-
Period: to
Civil War
Cuz 2 systms: with slaves/without slaves
The Union (~North) won against the Former Confederate States (most of South). But S may hv lost the war, it didn't lose the ideological battle Traumatic exp: many died -
Period: to
Reconstruction
Changes:
- economy: from agricol to industrl
- massive immigration: bc of indstrliz°; in 1940s in Chicago many immi =/= in South, only 1% wr immi
Attempt to cmplty transfrm South that linked to slavery (slave owners wr minority but they girlbossed) 30y btw slavry and segrg°: black had vote, school... But majority was against (= growing opposition, lk military, KKK & all, terrorism...) -
Act of 1866
"Republicans in Congress responded to the Black Codes with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal attempt to constitutionally define all American-born residents (except Native peoples) as citizens."
Yawp -
Opposi° by white supremasists
2 ideas:
- "Black Negro Rule" = if equal rights, blacks will oppress and rule over them + degrading for whites to treat them equally
- "Recnstrc° forced by Un°, unwtd by the South" = Un° manipulated the blacks for them Managed to hv majority by repress° and scam votings of black voters
1870s/80s: segrega° was illegal
By 1910: separ° in states of S was the norm/law (not alws agnst blacks, lk in San Fransisco whr agnst Chinese) -
Chns Exclus° Act + Qualitative Resctrc°
Until 1882: no immi resctric°
Labor cmpt° wr oppsd to immi + Cultr diffrcs raised racism "Qualitative Resct°" : ppl with contagious diseases or immorality cldn't passe Until 1921 (Emergency Quota Law): 95% entered -
Beginning Exclusion Rights
-
Hull House in Chicago by Jane Addams
Prgrssvly Hull House exposed condi° in local sweatshops & for the organz° of workers. "Hull House workers surveyed their community and produced statistics on poverty, disease, and living conditions"
Yawp
Prgsrvly got mr & mr engaged & social reformist -
Battle of the Wounded Knee
Final indgns battle
They wr killed directly (wars) and indrctly (diseases -smtms vlntry, smtms not-)
They had to chg ways of living: no mr buffalo, Am erased their cultr (took children and put them in boarding schools), forced them to give up their sharing lands (making it; 1 land= 1 person) Constant shifting of line/frontier of West -
Frederic Jackson Turner, conference
Lamented fact that no more West expans° (by the way, Mexico lost 1/3 of its trrtry and Oklahoma was "rsrvrd" for natives but obv got open for sttlmts & then occupied) Idea that Am needed to grow over their contintl borders= open ways to Chine's market (wld sell their surplus)
For this needed big army and navy. Hwvr, had policy of isolationism (Am & Erp stay out of e-others buisnss) + Monroe Doctrine + majority was agnst Am imperialism (cuz created agnst it and wld hv to deal with non-whites) -
Supreme Court Decision of Plessy vs Ferguson
Supreme Court decid that States had right to impose segrgntl separation if wanted.
-> imposed by Sates, not Federal System Segrg°: psyhical separation of ppl -
Period: to
Spanish-American War
Began with Cuba (which Spn wtd to keep for sugar) in 1895 cuz wtd indpdc. Am bsnss-men wtd this sweet $ so did propaganda to get Cuba "free from opress°" and Am obv had to help. Am had military ships boarded there
Am won and got bunch of Spn colonies (lk Hawaï (sugar & pineapple)) which d't annex but left troops to ctrl them. Am forced Cuba to write in their Consitu° "if u country goes into shit, Am has rights to invade them", but still Cuba is "indpt" -
Suffrage amendments
By 1911, 6 westrn states had passd their amdmts to their constitu° -
19th Amendment
C't hv law in any state that voting is only for men
But states cld still deprieve them for voting so it d't chg their situa°: women who cld vote since 1918 in N states still voted; black women who lived in states whr black men c't vote still c't vote (had to wait to 60s) -
Period: to
18th Amdment
Prohibi° -
National Origins Act
As csqc of extrm restric°s for immi, factories lost $ since d't hv/had less manufactures -> went for mexicans
+ it created new cat of immi= illlegal aliens -
Period: to
Herbert Hoover (Pres)
Hoovert only helped with volunteerism: Pres Orgnz° for Unemplmt Relief (POUR) + encouraged charities (1/4 closed my mid-1932 cuz overwhlmd) + associa°nalism (systm of vlntry ac°). He d't tk any direct ac° cuz believed in limited Gov -
Plummeting stock market prices
Lead to fear: investors dumped their porfolios to avoid further losses -
Black Tuesday
Stock values evaporated By end 1932 most Am had suffrd directly. Sucked for women (esp married) and non-white Am (na°l unemplmt: 25%; while black unmplmt: 50%) -
Lowest point of Gr-Depr°
- 1/4 X job; those with work, often was part-time
- Farmers X $ to harvest -> no food
Panic and failure of bank system caused it -
Severe droughts in Great Plains
- Exodus to West (esp California which had rains); ie: Oklahoma lost 18% of its 1930 ppl° => signifct reversal in flow of ppl btw rural & urban. But so much that many W States put up barriers and blockades
- Fear that aliens wld work for even lower wages -> denied visas to immi laborers & artisans (hit Mexican immi partclry hard)
-
The Bonus Army
+15000 unempld veterans & their families converged on Wshgtn D.C to peti° bill authorizing immediate payment of cash bonuses to veterans of WW1 (orgnly schdld for 1945)
Hoover opposed bill. Many stayed to press their case. Pres calld them "insurrc°nists" & ordrd them to leave.
General Douglas McArthur with local police, infantry, cavalry, tanks, machine gun squadron; stormed the tent city and chased its ppl= 2 marchers killed + baby died by tear gas -
Period: to
(1st) New Deal by Roosevelt
Laws designed to stop worst of Gr D°, he immdtly lkd to stabliz collapsing banking systm: succsfly asked public to place their trust & savings in banks. Congress pssd the Glass-Steagall Banking Act (=federal deposit insurc systm) thru the Fdrl Deposit Insurance Corpor° (FDIC) & barred mixing of cmmrcial & investmt banking
Also created jobs: Civilian Consrv° Corps (CCC); Tennesse Valley Authority (TVA)...
New Deal was esply apprt in S -
Na° Labor Rela°s Act/Wagner Act
It guarantd rights of most workers to un°ze and bargain collctvly (-> un°zd workrs pushed for higher wages, shorter hours & bttr condi°. Won) -
Period: to
(2nd) New Deal
Fair Labor Standards Act: modern min wage
Social Security Act: provided for old-age pens°, unemplmt insurance and economic aid; based on means to assist both elderly & depndt children (-> financed from payroll, not the Frdl gov -to remove stigma-) Blacks & women didn't rly benefit from Nw Dl Ended with WW2 (which ended Gr D° which created new jobs) -
Court Packing Plan
Suprm Court md mr prgrssv (>70y got dismissed) -
Period: to
WW2
-"Good war"/just
-growth of eco (esp thx to Am soldiers who did free ad bscly)
-Avia° Industry on West Coast (=> attrctv states)
-Full emplmt= cld leave jobs bttr ones= negotia°
-Idea of higher taxes for higher incomes= redistrbt° of wealth
-Life expctncy incrsd by 3y for Am & 5y for Af-Am (since had lower)
-Baby boom
-no fighting on Am soils
-Incrs of racism, esp Jpns & Ger
-Empwrd women but only during war
-birth of happnss thru consmrsm of capitalism After = strg repression -
Period: to
Cold War
-
J.Kennedy speech & book Nat° of Immi
Immi was mr acceptable as a thing of Past rather than Pres: in past= good immi =/= in pres: bad immi. So "gd immi" wr descandents of immi -
Period: to
1950s
Increase of rl of Fdrl Gov, of Exectv Branch (contind until Reagan) -> Fedrl bureaucracy grew
=> idea that gov can be on workrs' side
Socly prgrssv policies (New Deal Coalition) Semi eco growth; triumph of comformity; ~happy period=propaganda
Blurred soc classes: factry & office workrs received sm $
Homophobia (linked with gnrt°nl gap fears)
Life in suburbs=/=urban (=disconnec°) 1 reason of its end: S wld becm Rpbclns -
Brown vs Board of educa°
(Civil Rights: beaf btw white S & evrn1 else)
Suprm Court said sgrga° is "inherently inql" and that separa° produces in black childre feelings of inferiority which decrs their chc
Had limits: only 2ndry (not cllg/uni), only public schools & States need to enforce this with no set date or sanct° -
Rosa Park
Boycott of bus which succssd bc the bus company got almost bankrupt without its black users thus bus acceptd to not hv segrt°l seats -
Period: to
1960s
=decade of turmoil & emancipa°
Great Prgrm by Pres Johnson (Democrat): racial justice, fight agnst poverty -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In response to the United States’ longtime maintenance of a nuclear arsenal in Turkey and at the invitation of the Cuban government, the Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba -
"Feminine Mystic" by Friedan
Abt oppress° over staying in (nuclear) model for women.
Began interwievs of women in 50s.
"Prblm that has no name": idea that wm cldn't complain if d't find happnss in their nuclear model
Also at this time that began medicaliza° of wm (trqlzrs) -
Assassina° Kennedy
-
August 1963 March on Washington
Askd: civil rights legislation, school integra°, end to discrimina° by public & private employers, job training for the unemployed, & a raise in the min wage
+ "I hv a dream" by M.L.King -
Civil Rights Act
=discrimin° & segrg° illegal evrwhr & all aspects of life -
Public Eco Opprtny Act
Suprvsd & financly helpd commnty based prgrms (idea that Gov helpd ppl that help thmslvs) -
Period: to
Vietnam War (1955-1975)
1964: Jhnsn ordrd increase of US miltry presc in Viet to prevent communist takeover of S
By 1967: mny anti-war demonstra° => was the 1st "living room war" (big coverage of conflicts brutality) R.Nixon won elec° (1969-74) by playing on both sides: promised to end war but actly pursued a "madman startgy" hoping win faster. Failed. Got discvrd. Evn mr manifest° (still minority since mny Am saw it as a "just" war) -
Voting Rights Act
Prohibits racial discrimination in voting (made esp for Sthrn states that d't let Afr-Am vote) -
Medicare
1st healthcare; Congress aprvd of medical cause of +65y, their medical bills wr payed by Gov, equal for evr1 (rich & poor)
Most pplr, stayed even after -
Elementary & 2ndry School Act + Higher Educa° Act
For schools that d't hv enough $
+
sm + free pass on campus for poor students -
Project Head Start
Most pplr
Free educa° for poor young children lk kindergarden -
Bloody Sunday
Activists attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery (Alabama). Ths peaceful protesters wr attacked by white law enforcement with batons and tear gas -
Period: to
War on Poverty
Johnsn came to cl° that to end it, had to hv strong hov intervene
Main reason for poverty was discrimina°: maj of non-wh
Cost much (over 3 bill° $) -> taxes incrsd, esp on wealthy ppl
- created new dep (lk public housing constrc°)
- put public $ in Arts&Sci
- created Corpr° for public broadcasting
- VISTA (Vltnry I Servc To Am), was kinda flop
- Free public legal advice
- Food Stamps Prgrm -
Medicaid
Medical bills paid for the poorest
Not as pplr as Medicare cuz mny wrn't poor enough -
Tet Offensive
Coverage of war: no formal censorship, but White House & military painted deceptive img of War, voices of true journalists got kinda shut down by TV
Got exposed by Tet Offensive -
Effects of War on Pvrty
1969: 12% Am lived under poverty line =/= 1960: 22% Impact wsn't visible for maj Am (who got back to poor=lazy stigma, esp by Consrvtvs)
Prgrms had result but quickly wr impopplr
Grp that got most of it: oldern Am -
Seymour Hersh = unhmansm of US troops
Investigate reporter debunked them -
Stonewall
Gay bar in Mhttn
Was regular obj of police attacks -with beating-. 1 time gays fought back -> turning point = demand/will fight equal rights -
Period: to
Conservative Backlash
End of prosperity times => wt cmbck of mr trdn°l values with order. At sm time country did get mr modern (mr indvdl freedom & acceptance)
Growing idea that Gov sh't hv to fix social prblms (lk poverty, "poor cultr") -> suspic° for gov (esp after reveal of their propaganda of Viet) => Nixon played on this & did Federalism (~local gov > big gov)
Critical of evrthing new: youth not patriotic enough, resented "sxl libera°" + lgbt politics & policies -
Paris Peace Accords
N & S Viet signed treaty, marking offcl end of US force commtmt to Viet War -
Roe vs Wade/Legaliz° of Abor° by Sprm Court
Rights of privacy
-> fracture btw Rpblcns & Dmcrts (+ arnd this time that came idea politics=ur id)
Befr this, politics d't cr much abt abr°. After, sm took it as their center of intrst and basing their politics on their relig°: Chrstn Right -
Watergate Scandal
Bscly Nixon wtd to spy on his adversaries but got caught
Nixon resigned befr cld remove him -
Communist Vietnam
N won and Viet got united under commnst gov -
1970s - Civil Rights & Cultr
Prominent & competing ideologies fractrd Cvl Rghts Mvmt (Black power mvmt =/= integr°nist dreams) + incrsd visible violence (lk urban riots) tainted its percep°
Their evolu° was reflctd in cultr which wsn't wh-male dominated: existed segmented cultrs (often revlvd arnd music styles, style of dressing, physicl apprnc...) 70s had cultrl forms that:
- appld to wh-working class
- disco offrd new, optimistic, racially intergrated pop music -
Elec° of Ronald Reagan
Clear turn in public opn°. Clear Cnsrtv. + Thatcher (1979)
- Hate twrd communism
- dismantle wealther states; remove obstrc° of private bsnss; indvdlsm > solidrty
- idea that market was right & Gov sh'd hv active role Wtd to return to pre-Nw Dl era
His supporters: blue collars + consrvtvs + chrstns and other na°lst patriotic men => wtd law & order with less taxes -
Reagan's eco policies
Supprtd theory of cutting taxes and Gov spending. Did cut taxes -on wealthier & buisnss-, hwvr incrsd militry spending (esp in contxt of Cold War) -> huge defecit in Fdrl Gov -> cut a lot of social prgrms (partclry wealth care -not Medicare cuz too pplr)
1981: created a recess°, had to incorprt sm buisnss taxes again Part budget was for miltry, but also into States (that d't tk into account the dift state & particularities of States cuz poverty isn't equal evrywhr) -> Poverty grew rapidly -
George H. W. Bush elected
Announcd a New World Un° with intrn°l trade (=optimistic view of globalz°) -
Iraq invaded Kuwait
-
Period: to
Gulf War
US force mostly thru air and after stayed out of Iraq -with militry forces still near- (d't wt another guerilla war)
Also covered, but with even more censura -> no journalist documented actual truth -
Bill Clinton elected
Won by saying that w't do big Gov & that Bush's mr intrstd in intern°l matters than in domestic ones (which he tlkd abt)
1st baby boomer Pres: looked cool, modern & charismatic Had universal health care prgrm, carried by his wife, H.Clinton, d't pass cuz considrd too liberal (also prob cuz propsd by woman) -
"Don't ask, don't tell"
Clinton passed other "modern" reforms. For ex, ended the policy in army asking if gay/lesbian & gays shldn't be in the open