At the turn of the century, the United States was a world power, experiencing much prestige and prosperity for big businesses and the upper class. However, things were not as perfect as they appeared. Much of America was in poverty, facing horrible working conditions and being forced to put children to work. Corruption thrived without persecution. Big businesses used monopolies and amoral practices to achieve their goals. Eventually, the people and the government began working to reform America, creating the Progressive Era. The government played a substantially large role in reform in the early twentieth century. It did this through state-level political reforms, including limits on campaign expenditures and lobbying; state-level economic reforms, such as regulation of railroad and food companies and graduated income tax; state-level social reforms, like workers’ rights laws and attempts to ban child labor; federal political reforms, such as the 17th amendment, establishing direct election of senators; federal economic reforms, including strengthening of the Interstate Commerce Commission though the Elkins, Hepburn, and Mann-Elkins Acts and Wilson’s attacks on the “triple wall of privilege”; and federal social reforms, such as acts and supreme court rulings for laborers’ rights and the prevention of child labor.
Many state-level reforms took place in Wisconsin, led by Robert La Follette. Laws were passed in Wisconsin limiting campaign expenditures. These laws were the predecessors of campaign finance reforms. La Follette also established a direct primary system for the nomination of Presidential candidates, taking the power away from the machine corruption of the cities. At the same time, La Follette also led Wisconsin in passing laws that limited lobbying activities and created agencies and commissions to investigate political problems. La Follette’s reforms eventually became known as the “Wisconsin Idea” and Wisconsin became the model progressive state, as Wisconsin was the only state taking part in this much political reform.
Although most economic reform at the time took place through the federal government, there was also state-level reform. Woodrow Wilson, Governor of New Jersey, created reforms to address corruption in business practices. Hiram Johnson, Governor of California, worked for railroad regulations. Other states adopted similar reforms. Many states created restrictions for the food industry as well as insurance and railroad companies. Graduated income taxes for businesses were also adopted in multiple states, where they replaced the fixed income tax. The graduated income tax allowed for more prosperous businesses to pay more in taxes, imposing less on businesses that could not afford it and allowing smaller businesses to exist more easily.
Social reforms were very common at the state level. Theodore Roosevelt, as Governor or New York, created reforms to address the problems of living conditions in urban areas. Many other states adopted reforms to improve the lives of fellow human beings. Most of these reforms dealt with protecting the rights of workers. Some provided pensions for families of men who were killed while working. Workers’ compensation was established to protect victims of work-related accidents. Women were given special treatment through maximum hour laws because people felt that they were weaker and could therefore withstand less work. Lastly, quite a few states made attempts to ban child labor, although this reform movement was not successful at first.
The most important example of federal political reform was the seventeenth amendment. Before this amendment, Congress had had a very close relationship with big business. As a result, the Senate was comprised almost entirely of America’s richest people. Some went so far as to nickname it the “Billionaire’s Club.” These rich senators usually worked to help the corporations (or their “masters”), rather then the people they were supposed to represent. After much pressure from the people and the States, the seventeenth amendment to the Constitution was passed, establishing direct election of Senators. This was a huge step away from political corruption, as the Senators were now working to please the people rather than the wealthy companies.
A lot of the federal government’s focus in the early twentieth century was on economic reform. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson all worked to reform the economy, but had different methods of doing so. Roosevelt and Taft both preferred to regulate monopolies, while Wilson regulated competition. Together, Roosevelt and Taft passed three acts that strengthened the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The first was the Elkins Act, which outlawed second rebates for railroad companies. The second was the Hepburn Act, which set up more regulations for railroad companies, including maximum rates. Last was the Mann-Elkins Act, which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the authority to regulate the communication industry and gave additional power for regulating railroads. In addition, Roosevelt created the Bureau of Corporations, which investigated trust violations. When Woodrow Wilson gained power, he worked against what he called the “triple wall of privilege,” which included tariffs, trusts, and banking. He attacked the first with the Underwood Tariff, the first major reduction in over 50 years. This helped the consumer by lowering prices and, he believed, helped businesses by forcing them to become more efficient. He tacked the second with the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. This was a modification of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It gave unions exemptions when they were “pursuing legitimate aims.” This allowed government to limit labor’s power. Finally, he addressed the third part of the wall of privilege with the Federal Reserve Act. It divided the country into 12 Federal Reserve Banks controlled by the government. This allowed the government to regulate banking practices and the amount of money in the economy, both of which had previously created currency problems.
All three branches of the federal government played roles in social reform. The legislative and executive branches both gave their support for the Adamson Eight-Hour Act and the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act. The Adamson Eight-Hour Act established an Eight-Hour workday for railroad employees and required extra payment for overtime work. The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act outlawed interstate trade of items produced by children under fourteen. Unfortunately, this was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The judicial branch did, however, support a different social reform. In the case of Muller v. Oregon, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of limited work hours for female laundry employees. This was because women were considered to be weaker and in need of more protection than men. Although thus was sexist, it was still a positive step for workers’ rights, as were the Acts produced by the government’s other two branches.
The government played a very significant role in reform in the early twentieth century. States such as Wisconsin had political reforms to limit lobbying and campaign expenditures. States reformed America’s economy through regulation of corporations and the establishment of the graduated income tax. Finally, states created social reforms by creating laws to protect workers’ rights. The federal government reformed America politically by allowing for senators to be elected directly, taking power away from big businesses and giving it to the people. The federal government created economic reforms through Roosevelt and Taft’s acts strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission and through Woodrow Wilson’s work against the problems of tariffs, trusts, and banks. Lastly, the federal government reformed socially by using all three branches to protect workers’ rights. As a whole, all different levels of government managed to reform America in multiple ways.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Essay #8: Spanish-American War
On April 11, 1898, McKinley asked Congress to declare war with Spain. They responded with the Teller Amendment, which essentially did just that. Many American soldiers were killed in the war by diseases such as malaria, which were common in the tropical climate. However, the United States managed to win the war, as the treaty signed in Paris in December of that year clearly showed. Cuba gained its independence, as America had wanted, and Spain relinquished many of its territories. The United States was justified in going to war with Spain for moral reasons, because of Spain’s brutal treatment of the Cubans; for economic reasons, because of its desire for Cuba and its resources and because it needed to protect its business investments there; for diplomatic reasons, because of the DeLome letter and the sinking of the Maine; and for political reasons, because of the American population’s clear demand for war as a result of the Yellow Press.
Before the war, Cuba was a Spanish territory. One main reason that the United States had for declaring war was that they wanted to remove Cuba from Spanish rule. The Spanish government treated the Cubans harshly and with a disregard to human rights. The Cuban people revolted against the Spanish government multiple times without success. The Spanish general “Butcher Weyler” went so far as to put Cuban civilians into reconcentration camps. These camps were surrounded by barbed wire and were used to keep the civilians from aiding the “insurrectos” in their revolt. These camps were very unsanitary, so most of the civilians in them died very quickly. The American government had justification in attempting to free Cuba from Spanish control because, no matter what plans the US had for Cuba, they would still be putting an end to these atrocities.
During the years before the war, many Americans had begun to desire that their country become a world power. These people were called imperialists. They sought to gain resources by gaining control of new territories. They took control of Samoa and Hawaii, but were not yet considered a global power. However, they had held interest in Cuba for a very long time. Before the Civil War, the South had wanted Cuba as a slave territory. Now, it became the object of America’s desires yet again, this time for its resources and location. As Lodge described it, Cuba was “right athwart the line” that led to the all-important Panama Canal. Lodge said that whoever controlled Cuba “controls the Gulf.” This gave America great reason to want some power over Cuba, which they managed to achieve after the war, even while Cuba also technically had its independence. Also, America had economic reason to support Cuba’s interests because US business had about a $50 million stake in Cuba and twice that much of an annual trade stake. There would be negative economic consequences for America if there was an upheaval caused by Spain, so America had good reason to want Cuba and Spain separated.
Relations between Spain and America were not incredibly strong to begin with and two events caused them to deteriorate completely. The first was the DeLome letter. The Spanish minister, Depuy Delome, had written a letter that included insults directed at President McKinley. The letter was stolen in Washington and published in a newspaper. The people of America were outraged upon reading it and, although DeLome resigned, anti-Spanish sentiment stayed strong. A week later, the second incident occurred when the American ship the Maine sent to Havana Harbor was blown up. The obvious culprit was believed to be Spain. It could have been an accident, but the relations between America and Spain were still destroyed and America still saw Spain as a threat, giving them reason for war.
A major factor in the decision to go to war with Spain was the sentiment of the American people, who not only supported it, but demanded it. In the time before the war, the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, also known as the “Yellow Press,” greatly exaggerated the Spanish faults, believing that a war would increase their newspaper sales. They sought to out-do each other in their sensationalized reporting on the atrocities in Cuba, making up stories when no real ones were horrific enough. After the sinking of the Maine, they helped to greatly increase the anti-Spain sentiment to the point where the American people were convinced that waging war was the only answer. When McKinley did not do so immediately, he was called spineless and some people began hanging him in effigy. Eventually, the government chose to follow the political will of the people and McKinley asked Congress to declare war.
The American government was justified in going to war with Spain in 1898. There was moral justification in that America would be separating Cuba from the Spanish government, which treated the Cubans brutally. There was economic reason because America wanted to gain resources from Cuba and because it was protecting the business investments there. There was diplomatic reason because of the deteriorating American-Spanish relations as a result of the DeLome letter and the sinking of the Maine. Finally, there was political justification because the anti-Spain sentiment caused the American people to demand war. In all, these reasons provided more than enough justification for the Spanish-American War.
Before the war, Cuba was a Spanish territory. One main reason that the United States had for declaring war was that they wanted to remove Cuba from Spanish rule. The Spanish government treated the Cubans harshly and with a disregard to human rights. The Cuban people revolted against the Spanish government multiple times without success. The Spanish general “Butcher Weyler” went so far as to put Cuban civilians into reconcentration camps. These camps were surrounded by barbed wire and were used to keep the civilians from aiding the “insurrectos” in their revolt. These camps were very unsanitary, so most of the civilians in them died very quickly. The American government had justification in attempting to free Cuba from Spanish control because, no matter what plans the US had for Cuba, they would still be putting an end to these atrocities.
During the years before the war, many Americans had begun to desire that their country become a world power. These people were called imperialists. They sought to gain resources by gaining control of new territories. They took control of Samoa and Hawaii, but were not yet considered a global power. However, they had held interest in Cuba for a very long time. Before the Civil War, the South had wanted Cuba as a slave territory. Now, it became the object of America’s desires yet again, this time for its resources and location. As Lodge described it, Cuba was “right athwart the line” that led to the all-important Panama Canal. Lodge said that whoever controlled Cuba “controls the Gulf.” This gave America great reason to want some power over Cuba, which they managed to achieve after the war, even while Cuba also technically had its independence. Also, America had economic reason to support Cuba’s interests because US business had about a $50 million stake in Cuba and twice that much of an annual trade stake. There would be negative economic consequences for America if there was an upheaval caused by Spain, so America had good reason to want Cuba and Spain separated.
Relations between Spain and America were not incredibly strong to begin with and two events caused them to deteriorate completely. The first was the DeLome letter. The Spanish minister, Depuy Delome, had written a letter that included insults directed at President McKinley. The letter was stolen in Washington and published in a newspaper. The people of America were outraged upon reading it and, although DeLome resigned, anti-Spanish sentiment stayed strong. A week later, the second incident occurred when the American ship the Maine sent to Havana Harbor was blown up. The obvious culprit was believed to be Spain. It could have been an accident, but the relations between America and Spain were still destroyed and America still saw Spain as a threat, giving them reason for war.
A major factor in the decision to go to war with Spain was the sentiment of the American people, who not only supported it, but demanded it. In the time before the war, the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, also known as the “Yellow Press,” greatly exaggerated the Spanish faults, believing that a war would increase their newspaper sales. They sought to out-do each other in their sensationalized reporting on the atrocities in Cuba, making up stories when no real ones were horrific enough. After the sinking of the Maine, they helped to greatly increase the anti-Spain sentiment to the point where the American people were convinced that waging war was the only answer. When McKinley did not do so immediately, he was called spineless and some people began hanging him in effigy. Eventually, the government chose to follow the political will of the people and McKinley asked Congress to declare war.
The American government was justified in going to war with Spain in 1898. There was moral justification in that America would be separating Cuba from the Spanish government, which treated the Cubans brutally. There was economic reason because America wanted to gain resources from Cuba and because it was protecting the business investments there. There was diplomatic reason because of the deteriorating American-Spanish relations as a result of the DeLome letter and the sinking of the Maine. Finally, there was political justification because the anti-Spain sentiment caused the American people to demand war. In all, these reasons provided more than enough justification for the Spanish-American War.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)