US Neutrality.

During the industrial era, the United States was in much need for raw materials in order to feed its economy. Local resources were not enough, therefore the United States needed to get these materials from other countries. As a result, the United States opted for imperialism; The United States achieved a lot during this era. The United States was not alone in these race for territories. In order to achive the conquering of many foreign territories a vast expansion of the army was needed. The use of these armies was to intimidate other nations, this is also known as militarism. Moreover, imperialims created distrust among the imperialist which ultimately resulted in the creation of secret military alliances.
All this factors, along with the rise of nationalism by those conquered by imperialist, were the creators of Wolrd War one which lasted from 1914 to 1918. As the war broke out with the assassination of heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Francis Ferdinand, the United States declared their neutrality. The United States was in fact neutral, until a number of factors forced the nation to intervene along with the allies.
By 1914, the United States president at the time, Woodrow Wilson, declared the nations neutrality, ( Doc A ) stating that the war was not in the best of interest for the nation. National leaders such as Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan also gave voice to the inclination for American neutrality (Doc D).The United States remainded neutral, until Germany along with its unrestricted submarine warfare in european seas resulted in the lost lives of hundreds of Americans. This action of course upset the United States. As stated by the German embassy, (doc E) any ship sailing in the warzone would be attacked. Since the United States still traded with european nations, this was a big problem for the nation. In response, the United States president declared to cut off all kinds of dipolomatic relationships with Germany unless the unrestricted Warfare stoped.( Doc G) Germany wanted to keep the United States out of conflict therefore they promised not to sink any ships without warning or taking care for the lives of passengers, this was known as the Sussex Pledge.
Deeper United States involvement in war came in 1917 when Germany decided to continue with their Submarine Warfare. The U.S. declared "Armed neutrality" , this meant that U.S. merchant ships would be armed to protect themselves from German U-Boats. Germany realized that this was a small step into bringing the U.S. into war; They also thought that it was too late however for American intervention to have any effect in the outcome of war. Just in case the U.S. became too involved in war, Germany's Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to German Ambassador Johann von Bernstoff in Mexico. (Doc H) The telegram was intercepted by the British however. The telegram encouraged Mexico to join Germany's cause in case the U.S. joined war. If Germany won, Mexico would get back the lasn lost to the U.S. during the Mexican-American War. This angered the Americans.
Later on, the United States entered War in order "to make the World safe for democracy." Now the United States was beginig to see Germany as a threat to the world ( Doc I). Fortunately U.S. intervention was very helpful since its help was a big factor to defeating the Germans. After war ended, Wilson and the Allies came up with the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
By the begining of the war the U.S. still traded with Britain and even Germany, however, since Germany decided to use Submarine Warfare and take the lifes of people, including Americans, the United States could not keep its neutrality for too long. Due to the fact that Germany was a threat to American lifes as well as the rest of the world, U.S involvement was necessary in order to stop Germany's awful militaristic plans.

Roosevelt, Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.

By the start of the twentieth century, the United States had managed to become a powerful world power, perhaps the most powerful. The ones that benefited the most of bieng a powerful nation were the upper class that came from corporations and and large business that operated with hardly any government intervention. In addition, in most places poverty was still a big issue. One goup of people, the middle class, were willing to make a change in American democracy. The period in which these people took some action was called the progressive era.

Presidents also took some actions to adress the problems of their society. Among these were Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. In order to solve the problems during this era, federal policies and legislation were needed. Each president had its own ideas and proposals to confront the problems. However, Roosevelt was the one that stood out the most at reforming society during the progressive era.

When runnig for president, Taft and Roosevelt were enemies due to the fact that Taft did not carry out Roosevelt Plans after Roosvelt had done his term. One of Taft's achievments is the busting of more trust than Rosevelt. However, unlike Roosevelt, Taft was very weak on progressivism, conservation, and social- welfare. Regarding trusts, Wilson passed the Clayton anti-trust act.

Roosvelt was also a conservationist, this can be seen by the Newlands Act, which opted for the preservation of forest. What made Roosevelt tha best in the progressive era was that he succesfuly acoomplishd many reforms in various "fields

", including the workers and consumers, for example: the creation of the Hepburn Act , which solved the problems with the railroad rates. Another was the Anthracite coal strike in which Roosevelt threatened to sent troops to take over the mine, however, frightened that Roosvelt actually seize the mine, the operator came up with an agreement to have an arbitration commitee in order to settle the dispute. After the strike ended, the result were fulfiling, it provided a ten percent wage increase and a shorter workday.

Even Wilson made a better job than Taft in the social sector. This can be seen in Muller v Oregon, which solved issues concerning women workers. Anyhow, Wilson did not do much concerning foreign reforms. Taft passed his Dollar Diplomacy, which allowed private investors ( wealthy class) to give out loans to Central American countries. More exceptional, Roosevelt got the Panama canal and created the Roosevelt corollary; additionally he was also the mediator to the Russo-Japanese war.

Clearly Roosevelt was the better man when it came to reforming. He was the "Square deal Reformer", meaning that he took actions concerning: Trust busting, consumer protection, and conservation. More importantly he also suceede in these. He was the one that had the most impact in the nation. He also got the most support from people due to his concern for the common man. Taft and Wilson cannot be ignored however, since they also took some actions to fight against the parasites of the nation.

America's way of Imperialism (pride or embarrasment)

Before Civil War, the United States had two sides, the Union and the Confederates, each with different views about slavery. These differences were disputed in the Civil War. Abolition of slavery was one of the results of this war. Subsequently, the United States now had other worries: economic problems, racial equality, etc. Not long after most of the local problems were solved, an urge for yet more territorial expansion emerged. Not only the United States was seeking local expansion but as well as expansion beyond its borders.
Now, was the way the United States became a world power a reason for an American to be proud of its nation or embarrassed of it? The United States had a variety of justifications to go beyond its virtual limits, however these were mostly economic and were also fueled by many theories. Additionally the United States also wanted to become a world power that would influence other nations. As in most political cases, there were those who opposed this policy of imperialism.
Imperialism by the United States had many theories from those who supported it. Among these was Alfred Mahan's which stated that the United States ought to have a large Navy and that in order to achieve this additional natural resources such as coal and more land were needed , therefore acquiring colonies was needed. Another theory was Frederick Jackson's, which declared that territorial expansion was good to improve social, political and ECONOMIC stability. A theory that showed extreme nationalism was Social Darwinism, which declared that the United States was above other nations morally and biologically.
The United States took actions to extend its power to other nations. This was seen when the United States went in a "rescue" mission against Spain in order to "help" Cuba. However the United States had its eyes on the vast amount of sugar cane that Cuba produced, which after helping Cuba to gain its independence from Spain would help boost the American economy. More importantly the United States now had showed its capability of being a world power.
The United States was not satisfied yet, and to strengthen it s naval power, they took on mission to obtain Hawaii. However after trying to obtain, the Queen Liliuokalani refused to give it. Later the United States imposed a tariff which made it a struggle economically to trade. As a result, many people supported the annexation of Hawaii to get rid of the tariff. After overthrowing the Queen, Hawaii became a state now belonging to the United States and serving as an excellent naval base.
The United States had now many more resources needed to boost its economy as well as its military power which was needed in order to help the United States reach the number one spot as the strongest nation. Clearly, the reason for the United States to "help" other nations was to ultimately solved its economic problems as well as to be seen as a reliable nation for many Latin American countries that the United States had "helped".


I saw that picture in facebook. You were wearing some glasses with an afro wig and "throwing" a peace sign. lol

Populist!!!

A third party is an additional political party other than the two major parties participating in state and national elections. These third parties usually do not gather as many votes as the major parties do. Despite the fact that the presidential candidates of these parties have little chance of being elected, these parties are really significant since they may promote important concepts to be incorporated into government.
In the presidential election of 1892, the Democrats, Republicans, and infamous Populist were competing for a place in the presidency. Regardless of the failure to reach presidency and the short period of time it lasted, the populist party promoted fine ideas that would help improve government and social life. This party however could not accomplish much of what they desired. Therefore, the populist were not effective enough politically, but their ideas did help the country later on after their disappearance.
The People's Party, as it was also called, opted for inflation through free and unlimited coinage of silver, therefore the strongly opposed the gold standard. This party centered mainly in rural areas and focused on agrarian issues, such as forming a political alliance between poor whites and Blacks. At the time of elections, its candidate James Weaver received a little more than a million votes as well as 22 popular votes. This was a great achievement for such kind of party. The populist had other objectives as well. Among these was government ownership of major industries, replacement of fixed income tax with graduated income tax, and direct election of U.S. senators. Not everything was achieved, however the direct election of senators and graduated income tax would later become a reality.
The party went on a downfall, a downfall whose causes were many. One was the lack of support from the south to the party and their goal to unite Blacks and poor whites. To make it even harder for the Populist, the Jim Crow laws, Literacy tests, and poll taxes made the task of gaining southern support almost impossible. To make things worst, their leader, Thomas Edward Watson became a voracious racist, creating a racial division among the party.
When 1896 came, the Democrats incorporated into their platform much of the Populist's own platform, and incorporated, with some difficulty, William Jennings Bryan as their candidate. This caused Populist to be done as a National political party, however, their platform was later on well absorbed by Republicans and Democrats.
To conclude, the Populist party was not so effective in concern to their goals, however they could gather enough votes to stand out during elections. The party had good motives for the country, but they found themselves with harsh obstacles that prevented them from gaining total support from the citizens. Nevertheless, the party provided important goals to other parties that later realized that the populist's platform could be useful.

Unions

After the civil war, an era of industrialism began. This era was led by a partnership between government and big businesses. During this period of time Railroad systems, electronic devices, and other needs were invented or improved. To build and use the inventions and improvements much labor labor was needed. As a result of the desire for industrial growth from the government and businesses, workers were most of the time not taken into account. In response, the workers organized themselves into unions. These unions aimed to represent the interest of people at work and negotiate with employers for better terms and conditions for their members.
Various Unions were formed, each had different rules for admission, but all with a similar goal to protect and extend the rights of American workers. These unions were successful but not to a full extent. Organization was exceptional, they decided who could enter the union and who could not. However the achievement of their main goal was scarce.
Among the many unions was the National Labor Union (NLU). This was the first union and was formed right after the end of the Civil War. It included workers no matter race,gender, or skill level. Their main concern was not racial or gender equality, but they opted for higher wages and an appropriate amount of working hours. Their concern on working hours was solved, and eight hours of work were given for federal workers. Other unions were: The knights of Labor, whose concern was racial and gender equality as well as for an end to child labor; The American Federation of Labor (AFL), which only admitted skilled workers, thus making it more successful than any of the major labor unions. ; Last but not least, was the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) , which promoted worker solidarity to overthrow the employing class.
These strictly organized Unions also created strikes. These strikes were for the most part unsuccessful and often ended up with terrible consequences. Some strikes included the Railroad strike of 1877, the Homestead Act strike, the Pullman strike and the Haymarket square riot. In response, the government sent troops to maintain control. However in some strikes such as the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago, the strikers opted for violence which ultimately caused the strikes to end without any kind of accomplishment and more importantly deaths.
The extreme, and fast growth of capitalism and industries in the post war era led to tension between capitalist and their employees. The unions formed as a result, all shared a common goal even though they had different conditions for admission. The unions excelled at organizing themselves, unfortunately, they could not accomplish most of their goals such as an increase in wages and the overthrowing of employers by the working class. Therefore they could not be very successful.

Reconstruction Plans.

The American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, was a clash between the United States of America ( the union) and the southern slave sates also known as the Confederate States of America. It all began when Abraham Lincoln, a republican who opposed the expansion of slavery, took the victory in the elections of 1860, resulting in some southern states declaring their secession for the Union. The Union saw this as a rebellion, therefore, when Lincoln took office, his goal was to preserve the Union. To do this, a war was necessary. After reaching an amazing number of hostilities, the Union came out victorious. The next step was reconstruction.
The reconstruction was an attempt to resolve the consequences of the civil war. It would need to address how the south would return to the union, the condition of the newly freed blacks, and decide what would happen to the ex-leaders of the confederacy. Lincoln, Johnson, and the Radical Republicans presented plans for reconstruction, among these were similarities and differences on how to confront the matter. However, the Radical Republican's plan presented the best soulution.
Lincoln's plan was based on a quick and painless reincorporation of the south to the Union. He began the ten percent plan, which stated that in order for a state to be readmitted, it needed just ten percent of voters to take a loyalty oath to the United States. He also wanted the south to discard the compact theory and welcome the contract theory. Lincoln's plans for reconstrutcion were very moderate compared to the Radical Republican's plans.
Johnson's plan was somewhat similar to Lincoln's, for he also requested a certain percentage ( fifty percent) of voters to swear loyalty and allegiance to the United States. Johnson also opted for a pardon to ex-confederates which in turn would help keep control of southern State Governments, southern lands and black people. Even though he enforced the acceptance of the thirteenth amendment, like Lincoln's plan, not much was done to enfranchise the south's black population.
Johnson's plan caused him to come into direct confrontation with the Radical Republicans, thus creating a struggle between the executive and legislative branch. In discontent with Johnson actions for reconstruction, the Radical Republicans wanted to destroy Johnson's plans. Unlike Lincoln's plan, the Radicals would guarantee the enfranchising of the blacks into the south, mainly because doing so would provide economic aid to the demolished south and keep the freedmen from job competition in the North. To further enfranchise blacks, they came up with the fourteenth amendment, which defined citizenship rights and had to ratified by states in order to be readmitted.
The similarities and differences between these plans at the end all provided good references to each other to come up with better alternatives for a reconstruction favorable to the United States economically and socially. Clearly, the one that did this the best were the Radical Republicans, since their plan was well thought, and it intergrated the freedman while at the same time helping the country's economy recover.

The Reform Movements.

A reform movement is a kind of civil movement whose goal is to make a progressive change in certain aspects of society. Since the end of the revolutionary war, concerns about the values of the new society emerged. During the period between the end of the war of 1812 ans the antebellum period, a variety of grassroots movements flourished to address the social problems confronting the nation. This period is known as the age of reform.
The grassroots movements in the age of reform were successful in achieving their goals. In these movements citizens tried to confront the maladies that plagued their society. Such movements included included movements concerning women's rights, abolition, public education and prison reform.
The women's rights movement emerged mainly because of the common discontent among slaves and women of not having as much freedom or not freedom at all as men did. Led by Elizabeth Cady Santo and Lucretia Mott, women's rights advocates met at the Seneca Falls Convention were a Declaration of Sentiments was published. This declaration requested for legal equality for women.
Women accomplished some of the freedoms they wanted. They were given the responsibility to be educated women in order to follow the "republican motherhood" "code" which would ultimately help to create and secure a central position in the young minds of the nation. This meant that women would now have a better education provided for them.
Along with the women's rights movement came the abolitionist movement. This movement was probably one of the most controversial movements of the age of reform. Its goal was to end slavery for the abolitionist saw slavery as morally wrong. Some abolitionist leaders are Theodore Weld, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. These leaders contributed to the movement through many creations such as the Underground railroad and newspapers such as The Liberator. However, these movement did not saw its desired effects right away. Instead, the results would come along later on.
A movement for public education emerged as well. Its purpose was to have a more relevant curriculum and easier access to education. School reformers fundamentally expected to improve education so that children would become responsible citizens, sharing common national values. Horace Mann, an advocate for educational reform, made it possible to achieve the goals of the movement by making possible an increase in the money spent on schools, thus introducing the textbooks.
As with the mental health movement, the prison reform movement argued about about practices of humiliation and physical abuse to maintain order and discipline in prisons. Reformers requested for more humane measures such as rehabilitation through order and discipline.
The grassroots movements during the Age of reform saw their goals being accomplished. Women saw more job opportunities, prisons were better organized, abolitionist expressed and spread their ideas, and education was dramatically improved. These movements were also successful in arousing the government to initiate programs and policies to address society's problems.Unfortunately, the North and West were the only socially improved sides, for the south remained industrialized and traditional. Later on, it would take a war to set both sides equal.