U.S. Industrialization and immigration.
From 1865 to about 1900, the U.S. became the world's leading industrial nation. The availability of land; the diversity of climate and the economic diversity; coastal waterways; the abundance of natural resources; fast transport, and the availability of capital
-Second Industrial Revolution.
The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, - by 1900 the United States had more rail mileage than all of Europe. The petroleum industry prospered, and John D. Rockefeller of the Standard Oil Company became one of the richest men in America. Andrew Carnegie, who started out as a poor Scottish immigrant, built a vast empire of steel mills. Series of inventions: the telephone, the light bulb, the phonograph, the alternating-current motor and transformer, motion pictures.
From 1840 to 1920 an immigrants came to the United States approximately 37 million in total. They came from a variety of locations and for a variety of reasons, ranging from economic opportunities to the search for land, to escaping from the Irish Potato Famine. Many fled from religious or political persecution. In the United States these new immigrants were subject to discrimination.
Industrialization brought with it the rise of organized labor. The life of a 19th-century U.S. industrial worker was far from easy: wages were low, hours long and working conditions hazardous. The situation was worse for women and children. The first major effort to organize workers' groups on a nationwide basis appeared with The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor in 1869, then it fell into decline – new one the Am. federation of labour. The objectives: increasing wages, reducing hours and improving working conditions.
The rise of U.S. Imperialism
By the late 1800’s, Am. were looking for new places as markets for their goods and sources of raw materials.
Motives to build pressure for expansion overseas:
1. business leaders wanted overseas markets.
2.national prestige required the United States to join the great European nations and Japan as imperial powers.
3.religious leaders supported efforts to spread Christianity to foreign people
4.the US seemed to be falling behind in the race for empire.
At the century’s end, the United States began to send American forces to Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, and East Asia.
During the early 20th century, the United States began to acquire territories overseas.
People who opposed US expansion made a polit. cartoon from the early 20th century portrays Uncle Sam – a symbol of Am. as a school teacher lecturing the various people placed under his care. 1898-annexed Hawaii, 1899- Philippines and Guana (from Spain), but Am. were not good administrators- 1902 Am.troops left Cuba, 1907-Philippines-limited self-government and independence in 1946. In 1959 Hawaii became a state, as did Alaska.
The progressives
The growth of industry and cities created problems. In the 1890s, progressivism arose as a political movement. From the 1890s to the 1910s, progressive efforts affected local, state, and national politics. Progressive reformers sought to remedy the problems created by industrialization and urbanization.
They also wanted to democratize electoral procedures, protect working people, and bridge the gap between social classes. Progressives turned to government to achieve their goals. Progressivism included both Democrats and Republicans.
The social settlement movement (1890s) became a force for progressive reform at the local level, such as Hull House(kind of charity and educational center), founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr (labor reform, public education, and immigrants’ rights). Similar settlement houses offered social services to the urban poor, especially immigrants, provided nurseries, adult education classes, and recreational opportunities for children and adults. When progressives began to work for reform at the national level, their major goal was government regulation of business.
Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901 when McKinley was assassinated. Roosevelt’s administration fought for the rights of workers and small businesses and for the conservation of natural resources. His active foreign policy led to the construction of the Panama Canal and to his winning the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Russo-Japanese War. He said regulation-the only way to solve the problems caused by big business.
Progressivism reached its peak during Wilson’s first term as the president. Wilson supported the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which created a centralized banking system to act as a lender of last resort. 1913 – Wilson signed Underwood Tariff (reduce taxes on import goods).
The roaring 20s
It was the age of Prohibition: 1920- a constitut. Amendment outlawed the sale of alcoholic production, the age of jazz and silent movie. For business it was golden ages.
Under Republican President Warren G. Harding, who called for normalcy and an end to high wartime taxes, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon raised the tariff, cut other taxes, and used the large surplus to reduce the federal debt by about a third from 1920 to 1930. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover worked to introduce efficiency, by regulating business practices. This period of prosperity- the Roaring Twenties. The rapid growth of the automobile industry stimulated industries such as oil, glass, and road-building. Tourism soared and consumers with cars had a much wider radius for their shopping. Small cities prospered, and large cities had their best decade ever, with a boom in construction of offices, factories and homes. The new electric power industry transformed both business and everyday life. Telephones and electricity spread to the countryside. Millions migrated to nearby cities. However, in October 1929, the stock market crashed and banks began to fail in the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
The great depression.
“The black Thursday” October 29, 1929. –led to deflation and a great increase of unemployment(from 3%-25%). 1000 of Am. banks had failed. Wages had decreased 60 %.
Great Depression economic downturn which started in 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. It centered in North America and Europe, Farmers and rural areas suffered. Mining and logging areas were perhaps the hardest hit. Many people found investment in the stock market attractive during the economic boom. In terms of the 1929 small downturn, historians emphasize structural factors and the stock market crash, while economists point to Britain's decision to return to the Gold Standard at pre-World War I parities. Although some believe the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was the immediate cause triggering the Great Depression, there are other, deeper causes that explain the crisis. The vast economic cost of World War I weakened the ability of the world to respond to a major crisis. Inflation rates to boom. The debts grew.
1929- President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his “New deal for the American people”.
17. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his “New deal for the American people”
was the 32nd President of the United States. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Roosevelt created the New Deal to provide relief for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and reform of the economic system. His most famous legacies include the Social Security system and the regulation of Wall Street. The strongest legacy of the New Deal was to make the federal governm. a protector of interest groups and a supervisor of competition among them. His aggressive use of an active federal government reenergized the Democratic Party. Roosevelt built the New Deal coalition that dominated politics into the 1960s. He and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt remain touchstones for modern American liberalism. The conservatives fought back, but Roosevelt consistently prevailed until he tried to pack the Supreme Court in 1937. Thereafter, the new Conservative coalition successfully ended New Deal expansion, as well as many programs like the WPA, particularly when World War II started.First term, 1933-1937. First New Deal, 1933-1934."The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The very next day he announced a plan to allow banks to reopen, Reform of the economy, cutting the regular federal budget. He reduced spending on research and education. Second New Deal, 1935-1936. challenged the business community, changes to the income tax. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor.4 terms to 1945. Key to Roosevelt's reforms was a belief that poverty usually resulted from social and economic causes rather than from failed personal morals.