Muck and Muckrakers Muck is another word for

Muck and Muckrakers • Muck is another word for dirt, slime and filth. • During the late 1800 s and early 1900 s courageous journalists wrote sensational and critical articles about certain businesses. • These writers were said to stir up muck or dirt by exposing corruption or injustice. • Ida Tarbell a journalist [reporter] writer based out of New York wrote dozens of investigative reports about the tactics of the Standard Oil Company. • Many people believed the stories were instrumental in the passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that broke up the oil trust.

Muck and Muckrakers • Novelist Upton Sinclair, another muckraker, wrote about the scandalously organized meat packing industry. • His best selling book The Jungle detailed how unsafe working conditions in the meat packing industry that burdened mostly immigrant workers. • His tales of extremely poor sanitation conditions threatened the lives of consumers who ate products often housed among rodents, roaches and other vermin. • As a result, shortly after the novel was released, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] was founded to protect food safety.

Jacob Riis and his Photos Jacob Riis was an immigrant from Denmark. He was a photo-journalist [photographer who told stories with photos] for New York City newspapers. He told thousands of photos showing how immigrants lived in squalor [horrible poverty], and unsafe/unsanitary conditions. In 1890 he published a collection of his photos titled How the Other Half Lives showing how the poorest of the urban poor lived. Americans were outraged!

Lincoln Steffens • Published a book called the Shame of the Cities in 1902. • The stories described by Steffens political corruption in cities throughout the United States. • Because he sought to reveal bad things for the benefit of most citizens he was considered a muckraker.

Urban slums • Areas in large population cities often have sections that are “run down” and poor. • During the late 1800 s urban slums were miserable, crime infested and unsafe places to live. • During the late 1800 s and early 1900 s newly arrived immigrants lived in these areas because they could not afford to live anywhere else.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire • • • Tragic fire at New York City’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911. More than 100 people [mostly women workers] were killed due to fire related death or from jumping out of the windows to avoid burning. The factory was notorious for very poor working conditions as was known as a “sweatshop. ” The factory owners had barricaded the doors shut to prevent employee theft and excessive work breaks. After the fire started workers could not escape. The tragic fire forced many workplace changes and improved building fire codes.

Jane Addams and Hull house • Center in New York that was created to help new immigrants, especially women, transition to the New World. • Help new comers cope with big city life and learn English. • Provided cultural activities such as block parties, rent parties and street festivals. • Jane Addams using the Hull house organization provided health care and job training for women. She also advocated against child labor and sweat shops

16 th Amendment of the U. S. Constitution • In order to increase the amount of revenue [money coming in] to the federal government the U. S. Congress created the federal income tax. • The U. S. Constitution was amended to give the federal government the right to collect a portion of citizens’ incomes in 1913. • The wealthiest Americans paid the highest percentage of income tax. • The money was used to fund federal government programs to improve the lives of citizens. As this image indicates the federal government “shakes” money out its citizens through income taxation.

17 th Amendment of the U. S. Constitution • In 1913 the U. S. Constitution was amended again to give citizens the power to elect U. S. Senators by direct vote. • Before 1913 U. S. Senators were chosen by the state legislatures of each state. • Most U. S. Senators got their positions from the ruling political party and the appointment was usually patronage [a political favor].

Carrie A. Nation One of the most courageous and aggressive leaders of the temperance movement was Carrie A. Nation. She was born to slave owners in Kentucky and later moved to the Midwest [Texas and Kansas]. She was very religious and thought alcohol consumption to be evil. She often would enter saloons and sing hymns to convince drinkers to stop consuming alcohol. One night, according to Nation, she ha a “vision” from God that she should hatchet saloons to the ground. Nation became famous for vandalizing saloons to protest alcohol consumption.

18 th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution [Volstead Act] In 1919 the 18 th Amendment was passed to prohibit the manufacture, possession and consumption of alcohol. The Temperance movement was successful at making America “dry. ” The Volstead Act was a law passed to make specific the methods of enforcing the 18 th Amendment. Organized crime figures in major cities such as Chicago and New York like Al Capone made millions of dollars making and selling “bootleg” liquor. People drank liquor secretly in places called speak easies [secret bars].

19 th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution • In 1920 women in the United States were finally granted suffrage. • Suffrage is the right of a citizen to vote. • Activists such as Susan B. Anthony protested for years and lobbied the U. S Congress to add an amendment to the Constitution granting suffrage. • The 19 th Amendment gave women in the United States suffrage equality.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act Congress passed an anti-monopoly federal law to control the power of trusts controlled by powerful oil, steel and railroad companies. The law was aimed at reducing anti-competitive practices of business [eliminating business competition]. Enforcement of the law eventually resulted in the break up of Standard Oil Company.

U. S. v. E. C. Knight, Co. (1895) • This U. S. Supreme Court case was important because it ruled against the federal government. • The U. S. government wanted to break up sugar trusts. • The Court ruled that Big Sugar did not pose a threat to the United States because sugar was not essential.

• • • Theodore Roosevelt and the Square Deal President Theodore Roosevelt was outraged by The Jungle. Roosevelt ordered review of all major business industries and wanted to install tighter government control to prevent abuse by Big Business. Roosevelt’s solution was to unveil a domestic policy called the Square Deal predicated on environmental conservation, consumer protection and trust busting. Many citizens doubted he could control the immense power of companies such as U. S. Steel and Standard Oil. Many new anti-trust regulations were passed during and after his administration and millions of acres of forest were saved by national parks.

Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902 Pennsylvania coal miners had been extremely tired of working 12 -18 hour days for what they believed were low wages [salary/pay]. The coal miners formed a labor union called the United Mine Workers of America. The miners went out on strike in 1902 for the 3 rd time in 4 years. President Roosevelt was worried that winter coal shortages would affect too many cities. The federal government intervened to end the strike by granting a pay raise to miners, shorter work days and higher coal prices for mining companies.

Northern Securities Co. vs. United States • Landmark U. S. Supreme Court case that forced the owners of major railroad companies to break up their railroad trust [monopoly]. • The breaking of the railroad trusts was another important example of progressive federal government reforms. • Another monopoly was broken up the U. S. government.

Elkins Act Federal law passed as part of President Teddy Roosevelt’s Square Deal to reform the United States domestically [at home]. In 1903 Railroad companies were forbidden from paying rebates [partial cash refunds] to Oil, Cattle and Steel trusts. Remember that a trust is a company that is powerful because it has a monopoly. These trusts forced railroads to give them cheaper transport rates than smaller companies. This was bad for competition because Big Business received an unfair advantage. This law was a strengthened version of the earlier Interstate Commerce Act.

President William Howard Taft • Elected as President of the United States in 1908 he continued the progressive reforms of Roosevelt who was his friend and decided not to run for re-election. • Roosevelt did not like that Taft was not as forceful in “going after” Big Business [Trusts/Monopolies]. • In 1912 Roosevelt, sick of Taft, ran again for president to fix the “mess” Taft had allowed develop by not being as aggressive on Trusts and foreign countries [remember his Dollar Diplomacy].

Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909 Roosevelt left Taft to face some postponed political problems Roosevelt managed to avoid. One of them was the tariff [taxes on imported goods to raise their prices in order to help American businesses] rates had risen to excessive levels. Representative Sereno E. Payne passed a bill that provided many reductions to the tariff. But in the Senate, the Protectionists [people who favored high tariffs to protect American businesses] tried to amend the bill to revise rates upward while the Progressives believed that tariff only satisfied special interests [Big Business]. Taft was trapped between reformers who claimed to preserving Roosevelt's antitrust campaign and Protectionists who dominated the Senate. At the end, the Protectionists won. Other Protectionists and Senator Aldrich amended many cuts made and Taft signed the bill. Progressives saw Taft as the wrong person to fill in Roosevelt's Progressive shoes.

American Tobacco vs. United States • This was another in a long line of progressive anti-trust court cases. • The lawsuit brought by the American Tobacco owned by the Duke family of Durham [they paid to have their name on the University]. • The result of the case was that the Tobacco trust was forced to dissolve itself [break into separate companies] because it was an illegal monopoly.

Mann Act • In 1910, Congress passed this law that prohibited any interstate and international transportation of a woman for immoral [anti-religious] purposes, mainly prostitution. This law was another example of government's growing concern on moral issues such as the 18 th amendment, but this law could not protect women who were sexually assaulted in homes and workplaces.

Robert La. Follette • Robert M. La Follette was one of the most powerful Progressive politicians. As a Wisconsin's governor, he introduced reform program including direct primaries, more reasonable taxes, and regulation of railroad rates known as the Wisconsin Plan. In 1906 he entered the Senate and expanded his progressive reform ideals nationwide.

Presidential Election of 1912 4 -way race between Taft, Roosevelt, Wilson and Debs. Taft probably would have won reelection if Roosevelt had not ran as the Progressive Party candidate. Roosevelt and Taft split the Republican party vote and Wilson was able to win the Electoral College votes. Taft and Roosevelt were bitter enemies during the election of 1912.

Bull Moose Party Teddy Roosevelt after sitting out the 1908 presidential campaign hated what Taft had done to the Republican party and the U. S. Roosevelt could not wrest the Republican nomination but ran as a Progressive party candidate to promote reform. His platform was based on tighter federal regulation to control powerful trusts. Monopolies run by Morgan, Rockefeller and Carnegie needed to be busted up according to Roosevelt. The progressive party got its nick name Bull-Moose because of a quote from Roosevelt saying he was as “fit as a moose” after being shot by a would be assassin giving a speech in Milwaukee.

President Woodrow Wilson Elected president of the United States in 1912 after the one term failure of Republican William Howard Taft. He was a well known and influential professor and president at the prestigious Princeton University. During the crowded 1912 election he received 41% of the popular vote among 5 candidates. The Electoral College gave him a majority enabling him to secure the presidency against the incumbent Taft and former president Teddy Roosevelt. After he was elected president he continued progressive policies such as reducing tariffs.

Federal Reserve Act • The Federal Reserve Act is the federal law Congress passed that created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States of America, and granted it the legal authority to issue legal tender [cash].

Clayton Anti-Trust Act This act corrected some weaknesses of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by outlawing such practices such as price discrimination and interlocking directorates [a business that has managers that work for different companies and can help control different types of markets], or management of two or more competing companies by the same executive. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 was enacted in the United States to add further substance to the U. S. antitrust law government agents by seeking to prevent anticompetitive practices at the beginning. That regime started with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the first Federal law outlawing practices considered harmful to consumers (monopolies, cartels, and trusts). The Clayton act specified particular prohibited conduct, the three-level enforcement scheme, the exemptions [exceptions].

Local Forms of Government created during the Progressive Period Commission Type of county government system where representatives are elected by citizens to pass laws and create progressive laws to benefit citizens. Council-Manager Type of city government that replaced the county commission system because it allowed a council [city legislature elected by citizens] to elect a “manager” to run the finances of the city. If the manager did a poor job he could be fired by the council.

Landmark U. S. Supreme Court case: Plessy vs. Ferguson Background information Louisiana law allowed for separate train cars for whites and blacks. A “justice” committee with members who were both white and black decided to protest the law because it was unfair and racist according to them. The “justice” committee found a man named Homer Plessy, who was very, very light and could “pass for white” so he would be allowed to buy a ticket in the “white section. ” They also raised money and got a lawyer to challenge the law just in case Plessy was arrested. After Plessy boarded the train he announced that he was black and was told to go the “black car. ” He refused and was arrested. He was found guilty in court and fined $100 [a lot of money at the time].

Landmark U. S. Supreme Court case: Plessy vs. Ferguson • Because Homer Plessy believed his conviction and $100 fine were wrong he appealed his case which went all the way because the issues at stake were so important. • According to the 14 th Amendment of the U. S. Constitution all U. S. citizens had equal protection under the law. • The Court ruled against Plessy because it said the Louisiana law provided public facilities such as trains that were separate but equal. • The Court’s ruling reinforced the legal concept of de jure segregation. • De jure is a Latin term for according to or by law. • So basically the U. S. government allowed racism from that point on.

Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 • In the late 1800 s Wilmington, N. C. was the most populated North Carolina city and was also majority black. • On November 10, 1898 hundreds of heavily armed racist white supremacists decided to overthrow the black-controlled local government. • Using Gatling machine guns on top of wagons and lynching [illegal hanging]. • Probably over 100 blacks were murdered during the riot and the city government was overthrown by coup d’etat. • White supremacist candidates won elections in Wilmington and 2 years later a racist named Charles B. Aycock was elected North Carolina’s governor in 1900.

Booker T. Washington • Washington was born a slave to an enslaved mother and rich white planter father in Virginia. • Washington was freed as a young boy. • He became trained in trades such as carpentry and masonry and learned to read. • He became a teacher at a well known black school in Virginia [Hampton] and later led his own school in Alabama. • The Tuskegee Institute in Alabama was led by Washington for more than 20 years. • He gave a famous speech called the Atlanta Compromise that asked blacks to work hard and partner with whites to “get ahead. ”

Booker T. Washington • At Tuskegee has made friends with rich white men who gave the school millions of dollars. • Black students were educated and trained in trades such as teaching, plumbing and construction. • He believed it was important for students to be able to “pay their bills” by their own labor and self-reliance.

W. E. B. Du Bois • William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was different than Booker T. Washington in many ways. • He was born in Massachusetts to free black parents who were also free. • He was highly educated becoming the first black person to earn a Ph. d in 1895. • He studied in the North, South and overseas in Germany where he had many opportunities to develop his intellect.

W. E. B. Du Bois • • During the first few years of the 1900 s he joined with other educated and motivated blacks to form the Niagara Movement to find ways to legally improve the conditions of blacks in the United States. The groups was originally forced to travel to Canada for hotel rooms because American hotel owners would not accept them. In 1909 he was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP]. He was the editor of The Crisis magazine of the NAACP which detailed stories about everything from politics to poetry. He believed blacks were entitled to equality immediately. He became frustrated and moved to Ghana in Africa.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett • Ida Wells was a Mississippi born and educated journalist [newspaper writer]. • She traveled all over the South investigating hate crimes and wrote extensively on the practice of lynching. • Lynching is when someone accused of wrong doing is captured by an angry mob and hanged from a tree or pole until death. While execution is legal in many states you must have a trial and be found guilty of murder. • Wells wrote dozens of ant-lynching stories and spoke out for women’s suffrage.

Disenfranchisement • Disenfranchisement is the act of limiting or prohibiting someone’s suffrage [right to vote]. • All over the South tactics designed to discourage black suffrage [poor uneducated whites too]. • The Poll Tax a fee for voting was usually just high enough to prevent poor blacks from being able to vote. This policy was later outl

Disenfranchisement • Another voter discrimination tactic used in the South was the so-called literacy test. • Before voters could cast their ballot [vote] they had to take a multi-page test. • Many blacks in the South were poorly educated and had limited reading ability so they usually did not pass the test [sometimes they were also tricked]. • This practice limited black suffrage rights.

The Great Migration • Because of rampant racism, lynching, terror tactics by the K. K. K. and Jim Crow laws millions of blacks from 1910 to 1970 left the South. • Big cities such as Los Angeles, Kansas City, Detroit, Chicago, Boston and New York gained black migrants to work in factories producing military weapons, cars, trains, ships and machinery. • Every major city had large black population however they mostly lived in segregated communities.

Jim Crow Laws • In order to preserve the worst parts of the Southern culture [way of life] racist laws were passed to segregate [separate] blacks and whites in public places. • Blacks who tried to use public facilities such as water fountains, buses and schools could be fined, arrested or lynched [hanged without trial by an angry mob of people]. • Because these were segregationist laws they were also examples de jure segregation.

George Westinghouse • Westinghouse was an inventor from New York. • He made a fortune selling his railroad air brake. • He later made millions organizing the Westinghouse Electric Company that used the principle of AC [alternative current]. • Electricity became very popular in many American homes. Westinghouse Electrical Power Plant

Mail Order Catalogs Department stores such as Montgomery Ward [1872] and Sears-Roebuck [1886] began mail-order businesses. Rural general stores were replaced for most household goods. The goods were generally very inexpensive and disposal. The waste produced by packaging created challenges for cities for garbage removal management.

The Kodak Camera In 1892 George Eastman founded the Eastman-Kodak Company. Eastman manufactured cameras that were small, had self-contained film and were durable. The price of the cameras were low enough that most middle class people could afford them.

Orville and Wilbur Wright The Wright Brothers started out as bicycle makers and salesmen in Indiana. They were fascinated with birds in flight and wanted to make a flying machine. After many months of design and testing the Wright brothers flew several successful short flights using gliders [wind aided] and flyers foot or leg power] in the town Kitty Hawk, N. C. in 1903. The longest flight lasted 26 seconds.

Henry Ford and his achievements Henry Ford had been an employee of several early car companies in Michigan where he was from. He started in own car company, The Ford Motor Company, in 1903. His company paid its workers an excellent wage $5 a day. To increase productivity and make cars faster, more cheaply he created an assembly line. Production tasks were separated and people got better at their tasks because of the repetition.

The Model T Ford rolled his most popular car the Model T in 1908. It started off costing $825 but within 5 years cost $300 or less. He was able to sell it cheaply because of the assembly line. The car made individual travel much easier and safer.

Workers as consumers • Ford paid his workers very well and they had disposable income more than most American workers. • As a result of having good wages and income Ford workers participated in the economy as consumers [buyers].

Skyscrapers Throughout the late 1800 s and early 1900 s large multi-story buildings were built all over America’s largest cities. Chicago and New York City were the two best examples of cities with skyscrapers. The Chrysler and Empire State buildings both soared across the New York City skyline.

Militarism Who were the “good guys” and why? _______________________ Alliances Key incident #1 that provoked the United States__________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __ Causes of World War One M. A. I. N. Key incident #2 that provoked the United States___________________________ ___________________________ ______________ Imperialism/Isolationism Who were the “bad guys” and why? __________________________ Nationalism

Some causes of WWI • In June of 1914 The Archduke of Autria. Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by a “crazy” person named Gavrilo Princip from the neighboring country of Sebia who did not like him. • Germany, his country’s ally, believed its enemies were behind his murder and started to get its troops ready to attack countries such as France and England.

Sinking of RMS Lusitania • In May of 1915 a passenger cruise ship, RMS Lusitania, was sunk by a German U-Boat [submarine] off the coast of Ireland killing nearly 2, 000 people including almost 200 Americans. • This aggression caused the Americans to be even angrier at Germany and made them confident they made the correct decision to fight them and eventually win.

Militarism • Two principal reasons for the rise of militarism: • (1) Desire to be powerful in order to take over other countries. • (2) Desire to defend themselves from powerful countries.

Weapons of War • Many new weapons were invented for use during the Great War. • Such as? • Machine guns, warplanes, land mines, tanks, chemical gas and gas masks. • Purpose? • To kill or injure as many people as possible.

Weapons of War • Tanks- Soldiers were able to travel on the battlefield quickly with protection and heavy firepower. • Landmines- Soldiers were able to place explosive devices beneath the ground in order to injure, maim or kill without great risk to themselves. • Mines activated by weight pressure of person walking on top of mine. • Exception: Landmines would sometimes malfunction and kill the person placing it.

Striving to be the best • The principal goal of war is to destroy the enemy. • Two basic goals during war. • Attacking (offense) or defending against attack (defense). • Tactic used both on offense and defense were trenches.

No Man’s Land • The most dangerous area on the World War I battlefield was No Man’s Land. • The area between enemy trenches exposed troops to enemy fire and land mines. • Stalemates were often ended when troops entered No Man’s Land.

How can a government convince its people to think or feel a certain way? • Using propaganda. • What is that? • Speeches, books, posters or images used to influence someone. • Sometimes they are meant to scare, warn, help or encourage people.

Taking Sides • Europe had a “trouble maker ” from the 1850 s 1914. Kaiser Wilhelm • Who was it? • Germany • The Kaiser [German monarch] wanted more land power.

Alliances • Triple Alliance: • Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. • Goal: • Protect members of the alliance. • To dominate Europe and control it.

Alliances • Triple Entente: • Russia, France and England. • Goal: • protect themselves from the Triple alliance.

The Zimmerman Note [telegram] • The foreign secretary of Germany, Arthur Zimmerman, in January of 1917 sent a telegram [old version of a text message] to the president of Mexico in “code” asking him to attack the U. S. in exchange for return of territories [Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona]. • The telegram was intercepted angered the U. S. to the point of joining the allies against Germany.

Isolationism: American Involvement • France got their butts kicked by Germany and needed help. • The United States wanted to remain neutral and isolate [isolationism] itself from the rest of the world. • The United States came to their aid and joined their alliance in 1917. • American firepower and industrial power was the key the Triple Entente’s victory.

Nationalism • Extreme feelings of pride for a country. • What can this lead to? • Feeling jealous, envious, suspicious, fearful or hateful toward another country. • These “feelings” can be exploited by a government’s leadership.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare • To attempt to control Germany’s up and coming powerful navy the British decided to blockade German ports. • Every ship, German or not, was stopped by England inspected for contraband [illegal cargo including military weapons]. • Germany responded by declaring it would sink any ship around English waters using U-boats [submarines]. • Germany sank many ships including the Lusitania in 1915.

WWI Propaganda

The Idealism of Wilson • President Wilson for several years attempted to keep the U. S. neutral and isolated from European conflict. • He hoped his idealism could be viewed as constructive to world peace. • However, after German aggression via unrestricted U-boat submarine warfare and plotting with Mexico to invade the U. S. he had no choice but to enter WWI. • Wilson promised to break off connections with Germany if they continued unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany got nervous and promised to end its bombing called the Sussex Pledge. • To supply military personnel the U. S. Congress passed the Selective Service Act in 1917 requiring men 21 -30 to register for the draft. • A random lottery would determine who was called to serve first.

Election of 1916 • Because of the power of Big Business and his crusade against them Wilson almost lost his re-election bid in 1916. • However, because many citizens did not want to change president during the war Wilson won the election by less that 500, 000 votes. Democrat Woodrow Wilson Republican Charles Evan Hughes

Isolationism and Pacifism • Isolationism was rejected by most Americans after Americans died aboard the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram was made public. • The first woman elected to the U. S. Congress Jeanette Rankin to represent a district in Montana. • She voted against a declaration of war against Germany and she was ruined publicly. • She voted for a draft to get Americans to think about the consequences of a world war.

The Peace at Paris • The Allied Powers [led by the U. S. ] defeated the Central Powers by 1918. • The Germans were forced to surrender. • Everyone involved in the war met at Versailles to negotiate a treaty. • Forced to pay reparations [pay damages]. • Forced to sign a guilt clause [take blame for starting the war] on the treaty. • The U. S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty.

WWI U. S. Soldiers: Doughboys • Millions of American men were drafted or volunteered for service in World War I. • Almost 400, 000 African-American men were drafted as well but they were unfortunately placed into segregated units with only white commanders. • American soldiers who fought fiercely and victoriously came to be known as doughboys. • The origin of the name is unclear but many people believe it either came from the chalky white dust that covered uniforms during the Mexican-American War or from the types of food they cooked in the field which was usually biscuits and rice.

General John J. Pershing Commander of the American Expeditionary Force • General John J. Pershing, also known as Black jack had been well known for his pursuit of Mexican rebel leader Pancho Villa in 1911. • General Pershing was assigned by President Wilson to lead the American Expeditionary Force [U. S. armed forces army and marines] against the Central Powers in Europe. • Pershing was well known for his refusal to allow U. S. troops to be integrated [mixed into] into British and French forces. • He believed U. S. forces should be lead by U. S. commanders. Wilson supported his decision.

The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 • During WWI Russia had been part of the Triple Entente [later the Allied Powers. • The Russian Tsar [King] had not handled Russia's involvement very well and many Russian citizens suffered food and fuel shortages. • Many Russian citizens were furious with the Russian royal family. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated [gave up] his throne in 1917. • The Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the temporary Russian government that was set up after the Tsar abdicated. • Bolsheviks withdrew from the Allied Powers to focus on creating a strong communist party and made Germany’s task to win the war easier.

President Wilson’s 14 Points • Towards the very end of World War I President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918. • The purpose of the speech was to assure the United States that America’s purpose in the war and its aftermath was just. • Wilson laid out 14 main points but perhaps the most important were points 1 -5 and 14. [1] There should be an end to all secret diplomacy amongst countries. [2] Freedom of the seas in peace and war [3] The reduction of trade barriers among nations [4] The general reduction of armaments [5] The adjustment of colonial claims in the interest of the inhabitants as well as of the colonial powers [14] A league of nations to protect "mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike. "

The League of Nations • President Wilson’s 14 th Point wanted to create a League of Nations. • The League of Nations was to act as a world wide alliance to prevent future wars. • However, members of the U. S. Senate who were known as Reservationists because they had reservations [doubts] about the League refused to allow the treaty to be ratified. • According to the Senator Henry Cabot Lodge [leader of the reservationists] only Congress had the power to declare war and this treaty would give foreign nations power to bring the U. S. into future wars.

18 th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution • The Temperance movement had a profound effect on American culture. • After decades of pressure by Christian socialists and Progressives the 18 th Amendment was passed to prohibit the manufacture, possession, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. • Passage of the Volstead Act made enforcement of Prohibition more powerful because the federal government used the U. S. Treasury Department to conduct raids on speakeasies and bootlegging factories.

19 th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution • On August 26, 1920 universal women’s suffrage was granted in the United States. • Because of de jure and de facto discrimination against women throughout U. S. history many women had been unwilling to be active in fighting for civil rights. • However, courageously active women such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton protested and lobbied legislatures relentlessly and were eventually able to secure voting rights for American women.

Popularity of American Propaganda • In order to generate public support for World War I President Wilson created the C. P. I. Committee on Public Information. • An experienced news journalist named George Creel was assigned to lead the CPI in order to sell the war to the American people. • From 1917 forward propaganda became a very powerful tool used by the United States government in order to influence popular opinion.

Food Administration led by Herbert Hoover The federal government was also successfully able to mobilize citizens by encouraging them to ration food. Citizens were encouraged by the U. S. Food Administration to conserve food, avoid waste and grow their own food when possible. Citizens grew victory gardens as a symbolic way to support the war effort. The goal of the U. S. Food Administration was to increase food production while reducing civilian consumption. Future president Herbert Hoover was in charge of the agency.

The W. I. B. War Industries Board led by Bernard Baruch • In order to coordinate all of the necessary materials to create weapons and other essential products President Wilson created the W. I. B. War Industries Board. • Wealthy and powerful Wall Street banker Bernard Baruch was assigned to run the federal agency. • The agency had the power to allocate and ration raw materials and force companies whatever materials the U. S. needed to win the war. • Some examples included car companies making military vehicles and aviation companies making fighter planes.

Espionage and Sedition Acts • Two laws were passed by Congress to curtail [limit] the civil liberties of U. S. citizens during the war. • The Espionage Act imposed strict sanctions on anyone opposing the war or spying and passing sensitive information to foreign governments. • The Sedition Act forbade U. S. citizens from speaking out against the war in public.

Espionage and Sedition Acts These laws were challenged in the U. S. Supreme Court. Charles Schenck was arrested for mailing pamphlets to draftees telling them to protest the war. He was arrested and convicted for sedition. He appealed citing his 1 st Amendment Free Speech rights his case was known as Schenk vs. United States. The U. S. Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and the Sedition Act citing national security interests during war time. Eugene V. Debs was also jailed on similar charges of protesting against the U. S. government. Debs was the rowdy and vocal socialist labor union leader and agitator.

I. W. W. Industrial Workers of the World • If you remember from previous lessons labor unions fought for the rights of workers by organizing. • The federal government believed that radical union behavior during the was such as strikes would harm the war effort. • The U. S. Department of Justice conducted raids on labor union buildings and during meetings. • Through law enforcement and propaganda public opinion was turned against labor unions during World War I. So much so that so labor leaders were lynched.

Power and Paranoia of the Federal Government • After the Great War the United States had increased powers based on the Espionage and Sedition Acts. • To uncover threats against the United States the U. S. Attorney General Mitchell Palmer ordered raids on suspected communists and anarchists. • The Palmer raids were conducted by federal agents to uncover domestic threats to the U. S. Ransacked office of an alleged seditious U. S. citizen by federal agents during the Palmer Raids.

Washington Naval Conference • This was the first major international meeting in the United States about disarmament. • The purpose of the meeting to avoid future military build ups [especially naval] in foreign nations. • The Empire of Japan managed to scheme a way to building a very powerful navy heading into WWII.