The Americas History - Assignment Example

Jason Totten HIST152-EN5 – US History II Midterm Exam Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919). Andrew Carnegie remains a by-word for philanthropy. His father was a Scottish handloom weaver, who emigrated to Pittsburg, USA, during the economic recession of 1848. Attending night school, Carnegie worked in a cotton mill, then the Pittsburg Telegraph Office, and later became a Superintendent in the Pennsylvania Railroad. He shrewdly invested in iron mills and factories, and anticipated the manufacturing potential of steel. By 1892, the Carnegie Steel Company was the largest in the world. In 1901, when Carnegie sold the Company, he owned one of the largest personal fortunes in history. In accordance with his stated principles, Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to using his wealth for the betterment of society. His trust fund of over $ 350,000,000 established public libraries, the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Endowment for International Peace. The Carnegie Corporation, which he endowed, continues his work. Andrew Carnegie. Spartacus Educational Website. Accessed 5 December 2009 from The Philippine War (1899 – 1902). The Philippine War may be considered America’s first foray into imperialism. As a part of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the USA had sent troops to Manila to aid the Filipino revolutionaries, under Emilio Aguinaldo, overthrow Spanish colonial rule. However, on the defeat of Spain, America decided to retain the Philippines as a colony. Hostilities broke out between Aguinaldo’s Filipinos and US troops, supported by Admiral Dewey’s fleet. In the face of American military superiority, the Filipinos resorted to protracted no-holds-barred guerrilla warfare, with both sides indulging in atrocities. The official war ended with Aguinaldo’s capture in March 1902, but insurgencies continued for a decade. The Philippines was subjected to a benevolent ‘Americanization,’ and served US military and economic interests in the Pacific, until being granted independence on July 4, 1946 Philippine-American War. The History Guy Website. Accessed on 5 December 2009 from The Boxer Rebellion (1900). The Boxer Movement originated in Shantung as the I Ho Ch’uan or Righteous Harmonious Fists, founded on an ancient Secret Society, whose members practiced traditional martial arts. It was precipitated by several factors: the prevalence of proselytizing Western missionaries, who were feared and perceived to undermine Chinese cultural and religious traditions; the anti-Western attitude of the Chinese court, including the Dowager Empress Tzu His; resentment against the exploitative ‘gun boat’ policy of the West in using force for colonial purposes; superstitious commoners’ attribution of economic hardship and natural disasters to the ‘foreign devils’. The Boxer’s anti-foreign Rebellion spread to Peking in May 1900, and the Empress declared war against the Western powers. Telegraph lines were cut, many foreigners were murdered, and the others besieged in the Legation quarter and the Pei T’ang Cathedral. The militarily superior Allied Relief Expedition lifted the siege in August. China was forced into large mining concessions, indemnities and reparations. Woo, Philip, 1980. Adapted by TK Chung. Boxer Rebellion. The Corner of the World Website. Accessed 5 December from President Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919) Theodore Roosevelt’s’ political career, as Civil Service Commissioner, President of the New York City Police Board and Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and role of hero in the Spanish-American War, culminated in the Governorship of New York State in 1898, the Vice-Presidency under President McKinley in 1900, and, on McKinley’s assassination in 1901, the Presidency of the United States until 1909. Roosevelt extended the influence and stature of the executive, introduced conservation with the creation of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, progressive reforms through welfare measures, government regulation of big business and his ‘Square Deal’ approach to domestic economy and social justice. As the architect of America’s new foreign policy of active intervention in global affairs, (the ‘Roosevelt Corollary’), Roosevelt consolidated American control over the Philippines, facilitated the construction and control of the Panama Canal, established America’s undisputed military supremacy in Central America, mediated in international affairs and built up a formidable US Navy. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Miller Center of Public Affairs. University of Virginia. American President. An Online Reference Resource. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). Retrieved 6 December 2009 President Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924). Woodrow Wilson was an academician, who, from being the President of Princeton, rose to become the Governor of New Jersey and then won the Presidency of the US in 1912 on a progressive Democratic platform. His ‘New Freedom’ program extended Government monetary control, through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. He reined in big business, and supported unions. Wilson remained a non-interventionist in World War I, until the sinking of the Lusitania and the fear of a German-Mexican military alliance. He then instituted an aggressive war-time policy of mobilization, government control of the railroads, massive industrialization and daylight saving time. Wilson imposed new income taxes and liberty bonds to finance the war, censored the press, and passed Espionage and Sedition Acts to muzzle criticism. Wilson was the architect of the ‘Fourteen Points’ which served as the foundation of The League of Nations at the Treaty of Versailles. However, he failed to secure ratification of the Treaty in the Senate, and America remained outside the League. Miller Center of Public Affairs. University of Virginia. American President. An Online Reference Resource. Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924). Retrieved 6 December 2009 Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is one of the worlds’ greatest engineering feats. The importance of a passage across the isthmus of the Panama, then owned by Colombia, which would reduce transport time drastically, for trade and military purposes, was evident to America. By 1894, French work on the canal, under the pioneer Ferdinand de Lesseps, met with failure and bankruptcy. In 1903, the USA bought out the French stake in the project for $40 million. The USA supported a Panamanian revolution for independence, with monetary aid and a naval blockade, and then signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with Panama, which gave the United States perpetual control of the canal for a price of $10 million and an annual payment of $250,000. Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental to the success of the project Employing 50,000 workers, including skilled US laborers, paid in gold, at the top level, technologically advanced machinery, and anti-mosquito measures developed by William Gorgas to combat malaria and yellow fever, the canal was successfully completed and opened on August 15, 1914. Smithsonian Institute Libraries. Make the Dirt Fly! Accessed 6 December 2009 The Punitive Expedition In the 1913 Mexican Civil War, President Woodrow Wilson recognized Venustiano Carranza’s government. The rebuffed Pancho Villa, with his band of irregulars, retaliated against the US, with raids along the US-Mexico border. On January 11, 1916, the Villistas waylaid a train at Santa Ysabel and executed seventeen US citizens. On March 9, 1916, 500 Villistas attacked the 13th U.S. Cavalry at Camp Furlong near Columbus, New Mexico. Although Villa suffered heavy casualties and was rebuffed and pursued, fourteen American soldiers and ten civilians were killed in the raid, and Columbus looted. President Wilson directed Brigadier General John J. Pershing to lead 4,800 troops, supported by aircraft and motorized military vehicles on a punitive expedition into Mexico, with Carranza’s reluctant assent, to capture Villa. Pershing was restricted by orders not to fire on regular Mexican troops, who often aided the Villistas, and hampered by the inhospitable, unfamiliar terrain and a hostile local populace. A skirmish between the US and Mexican government troops at Carrizal, in June, exacerbated tensions to war-point. In January 1917, the Punitive Expedition, the last U.S. Cavalry expedition in U.S. military history, was recalled from Mexico. Despite the failure to capture Villa, the expedition was lauded as a valuable learning experience. Yockels, Mitchell. The National Archives. Prologue Magazine. Fall 1997, Vol. 29, No. 3 The United States Armed Forces and the Mexican Punitive Expedition: Part 1 Accessed 6 December 2009 In what ways was Theodore Roosevelt a progressive reformer and a conservative? Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive reformer who, although not a radical, firmly believed in using government regulation to advance public welfare. His conservative policies were visionary. Throughout his political career, Roosevelt was the torchbearer of the progressive movement, emphasizing morality and efficiency in government. As the New York State Representative, he exposed the nexus between a Justice of the Supreme Court and a railway magnate. As Commissioner of the New York City Police Board, he instituted several service reforms, including norms for recruitment and promotion, and the use of bicycle patrols. One of his first acts as President was to make Booker T. Washington the first African-American invitee to dine at the White House. Roosevelt’s ‘Square Deal’ domestic program reflected his progressive agenda of strengthening government regulation of economy and big business. He invoked the Sherman Anti-Trust Act against the Northern Securities Company, and curtailed the railroad companies with the Elkins and Hepburn Acts. Roosevelt intervened to negotiate an equitable settlement of the 1902 coal strike. The Department of Commerce and Labor was empowered to investigate the operations of interstate corporations. The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 made the government the regulator of consumer standards. The Employers Liability Act of 1908 consolidated reparation for workers. Roosevelt advocated active government intervention to ensure social and economic justice. With commendable foresight, Roosevelt actively embarked on an agenda to conserve America’s natural heritage. The 1902 Newlands Act, or the Forest, Land and Rivers Reclamation Policy, gave Federal control to irrigation projects. He ensured that the Forest Service, under Gifford Pinchot, became a powerful tool of conservation, increasing the area of protected land from 42 million acres to 172 million acres and creating five national parks, eighteen national monuments, and 51 wildlife refuges. The 1906 U.S. Antiquities Act gave government protection to public lands. In 1907, Roosevelt appointed an Inland Waterways Commission to conserve and develop the nation’s rivers. He hosted a Governors’ Conference at the White House in 1908, appointing the first Conservation Commission focusing was on soil, water, forest and mineral conservation. The North American Conservation Congress of 1909 decisively brought conservation into the public domain. Theodore Roosevelt may be considered the pioneer of American conservation. Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt. Biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Accessed December 7, 2009 Miller Center of Public Affairs. University of Virginia. American President. An Online Reference Resource. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). Retrieved 6 December 2009 Read More