• 1) Three branches of government

o I. Judicial
§ a. Pre 1900 = resistant to change
• i. Members for life
• ii. Don’t need to listen to public opinion
§ b. Post 1900 = change mayne
• i. Presidents more open to change
• ii. Presidents place more progressive members onto Supreme Court
o II. Legislative
§ a. Pre 1900 = conservative, no progressive support
• i. “Uncle Joe” Canon = leader
§ b. Post 1900 = progressivism
• i. LaFollette takes charge
• ii. “Uncle Joe” kicked out of leading committee seat
o III. Executive
§ a. Pre 1900 = passive
• i. Grover Cleveland
o 1. “I shall keep right on doing executive work. I did not
come here to legislate.”
• ii. People turn to states and Congress for help not executive branch
o 1. States spent twice as much as Congress
o 2. States had power to tax
• iii. Business = more power
o 1. People like JP Morgan and Rockefeller
§ a. Control financial power
b. Post 1900 = active
• i. Federal employment up
o 1. Mostly in post office
• ii. Merit system
o 1. Rewards people based on skill and
performance
• iii. Roosevelt
o 1. Antitrust cases against companies
such as Northern Securities Company,
American Tobacco Company and Standard
Oil
o 2. Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat
Inspection Act
• iv. Taft
o 1. Payne Aldrich Tariff
§ a. Increased duties on foreign
goods
• v. Woodrow Wilson
o 1. Underwood-Simmons Tariff
 § a. Decreased duties on
agricultural machines, wool, sugar,
shoes, iron and steel
o Executive
§ § Pre-20th Century
• □ Extremely small and weak
o ® Not enough resourses
o ® Didn’t have desire to mandate legislation or create
domestic reform
o ® Business was more powerful
§ ◊ No restrictions, unlimited power
• □ States and cities (controlled municipal)
o ® Political machines still elected senators
o ® States taxed (property, sales, etc…)
§ § Post-19th Century
• □ Positive Changes in Federal Government
o ® Federal employment
§ ◊ Slowly increased/ post office expansion
o ® Merit system
§ ◊ Hiring & job promotion in federal government
based on skill and performance
§ ◊ Skilled individuals doing government jobs, not
politicians
o Legislative
§ § Pre-20th Century
• □ House of Representatives
o ® "Uncle Joe" Cannon
§ ◊ Speaker of the House
• ► Appoints committee assignments
§ ◊ 30 years
§ ◊ Anti-reformer
• □ Senate
o ® Nelson Aldrich
§ ◊ Majority leader
§ ◊ Plutocrat- wealthy should control politics
§ § Post-19th Century
• □ House of Representatives
o ® George Norris
§ ◊ Progressive
• ► Stripped power from Cannon
§ ◊ Senator (30 years)
§ ◊ Supported Wilson's progressive policies
• □ Senate (insurgents)
o ® Robert La Follete
§ ◊ Wisconsin Idea
o Judicial
 § § Life-long appointments; no pressure groups
§ § Pre-20th Century
• □ Plessy vs. Ferguson
o ® "separate but equal"
• □ Pollack vs. Farmers, Loan, and Trust
o ® No progressive tax
§ § Post-19th Century
• □ Muller vs. Oregon
o ® Max hours for women
• □ Northern Securities
o ® Anti-trust Laws

• 2) Civil Rights
o This occurs because during wartime, the country feels more vulnerable overall, and
there is a heightened sense of fear and suspicion of anti US feelings. To limit and
prevent these potential uprisings, the peoples’ rights are cut. After the chaos of war
ends, and people become more relaxed once again, rights are restored because there is
less fear of radical uprisings spreading to the US.
§ Racial intolerance was encouraged by Wilson: remove "the scum of the
melting pot"
§ No free speech
§ Thought control and witch hunts
§ Committee on Public Information: censored information being published to
the public
• Banned newspapers and magazines that were difficult to control or
were a constant threat to their censorship
• Ex: Albert Burleson denied 15 major companies
§ Espionage Act in 1917: obstructing draft led to $10,000 fine and 20 years
in prison
§ Sedition Act: authorized prosecution of people who badmouthed
government, army, or country (more than 2,000 were prosecuted under this)
§ People became scared about the rise of socialist thinking that might spread
to USàany sign of anti U.S. feelings was acted upon
• For example, a man was shot for saying "to hell to the US"
§ Schenk v. US: basically showed that there was a short fuse for
badmouthing the US during war
§ Abrams v. US: showed free speech may cause panic in a time of tension
and therefore is limited out of necessity for harmony
§ Anti "slacker" and "sedictionalist" riots and campaigns
§ Didn't recognize unions (one major example was steel union)
§ Bolshevik rise in Europe led to suspicious and frantic feelings in the US,
which led to the deportation of many suspected communists: connects to the
violent acts towards suspected or accused anti US people or groups
• 3) World War I
o Reasons against war
§ Staying neutral for economic interest; trading with European nations in
including Great Britain and Germany
 § Not U.S.’s problem, don’t want involvement in world affairs (Americans
wanted to be spared curse of militarism)
§ Saving resources for staying in command of the seas
o Reasons for war
§ “War to end all wars;” war of purifying America through common enemy
§ Germany was sinking all ships by U-boats (unrestricted submarine
warfare), sinking/confiscating belligerent ships like America’s trade ships
§ Wilson’s policy of strict accountability (for Germany) was failing after
multiple ship sinking like the Lusitania (128 Americans died) and Arabic (2
Americans died)
§ No conference (House-Grey memorandum) took place between England,
Germany and U.S. to propose peace treaty
§ Zimmermann telegram saying Mexico to fight against American to gain
land lost in Mexican-American War
§ Wilson wanted to promote ideas of democracy/peace through the 14 points
treaty and Versailles Treaty (war not against Germans, but ultimate peace and
liberation for people of the world)
§ War to expand capitalism was partly true for Wilson
§ Primary aim was to uphold country’s neutral rights for commercial
advantages
§ Nation’s honor is a big deal
o Retrospective: it was most likely in the interest of Americans to see Germany lose
o What Wilson had to do to win election of 1916 (by a very narrow margin against
Republican Charles Evans Hughes)
§ Democratic propaganda like “[he] kept us out of war,” “You Are Working
—Not Fighting”
§ “peace without victory” proposed by Wilson appealed to many Americans
§ Relied on progressive reformers, peace workers, ethnic leaders, and
advocates of peace
o War as positive
§ Reduced German sinking of Allie’s ships to save economic interest
§ With main focus of promoting equality/peace overseas, progressives were
able to gain rights (like suffrage) for women, and public authority by
government also increased (government control of railroads, etc.)
§ Chance for Americans to uphold “national honor”
§ Promoted some form of peace through Versailles Treaty
o War as negative
§ First full-blown propaganda agency Committee on Public Information
(CPI)
§ Denied people rights through Espionage Act (permitted government to ban
obstreperous newspapers/magazines that interfered with success of government
or embarrass/hamper government; allowed government to gives fines/jail time to
those who were convicted of obstructing the draft) and Sedition Act (authorized
prosecution of people who used disloyal/profane language about government,
Constitution, armed forces, or flag)
§ Both acts justified in Supreme Court in Schenck v. U.S. (Espionage) and
Abrams v. U.S. (Sedition); main reason through patriotic justices and patriotic
public
 § Business/government bonds allowed price-fixing/collusive bidding; made
concentration of economy in few corporations which killed goal of progressives
of breaking up trusts
§ Progressives hurt by increased income taxes for war and raised price of
living/food

• 4) Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt—TR

o New Nationalism
§ Roosevelt’s policy to bring down corrupt industry to focus on benefitting
the general public of America, not just the greedy corporate giants
§ “National need before sectional or personal advantage”
§ Executive power as steward of public welcome
§ More executive power in order to create better laws
o Realpolitik
§ Active in world affairs/world police force and leader
§ Helping the weaker side; ex. Japan-Russo war, helping Japan then Russia
when Japan started winning
§ Peace through power
§ Land acquisitions and resources to help expand America’s economy
§ America, according to Roosevelt, had to play a bigger role in terms of
economy and strategy on the world stage
§ Open Door Policies formed to gain support from other countries
§ America must use growing influence to preserve a stable balance of power
(Anglo-Saxon civilization blessing)
o Domestic Pros
§ Created acts and programs to assist the public in terms of improving the
quality of life
§ Busted big, greedy corporations want to kept wealth for themselves
§ Progressive ideas; social reformer
§ Activist, attracted reformers, but terrified conservatives
§ Placed more faith in regulatory measures
§ Fierce moralist, “bully pulpit”
§ Alarmed big businesses with anti-trust proceedings against Northern
Securities
§ Established Bureau of Corporations to gather information
§ Favored income tax on the wealthy, and regulation of railroad securities
§ Active federal government
§ Regarded centralization as a face of modern economic life, and had a
moralistic approach to immoral/unreasonable trades by various likes like the
Hepburn Acts and Sherman Act
§ Stood for preserving status quo; humanizing/maintaining capitalism
o Domestic Cons
§ No full support from Conservative Republican Party
§ Companies against Roosevelt.
§ More on working within the system rather than working against it
§ Did nothing to regulate banking during the panic of 1907
o World Pros
§ Assisted in Panamanian success on revolt against Columbia
 § Brought peace between Japan and Russia
§ Appealed to both Japanese and the Americans
o World Cons
§ Colonized other countries for own personal greed (resources, support, etc.)
§ Played both Russia and Japan against one another in Japan-Russo War
§ Too much support and territory gains in other countries would eventually
lead to war in Latin America and Caribbean
• 5) Major Forces
o 4 major forces: technological change, bureaucratization, growth of the middle
class, and suburbanization.
§ Technological Change
• Technological changes such as the inventions of the automobile and
the advancement in communications helped to stimulate the economy
and improve the quality of life.
§ Bureaucratization
• Bureaucratization led to the branching of large corporations into
separate bureaus in order to share the powers in terms of heading those
large corporations.
§ Growth of the Middle Class
• Technological change led to the growth of the middle class in terms
of providing workers with real wages, less work hours, and more job
opportunities which allowed them to be able to enjoy consumerism with
those wages that they earned.
§ Suburbanization
• Suburbanization stems from the need for people to move from the
crowded city slums into organized and civilized neighborhoods which
were only available for high and most middle class citizens while the
lower class citizens were left to stay in the cities.
§ Technological change led to the increase of economy and money. With the
increased economy, Industries branch out and form bureaus in order to distribute
power. With the growth of industries and technological advances, the middle
class is able to benefit with the job openings and ability to gain fair wages. With
the growth of the Middle class, the concept of consumerism and real estate led to
suburbanization as people move from city slums to civilized neighborhoods.
• 6) The Evolution of America
o Declaration of Independence
§ Formally began the American Revolution
§ Authored by Thomas Jefferson
§ Content inspired by Common Sense
o Articles of Confederation
§ Predecessor to Constitution
§ States still viewed themselves as separate entities, not as one country
§ Replaced by Constitution when it became apparent that it wasn’t working
out as well as hoped
o Emancipation Proclamation
§ Declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of
America that did not return to Union control
 § Provided framework for the freedom of all slaves in America
o 15th Amendment
§ No American citizen will be denied the right to vote based on race, color,
or previous condition of servitude (i.e. slavery)
§ Important step in racial equality in the eyes of the law
o 19th Amendment
§ No American citizen will be denied the right to vote based on gender
§ One of the first and biggest steps towards gender equality
o Sherman Anti-Trust Law
§ Tried to bust monopolies by freezing prices, so that companies who could
afford to sell below that price could do so no longer
§ Often hijacked by competitors of lowest-selling company (i.e. other oil
companies against Standard Oil (notice how the complaint against Standard Oil
was that they were “undercutting” everybody? That means selling the cheapest
oil. That benefits everyone BUT other oil companies)) to keep prices high by
freezing prices that are descending
• If they could pull it off under actual capitalism, not corporatism,
that is exactly what a trust would do
o Imperialism
§ Using military, economic, or political force to interfere with the affairs of
other nations
§ American Imperialism based on
• Desire for more resources
• Attempt to open more markets for American merchandise (using
the legal force of government)
• Idea that America should be “world police”
• Sometimes even racism and/or white supremacy (civilize the savage
natives with white culture)
o Genteel Tradition
§ See question 11 below
o Upton Sinclair
§ Progressive
§ Muckraker
§ The Jungle
o Roaring 20’s
§ Good economic period
§ Economy exploded thanks to haphazard government loans
• Stock market was generally climbing
• Loan interest and bad investments were easily made up by
successful investments
• System inevitably came crashing down, leading to a recession
• Hoover and Roosevelt tried to fix recession with massive
government intervention (ex. New Deal), caused Great Depression

• 7) American Revolution
o In no particular order whatsoever…
o French and Indian War
§ Britain and colonists versus France and France’s Amerindian allies
§ British victory won lots of land for colonies
§ End of war prompted Proclamation of 1763
§ War debts sparked taxation of colonies
o Proclamation of 1763
§ Americans could not settle west of the Appalachians
• Avoid more war with Amerindians
• Keep a closer eye on colonists
o King George III
§ British king at the time of the Revolution
§ Demanded taxation and submission of colonies
§ Refused to give colonists taxation with representation
§ Rejected Olive Brach Petition
§ His stubbornness helped lead to the American Revolution
o Stamp Act
§ Tax on every piece of paper
§ Affected all levels of society, not just upper class
o Boston Massacre
§ Americans harass British soldiers with snowballs and rocks, soldiers open
fire, 5 civilians killed
§ First major/famous incidence of violence
§ Adams and Continental Congress
o Thomas Paine (will be referred to as T-Paine)
§ Authored “Common Sense”
• Inspired Declaration of Independence
• Rallied Americans to war
o Intolerable Acts
§ Britain’s response to the Boston Tea Party
• Closed the Port of Boston
• Prohibited town meetings without the consent of the governor
• Allowed British soldiers to stand trial in Britain
• Forced the quartering of soldiers
§ Prompted the calling of the First Continental Congress
• Delegates from every colony except Georgia meet in Philadelphia
• Articles of Association—coordinate the boycott against British
goods (successful)
• Organized Second Continental Congress to address results
o Guerilla Warfare
§ Major factor for Americans winning the Revolution, despite being in a war
against one the greatest military powers of the age
• Brits line up to volley, extraordinarily difficult to combat guerilla
warfare this way
o Lined up British soldiers easy pickings for guerilla fighters
• Americans knew the land, Brits didn’t
o Thomas Jefferson
 § Authored Declaration of Independence
§ Inspired by T-Paine
§ 3 (official) president of USA
rd

§ Anti-federalist
o Second Continental Congress
§ Wrote the Olive Branch Petition
§ Raised a Continental Army, George Washington as commander-in-chief
o Tie it together:
§ FI war lead to England being poor
§ Set out Proclamation of 1763, didn't want colonists to fight/interact with
Natives
§ King George III needed money, sent out Stamp Act
§ Colonists boycotted goods
§ King repealed Stamp Act
§ Much Tension between Colonists and British
§ Boston Massacre broke out
§ Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in response to Boston Massacre
§ King sent out Intolerable Acts because Colonists were acting treasonous
§ Colonists used Guerilla Warfare to gain an edge
§ Thomas Jefferson wrote Declaration
§ Presented it at 2nd CC
§ Signed Declaration, US is its own nation

• 8) Civil War
o Missouri Compromise AKA compromise of 1820
§ Missouri wants to be a slave state
• This would disrupt the equal powers in the senate
§ Missouri becomes slave state and Maine becomes a free state to keep
power equal
§ 36’ 30’ parallel, Everything above, free. Everything below, slave
o John Brown
§ Takes a few men on a raid in Kansas. Kills the Doyle family. Brutally
murders slave owners.
§ Preaches against slavery
§ Very violent abolitionist
§ Armed uprising
o 13th Amendment
§ Abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for
crime
o Manifest Destiny
§ America’s god given right to civilize NA’s and to expand westward
o Sectionalism
§ Loyalty to the interests of ones own region rather than the nation as a
whole or political party
• North did not want slaves, were not too important because there
weren’t huge plantations
 • South wanted slaves because it kept their economy going because
of cheap/free labor
• West was split half and half
• Each section has a distinct view on slavery
o Compromise of 1850
§ CA is a free state but the Fugitive Slave Laws strengthen in the south
§ This attempted to keep powers even
§ Led to Southerners to have Nashville Convention
o Secession
§ When a state wants to break away from the Union and be on their own
o Abraham Lincoln
§ Pushed for abolition of slavery
§ Signed Emancipation Proclamation and backed it up with 13th Amendment
§ 16th President
§ Won the Civil War
§ Preserved union and ended slavery
o Harriet Beecher Stowe
§ Abolitionist
§ Wrote Uncle Toms Cabin
• Showed life as a slave
• Provoked anger in south and loved in north
o Nullification
§ U.S state has right to nullify, invalidate, any federal law that it deems
unconstitutional
§ Southerners like this. Could keep slaves and treat them like crap
§ Northerners wanted the south to abide by their laws

• 9) Three Main Causes of Civil War

o 3 causes of war
§ Slavery
• Economic and moral issue
§ State vs central government
• South wants state government
• North wants central government
§ Representation in the House
• Do slaves count as population?
o North says no.
o South says yes.
o Slave trade history
§ 1807 = US ban on slave trade
• Pressure from other countries that banned slavery
§ Slave trade peaks later
• Slave labor needed
o Needed in South because plantations running out of labor
force
§ Indentured servants’ contracts run out
 • Or they violated contracts, ran away, and
blended in
§ Indigenous people not well suited for labor
• Disease and not strong
• Knew land
§ Reasons African slaves used
• Easy to identify
• Didn’t know the area
• Very strong, could do intense labor
o Many were agricultural in Africa

• 10) Amendments
o 13th Amendment - Congress has power to enforce anti-slavery laws
o 14th Amendment - Called blacks U.S. citizens
o 15th Amendment - Gave blacks ability to vote
o 17th Amendment - Right to elect senators
o Connect these Amendments by saying how they gave U.S. citizens and blacks
basic human rights
o Wisconsin Idea - (Robert La Folette) fought to bring the government back into the
hands of the people
§ Fought to allow citizens to propose laws, remove leaders, vote for senators
§ Brought about 17th Amendment
o American Ideal - government for the people, by the people
§ Voting for executive branch (presidential selection would change the face
of congress, laws passed (etc.)
§ More natural rights
§ Initiative, Referendum, Recall
§ Vote for senators - took power away from political machines
§ Propose laws - let government know what people wanted, many laws
proposed by pressure groups
§ Remove leaders - power to remove corrupt political leaders
• 11) The Game Changer
o New Theory: Scientific Management
o Popularized by Fredrick Winslow Taylor
§ Aim was primarily to increase output by organizing work more efficiently
§ Argued that higher productivity would allow for better wages, more
harmonious labor-management relations, and lower prices on manufactured
goods.
o First to apply it to the workforce: Henry Ford
§ Created $5-a-day minimum wage and helped some employers grasp the
relationship between decent wages and the profits to be made through mass
consumption.
o Led to:
§ Workers to work extremely hard (example: Charlie Chaplin's film, Modern
Times)
§ Industrial growth
 § Average rate of savings among American business between 1860-1890 was
5 percent yearly which allowed for investment and expansion
• Led to warehouses, elmination of jobbers, development of own
advertising, patent brand names, and selling directly to wholesalers.
§ Urban Growth
• Consumer goods
• Meat packing
• Technological Advances
o All allowed for expansion of large cities and the ability to
get resources inside dense populations
• Scientific Management: (you all know what comes next)
o Popularized by Fredrick Winslow Taylor
o Elaboration:
§ Primary goal was to increase output by organizing work more efficiently
§ Higher productivity = better wages, better labor-management relations,
lower prices on manufactured goods
§ Lower prices = decrease in living cost for all consumers, including factory
workers
o Effects:
§ Henry Ford’s 1914 announcement of a $5-a-day minimum wage (that’s a
lot of waffles!)
§ Helped some employers grasp relationship between good wages and profits
of mass consumption

• 12) Main Reasons for Immigration

o 3 main reasons: Famine, Religious Persecution, and Opportunity for a new way of
life and to make money.
o 3 main groups: Jews, Italians, Irish
§ Jews
• Emphasized education and family above all else
§ Irish
• Believed way to success was through politics, which led them to
control many of the votes, hence the name “political machines.”
§ Italians
• Bought tons of property, which led to families owning whole
tenements.
o Nativism: the policy of protecting the interests of native inhabitants against those
of immigrants.
o Scientific Ethnocentrism: The study and research dedicated to proving a native
race is superior to non-natives.
§ Scientific Ethnocentrism was a way of “proving” that nativist beliefs were,
in fact, scientifically accurate, thus, contributed to anti-immigration laws and
behavior.
§ Examples:
• The Naturalization Act of 1870 was passed which began the
discrimination against the Chinese. The law limited naturalization to
 white persons and persons of African descent and denied the Chinese and
other Asian groups citizenship rights.
• In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed which ended the
immigration of these"coolies" and permanently froze the population
levels of the Chinese in America.
• 13) Progressives
o John Dewey
§ Spoke up against schools
§ Schools should teach about real life, not just facts
o Jane Adams
§ Hull House (child care)
§ Day nursery, music school, etc.,
§ Leads to women’s rights because women could work instead of simply
watching over their children
§ Government decides to do the same (government decides to be more into
social welfare)
o Florence Kelly
§ Helped found NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People)
§ Child labor laws (eventually child labor will have restrictions)
§ Education of youth (eventually mandatory)
§ Increased in adult employment
o Robert La Follette
§ Wisconsin Idea: Referendum, Initiative, Recall
§ More power to the people, not political machines
§ Eventually led to the elimination of political machines
o W.E.B. DuBois
§ Founded NAACP, and pushed for action to get Blacks heard
§ Advancement of blacks to eventual civil rights
o Margaret Sanger
§ Advocate of birth control, women’s pro-choice
§ Eventually led to more rights for women in areas of sex and choice
• 14) Past versus Present (this has only two, we need five)
o Two major elements of the battle were assaults on
§ Genteel Tradition
§ Social Darwinism
o Genteel Tradition (unrealistic, stifling, often naïve)
§ Attempted to return to values and customs that were
• Old-time
• Small town
• Victorian
§ Unrealistically optimistic view of life
• Often prohibited art and literature that was
o Realistic
o Negative
§ Reflected by agrarian groups
 • Populist party
• Called for end to industrialization
o Social Darwinism (cruel, callous)
§ Belief that certain people are, quite simply, inferior and weak, and should
not be aided in “polluting the gene pool”
§ Expressed concepts such as
• Pauperism
o Individual failings are due to the individual, and ONLY to
the individual
• Eugenics
o Artificial “improvement” of the human gene pool
• Anti-charity
o Those who need charity should either learn to be self-
sufficient or properly die off
o Opposition
§ Muckrakers and other Progressives
• Sensationalist reporting = realistic, and often negative, views and
perspectives on the world around them
§ Some argued that individual failings are
• Partially due to environment
• Largely due to environment
• Entirely due to environment
§ Social Darwinism linked to racism as much as classism
• As anti-racist views spread, so did Social Darwinism decline
§ Genteel Tradition linked to anti-industrialization
• As industrialization, pro-modernization views, and Progressivism
spread, so did Genteel Tradition decline
• 15) Imperialism
o The policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign
countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies.
o Examples of Imperialistic Acts:
§ 1895 Approach of the Spanish-American War
• In 1895 fighting flares up in Cuba; Spain sends 50,000 troops;
Spanish gunboat fires on U.S. steamer, causes hubbub in U.S.
Developments in Cuba affect U.S. economy, especially after Panic of
1893. Americans are predisposed to aid Cuban rebels in fight for
independence. Revolutionists carry out propaganda campaign,
destruction of sugar mills in order to induce American intervention.
Revolutionary junta in NYC spreads propaganda; American citizens
interfering in Cuba.
§ Issuing of the Open Door Policy
• In 1900 Secretary of State John Hay announced what became
known as the "Open Door" policy with regard to China. His intention
was that no European nation was to create a sphere of influence in China
to the exclusion of other nations. America is once again willing to look
 outward and intervene overseas to further her own economic and political
interests.
§ The U.S. occupies Puerto Rico with a force under General Miles in 1898
• The Foraker Act of 1900 attaches Puerto Rico as unincorporated
territory with an elective legislature, governor and council appointed by
the President. In 1909 a split develops between an independence
movement and supporters of U.S. statehood. The 1917 Jones Act creates
of Puerto Rico an "organized but unincorporated territory." Puerto Ricans
have U.S. citizenship. Modifications to laws give Puerto Ricans the right
to elect their own governor in 1947. Puerto Rico is now "free" but must
obey the U.S. Constitution. In 1952 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is
established: statehood and independence options are still available and
under debate at the present time.
o Examples of Imperialistic Thinking:
§ Economic Benefits
• This is the most significant reason for our aggressive policy of
expansion with political, economic, and military control as major
objectives. We were looking for markets, which is the easiest way to
colonize. In addition, investment opportunities like produce in Hawaii
and certain mines in Philippines were noticed and desired.
• In Henry Cabot Lodge's "Our Blundering Foreign Policy," he
reaffirms this point saying, "In the interests of our commerce and of our
fullest development we should build the Nicaraguan canal, and ... for the
sake of our commercial supremacy in the Pacific, we should control
Hawaii and Samoa."
§ Nationalism
• The attitude, "we're as good as European nations" was amplified
more than ever by the jingoists, or extreme nationalists.
• Echoing this sentiment, Josiah Strong's "Our Country," recognizes
the Anglo-Saxon advantage on the west shores of the Atlantic.
§ Religion
• Missionaries sought to convert the inhabitants of foreign lands by
convincing them that, "what we have is better." It's a new zeal that
actually got the imperialism ball rolling. In fact, missionaries made the
first contact with Hawaii in the 1850s to Christianize the islands, and at
this time we learned of its perfect sugar-growing climate.