 million, plus an annual fee of $250,000. • In return for their independence, then, Panamanians were forced to accept the treaty which virtually gave the canal zone to the United States.

The Isthmus of Panama had been part of Columbia and the United States tried to negotiate with Columbia, but Columbia's senate rejected the treaty. Panamanians wanted independence from Columbia, so they took matters into their own hands and rebelled against Columbian rule and declared Panama independent on November 3, 1903. • The United States supported the revolt and used its navy to prevent Colombia from defeating the rebels. • Two weeks later Panama signed a treaty with the United States giving permission for the canal project.

Built to make passage between Atlantic and Pacific oceans easier and faster which the United States really needed after the Spanish-American War since we had acquired an Asia empire as a result of the war. • The overall cost of the canal was about $350 million. The canal was the largest and most expensive work ever undertaken by the United States government. It became one of the world's outstanding feats of engineering

Colonel Goethals was the chief engineer of the canal from 1907-1916. An important breakthrough during construction of the Canal was the successful effort to control mosquito-borne diseases. Malaria and yellow fever had killed thousands of workers during the French canal attempt. But a United States campaign, directed by Army medical officer William Gorgas, drained or sprayed mosquito breeding grounds and built sewage and water systems. Within two years the diseases were brought under control

Army surgeon who discovered that the mosquito transmitted yellow fever and developed a cure. Yellow fever was the leading cause of death of American troops in the Spanish-American War. This discovery was instrumental in the successful completion of the Panama Canal