You are on page 1of 185

OUTLINE OF

U.S. HISTORY
OU
O UT
TLL II N
NEE O
OFF

U.S. HISTORY
C O N T E N T S
CHAPTER 1 Early America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CHAPTER 2 The Colonial Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CHAPTER 3 The Road to Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

CHAPTER 4 The Formation of a National Government . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

CHAPTER 5 Westward Expansion and Regional Differences . . . . . . . 110

CHAPTER 6 Sectional Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

CHAPTER 7 The Civil War and Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

CHAPTER 8 Growth and Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

CHAPTER 9 Discontent and Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

CHAPTER 10 War, Prosperity, and Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

CHAPTER 11 The New Deal and World War I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

CHAPTER 12 Postwar America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

CHAPTER 13 Decades of Change: 1960-1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

CHAPTER 14 The New Conservatism and a New World Order . . . . . . 304

CHAPTER 15 Bridge to the 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

PICTURE PROFILES

Becoming a Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Transforming a Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Monuments and Memorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Turmoil and Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
21st Century Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
1
CHAPTER

EARLY
AMERICA

Mesa Verde settlement in


Colorado, 13th century.

4
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“Heaven and Earth never much of the Western Hemisphere by ing earthen burial sites and for-

agreed better to frame a place


some time prior to 10,000 B.C. tifications around 600 B.C. Some
Around that time the mammoth mounds from that era are in the
began to die out and the bison took shape of birds or serpents; they
for man’s habitation.” its place as a principal source of probably served religious purposes
food and hides for these early North not yet fully understood.
Americans. Over time, as more and The Adenans appear to have
Jamestown founder John Smith, 1607 more species of large game vanished been absorbed or displaced by vari-
— whether from overhunting or ous groups collectively known as
natural causes — plants, berries, Hopewellians. One of the most im-
and seeds became an increasingly portant centers of their culture was
important part of the early Ameri- found in southern Ohio, where the
can diet. Gradually, foraging and remains of several thousand of these
the first attempts at primitive agri- mounds still can be seen. Believed
culture appeared. Native Americans to be great traders, the Hopewel-
in what is now central Mexico led lians used and exchanged tools and
the way, cultivating corn, squash, materials across a wide region of
and beans, perhaps as early as 8,000 hundreds of kilometers.
B.C. Slowly, this knowledge spread By around 500 A.D., the
THE FIRST AMERICANS ancestors had for thousands of northward. Hopewellians disappeared, too,

A years, along the Siberian coast and By 3,000 B.C., a primitive type of gradually giving way to a broad
t the height of the Ice Age, be- then across the land bridge. corn was being grown in the river group of tribes generally known
tween 34,000 and 30,000 B.C., much Once in Alaska, it would take valleys of New Mexico and Arizona. as the Mississippians or Temple
of the world’s water was locked up these first North Americans thou- Then the first signs of irrigation Mound culture. One city, Cahokia,
in vast continental ice sheets. As a sands of years more to work their began to appear, and, by 300 B.C., near Collinsville, Illinois, is thought
result, the Bering Sea was hundreds way through the openings in great signs of early village life. to have had a population of about
of meters below its current level, and glaciers south to what is now the By the first centuries A.D., the 20,000 at its peak in the early 12th
a land bridge, known as Beringia, United States. Evidence of early life Hohokam were living in settlements century. At the center of the city
emerged between Asia and North in North America continues to be near what is now Phoenix, Arizona, stood a huge earthen mound, flat-
America. At its peak, Beringia is found. Little of it, however, can be where they built ball courts and tened at the top, that was 30 meters
thought to have been some 1,500 ki- reliably dated before 12,000 B.C.; a pyramid-like mounds reminiscent high and 37 hectares at the base.
lometers wide. A moist and treeless recent discovery of a hunting look- of those found in Mexico, as well as Eighty other mounds have been
tundra, it was covered with grasses out in northern Alaska, for example, a canal and irrigation system. found nearby.
and plant life, attracting the large may date from almost that time. Cities such as Cahokia depended
animals that early humans hunted So too may the finely crafted spear MOUND BUILDERS AND on a combination of hunting, for-
for their survival. points and items found near Clovis, PUEBLOS aging, trading, and agriculture for

T
The first people to reach North New Mexico. their food and supplies. Influenced
America almost certainly did so Similar artifacts have been found he first Native-American group by the thriving societies to the
without knowing they had crossed at sites throughout North and South to build mounds in what is now the south, they evolved into complex hi-
into a new continent. They would America, indicating that life was United States often are called the erarchical societies that took slaves
have been following game, as their probably already well established in Adenans. They began construct- and practiced human sacrifice.

6 7
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

In what is now the southwest had on the indigenous population and strong evidence exists that Columbus never saw the main-
United States, the Anasazi, ancestors practically from the time of initial neighboring tribes maintained ex- land of the future United States,
of the modern Hopi Indians, began contact. Smallpox, in particular, tensive and formal relations — both but the first explorations of it were
building stone and adobe pueblos ravaged whole communities and is friendly and hostile. launched from the Spanish posses-
around the year 900. These unique thought to have been a much more sions that he helped establish. The
and amazing apartment-like struc- direct cause of the precipitous de- THE FIRST EUROPEANS first of these took place in 1513

T
tures were often built along cliff cline in the Indian population in the when a group of men under Juan
faces; the most famous, the “cliff 1600s than the numerous wars and he first Europeans to arrive in Ponce de León landed on the Florida
palace” of Mesa Verde, Colorado, skirmishes with European settlers. North America — at least the first coast near the present city of St. Au-
had more than 200 rooms. Another Indian customs and culture at the for whom there is solid evidence gustine.
site, the Pueblo Bonito ruins along time were extraordinarily diverse, as — were Norse, traveling west from With the conquest of Mexico in
New Mexico’s Chaco River, once could be expected, given the ex- Greenland, where Erik the Red had 1522, the Spanish further solidi-
contained more than 800 rooms. panse of the land and the many dif- founded a settlement around the fied their position in the Western
Perhaps the most affluent of the ferent environments to which they year 985. In 1001 his son Leif is Hemisphere. The ensuing discover-
pre-Columbian Native Americans had dapted. Some generalizations, thought to have explored the north- ies added to Europe’s knowledge of
lived in the Pacific Northwest, where however, are possible. Most tribes, east coast of what is now Canada and what was now named America —
the natural abundance of fish and particularly in the wooded eastern spent at least one winter there. after the Italian Amerigo Vespucci,
raw materials made food supplies region and the Midwest, combined While Norse sagas suggest that who wrote a widely popular account
plentiful and permanent villages pos- aspects of hunting, gathering, and Viking sailors explored the Atlan- of his voyages to a “New World.” By
sible as early as 1,000 B.C. The opu- the cultivation of maize and other tic coast of North America down 1529 reliable maps of the Atlantic
lence of their “potlatch” gatherings products for their food supplies. as far as the Bahamas, such claims coastline from Labrador to Tierra
remains a standard for extravagance In many cases, the women were remain unproven. In 1963, however, del Fuego had been drawn up, al-
and festivity probably unmatched in responsible for farming and the the ruins of some Norse houses dat- though it would take more than an-
early American history. distribution of food, while the men ing from that era were discovered at other century before hope of discov-
hunted and participated in war. L’Anse-aux-Meadows in northern ering a “Northwest Passage” to Asia
NATIVE-AMERICAN By all accounts, Native-American Newfoundland, thus supporting at would be completely abandoned.
CULTURES society in North America was closely least some of the saga claims. Among the most significant early

T tied to the land. Identification with In 1497, just five years after Spanish explorations was that of
he America that greeted the first nature and the elements was integral Christopher Columbus landed in Hernando De Soto, a veteran con-
Europeans was, thus, far from an to religious beliefs. Their life was the Caribbean looking for a west- quistador who had accompanied
empty wilderness. It is now thought essentially clan-oriented and com- ern route to Asia, a Venetian sailor Francisco Pizarro in the conquest
that as many people lived in the munal, with children allowed more named John Cabot arrived in of Peru. Leaving Havana in 1539, De
Western Hemisphere as in Western freedom and tolerance than was the Newfoundland on a mission for Soto’s expedition landed in Florida
Europe at that time — about 40 European custom of the day. the British king. Although quickly and ranged through the southeast-
million. Estimates of the number Although some North American forgotten, Cabot’s journey was later ern United States as far as the Mis-
of Native Americans living in what tribes developed a type of hiero- to provide the basis for British claims sissippi River in search of riches.
is now the United States at the on- glyphics to preserve certain texts, to North America. It also opened Another Spaniard, Francisco
set of European colonization range Native-American culture was pri- the way to the rich fishing grounds Vázquez de Coronado, set out from
from two to 18 million, with most marily oral, with a high value placed off George’s Banks, to which Eu- Mexico in 1540 in search of the
historians tending toward the lower on the recounting of tales and ropean fishermen, particularly the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola.
figure. What is certain is the devas- dreams. Clearly, there was a good Portuguese, were soon making Coronado’s travels took him to the
tating effect that European disease deal of trade among various groups regular visits. Grand Canyon and Kansas, but

8 9
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

failed to reveal the gold or treasure European settlement in what would trickle of a few hundred English woods. The settlers might not have
his men sought. However, his party become the United States. colonists to a flood of millions of survived had it not been for the
did leave the peoples of the region The great wealth that poured into newcomers. Impelled by powerful help of friendly Indians, who taught
a remarkable, if unintended, gift: Spain from the colonies in Mexico, and diverse motivations, they built them how to grow native plants —
Enough of his horses escaped to the Caribbean, and Peru provoked a new civilization on the northern pumpkin, squash, beans, and corn.
transform life on the Great Plains. great interest on the part of the part of the continent. In addition, the vast, virgin forests,
Within a few generations, the Plains other European powers. Emerging The first English immigrants extending nearly 2,100 kilometers
Indians had become masters of maritime nations such as England, to what is now the United States along the Eastern seaboard, proved
horsemanship, greatly expanding drawn in part by Francis Drake’s crossed the Atlantic long after thriv- a rich source of game and firewood.
the range of their activities. successful raids on Spanish treasure ing Spanish colonies had been estab- They also provided abundant raw
While the Spanish were pushing ships, began to take an interest in the lished in Mexico, the West Indies, materials used to build houses, fur-
up from the south, the northern New World. and South America. Like all early niture, ships, and profitable items
portion of the present-day United In 1578 Humphrey Gilbert, the travelers to the New World, they for export.
States was slowly being revealed author of a treatise on the search came in small, overcrowded ships. Although the new continent was
through the journeys of men such for the Northwest Passage, received During their six- to 12-week voy- remarkably endowed by nature,
as Giovanni da Verrazano. A Flo- a patent from Queen Elizabeth to ages, they lived on meager rations. trade with Europe was vital for ar-
rentine who sailed for the French, colonize the “heathen and barba- Many died of disease, ships were ticles the settlers could not produce.
Verrazano made landfall in North rous landes” in the New World that often battered by storms, and some The coast served the immigrants
Carolina in 1524, then sailed north other European nations had not yet were lost at sea. well. The whole length of shore pro-
along the Atlantic Coast past what is claimed. It would be five years before Most European emigrants left vided many inlets and harbors. Only
now New York harbor. his efforts could begin. When he was their homelands to escape politi- two areas — North Carolina and
A decade later, the Frenchman lost at sea, his half-brother, Walter cal oppression, to seek the freedom southern New Jersey — lacked har-
Jacques Cartier set sail with the Raleigh, took up the mission. to practice their religion, or to bors for ocean-going vessels.
hope — like the other Europeans In 1585 Raleigh established the find opportunities denied them at Majestic rivers — the Kennebec,
before him — of finding a sea pas- first British colony in North Amer- home. Between 1620 and 1635, eco- Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna,
sage to Asia. Cartier’s expeditions ica, on Roanoke Island off the coast nomic difficulties swept England. Potomac, and numerous others —
along the St. Lawrence River laid the of North Carolina. It was later aban- Many people could not find work. linked lands between the coast and
foundation for the French claims to doned, and a second effort two years Even skilled artisans could earn the Appalachian Mountains with
North America, which were to last later also proved a failure. It would little more than a bare living. Poor the sea. Only one river, however, the
until 1763. be 20 years before the British would crop yields added to the distress. In St. Lawrence — dominated by the
Following the collapse of their try again. This time — at Jamestown addition, the Commercial Revolu- French in Canada — offered a water
first Quebec colony in the 1540s, in 1607 — the colony would succeed, tion had created a burgeoning tex- passage to the Great Lakes and the
French Huguenots attempted to set- and North America would enter a tile industry, which demanded an heart of the continent. Dense forests,
tle the northern coast of Florida two new era. ever-increasing supply of wool to the resistance of some Indian tribes,
decades later. The Spanish, viewing keep the looms running. Landlords and the formidable barrier of the
the French as a threat to their trade EARLY SETTLEMENTS enclosed farmlands and evicted the Appalachian Mountains discour-

T
route along the Gulf Stream, de- peasants in favor of sheep cultiva- aged settlement beyond the coastal
stroyed the colony in 1565. Ironical- he early 1600s saw the begin- tion. Colonial expansion became plain. Only trappers and traders
ly, the leader of the Spanish forces, ning of a great tide of emigration an outlet for this displaced peasant ventured into the wilderness. For
Pedro Menéndez, would soon estab- from Europe to North America. population. the first hundred years the colonists
lish a town not far away — St. Au- Spanning more than three centu- The colonists’ first glimpse of built their settlements compactly
gustine. It was the first permanent ries, this movement grew from a the new land was a vista of dense along the coast.

10 11
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Political considerations influ- they chose a site about 60 kilometers only 1,132 were living there in 1624. nized government, the men drafted
enced many people to move to up the James River from the bay. On recommendation of a royal com- a formal agreement to abide by “just
America. In the 1630s, arbitrary rule Made up of townsmen and ad- mission, the king dissolved the Vir- and equal laws” drafted by leaders
by England’s Charles I gave impetus venturers more interested in finding ginia Company, and made it a royal of their own choosing. This was the
to the migration. The subsequent re- gold than farming, the group was colony that year. Mayflower Compact.
volt and triumph of Charles’ oppo- unequipped by temperament or abil- In December the Mayflower
nents under Oliver Cromwell in the ity to embark upon a completely new MASSACHUSETTS reached Plymouth harbor; the Pil-

D
1640s led many cavaliers — “king’s life in the wilderness. Among them, grims began to build their settle-
men” — to cast their lot in Virginia.Captain John Smith emerged as the uring the religious upheavals ment during the winter. Nearly half
In the German-speaking regions of dominant figure. Despite quarrels, of the 16th century, a body of men the colonists died of exposure and
Europe, the oppressive policies of starvation, and Native-American and women called Puritans sought disease, but neighboring Wampa-
various petty princes — particularly attacks, his ability to enforce disci- to reform the Established Church noag Indians provided the informa-
with regard to religion — and the pline held the little colony together of England from within. Essentially, tion that would sustain them: how to
devastation caused by a long series through its first year. they demanded that the rituals and grow maize. By the next fall, the Pil-
of wars helped swell the movement In 1609 Smith returned to Eng- structures associated with Roman grims had a plentiful crop of corn,
to America in the late 17th and 18th land, and in his absence, the colony Catholicism be replaced by simpler and a growing trade based on furs
centuries. descended into anarchy. During the Calvinist Protestant forms of faith and lumber.
The journey entailed careful winter of 1609-1610, the majority of and worship. Their reformist ideas, A new wave of immigrants ar-
planning and management, as well the colonists succumbed to disease. by destroying the unity of the state rived on the shores of Massachusetts
as considerable expense and risk. Only 60 of the original 300 settlers church, threatened to divide the Bay in 1630 bearing a grant from
Settlers had to be transported nearlywere still alive by May 1610. That people and to undermine royal au- King Charles I to establish a colony.
5,000 kilometers across the sea. Theysame year, the town of Henrico (now thority. Many of them were Puritans whose
needed utensils, clothing, seed, tools,
Richmond) was established farther In 1607 a small group of Sepa- religious practices were increasingly
building materials, livestock, arms, up the James River. ratists — a radical sect of Puritans prohibited in England. Their leader,
and ammunition. In contrast to the It was not long, however, before who did not believe the Established John Winthrop, urged them to cre-
colonization policies of other coun- a development occurred that revo- Church could ever be reformed ate a “city upon a hill” in the New
tries and other periods, the emigra- lutionized Virginia’s economy. In — departed for Leyden, Holland, World — a place where they would
tion from England was not directly 1612 John Rolfe began cross-breed- where the Dutch granted them asy- live in strict accordance with their
sponsored by the government but by ing imported tobacco seed from the lum. However, the Calvinist Dutch religious beliefs and set an example
private groups of individuals whose West Indies with native plants and restricted them mainly to low-paid for all of Christendom.
chief motive was profit. produced a new variety that was laboring jobs. Some members of the The Massachusetts Bay Colony
pleasing to European taste. The first congregation grew dissatisfied with was to play a significant role in the
JAMESTOWN shipment of this tobacco reached this discrimination and resolved to development of the entire New Eng-

T London in 1614. Within a decade it emigrate to the New World. land region, in part because Win-
he first of the British colonies had become Virginia’s chief source In 1620, a group of Leyden Puri- throp and his Puritan colleagues
to take hold in North America was of revenue. tans secured a land patent from the were able to bring their charter
Jamestown. On the basis of a charter Prosperity did not come quickly, Virginia Company. Numbering 101, with them. Thus the authority for
which King James I granted to the however, and the death rate from they set out for Virginia on the May- the colony’s government resided in
Virginia (or London) Company, a disease and Indian attacks remained flower. A storm sent them far north Massachusetts, not in England.
group of about 100 men set out for extraordinarily high. Between 1607 and they landed in New England Under the charter’s provisions,
the Chesapeake Bay in 1607. Seeking and 1624 approximately 14,000 on Cape Cod. Believing themselves power rested with the General
to avoid conflict with the Spanish, people migrated to the colony, yet outside the jurisdiction of any orga- Court, which was made up of “free-

12 13
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

men” required to be members of the and deep, rich soil. These new com- encouraged a type of feudal aris- and to avoid trouble with the British
Puritan, or Congregational, Church. munities often eliminated church tocracy, known as the “patroon” government, they also encouraged
This guaranteed that the Puritans membership as a prerequisite for system. The first of these huge es- Protestant immigration.
would be the dominant political as voting, thereby extending the fran- tates were established in 1630 along Maryland’s royal charter had
well as religious force in the colony. chise to ever larger numbers of men. the Hudson River. Under the pa- a mixture of feudal and modern
The General Court elected the gov- At the same time, other settle- troon system, any stockholder, or elements. On the one hand the
ernor, who for most of the next gen- ments began cropping up along the patroon, who could bring 50 adults Calvert family had the power to
eration would be John Winthrop. New Hampshire and Maine coasts, to his estate over a four-year period create manorial estates. On the oth-
The rigid orthodoxy of the Pu- as more and more immigrants was given a 25-kilometer river-front er, they could only make laws with
ritan rule was not to everyone’s lik- sought the land and liberty the New plot, exclusive fishing and hunting the consent of freemen (property
ing. One of the first to challenge the World seemed to offer. privileges, and civil and criminal ju- holders). They found that in order
General Court openly was a young risdiction over his lands. In turn, he to attract settlers — and make a
clergyman named Roger Williams, NEW NETHERLAND AND provided livestock, tools, and build- profit from their holdings — they
who objected to the colony’s seizure MARYLAND ings. The tenants paid the patroon had to offer people farms, not just

H
of Indian lands and advocated sepa- rent and gave him first option on tenancy on manorial estates. The
ration of church and state. Another ired by the Dutch East India surplus crops. number of independent farms grew
dissenter, Anne Hutchinson, chal- Company, Henry Hudson in 1609 Further to the south, a Swed- in consequence. Their owners de-
lenged key doctrines of Puritan the- explored the area around what is ish trading company with ties to manded a voice in the affairs of the
ology. Both they and their followers now New York City and the river the Dutch attempted to set up its colony. Maryland’s first legislature
were banished. that bears his name, to a point prob- first settlement along the Delaware met in 1635.
Williams purchased land from ably north of present-day Albany, River three years later. Without the
the Narragansett Indians in what is New York. Subsequent Dutch voy- resources to consolidate its position, COLONIAL-INDIAN
now Providence, Rhode Island, in ages laid the basis for their claims New Sweden was gradually absorbed RELATIONS

B
1636. In 1644, a sympathetic Puri- and early settlements in the area. into New Netherland, and later,
tan-controlled English Parliament As with the French to the north, Pennsylvania and Delaware. y 1640 the British had solid
gave him the charter that estab- the first interest of the Dutch was In 1632 the Catholic Calvert fam- colonies established along the New
lished Rhode Island as a distinct the fur trade. To this end, they cul- ily obtained a charter for land north England coast and the Chesapeake
colony where complete separation of tivated close relations with the Five of the Potomac River from King Bay. In between were the Dutch and
church and state as well as freedom Nations of the Iroquois, who were Charles I in what became known the tiny Swedish community. To the
of religion was practiced. the key to the heartland from which as Maryland. As the charter did not west were the original Americans,
So-called heretics like Williams the furs came. In 1617 Dutch set- expressly prohibit the establishment then called Indians.
were not the only ones who left tlers built a fort at the junction of of non-Protestant churches, the col- Sometimes friendly, sometimes
Massachusetts. Orthodox Puritans, the Hudson and the Mohawk Rivers, ony became a haven for Catholics. hostile, the Eastern tribes were no
seeking better lands and opportuni- where Albany now stands. Maryland’s first town, St. Mary’s, longer strangers to the Europeans.
ties, soon began leaving Massachu- Settlement on the island of Man- was established in 1634 near where Although Native Americans ben-
setts Bay Colony. News of the fertil- hattan began in the early 1620s. In the Potomac River flows into the efited from access to new technol-
ity of the Connecticut River Valley, 1624, the island was purchased from Chesapeake Bay. ogy and trade, the disease and thirst
for instance, attracted the interest of local Native Americans for the re- While establishing a refuge for for land that the early settlers also
farmers having a difficult time with ported price of $24. It was promptly Catholics, who faced increasing per- brought posed a serious challenge to
poor land. By the early 1630s, many renamed New Amsterdam. secution in Anglican England, the their long-established way of life.
were ready to brave the danger of In order to attract settlers to the Calverts were also interested in cre- At first, trade with the European
Indian attack to obtain level ground Hudson River region, the Dutch ating profitable estates. To this end, settlers brought advantages: knives,

14 15
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

axes, weapons, cooking utensils, The steady influx of settlers cisions, some fighting with the Brit- established in the Carolinas and the
fishhooks, and a host of other into the backwoods regions of the ish, some with the colonists, some Dutch driven out of New Nether-
goods. Those Indians who traded Eastern colonies disrupted Native- remaining neutral. As a result, ev- land. New proprietary colonies were
initially had significant advantage American life. As more and more eryone fought against the Iroquois. established in New York, New Jersey,
over rivals who did not. In response game was killed off, tribes were Their losses were great and the Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
to European demand, tribes such as faced with the difficult choice of go- league never recovered. The Dutch settlements had been
the Iroquois began to devote more ing hungry, going to war, or moving ruled by autocratic governors ap-
attention to fur trapping during the and coming into conflict with other SECOND GENERATION OF pointed in Europe. Over the years,
17th century. Furs and pelts pro- tribes to the west. BRITISH COLONIES the local population had become

T
vided tribes the means to purchase The Iroquois, who inhabited the estranged from them. As a result,
colonial goods until late into the area below lakes Ontario and Erie in he religious and civil conflict in when the British colonists began en-
18th century. northern New York and Pennsylva- England in the mid-17th century croaching on Dutch claims in Long
Early colonial-Native-American nia, were more successful in resist- limited immigration, as well as the Island and Manhattan, the unpopu-
relations were an uneasy mix of ing European advances. In 1570 five attention the mother country paid lar governor was unable to rally the
cooperation and conflict. On the tribes joined to form the most com- the fledgling American colonies. population to their defense. New
one hand, there were the exemplary plex Native-American nation of its In part to provide for the defense Netherland fell in 1664. The terms
relations that prevailed during the time, the “Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee,” or measures England was neglect- of the capitulation, however, were
first half century of Pennsylvania’s League of the Iroquois. The league ing, the Massachusetts Bay, Plym- mild: The Dutch settlers were able
existence. On the other were a long was run by a council made up of 50 outh, Connecticut, and New Haven to retain their property and worship
series of setbacks, skirmishes, and representatives from each of the five colonies formed the New England as they pleased.
wars, which almost invariably re- member tribes. The council dealt Confederation in 1643. It was the As early as the 1650s, the Albe-
sulted in an Indian defeat and fur- with matters common to all the European colonists’ first attempt at marle Sound region off the coast
ther loss of land. tribes, but it had no say in how the regional unity. of what is now northern North
The first of the important Native- free and equal tribes ran their day- The early history of the British Carolina was inhabited by settlers
American uprisings occurred in Vir- to-day affairs. No tribe was allowed settlers reveals a good deal of con- trickling down from Virginia. The
ginia in 1622, when some 347 whites to make war by itself. The council tention — religious and political first proprietary governor arrived in
were killed, including a number of passed laws to deal with crimes such — as groups vied for power and po- 1664. The first town in Albemarle, a
missionaries who had just recently as murder. sition among themselves and their remote area even today, was not es-
come to Jamestown. The Iroquois League was a strong neighbors. Maryland, in particular, tablished until the arrival of a group
White settlement of the Con- power in the 1600s and 1700s. It suffered from the bitter religious ri- of French Huguenots in 1704.
necticut River region touched off the traded furs with the British and valries that afflicted England during In 1670 the first settlers, drawn
Pequot War in 1637. In 1675 King sided with them against the French the era of Oliver Cromwell. One of from New England and the Carib-
Philip, the son of the native chief in the war for the dominance of the casualties was the state’s Tolera- bean island of Barbados, arrived
who had made the original peace America between 1754 and 1763. tion Act, which was revoked in the in what is now Charleston, South
with the Pilgrims in 1621, attempted The British might not have won that 1650s. It was soon reinstated, howev- Carolina. An elaborate system of
to unite the tribes of southern New war otherwise. er, along with the religious freedom government, to which the British
England against further European The Iroquois League stayed it guaranteed. philosopher John Locke contribut-
encroachment of their lands. In strong until the American Revolu- With the restoration of King ed, was prepared for the new colony.
the struggle, however, Philip lost tion. Then, for the first time, the Charles II in 1660, the British once One of its prominent features was a
his life and many Indians were sold council could not reach a unani- again turned their attention to failed attempt to create a hereditary
into servitude. mous decision on whom to support. North America. Within a brief span, nobility. One of the colony’s least
Member tribes made their own de- the first European settlements were appealing aspects was the early trade

16 17
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

in Indian slaves. With time, howev- set out to create a refuge where the Perhaps half the settlers living in There was one very important
er, timber, rice, and indigo gave the poor and former prisoners would be the colonies south of New England exception to this pattern: African
colony a worthier economic base. given new opportunities. came to America under this system. slaves. The first black Africans were
In 1681 William Penn, a wealthy Although most of them fulfilled brought to Virginia in 1619, just 12
Quaker and friend of Charles II, re- SETTLERS, SLAVES, AND their obligations faithfully, some ran years after the founding of James-
ceived a large tract of land west of SERVANTS away from their employers. Never- town. Initially, many were regarded

M
the Delaware River, which became theless, many of them were eventu- as indentured servants who could
known as Pennsylvania. To help en and women with little active ally able to secure land and set up earn their freedom. By the 1660s,
populate it, Penn actively recruited interest in a new life in America were homesteads, either in the colonies in however, as the demand for planta-
a host of religious dissenters from often induced to make the move to which they had originally settled or tion labor in the Southern colonies
England and the continent — Quak- the New World by the skillful per- in neighboring ones. No social stig- grew, the institution of slavery be-
ers, Mennonites, Amish, Moravians, suasion of promoters. William Penn, ma was attached to a family that had gan to harden around them, and
and Baptists. for example, publicized the oppor- its beginning in America under this Africans were brought to America in
When Penn arrived the follow- tunities awaiting newcomers to the semi-bondage. Every colony had its shackles for a lifetime of involuntary
ing year, there were already Dutch, Pennsylvania colony. Judges and share of leaders who were former in- servitude. 9
Swedish, and English settlers living prison authorities offered convicts dentured servants.
along the Delaware River. It was a chance to migrate to colonies like
there he founded Philadelphia, the Georgia instead of serving prison
“City of Brotherly Love.” sentences.
In keeping with his faith, Penn But few colonists could finance
was motivated by a sense of equality the cost of passage for themselves
not often found in other American and their families to make a start in
colonies at the time. Thus, women the new land. In some cases, ships’
in Pennsylvania had rights long captains received large rewards from
before they did in other parts of the sale of service contracts for poor
America. Penn and his deputies migrants, called indentured servants,
also paid considerable attention and every method from extravagant
to the colony’s relations with the promises to actual kidnapping was
Delaware Indians, ensuring that used to take on as many passengers
they were paid for land on which as their vessels could hold.
the Europeans settled. In other cases, the expenses of
Georgia was settled in 1732, transportation and maintenance
the last of the 13 colonies to be were paid by colonizing agencies like
established. Lying close to, if not ac- the Virginia or Massachusetts Bay
tually inside the boundaries of Span- Companies. In return, indentured
ish Florida, the region was viewed as servants agreed to work for the agen-
a buffer against Spanish incursion. cies as contract laborers, usually for
But it had another unique quality: four to seven years. Free at the end of
The man charged with Georgia’s for- this term, they would be given “free-
tifications, General James Ogletho- dom dues,” sometimes including a
rpe, was a reformer who deliberately small tract of land.

18 19
CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF THE ANASAZI

Time-worn pueblos and dramatic cliff towns, set amid the stark, rugged me-
sas and canyons of Colorado and New Mexico, mark the settlements of some of
the earliest inhabitants of North America, the Anasazi (a Navajo word meaning
“ancient ones”).
By 500 A.D. the Anasazi had established some of the first villages in
the American Southwest, where they hunted and grew crops of corn, squash,
and beans. The Anasazi flourished over the centuries, developing sophisticated
dams and irrigation systems; creating a masterful, distinctive pottery tradi-
tion; and carving multiroom dwellings into the sheer sides of cliffs that remain
among the most striking archaeological sites in the United States today.
Yet by the year 1300, they had abandoned their settlements, leaving their
pottery, implements, even clothing — as though they intended to return — and
seemingly vanished into history. Their homeland remained empty of human
beings for more than a century — until the arrival of new tribes, such as the
Navajo and the Ute, followed by the Spanish and other European settlers.
The story of the Anasazi is tied inextricably to the beautiful but harsh
environment in which they chose to live. Early settlements, consisting of simple
pithouses scooped out of the ground, evolved into sunken kivas (underground
rooms) that served as meeting and religious sites. Later generations developed
the masonry techniques for building square, stone pueblos. But the most dra-
matic change in Anasazi living was the move to the cliff sides below the flat-
topped mesas, where the Anasazi carved their amazing, multilevel dwellings.
The Anasazi lived in a communal society. They traded with other peoples

Major Native American cultural groupings, A.D. 500-1300.


in the region, but signs of warfare are few and isolated. And although the Ana-
sazi certainly had religious and other leaders, as well as skilled artisans, social
or class distinctions were virtually nonexistent.
Religious and social motives undoubtedly played a part in the building
of the cliff communities and their final abandonment. But the struggle to raise
food in an increasingly difficult environment was probably the paramount fac-
tor. As populations grew, farmers planted larger areas on the mesas, causing
some communities to farm marginal lands, while others left the mesa tops for
the cliffs. But the Anasazi couldn’t halt the steady loss of the land’s fertility
from constant use, nor withstand the region’s cyclical droughts. Analysis of tree
rings, for example, shows that a drought lasting 23 years, from 1276 to 1299,
finally forced the last groups of Anasazi to leave permanently.
Although the Anasazi dispersed from their ancestral homeland, their
legacy remains in the remarkable archaeological record that they left behind,
and in the Hopi, Zuni, and other Pueblo peoples who are their descendants. 

20 21
2
CHAPTER

THE
COLONIAL
PERIOD

Pilgrims signing the


Mayflower Compact
aboard ship, 1620.

22
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“What then is the American, nearby. Compactness made possible William Penn, Pennsylvania func-
the village school, the village church,
tioned smoothly and grew rapidly.

this new man?” and the village or town hall, where


citizens met to discuss matters of
By 1685, its population was almost
9,000. The heart of the colony was
common interest. Philadelphia, a city of broad, tree-
The Massachusetts Bay Colony shaded streets, substantial brick and
American author and agriculturist
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, 1782
continued to expand its commerce. stone houses, and busy docks. By the
From the middle of the 17th century end of the colonial period, nearly a
onward it grew prosperous, so that century later, 30,000 people lived
Boston became one of America’s there, representing many languages,
greatest ports. creeds, and trades. Their talent for
Oak timber for ships’ hulls, tallsuccessful business enterprise made
pines for spars and masts, and pitch the city one of the thriving centers of
for the seams of ships came from the the British Empire.
Northeastern forests. Building their Though the Quakers dominated
NEW PEOPLES were even more so among the three own vessels and sailing them to portsin Philadelphia, elsewhere in Penn-

M regional groupings of colonies. all over the world, the shipmasters of


sylvania others were well represent-
ost settlers who came to Amer- Massachusetts Bay laid the founda- ed. Germans became the colony’s
ica in the 17th century were English, NEW ENGLAND tion for a trade that was to grow most skillful farmers. Important,

T
but there were also Dutch, Swedes, steadily in importance. By the end too, were cottage industries such as
and Germans in the middle region, he northeastern New England of the colonial period, one-third of weaving, shoemaking, cabinetmak-
a few French Huguenots in South colonies had generally thin, stony all vessels under the British flag were
ing, and other crafts. Pennsylvania
Carolina and elsewhere, slaves from soil, relatively little level land, and built in New England. Fish, ship’s was also the principal gateway into
Africa, primarily in the South, and long winters, making it difficult stores, and woodenware swelled the the New World for the Scots-Irish,
a scattering of Spaniards, Italians, to make a living from farming. exports. New England merchants who moved into the colony in the
and Portuguese throughout the col- Turning to other pursuits, the New and shippers soon discovered that early 18th century. “Bold and indi-
onies. After 1680 England ceased to Englanders harnessed waterpower rum and slaves were profitable com- gent strangers,” as one Pennsylvania
be the chief source of immigration, and established grain mills and modities. One of their most enter- official called them, they hated the
supplanted by Scots and “Scots- sawmills. Good stands of timber prising — if unsavory — trading English and were suspicious of all
Irish” (Protestants from Northern encouraged shipbuilding. Excellent practices of the time was the “trian-government. The Scots-Irish tended
Ireland). In addition, tens of thou- harbors promoted trade, and the gular trade.” Traders would purchase to settle in the backcountry, where
sands of refugees fled northwestern sea became a source of great wealth. slaves off the coast of Africa for New
they cleared land and lived by hunt-
Europe to escape war, oppression, In Massachusetts, the cod industry England rum, then sell the slaves in ing and subsistence farming.
and absentee-landlordism. By 1690 alone quickly furnished a basis for the West Indies where they would New York best illustrated the
the American population had risen prosperity. buy molasses to bring home for sale polyglot nature of America. By 1646
to a quarter of a million. From then With the bulk of the early settlers to the local rum producers. the population along the Hudson
on, it doubled every 25 years until, living in villages and towns around River included Dutch, French, Danes,
in 1775, it numbered more than 2.5 the harbors, many New Englanders THE MIDDLE COLONIES Norwegians, Swedes, English, Scots,

S
million. Although families occa- carried on some kind of trade or Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians,
sionally moved from one colony to business. Common pastureland and ociety in the middle colonies was Portuguese, and Italians. The Dutch
another, distinctions between indi- woodlots served the needs of towns- far more varied, cosmopolitan, and continued to exercise an important
vidual colonies were marked. They people, who worked small farms tolerant than in New England. Under social and economic influence on

24 25
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

the New York region long after the terials in the world. Not bound to blankets. Quilt-making remains an England colonies, except for Rhode
fall of New Netherland and their a single crop as was Virginia, North American tradition today. Island, followed its example.
integration into the British colonial and South Carolina also produced The Pilgrims and Puritans had
system. Their sharp-stepped gable and exported rice and indigo, a blue SOCIETY, SCHOOLS, AND brought their own little libraries
roofs became a permanent part of dye obtained from native plants that CULTURE and continued to import books

A
the city’s architecture, and their was used in coloring fabric. By 1750 from London. And as early as the
merchants gave Manhattan much more than 100,000 people lived in significant factor deterring the 1680s, Boston booksellers were do-
of its original bustling, commercial the two colonies of North and South emergence of a powerful aristocratic ing a thriving business in works of
atmosphere. Carolina. Charleston, South Caroli- or gentry class in the colonies was classical literature, history, politics,
na, was the region’s leading port and the ability of anyone in an estab- philosophy, science, theology, and
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES trading center. lished colony to find a new home belles-lettres. In 1638 the first print-

Ithen middle In the southernmost colonies, as on the frontier. Time after time, ing press in the English colonies and
contrast to New England and everywhere else, population growth dominant Tidewater figures were the second in North America was
colonies, the Southern in the backcountry had special sig- obliged to liberalize political poli- installed at Harvard College.
colonies were predominantly rural nificance. German immigrants and cies, land-grant requirements, and The first school in Pennsylvania
settlements. Scots-Irish, unwilling to live in religious practices by the threat of a was begun in 1683. It taught reading,
By the late 17th century, Virgin- the original Tidewater settlements mass exodus to the frontier. writing, and keeping of accounts.
ia’s and Maryland’s economic and where English influence was strong, Of equal significance for the Thereafter, in some fashion, every
social structure rested on the great pushed inland. Those who could not future were the foundations of Quaker community provided for the
planters and the yeoman farmers. secure fertile land along the coast, or American education and culture elementary teaching of its children.
The planters of the Tidewater region, who had exhausted the lands they established during the colonial pe- More advanced training — in classi-
supported by slave labor, held most held, found the hills farther west riod. Harvard College was founded cal languages, history, and literature
of the political power and the best a bountiful refuge. Although their in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachu- — was offered at the Friends Public
land. They built great houses, ad- hardships were enormous, restless setts. Near the end of the century, School, which still operates in Phila-
opted an aristocratic way of life, and settlers kept coming; by the 1730s the College of William and Mary delphia as the William Penn Charter
kept in touch as best they could with they were pouring into the Shenan- was established in Virginia. A few School. The school was free to the
the world of culture overseas. doah Valley of Virginia. Soon the years later, the Collegiate School of poor, but parents were required to
The yeoman farmers, who worked interior was dotted with farms. Connecticut, later to become Yale pay tuition if they were able.
smaller tracts, sat in popular assem- Living on the edge of Native University, was chartered. In Philadelphia, numerous pri-
blies and found their way into politi- American country, frontier families Even more noteworthy was the vate schools with no religious affili-
cal office. Their outspoken indepen- built cabins, cleared the wilderness, growth of a school system main- ation taught languages, mathemat-
dence was a constant warning to the and cultivated maize and wheat. tained by governmental authority. ics, and natural science; there were
oligarchy of planters not to encroach The men wore leather made from The Puritan emphasis on reading also night schools for adults. Women
too far upon the rights of free men. the skin of deer or sheep, known directly from the Scriptures under- were not entirely overlooked, but
The settlers of the Carolinas as buckskin; the women wore gar- scored the importance of literacy. In their educational opportunities were
quickly learned to combine agri- ments of cloth they spun at home. 1647 the Massachusetts Bay Colony limited to training in activities that
culture and commerce, and the Their food consisted of venison, enacted the “ye olde deluder Satan” could be conducted in the home.
marketplace became a major source wild turkey, and fish. They had their Act, requiring every town having Private teachers instructed the
of prosperity. Dense forests brought own amusements: great barbecues, more than 50 families to establish daughters of prosperous Philadel-
revenue: Lumber, tar, and resin dances, housewarmings for newly a grammar school (a Latin school phians in French, music, dancing,
from the longleaf pine provided married couples, shooting matches, to prepare students for college). painting, singing, grammar, and
some of the best shipbuilding ma- and contests for making quilted Shortly thereafter, all the other New sometimes bookkeeping.

26 27
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

In the 18th century, the intel- primitive cabins, were firm devotees that the charges printed by Zenger Christian churches that believe in
lectual and cultural development of scholarship, and they made great were true and hence not libelous. personal conversion and the iner-
of Pennsylvania reflected, in large efforts to attract learned ministers to The jury returned a verdict of not rancy of the Bible) and the spirit of
measure, the vigorous personalities their settlements. guilty, and Zenger went free. revivalism, which continue to play
of two men: James Logan and Ben- Literary production in the The increasing prosperity of the significant roles in American reli-
jamin Franklin. Logan was secretary colonies was largely confined to towns prompted fears that the devil gious and cultural life. It weakened
of the colony, and it was in his fine li- New England. Here attention con- was luring society into pursuit of the status of the established clergy
brary that young Franklin found the centrated on religious subjects. worldly gain and may have contrib- and provoked believers to rely on
latest scientific works. In 1745 Logan Sermons were the most common uted to the religious reaction of the their own conscience. Perhaps most
erected a building for his collection products of the press. A famous 1730s, known as the Great Awaken- important, it led to the proliferation
and bequeathed both building and Puritan minister, the Reverend Cot- ing. Its two immediate sources were of sects and denominations, which
books to the city. ton Mather, wrote some 400 works. George Whitefield, a Wesleyan re- in turn encouraged general accep-
Franklin contributed even more His masterpiece, Magnalia Christi vivalist who arrived from England tance of the principle of religious
to the intellectual activity of Phila- Americana, presented the pageant in 1739, and Jonathan Edwards, who toleration.
delphia. He formed a debating club of New England’s history. The most served the Congregational Church
that became the embryo of the popular single work of the day was in Northampton, Massachusetts. EMERGENCE OF COLONIAL
American Philosophical Society. His the Reverend Michael Wigglesworth’s Whitefield began a religious re- GOVERNMENT

Ivelopment,
endeavors also led to the founding long poem, “The Day of Doom,” vival in Philadelphia and then moved
of a public academy that later de- which described the Last Judgment on to New England. He enthralled n the early phases of colonial de-
veloped into the University of Penn- in terrifying terms. audiences of up to 20,000 people a striking feature was the
sylvania. He was a prime mover in In 1704 Cambridge, Massachu- at a time with histrionic displays, lack of controlling influence by the
the establishment of a subscription setts, launched the colonies’ first gestures, and emotional oratory. English government. All colonies ex-
library, which he called “the mother successful newspaper. By 1745 there Religious turmoil swept through- cept Georgia emerged as companies
of all North American subscription were 22 newspapers being published out New England and the middle of shareholders, or as feudal propri-
libraries.” in British North America. colonies as ministers left established etorships stemming from charters
In the Southern colonies, wealthy In New York, an important step churches to preach the revival. granted by the Crown. The fact that
planters and merchants imported in establishing the principle of free- Edwards was the most prominent the king had transferred his immedi-
private tutors from Ireland or Scot- dom of the press took place with the of those influenced by Whitefield ate sovereignty over the New World
land to teach their children. Some case of John Peter Zenger, whose and the Great Awakening. His most settlements to stock companies and
sent their children to school in Eng- New York Weekly Journal, begun in memorable contribution was his proprietors did not, of course, mean
land. Having these other opportuni- 1733, represented the opposition to 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands that the colonists in America were
ties, the upper classes in the Tidewa- the government. After two years of of an Angry God.” Rejecting theat- necessarily free of outside control.
ter were not interested in supporting publication, the colonial governor rics, he delivered his message in a Under the terms of the Virginia
public education. In addition, the could no longer tolerate Zenger’s quiet, thoughtful manner, arguing Company charter, for example, full
diffusion of farms and plantations satirical barbs, and had him thrown that the established churches sought governmental authority was vested
made the formation of community into prison on a charge of seditious to deprive Christianity of its func- in the company itself. Nevertheless,
schools difficult. There were only a libel. Zenger continued to edit his tion of redemption from sin. His the crown expected that the com-
few free schools in Virginia. paper from jail during his nine- magnum opus, Of Freedom of Will pany would be resident in England.
The desire for learning did not month trial, which excited intense (1754), attempted to reconcile Cal- Inhabitants of Virginia, then, would
stop at the borders of established interest throughout the colonies. vinism with the Enlightenment. have no more voice in their govern-
communities, however. On the fron- Andrew Hamilton, the prominent The Great Awakening gave rise ment than if the king himself had
tier, the Scots-Irish, though living in lawyer who defended Zenger, argued to evangelical denominations (those retained absolute rule.

28 29
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Still, the colonies considered Calverts in Maryland, William Penn and control of the government the settlers had come to a land of
themselves chiefly as common- in Pennsylvania, the proprietors in passed to elected representatives. seemingly unending reach. On such
wealths or states, much like England North and South Carolina, and the Subsequently, other New England a continent, natural conditions pro-
itself, having only a loose association proprietors in New Jersey specified colonies — such as Connecticut moted a tough individualism, as
with the authorities in London. In that legislation should be enacted and Rhode Island — also succeeded people became used to making their
one way or another, exclusive rule with “the consent of the freemen.” in becoming self-governing simply own decisions. Government pen-
from the outside withered away. The In New England, for many years, by asserting that they were beyond etrated the backcountry only slowly,
colonists — inheritors of the long there was even more complete any governmental authority, and and conditions of anarchy often pre-
English tradition of the struggle self-government than in the other then setting up their own political vailed on the frontier.
for political liberty — incorporated colonies. Aboard the Mayflower, the system modeled after that of the Yet the assumption of self-gov-
concepts of freedom into Virginia’s Pilgrims adopted an instrument for Pilgrims at Plymouth. ernment in the colonies did not go
first charter. It provided that English government called the “Mayflower In only two cases was the self- entirely unchallenged. In the 1670s,
colonists were to exercise all liber- Compact,” to “combine ourselves to- government provision omitted. the Lords of Trade and Plantations,
ties, franchises, and immunities “as gether into a civil body politic for our These were New York, which was a royal committee established to
if they had been abiding and born better ordering and preservation ... granted to Charles II’s brother, the enforce the mercantile system in
within this our Realm of England.” and by virtue hereof [to] enact, con- Duke of York (later to become King the colonies, moved to annul the
They were, then, to enjoy the ben- stitute, and frame such just and equal James II), and Georgia, which was Massachusetts Bay charter because
efits of the Magna Carta — the laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, granted to a group of “trustees.” In the colony was resisting the govern-
charter of English political and and offices ... as shall be thought most both instances the provisions for ment’s economic policy. James II in
civil liberties granted by King John meet and convenient for the general governance were short-lived, for 1685 approved a proposal to create
in 1215 — and the common law good of the colony. ...” the colonists demanded legislative a Dominion of New England and
— the English system of law based Although there was no legal basis representation so insistently that the place colonies south through New
on legal precedents or tradition, not for the Pilgrims to establish a system authorities soon yielded. Jersey under its jurisdiction, thereby
statutory law. In 1618 the Virginia of self-government, the action was In the mid-17th century, the tightening the Crown’s control over
Company issued instructions to its not contested, and, under the com- English were too distracted by their the whole region. A royal governor,
appointed governor providing that pact, the Plymouth settlers were able Civil War (1642-49) and Oliver Sir Edmund Andros, levied taxes
free inhabitants of the plantations for many years to conduct their own Cromwell’s Puritan Commonwealth by executive order, implemented a
should elect representatives to join affairs without outside interference. to pursue an effective colonial pol- number of other harsh measures,
with the governor and an appointive A similar situation developed in icy. After the restoration of Charles and jailed those who resisted.
council in passing ordinances for the the Massachusetts Bay Company, II and the Stuart dynasty in 1660, When news of the Glorious Rev-
welfare of the colony. which had been given the right to England had more opportunity to olution (1688-89), which deposed
These measures proved to be govern itself. Thus, full authority attend to colonial administration. James II in England, reached Boston,
some of the most far-reaching in the rested in the hands of persons resid- Even then, however, it was inef- the population rebelled and impris-
entire colonial period. From then ing in the colony. At first, the dozen ficient and lacked a coherent plan. oned Andros. Under a new charter,
on, it was generally accepted that the or so original members of the com- The colonies were left largely to their Massachusetts and Plymouth were
colonists had a right to participate in pany who had come to America at- own devices. united for the first time in 1691 as
their own government. In most in- tempted to rule autocratically. But The remoteness afforded by a vast the royal colony of Massachusetts
stances, the king, in making future the other colonists soon demanded ocean also made control of the colo- Bay. The other New England colo-
grants, provided in the charter that a voice in public affairs and indi- nies difficult. Added to this was the nies quickly reinstalled their previ-
the free men of the colony should cated that refusal would lead to a character of life itself in early Amer- ous governments.
have a voice in legislation affecting mass migration. ica. From countries limited in space The English Bill of Rights and
them. Thus, charters awarded to the The company members yielded, and dotted with populous towns, the Toleration Act of 1689 affirmed

30 31
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

freedom of worship for Christians stand the importance of what the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is now lo- conflict with France, known as the
in the colonies as well as in England colonial assemblies were doing and cated, between a band of French reg- French and Indian War in America
and enforced limits on the Crown. simply neglected them. Nonethe- ulars and Virginia militiamen under and the Seven Years’ War in Europe.
Equally important, John Locke’s less, the precedents and principles the command of 22-year-old George Only a modest portion of it was
Second Treatise on Government established in the conflicts between Washington, a Virginia planter and fought in the Western Hemisphere.
(1690), the Glorious Revolution’s assemblies and governors eventually surveyor. The British government In the Peace of Paris (1763),
major theoretical justification, set became part of the unwritten “con- attempted to deal with the conflict France relinquished all of Canada,
forth a theory of government based stitution” of the colonies. In this way, by calling a meeting of representa- the Great Lakes, and the territory
not on divine right but on contract. the colonial legislatures asserted the tives from New York, Pennsylvania, east of the Mississippi to the British.
It contended that the people, en- right of self-government. Maryland, and the New England The dream of a French empire in
dowed with natural rights of life, colonies. From June 19 to July 10, North America was over.
liberty, and property, had the right THE FRENCH AND 1754, the Albany Congress, as it Having triumphed over France,
to rebel when governments violated INDIAN WAR came to be known, met with the Iro- Britain was now compelled to face

F
their rights. quois in Albany, New York, in order a problem that it had hitherto ne-
By the early 18th century, almost rance and Britain engaged in a to improve relations with them and glected, the governance of its em-
all the colonies had been brought succession of wars in Europe and secure their loyalty to the British. pire. London thought it essential to
under the direct jurisdiction of the the Caribbean throughout the 18th But the delegates also declared organize its now vast possessions to
British Crown, but under the rules century. Though Britain secured a union of the American colonies facilitate defense, reconcile the diver-
established by the Glorious Revolu- certain advantages — primarily in “absolutely necessary for their pres- gent interests of different areas and
tion. Colonial governors sought to the sugar-rich islands of the Carib- ervation” and adopted a proposal peoples, and distribute more evenly
exercise powers that the king had bean — the struggles were generally drafted by Benjamin Franklin. The the cost of imperial administration.
lost in England, but the colonial indecisive, and France remained in a Albany Plan of Union provided for a In North America alone, British
assemblies, aware of events there, powerful position in North Ameri- president appointed by the king and territories had more than doubled.
attempted to assert their “rights” ca. By 1754, France still had a strong a grand council of delegates chosen A population that had been predom-
and “liberties.” Their leverage rested relationship with a number of Na- by the assemblies, with each colony inantly Protestant and English now
on two significant powers similar tive American tribes in Canada and to be represented in proportion to its included French-speaking Catholics
to those held by the English Parlia- along the Great Lakes. It controlled financial contributions to the gener- from Quebec, and large numbers of
ment: the right to vote on taxes and the Mississippi River and, by estab- al treasury. This body would have partly Christianized Native Ameri-
expenditures, and the right to initi- lishing a line of forts and trading charge of defense, Native American cans. Defense and administration
ate legislation rather than merely re- posts, had marked out a great cres- relations, and trade and settlement of the new territories, as well as of
act to proposals of the governor. cent-shaped empire stretching from of the west. Most importantly, it the old, would require huge sums of
The legislatures used these rights Quebec to New Orleans. The British would have independent authority money and increased personnel. The
to check the power of royal gover- remained confined to the narrow to levy taxes. But none of the colo- old colonial system was obviously
nors and to pass other measures to belt east of the Appalachian Moun- nies accepted the plan, since they inadequate to these tasks. Measures
expand their power and influence. tains. Thus the French threatened were not prepared to surrender ei- to establish a new one, however,
The recurring clashes between gov- not only the British Empire but also ther the power of taxation or control would rouse the latent suspicions
ernor and assembly made colonial the American colonists themselves, over the development of the western of colonials who increasingly would
politics tumultuous and worked for in holding the Mississippi Valley, lands to a central authority. see Britain as no longer a protector
increasingly to awaken the colonists France could limit their westward England’s superior strategic posi- of their rights, but rather a danger
to the divergence between American expansion. tion and her competent leadership to them. 9
and English interests. In many cases, An armed clash took place in ultimately brought victory in the
the royal authorities did not under- 1754 at Fort Duquesne, the site where

32 33
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

AN EXCEPTIONAL NATION? THE WITCHES OF SALEM

The United States of America did not emerge as a nation until about 175 In 1692 a group of adolescent girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, became
years after its establishment as a group of mostly British colonies. Yet from the subject to strange fits after hearing tales told by a West Indian slave. They
beginning it was a different society in the eyes of many Europeans who viewed accused several women of being witches. The townspeople were appalled but
it from afar, whether with hope or apprehension. Most of its settlers — whether not surprised: Belief in witchcraft was widespread throughout 17th-century
the younger sons of aristocrats, religious dissenters, or impoverished inden- America and Europe. Town officials convened a court to hear the charges of
tured servants — came there lured by a promise of opportunity or freedom not witchcraft. Within a month, six women were convicted and hanged.
available in the Old World. The first Americans were reborn free, establishing The hysteria grew, in large measure because the court permitted wit-
themselves in a wilderness unencumbered by any social order other than that nesses to testify that they had seen the accused as spirits or in visions. Such
of the primitive aboriginal peoples they displaced. Having left the baggage of “spectral evidence” could neither be verified nor made subject to objective
a feudal order behind them, they faced few obstacles to the development of a examination. By the fall of 1692, 20 victims, including several men, had been
society built on the principles of political and social liberalism that emerged executed, and more than 100 others were in jail (where another five victims
with difficulty in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Based on the thinking of the died) — among them some of the town’s most prominent citizens. When the
philosopher John Locke, this sort of liberalism emphasized the rights of the charges threatened to spread beyond Salem, ministers throughout the colony
individual and constraints on government power. called for an end to the trials. The governor of the colony agreed. Those still
Most immigrants to America came from the British Isles, the most in jail were later acquitted or given reprieves.
liberal of the European polities along with The Netherlands. In religion, the Although an isolated incident, the Salem episode has long fascinated
majority adhered to various forms of Calvinism with its emphasis on both Americans. Most historians agree that Salem Village in 1692 experienced a
divine and secular contractual relationships. These greatly facilitated the kind of public hysteria, fueled by a genuine belief in the existence of witch-
emergence of a social order built on individual rights and social mobility. The craft. While some of the girls may have been acting, many responsible adults
development of a more complex and highly structured commercial society in became caught up in the frenzy as well.
coastal cities by the mid-18th century did not stunt this trend; it was in these Even more revealing is a closer analysis of the identities of the accused
cities that the American Revolution was made. The constant reconstruction of and the accusers. Salem Village, as much of colonial New England, was
society along an ever-receding Western frontier equally contributed to a lib- undergoing an economic and political transition from a largely agrarian, Pu-
eral-democratic spirit. ritan-dominated community to a more commercial, secular society. Many of
In Europe, ideals of individual rights advanced slowly and unevenly; the the accusers were representatives of a traditional way of life tied to farming
concept of democracy was even more alien. The attempt to establish both in and the church, whereas a number of the accused witches were members of a
continental Europe’s oldest nation led to the French Revolution. The effort to rising commercial class of small shopkeepers and tradesmen. Salem’s obscure
destroy a neofeudal society while establishing the rights of man and democrat- struggle for social and political power between older traditional groups and a
ic fraternity generated terror, dictatorship, and Napoleonic despotism. In the newer commercial class was one repeated in communities throughout Ameri-
end, it led to reaction and gave legitimacy to a decadent old order. In America, can history. It took a bizarre and deadly detour when its citizens were swept
the European past was overwhelmed by ideals that sprang naturally from the up by the conviction that the devil was loose in their homes.
process of building a new society on virgin land. The principles of liberalism The Salem witch trials also serve as a dramatic parable of the deadly
and democracy were strong from the beginning. A society that had thrown off consequences of making sensational, but false, charges. Three hundred years
the burdens of European history would naturally give birth to a nation that later, we still call false accusations against a large number of people a
saw itself as exceptional.  “witch hunt.” 

34 35
CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIOD OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Map depicting the English colonies and western territories, 1763-1775.


37
John Smith,
the stalwart
English explorer
and settler whose
leadership helped
save Jamestown from
collapse during its critical
early years.

B ECO M I N G A

NATION A PICTURE PROFILE


Detail from a painting by American artist Benjamin West
The United States of America was transformed in the two centuries (1738-1820), which depicts William Penn’s treaty with the
from the first English settlement at Jamestown in 1607 to the Native Americans living where he founded the colony of
Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers and others seeking
beginning of the 19th century. From a series of isolated colonial religious freedom. Penn’s fair treatment of the Delaware
settlements hugging the Atlantic Coast, the United States evolved Indians led to long-term, friendly relations, unlike the conflicts
into a new nation, born in revolution, and guided by a Constitution between European settlers and Indian tribes in other colonies.
embodying the principles of democratic self-government.

38 39
A devout Puritan elder (right) confronts patrons drinking ale outside a
tavern. Tensions between the strictly religious Puritans, who first settled
the region, and the more secular population were characteristic of the
colonial era in New England.

Cotton Mather was one of


the leading Puritan figures
of the late 17th and early
18th centuries. His massive
Ecclesiastical History of
New England (1702) is an
exhaustive chronicle of the
settlement of New England
and the Puritan effort to
establish a kingdom of God Statue of Roger Williams, early champion of religious freedom
in the wilderness of the and the separation of church and state. Williams founded the colony of
New World. Rhode Island after leaving Massachusetts because of his disapproval
of its religious ties to the Church of England.

40 41
Benjamin Franklin: scientist, inventor, writer,
newspaper publisher, city father of Philadelphia,
diplomat, and signer of both the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution. Franklin
embodied the virtues of shrewd practicality and
the optimistic belief in self-improvement often
associated with America itself.

Drawing of revolutionary firebrand Patrick Henry (standing


to the left) uttering perhaps the most famous words of the
American Revolution — “Give me liberty or give me death!”
— in a debate before the Virginia Assembly in 1775. James Madison, fourth president of
the United States, is often regarded
as the “Father of the Constitution.”
His essays in the debate over
ratification of the Constitution were
collected with those of Alexander
Hamilton and John Jay as The
Federalist Papers. Today, they are
regarded as a classic defense of
republican government, in which the
executive, legislative, and judicial
branches check and balance each
other to protect the rights and
freedoms of the people.

42 43
Artist’s depiction of the first shots of the American
Revolution, fired at Lexington, Massachusetts,
on April 19, 1775. Local militia confronted British
troops marching to seize colonial armaments
in the nearby town of Concord.

44 45
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration
of Independence and third president of
the United States. Jefferson also founded
the University of Virginia and built one
of America’s most celebrated houses,
Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Above: Surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army to American


and French forces commanded by George Washington at Yorktown,
Virginia, on October 19, 1781. The battle of Yorktown led to the end of the
war and American independence, secured in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

Left: U.S. postage stamp commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewis


and Clark expedition, one of Thomas Jefferson’s visionary projects.
Meriwether Lewis, Jeffferson’s secretary, and his friend, William Clark,
accompanied by a party of more than 30 persons, set out on a journey into
the uncharted West that lasted four years. They traveled thousands of
miles, from Camp Wood, Illinois, to Oregon, through lands that eventually
became 11 American states.

47
Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury in the administration of John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, in a portrait
President George Washington. Hamilton advocated a strong federal government by Alonzo Chappel. In a series of landmark cases, Marshall established the principle
and the encouragement of industry. He was opposed by Thomas Jefferson, of judicial review – the right of the courts to determine if any act of Congress or the
a believer in decentralized government, states’ rights, and the virtues of executive branch is constitutional, and therefore valid and legal.
the independent farmers and land owners.

48 49
3
CHAPTER

THE ROAD
TO
INDEPENDENCE

The protest against British


taxes known as the “Boston
Tea Party,” 1773.

50
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“The Revolution was effected they claimed the right to extend


their boundaries as far west as the
from all sources and levied taxes on
wines, silks, coffee, and a number of

before the war commenced. Mississippi River.


The British government, fear-
other luxury items. The hope was
that lowering the duty on molas-

The Revolution was in ing a series of Indian wars, believed


that the lands should be opened on
ses would reduce the temptation to
smuggle the commodity from the

the hearts and minds of a more gradual basis. Restricting


movement was also a way of ensur-
Dutch and French West Indies for
the rum distilleries of New England.

the people.”
ing royal control over existing settle- The British government enforced
ments before allowing the formation the Sugar Act energetically. Customs
of new ones. The Royal Proclama- officials were ordered to show more
tion of 1763 reserved all the west- effectiveness. British warships in
Former President John Adams, 1818 ern territory between the Allegheny American waters were instructed to
Mountains, Florida, the Mississippi seize smugglers, and “writs of assis-
River, and Quebec for use by Na- tance,” or warrants, authorized the
tive Americans. Thus the Crown at- king’s officers to search suspected
tempted to sweep away every western premises.
land claim of the 13 colonies and to Both the duty imposed by the
stop westward expansion. Although Sugar Act and the measures to en-
Throughout the 18th century, the spread the costs of empire more eq- never effectively enforced, this mea- force it caused consternation among
maturing British North American uitably, and speak to the interests of sure, in the eyes of the colonists, New England merchants. They con-
colonies inevitably forged a distinct both French Canadians and North constituted a high-handed disregard tended that payment of even the
identity. They grew vastly in eco- American Indians. The colonies, on of their fundamental right to occupy small duty imposed would be ruin-
nomic strength and cultural attain- the other hand, long accustomed to and settle western lands. ous to their businesses. Merchants,
ment; virtually all had long years a large measure of independence, ex- More serious in its repercus- legislatures, and town meetings pro-
of self-government behind them. pected more, not less, freedom. And, sions was the new British revenue tested the law. Colonial lawyers pro-
In the 1760s their combined popu- with the French menace eliminated, policy. London needed more money tested “taxation without representa-
lation exceeded 1,500,000 — a six- they felt far less need for a strong to support its growing empire and tion,” a slogan that was to persuade
fold increase since 1700. Nonethe- British presence. A scarcely compre- faced growing taxpayer discontent at many Americans they were being
less, England and America did not hending Crown and Parliament on home. It seemed reasonable enough oppressed by the mother country.
begin an overt parting of the ways the other side of the Atlantic found that the colonies should pay for their Later in 1764, Parliament enacted
until 1763, more than a century itself contending with colonists own defense. That would involve new a Currency Act “to prevent paper
and a half after the founding of the trained in self-government and im- taxes, levied by Parliament — at the bills of credit hereafter issued in
first permanent settlement at James- patient with interference. expense of colonial self-government. any of His Majesty’s colonies from
town, Virginia. The organization of Canada The first step was the replacement being made legal tender.” Since the
and of the Ohio Valley necessitated of the Molasses Act of 1733, which colonies were a deficit trade area
A NEW COLONIAL SYSTEM policies that would not alienate the placed a prohibitive duty, or tax, and were constantly short of hard

IIndian French and Indian inhabitants. Here on the import of rum and molasses currency, this measure added a seri-
n the aftermath of the French and London was in fundamental conflict from non-English areas, with the ous burden to the colonial economy.
War, London saw a need for with the interests of the colonies. Sugar Act of 1764. This act outlawed Equally objectionable from the colo-
a new imperial design that would Fast increasing in population, and the importation of foreign rum; it nial viewpoint was the Quartering
involve more centralized control, needing more land for settlement, also put a modest duty on molasses Act, passed in 1765, which required

52 53
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

colonies to provide royal troops with liberties. It asserted that Virginians, The American leaders argued Townshend, British chancellor of the
provisions and barracks. enjoying the rights of Englishmen, that their only legal relations were exchequer, attempted a new fiscal
could be taxed only by their own with the Crown. It was the king who program in the face of continued
THE STAMP ACT representatives. The Massachusetts had agreed to establish colonies be- discontent over high taxes at home.

A Assembly invited all the colonies to yond the sea and the king who pro- Intent upon reducing British taxes
general tax measure sparked appoint delegates to a “Stamp Act vided them with governments. They by making more efficient the col-
the greatest organized resistance. Congress” in New York, held in Oc- asserted that he was equally a king of
lection of duties levied on American
Known as the “Stamp Act,” it re- tober 1765, to consider appeals for England and a king of the colonies, trade, he tightened customs admin-
quired all newspapers, broadsides, relief to the Crown and Parliament. but they insisted that the English istration and enacted duties on colo-
pamphlets, licenses, leases, and oth- Twenty-seven representatives from Parliament had no more right to nial imports of paper, glass, lead, and
er legal documents to bear revenue nine colonies seized the opportunity pass laws for the colonies than any tea from Britain. The “Townshend
stamps. The proceeds, collected by to mobilize colonial opinion. After colonial legislature had the right toActs” were based on the premise that
American customs agents, would be much debate, the congress adopted a pass laws for England. In fact, how- taxes imposed on goods imported by
used for “defending, protecting, and set of resolutions asserting that “no ever, their struggle was equally withthe colonies were legal while internal
securing” the colonies. taxes ever have been or can be con- King George III and Parliament. taxes (like the Stamp Act) were not.
Bearing equally on people who stitutionally imposed on them, but Factions aligned with the Crown The Townshend Acts were de-
did any kind of business, the Stamp by their respective legislatures,” and generally controlled Parliament and signed to raise revenue that would
Act aroused the hostility of the most that the Stamp Act had a “manifest reflected the king’s determination tobe used in part to support colonial
powerful and articulate groups in tendency to subvert the rights and be a strong monarch. officials and maintain the Brit-
the American population: journal- liberties of the colonists.” The British Parliament rejected ish army in America. In response,
ists, lawyers, clergymen, merchants the colonial contentions. British Philadelphia lawyer John Dickinson,
and businessmen, North and South, TAXATION WITHOUT merchants, however, feeling the ef- in Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer,
East and West. Leading merchants REPRESENTATION fects of the American boycott, threw argued that Parliament had the

T
organized for resistance and formed their weight behind a repeal move- right to control imperial commerce
nonimportation associations. he issue thus drawn centered on ment. In 1766 Parliament yielded, but did not have the right to tax the
Trade with the mother country the question of representation. The repealing the Stamp Act and modi- colonies, whether the duties were
fell off sharply in the summer of colonists believed they could not fying the Sugar Act. However, to external or internal.
1765, as prominent men organized be represented unless they actually mollify the supporters of central The agitation following enact-
themselves into the “Sons of Lib- elected members to the House of control over the colonies, Parliamentment of the Townshend duties was
erty” — secret organizations formed Commons. But this idea conflicted followed these actions with passage less violent than that stirred by the
to protest the Stamp Act, often with the English principle of “virtual of the Declaratory Act, which as- Stamp Act, but it was nevertheless
through violent means. From Mas- representation,” according to which serted the authority of Parliament tostrong, particularly in the cities of
sachusetts to South Carolina, mobs, each member of Parliament rep- make laws binding the colonies “in the Eastern seaboard. Merchants
forcing luckless customs agents to resented the interests of the whole all cases whatsoever.” The colonists once again resorted to non-impor-
resign their offices, destroyed the country and the empire — even if had won only a temporary respite tation agreements, and people made
hated stamps. Militant resistance ef- his electoral base consisted of only from an impending crisis. do with local products. Colonists,
fectively nullified the Act. a tiny minority of property owners for example, dressed in homespun
Spurred by delegate Patrick Hen- from a given district. This theory THE TOWNSHEND ACTS clothing and found substitutes for

T
ry, the Virginia House of Burgesses assumed that all British subjects tea. They used homemade paper
passed a set of resolutions in May shared the same interests as the he year 1767 brought another and their houses went unpainted.
denouncing taxation without rep- property owners who elected mem- series of measures that stirred anew In Boston, enforcement of the
resentation as a threat to colonial bers of Parliament. all the elements of discord. Charles new regulations provoked violence.

54 55
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

When customs officials sought to the controversy alive. They contend- accountable to it, thereby leading to In Boston, however, the agents de-
collect duties, they were set upon by ed that payment of the tax consti- the emergence of “a despotic form fied the colonists; with the support
the populace and roughly handled. tuted an acceptance of the principle of government.” The committee of the royal governor, they made
For this infraction, two British regi-that Parliament had the right to rule communicated with other towns on preparations to land incoming car-
ments were dispatched to protect the over the colonies. They feared that at this matter and requested them to goes regardless of opposition. On
customs commissioners. any time in the future, the principle draft replies. Committees were set the night of December 16, 1773, a
The presence of British troops in of parliamentary rule might be ap- up in virtually all the colonies, and band of men disguised as Mohawk
Boston was a standing invitation to plied with devastating effect on all out of them grew a base of effective Indians and led by Samuel Adams
disorder. On March 5, 1770, antago- colonial liberties. revolutionary organizations. Still, boarded three British ships lying at
nism between citizens and British The radicals’ most effective Adams did not have enough fuel to anchor and dumped their tea cargo
soldiers again flared into violence. leader was Samuel Adams of Mas- set a fire. into Boston harbor. Doubting their
What began as a harmless snowball- sachusetts, who toiled tirelessly for countrymen’s commitment to prin-
ing of British soldiers degenerated a single end: independence. From THE BOSTON “TEA PARTY” ciple, they feared that if the tea were

IAdams
into a mob attack. Someone gave the the time he graduated from Harvard landed, colonists would actually
order to fire. When the smoke had College in 1743, Adams was a public n 1773, however, Britain furnished purchase the tea and pay the tax.
cleared, three Bostonians lay dead in servant in some capacity — inspec- and his allies with an incen- A crisis now confronted Britain.
the snow. Dubbed the “Boston Mas- tor of chimneys, tax-collector, and diary issue. The powerful East India The East India Company had car-
sacre,” the incident was dramatically moderator of town meetings. A Company, finding itself in critical fi- ried out a parliamentary statute. If
pictured as proof of British heart- consistent failure in business, he was nancial straits, appealed to the Brit- the destruction of the tea went un-
lessness and tyranny. shrewd and able in politics, with the ish government, which granted it a punished, Parliament would admit
Faced with such opposition, Par- New England town meeting his the- monopoly on all tea exported to the to the world that it had no control
liament in 1770 opted for a strategic ater of action. colonies. The government also per- over the colonies. Official opinion
retreat and repealed all the Townsh- Adams wanted to free people mitted the East India Company to in Britain almost unanimously con-
end duties except that on tea, which from their awe of social and politi- supply retailers directly, bypassing demned the Boston Tea Party as an
was a luxury item in the colonies, cal superiors, make them aware of colonial wholesalers. By then, most act of vandalism and advocated le-
imbibed only by a very small minor- their own power and importance, of the tea consumed in America was gal measures to bring the insurgent
ity. To most, the action of Parliamentand thus arouse them to action. To- imported illegally, duty-free. By sell- colonists into line.
signified that the colonists had won ward these objectives, he published ing its tea through its own agents at
a major concession, and the cam- articles in newspapers and made a price well under the customary THE COERCIVE ACTS

P
paign against England was largely speeches in town meetings, instigat- one, the East India Company made
dropped. A colonial embargo on ing resolutions that appealed to the smuggling unprofitable and threat- arliament responded with new
“English tea” continued but was not colonists’ democratic impulses. ened to eliminate the independent laws that the colonists called the
too scrupulously observed. Prosper- In 1772 he induced the Boston colonial merchants. Aroused not “Coercive” or “Intolerable Acts.” The
ity was increasing and most colonial town meeting to select a “Com- only by the loss of the tea trade but first, the Boston Port Bill, closed
leaders were willing to let the futuremittee of Correspondence” to state also by the monopolistic practice the port of Boston until the tea was
take care of itself. the rights and grievances of the involved, colonial traders joined the paid for. The action threatened the
colonists. The committee opposed radicals agitating for independence. very life of the city, for to prevent
SAMUEL ADAMS a British decision to pay the salaries In ports up and down the Atlan- Boston from having access to the

D of judges from customs revenues; it tic coast, agents of the East India sea meant economic disaster. Other
uring a three-year interval of feared that the judges would no lon- Company were forced to resign. enactments restricted local author-
calm, a relatively small number of ger be dependent on the legislature New shipments of tea were either ity and banned most town meetings
radicals strove energetically to keep for their incomes and thus no longer returned to England or warehoused. held without the governor’s consent.

56 57
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

A Quartering Act required local au- posed a genuine dilemma for the began the collection of military sup- that the Massachusetts colonists
thorities to find suitable quarters for delegates. They would have to give plies and the mobilization of troops; were collecting powder and military
British troops, in private homes if an appearance of firm unanimity and fanned public opinion into rev- stores at the town of Concord, 32
necessary. Instead of subduing and to induce the British government olutionary ardor. kilometers away, Gage sent a strong
isolating Massachusetts, as Parlia- to make concessions. But they also Many of those opposed to British detail to confiscate these munitions.
ment intended, these acts rallied its would have to avoid any show of encroachment on American rights After a night of marching, the
sister colonies to its aid. The Que- radicalism or spirit of independence nonetheless favored discussion and British troops reached the village of
bec Act, passed at nearly the same that would alarm more moderate compromise as the proper solu- Lexington on April 19, 1775, and saw
time, extended the boundaries of Americans. tion. This group included Crown- a grim band of 77 Minutemen — so
the province of Quebec south to the A cautious keynote speech, fol- appointed officers, Quakers, and named because they were said to be
Ohio River. In conformity with pre- lowed by a “resolve” that no obe- members of other religious sects ready to fight in a minute — through
vious French practice, it provided for dience was due the Coercive Acts, opposed to the use of violence, nu- the early morning mist. The Minute-
trials without jury, did not establish ended with adoption of a set of merous merchants (especially in the men intended only a silent protest,
a representative assembly, and gave resolutions affirming the right of middle colonies), and some discon- but Marine Major John Pitcairn, the
the Catholic Church semi-estab- the colonists to “life, liberty, and tented farmers and frontiersmen in leader of the British troops, yelled,
lished status. By disregarding old property,” and the right of provin- the Southern colonies. “Disperse, you damned rebels! You
charter claims to western lands, it cial legislatures to set “all cases of The king might well have ef- dogs, run!” The leader of the Min-
threatened to block colonial expan- taxation and internal polity.” The fected an alliance with these moder- utemen, Captain John Parker, told
sion to the North and Northwest; its most important action taken by the ates and, by timely concessions, so his troops not to fire unless fired
recognition of the Roman Catholic Congress, however, was the forma- strengthened their position that the at first. The Americans were with-
Church outraged the Protestant tion of a “Continental Association” revolutionaries would have found it drawing when someone fired a shot,
sects that dominated every colony. to reestablish the trade boycott. It set difficult to proceed with hostilities. which led the British troops to fire
Though the Quebec Act had not up a system of committees to inspect But George III had no intention of at the Minutemen. The British then
been passed as a punitive measure, customs entries, publish the names making concessions. In September charged with bayonets, leaving eight
Americans associated it with the Co- of merchants who violated the agree- 1774, scorning a petition by Phila- dead and 10 wounded. In the often-
ercive Acts, and all became known ments, confiscate their imports, and delphia Quakers, he wrote, “The die quoted phrase of 19th century poet
as the “Five Intolerable Acts.” encourage frugality, economy, and is now cast, the Colonies must either Ralph Waldo Emerson, this was “the
At the suggestion of the Vir- industry. submit or triumph.” This action iso- shot heard round the world.”
ginia House of Burgesses, colonial The Continental Association im- lated Loyalists who were appalled The British pushed on to Con-
representatives met in Philadelphia mediately assumed the leadership and frightened by the course of cord. The Americans had taken away
on September 5, 1774, “to consult in the colonies, spurring new local events following the Coercive Acts. most of the munitions, but they de-
upon the present unhappy state organizations to end what remained stroyed whatever was left. In the
of the Colonies.” Delegates to this of royal authority. Led by the pro-in- THE REVOLUTION BEGINS meantime, American forces in the

G
meeting, known as the First Con- dependence leaders, they drew their countryside had mobilized to harass
tinental Congress, were chosen by support not only from the less well- eneral Thomas Gage, an amiable the British on their long return to
provincial congresses or popular to-do, but from many members of English gentleman with an Ameri- Boston. All along the road, behind
conventions. Only Georgia failed to the professional class (especially can-born wife, commanded the stone walls, hillocks, and houses,
send a delegate; the total number of lawyers), most of the planters of the garrison at Boston, where political militiamen from “every Middlesex
55 was large enough for diversity of Southern colonies, and a number activity had almost wholly replaced village and farm” made targets of
opinion, but small enough for genu- of merchants. They intimidated the trade. Gage’s main duty in the colo- the bright red coats of the British
ine debate and effective action. The hesitant into joining the popular nies had been to enforce the Coer- soldiers. By the time Gage’s weary
division of opinion in the colonies movement and punished the hostile; cive Acts. When news reached him detachment stumbled into Boston,

58 59
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

it had suffered more than 250 killed would fight for the British. Instead, There still remained the task, the consent of the governed,
and wounded. The Americans lost his proclamation drove to the rebel however, of gaining each colony’s — That whenever any Form of
93 men. side many Virginians who would approval of a formal declaration. On Government becomes destructive
The Second Continental Con- otherwise have remained Loyalist. June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Vir- of these ends, it is the Right of the
gress met in Philadelphia, Penn- The governor of North Carolina, ginia introduced a resolution in the People to alter or to abolish it,
sylvania, on May 10. The Congress Josiah Martin, also urged North Second Continental Congress, de- and to institute new Government,
voted to go to war, inducting the Carolinians to remain loyal to the claring, “That these United Colonies laying its foundation on such
colonial militias into continental Crown. When 1,500 men answered are, and of right ought to be, free principles and organizing its
service. It appointed Colonel George Martin’s call, they were defeated by and independent states. ...” Imme- powers in such form, as to them
Washington of Virginia as their revolutionary armies before British diately, a committee of five, headed shall seem most likely to effect their
commander-in-chief on June 15. troops could arrive to help. by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Safety and Happiness.
Within two days, the Americans had British warships continued down was appointed to draft a document Jefferson linked Locke’s principles
incurred high casualties at Bunker the coast to Charleston, South Caro- for a vote. directly to the situation in the colo-
Hill just outside Boston. Congress lina, and opened fire on the city in Largely Jefferson’s work, the Dec- nies. To fight for American indepen-
also ordered American expeditions early June 1776. But South Caro- laration of Independence, adopted dence was to fight for a government
to march northward into Canada by linians had time to prepare, and July 4, 1776, not only announced based on popular consent in place
fall. Capturing Montreal, they failed repulsed the British by the end of the birth of a new nation, but also of a government by a king who had
in a winter assault on Quebec, and the month. They would not return set forth a philosophy of human “combined with others to subject
eventually retreated to New York. South for more than two years. freedom that would become a dy- us to a jurisdiction foreign to our
Despite the outbreak of armed namic force throughout the entire constitution, and unacknowledged
conflict, the idea of complete sepa- COMMON SENSE AND world. The Declaration drew upon by our laws. ...” Only a government
ration from England was still repug- INDEPENDENCE French and English Enlightenment based on popular consent could se-

Ia nradical
nant to many members of the Con- political philosophy, but one influ- cure natural rights to life, liberty,
tinental Congress. In July, it adopted January 1776, Thomas Paine, ence in particular stands out: John and the pursuit of happiness. Thus,
the Olive Branch Petition, begging political theorist and Locke’s Second Treatise on Govern- to fight for American independence
the king to prevent further hostile writer who had come to America ment. Locke took conceptions of the was to fight on behalf of one’s own
actions until some sort of agreement from England in 1774, published a traditional rights of Englishmen and natural rights.
could be worked out. King George 50-page pamphlet, Common Sense. universalized them into the natu-
rejected it; instead, on August 23, Within three months, it sold 100,000 ral rights of all humankind. The DEFEATS AND VICTORIES

A
1775, he issued a proclamation de- copies. Paine attacked the idea of a Declaration’s familiar opening pas-
claring the colonies to be in a state hereditary monarchy, declaring that sage echoes Locke’s social-contract lthough the Americans suffered
of rebellion. one honest man was worth more to theory of government: severe setbacks for months after
Britain had expected the South- society than “all the crowned ruf- We hold these truths to be self- independence was declared, their
ern colonies to remain loyal, in part fians that ever lived.” He presented evident, that all men are created tenacity and perseverance eventu-
because of their reliance on slavery. the alternatives — continued sub- equal, that they are endowed ally paid off. During August 1776,
Many in the Southern colonies mission to a tyrannical king and by their Creator with certain in the Battle of Long Island in New
feared that a rebellion against the an outworn government, or liberty unalienable Rights, that among York, Washington’s position be-
mother country would also trigger and happiness as a self-sufficient, these are Life, Liberty and the came untenable, and he executed a
a slave uprising. In November 1775, independent republic. Circulated pursuit of Happiness. — That to masterly retreat in small boats from
Lord Dunmore, the governor of Vir- throughout the colonies, Common secure these rights, Governments Brooklyn to the Manhattan shore.
ginia, tried to capitalize on that fear Sense helped to crystallize a decision are instituted among Men, British General William Howe twice
by offering freedom to all slaves who for separation. deriving their just powers from hesitated and allowed the Americans

60 61
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

to escape. By November, however, turning point in the war. British privilege. However, the Crown lent soon broadened the conflict. In June
Howe had captured Fort Washing- General John Burgoyne, moving its support to the colonies for geo- 1778 British ships fired on French
ton on Manhattan Island. New York south from Canada, attempted to political rather than ideological vessels, and the two countries went
City would remain under British invade New York and New England reasons: The French government to war. In 1779 Spain, hoping to re-
control until the end of the war. via Lake Champlain and the Hud- had been eager for reprisal against acquire territories taken by Britain
That December, Washington’s son River. He had too much heavy Britain ever since France’s defeat in in the Seven Years’ War, entered
forces were near collapse, as sup- equipment to negotiate the wooded 1763. To further the American cause, the conflict on the side of France,
plies and promised aid failed to and marshy terrain. On August 6, Benjamin Franklin was sent to Paris but not as an ally of the Americans.
materialize. Howe again missed his at Oriskany, New York, a band of in 1776. His wit, guile, and intellect In 1780 Britain declared war on the
chance to crush the Americans by Loyalists and Native Americans un- soon made their presence felt in the Dutch, who had continued to trade
deciding to wait until spring to re- der Burgoyne’s command ran into a French capital, and played a major with the Americans. The combina-
sume fighting. On Christmas Day, mobile and seasoned American force role in winning French assistance. tion of these European powers, with
December 25, 1776, Washington that managed to halt their advance. France began providing aid to the France in the lead, was a far greater
crossed the Delaware River, north A few days later at Bennington, Ver- colonies in May 1776, when it sent 14 threat to Britain than the American
of Trenton, New Jersey. In the early- mont, more of Burgoyne’s forces, ships with war supplies to America. colonies standing alone.
morning hours of December 26, his seeking much-needed supplies, were In fact, most of the gunpowder used
troops surprised the British garrison pushed back by American troops. by the American armies came from THE BRITISH MOVE SOUTH

W
there, taking more than 900 prison- Moving to the west side of the France. After Britain’s defeat at Sara-
ers. A week later, on January 3, 1777, Hudson River, Burgoyne’s army toga, France saw an opportunity to ith the French now involved,
Washington attacked the British at advanced on Albany. The Ameri- seriously weaken its ancient enemy the British, still believing that most
Princeton, regaining most of the cans were waiting for him. Led by and restore the balance of power that Southerners were Loyalists, stepped
territory formally occupied by the Benedict Arnold — who would had been upset by the Seven Years’ up their efforts in the Southern
British. The victories at Trenton and later betray the Americans at West War (called the French and Indian colonies. A campaign began in late
Princeton revived flagging Ameri- Point, New York — the colonials War in the American colonies). On 1778, with the capture of Savannah,
can spirits. twice repulsed the British. Having February 6, 1778, the colonies and Georgia. Shortly thereafter, British
In September 1777, however, by this time incurred heavy losses, France signed a Treaty of Amity and troops and naval forces converged
Howe defeated the American army Burgoyne fell back to Saratoga, New Commerce, in which France recog- on Charleston, South Carolina, the
at Brandywine in Pennsylvania and York, where a vastly superior Ameri- nized the United States and offered principal Southern port. They man-
occupied Philadelphia, forcing the can force under General Horatio trade concessions. They also signed aged to bottle up American forces on
Continental Congress to flee. Wash- Gates surrounded the British troops. a Treaty of Alliance, which stipu- the Charleston peninsula. On May
ington had to endure the bitterly On October 17, 1777, Burgoyne sur- lated that if France entered the war, 12, 1780, General Benjamin Lincoln
cold winter of 1777-1778 at Valley rendered his entire army — six gen- neither country would lay down its surrendered the city and its 5,000
Forge, Pennsylvania, lacking ad- erals, 300 other officers, and 5,500 arms until the colonies won their troops, in the greatest American de-
equate food, clothing, and supplies. enlisted personnel. independence, that neither would feat of the war.
Farmers and merchants exchanged conclude peace with Britain without But the reversal in fortune only
their goods for British gold and sil- FRANCO-AMERICAN the consent of the other, and that emboldened the American rebels.
ver rather than for dubious paper ALLIANCE each guaranteed the other’s posses- South Carolinians began roaming

IAmerican
money issued by the Continental sions in America. This was the only the countryside, attacking British
Congress and the states. n France, enthusiasm for the bilateral defense treaty signed by supply lines. In July, American Gen-
Valley Forge was the lowest ebb cause was high: The the United States or its predecessors eral Horatio Gates, who had assem-
for Washington’s Continental Army, French intellectual world was it- until 1949. bled a replacement force of untrained
but elsewhere 1777 proved to be the self stirring against feudalism and The Franco-American alliance militiamen, rushed to Camden,

62 63
CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION


South Carolina, to confront British 1781, after being trapped at York-
forces led by General Charles Corn-
wallis. But Gates’s makeshift army
town near the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay, Cornwallis surrendered his
T he American Revolution had a significance far beyond the North American
continent. It attracted the attention of a political intelligentsia throughout the
panicked and ran when confronted army of 8,000 British soldiers. European continent. Idealistic notables such as Thaddeus Kosciusko, Friedrich
by the British regulars. Cornwallis’s Although Cornwallis’s defeat von Steuben, and the Marquis de Lafayette joined its ranks to affirm liberal
troops met the Americans several did not immediately end the war ideas they hoped to transfer to their own nations. Its success strengthened the
more times, but the most signifi- — which would drag on inconclu- concept of natural rights throughout the Western world and furthered the En-
cant battle took place at Cowpens, sively for almost two more years — a lightenment rationalist critique of an old order built around hereditary monar-
South Carolina, in early 1781, where new British government decided to chy and an established church. In a very real sense, it was a precursor to the
the Americans soundly defeated the pursue peace negotiations in Paris in French Revolution, but it lacked the French Revolution’s violence and chaos
British. After an exhausting but early 1782, with the American side because it had occurred in a society that was already fundamentally liberal.
unproductive chase through North represented by Benjamin Franklin, The ideas of the Revolution have been most often depicted as a triumph
Carolina, Cornwallis set his sights John Adams, and John Jay. On April of the social contract/natural rights theories of John Locke. Correct so far as it
on Virginia. 15, 1783, Congress approved the fi- goes, this characterization passes too quickly over the continuing importance
nal treaty. Signed on September 3, of Calvinist dissenting Protestantism, which from the Pilgrims and Puritans on
VICTORY AND the Treaty of Paris acknowledged had also stood for the ideals of the social contract and the self-governing com-
INDEPENDENCE the independence, freedom, and munity. Lockean intellectuals and the Protestant clergy were both important

IXVIn July sovereignty of the 13 former colo- advocates of compatible strains of liberalism that had flourished in the British
1780 France’s King Louis nies, now states. The new United North American colonies.
had sent to America an expe- States stretched west to the Missis- Scholars have also argued that another persuasion contributed to the
ditionary force of 6,000 men under sippi River, north to Canada, and Revolution: “republicanism.” Republicanism, they assert, did not deny the
the Comte Jean de Rochambeau. south to Florida, which was returned existence of natural rights but subordinated them to the belief that the main-
In addition, the French fleet ha- to Spain. The fledgling colonies that tenance of a free republic required a strong sense of communal responsibility
rassed British shipping and blocked Richard Henry Lee had spoken of and the cultivation of self-denying virtue among its leaders. The assertion of
reinforcement and resupply of Brit- more than seven years before had individual rights, even the pursuit of individual happiness, seemed egoistic by
ish forces in Virginia. French and finally become “free and indepen- contrast. For a time republicanism threatened to displace natural rights as the
American armies and navies, total- dent states.” major theme of the Revolution. Most historians today, however, concede that
ing 18,000 men, parried with Corn- The task of knitting together a the distinction was much overdrawn. Most individuals who thought about such
wallis all through the summer and nation remained. 9 things in the 18th century envisioned the two ideas more as different sides of
into the fall. Finally, on October 19, the same intellectual coin.
Revolution usually entails social upheaval and violence on a wide scale.
By these criteria, the American Revolution was relatively mild. About 100,000
Loyalists left the new United States. Some thousands were members of old
elites who had suffered expropriation of their property and been expelled;
others were simply common people faithful to their King. The majority of
those who went into exile did so voluntarily. The Revolution did open up and
further liberalize an already liberal society. In New York and the Carolinas,
large Loyalist estates were divided among small farmers. Liberal assumptions
became the official norm of American political culture — whether in the dis-
establishment of the Anglican Church, the principle of elected national and
state executives, or the wide dissemination of the idea of individual freedom.
Yet the structure of society changed little. Revolution or not, most people re-
mained secure in their life, liberty, and property. 

64 65
4
CHAPTER

THE
FORMATION
OF A
NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT

George Washington
addressing the
Constitutional Convention
in Philadelphia, 1787.

66
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“Every man, and science, and the right of the majority


to reform or alter the government.
nia), office-holders were required to
own a certain amount of property.

every body of men on Earth, Other states enlarged the list of


liberties to freedom of speech, of as- THE ARTICLES OF

possesses the right of sembly, and of petition. Their con- CONFEDERATION

T
stitutions frequently included such

self-government.” provisions as the right to bear arms,


to a writ of habeas corpus, to inviola-
he struggle with England had
done much to change colonial at-
bility of domicile, and to equal pro- titudes. Local assemblies had re-
tection under the law. Moreover, all jected the Albany Plan of Union in
Drafter of the Declaration of Independence prescribed a three-branch structure 1754, refusing to surrender even the
Thomas Jefferson, 1790
of government —executive, legisla- smallest part of their autonomy to
tive, and judiciary — each checked any other body, even one they them-
and balanced by the others. selves had elected. But in the course
Pennsylvania’s constitution was of the Revolution, mutual aid had
the most radical. In that state, Phila- proved effective, and the fear of re-
delphia artisans, Scots-Irish fron- linquishing individual authority had
tiersmen, and German-speaking lessened to a large degree.
farmers had taken control. The pro- John Dickinson produced the
vincial congress adopted a constitu- “Articles of Confederation and Per-
STATE CONSTITUTIONS solid foundation of colonial experi- tion that permitted every male tax- petual Union” in 1776. The Conti-

T ence and English practice. But each payer and his sons to vote, required nental Congress adopted them in
he success of the Revolution gave was also animated by the spirit of rotation in office (no one could serve November 1777, and they went into
Americans the opportunity to give republicanism, an ideal that had as a representative more than four effect in 1781, having been ratified by
legal form to their ideals as expressed long been praised by Enlightenment years out of every seven), and set up all the states. Reflecting the fragility
in the Declaration of Independence, philosophers. a single-chamber legislature. of a nascent sense of nationhood,
and to remedy some of their griev- Naturally, the first objective of The state constitutions had some the Articles provided only for a very
ances through state constitutions. the framers of the state constitutions glaring limitations, particularly by loose union. The national govern-
As early as May 10, 1776, Congress was to secure those “unalienable more recent standards. Constitu- ment lacked the authority to set up
had passed a resolution advising rights” whose violation had caused tions established to guarantee people tariffs, to regulate commerce, and to
the colonies to form new govern- the former colonies to repudiate their natural rights did not secure levy taxes. It possessed scant control
ments “such as shall best conduce their connection with Britain. Thus, for everyone the most fundamental of international relations: A number
to the happiness and safety of their each constitution began with a dec- natural right — equality. The colo- of states had begun their own nego-
constituents.” Some of them had laration or bill of rights. Virginia’s, nies south of Pennsylvania excluded tiations with foreign countries. Nine
already done so, and within a year which served as a model for all the their slave populations from their states had their own armies, several
after the Declaration of Indepen- others, included a declaration of inalienable rights as human beings. their own navies. In the absence of
dence, all but three had drawn up principles: popular sovereignty, ro- Women had no political rights. No a sound common currency, the new
constitutions. tation in office, freedom of elections, state went so far as to permit univer- nation conducted its commerce with
The new constitutions showed and an enumeration of fundamental sal male suffrage, and even in those a curious hodgepodge of coins and a
the impact of democratic ideas. liberties: moderate bail and humane states that permitted all taxpayers to bewildering variety of state and na-
None made any drastic break with punishment, speedy trial by jury, vote (Delaware, North Carolina, and tional paper bills, all fast depreciat-
the past, since all were built on the freedom of the press and of con- Georgia, in addition to Pennsylva- ing in value.

68 69
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Economic difficulties after the reinforcements from Boston and Appalachians. To those without would be formed as the territory was
war prompted calls for change. The routed the remaining Shaysites, such claims this rich territorial settled. Whenever any one of them
end of the war had a severe effect on whose leader escaped to Vermont. prize seemed unfairly apportioned. had 60,000 free inhabitants, it was
merchants who supplied the armies The government captured 14 rebels Maryland, speaking for the latter to be admitted to the Union “on
of both sides and who had lost the and sentenced them to death, but ul- group, introduced a resolution that an equal footing with the original
advantages deriving from par- timately pardoned some and let the the western lands be considered states in all respects.” The ordinance
ticipation in the British mercantile others off with short prison terms. common property to be parceled guaranteed civil rights and liberties,
system. The states gave preference After the defeat of the rebellion, by the Congress into free and in- encouraged education, and prohib-
to American goods in their tariff a newly elected legislature, whose dependent governments. This idea ited slavery or other forms of invol-
policies, but these were inconsistent, majority sympathized with the reb- was not received enthusiastically. untary servitude.
leading to the demand for a stronger els, met some of their demands for Nonetheless, in 1780 New York led The new policy repudiated the
central government to implement a debt relief. the way by ceding its claims. In 1784 time-honored concept that colonies
uniform policy. Virginia, which held the grandest existed for the benefit of the mother
Farmers probably suffered the THE PROBLEM OF EXPANSION claims, relinquished all land north country, were politically subordi-

W
most from economic difficul- of the Ohio River. Other states nate, and peopled by social inferiors.
ties following the Revolution. The ith the end of the Revolution, ceded their claims, and it became Instead, it established the principle
supply of farm produce exceeded the United States again had to face apparent that Congress would come that colonies (“territories”) were an
demand; unrest centered chiefly the old unsolved Western ques- into possession of all the lands north extension of the nation and entitled,
among farmer-debtors who wanted tion, the problem of expansion, of the Ohio River and west of the Al- not as a privilege but as a right, to all
strong remedies to avoid foreclosure with its complications of land, fur legheny Mountains. This common the benefits of equality.
on their property and imprison- trade, Indians, settlement, and lo- possession of millions of hectares
ment for debt. Courts were clogged cal government. Lured by the rich- was the most tangible evidence yet CONSTITUTIONAL
with suits for payment filed by their est land yet found in the country, of nationality and unity, and gave a CONVENTION

B
creditors. All through the summer pioneers poured over the Appala- certain substance to the idea of na-
of 1786, popular conventions and chian Mountains and beyond. By tional sovereignty. At the same time, y the time the Northwest Ordi-
informal gatherings in several states 1775 the far-flung outposts scat- these vast territories were a problem nance was enacted, American leaders
demanded reform in the state ad- tered along the waterways had tens that required solution. were in the midst of drafting a new
ministrations. of thousands of settlers. Separated The Confederation Congress es- and stronger constitution to replace
That autumn, mobs of farmers in by mountain ranges and hundreds tablished a system of limited self- the Articles of Confederation. Their
Massachusetts under the leadership of kilometers from the centers of government for this new national presiding officer, George Washing-
of a former army captain, Daniel political authority in the East, the Northwest Territory. The Northwest ton, had written accurately that the
Shays, began forcibly to prevent inhabitants established their own Ordinance of 1787 provided for its states were united only by a “rope of
the county courts from sitting and governments. Settlers from all the organization, initially as a single sand.” Disputes between Maryland
passing further judgments for debt, Tidewater states pressed on into district, ruled by a governor and and Virginia over navigation on
pending the next state election. the fertile river valleys, hardwood judges appointed by the Congress. the Potomac River led to a confer-
In January 1787 a ragtag army of forests, and rolling prairies of the When this territory had 5,000 free ence of representatives of five states
1,200 farmers moved toward the interior. By 1790 the population of male inhabitants of voting age, it at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786.
federal arsenal at Springfield. The the trans-Appalachian region num- was to be entitled to a legislature One of the delegates, Alexander
rebels, armed chiefly with staves bered well over 120,000. of two chambers, itself electing the Hamilton of New York, convinced
and pitchforks, were repulsed by a Before the war, several colonies lower house. In addition, it could at his colleagues that commerce was
small state militia force; General had laid extensive and often over- that time send a nonvoting delegate bound up with large political and
Benjamin Lincoln then arrived with lapping claims to land beyond the to Congress. Three to five states economic questions. What was re-

70 71
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

quired was a fundamental rethink- Massachusetts sent Rufus King among other things, to coin money, representation in proportion to the
ing of the Confederation. and Elbridge Gerry, young men of to regulate commerce, to declare population of the states in one house
The Annapolis conference issued ability and experience. Roger Sher- war, and to make peace. of Congress, the House of Represen-
a call for all the states to appoint man, shoemaker turned judge, was tatives, and equal representation in
representatives to a convention to be one of the representatives from DEBATE AND COMPROMISE the other, the Senate.

T
held the following spring in Philadel- Connecticut. From New York came The alignment of large against
phia. The Continental Congress was Alexander Hamilton, who had pro- he 18th-century statesmen who small states then dissolved. But
at first indignant over this bold step, posed the meeting. Absent from met in Philadelphia were adherents almost every succeeding question
but it acquiesced after Washington the Convention were Thomas Jef- of Montesquieu’s concept of the raised new divisions, to be resolved
gave the project his backing and was ferson, who was serving as minister balance of power in politics. This only by new compromises. North-
elected a delegate. During the next representing the United States in principle was supported by colonial erners wanted slaves counted when
fall and winter, elections were held France, and John Adams, serving in experience and strengthened by the determining each state’s tax share,
in all states but Rhode Island. the same capacity in Great Britain. writings of John Locke, with which but not in determining the number
A remarkable gathering of no- Youth predominated among the 55 most of the delegates were familiar. of seats a state would have in the
tables assembled at the Federal Con- delegates — the average age was 42. These influences led to the convic- House of Representatives. Under a
vention in May 1787. The state legis- Congress had authorized the tion that three equal and coordinate compromise reached with little dis-
latures sent leaders with experience Convention merely to draft amend- branches of government should be sent, tax levies and House member-
in colonial and state governments, in ments to the Articles of Confedera- established. Legislative, executive, ship would be apportioned accord-
Congress, on the bench, and in the tion but, as Madison later wrote, the and judicial powers were to be so ing to the number of free inhabitants
army. Washington, regarded as the delegates, “with a manly confidence harmoniously balanced that no plus three-fifths of the slaves.
country’s first citizen because of his in their country,” simply threw the one could ever gain control. The Certain members, such as Sher-
integrity and his military leadership Articles aside and went ahead with delegates agreed that the legislative man and Elbridge Gerry, still smart-
during the Revolution, was chosen the building of a wholly new form branch, like the colonial legislatures ing from Shays’s Rebellion, feared
as presiding officer. of government. and the British Parliament, should that the mass of people lacked suf-
Prominent among the more active They recognized that the para- consist of two houses. ficient wisdom to govern themselves
members were two Pennsylvanians: mount need was to reconcile two On these points there was una- and thus wished no branch of the
Gouverneur Morris, who clearly saw different powers — the power of nimity within the assembly. But federal government to be elected di-
the need for national government, local control, which was already sharp differences also arose. Repre- rectly by the people. Others thought
and James Wilson, who labored being exercised by the 13 semi-in- sentatives of the small states — New the national government should be
indefatigably for the national idea. dependent states, and the power of Jersey, for instance — objected to given as broad a popular base as
Also elected by Pennsylvania was a central government. They adopted changes that would reduce their in- possible. Some delegates wished to
Benjamin Franklin, nearing the end the principle that the functions and fluence in the national government exclude the growing West from the
of an extraordinary career of public powers of the national government by basing representation upon pop- opportunity of statehood; others
service and scientific achievement. — being new, general, and inclu- ulation rather than upon statehood, championed the equality principle
From Virginia came James Madison, sive — had to be carefully defined as was the case under the Articles of established in the Northwest Ordi-
a practical young statesman, a thor- and stated, while all other functions Confederation. nance of 1787.
ough student of politics and history, and powers were to be understood as On the other hand, representa- There was no serious difference
and, according to a colleague, “from belonging to the states. But realizing tives of large states, like Virginia, on such national economic ques-
a spirit of industry and application ... that the central government had to argued for proportionate represen- tions as paper money, laws concern-
the best-informed man on any point have real power, the delegates also tation. This debate threatened to go ing contract obligations, or the role
in debate.” He would be recognized generally accepted the fact that the on endlessly until Roger Sherman of women, who were excluded from
as the “Father of the Constitution.” government should be authorized, came forward with arguments for politics. But there was a need for

72 73
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

balancing sectional economic in- system with separate legislative, come to naught, for the states paid Debate continues to this day
terests; for settling arguments as to executive, and judiciary branches, no attention to them. What was to about the motives of those who
the powers, term, and selection of each checked by the others. Thus save the new government from the wrote the Constitution. In 1913 his-
the chief executive; and for solving congressional enactments were not same fate? torian Charles Beard, in An Econom-
problems involving the tenure of to become law until approved by At the outset, most delegates fur- ic Interpretation of the Constitution,
judges and the kind of courts to be the president. And the president nished a single answer — the use of argued that the Founding Fathers
established. was to submit the most important force. But it was quickly seen that the represented emerging commer-
Laboring through a hot Philadel- of his appointments and all his trea- application of force upon the states cial-capitalist interests that needed
phia summer, the convention finally ties to the Senate for confirmation. would destroy the Union. The deci- a strong national government. He
achieved a draft incorporating in The president, in turn, could be im- sion was that the government should also believed many may have been
a brief document the organization peached and removed by Congress. not act upon the states but upon the motivated by personal holdings of
of the most complex government The judiciary was to hear all cases people within the states, and should large amounts of depreciated gov-
yet devised, one that would be su- arising under federal laws and the legislate for and upon all the indi- ernment securities. However, James
preme within a clearly defined and Constitution; in effect, the courts vidual residents of the country. As Madison, principal drafter of the
limited sphere. It would have full were empowered to interpret both the keystone of the Constitution, the Constitution, held no bonds and
power to levy taxes, borrow money, the fundamental and the statute convention adopted two brief but was a Virginia planter. Conversely,
establish uniform duties and excise law. But members of the judiciary, highly significant statements: some opponents of the Constitu-
taxes, coin money, regulate inter- appointed by the president and con- Congress shall have power ... tion owned large amounts of bonds
state commerce, fix weights and firmed by the Senate, could also be to make all Laws which shall be and securities. Economic interests
measures, grant patents and copy- impeached by Congress. necessary and proper for carrying influenced the course of the debate,
rights, set up post offices, and build To protect the Constitution from into Execution the ... Powers but so did state, sectional, and ideo-
post roads. It also was authorized to hasty alteration, Article V stipulated vested by this Constitution in the logical interests. Equally important
raise and maintain an army and that amendments to the Constitu- Government of the United States. was the idealism of the framers.
navy, manage Native American af- tion be proposed either by two- ... (Article I, Section 7) Products of the Enlightenment, the
fairs, conduct foreign policy, and thirds of both houses of Congress or This Constitution, and the Founding Fathers designed a gov-
wage war. It could pass laws for by two-thirds of the states, meeting Laws of the United States which ernment that they believed would
naturalizing foreigners and control- in convention. The proposals were to shall be made in Pursuance promote individual liberty and
ling public lands; it could admit new be ratified by one of two methods: thereof; and all Treaties made, or public virtue. The ideals embodied
states on a basis of absolute equality either by the legislatures of three- which shall be made, under the in the U.S. Constitution remain an
with the old. The power to pass all fourths of the states, or by conven- Authority of the United States, essential element of the American
necessary and proper laws for ex- tion in three-fourths of the states, shall be the supreme Law of the national identity.
ecuting these clearly defined pow- with the Congress proposing the Land; and the Judges in every
ers rendered the federal government method to be used. State shall be bound thereby, RATIFICATION AND
able to meet the needs of later gen- Finally, the convention faced any Thing in the Constitution or THE BILL OF RIGHTS

O
erations and of a greatly expanded the most important problem of all: Laws of any State to the Contrary
body politic. How should the powers given to notwithstanding. (Article VI) n September 17, 1787, after 16
The principle of separation of the new government be enforced? Thus the laws of the United States weeks of deliberation, the finished
powers had already been given a fair Under the Articles of Confedera- became enforceable in its own na- Constitution was signed by 39 of
trial in most state constitutions and tion, the national government had tional courts, through its own judges the 42 delegates present. Franklin,
had proved sound. Accordingly, the possessed — on paper — signifi- and marshals, as well as in the state pointing to the half-sun painted in
convention set up a governmental cant powers, which, in practice, had courts through the state judges and brilliant gold on the back of Wash-
state law officers. ington’s chair, said:

74 75
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

I have often in the course of the In Virginia, the Antifederalists of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights Constitution. Although a number of
session ... looked at that [chair] attacked the proposed new govern- of 1776, was one of three delegates the subsequent amendments revised
behind the president, without ment by challenging the opening to the Constitutional Convention the federal government’s structure
being able to tell whether it was phrase of the Constitution: “We who had refused to sign the final and operations, most followed the
rising or setting; but now, at the People of the United States.” document because it did not enu- precedent established by the Bill
length, I have the happiness to Without using the individual state merate individual rights. Together of Rights and expanded individual
know that it is a rising, and not a names in the Constitution, the del- with Patrick Henry, he campaigned rights and freedoms.
setting, sun. egates argued, the states would not vigorously against ratification of the
The convention was over; the retain their separate rights or pow- Constitution by Virginia. Indeed, PRESIDENT WASHINGTON

O
members “adjourned to the City ers. Virginia Antifederalists were led five states, including Massachusetts,
Tavern, dined together, and took by Patrick Henry, who became the ratified the Constitution on the con- ne of the last acts of the Congress
a cordial leave of each other.” Yet chief spokesman for back-country dition that such amendments be of the Confederation was to arrange
a crucial part of the struggle for a farmers who feared the powers of added immediately. for the first presidential election, set-
more perfect union remained to the new central government. Wa- When the first Congress con- ting March 4, 1789, as the date that
be faced. The consent of popularly vering delegates were persuaded by vened in New York City in Septem- the new government would come
elected state conventions was still a proposal that the Virginia con- ber 1789, the calls for amendments into being. One name was on every-
required before the document could vention recommend a bill of rights, protecting individual rights were one’s lips for the new chief of state,
become effective. and Antifederalists joined with the virtually unanimous. Congress George Washington. He was unani-
The convention had decided that Federalists to ratify the Constitution quickly adopted 12 such amend- mously chosen president and took
the Constitution would take effect on June 25. ments; by December 1791, enough the oath of office at his inauguration
upon ratification by conventions in In New York, Alexander Ham- states had ratified 10 amendments on April 30, 1789. In words spoken
nine of the 13 states. By June 1788 ilton, John Jay, and James Madison to make them part of the Constitu- by every president since, Washing-
the required nine states had ratified pushed for the ratification of the tion. Collectively, they are known ton pledged to execute the duties of
the Constitution, but the large states Constitution in a series of essays as the Bill of Rights. Among their the presidency faithfully and, to the
of Virginia and New York had not. known as The Federalist Papers. provisions: freedom of speech, press, best of his ability, to “preserve, pro-
Most people felt that without their The essays, published in New York religion, and the right to assemble tect, and defend the Constitution of
support the Constitution would nev- newspapers, provided a now-classic peacefully, protest, and demand the United States.”
er be honored. To many, the docu- argument for a central federal gov- changes (First Amendment); protec- When Washington took office,
ment seemed full of dangers: Would ernment, with separate executive, tion against unreasonable searches, the new Constitution enjoyed nei-
not the strong central government legislative, and judicial branches that seizures of property, and arrest ther tradition nor the full backing of
that it established tyrannize them, checked and balanced one another. (Fourth Amendment); due process organized public opinion. The new
oppress them with heavy taxes, and With The Federalist Papers influenc- of law in all criminal cases (Fifth government had to create its own
drag them into wars? ing the New York delegates, the Con- Amendment); right to a fair and machinery and legislate a system of
Differing views on these ques- stitution was ratified on July 26. speedy trial (Sixth Amendment); taxation that would support it. Until
tions brought into existence two Antipathy toward a strong cen- protection against cruel and unusual a judiciary could be established, laws
parties, the Federalists, who favored tral government was only one punishment (Eighth Amendment); could not be enforced. The army was
a strong central government, and the concern among those opposed to and provision that the people retain small. The navy had ceased to exist.
Antifederalists, who preferred a loose the Constitution; of equal concern additional rights not listed in the Congress quickly created the
association of separate states. Impas- to many was the fear that the Constitution (Ninth Amendment). departments of State and Treasury,
sioned arguments on both sides were Constitution did not protect individ- Since the adoption of the Bill with Thomas Jefferson and Alex-
voiced by the press, the legislatures, ual rights and freedoms sufficiently. of Rights, only 17 more amend- ander Hamilton as their respective
and the state conventions. Virginian George Mason, author ments have been added to the secretaries. Departments of War

76 77
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

and Justice were also created. Since At this critical juncture in the credit and a stable currency. Openly nancial institution and operated
Washington preferred to make de- country’s growth, Washington’s wise distrustful of the latent radicalism branches in different parts of the
cisions only after consulting those leadership was crucial. He organized of the masses, they could nonethe- country. Hamilton sponsored a na-
men whose judgment he valued, a national government, developed less credibly appeal to workers and tional mint, and argued in favor of
the American presidential Cabinet policies for settlement of territories artisans. Their political stronghold tariffs, saying that temporary pro-
came into existence, consisting of previously held by Britain and Spain, was in the New England states. See- tection of new firms could help fos-
the heads of all the departments that stabilized the northwestern frontier, ing England as in many respects an ter the development of competitive
Congress might create. Simultane- and oversaw the admission of three example the United States should try national industries. These measures
ously, Congress provided for a fed- new states: Vermont (1791), Ken- to emulate, they favored good rela- — placing the credit of the federal
eral judiciary — a Supreme Court, tucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796). tions with their mother country. government on a firm foundation
with one chief justice and five as- Finally, in his Farewell Address, he Although Alexander Hamilton and giving it all the revenues it
sociate justices, three circuit courts, warned the nation to “steer clear of was never able to muster the popular needed — encouraged commerce
and 13 district courts. permanent alliances with any por- appeal to stand successfully for elec- and industry, and created a solid
Meanwhile, the country was tion of the foreign world.” This ad- tive office, he was far and away the phalanx of interests firmly behind
growing steadily and immigration vice influenced American attitudes Federalists’ main generator of ideol- the national government.
from Europe was increasing. Ameri- toward the rest of the world for gen- ogy and public policy. He brought to The Republicans, led by Thomas
cans were moving westward: New erations to come. public life a love of efficiency, order, Jefferson, spoke primarily for agri-
Englanders and Pennsylvanians into and organization. In response to the cultural interests and values. They
Ohio; Virginians and Carolinians HAMILTON VS. JEFFERSON call of the House of Representatives distrusted bankers, cared little for

A
into Kentucky and Tennessee. Good for a plan for the “adequate support commerce and manufacturing, and
farms were to be had for small sums; conflict took shape in the 1790s of public credit,” he laid down and believed that freedom and democra-
labor was in strong demand. The between America’s first political supported principles not only of the cy flourished best in a rural society
rich valley stretches of upper New parties. Indeed, the Federalists, led public economy, but of effective gov- composed of self-sufficient farm-
York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia by Alexander Hamilton, and the ernment. Hamilton pointed out that ers. They felt little need for a strong
soon became great wheat-growing Republicans (also called Demo- the United States must have credit central government; in fact, they
areas. cratic-Republicans), led by Thomas for industrial development, com- tended to see it as a potential source
Although many items were still Jefferson, were the first political mercial activity, and the operations of oppression. Thus they favored
homemade, the Industrial Revolu- parties in the Western world. Un- of government, and that its obliga- states’ rights. They were strongest in
tion was dawning in the United like loose political groupings in the tions must have the complete faith the South.
States. Massachusetts and Rhode British House of Commons or in and support of the people. Hamilton’s great aim was more
Island were laying the foundation of the American colonies before the There were many who wished efficient organization, whereas Jef-
important textile industries; Con- Revolution, both had reasonably to repudiate the Confederation’s ferson once said, “I am not a friend
necticut was beginning to turn out consistent and principled platforms, national debt or pay only part of it. to a very energetic government.”
tinware and clocks; New York, New relatively stable popular followings, Hamilton insisted upon full pay- Hamilton feared anarchy and
Jersey, and Pennsylvania were pro- and continuing organizations. ment and also upon a plan by which thought in terms of order; Jefferson
ducing paper, glass, and iron. Ship- The Federalists in the main rep- the federal government took over feared tyranny and thought in terms
ping had grown to such an extent resented the interests of trade and the unpaid debts of the states in- of freedom. Where Hamilton saw
that on the seas the United States manufacturing, which they saw as curred during the Revolution. He England as an example, Jefferson,
was second only to Britain. Even be- forces of progress in the world. They also secured congressional legisla- who had been minister to France in
fore 1790, American ships were trav- believed these could be advanced tion for a Bank of the United States. the early stages of the French Revo-
eling to China to sell furs and bring only by a strong central government Modeled after the Bank of England, lution, looked to the overthrow of
back tea, spices, and silk. capable of establishing sound public it acted as the nation’s central fi- the French monarchy as vindication

78 79
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

of the liberal ideals of the Enlighten- CITIZEN GENET AND 1778 treaty that had made American ing issue of British “impressment”
ment. Against Hamilton’s instinc- FOREIGN POLICY independence possible by proclaim- of American sailors into the Royal

A
tive conservatism, he projected an ing the United States to be “friendly Navy, placed severe limitations on
eloquent democratic radicalism. lthough one of the first tasks and impartial toward the belligerent American trade with the West In-
An early clash between them, of the new government was to powers.” When Genet arrived, he dies, and accepted the British view
which occurred shortly after Jeffer- strengthen the domestic economy was cheered by many citizens, but that food and naval stores, as well as
son took office as secretary of state, and make the nation financially treated with cool formality by the war materiel, were contraband sub-
led to a new and profoundly impor- secure, the United States could not government. Angered, he violated ject to seizure if bound for enemy
tant interpretation of the Constitu- ignore foreign affairs. The cor- a promise not to outfit a captured ports on neutral ships.
tion. When Hamilton introduced nerstones of Washington’s foreign British ship as a privateer (privately American diplomat Charles
his bill to establish a national bank, policy were to preserve peace, to owned warships commissioned to Pinckney was more successful in
Jefferson, speaking for those who give the country time to recover prey on ships of enemy nations). dealing with Spain. In 1795, he ne-
believed in states’ rights, argued that from its wounds, and to permit the Genet then threatened to take his gotiated an important treaty settling
the Constitution expressly enumer- slow work of national integration to cause directly to the American peo- the Florida border on American
ated all the powers belonging to the continue. Events in Europe threat- ple, over the head of the government. terms and giving Americans access
federal government and reserved all ened these goals. Many Americans Shortly afterward, the United States to the port of New Orleans. All the
other powers to the states. Nowhere watched the French Revolution with requested his recall by the French same, the Jay Treaty with the Brit-
was the federal government empow- keen interest and sympathy. In April government. ish reflected a continuing American
ered to set up a bank. 1793, news came that France had The Genet incident strained weakness vis-a-vis a world super-
Hamilton responded that because declared war on Great Britain and American relations with France at power. Deeply unpopular, it was
of the mass of necessary detail, a Spain, and that a new French envoy, a time when those with Great Brit- vocally supported only by Federal-
vast body of powers had to be Edmond Charles Genet — Citizen ain were far from satisfactory. Brit- ists who valued cultural and eco-
implied by general clauses, and one Genet — was coming to the United ish troops still occupied forts in the nomic ties with Britain. Washington
of these authorized Congress to States. West, property carried off by British backed it as the best bargain avail-
“make all laws which shall be nec- When the revolution in France soldiers during the Revolution had able, and, after a heated debate, the
essary and proper” for carrying out led to the execution of King Louis not been restored or paid for, and the Senate approved it.
other powers specifically granted. XVI in January 1793, Britain, Spain, British Navy was seizing American Citizen Genet’s antics and Jay’s
The Constitution authorized the and Holland became involved in ships bound for French ports. The Treaty demonstrated both the diffi-
national government to levy and war with France. According to the two countries seemed to be drifting culties faced by a small weak nation
collect taxes, pay debts, and bor- Franco-American Treaty of Alliance toward war. Washington sent John caught between two great powers
row money. A national bank would of 1778, the United States and France Jay, first chief justice of the Supreme and the wide gap in outlook between
materially help in performing these were perpetual allies, and the Unit- Court, to London as a special envoy. Federalists and Republicans. To the
functions efficiently. Congress, ed States was obliged to help France Jay negotiated a treaty that secured Federalists, Republican backers of
therefore, was entitled, under its im- defend the West Indies. However, withdrawal of British soldiers from the increasingly violent and radical
plied powers, to create such a bank. the United States, militarily and western forts but allowed the British French Revolution were dangerous
Washington and the Congress ac- economically a very weak country, to continue the fur trade with the radicals (“Jacobins”); to the Repub-
cepted Hamilton’s view — and set was in no position to become in- Indians in the Northwest. London licans, advocates of amity with Eng-
an important precedent for an ex- volved in another war with major agreed to pay damages for American land were monarchists who would
pansive interpretation of the federal European powers. ships and cargoes seized in 1793 and subvert the natural rights of Ameri-
government’s authority. On April 22, 1793, Washington 1794, but made no commitments on cans. The Federalists connected vir-
effectively abrogated the terms of the possible future seizures. Moreover, tue and national development with
the treaty failed to address the fester- commerce; the Republicans saw

80 81
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

America’s destiny as that of a vast tles with the French, war seemed December 1798. Extreme declara- and ceremony of the presidency. In
agrarian republic. The politics of inevitable. In this crisis, Adams tion of states’ rights, the resolutions line with Republican ideology, he
their conflicting positions became rejected the guidance of Hamilton, asserted that states could “inter- sharply cut military expenditures.
increasingly vehement. who wanted war, and reopened ne- pose” their views on federal actions Believing America to be a haven
gotiations with France. Napoleon, and “nullify” them. The doctrine for the oppressed, he secured a lib-
ADAMS AND JEFFERSON who had just come to power, re- of nullification would be used later eral naturalization law. By the end

W ceived them cordially. The danger for the Southern states’ resistance to of his second term, his far-sighted
ashington retired in 1797, firmly of conflict subsided with the nego- protective tariffs, and, more omi- secretary of the treasury, Albert
declining to serve for more than tiation of the Convention of 1800, nously, slavery. Gallatin, had reduced the national
eight years as the nation’s head. which formally released the United By 1800 the American people debt to less than $560 million.
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia (Re- States from its 1778 defense alliance were ready for a change. Under Widely popular, Jefferson won re-
publican) and John Adams (Feder- with France. However, reflecting Washington and Adams, the Fed- election as president easily.
alist) vied to succeed him. Adams American weakness, France refused eralists had established a strong gov-
won a narrow election victory. From to pay $20 million in compensation ernment, but sometimes failing to LOUISIANA AND BRITAIN

O
the beginning, however, he was at for American ships taken by the honor the principle that the Ameri-
the head of a party and an adminis- French Navy. can government must be responsive ne of Jefferson’s acts doubled the
tration divided between his backers Hostility to France had led Con- to the will of the people, they had area of the country. At the end of the
and those of his rival, Hamilton. gress to pass the Alien and Sedition followed policies that alienated large Seven Years’ War, France had ceded
Adams faced serious internation- Acts, which had severe repercussions groups. For example, in 1798 they its territory west of the Mississippi
al difficulties. France, angered by for American civil liberties. The had enacted a tax on houses, land, River to Spain. Access to the port
Jay’s treaty with Britain, adopted its Naturalization Act, which changed and slaves, affecting every property of New Orleans near its mouth was
definition of contraband and began the requirement for citizenship owner in the country. vital for the shipment of American
to seize American ships headed for from five to 14 years, was targeted Jefferson had steadily gathered products from the Ohio and Missis-
Britain. By 1797 France had snatched at Irish and French immigrants behind him a great mass of small sippi river valleys. Shortly after Jef-
300 American ships and broken suspected of supporting the Repub- farmers, shopkeepers, and other ferson became president, Napoleon
off diplomatic relations with the licans. The Alien Act, operative for workers. He won a close victory in forced a weak Spanish government
United States. When Adams sent two years only, gave the president a contested election. Jefferson en- to cede this great tract, the Louisiana
three commissioners to Paris to the power to expel or imprison joyed extraordinary favor because of Territory, back to France. The move
negotiate, agents of Foreign Minis- aliens in time of war. The Sedition his appeal to American idealism. In filled Americans with apprehension
ter Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Act proscribed writing, speaking, his inaugural address, the first such and indignation. French plans for
(whom Adams labeled X, Y, and or publishing anything of “a false, speech in the new capital of Wash- a huge colonial empire just west of
Z in his report to Congress) in- scandalous, and malicious” nature ington, D.C., he promised “a wise the United States seriously threat-
formed the Americans that negotia- against the president or Congress. and frugal government” that would ened the future development of the
tions could only begin if the United The few convictions won under it preserve order among the inhabit- United States. Jefferson asserted that
States loaned France $12 million created martyrs to the cause of civil ants but leave people “otherwise free if France took possession of Louisi-
and bribed officials of the French liberties and aroused support for the to regulate their own pursuits of in- ana, “from that moment we must
government. American hostility to Republicans. dustry, and improvement.” marry ourselves to the British fleet
France rose to an excited pitch. The The acts met with resistance. Jef- Jefferson’s mere presence in the and nation.”
so-called XYZ Affair led to the en- ferson and Madison sponsored the White House encouraged demo- Napoleon, however, lost interest
listment of troops and the strength- passage of the Kentucky and Vir- cratic procedures. He preached after the French were expelled from
ening of the fledgling U.S. Navy. ginia Resolutions by the legislatures and practiced democratic simplic- Haiti by a slave revolt. Knowing that
In 1799, after a series of sea bat- of these two states in November and ity, eschewing much of the pomp another war with Great Britain was

82 83
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

impending, he resolved to fill his When Jefferson issued a procla- settlers had suffered from attacks of militia, volunteers, and regulars
treasury and put Louisiana beyond mation ordering British warships by Indians whom they believed had from Kentucky with the object of
the reach of Britain by selling it to to leave U.S. territorial waters, the been incited by British agents in reconquering Detroit. On September
the United States. His offer present- British reacted by impressing more Canada. In turn, many Americans 12, while he was still in upper Ohio,
ed Jefferson with a dilemma: The sailors. Jefferson then decided to rely favored conquest of Canada and the news reached him that Commodore
Constitution conferred no explicit on economic pressure; in December elimination of British influence in Oliver Hazard Perry had annihilated
power to purchase territory. At first 1807 Congress passed the Embargo North America, as well as vengeance the British fleet on Lake Erie. Har-
the president wanted to propose an Act, forbidding all foreign com- for impressment and commercial rison occupied Detroit and pushed
amendment, but delay might lead merce. Ironically, the law required repression. By 1812, war fervor was into Canada, defeating the fleeing
Napoleon to change his mind. Ad- strong police authority that vastly dominant. On June 18, the United British and their Indian allies on
vised that the power to purchase increased the powers of the national States declared war on Britain. the Thames River. The entire region
territory was inherent in the power government. Economically, it was now came under American control.
to make treaties, Jefferson relented, disastrous. In a single year Ameri- THE WAR OF 1812 A year later Commodore Thomas

T
saying that “the good sense of our can exports fell to one-fifth of their Macdonough won a point-blank
country will correct the evil of loose former volume. Shipping interests he nation went to war bitterly gun duel with a British flotilla on
construction when it shall produce were almost ruined by the measure; divided. While the South and West Lake Champlain in upper New
ill effects.” discontent rose in New England and favored the conflict, New York and York. Deprived of naval support, a
The United States obtained the New York. Agricultural interests New England opposed it because British invasion force of 10,000 men
“Louisiana Purchase” for $15 mil- suffered heavily also. Prices dropped it interfered with their commerce. retreated to Canada. Nevertheless,
lion in 1803. It contained more drastically when the Southern and The U.S. military was weak. The the British fleet harassed the East-
than 2,600,000 square kilometers Western farmers could not export army had fewer than 7,000 regular ern seaboard with orders to “destroy
as well as the port of New Orleans. their surplus grain, cotton, meat, soldiers, distributed in widely scat- and lay waste.” On the night of Au-
The nation had gained a sweep of and tobacco. tered posts along the coast, near the gust 24, 1814, an expeditionary force
rich plains, mountains, forests, and The embargo failed to starve Canadian border, and in the remote routed American militia, marched
river systems that within 80 years Great Britain into a change of pol- interior. The state militias were to Washington, D.C., and left the
would become its heartland — and icy. As the grumbling at home in- poorly trained and undisciplined. city in flames. President James Mad-
a breadbasket for the world. creased, Jefferson turned to a milder Hostilities began with an inva- ison fled to Virginia.
As Jefferson began his second measure, which partially conciliated sion of Canada, which, if properly British and American nego-
term in 1805, he declared American domestic shipping interests. In early timed and executed, would have tiators conducted talks in Europe.
neutrality in the struggle between 1809 he signed the Non-Intercourse brought united action against Mon- The British envoys decided to con-
Great Britain and France. Although Act permitting commerce with all treal. Instead, the entire campaign cede, however, when they learned
both sides sought to restrict neutral countries except Britain or France miscarried and ended with the Brit- of Macdonough’s victory on Lake
shipping to the other, British control and their dependencies. ish occupation of Detroit. The U.S. Champlain. Faced with the deple-
of the seas made its interdiction and James Madison succeeded Jeffer- Navy, however, scored successes. tion of the British treasury due in
seizure much more serious than son as president in 1809. Relations In addition, American privateers, large part to the heavy costs of the
any actions by Napoleonic France. with Great Britain grew worse, and swarming the Atlantic, captured 500 Napoleonic Wars, the negotiators
British naval commanders routinely the two countries moved rapidly to- British vessels during the fall and for Great Britain accepted the Treaty
searched American ships, seized ves- ward war. The president laid before winter months of 1812 and 1813. of Ghent in December 1814. It pro-
sels and cargoes, and took off sailors Congress a detailed report, showing The campaign of 1813 centered vided for the cessation of hostilities,
believed to be British subjects. They several thousand instances in which on Lake Erie. General William the restoration of conquests, and a
also frequently impressed American the British had impressed American Henry Harrison — who would later commission to settle boundary dis-
seamen into their service. citizens. In addition, northwestern become president — led an army putes. Unaware that a peace treaty

84 85
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING


had been signed, the two sides con- England had managed to trade with
tinued fighting into 1815 near New
Orleans, Louisiana. Led by General
the enemy throughout the conflict,
and some areas actually prospered
By the end of the 18th century, many educated Americans no longer
professed traditional Christian beliefs. In reaction to the secularism of the age,
Andrew Jackson, the United States from this commerce. Nevertheless,
scored the greatest land victory of the Federalists claimed that the war a religious revival spread westward in the first half of the 19th century.
the war, ending for once and for all was ruining the economy. With a This “Second Great Awakening” consisted of several kinds of activity,
any British hopes of reestablishing possibility of secession from the distinguished by locale and expression of religious commitment. In New
continental influence south of the Union in the background, the con- England, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism.
Canadian border. vention proposed a series of consti- In western New York, the spirit of revival encouraged the emergence of new
While the British and Ameri- tutional amendments that would
denominations. In the Appalachian region of Kentucky and Tennessee, the
cans were negotiating a settlement, protect New England interests. In-
Federalist delegates selected by the stead, the end of the war, punctuated revival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists, and spawned a new form
legislatures of Massachusetts, Rhode by the smashing victory at New Or- of religious expression — the camp meeting.
Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and leans, stamped the Federalists with a In contrast to the Great Awakening of the 1730s, the revivals in the
New Hampshire gathered in Hart- stigma of disloyalty from which they East were notable for the absence of hysteria and open emotion. Rather,
ford, Connecticut, to express oppo- never recovered. 9 unbelievers were awed by the “respectful silence” of those bearing witness
sition to “Mr. Madison’s war.” New
to their faith. The evangelical enthusiasm in New England gave rise to
interdenominational missionary societies, formed to evangelize the West.
Members of these societies not only acted as apostles for the faith, but as
educators, civic leaders, and exponents of Eastern, urban culture. Publication
and education societies promoted Christian education. Most notable among
them was the American Bible Society, founded in 1816. Social activism
inspired by the revival gave rise to abolition of slavery groups and the Society
for the Promotion of Temperance, as well as to efforts to reform prisons and
care for the handicapped and mentally ill.
Western New York, from Lake Ontario to the Adirondack Mountains, had
been the scene of so many religious revivals in the past that it was known as
the “Burned-Over District.” Here, the dominant figure was Charles Grandison
Finney, a lawyer who had experienced a religious epiphany and set out to
preach the Gospel. His revivals were characterized by careful planning,
showmanship, and advertising. Finney preached in the Burned-Over District
throughout the 1820s and the early 1830s, before moving to Ohio in 1835
to take a chair in theology at Oberlin College, of which he subsequently
became president.
Two other important religious denominations in America — the Mormons
and the Seventh Day Adventists — also got their start in the Burned-
Over District.

86 87
CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT

Andrew Jackson, president from 1829 to 1837. Charismatic, forceful,


and passionate, Jackson forged an effective political coalition within
the Democratic Party with Westerners, farmers, and working people.
In the Appalachian region, the revival took on characteristics similar
to the Great Awakening of the previous century. But here, the center of the
revival was the camp meeting, a religious service of several days’ length, for
a group that was obliged to take shelter on the spot because of the distance
from home. Pioneers in thinly populated areas looked to the camp meeting
as a refuge from the lonely life on the frontier. The sheer exhilaration of
participating in a religious revival with hundreds and perhaps thousands
of people inspired the dancing, shouting, and singing associated with these
events. Probably the largest camp meeting was at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in
August 1801; between 10,000 and 25,000 people attended.
The great revival quickly spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, and
southern Ohio, with the Methodists and the Baptists its prime beneficiaries.
Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. The
Methodists had a very efficient organization that depended on ministers —
known as circuit riders — who sought out people in remote frontier locations.
The circuit riders came from among the common people and possessed a
rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert. The Baptists had
no formal church organization. Their farmer-preachers were people who
received “the call” from God, studied the Bible, and founded a church, which
then ordained them. Other candidates for the ministry emerged from these
churches, and established a presence farther into the wilderness. Using such

TRANSFORMING
methods, the Baptists became dominant throughout the border states and
most of the South.
The Second Great Awakening exercised a profound impact on American
history. The numerical strength of the Baptists and Methodists rose relative
to that of the denominations dominant in the colonial period — Anglicans,
A NATI O N
Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. The growing differences A PICTURE PROFILE
within American Protestantism reflected the growth and diversity of an
The United States transformed itself again in the 19th and
expanding nation. 
early 20th centuries. A rural, agricultural nation became an
industrial power whose backbone was steel and coal, railroads,
and steam power. A young country once bound by the Mississippi
River expanded across the North American continent, and on to
overseas territories. A nation divided by the issue of slavery and
tested by the trauma of civil war became a world power whose
global influence was first felt in World War I.

88 89
Henry Clay of Kentucky,
although never president,
was one of the most
influential American
politicians of the first half
of the 19th century. Clay
became indispensable for
his role in preserving the
Union with the Missouri
Compromise of 1820 and William Lloyd Garrison, whose
the Compromise of 1850. passionate denunciations of slavery
Both pieces of legislation and eloquent defense of the rights
resolved, for a time, of enslaved African Americans
disputes over slavery in appeared in his weekly paper, the
the territories. Liberator, from its first issue in 1831 to
1865, when the last issue appeared at
the close of the Civil War.

The great champions of


women’s rights in the 19th
century: Elizabeth Cady
Stanton (seated) and Susan
B. Anthony. Stanton helped
organize the first women’s
rights convention in 1848 Frederick Douglass, the nation’s leading
in Seneca Falls, New York. African-American abolitionist of the
In later years, she joined 19th century, escaped from slavery in Harriet Tubman, a former slave who rescued
Anthony in founding the 1838. His speech about his sufferings hundreds from slavery through the Underground
National Woman Suffrage as a slave at the Massachusetts Anti- Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a vast
Association. “I forged the Slavery Society’s annual convention network of people who helped fugitive slaves
thunderbolts,” Stanton said in Nantucket launched his career as escape to the North and to Canada in the first
of their partnership, “and she an outspoken lecturer, writer, and half of the 19th century.
fired them.” publisher on the abolition of slavery
and racial equality.
90 91
Confederate dead along a stone wall during the Chancellorsville campaign, May 1863.
Victorious at Chancellorsville, Southern forces advanced north into Pennsylvania, but
were defeated at the three-day battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil War
and the largest battle ever fought in North America. More Americans died in the Civil
War (1861-65) than in any other conflict in U.S. history.
93
Union General Ulysses S. Grant, who led Union
forces to victory in the Civil War and became
the 18th president of the United States. Despite
heavy losses in several battles against his
opponent, General Lee (below), Grant refused
to retreat, leading President Lincoln to say to
critics calling for his removal “I can’t spare this
general. He fights.”

Encampment of Union troops from New York in Alexandria, Virginia,


just across the Potomac River from the capital of Washington.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Military


historians to this day study his tactics
and Grant’s in battles such as Vicksburg,
Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness.

94 95
Andrew Carnegie, business tycoon and philanthropist. Born in Scotland of a poor
Engraving of the first African-American members elected to the U.S. Congress during family, Carnegie immigrated to the United States and made his fortune by building
the Reconstruction Era, following the Civil War. Seated at left is H.R. Revels, senator the country’s largest iron and steel manufacturing corporation. Believing that the
from Mississippi. The others were members of the House of Representatives, from wealthy had an obligation to give back to society, he endowed public libraries across
the states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. the United States.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens


(1835-1910), better known by
his pen name of Mark Twain,
Although practically is perhaps the most widely
unknown during her read and enjoyed American
lifetime, Emily Dickinson writer and humorist. In his
(1830-1886) is now seen as Adventures of Huckleberry
one of the most brilliant Finn and other works, Twain
and original poets America developed a style based on
has ever produced. vigorous, realistic, colloquial
American speech.
96 97
Sitting Bull, Sioux chief who led the last great battle
of the Plains Indians against the U.S. Army, when his
warriors defeated forces under the command of
General George Custer at the Battle of
Little Bighorn in 1876.

Custer’s army on the march prior to


Little Bighorn. The Plains Indians who
defeated his army were resisting white
intrusions into their sacred lands and
U.S. government attempts to force
them back onto South Dakota’s
Great Sioux Reservation.

98 99
Above, Oklahoma City in 1889, four weeks after the Oklahoma
Territory was opened up for settlement. Settlers staked their claim,
put up tents, and then swiftly began erecting board shacks and
houses — a pattern repeated throughout the West.

Left, a vessel at the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal. The United
States acquired the rights to build the canal in 1903 in a treaty with
Panama, which had just rebelled and broken away from Colombia.
Under the terms of the 1977 treaty, the canal reverted to
Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.

101
Left, opposite page, immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in New York
City, principal gateway to the United States in the late 19th and early
20th centuries. From 1890 to 1921, almost 19 million people entered
the United States as immigrants.

Below, children working at the Indiana Glass Works in 1908.


Enacting child labor laws was one of the principal goals of the
Progressive movement in this era.

102 103
Mulberry Street in New York City, also known as
“Little Italy,” in the early years of the 20th century.
Newly arrived immigrant families, largely from
Eastern and southern Europe in this period,
often settled in densely populated urban
enclaves. Typically, their children,
or grandchildren, would disperse,
moving to other cities or other
parts of the country.

104 105
Orville Wright, who built and flew the first heavier-than-air airplane at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, with his brother Wilbur. Orville is
shown here at the controls of a later model plane in 1909.

Thomas Edison examines film used in the motion picture


projector that he invented with George Eastman. The most
celebrated of Edison’s hundreds of inventions was the
incandescent light bulb.
Alexander Graham Bell makes the first telephone call from
New York City to Chicago in 1892. Bell, an immigrant from
Scotland who settled in Boston, invented the telephone 16 years
earlier, in 1876.

106 107
American infantry forces in 1918, firing a 37 mm. gun, advance against German
positions in World War I.

For the educated and well-to-do, the 1920s was the era of the “Lost Generation,”
symbolized by writers like Ernest Hemingway, who left the United States for voluntary
The “Big Four” at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, following the end of World War exile in Paris. It was also the “flapper era” of frivolity and excess in which young people
I. They are, seated from left, Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Prime Minister could reject the constraints and traditions of their elders. Top, flappers posing for the
David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Premier Georges Clemenceau of France, and camera at a 1920s-era party. Above, Henry Ford and his son stand with one of his early
President Woodrow Wilson of the United States. Despite strenuous efforts, Wilson automobiles, and the 10 millionth Ford Model-T. The Model-T was the first car whose
was unable to persuade the U.S. Senate to agree to American participation in the new price and availability made car ownership possible for large numbers of people.
League of Nations established in the aftermath of the war.

108 109
5
CHAPTER

WESTWARD
EXPANSION
AND
REGIONAL
DIFFERENCES

Horse-drawn combine
harvesting wheat in the
Midwest, 19th century.

110
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“Go West, young man, cated a national system of roads and


canals to link them with Eastern cit-
Maryland (1819), he boldly upheld
the Hamiltonian theory that the

and grow up with ies and ports, and to open frontier


lands for settlement. However, they
Constitution by implication gives
the government powers beyond

the country.” were unsuccessful in pressing their


demands for a federal role in inter-
those expressly stated.

nal improvement because of oppo- EXTENSION OF SLAVERY

S
sition from New England and the
Newspaper editor Horace Greeley, 1851 South. Roads and canals remained lavery, which up to now had re-
the province of the states until the ceived little public attention, began
passage of the Federal Aid Road Act to assume much greater importance
of 1916. as a national issue. In the early years
The position of the federal gov- of the republic, when the Northern
ernment at this time was greatly states were providing for immedi-
strengthened by several Supreme ate or gradual emancipation of the
Court decisions. A committed Fed- slaves, many leaders had supposed
eralist, John Marshall of Virginia that slavery would die out. In 1786
became chief justice in 1801 and George Washington wrote that he
held office until his death in 1835. devoutly wished some plan might
BUILDING UNITY was as essential as political inde- The court — weak before his ad- be adopted “by which slavery may

T pendence. To foster self-sufficiency, ministration — was transformed be abolished by slow, sure, and im-
he War of 1812 was, in a sense, congressional leaders Henry Clay of into a powerful tribunal, occupying perceptible degrees.” Virginians Jef-
a second war of independence that Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of a position co-equal to the Congress ferson, Madison, and Monroe and
confirmed once and for all the South Carolina urged a policy of pro- and the president. In a succession other leading Southern statesmen
American break with England. With tectionism — imposition of restric- of historic decisions, Marshall es- made similar statements.
its conclusion, many of the serious tions on imported goods to foster the tablished the power of the Supreme The Northwest Ordinance of 1787
difficulties that the young repub- development of American industry. Court and strengthened the national had banned slavery in the Northwest
lic had faced since the Revolution The time was propitious for rais- government. Territory. As late as 1808, when the
disappeared. National union under ing the customs tariff. The shepherds Marshall was the first in a long international slave trade was abol-
the Constitution brought a balance of Vermont and Ohio wanted pro- line of Supreme Court justices ished, there were many Southern-
between liberty and order. With a tection against an influx of English whose decisions have molded the ers who thought that slavery would
low national debt and a continent wool. In Kentucky, a new industry meaning and application of the soon end. The expectation proved
awaiting exploration, the prospect of of weaving local hemp into cotton Constitution. When he finished false, for during the next generation,
peace, prosperity, and social prog- bagging was threatened by the Scot- his long service, the court had de- the South became solidly united
ress opened before the nation. tish bagging industry. Pittsburgh, cided nearly 50 cases clearly involv- behind the institution of slavery as
Commerce cemented national Pennsylvania, already a flourishing ing constitutional issues. In one of new economic factors made slavery
unity. The privations of war con- center of iron smelting, was eager to Marshall’s most famous opinions far more profitable than it had been
vinced many of the importance of challenge British and Swedish iron — Marbury v. Madison (1803) — he before 1790.
protecting the manufacturers of suppliers. The tariff enacted in 1816 decisively established the right of the Chief among these was the rise of
America until they could stand alone imposed duties high enough to give Supreme Court to review the consti- a great cotton-growing industry in
against foreign competition. Eco- manufacturers real protection. tutionality of any law of Congress or the South, stimulated by the intro-
nomic independence, many argued, In addition, Westerners advo- of a state legislature. In McCulloch v. duction of new types of cotton and

112 113
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

by Eli Whitney’s invention in 1793 of In 1819 Missouri, which had most of Hispanic America — from to Latin America, but Secretary of
the cotton gin, which separated the 10,000 slaves, applied to enter the Argentina and Chile in the south to State John Quincy Adams convinced
seeds from cotton. At the same time, Union. Northerners rallied to op- Mexico in the north — had won in- Monroe to act unilaterally: “It would
the Industrial Revolution, which pose Missouri’s entry except as a dependence. be more candid, as well as more dig-
made textile manufacturing a large- free state, and a storm of protest The people of the United States nified, to avow our principles ex-
scale operation, vastly increased the swept the country. For a time Con- took a deep interest in what seemed plicitly to Russia and France, than to
demand for raw cotton. And the gress was deadlocked, but Henry a repetition of their own experience come in as a cock-boat in the wake
opening of new lands in the West Clay arranged the so-called Mis- in breaking away from European of the British man-of-war.”
after 1812 greatly extended the area souri Compromise: Missouri was rule. The Latin American indepen- In December 1823, with the
available for cotton cultivation. Cot- admitted as a slave state at the same dence movements confirmed their knowledge that the British navy
ton culture moved rapidly from the time Maine came in as a free state. own belief in self-government. In would defend Latin America from
Tidewater states on the East Coast In addition, Congress banned slav- 1822 President James Monroe, under the Holy Alliance and France, Presi-
through much of the lower South ery from the territory acquired by powerful public pressure, received dent Monroe took the occasion of
to the delta region of the Mississippi the Louisiana Purchase north of authority to recognize the new his annual message to Congress
and eventually to Texas. Missouri’s southern boundary. At countries of Latin America and soon to pronounce what would become
Sugar cane, another labor-in- the time, this provision appeared to exchanged ministers with them. He known as the Monroe Doctrine
tensive crop, also contributed to be a victory for the Southern states thereby confirmed their status as — the refusal to tolerate any further
slavery’s extension in the South. because it was thought unlikely that genuinely independent countries, extension of European domination
The rich, hot lands of southeastern this “Great American Desert” would entirely separated from their former in the Americas:
Louisiana proved ideal for growing ever be settled. The controversy was European connections. The American continents ... are
sugar cane profitably. By 1830 the temporarily resolved, but Thomas At just this point, Russia, Prussia, henceforth not to be considered as
state was supplying the nation with Jefferson wrote to a friend that “this and Austria formed an association, subjects for future colonization by
about half its sugar supply. Finally, momentous question, like a fire bell the Holy Alliance, to protect them- any European powers.
tobacco growers moved westward, in the night, awakened and filled me selves against revolution. By inter- We should consider any attempt
taking slavery with them. with terror. I considered it at once as vening in countries where popular on their part to extend their
As the free society of the North the knell of the Union.” movements threatened monarchies, [political] system to any portion
and the slave society of the South the alliance — joined by post-Na- of this hemisphere, as dangerous to
spread westward, it seemed politi- LATIN AMERICA AND THE poleonic France — hoped to prevent our peace and safety.
cally expedient to maintain a rough MONROE DOCTRINE the spread of revolution. This policy With the existing colonies or

D
equality among the new states was the antithesis of the American dependencies of any European
carved out of western territories. In uring the opening decades of principle of self-determination. power we have not interfered,
1818, when Illinois was admitted to the 19th century, Central and South As long as the Holy Alliance con- and shall not interfere. But
the Union, 10 states permitted slav- America turned to revolution. The fined its activities to the Old World, with the governments who have
ery and 11 states prohibited it; but idea of liberty had stirred the people it aroused no anxiety in the United declared their independence,
balance was restored after Alabama of Latin America from the time the States. But when the alliance an- and maintained it, and whose
was admitted as a slave state. Popula- English colonies gained their free- nounced its intention of restoring to independence we have ...
tion was growing faster in the North, dom. Napoleon’s conquest of Spain Spain its former colonies, Americans acknowledged, we could not view
which permitted Northern states to and Portugal in 1808 provided the became very concerned. Britain, to any interposition for the purpose of
have a clear majority in the House signal for Latin Americans to rise which Latin American trade had be- oppressing them, or controlling, in
of Representatives. However, equal- in revolt. By 1822, ably led by Simón come of great importance, resolved to any other manner, their destiny, by
ity between the North and the South Bolívar, Francisco Miranda, José de block any such action. London urged any European power in any other
was maintained in the Senate. San Martín and Miguel de Hidalgo, joint Anglo-American guarantees light than as the manifestation of

114 115
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

an unfriendly disposition towards legiance played important roles in paign, they accused the president of 1828 act that they called the Tariff
the United States. determining the outcome of the a “corrupt bargain” for naming Clay of Abominations. In their view, all
The Monroe Doctrine expressed election. Adams won the electoral secretary of state. In the election ofits benefits of protection went to
a spirit of solidarity with the newly votes from New England and most 1828, Jackson defeated Adams by an Northern manufacturers, leaving
independent republics of Latin of New York; Clay won Kentucky, overwhelming electoral majority. agricultural South Carolina poorer.
America. These nations in turn rec- Ohio, and Missouri; Jackson won Jackson — Tennessee politician, In 1828, the state’s leading politician
ognized their political affinity with the Southeast, Illinois, Indiana, the fighter in wars against Native Amer- — and Jackson’s vice president until
the United States by basing their new Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, icans on the Southern frontier, and his resignation in 1832 — John C.
constitutions, in many instances, on and New Jersey; and Crawford won hero of the Battle of New Orleans Calhoun had declared in his South
the North American model. Virginia, Georgia, and Delaware. during the War of 1812 — drew Carolina Exposition and Protest that
No candidate gained a majority in his support from the “common states had the right to nullify oppres-
FACTIONALISM AND the Electoral College, so, according people.” He came to the presidency sive national legislation.
POLITICAL PARTIES to the provisions of the Constitu- on a rising tide of enthusiasm for In 1832, Congress passed and

D tion, the election was thrown into popular democracy. The election of Jackson signed a bill that revised
omestically, the presidency of the House of Representatives, where 1828 was a significant benchmark the 1828 tariff downward, but it was
Monroe (1817-1825) was termed the Clay was the most influential figure. in the trend toward broader voter not enough to satisfy most South
“era of good feelings.” The phrase ac- He supported Adams, who gained participation. By then most states Carolinians. The state adopted an
knowledged the political triumph of the presidency. had either enacted universal white Ordinance of Nullification, which
the Republican Party over the Feder- During Adams’s administration, male suffrage or minimized prop- declared both the tariffs of 1828 and
alist Party, which had collapsed as a new party alignments appeared. erty requirements. In 1824 members 1832 null and void within state bor-
national force. All the same, this was Adams’s followers, some of whom of the Electoral College in six statesders. Its legislature also passed laws
a period of vigorous factional and were former Federalists, took the were still selected by the state legis-
to enforce the ordinance, including
regional conflict. name of “National Republicans” latures. By 1828 presidential elec- authorization for raising a military
The end of the Federalists led to a as emblematic of their support of tors were chosen by popular vote in force and appropriations for arms.
brief period of factional politics and a federal government that would every state but Delaware and South Nullification was a long-established
brought disarray to the practice of take a strong role in developing an Carolina. These developments were theme of protest against perceived
choosing presidential nominees by expanding nation. Though he gov- the products of a widespread sense excesses by the federal government.
congressional party caucuses. For erned honestly and efficiently, Ad- that the people should rule and that Jefferson and Madison had proposed
a time, state legislatures nominated ams was not a popular president. government by traditional elites had it in the Kentucky and Virginia Res-
candidates. In 1824 Tennessee and He failed in his effort to institute a come to an end. olutions of 1798, to protest the Alien
Pennsylvania chose Andrew Jack- national system of roads and canals. and Sedition Acts. The Hartford
son, with South Carolina Senator His coldly intellectual temperament NULLIFICATION CRISIS Convention of 1814 had invoked it

T
John C. Calhoun as his running did not win friends. Jackson, by con- to protest the War of 1812. Never
mate. Kentucky selected Speaker of trast, had enormous popular appeal oward the end of his first term before, however, had a state actually
the House Henry Clay; Massachu- and a strong political organization. in office, Jackson was forced to con- attempted nullification. The young
setts, Secretary of State John Quincy His followers coalesced to establish front the state of South Carolina, nation faced its most dangerous
Adams, son of the second president, the Democratic Party, claimed di- the most important of the emerg- crisis yet.
John Adams. A congressional cau- rect lineage from the Democratic- ing Deep South cotton states, on the In response to South Carolina’s
cus, widely derided as undemocrat- Republican Party of Jefferson, and issue of the protective tariff. Busi- threat, Jackson sent seven small
ic, picked Secretary of the Treasury in general advocated the principles ness and farming interests in the naval vessels and a man-of-war to
William Crawford. of small, decentralized government. state had hoped that the president Charleston in November 1832. On
Personality and sectional al- Mounting a strong anti-Adams cam- would use his power to modify the December 10, he issued a resound-

116 117
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ing proclamation against the nulli- THE BANK FIGHT ating great confusion and fueling called the central bank a “monster”

A
fiers. South Carolina, the president inflation. It became increasingly and coasted to an easy election vic-
declared, stood on “the brink of lthough the nullification crisis clear that state banks could not pro- tory over Henry Clay.
insurrection and treason,” and he possessed the seeds of civil war, it vide the country with a reliable cur- The president interpreted his tri-
appealed to the people of the state was not as critical a political issue rency. In 1816 a second Bank of the umph as a popular mandate to crush
to reassert their allegiance to the as a bitter struggle over the contin- United States, similar to the first, the central bank irrevocably. In Sep-
Union. He also let it be known that, ued existence of the nation’s central was again chartered for 20 years. tember 1833 he ordered an end to
if necessary, he personally would lead bank, the second Bank of the United From its inception, the second bank deposits of government money in
the U.S. Army to enforce the law. States. The first bank, established in was unpopular in the newer states the bank, and gradual withdrawals
When the question of tariff duties 1791 under Alexander Hamilton’s and territories, especially with state of the money already in its custody.
again came before Congress, Jack- guidance, had been chartered for and local bankers who resented its The government deposited its funds
son’s political rival, Senator Henry a 20-year period. Though the gov- virtual monopoly over the country’s in selected state banks, characterized
Clay, a great advocate of protection ernment held some of its stock, the credit and currency, but also with as “pet banks” by the opposition.
but also a devoted Unionist, spon- bank, like the Bank of England and less prosperous people everywhere, For the next generation the
sored a compromise measure. Clay’s other central banks of the time, was who believed that it represented the United States would get by on a
tariff bill, quickly passed in 1833, a private corporation with profits interests of the wealthy few. relatively unregulated state banking
specified that all duties in excess of passing to its stockholders. Its public On the whole, the bank was system, which helped fuel westward
20 percent of the value of the goods functions were to act as a depository well managed and rendered a valu- expansion through cheap credit but
imported were to be reduced year by for government receipts, to make able service; but Jackson long had kept the nation vulnerable to peri-
year, so that by 1842 the duties on short-term loans to the government, shared the Republican distrust of odic panics. During the Civil War,
all articles would reach the level of and above all to establish a sound the financial establishment. Elected the United States initiated a system
the moderate tariff of 1816. At the currency by refusing to accept at face as a tribune of the people, he sensed of national charters for local and
same time, Congress passed a Force value notes (paper money) issued by that the bank’s aristocratic man- regional banks, but the nation re-
Act, authorizing the president to use state-chartered banks in excess of ager, Nicholas Biddle, was an easy turned to a central bank only with
military power to enforce the laws. their ability to redeem. target. When the bank’s support- the establishment of the Federal Re-
South Carolina had expected the To the Northeastern financial ers in Congress pushed through an serve system in 1913.
support of other Southern states, and commercial establishment, the early renewal of its charter, Jackson
but instead found itself isolated. central bank was a needed enforcer responded with a stinging veto that WHIGS, DEMOCRATS, AND
(Its most likely ally, the state gov- of prudent monetary policy, but denounced monopoly and special KNOW-NOTHINGS

Jedackson’s
ernment of Georgia, wanted, and from the beginning it was resented privilege. The effort to override the
got, U.S. military force to remove by Southerners and Westerners veto failed. political opponents, unit-
Native American tribes from the who believed their prosperity and In the presidential campaign that by little more than a common
state.) Eventually, South Carolina regional development depended followed, the bank question revealed opposition to him, eventually co-
rescinded its action. Both sides, nev- upon ample money and credit. The a fundamental division. Established alesced into a common party called
ertheless, claimed victory. Jackson Republican Party of Jefferson and merchant, manufacturing, and the Whigs, a British term signifying
had strongly defended the Union. Madison doubted its constitutional- financial interests favored sound opposition to Jackson’s “monarchial
But South Carolina, by its show of ity. When its charter expired in 1811, money. Regional bankers and en- rule.” Although they organized soon
resistance, had obtained many of it was not renewed. trepreneurs on the make wanted an after the election campaign of 1832,
its demands and had demonstrated For the next few years, the bank- increased money supply and lower it was more than a decade before
that a single state could force its will ing business was in the hands of interest rates. Other debtor classes, they reconciled their differences
on Congress. state-chartered banks, which issued especially farmers, shared those sen- and were able to draw up a platform.
currency in excessive amounts, cre- timents. Jackson and his supporters Largely through the magnetism of

118 119
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, the tively that, if a president died, the trol of legislatures in New York and was especially effective. The pub-
Whigs’ most brilliant statesmen, the vice president would assume the of- Massachusetts; by then, about 90 lic school system became common
party solidified its membership. But fice with full powers for the balance U.S. congressmen were linked to the throughout the North. In other
in the 1836 election, the Whigs were of his term. party. That was its high point. Soon parts of the country, however, the
still too divided to unite behind a Americans found themselves di- after, the gathering crisis between battle for public education contin-
single man. New York’s Martin Van vided in other, more complex ways. North and South over the extension ued for years.
Buren, Jackson’s vice president, won The large number of Catholic im- of slavery fatally divided the party, Another influential social move-
the contest. migrants in the first half of the 19th consuming it along with the old ment that emerged during this pe-
An economic depression and the century, primarily Irish and Ger- debates between Whigs and Demo- riod was the opposition to the sale
larger-than-life personality of his man, triggered a backlash among crats that had dominated American and use of alcohol, or the temper-
predecessor obscured Van Buren’s native-born Protestant Americans. politics in the second quarter of the ance movement. It stemmed from
merits. His public acts aroused no Immigrants brought strange new 19th century. a variety of concerns and motives:
enthusiasm, for he lacked the com- customs and religious practices to religious beliefs, the effect of alco-
pelling qualities of leadership and American shores. They competed STIRRINGS OF REFORM hol on the work force, the violence

T
the dramatic flair that had attended with the native-born for jobs in and suffering women and children
Jackson’s every move. The election cities along the Eastern seaboard. he democratic upheaval in poli- experienced at the hands of heavy
of 1840 found the country afflicted The coming of universal white male tics exemplified by Jackson’s elec- drinkers. In 1826 Boston ministers
with hard times and low wages — suffrage in the 1820s and 1830s tion was merely one phase of the organized the Society for the Pro-
and the Democrats on the defensive. increased their political clout. Dis- long American quest for greater motion of Temperance. Seven years
The Whig candidate for presi- placed patrician politicians blamed rights and opportunities for all citi- later, in Philadelphia, the society
dent was William Henry Harrison the immigrants for their fall from zens. Another was the beginning of convened a national convention,
of Ohio, vastly popular as a hero power. The Catholic Church’s failure labor organization, primarily among which formed the American Tem-
of conflicts with Native Americans to support the temperance move- skilled and semiskilled workers. In perance Union. The union called for
and the War of 1812. He was pro- ment gave rise to charges that Rome 1835 labor forces in Philadelphia, the prohibition of all alcoholic bev-
moted, like Jackson, as a represen- was trying to subvert the United Pennsylvania, succeeded in reducing erages, and pressed state legislatures
tative of the democratic West. His States through alcohol. the old “dark-to-dark” workday to to ban their production and sale.
vice presidential candidate was John The most important of the nativ- a 10-hour day. By 1860, the new Thirteen states had done so by 1855,
Tyler — a Virginian whose views on ist organizations that sprang up in work day had become law in sev- although the laws were subsequently
states’ rights and a low tariff were this period was a secret society, the eral of the states and was a generally challenged in court. They survived
popular in the South. Harrison won Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, accepted standard. only in northern New England, but
a sweeping victory. founded in 1849. When its members The spread of suffrage had al- between 1830 and 1860 the temper-
Within a month of his inaugura- refused to identify themselves, they ready led to a new concept of edu- ance movement reduced Americans’
tion, however, the 68-year-old Har- were swiftly labeled the “Know- cation. Clear-sighted statesmen ev- per capita consumption of alcohol.
rison died, and Tyler became presi- Nothings.” In a few years, they be- erywhere understood that universal Other reformers addressed the
dent. Tyler’s beliefs differed sharply came a national organization with suffrage required a tutored, literate problems of prisons and care for the
from those of Clay and Webster, still considerable political power. electorate. Workingmen’s organiza- insane. Efforts were made to turn
the most influential men in Con- The Know-Nothings advocated tions demanded free, tax-supported prisons, which stressed punishment,
gress. The result was an open break an extension in the period required schools open to all children. Gradu- into penitentiaries where the guilty
between the new president and the for naturalized citizenship from five ally, in one state after another, leg- would undergo rehabilitation. In
party that had elected him. The to 21 years. They sought to exclude islation was enacted to provide for Massachusetts, Dorothea Dix led a
Tyler presidency would accomplish the foreign-born and Catholics from such free instruction. The leadership struggle to improve conditions for
little other than to establish defini- public office. In 1855 they won con- of Horace Mann in Massachusetts insane persons, who were kept con-

120 121
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

fined in wretched almshouses and Seneca Falls, New York. Delegates the National Woman Suffrage Asso- were created — Indiana, Illinois,
prisons. After winning improve- drew up a “Declaration of Senti- ciation (NWSA), to promote a con- and Maine (which were free states),
ments in Massachusetts, she took ments,” demanding equality with stitutional amendment for women’s and Mississippi, Alabama, and Mis-
her campaign to the South, where men before the law, the right to vote, right to the vote. These two would souri (slave states). The first frontier
nine states established hospitals for and equal opportunities in educa- become the women’s movement’s had been tied closely to Europe, the
the insane between 1845 and 1852. tion and employment. The resolu- most outspoken advocates. Describ- second to the coastal settlements,
tions passed unanimously with the ing their partnership, Cady Stanton but the Mississippi Valley was inde-
WOMEN’S RIGHTS exception of the one for women’s would say, “I forged the thunderbolts pendent and its people looked west

S suffrage, which won a majority only and she fired them.” rather than east.
uch social reforms brought many after an impassioned speech in favor Frontier settlers were a varied
women to a realization of their own by Frederick Douglass, the black WESTWARD group. One English traveler de-

T
unequal position in society. From abolitionist. scribed them as “a daring, hardy
colonial times, unmarried women At Seneca Falls, Cady Stanton he frontier did much to shape race of men, who live in miserable
had enjoyed many of the same legal gained national prominence as an American life. Conditions along cabins. ... They are unpolished but
rights as men, although custom re- eloquent writer and speaker for the entire Atlantic seaboard stimu- hospitable, kind to strangers, hon-
quired that they marry early. With women’s rights. She had realized lated migration to the newer regions. est, and trustworthy. They raise a
matrimony, women virtually lost early on that without the right to From New England, where the soil little Indian corn, pumpkins, hogs,
their separate identities in the eyes vote, women would never be equal was incapable of producing high and sometimes have a cow or two.
of the law. Women were not permit- with men. Taking the abolitionist yields of grain, came a steady stream ... But the rifle is their principal
ted to vote. Their education in the William Lloyd Garrison as her mod- of men and women who left their means of support.” Dexterous with
17th and 18th centuries was limited el, she saw that the key to success lay coastal farms and villages to take the ax, snare, and fishing line, these
largely to reading, writing, music, in changing public opinion, and not advantage of the rich interior land men blazed the trails, built the first
dancing, and needlework. in party action. Seneca Falls became of the continent. In the backcoun- log cabins, and confronted Native
The awakening of women began the catalyst for future change. Soon try settlements of the Carolinas and American tribes, whose land they
with the visit to America of Frances other women’s rights conventions Virginia, people handicapped by the occupied.
Wright, a Scottish lecturer and jour- were held, and other women would lack of roads and canals giving ac- As more and more settlers pene-
nalist, who publicly promoted wom- come to the forefront of the move- cess to coastal markets and resent- trated the wilderness, many became
en’s rights throughout the United ment for their political and social ful of the political dominance of the farmers as well as hunters. A com-
States during the 1820s. At a time equality. Tidewater planters also moved west- fortable log house with glass win-
when women were often forbidden In 1848 also, Ernestine Rose, a ward. By 1800 the Mississippi and dows, a chimney, and partitioned
to speak in public places, Wright not Polish immigrant, was instrumental Ohio River valleys were becoming a rooms replaced the cabin; the well
only spoke out, but shocked audi- in getting a law passed in the state great frontier region. “Hi-o, away we replaced the spring. Industrious
ences by her views advocating the of New York that allowed married go, floating down the river on the O- settlers would rapidly clear their
rights of women to seek information women to keep their property in hi-o,” became the song of thousands land of timber, burning the wood
on birth control and divorce. By the their own name. Among the first of migrants. for potash and letting the stumps
1840s an American women’s rights laws in the nation of this kind, the The westward flow of population decay. They grew their own grain,
movement emerged. Its foremost Married Women’s Property Act en- in the early 19th century led to the vegetables, and fruit; ranged the
leader was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. couraged other state legislatures to division of old territories and the woods for deer, wild turkeys, and
In 1848 Cady Stanton and her enact similar laws. drawing of new boundaries. As new honey; fished the nearby streams;
colleague Lucretia Mott organized In 1869 Elizabeth Cady Stanton states were admitted, the political looked after cattle and hogs. Land
a women’s rights convention — the and another leading women’s rights map stabilized east of the Mississippi speculators bought large tracts of the
first in the history of the world — at activist, Susan B. Anthony, founded River. From 1816 to 1821, six states cheap land and, if land values rose,

122 123
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

sold their holdings and moved still did not pass Missouri into the tury, the most prominent figure In 1834 a special Native American
farther west, making way for others. vast Western territory acquired in associated with these conflicts was territory was set up in what is now
Doctors, lawyers, storekeepers, the Louisiana Purchase until after Andrew Jackson, the first “Western- Oklahoma. In all, the tribes signed
editors, preachers, mechanics, and 1840. In 1819, in return for assum- er” to occupy the White House. In 94 treaties during Jackson’s two
politicians soon followed the farm- ing the claims of American citizens the midst of the War of 1812, Jack- terms, ceding millions of hectares
ers. The farmers were the sturdy to the amount of $5 million, the son, then in charge of the Tennessee to the federal government and re-
base, however. Where they settled, United States obtained from Spain militia, was sent into southern Ala- moving dozens of tribes from their
they intended to stay and hoped both Florida and Spain’s rights to bama, where he ruthlessly put down ancestral homelands.
their children would remain after the Oregon country in the Far West. an uprising of Creek Indians. The The most terrible chapter in this
them. They built large barns and In the meantime, the Far West had Creeks soon ceded two-thirds of unhappy history concerned the
brick or frame houses. They brought become a field of great activity in their land to the United States. Jack- Cherokees, whose lands in western
improved livestock, plowed the land the fur trade, which was to have son later routed bands of Seminoles North Carolina and Georgia had
skillfully, and sowed productive significance far beyond the value from their sanctuaries in Spanish- been guaranteed by treaty since
seed. Some erected flour mills, saw- of the skins. As in the first days of owned Florida. 1791. Among the most progressive
mills, and distilleries. They laid out French exploration in the Mississippi In the 1820s, President Monroe’s of the eastern tribes, the Cherokees
good highways, and built churches Valley, the trader was a pathfinder secretary of war, John C. Calhoun, nevertheless were sure to be dis-
and schools. Incredible transforma- for the settlers beyond the Missis- pursued a policy of removing the re- placed when gold was discovered on
tions were accomplished in a few sippi. The French and Scots-Irish maining tribes from the old South- their land in 1829. Forced to make
years. In 1830, for example, Chicago, trappers, exploring the great rivers west and resettling them beyond the a long and cruel trek to Oklahoma
Illinois, was merely an unpromis- and their tributaries and discover- Mississippi. Jackson continued this in 1838, the tribe lost many of its
ing trading village with a fort; but ing the passes through the Rocky policy as president. In 1830 Congress numbers from disease and priva-
long before some of its original set- and Sierra Mountains, made pos- passed the Indian Removal Act, pro- tion on what became known as the
tlers had died, it had become one sible the overland migration of the viding funds to transport the east- “Trail of Tears.” 9
of the largest and richest cities in 1840s and the later occupation of ern tribes beyond the Mississippi.
the nation. the interior of the nation.
Farms were easy to acquire. Gov- Overall, the growth of the nation
ernment land after 1820 could be was enormous: Population grew
bought for $1.25 for about half a from 7.25 million to more than 23
hectare, and after the 1862 Home- million from 1812 to 1852, and the
stead Act, could be claimed by land available for settlement in-
merely occupying and improving creased by almost the size of West-
it. In addition, tools for working ern Europe — from 4.4 million to
the land were easily available. It was 7.8 million square kilometers. Still
a time when, in a phrase coined by unresolved, however, were the ba-
Indiana newspaperman John Soule sic conflicts rooted in sectional
and popularized by New York Tri- differences that, by the decade of
bune editor Horace Greeley, young the 1860s, would explode into civil
men could “go west and grow with war. Inevitably, too, this westward
the country.” expansion brought settlers into con-
Except for a migration into Mex- flict with the original inhabitants of
ican-owned Texas, the westward the land: the Native Americans.
march of the agricultural frontier In the first part of the 19th cen-

124 125
CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THE FRONTIER, “THE WEST,” AND


THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
The frontier — the point at which settled territory met unoccupied land
— began at Jamestown and Plymouth Rock. It moved in a westward direction
for nearly 300 years through densely forested wilderness and barren plains
until the decennial census of 1890 revealed that at last the United States no
longer possessed a discernible line of settlement.
At the time it seemed to many that a long period had come to an end
— one in which the country had grown from a few struggling outposts of
English civilization to a huge independent nation with an identity of its own.
It was easy to believe that the experience of settlement and post-settlement
development, constantly repeated as a people conquered a continent, had been
the defining factor in the nation’s development.
In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner, expressing a widely held
sentiment, declared that the frontier had made the United States more than an

United States of America, showing territorial expansion from 1803 to 1898.


extension of Europe. It had created a nation with a culture that was perhaps
coarser than Europe’s, but also more pragmatic, energetic, individualistic, and
democratic. The existence of large areas of “free land” had created a nation of
property holders and had provided a “safety valve” for discontent in cities and
more settled areas. His analysis implied that an America without a frontier
would trend ominously toward what were seen as the European ills of strati-
fied social systems, class conflict, and diminished opportunity.
After more than a hundred years scholars still debate the significance of
the frontier in American history. Few believe it was quite as all-important as
Turner suggested; its absence does not appear to have led to dire consequenc-
es. Some have gone farther, rejecting the Turner argument as a romantic glo-
rification of a bloody, brutal process — marked by a war of conquest against
Mexico, near-genocidal treatment of Native American tribes, and environmen-
tal despoliation. The common experience of the frontier, they argue, was one
of hardship and failure.
Yet it remains hard to believe that three centuries of westward movement
had no impact on the national character and suggestive that intelligent foreign
observers, such as the French intellectual, Alexis de Tocqueville, were fasci-
nated by the American West. Indeed, the last area of frontier settlement, the
vast area stretching north from Texas to the Canadian border, which Ameri-
cans today commonly call “the West,” still seems characterized by ideals of
individualism, democracy, and opportunity that are more palpable than in the
rest of the nation. It is perhaps also revealing that many people in other lands,
when hearing the word “American,” so often identify it with a symbol of that
final frontier — the “cowboy.” 

126 127
6
CHAPTER

SECTIONAL
CONFLICT

Slave family picking cotton


near Savannah, Georgia,
in the early 1860s.

128
CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

A house divided against In everything of which it has made


a boast — excepting its education of
The South, from the Atlantic to
the Mississippi River and beyond,

itself cannot stand. I believe the people, and its care for poor chil-
dren — it sinks immeasurably below
featured an economy centered on
agriculture. Tobacco was important

this government cannot the level I had placed it upon.”


Dickens was not alone. America
in Virginia, Maryland, and North
Carolina. In South Carolina, rice

endure permanently in the 19th century, as throughout its


history, generated expectations and
was an abundant crop. The climate
and soil of Louisiana encouraged

half-slave and half-free.


passions that often conflicted with the cultivation of sugar. But cotton
a reality at once more mundane and eventually became the dominant
more complex. The young nation’s commodity and the one with which
size and diversity defied easy gener- the South was identified. By 1850 the
Senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln, 1858 alization and invited contradiction: American South grew more than 80
America was both a freedom-loving percent of the world’s cotton. Slaves
and slave-holding society, a nation cultivated all these crops.
of expansive and primitive frontiers, The Midwest, with its bound-
a society with cities built on growing less prairies and swiftly growing
commerce and industrialization. population, flourished. Europe and
the older settled parts of America
TWO AMERICAS whether such rough equality could LANDS OF PROMISE demanded its wheat and meat prod-

N B
survive in the face of a growing fac- ucts. The introduction of labor-sav-
o visitor to the United States left tory system that threatened to create y 1850 the national territory ing implements — notably the Mc-
a more enduring record of his trav- divisions between industrial workers stretched over forest, plain, and Cormick reaper (a machine to cut
els and observations than the French and a new business elite. mountain. Within its far-flung lim- and harvest grain) — made possible
writer and political theorist Alexis Other travelers marveled at the its dwelt 23 million people in a Union an unparalleled increase in grain
de Tocqueville, whose Democracy growth and vitality of the country, comprising 31 states. In the East, in- production. The nation’s wheat
in America, first published in 1835, where they could see “everywhere dustry boomed. In the Midwest and crops swelled from some 35 million
remains one of the most trenchant the most unequivocal proofs of the South, agriculture flourished. hectoliters in 1850 to nearly 61 mil-
and insightful analyses of Ameri- prosperity and rapid progress in ag- After 1849 the gold mines of Cali- lion in 1860, more than half grown
can social and political practices. riculture, commerce, and great pub- fornia poured their precious ore into in the Midwest.
Tocqueville was far too shrewd an lic works.” But such optimistic views the channels of trade. An important stimulus to the
observer to be uncritical about the of the American experiment were New England and the Middle country’s prosperity was the great
United States, but his verdict was by no means universal. One skep- Atlantic states were the main cen- improvement in transportation fa-
fundamentally positive. “The gov- tic was the English novelist Charles ters of manufacturing, commerce, cilities; from 1850 to 1857 the Ap-
ernment of a democracy brings the Dickens, who first visited the United and finance. Principal products of palachian Mountain barrier was
notion of political rights to the level States in 1841-42. “This is not the these areas were textiles, lumber, pierced by five railway trunk lines
of the humblest citizens,” he wrote, Republic I came to see,” he wrote clothing, machinery, leather, and linking the Midwest and the North-
“just as the dissemination of wealth in a letter. “This is not the Republic woolen goods. The maritime trade east. These links established the
brings the notion of property within of my imagination. ... The more I had reached the height of its pros- economic interests that would un-
the reach of all men.” Nonetheless, think of its youth and strength, the perity; vessels flying the American dergird the political alliance of the
Tocqueville was only one in the first poorer and more trifling in a thou- flag plied the oceans, distributing Union from 1861 to 1865. The South
of a long line of thinkers to worry sand respects, it appears in my eyes. wares of all nations. lagged behind. It was not until the

130 131
CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

late 1850s that a continuous line ran 1.5 million white families. Fifty supervision over his slaves, and when Congress abolished the slave
through the mountains connecting percent of these slave owners owned employed professional overseers trade with Africa. Thereafter, oppo-
the lower Mississippi River area with no more than five slaves. Twelve per- charged with exacting from slaves sition came largely from the Quak-
the southern Atlantic seaboard. cent owned 20 or more slaves, the a maximum amount of work. In ers, who kept up a mild but ineffec-
number defined as turning a farmer such circumstances, slavery could tual protest. Meanwhile, the cotton
SLAVERY AND SECTIONALISM into a planter. Three-quarters of become a system of brutality and gin and westward expansion into

O Southern white families, including coercion in which beatings and the the Mississippi delta region created
ne overriding issue exacerbated the “poor whites,” those on the low- breakup of families through the sale an increasing demand for slaves.
the regional and economic differ- est rung of Southern society, owned of individuals were commonplace. The abolitionist movement that
ences between North and South: no slaves. In other settings, however, it could emerged in the early 1830s was
slavery. Resenting the large profits It is easy to understand the inter- be much milder. combative, uncompromising, and
amassed by Northern businessmen est of the planters in slave holding. In the end, however, the most insistent upon an immediate end
from marketing the cotton crop, But the yeomen and poor whites trenchant criticism of slavery was to slavery. This approach found a
many Southerners attributed the supported the institution of slavery not the behavior of individual mas- leader in William Lloyd Garrison,
backwardness of their own section as well. They feared that, if freed, ters and overseers. Systematically a young man from Massachusetts,
to Northern aggrandizement. Many blacks would compete with them treating African-American laborers who combined the heroism of a
Northerners, on the other hand, de- economically and challenge their as if they were domestic animals, martyr with the crusading zeal of
clared that slavery — the “peculiar higher social status. Southern whites slavery, the abolitionists pointed a demagogue. On January 1, 1831,
institution” that the South regarded defended slavery not simply on the out, violated every human being’s Garrison produced the first issue of
as essential to its economy — was basis of economic necessity but out inalienable right to be free. his newspaper, The Liberator, which
largely responsible for the region’s of a visceral dedication to white bore the announcement: “I shall
relative financial and industrial supremacy. THE ABOLITIONISTS strenuously contend for the imme-

Iersn chiefly
backwardness. As they fought the weight of diate enfranchisement of our slave
As far back as the Missouri Com- Northern opinion, political lead- national politics, Southern- population. ... On this subject, I do
promise in 1819, sectional lines had ers of the South, the professional sought protection and not wish to think, or speak, or write,
been steadily hardening on the classes, and most of the clergy now enlargement of the interests repre- with moderation. ... I am in earnest
slavery question. In the North, sen- no longer apologized for slavery but sented by the cotton/slavery system. — I will not equivocate — I will not
timent for outright abolition grew championed it. Southern publicists They sought territorial expansion excuse — I will not retreat a single
increasingly powerful. Southerners insisted, for example, that the rela- because the wastefulness of culti- inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.”
in general felt little guilt about slav- tionship between capital and labor vating a single crop, cotton, rapidly Garrison’s sensational methods
ery and defended it vehemently. In was more humane under the slavery exhausted the soil, increasing the awakened Northerners to the evil
some seaboard areas, slavery by 1850 system than under the wage system need for new fertile lands. Moreover, in an institution many had long
was well over 200 years old; it was an of the North. new territory would establish a basis come to regard as unchangeable. He
integral part of the basic economy of Before 1830 the old patriarchal for additional slave states to offset sought to hold up to public gaze the
the region. system of plantation government, the admission of new free states. most repulsive aspects of slavery and
Although the 1860 census showed with its personal supervision of the Antislavery Northerners saw in the to castigate slave holders as torturers
that there were nearly four million slaves by their owners or masters, Southern view a conspiracy for pro- and traffickers in human life. He
slaves out of a total population of was still characteristic. Gradually, slavery aggrandizement. In the 1830s recognized no rights of the mas-
12.3 million in the 15 slave states, however, with the introduction of their opposition became fierce. ters, acknowledged no compromise,
only a minority of Southern whites large-scale cotton production in An earlier antislavery movement, tolerated no delay. Other abolition-
owned slaves. There were some the lower South, the master gradu- an offshoot of the American Revolu- ists, unwilling to subscribe to his
385,000 slave owners out of about ally ceased to exercise close personal tion, had won its last victory in 1808 law-defying tactics, held that reform

132 133
CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

should be accomplished by legal and 1836 the House voted to table such its border with Mexico was the Rio forces, mainly among the Whigs,
peaceful means. Garrison was joined petitions automatically, thus effec- Grande; Mexico argued that the attacked Polk’s expansion as a pro-
by another powerful voice, that of tively killing them. Former President border stood far to the north along slavery plot.
Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave John Quincy Adams, elected to the the Nueces River. Meanwhile, set- With the conclusion of the Mexi-
who galvanized Northern audiences. House of Representatives in 1830, tlers were flooding into the territo- can War, the United States gained
Theodore Dwight Weld and many fought this so-called gag rule as a ries of New Mexico and California. a vast new territory of 1.36 million
other abolitionists crusaded against violation of the First Amendment, Many Americans claimed that the square kilometers encompassing the
slavery in the states of the old North- finally winning its repeal in 1844. United States had a “manifest des- present-day states of New Mexico,
west Territory with evangelical zeal. tiny” to expand westward to the Nevada, California, Utah, most of
One activity of the movement in- TEXAS AND WAR WITH Pacific Ocean. Arizona, and portions of Colorado
volved helping slaves escape to safe MEXICO U.S. attempts to purchase from and Wyoming. The nation also

T
refuges in the North or over the bor- Mexico the New Mexico and Cali- faced a revival of the most explosive
der into Canada. The “Underground hroughout the 1820s, Ameri- fornia territories failed. In 1846, question in American politics of the
Railroad,” an elaborate network of cans settled in the vast territory of after a clash of Mexican and U.S. time: Would the new territories be
secret routes, was firmly established Texas, often with land grants from troops along the Rio Grande, the slave or free?
in the 1830s in all parts of the North. the Mexican government. However, United States declared war. Ameri-
In Ohio alone, from 1830 to 1860, as their numbers soon alarmed the can troops occupied the lightly THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

U
many as 40,000 fugitive slaves were authorities, who prohibited further populated territory of New Mexico,
helped to freedom. The number of immigration in 1830. In 1834 Gen- then supported a revolt of settlers ntil 1845, it had seemed likely
local antislavery societies increased eral Antonio López de Santa Anna in California. A U.S. force under that slavery would be confined to the
at such a rate that by 1838 there were established a dictatorship in Mex- Zachary Taylor invaded Mexico, areas where it already existed. It had
about 1,350 with a membership of ico, and the following year Texans winning victories at Monterrey and been given limits by the Missouri
perhaps 250,000. revolted. Santa Anna defeated the Buena Vista, but failing to bring the Compromise in 1820 and had no op-
Most Northerners nonetheless ei- American rebels at the celebrated Mexicans to the negotiating table. In portunity to overstep them. The new
ther held themselves aloof from the siege of the Alamo in early 1836, March 1847, a U.S. Army command- territories made renewed expansion
abolitionist movement or actively but Texans under Sam Houston ed by Winfield Scott landed near of slavery a real likelihood.
opposed it. In 1837, for example, a destroyed the Mexican Army and Veracruz on Mexico’s east coast, and Many Northerners believed that
mob attacked and killed the anti- captured Santa Anna a month later fought its way to Mexico City. The if not allowed to spread, slavery
slavery editor Elijah P. Lovejoy in at the Battle of San Jacinto, ensuring United States dictated the Treaty would ultimately decline and die.
Alton, Illinois. Still, Southern re- Texan independence. of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which To justify their opposition to adding
pression of free speech allowed the For almost a decade, Texas re- Mexico ceded what would become new slave states, they pointed to the
abolitionists to link the slavery is- mained an independent republic, the American Southwest region and statements of Washington and Jef-
sue with the cause of civil liberties largely because its annexation as a California for $15 million. ferson, and to the Ordinance of 1787,
for whites. In 1835 an angry mob huge new slave state would disrupt The war was a training ground which forbade the extension of slav-
destroyed abolitionist literature in the increasingly precarious balance for American officers who would ery into the Northwest. Texas, which
the Charleston, South Carolina, post of political power in the United later fight on both sides in the Civil already permitted slavery, naturally
office. When the postmaster-general States. In 1845, President James K. War. It was also politically divisive. entered the Union as a slave state.
stated he would not enforce delivery Polk, narrowly elected on a platform Polk, in a simultaneous facedown But the California, New Mexico,
of abolitionist material, bitter de- of westward expansion, brought the with Great Britain, had achieved and Utah territories did not have
bates ensued in Congress. Abolition- Republic of Texas into the Union. British recognition of American slavery. From the beginning, there
ists flooded Congress with petitions Polk’s move was the first gambit in sovereignty in the Pacific Northwest were strongly conflicting opinions
calling for action against slavery. In a larger design. Texas claimed that to the 49th parallel. Still, antislavery on whether they should.

134 135
CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Southerners urged that all the ments, advanced a complicated and It ate away at the country’s two great state would then have three free-soil
lands acquired from Mexico should carefully balanced plan. His old political parties, the Whigs and the neighbors (Illinois, Iowa, and Kan-
be thrown open to slave holders. Massachusetts rival, Daniel Webster, Democrats, destroying the first and sas) and might be forced to become
Antislavery Northerners demanded supported it. Illinois Democratic irrevocably dividing the second. It a free state as well. Their congressio-
that all the new regions be closed Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the produced weak presidents whose nal delegation, backed by Southern-
to slavery. One group of moder- leading advocate of popular sov- irresolution mirrored that of their ers, blocked all efforts to organize
ates suggested that the Missouri ereignty, did much of the work in parties. It eventually discredited the region.
Compromise line be extended to guiding it through Congress. even the Supreme Court. At this point, Stephen A. Doug-
the Pacific with free states north of The Compromise of 1850 con- The moral fervor of abolition- las enraged all free-soil supporters.
it and slave states to the south. An- tained the following provisions: (1) ist feeling grew steadily. In 1852, Douglas argued that the Compro-
other group proposed that the ques- California was admitted to the Union Harriet Beecher Stowe published mise of 1850, having left Utah and
tion be left to “popular sovereignty.” as a free state; (2) the remainder of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel pro- New Mexico free to resolve the slav-
The government should permit set- the Mexican cession was divided into voked by the passage of the Fugitive ery issue for themselves, superseded
tlers to enter the new territory with the two territories of New Mexico and Slave Law. More than 300,000 cop- the Missouri Compromise. His plan
or without slaves as they pleased. Utah and organized without mention ies were sold the first year. Presses called for two territories, Kansas
When the time came to organize the of slavery; (3) the claim of Texas to a ran day and night to keep up with and Nebraska. It permitted settlers
region into states, the people them- portion of New Mexico was satisfied the demand. Although sentimental to carry slaves into them and even-
selves could decide. by a payment of $10 million; (4) new and full of stereotypes, Uncle Tom’s tually to determine whether they
Despite the vitality of the aboli- legislation (the Fugitive Slave Act) Cabin portrayed with undeniable should enter the Union as free or
tionist movement, most Northerners was passed to apprehend runaway force the cruelty of slavery and pos- slave states.
were unwilling to challenge the exis- slaves and return them to their mas- ited a fundamental conflict between Douglas’s opponents accused him
tence of slavery in the South. Many, ters; and (5) the buying and selling of free and slave societies. It inspired of currying favor with the South in
however, were against its expansion. slaves (but not slavery) was abolished widespread enthusiasm for the an- order to gain the presidency in 1856.
In 1848 nearly 300,000 men voted in the District of Columbia. tislavery cause, appealing as it did The free-soil movement, which had
for the candidates of a new Free Soil The country breathed a sigh of to basic human emotions — in- seemed to be in decline, reemerged
Party, which declared that the best relief. For the next three years, the dignation at injustice and pity for with greater momentum than ever.
policy was “to limit, localize, and compromise seemed to settle nearly the helpless individuals exposed to Yet in May 1854, Douglas’s plan in
discourage slavery.” In the immedi- all differences. The new Fugitive ruthless exploitation. the form of the Kansas-Nebraska
ate aftermath of the war with Mex- Slave Law, however, was an imme- In 1854 the issue of slavery in Act passed Congress to be signed by
ico, however, popular sovereignty diate source of tension. It deeply the territories was renewed and the President Franklin Pierce. Southern
had considerable appeal. offended many Northerners, who quarrel became more bitter. The re- enthusiasts celebrated with cannon
In January 1848 the discovery refused to have any part in catching gion that now comprises Kansas and fire. But when Douglas subsequently
of gold in California precipitated slaves. Some actively and violently Nebraska was being rapidly settled, visited Chicago to speak in his own
a headlong rush of settlers, more obstructed its enforcement. The Un- increasing pressure for the establish- defense, the ships in the harbor low-
than 80,000 in the single year of derground Railroad became more ment of territorial, and eventually, ered their flags to half-mast, the
1849. Congress had to determine the efficient and daring than ever. state governments. church bells tolled for an hour, and a
status of this new region quickly in Under terms of the Missouri crowd of 10,000 hooted so loudly that
order to establish an organized gov- A DIVIDED NATION Compromise of 1820, the entire he could not make himself heard.

D
ernment. The venerable Kentucky region was closed to slavery. Domi- The immediate results of Douglas’s
Senator Henry Clay, who twice uring the 1850s, the issue of slav- nant slave-holding elements in ill-starred measure were momen-
before in times of crisis had come ery severed the political bonds that Missouri objected to letting Kansas tous. The Whig Party, which had
forward with compromise arrange- had held the United States together. become a free territory, for their straddled the question of slavery ex-

136 137
CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICT OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

pansion, sank to its death, and in its gress could not restrict the expan- be dissolved — I do not expect the were coming to accept his view that
stead a powerful new organization sion of slavery. This last assertion house to fall — but I do expect it he had been an instrument in the
arose, the Republican Party, whose invalidated former compromises on will cease to be divided. hand of God.
primary demand was that slavery slavery and made new ones impos- Lincoln and Douglas engaged
be excluded from all the territories. sible to craft. in a series of seven debates in the THE 1860 ELECTION

Inominated
In 1856, it nominated John Fremont, The Dred Scott decision stirred ensuing months of 1858. Senator
whose expeditions into the Far West fierce resentment throughout the Douglas, known as the “Little Gi- n 1860 the Republican Party
had won him renown. Fremont lost North. Never before had the Court ant,” had an enviable reputation as Abraham Lincoln as its
the election, but the new party swept been so bitterly condemned. For an orator, but he met his match in candidate for president. The Repub-
a great part of the North. Such free- Southern Democrats, the decision Lincoln, who eloquently challenged lican platform declared that slavery
soil leaders as Salmon P. Chase and was a great victory, since it gave ju- Douglas’s concept of popular sov- could spread no farther, promised a
William Seward exerted greater in- dicial sanction to their justification ereignty. In the end, Douglas won tariff for the protection of industry,
fluence than ever. Along with them of slavery throughout the territories. the election by a small margin, but and pledged the enactment of a law
appeared a tall, lanky Illinois attor- Lincoln had achieved stature as a granting free homesteads to settlers
ney, Abraham Lincoln. LINCOLN, DOUGLAS, AND national figure. who would help in the opening of
Meanwhile, the flow of both BROWN By then events were spinning out the West. Southern Democrats, un-

A
Southern slave holders and antislav- of control. On the night of October willing in the wake of the Dred Scott
ery families into Kansas resulted in braham Lincoln had long re- 16, 1859, John Brown, an antislavery case to accept Douglas’s popular
armed conflict. Soon the territory garded slavery as an evil. As early as fanatic who had captured and killed sovereignty, split from the party and
was being called “bleeding Kansas.” 1854 in a widely publicized speech, five proslavery settlers in Kansas nominated Vice President John C.
The Supreme Court made things he declared that all national leg- three years before, led a band of fol- Breckenridge of Kentucky for presi-
worse with its infamous 1857 Dred islation should be framed on the lowers in an attack on the federal dent. Stephen A. Douglas was the
Scott decision. principle that slavery was to be re- arsenal at Harper’s Ferry (in what nominee of northern Democrats.
Scott was a Missouri slave who, stricted and eventually abolished. is now West Virginia). Brown’s goal Diehard Whigs from the border
some 20 years earlier, had been He contended also that the principle was to use the weapons seized to states, formed into the Constitu-
taken by his master to live in Illinois of popular sovereignty was false, for lead a slave uprising. After two days tional Union Party, nominated John
and the Wisconsin Territory; in both slavery in the western territories was of fighting, Brown and his surviving C. Bell of Tennessee.
places, slavery was banned. Return- the concern not only of the local in- men were taken prisoner by a force Lincoln and Douglas competed
ing to Missouri and becoming dis- habitants but of the United States as of U.S. Marines commanded by in the North, Breckenridge and
contented with his life there, Scott a whole. Colonel Robert E. Lee. Bell in the South. Lincoln won only
sued for liberation on the ground of In 1858 Lincoln opposed Stephen Brown’s attempt confirmed the 39 percent of the popular vote, but
his residence on free soil. A majority A. Douglas for election to the U.S. worst fears of many Southerners. had a clear majority of 180 electoral
of the Supreme Court — dominated Senate from Illinois. In the first Antislavery activists, on the other votes, carrying all 18 free states. Bell
by Southerners — decided that Scott paragraph of his opening campaign hand, generally hailed Brown as a won Tennessee, Kentucky, and Vir-
lacked standing in court because he speech, on June 17, Lincoln struck martyr to a great cause. Virginia ginia; Breckenridge took the other
was not a citizen; that the laws of a the keynote of American history for put Brown on trial for conspiracy, slave states except for Missouri,
free state (Illinois) had no effect on the seven years to follow: treason, and murder. On December which was won by Douglas. Despite
his status because he was the resi- A house divided against itself 2, 1859, he was hanged. Although his poor showing, Douglas trailed
dent of a slave state (Missouri); and cannot stand. I believe this most Northerners had initially con- only Lincoln in the popular vote. 9
that slave holders had the right to government cannot endure demned him, increasing numbers
take their “property” anywhere in permanently half-slave and half-
the federal territories. Thus, Con- free. I do not expect the Union to

138 139
7
CHAPTER

THE
CIVIL WAR
AND
RECONSTRUCTION

President Abraham Lincoln


(center), at a Union Army
encampment in October
1862, following the battle
of Antietam.

140
CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

That this nation five presidents. With Virginia went


Colonel Robert E. Lee, who declined
stripped away any illusions that vic-
tory would be quick or easy. It also

under God the command of the Union Army


out of loyalty to his native state.
established a pattern, at least in the
Eastern United States, of bloody

shall have a Between the enlarged Confed-


eracy and the free-soil North lay
Southern victories that never trans-
lated into a decisive military advan-

new birth of freedom. the border slave states of Delaware,


Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri,
tage for the Confederacy.
In contrast to its military failures
which, despite some sympathy with in the East, the Union was able to se-
the South, would remain loyal to cure battlefield victories in the West
President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863 the Union. and slow strategic success at sea.
Each side entered the war with Most of the Navy, at the war’s begin-
high hopes for an early victory. In ning, was in Union hands, but it was
material resources the North enjoyed scattered and weak. Secretary of the
a decided advantage. Twenty-three Navy Gideon Welles took prompt
states with a population of 22 mil- measures to strengthen it. Lincoln
lion were arrayed against 11 states then proclaimed a blockade of the
inhabited by nine million, including Southern coasts. Although the ef-
SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR tion of the bonds of union, but the slaves. The industrial superiority of fect of the blockade was negligible

L South turned a deaf ear. On April the North exceeded even its prepon- at first, by 1863 it almost completely
incoln’s victory in the presi- 12, Confederate guns opened fire on derance in population, providing it prevented shipments of cotton to
dential election of November 1860 the federal garrison at Fort Sumter with abundant facilities for manu- Europe and blocked the importa-
made South Carolina’s secession in the Charleston, South Carolina, facturing arms and ammunition, tion of sorely needed munitions,
from the Union December 20 a harbor. A war had begun in which clothing, and other supplies. It had a clothing, and medical supplies to
foregone conclusion. The state had more Americans would die than in greatly superior railway network. the South.
long been waiting for an event that any other conflict before or since. The South nonetheless had cer- A brilliant Union naval com-
would unite the South against the In the seven states that had se- tain advantages. The most impor- mander, David Farragut, conducted
antislavery forces. By February 1, ceded, the people responded posi- tant was geography; the South was two remarkable operations. In April
1861, five more Southern states had tively to the Confederate action fighting a defensive war on its own 1862, he took a fleet into the mouth
seceded. On February 8, the six and the leadership of Confederate territory. It could establish its inde- of the Mississippi River and forced
states signed a provisional consti- President Jefferson Davis. Both pendence simply by beating off the the surrender of the largest city in
tution for the Confederate States of sides now tensely awaited the action Northern armies. The South also the South, New Orleans, Louisiana.
America. The remaining Southern of the slave states that thus far had had a stronger military tradition, In August 1864, with the cry, “Damn
states as yet remained in the Union, remained loyal. Virginia seceded on and possessed the more experienced the torpedoes! Full speed ahead,” he
although Texas had begun to move April 17; Arkansas, Tennessee, and military leaders. led a force past the fortified entrance
on its secession. North Carolina followed quickly. of Mobile Bay, Alabama, captured
Less than a month later, March 4, No state left the Union with WESTERN ADVANCE, a Confederate ironclad vessel, and
1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn greater reluctance than Virginia. EASTERN STALEMATE sealed off the port.

T
in as president of the United States. Her statesmen had a leading part in In the Mississippi Valley, the
In his inaugural address, he declared the winning of the Revolution and he first large battle of the war, at Union forces won an almost unin-
the Confederacy “legally void.” His the framing of the Constitution, and Bull Run, Virginia (also known as terrupted series of victories. They
speech closed with a plea for restora- she had provided the nation with First Manassas) near Washington, began by breaking a long Confeder-

142 143
CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ate line in Tennessee, thus making responded tentatively, despite learn- also authorized the recruitment of gave him his chance, Lee struck
it possible to occupy almost all the ing that Lee had split his army and African Americans into the Union northward into Pennsylvania at the
western part of the state. When the was heavily outnumbered. The Army, a move abolitionist leaders beginning of July 1863, almost reach-
important Mississippi River port of Union and Confederate Armies met such as Frederick Douglass had been ing the state capital at Harrisburg. A
Memphis was taken, Union troops at Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, urging since the beginning of armed strong Union force intercepted him
advanced some 320 kilometers into Maryland, on September 17, 1862, in conflict. Union forces already had at Gettysburg, where, in a titanic
the heart of the Confederacy. With the bloodiest single day of the war: been sheltering escaped slaves as three-day battle — the largest of the
the tenacious General Ulysses S. More than 4,000 died on both sides “contraband of war,” but following Civil War — the Confederates made
Grant in command, they withstood and 18,000 were wounded. Despite the Emancipation Proclamation, the a valiant effort to break the Union
a sudden Confederate counterattack his numerical advantage, however, Union Army recruited and trained lines. They failed, and on July 4 Lee’s
at Shiloh, on the bluffs overlooking McClellan failed to break Lee’s lines regiments of African-American army, after crippling losses, retreat-
the Tennessee River. Those killed or press the attack, and Lee was able soldiers that fought with distinc- ed behind the Potomac.
and wounded at Shiloh numbered to retreat across the Potomac with tion in battles from Virginia to the More than 3,000 Union soldiers
more than 10,000 on each side, a ca- his army intact. As a result, Lincoln Mississippi. About 178,000 African and almost 4,000 Confederates died
sualty rate that Americans had never fired McClellan. Americans served in the U.S. Col- at Gettysburg; wounded and miss-
before experienced. But it was only Although Antietam was incon- ored Troops, and 29,500 served in ing totaled more than 20,000 on
the beginning of the carnage. clusive in military terms, its con- the Union Navy. each side. On November 19, 1863,
In Virginia, by contrast, Union sequences were nonetheless mo- Despite the political gains repre-
Lincoln dedicated a new national
troops continued to meet one de- mentous. Great Britain and France, sented by the Emancipation Procla- cemetery there with perhaps the
feat after another in a succession of both on the verge of recognizing mation, however, the North’s mili- most famous address in U.S. history.
bloody attempts to capture Rich- the Confederacy, delayed their deci- tary prospects in the East remained He concluded his brief remarks with
mond, the Confederate capital. The sion, and the South never received bleak as Lee’s Army of Northern Vir-these words:
Confederates enjoyed strong defense the diplomatic recognition and the ginia continued to maul the Union ... we here highly resolve that these
positions afforded by numerous economic aid from Europe that it Army of the Potomac, first at Fred- dead shall not have died in vain —
streams cutting the road between desperately sought. ericksburg, Virginia, in December that this nation, under God, shall
Washington and Richmond. Their Antietam also gave Lincoln the 1862 and then at Chancellorsville have a new birth of freedom —
two best generals, Robert E. Lee and opening he needed to issue the in May 1863. But Chancellorsville, and that government of the people,
Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson, preliminary Emancipation Procla- although one of Lee’s most brilliant by the people, for the people, shall
both far surpassed in ability their mation, which declared that as of military victories, was also one of hisnot perish from the earth.
early Union counterparts. In 1862 January 1, 1863, all slaves in states re- most costly. His most valued lieuten- On the Mississippi, Union con-
Union commander George McClel- belling against the Union were free. ant, General “Stonewall” Jackson, trol had been blocked at Vicksburg,
lan made a slow, excessively cautious In practical terms, the proclamation was mistakenly shot and killed by where the Confederates had strongly
attempt to seize Richmond. But in had little immediate impact; it freed his own men. fortified themselves on bluffs too
the Seven Days’ Battles between June slaves only in the Confederate states, high for naval attack. In early 1863
25 and July 1, the Union troops were while leaving slavery intact in the GETTYSBURG TO Grant began to move below and
driven steadily backward, both sides border states. Politically, however, it APPOMATTOX around Vicksburg, subjecting it to

Y
suffering terrible losses. meant that in addition to preserving a six-week siege. On July 4, he cap-
After another Confederate vic- the Union, the abolition of slavery et none of the Confederate vic- tured the town, together with the
tory at the Second Battle of Bull was now a declared objective of the tories was decisive. The Union sim- strongest Confederate Army in the
Run (or Second Manassas), Lee Union war effort. ply mustered new armies and tried West. The river was now entirely in
crossed the Potomac River and in- The final Emancipation Proc- again. Believing that the North’s Union hands. The Confederacy was
vaded Maryland. McClellan again lamation, issued January 1, 1863, crushing defeat at Chancellorsville broken in two, and it became almost

144 145
CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

impossible to bring supplies from From the coast, Sherman marched warmth and generosity. In 1864 he Never before that startled April
Texas and Arkansas. northward; by February 1865, he had been elected for a second term morning did such multitudes of
The Northern victories at Vicks- had taken Charleston, South Caro- as president, defeating his Demo- men shed tears for the death of
burg and Gettysburg in July 1863 lina, where the first shots of the cratic opponent, George McClellan, one they had never seen, as if with
marked the turning point of the war, Civil War had been fired. Sherman, the general he had dismissed after him a friendly presence had been
although the bloodshed continued more than any other Union general, Antietam. Lincoln’s second inaugu- taken from their lives, leaving
unabated for more than a year-and- understood that destroying the will ral address closed with these words: them colder and darker. Never
a-half. and morale of the South was as im- With malice toward none; with was funeral panegyric so eloquent
Lincoln brought Grant east and portant as defeating its armies. charity for all; with firmness in as the silent look of sympathy
made him commander-in-chief Grant, meanwhile, lay siege to Pe- the right, as God gives us to see which strangers exchanged when
of all Union forces. In May 1864 tersburg, Virginia, for nine months, the right, let us strive on to finish they met that day. Their common
Grant advanced deep into Virginia before Lee, in March 1865, knew that the work we are in; to bind up the manhood had lost a kinsman.
and met Lee’s Confederate Army he had to abandon both Petersburg nation’s wounds; to care for him The first great task confronting
in the three-day Battle of the Wil- and the Confederate capital of Rich- who shall have borne the battle, the victorious North — now under
derness. Losses on both sides were mond in an attempt to retreat south. and for his widow, and his orphan the leadership of Lincoln’s vice presi-
heavy, but unlike other Union com- But it was too late. On April 9, 1865, — to do all which may achieve dent, Andrew Johnson, a Southerner
manders, Grant refused to retreat. surrounded by huge Union armies, and cherish a just, and a lasting who remained loyal to the Union
Instead, he attempted to outflank Lee surrendered to Grant at Appo- peace, among ourselves, and with — was to determine the status of
Lee, stretching the Confederate lines mattox Courthouse. Although scat- all nations. the states that had seceded. Lincoln
and pounding away with artillery tered fighting continued elsewhere Three weeks later, two days after had already set the stage. In his view,
and infantry attacks. “I propose to for several months, the Civil War Lee’s surrender, Lincoln delivered the people of the Southern states
fight it out along this line if it takes was over. his last public address, in which he had never legally seceded; they had
all summer,” the Union commander The terms of surrender at Ap- unfolded a generous reconstruc- been misled by some disloyal citi-
said at Spotsylvania, during five days pomattox were magnanimous, and tion policy. On April 14, 1865, the zens into a defiance of federal au-
of bloody trench warfare that char- on his return from his meeting with president held what was to be his thority. And since the war was the
acterized fighting on the eastern Lee, Grant quieted the noisy demon- last Cabinet meeting. That evening act of individuals, the federal gov-
front for almost a year. strations of his soldiers by reminding — with his wife and a young couple ernment would have to deal with
In the West, Union forces gained them: “The rebels are our country- who were his guests — he attended these individuals and not with
control of Tennessee in the fall of men again.” The war for Southern a performance at Ford’s Theater. the states. Thus, in 1863 Lincoln
1863 with victories at Chattanooga independence had become the “lost There, as he sat in the presidential proclaimed that if in any state 10
and nearby Lookout Mountain, cause,” whose hero, Robert E. Lee, box, he was assassinated by John percent of the voters of record in
opening the way for General Wil- had won wide admiration through Wilkes Booth, a Virginia actor em- 1860 would form a government loyal
liam T. Sherman to invade Georgia. the brilliance of his leadership and bittered by the South’s defeat. Booth to the U.S. Constitution and would
Sherman outmaneuvered several his greatness in defeat. was killed in a shootout some days acknowledge obedience to the laws
smaller Confederate armies, oc- later in a barn in the Virginia coun- of the Congress and the proclama-
cupied the state capital of Atlanta, WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE tryside. His accomplices were cap- tions of the president, he would rec-

F
then marched to the Atlantic coast, tured and later executed. ognize the government so created as
systematically destroying railroads, or the North, the war produced Lincoln died in a downstairs the state’s legal government.
factories, warehouses, and other a still greater hero in Abraham Lin- bedroom of a house across the street Congress rejected this plan. Many
facilities in his path. His men, cut coln — a man eager, above all else, from Ford’s Theater on the morning Republicans feared it would simply
off from their normal supply lines, to weld the Union together again, of April 15. Poet James Russell Low- entrench former rebels in power;
ravaged the countryside for food. not by force and repression but by ell wrote: they challenged Lincoln’s right to

146 147
CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

deal with the rebel states without and ratify the 13th Amendment. This repudiated the Dred Scott rul- that established civil governments,
consultation. Some members of By the end of 1865, this process was ing, which had denied slaves their ratified the 14th Amendment, and
Congress advocated severe punish- completed, with a few exceptions. right of citizenship. adopted African-American suffrage.
ment for all the seceded states; oth- All the Southern state legislatures, Supporters of the Confederacy who
ers simply felt the war would have RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION with the exception of Tennessee, had not taken oaths of loyalty to the

B
been in vain if the old Southern es- refused to ratify the amendment, United States generally could not
tablishment was restored to power. oth Lincoln and Johnson had some voting against it unanimously. vote. The 14th Amendment was rati-
Yet even before the war was wholly foreseen that the Congress would In addition, Southern state legisla- fied in 1868. The 15th Amendment,
over, new governments had been set have the right to deny Southern tures passed “codes” to regulate the passed by Congress the following
up in Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, legislators seats in the U.S. Senate or African-American freedmen. The year and ratified in 1870 by state leg-
and Louisiana. House of Representatives, under the codes differed from state to state, islatures, provided that “The right of
To deal with one of its major clause of the Constitution that says, but some provisions were common. citizens of the United States to vote
concerns — the condition of for- “Each house shall be the judge of the African Americans were required to shall not be denied or abridged by
mer slaves — Congress established ... qualifications of its own mem- enter into annual labor contracts, the United States or any state on ac-
the Freedmen’s Bureau in March bers.” This came to pass when, under with penalties imposed in case of count of race, color, or previous con-
1865 to act as guardian over African the leadership of Thaddeus Stevens, violation; dependent children were dition of servitude.”
Americans and guide them toward those congressmen called “Radical subject to compulsory apprentice- The Radical Republicans in
self-support. And in December of Republicans,” who were wary of a ship and corporal punishments by Congress were infuriated by Presi-
that year, Congress ratified the 13th quick and easy “reconstruction,” re- masters; vagrants could be sold into dent Johnson’s vetoes (even though
Amendment to the U.S. Constitu- fused to seat newly elected Southern private service if they could not pay they were overridden) of legisla-
tion, which abolished slavery. senators and representatives. Within severe fines. tion protecting newly freed African
Throughout the summer of 1865 the next few months, Congress pro- Many Northerners interpreted Americans and punishing former
Johnson proceeded to carry out Lin- ceeded to work out a plan for the the Southern response as an attempt Confederate leaders by depriving
coln’s reconstruction program, with reconstruction of the South quite to reestablish slavery and repudi- them of the right to hold office.
minor modifications. By presidential different from the one Lincoln had ate the hard-won Union victory in Congressional antipathy to Johnson
proclamation he appointed a gover- started and Johnson had continued. the Civil War. It did not help that was so great that, for the first time
nor for each of the former Confeder- Wide public support gradu- Johnson, although a Unionist, was in American history, impeachment
ate states and freely restored political ally developed for those members of a Southern Democrat with an ad- proceedings were instituted to re-
rights to many Southerners through Congress who believed that African diction to intemperate rhetoric and move the president from office.
use of presidential pardons. Americans should be given full citi- an aversion to political compromise. Johnson’s main offense was his
In due time conventions were zenship. By July 1866, Congress had Republicans swept the congressional opposition to punitive congressional
held in each of the former Confed- passed a civil rights bill and set up elections of 1866. Firmly in power, policies and the violent language he
erate states to repeal the ordinances a new Freedmen’s Bureau — both the Radicals imposed their own vi- used in criticizing them. The most
of secession, repudiate the war debt, designed to prevent racial discrimi- sion of Reconstruction. serious legal charge his enemies
and draft new state constitutions. nation by Southern legislatures. In the Reconstruction Act of could level against him was that,
Eventually a native Unionist became Following this, the Congress passed March 1867, Congress, ignoring the despite the Tenure of Office Act
governor in each state with authority a 14th Amendment to the Constitu- governments that had been estab- (which required Senate approval for
to convoke a convention of loyal vot- tion, stating that “all persons born or lished in the Southern states, divided the removal of any officeholder the
ers. Johnson called upon each con- naturalized in the United States, and the South into five military districts, Senate had previously confirmed),
vention to invalidate the secession, subject to the jurisdiction thereof, each administered by a Union gener- he had removed from his Cabinet
abolish slavery, repudiate all debts are citizens of the United States and al. Escape from permanent military the secretary of war, a staunch sup-
that went to aid the Confederacy, of the State wherein they reside.” government was open to those states porter of the Congress. When the

148 149
CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

impeachment trial was held in the Klan became more and more fre- Hayes kept his promise, tacitly aban- ly failed to address their economic
Senate, it was proved that Johnson quent. Increasing disorder led to the doning federal responsibility for en- needs. The Freedmen’s Bureau was
was technically within his rights in passage of Enforcement Acts in 1870 forcing blacks’ civil rights. unable to provide former slaves
removing the Cabinet member. Even and 1871, severely punishing those The South was still a region dev- with political and economic op-
more important, it was pointed out who attempted to deprive the Af- astated by war, burdened by debt portunity. Union military occupiers
that a dangerous precedent would be rican-American freedmen of their caused by misgovernment, and de- often could not even protect them
set if the Congress were to remove a civil rights. moralized by a decade of racial war- from violence and intimidation.
president because he disagreed with fare. Unfortunately, the pendulum Indeed, federal army officers and
the majority of its members. The THE END OF of national racial policy swung from agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau
final vote was one short of the two- RECONSTRUCTION one extreme to the other. A fed- were often racists themselves. With-

A
thirds required for conviction. eral government that had supported out economic resources of their own,
Johnson continued in office until s time passed, it became more harsh penalties against Southern many Southern African Americans
his term expired in 1869, but Con- and more obvious that the problems white leaders now tolerated new and were forced to become tenant farm-
gress had established an ascendancy of the South were not being solved humiliating kinds of discrimination ers on land owned by their former
that would endure for the rest of the by harsh laws and continuing rancor against African Americans. The last masters, caught in a cycle of poverty
century. The Republican victor in against former Confederates. More- quarter of the 19th century saw a that would continue well into the
the presidential election of 1868, for- over, some Southern Radical state profusion of “Jim Crow” laws in 20th century.
mer Union general Ulysses S. Grant, governments with prominent Af- Southern states that segregated pub- Reconstruction-era governments
would enforce the reconstruction rican-American officials appeared lic schools, forbade or limited Afri- did make genuine gains in rebuild-
policies the Radicals had initiated. corrupt and inefficient. The nation can-American access to many public ing Southern states devastated by
By June 1868, Congress had re- was quickly tiring of the attempt to facilities such as parks, restaurants, the war, and in expanding public
admitted the majority of the for- impose racial democracy and liberal and hotels, and denied most blacks services, notably in establishing
mer Confederate states back into values on the South with Union bay- the right to vote by imposing poll tax-supported, free public schools
the Union. In many of these re- onets. In May 1872, Congress passed taxes and arbitrary literacy tests. for African Americans and whites.
constructed states, the majority of a general Amnesty Act, restoring full “Jim Crow” is a term derived from However, recalcitrant Southerners
the governors, representatives, and political rights to all but about 500 a song in an 1828 minstrel show seized upon instances of corruption
senators were Northern men — so- former rebels. where a white man first performed (hardly unique to the South in this
called carpetbaggers — who had Gradually Southern states began in “blackface.” era) and exploited them to bring
gone South after the war to make electing members of the Democratic Historians have tended to judge down radical regimes. The failure
their political fortunes, often in Party into office, ousting carpetbag- Reconstruction harshly, as a murky of Reconstruction meant that the
alliance with newly freed African ger governments and intimidating period of political conflict, corrup- struggle of African Americans for
Americans. In the legislatures of African Americans from voting or tion, and regression that failed to equality and freedom was deferred
Louisiana and South Carolina, Af- attempting to hold public office. achieve its original high-minded until the 20th century — when it
rican Americans actually gained a By 1876 the Republicans remained goals and collapsed into a sinkhole would become a national, not just a
majority of the seats. in power in only three Southern of virulent racism. Slaves were grant- Southern issue. 9
Many Southern whites, their states. As part of the bargaining that ed freedom, but the North complete-
political and social dominance resolved the disputed presidential
threatened, turned to illegal means elections that year in favor of Ruth-
to prevent African Americans from erford B. Hayes, the Republicans
gaining equality. Violence against promised to withdraw federal troops
African Americans by such extra- that had propped up the remaining
legal organizations as the Ku Klux Republican governments. In 1877

150 151
CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THE CIVIL WAR AND NEW PATTERNS


OF AMERICAN POLITICS The Republicans prosecuted the war with little regard for civil
The controversies of the 1850s had destroyed the Whig Party, created the liberties. In September 1862, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus
and imposed martial law on those who interfered with recruitment or gave
Republican Party, and divided the Democratic Party along regional lines.
aid and comfort to the rebels. This breech of civil law, although constitution-
The Civil War demonstrated that the Whigs were gone beyond recall and
ally justified during times of crisis, gave the Democrats another opportunity
the Republicans on the scene to stay. It also laid the basis for a reunited
to criticize Lincoln. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton enforced martial law
Democratic Party.
vigorously, and many thousands — most of them Southern sympathizers or
The Republicans could seamlessly replace the Whigs throughout the
Democrats — were arrested.
North and West because they were far more than a free-soil/antislavery force.
Despite the Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg in 1863,
Most of their leaders had started as Whigs and continued the Whig interest
Democratic “peace” candidates continued to play on the nation’s misfortunes
in federally assisted national development. The need to manage a war did not
and racial sensitivities. Indeed, the mood of the North was such that Lincoln
deter them from also enacting a protective tariff (1861) to foster American
was convinced he would lose his re-election bid in November 1864. Largely
manufacturing, the Homestead Act (1862) to encourage Western settlement,
for that reason, the Republican Party renamed itself the Union Party and
the Morrill Act (1862) to establish “land grant” agricultural and techni-
drafted the Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson to be Lincoln’s running
cal colleges, and a series of Pacific Railway Acts (1862-64) to underwrite a
mate. Sherman’s victories in the South sealed the election for them.
transcontinental railway line. These measures rallied support throughout the
Lincoln’s assassination, the rise of Radical Republicanism, and Johnson’s
Union from groups to whom slavery was a secondary issue and ensured the
blundering leadership all played into a postwar pattern of politics in which
party’s continuance as the latest manifestation of a political creed that had
the Republican Party suffered from overreaching in its efforts to remake the
been advanced by Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay.
South, while the Democrats, through their criticism of Reconstruction, allied
The war also laid the basis for Democratic reunification because
themselves with the neo-Confederate Southern white majority. U.S. Grant’s
Northern opposition to it centered in the Democratic Party. As might be
status as a national hero carried the Republicans through two presidential
expected from the party of “popular sovereignty,” some Democrats believed
elections, but as the South emerged from Reconstruction, it became apparent
that full-scale war to reinstate the Union was unjustified. This group came to
that the country was nearly evenly divided between the two parties.
be known as the Peace Democrats. Their more extreme elements were called
The Republicans would be dominant in the industrial Northeast until
“Copperheads.”
the 1930s and strong in most of the rest of the country outside the South.
Moreover, few Democrats, whether of the “war” or “peace” faction,
However, their appeal as the party of strong government and national develop-
believed the emancipation of the slaves was worth Northern blood. Opposition
ment increasingly would be perceived as one of allegiance to big business
to emancipation had long been party policy. In 1862, for example, virtually
and finance.
every Democrat in Congress voted against eliminating slavery in the District
When President Hayes ended Reconstruction, he hoped it would be pos-
of Columbia and prohibiting it in the territories.
sible to build the Republican Party in the South, using the old Whigs as a
Much of this opposition came from the working poor, particularly Irish
base and the appeal of regional development as a primary issue. By then, how-
and German Catholic immigrants, who feared a massive migration of newly
ever, Republicanism as the South’s white majority perceived it was
freed African Americans to the North. They also resented the establish-
identified with a hated African-American supremacy. For the next three-
ment of a military draft (March 1863) that disproportionately affected them.
quarters of a century, the South would be solidly Democratic. For much of
Race riots erupted in several Northern cities. The worst of these occurred in
that time, the national Democratic Party would pay solemn deference to states’
New York, July 13-16, 1863, precipitated by Democratic Governor Horatio
rights while ignoring civil rights. The group that would suffer the most as a
Seymour’s condemnation of military conscription. Federal troops, who just
legacy of Reconstruction was the African Americans. 
days earlier had been engaged at Gettysburg, were sent to restore order.

152 153
8
CHAPTER

GROWTH
AND
TRANSFORMATION

Building the
transcontinental railroad,
1868.

154
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“Upon the ness was speeded by the invention


of the typewriter in 1867, the adding
in a telegraph office, then to one on
the Pennsylvania Railroad. Before

sacredness of property, machine in 1888, and the cash regis-


ter in 1897. The linotype composing
he was 30 years old he had made
shrewd and farsighted investments,
machine, invented in 1886, and rota- which by 1865 were concentrated
civilization ry press and paper-folding machin- in iron. Within a few years, he had
ery made it possible to print 240,000 organized or had stock in compa-
itself depends.” eight-page newspapers in an hour.
Thomas Edison’s incandescent lamp
nies making iron bridges, rails, and
locomotives. Ten years later, he built
eventually lit millions of homes. The the nation’s largest steel mill on the
Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, 1889 talking machine, or phonograph, Monongahela River in Pennsylvania.
was perfected by Edison, who, in He acquired control not only of new
conjunction with George Eastman, mills, but also of coke and coal prop-
also helped develop the motion erties, iron ore from Lake Superior, a
picture. These and many other ap- fleet of steamers on the Great Lakes,
plications of science and ingenuity a port town on Lake Erie, and a con-
resulted in a new level of productiv- necting railroad. His business, allied
Between two great wars — the Civil tory of the country; it dramatized in ity in almost every field. with a dozen others, commanded
War and the First World War — the a stroke the changes that had begun Concurrently, the nation’s basic favorable terms from railroads and
United States of America came of to take place during the preceding 20 industry — iron and steel — forged shipping lines. Nothing comparable
age. In a period of less than 50 years
or 30 years. ...” War needs had enor- ahead, protected by a high tariff. The in industrial growth had ever been
it was transformed from a rural re- mously stimulated manufacturing, iron industry moved westward as ge- seen in America before.
public to an urban nation. The fron-speeding an economic process based ologists discovered new ore deposits, Though Carnegie long dominat-
tier vanished. Great factories and on the exploitation of iron, steam, notably the great Mesabi range at ed the industry, he never achieved
steel mills, transcontinental railroad
and electric power, as well as the the head of Lake Superior, which a complete monopoly over the natu-
lines, flourishing cities, and vast forward march of science and inven- became one of the largest produc- ral resources, transportation, and
agricultural holdings marked the tion. In the years before 1860, 36,000 ers in the world. Easy and cheap to industrial plants involved in the
land. With this economic growth patents were granted; in the next 30 mine, remarkably free of chemical making of steel. In the 1890s, new
and affluence came corresponding years, 440,000 patents were issued, impurities, Mesabi ore could be pro- companies challenged his preemi-
problems. Nationwide, a few busi- and in the first quarter of the 20th cessed into steel of superior quality nence. He would be persuaded to
nesses came to dominate whole century, the number reached nearly at about one-tenth the previously merge his holdings into a new cor-
industries, either independently or a million. prevailing cost. poration that would embrace most
in combination with others. Work- As early as 1844, Samuel F. B. of the important iron and steel
ing conditions were often poor. Morse had perfected electrical teleg- CARNEGIE AND THE properties in the nation.
Cities grew so quickly they could raphy; soon afterward distant parts ERA OF STEEL

A
not properly house or govern their of the continent were linked by a CORPORATIONS AND CITIES

responsible for the great advances The United States Steel Corpora-
growing populations. network of poles and wires. In 1876 ndrew Carnegie was largely
Alexander Graham Bell exhibited a
TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGE telephone instrument; within half a in steel production. Carnegie, who tion, which resulted from this merg-

T
“ century, 16 million telephones would came to America from Scotland as er in 1901, illustrated a process under
he Civil War,” says one writer, quicken the social and economic life a child of 12, progressed from bob- way for 30 years: the combination of
“cut a wide gash through the his- of the nation. The growth of busi- bin boy in a cotton factory to a job independent industrial enterprises

156 157
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

into federated or centralized com- cottonseed oil, lead, sugar, tobacco, into towns and towns into cities al- meters from Chicago. Moreover, to
panies. Started during the Civil War, and rubber. Soon aggressive indi- most overnight. In 1830 only one of avoid competition rival companies
the trend gathered momentum after vidual businessmen began to mark every 15 Americans lived in commu- sometimes divided (“pooled”) the
the 1870s, as businessmen began to out industrial domains for them- nities of 8,000 or more; in 1860 the freight business according to a pre-
fear that overproduction would lead selves. Four great meat packers, chief ratio was nearly one in every six; and arranged scheme that placed the to-
to declining prices and falling prof- among them Philip Armour and in 1890 three in every 10. No single tal earnings in a common fund for
its. They realized that if they could Gustavus Swift, established a beef city had as many as a million in- distribution.
control both production and mar- trust. Cyrus McCormick achieved habitants in 1860; but 30 years later Popular resentment at these prac-
kets, they could bring competing preeminence in the reaper business. New York had a million and a half; tices stimulated state efforts at regu-
firms into a single organization. The A 1904 survey showed that more Chicago, Illinois, and Philadelphia, lation, but the problem was national
“corporation” and the “trust” were than 5,000 previously independent Pennsylvania, each had over a mil- in character. Shippers demanded
developed to achieve these ends. concerns had been consolidated into lion. In these three decades, Phila- congressional action. In 1887 Presi-
Corporations, making available a some 300 industrial trusts. delphia and Baltimore, Maryland, dent Grover Cleveland signed the
deep reservoir of capital and giving The trend toward amalgamation doubled in population; Kansas City, Interstate Commerce Act, which
business enterprises permanent life extended to other fields, particularly Missouri, and Detroit, Michigan, forbade excessive charges, pools,
and continuity of control, attracted transportation and communica- grew fourfold; Cleveland, Ohio, six- rebates, and rate discrimination.
investors both by their anticipated tions. Western Union, dominant in fold; Chicago, tenfold. Minneapolis, It created an Interstate Commerce
profits and by their limited liability telegraphy, was followed by the Bell Minnesota, and Omaha, Nebraska, Commission (ICC) to oversee the
in case of business failure. The trusts Telephone System and eventually by and many communities like them act, but gave it little enforcement
were in effect combinations of cor- the American Telephone and Tele- — hamlets when the Civil War be- power. In the first decades of its ex-
porations whereby the stockholders graph Company. In the 1860s, Cor- gan — increased 50 times or more istence, virtually all the ICC’s efforts
of each placed stocks in the hands of nelius Vanderbilt had consolidated in population. at regulation and rate reductions
trustees. (The “trust” as a method of 13 separate railroads into a single failed to pass judicial review.
corporate consolidation soon gave 800-kilometer line connecting New RAILROADS, REGULATIONS, President Cleveland also op-
way to the holding company, but the York City and Buffalo. During the AND THE TARIFF posed the protective tariff on foreign

R
term stuck.) Trusts made possible next decade he acquired lines to Chi- goods, which had come to be accept-
large-scale combinations, central- cago, Illinois, and Detroit, Michigan, ailroads were especially impor- ed as permanent national policy un-
ized control and administration, establishing the New York Central tant to the expanding nation, and der the Republican presidents who
and the pooling of patents. Their Railroad. Soon the major railroads their practices were often criticized. dominated the politics of the era.
larger capital resources provided of the nation were organized into Rail lines extended cheaper freight Cleveland, a conservative Democrat,
power to expand, to compete with trunk lines and systems directed by rates to large shippers by rebating a regarded tariff protection as an un-
foreign business organizations, and a handful of men. portion of the charge, thus disadvan- warranted subsidy to big business,
to drive hard bargains with labor, In this new industrial order, the taging small shippers. Freight rates giving the trusts pricing power to
which was beginning to organize city was the nerve center, bringing also frequently were not proportion- the disadvantage of ordinary Ameri-
effectively. They could also exact to a focus all the nation’s dynamic ate to distance traveled; competition cans. Reflecting the interests of their
favorable terms from railroads and economic forces: vast accumulations usually held down charges between Southern base, the Democrats had
exercise influence in politics. of capital, business, and financial in- cities with several rail connections. reverted to their pre-Civil War op-
The Standard Oil Company, stitutions, spreading railroad yards, Rates tended to be high between position to protection and advocacy
founded by John D. Rockefeller, smoky factories, armies of manual points served by only one line. Thus of a “tariff for revenue only.”
was one of the earliest and stron- and clerical workers. Villages, at- it cost less to ship goods 1,280 kilo- Cleveland, narrowly elected in
gest corporations, and was followed tracting people from the countryside meters from Chicago to New York 1884, was unsuccessful in achieving
rapidly by other combinations — in and from lands across the sea, grew than to places a few hundred kilo- tariff reform during his first term.

158 159
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION
The silhouette of one of the United States’ most revered Founding Fathers,
Thomas Jefferson, stands in the shrine dedicated to his memory.
He made the issue the keynote of his sistence to commercial agriculture. “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against
every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
campaign for reelection, but Repub- Between 1860 and 1910, the number
lican candidate Benjamin Harrison, of farms in the United States tripled,
a defender of protectionism, won in increasing from two million to six
a close race. In 1890, the Harrison million, while the area farmed more
administration, fulfilling its cam- than doubled from 160 million to
paign promises, achieved passage of 352 million hectares.
the McKinley tariff, which increased Between 1860 and 1890, the pro-
the already high rates. Blamed for duction of such basic commodities
high retail prices, the McKinley du- as wheat, corn, and cotton out-
ties triggered widespread dissatisfac- stripped all previous figures in the
tion, led to Republican losses in the United States. In the same period,
1890 elections, and paved the way for the nation’s population more than
Cleveland’s return to the presidency doubled, with the largest growth in
in the 1892 election. the cities. But the American farmer
During this period, public an- grew enough grain and cotton,
tipathy toward the trusts increased. raised enough beef and pork, and
The nation’s gigantic corporations clipped enough wool not only to
were subjected to bitter attack supply American workers and their
through the 1880s by reformers such families but also to create ever-in-
as Henry George and Edward Bel- creasing surpluses.
lamy. The Sherman Antitrust Act, Several factors accounted for this
passed in 1890, forbade all combina- extraordinary achievement. One
tions in restraint of interstate trade was the expansion into the West.
and provided several methods of Another was a technological revo-
enforcement with severe penalties. lution. The farmer of 1800, using a
Couched in vague generalities, the hand sickle, could hope to cut a fifth
law accomplished little immediately of a hectare of wheat a day. With the
after its passage. But a decade later, cradle, 30 years later, he might cut
President Theodore Roosevelt would four-fifths. In 1840 Cyrus McCor-
use it vigorously. mick performed a miracle by cutting
M O N U M E NTS AN D

MEMORIALS
from two to two-and-a-half hect-
REVOLUTION IN ares a day with the reaper, a machine
AGRICULTURE he had been developing for nearly 10

D years. He headed west to the young


espite the great gains in industry, prairie town of Chicago, where he
A PICTURE PROFILE
agriculture remained the nation’s set up a factory — and by 1860 sold
basic occupation. The revolution a quarter of a million reapers. The monuments of American history span a continent in distance and
in agriculture — paralleling that in Other farm machines were de- centuries in time. They range from a massive serpent-shaped mound
manufacturing after the Civil War veloped in rapid succession: the created by a long-gone Native-American culture to memorials in
— involved a shift from hand labor automatic wire binder, the threshing contemporary Washington, D.C., and New York City.
to machine farming, and from sub- (Continued on page 177.)

160 161
The snow-covered Old Granary cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts, is burial ground for,
among other leading American patriots, victims of the Boston Massacre, three signers of
the Declaration of Independence, and six governors of Massachusetts. Originally founded
by religious dissidents from England known as Puritans, Massachusetts was a leader in the
struggle for independence against England. It was the setting for the Boston Tea Party and
the first battles of the American Revolution — in Lexington and Concord.
163
The historic room in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, where delegates drafted
the Constitution of the United States in the summer of 1787. The Constitution is
the supreme law of the land. It prescribes the form and authority of the federal
government, and ensures the fundamental freedoms and rights of the citizens of the
country through the Bill of Rights.
165
The Statue of Liberty, one of the United States’ most beloved monuments, stands 151
feet high at the entrance to New York harbor. A gift of friendship from the people
Statues guard the majestic façade of the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court of France to the United States, it was intended to be an impressive symbol of human
in the land. The words engraved on the lintel over the Greek pillars embody one liberty. It was certainly that for the millions of immigrants who came to the United
of America’s founding principles: “Equal Justice Under Law.” States in the 19th and early 20th century, seeking freedom and a better life.

166 167
Aerial view of the Great Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio. Carbon
tests of the effigy revealed that the creators of this 1,330-foot monument were
members of the Native-American Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000-1550).

The Liberty Bell, in


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an
enduring symbol of American
freedom. First rung on July
8, 1776, to celebrate the Two monuments to the central role Spain played in the exploration of what is now
adoption of the Declaration the United States. Top, the Castillo de San Marcos, built 1672-1695 to guard St.
of Independence, it cracked Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in the continental
in 1836, during the funeral of United States. Above, fountain and mission remains of the San Juan Capistrano
John Marshall, Chief Justice Mission, California, one of nine missions founded by Spanish Franciscan
of the U.S. Supreme Court. missionaries led by Fray Junípero Serra in the 1770s. Serra led the Spanish
colonization of what is today the state of California.
168
The faces of four of the most admired American presidents were
carved by Gutzon Borglum into the southeast face of Mount
Rushmore in South Dakota, beginning in 1927. From left to right,
they are: George Washington, commander of the Revolutionary
Army and first president of the young nation; Thomas Jefferson,
author of the Declaration of Independence; Theodore Roosevelt,
who led the country toward progressive reforms and a strong
foreign policy; and Abraham Lincoln, who led the country through
the Civil War and freed the slaves.

George Washington’s beloved home, Mount Vernon,


by the Potomac River in Virginia, where he died on
December 14, 1799, and is buried along with his wife
Martha. Among other treasured items owned by the
first president on display there, visitors can see one of
the keys to the Bastille, a gift to Washington from the
Marquis de Lafayette.

170 171
Six-year-old Mary Zheng straightens a flower placed at the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Washington, D.C., April 30, 2000. The names of more than 58,000
servicemen who died in the war or remain missing are etched on the “wall” part of the
memorial, pictured here. This portion of the monument was designed by Maya Lin,
then a student at Yale University.

172
An autumnal view of Arlington Cemetery, Virginia, America’s largest and best-known
national burial grounds. More than 260,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery,
including veterans from all the nation’s wars.

Fireworks celebrating the arrival of the Millennium illuminate two major


monuments in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial on the left and the
obelisk-shaped Washington Monument, center. The Lincoln Memorial’s north and
south side chambers contain carved inscriptions of his Second Inaugural Address
A mother and daughter viewing documents in the Exhibition Hall and his Gettysburg Address. The tallest structure in the nation’s capital,
of the National Archives. The U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of the Washington Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885.
Independence, and the Bill of Rights are on display in this Washington,
D.C., building.
175
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

machine, and the reaper-thresher or produced scores of new fruits and


combine. Mechanical planters, cut- vegetables; in Wisconsin, Stephen
ters, huskers, and shellers appeared, Babcock devised a test for determin-
as did cream separators, manure ing the butterfat content of milk; at
spreaders, potato planters, hay dri- Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, the
ers, poultry incubators, and a hun- African-American scientist George
dred other inventions. Washington Carver found hundreds
Scarcely less important than ma- of new uses for the peanut, sweet po-
chinery in the agricultural revolu- tato, and soybean.
tion was science. In 1862 the Mor- In varying degrees, the explosion
rill Land Grant College Act allotted in agricultural science and technol-
public land to each state for the es- ogy affected farmers all over the
tablishment of agricultural and in- world, raising yields, squeezing out
dustrial colleges. These were to serve small producers, and driving migra-
both as educational institutions and tion to industrial cities. Railroads
as centers for research in scientific and steamships, moreover, began to
farming. Congress subsequently pull regional markets into one large
appropriated funds for the creation world market with prices instantly
of agricultural experiment stations communicated by trans-Atlantic
throughout the country and granted cable as well as ground wires. Good
funds directly to the Department of news for urban consumers, falling
Agriculture for research purposes. agricultural prices threatened the
By the beginning of the new centu- livelihood of many American farm-
ry, scientists throughout the United ers and touched off a wave of agrar-
States were at work on a wide variety ian discontent.
of agricultural projects.
One of these scientists, Mark THE DIVIDED SOUTH

A
Carleton, traveled for the Depart-
ment of Agriculture to Russia. There fter Reconstruction, Southern
he found and exported to his home- leaders pushed hard to attract indus-
land the rust- and drought-resistant try. States offered large inducements
winter wheat that now accounts and cheap labor to investors to de-
for more than half the U.S. wheat velop the steel, lumber, tobacco, and
crop. Another scientist, Marion textile industries. Yet in 1900 the
Dorset, conquered the dreaded hog region’s percentage of the nation’s
cholera, while still another, George industrial base remained about what
Top, the World War II Memorial, opened in 2004, is the most recent addition to
the many national monuments in Washington, D.C. It honors the 16 million who Mohler, helped prevent hoof-and- it had been in 1860. Moreover, the
served in the armed forces of the United States, the more than 400,000 who died, mouth disease. From North Africa, price of this drive for industrializa-
and all who supported the war effort from home. Above, the planned design for one researcher brought back Kaf- tion was high: Disease and child
the World Trade Center Memorial in New York City is depicted in this photograph fir corn; from Turkestan, another labor proliferated in Southern mill
of a model unveiled in late 2004. “Reflecting Absence” will preserve not only the
memory of those who died in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, but the imported the yellow-flowering al- towns. Thirty years after the Civil
visible remnants of the buildings destroyed that morning, too. falfa. Luther Burbank in California War, the South was still poor, over-

176 177
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

whelmingly agrarian, and economi- Faced with pervasive discrimina- Miners had ranged over the whole days. The continental rail network
cally dependent. Moreover, its race tion, many African Americans fol- of the mountain country, tunnel- grew steadily; by 1884 four great
relations reflected not just the legacy lowed Booker T. Washington, who ing into the earth, establishing little lines linked the central Mississippi
of slavery, but what was emerging as counseled them to focus on modest communities in Nevada, Montana, Valley area with the Pacific.
the central theme of its history — a economic goals and to accept tem- and Colorado. Cattle ranchers, The first great rush of population
determination to enforce white su- porary social discrimination. Oth- taking advantage of the enormous to the Far West was drawn to the
premacy at any cost. ers, led by the African-American grasslands, had laid claim to the mountainous regions, where gold
Intransigent white Southerners intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois, wanted huge expanse stretching from Texas was found in California in 1848,
found ways to assert state control to challenge segregation through to the upper Missouri River. Sheep in Colorado and Nevada 10 years
to maintain white dominance. Sev- political action. But with both ma- herders had found their way to the later, in Montana and Wyoming in
eral Supreme Court decisions also jor parties uninterested in the issue valleys and mountain slopes. Farm- the 1860s, and in the Black Hills of
bolstered their efforts by upholding and scientific theory of the time ers sank their plows into the plains the Dakota country in the 1870s.
traditional Southern views of the ap- generally accepting black inferior- and closed the gap between the East Miners opened up the country, es-
propriate balance between national ity, calls for racial justice attracted and West. By 1890 the frontier line tablished communities, and laid the
and state power. little support. had disappeared. foundations for more permanent
In 1873 the Supreme Court found Settlement was spurred by the settlements. Eventually, however,
that the 14th Amendment (citi- THE LAST FRONTIER Homestead Act of 1862, which though a few communities contin-

Ifollowed
zenship rights not to be abridged) granted free farms of 64 hectares ued to be devoted almost exclusively
conferred no new privileges or im- n 1865 the frontier line generally to citizens who would occupy and to mining, the real wealth of Mon-
munities to protect African Ameri- the western limits of the improve the land. Unfortunately tana, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho,
cans from state power. In 1883, states bordering the Mississippi Riv- for the would-be farmers, much of and California proved to be in the
furthermore, it ruled that the 14th er, but bulged outward beyond the the Great Plains was suited more for grass and soil. Cattle-raising, long
Amendment did not prevent indi- eastern sections of Texas, Kansas, cattle ranching than farming, and an important industry in Texas,
viduals, as opposed to states, from and Nebraska. Then, running north by 1880 nearly 22,400,000 hectares flourished after the Civil War, when
practicing discrimination. And in and south for nearly 1,600 kilome- of “free” land was in the hands of enterprising men began to drive
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Court ters, loomed huge mountain ranges, cattlemen or the railroads. their Texas longhorn cattle north
found that “separate but equal” many rich in silver, gold, and other In 1862 Congress also voted a across the open public land. Feed-
public accommodations for Afri- metals. To their west, plains and des- charter to the Union Pacific Rail- ing as they went, the cattle arrived
can Americans, such as trains and erts stretched to the wooded coastal road, which pushed westward from at railway shipping points in Kan-
restaurants, did not violate their ranges and the Pacific Ocean. Apart Council Bluffs, Iowa, using mostly sas, larger and fatter than when they
rights. Soon the principle of segre- from the settled districts in Cali- the labor of ex-soldiers and Irish im- started. The annual cattle drive be-
gation by race extended into every fornia and scattered outposts, the migrants. At the same time, the Cen- came a regular event; for hundreds
area of Southern life, from railroads vast inland region was populated tral Pacific Railroad began to build of kilometers, trails were dotted with
to restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and by Native Americans: among them eastward from Sacramento, Cali- herds moving northward.
schools. Moreover, any area of life the Great Plains tribes — Sioux and fornia, relying heavily on Chinese Next, immense cattle ranches
that was not segregated by law was Blackfoot, Pawnee and Cheyenne immigrant labor. The whole country appeared in Colorado, Wyoming,
segregated by custom and practice. — and the Indian cultures of the was stirred as the two lines steadily Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakota
Further curtailment of the right to Southwest, including Apache, Na- approached each other, finally meet- territory. Western cities flourished
vote followed. Periodic lynchings vajo, and Hopi. ing on May 10, 1869, at Promontory as centers for the slaughter and
by mobs underscored the region’s A mere quarter-century later, Point in Utah. The months of labo- dressing of meat. The cattle boom
determination to subjugate its Afri- virtually all this country had been rious travel hitherto separating the peaked in the mid-1880s. By then,
can-American population. carved into states and territories. two oceans was now cut to about six not far behind the rancher creaked

178 179
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

the covered wagons of the farmers the Sioux were particularly skilled ing white population, the coming which time the owner won full title
bringing their families, their draft at high-speed mounted warfare. of the railroads, and the slaughter of and citizenship. Lands not thus dis-
horses, cows, and pigs. Under the The Apaches were equally adept and the buffalo, almost exterminated in tributed, however, were offered for
Homestead Act they staked their highly elusive, fighting in their envi- the decade after 1870 by the settlers’ sale to settlers. This policy, however
claims and fenced them with a new rons of desert and canyons. indiscriminate hunting. well-intentioned, proved disastrous,
invention, barbed wire. Ranchers Conflicts with the Plains Indians The Apache wars in the South- since it allowed more plundering of
were ousted from lands they had worsened after an incident where the west dragged on until Geronimo, Native-American lands. Moreover,
roamed without legal title. Dakota (part of the Sioux nation), the last important chief, was cap- its assault on the communal orga-
Ranching and the cattle drives declaring war against the U.S. gov- tured in 1886. nization of tribes caused further
gave American mythology its last ernment because of long-standing Government policy ever since disruption of traditional culture. In
icon of frontier culture — the cow- grievances, killed five white settlers. the Monroe administration had 1934 U.S. policy was reversed yet
boy. The reality of cowboy life was Rebellions and attacks continued been to move the Native Ameri- again by the Indian Reorganization
one of grueling hardship. As de- through the Civil War. In 1876 the cans beyond the reach of the white Act, which attempted to protect
picted by writers like Zane Grey and last serious Sioux war erupted, when frontier. But inevitably the reserva- tribal and communal life on the
movie actors such as John Wayne, the Dakota gold rush penetrated the tions had become smaller and more reservations.
the cowboy was a powerful mytho- Black Hills. The Army was supposed crowded. Some Americans began
logical figure, a bold, virtuous man to keep miners off Sioux hunting to protest the government’s treat- AMBIVALENT EMPIRE

T
of action. Not until the late 20th grounds, but did little to protect the ment of Native Americans. Helen
century did a reaction set in. Histo- Sioux lands. When ordered to take Hunt Jackson, for example, an East- he last decades of the 19th century
rians and filmmakers alike began to action against bands of Sioux hunt- erner living in the West, wrote A were a period of imperial expansion
depict “the Wild West” as a sordid ing on the range according to their Century of Dishonor (1881), which for the United States. The American
place, peopled by characters more treaty rights, however, it moved dramatized their plight and struck story took a different course from
apt to reflect the worst, rather than quickly and vigorously. a chord in the nation’s conscience. that of its European rivals, however,
the best, in human nature. In 1876, after several indecisive Most reformers believed the Native because of the U.S. history of strug-
encounters, Colonel George Custer, American should be assimilated into gle against European empires and its
THE PLIGHT OF leading a small detachment of cav- the dominant culture. The federal unique democratic development.
THE NATIVE AMERICANS alry encountered a vastly superior government even set up a school in The sources of American expan-

A force of Sioux and their allies on the Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in an attempt sionism in the late 19th century
s in the East, expansion into the Little Bighorn River. Custer and his to impose white values and beliefs were varied. Internationally, the pe-
plains and mountains by miners, men were completely annihilated. on Native-American youths. (It was riod was one of imperialist frenzy, as
ranchers, and settlers led to increas- Nonetheless the Native-American at this school that Jim Thorpe, often European powers raced to carve up
ing conflicts with the Native Ameri- insurgency was soon suppressed. considered the best athlete the Unit- Africa and competed, along with
cans of the West. Many tribes of Later, in 1890, a ghost dance ritual ed States has produced, gained fame Japan, for influence and trade in
Native Americans — from the Utes on the Northern Sioux reservation in the early 20th century.) Asia. Many Americans, including
of the Great Basin to the Nez Perces at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, In 1887 the Dawes (General Al- influential figures such as Theodore
of Idaho — fought the whites at one led to an uprising and a last, tragic lotment) Act reversed U.S. Native- Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and
time or another. But the Sioux of the encounter that ended in the death American policy, permitting the Elihu Root, felt that to safeguard its
Northern Plains and the Apache of of nearly 300 Sioux men, women, president to divide up tribal land own interests, the United States had
the Southwest provided the most and children. and parcel out 65 hectares of land to stake out spheres of economic
significant opposition to frontier ad- Long before this, however, the to each head of a family. Such al- influence as well. That view was
vance. Led by such resourceful lead- way of life of the Plains Indians lotments were to be held in trust by seconded by a powerful naval lobby,
ers as Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, had been destroyed by an expand- the government for 25 years, after which called for an expanded fleet

180 181
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

and network of overseas ports as es- United States exercising control or lasted, not a single American reverse democratic self-government, a po-
sential to the economic and political influence over islands in the Carib- of any importance occurred. A week litical system with which none of
security of the nation. More gener- bean Sea and the Pacific. after the declaration of war, Com- them had any previous experience.
ally, the doctrine of “manifest des- By the 1890s, Cuba and Puerto modore George Dewey, commander In fact, the United States found itself
tiny,” first used to justify America’s Rico were the only remnants of of the six-warship Asiatic Squadron in a colonial role. It maintained for-
continental expansion, was now re- Spain’s once vast empire in the New then at Hong Kong, steamed to the mal administrative control in Puer-
vived to assert that the United States World, and the Philippine Islands Philippines. Catching the entire to Rico and Guam, gave Cuba only
had a right and duty to extend its in- comprised the core of Spanish power Spanish fleet at anchor in Manila nominal independence, and harshly
fluence and civilization in the West- in the Pacific. The outbreak of war Bay, he destroyed it without losing suppressed an armed independence
ern Hemisphere and the Caribbean, had three principal sources: popular an American life. movement in the Philippines. (The
as well as across the Pacific. hostility to autocratic Spanish rule Meanwhile, in Cuba, troops Philippines gained the right to elect
At the same time, voices of anti- in Cuba; U.S. sympathy with the landed near Santiago, where, after both houses of its legislature in
imperialism from diverse coalitions Cuban fight for independence; and a winning a rapid series of engage- 1916. In 1936 a largely autonomous
of Northern Democrats and reform- new spirit of national assertiveness, ments, they fired on the port. Four Philippine Commonwealth was es-
minded Republicans remained loud stimulated in part by a nationalistic armored Spanish cruisers steamed tablished. In 1946, after World War
and constant. As a result, the acqui- and sensationalist press. out of Santiago Bay to engage the II, the islands finally attained full
sition of a U.S. empire was piecemeal By 1895 Cuba’s growing restive- American navy and were reduced to independence.)
and ambivalent. Colonial-minded ness had become a guerrilla war ruined hulks. U.S. involvement in the Pacific
administrations were often more of independence. Most Americans From Boston to San Francisco, area was not limited to the Philip-
concerned with trade and economic were sympathetic with the Cubans, whistles blew and flags waved when pines. The year of the Spanish-
issues than political control. but President Cleveland was deter- word came that Santiago had fallen. American War also saw the begin-
The United States’ first venture mined to preserve neutrality. Three Newspapers dispatched correspon- ning of a new relationship with
beyond its continental borders was years later, however, during the ad- dents to Cuba and the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands. Earlier con-
the purchase of Alaska — sparsely ministration of William McKinley, who trumpeted the renown of the tact with Hawaii had been mainly
populated by Inuit and other native the U.S. warship Maine, sent to Ha- nation’s new heroes. Chief among through missionaries and traders.
peoples — from Russia in 1867. Most vana on a “courtesy visit” designed them were Commodore Dewey and After 1865, however, American in-
Americans were either indifferent to to remind the Spanish of American Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who vestors began to develop the islands’
or indignant at this action by Secre- concern over the rough handling of had resigned as assistant secretary of resources — chiefly sugar cane and
tary of State William Seward, whose the insurrection, blew up in the har- the navy to lead his volunteer regi- pineapples.
critics called Alaska “Seward’s Folly” bor. More than 250 men were killed. ment, the “Rough Riders,” to service When the government of Queen
and “Seward’s Icebox.” But 30 years The Maine was probably destroyed in Cuba. Spain soon sued for an end Liliuokalani announced its inten-
later, when gold was discovered on by an accidental internal explosion, to the war. The peace treaty signed tion to end foreign influence in 1893,
Alaska’s Klondike River, thousands but most Americans believed the on December 10, 1898, transferred American businessmen joined with
of Americans headed north, and Spanish were responsible. Indigna- Cuba to the United States for tem- influential Hawaiians to depose
many of them settled in Alaska per- tion, intensified by sensationalized porary occupation preliminary to her. Backed by the American am-
manently. When Alaska became the press coverage, swept across the the island’s independence. In addi- bassador to Hawaii and U.S. troops
49th state in 1959, it replaced Texas country. McKinley tried to preserve tion, Spain ceded Puerto Rico and stationed there, the new government
as geographically the largest state in the peace, but within a few months, Guam in lieu of war indemnity, and then asked to be annexed to the
the Union. believing delay futile, he recom- the Philippines for a U.S. payment of United States. President Cleveland,
The Spanish-American War, mended armed intervention. $20 million. just beginning his second term, re-
fought in 1898, marked a turn- The war with Spain was swift and Officially, U.S. policy encouraged jected annexation, leaving Hawaii
ing point in U.S. history. It left the decisive. During the four months it the new territories to move toward nominally independent until the

182 183
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Spanish-American War, when, with ment. Large numbers of Puerto Ri- United States a perpetual lease to a of an ill-starred campaign to influ-
the backing of President McKinley, cans have settled on the mainland, 16-kilometer-wide strip of land (the ence the Mexican revolution and
Congress ratified an annexation to which they have free access and Panama Canal Zone) between the stop raids into American territory,
treaty. In 1959 Hawaii would be- where they enjoy all the political and Atlantic and the Pacific, in return President Woodrow Wilson sent
come the 50th state. civil rights of any other citizen of the for $10 million and a yearly fee of 11,000 troops into the northern part
To some extent, in Hawaii espe- United States. $250,000. Colombia later received of the country in a futile effort to
cially, economic interests had a role $25 million as partial compensation. capture the elusive rebel and outlaw
in American expansion, but to influ- THE CANAL AND THE Seventy-five years later, Panama and Francisco “Pancho” Villa.
ential policy makers such as Roos- AMERICAS the United States negotiated a new Exercising its role as the most

T
evelt, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, treaty. It provided for Panamanian powerful — and most liberal — of
and Secretary of State John Hay, he war with Spain revived U.S. sovereignty in the Canal Zone and Western Hemisphere nations, the
and to influential strategists such as interest in building a canal across transfer of the canal to Panama on United States also worked to estab-
Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, the the isthmus of Panama, uniting the December 31, 1999. lish an institutional basis for coop-
main impetus was geostrategic. For two great oceans. The usefulness of The completion of the Panama eration among the nations of the
these people, the major dividend of such a canal for sea trade had long Canal in 1914, directed by Colonel Americas. In 1889 Secretary of State
acquiring Hawaii was Pearl Harbor, been recognized by the major com- George W. Goethals, was a major James G. Blaine proposed that the 21
which would become the major U.S. mercial nations of the world; the triumph of engineering. The simul- independent nations of the Western
naval base in the central Pacific. French had begun digging one in taneous conquest of malaria and Hemisphere join in an organization
The Philippines and Guam comple- the late 19th century but had been yellow fever made it possible and dedicated to the peaceful settlement
mented other Pacific bases — Wake unable to overcome the engineering was one of the 20th century’s great of disputes and to closer economic
Island, Midway, and American Sa- difficulties. Having become a power feats in preventive medicine. bonds. The result was the Pan-
moa. Puerto Rico was an important in both the Caribbean Sea and the Elsewhere in Latin America, the American Union, founded in 1890
foothold in a Caribbean area that Pacific Ocean, the United States saw United States fell into a pattern of and known today as the Organiza-
was becoming increasingly impor- a canal as both economically benefi- fitful intervention. Between 1900 tion of American States (OAS).
tant as the United States contem- cial and a way of providing speedier and 1920, the United States carried The later administrations of Her-
plated a Central American canal. transfer of warships from one ocean out sustained interventions in six bert Hoover (1929-33) and Franklin
U.S. colonial policy tended to- to the other. Western Hemispheric nations — D. Roosevelt (1933-45) repudi-
ward democratic self-government. At the turn of the century, what most notably Haiti, the Dominican ated the right of U.S. intervention
As it had done with the Philippines, is now Panama was the rebellious Republic, and Nicaragua. Washing- in Latin America. In particular,
in 1917 the U.S. Congress granted northern province of Colombia. ton offered a variety of justifications Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy
Puerto Ricans the right to elect all When the Colombian legislature in for these interventions: to establish of the 1930s, while not ending all
of their legislators. The same law 1903 refused to ratify a treaty giv- political stability and democratic tensions between the United States
also made the island officially a U.S. ing the United States the right to government, to provide a favorable and Latin America, helped dissipate
territory and gave its people Ameri- build and manage a canal, a group environment for U.S. investment much of the ill-will engendered by
can citizenship. In 1950 Congress of impatient Panamanians, with the (often called dollar diplomacy), to earlier U.S. intervention and unilat-
granted Puerto Rico complete free- support of U.S. Marines, rose in re- secure the sea lanes leading to the eral actions.
dom to decide its future. In 1952, bellion and declared Panamanian Panama Canal, and even to prevent
the citizens voted to reject either independence. The breakaway coun- European countries from forcibly UNITED STATES AND ASIA

N
statehood or total independence, try was immediately recognized by collecting debts. The United States
and chose instead a commonwealth President Theodore Roosevelt. had pressured the French into re- ewly established in the Philip-
status that has endured despite the Under the terms of a treaty signed moving troops from Mexico in 1867. pines and firmly entrenched in Ha-
efforts of a vocal separatist move- that November, Panama granted the Half a century later, however, as part waii at the turn of the century, the

184 185
CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

J. P. MORGAN AND FINANCE CAPITALISM


United States had high hopes for a would oppose any disturbance of
vigorous trade with China. However,
Japan and various European nations
Chinese territorial or administra-
tive rights and restated the Open
The rise of American industry required more than great industrialists. Big
industry required big amounts of capital; headlong economic growth required
had acquired established spheres Door policy. Once the rebellion was foreign investors. John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan was the most important of the
of influence there in the form of quelled, Hay protected China from
American financiers who underwrote both requirements.
naval bases, leased territories, mo- crushing indemnities. Primarily
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Morgan headed the
nopolistic trade rights, and exclusive for the sake of American good will,
concessions for investing in railway Great Britain, Germany, and lesser nation’s largest investment banking firm. It brokered American securities to
construction and mining. colonial powers formally affirmed wealthy elites at home and abroad. Since foreigners needed assurance that
Idealism in American foreign the Open Door policy and Chinese their investments were in a stable currency, Morgan had a strong interest in
policy existed alongside the desire independence. In practice, they con- keeping the dollar tied to its legal value in gold. In the absence of an official
to compete with Europe’s impe- solidated their privileged positions U.S. central bank, he became the de facto manager of the task.
rial powers in the Far East. The U.S. in the country. From the 1880s through the early 20th century, Morgan and Company
government thus insisted as a matter A few years later, President not only managed the securities that underwrote many important corporate
of principle upon equality of com- Theodore Roosevelt mediated the consolidations, it actually originated some of them. The most stunning of these
mercial privileges for all nations. deadlocked Russo-Japanese War of was the U.S. Steel Corporation, which combined Carnegie Steel with several
In September 1899, Secretary of 1904-05, in many respects a strug- other companies. Its corporate stock and bonds were sold to investors at the
State John Hay advocated an “Open gle for power and influence in the then-unprecedented sum of $1.4 billion.
Door” for all nations in China northern Chinese province of Man- Morgan originated, and made large profits from, numerous other merg-
— that is, equality of trading oppor- churia. Roosevelt hoped the settle- ers. Acting as primary banker to numerous railroads, moreover, he effectively
tunities (including equal tariffs, har- ment would provide open-door muted competition among them. His organizational efforts brought stability to
bor duties, and railway rates) in the opportunities for American busi-
American industry by ending price wars to the disadvantage of farmers and
areas Europeans controlled. Despite ness, but the former enemies and
small manufacturers, who saw him as an oppressor. In 1901, when he estab-
its idealistic component, the Open other imperial powers succeeded in
Door, in essence, was a diplomatic shutting the Americans out. Here lished the Northern Securities Company to control a group of major railroads,
maneuver that sought the advan- as elsewhere, the United States was President Theodore Roosevelt authorized a successful Sherman Antitrust Act
tages of colonialism while avoiding unwilling to deploy military force in suit to break up the merger.
the stigma of its frank practice. It the service of economic imperialism. Acting as an unofficial central banker, Morgan took the lead in support-
had limited success. The president could at least content ing the dollar during the economic depression of the mid-1890s by marketing
With the Boxer Rebellion of himself with the award of the Nobel a large government bond issue that raised funds to replenish Treasury gold
1900, the Chinese struck out against Peace Prize (1906). Despite gains for supplies. At the same time, his firm undertook a short-term guarantee of the
foreigners. In June, insurgents seized Japan, moreover, U.S. relations with nation’s gold reserves. In 1907, he took the lead in organizing the New York
Beijing and attacked the foreign le- the proud and newly assertive island financial community to prevent a potentially ruinous string of bankruptcies. In
gations there. Hay promptly an- nation would be intermittently diffi- the process, his own firm acquired a large independent steel company, which
nounced to the European powers cult through the early decades of the it amalgamated with U. S. Steel. President Roosevelt personally approved the
and Japan that the United States 20th century. 9 action in order to avert a serious depression.
By then, Morgan’s power was so great that most Americans instinctively
distrusted and disliked him. With some exaggeration, reformers depicted him
as the director of a “money trust” that controlled America. By the time of his
death in 1913, the country was in the final stages of at last reestablishing a
central bank, the Federal Reserve System, that would assume much of the re-
sponsibility he had exercised unofficially. 
186 187
9
CHAPTER

DISCONTENT
AND
REFORM

Suffragists march on
Pennsylvania Avenue,
Washington, D.C.,
March 3, 1913.

188
CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORM OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“A great democracy will be of the South’s African-American


farmers and 40 percent of its white
Colored Farmers National Alliance,
claimed over a million members.

neither great nor a democracy ones lived under this debilitating


system. Most were locked in a cycle
Federating into two large North-
ern and Southern blocs, the alli-

if it is not progressive.” of debt, from which the only hope of


escape was increased planting. This
ances promoted elaborate economic
programs to “unite the farmers of
led to the over-production of cotton America for their protection against
and tobacco, and thus to declining class legislation and the encroach-
Former President Theodore Roosevelt, circa 1910 prices and the further exhaustion ments of concentrated capital.”
of the soil. By 1890 the level of agrarian dis-
The first organized effort to ad- tress, fueled by years of hardship and
dress general agricultural problems hostility toward the McKinley tariff,
was by the Patrons of Husbandry, a was at an all-time high. Working
farmer’s group popularly known as with sympathetic Democrats in the
the Grange movement. Launched South or small third parties in the
in 1867 by employees of the U.S. West, the Farmers’ Alliances made
Department of Agriculture, the a push for political power. A third
Granges focused initially on social political party, the People’s (or Pop-
activities to counter the isolation ulist) Party, emerged. Never before
AGRARIAN DISTRESS AND Midwestern farmers were in- most farm families encountered. in American politics had there been
THE RISE OF POPULISM creasingly restive over what they Women’s participation was actively anything like the Populist fervor

Iress,n spitelate-19th considered excessive railroad encouraged. Spurred by the Panic that swept the prairies and cotton
of their remarkable prog- freight rates to move their goods of 1873, the Grange soon grew to lands. The elections of 1890 brought
century American to market. They believed that the 20,000 chapters and one-and-a-half the new party into power in a dozen
farmers experienced recurring pe- protective tariff, a subsidy to big million members. Southern and Western states, and
riods of hardship. Mechanical im- business, drove up the price of their The Granges set up their own sent a score of Populist senators and
provements greatly increased yield increasingly expensive equipment. marketing systems, stores, process- representatives to Congress.
per hectare. The amount of land un- Squeezed by low market prices ing plants, factories, and coopera- The first Populist convention was
der cultivation grew rapidly through- and high costs, they resented ever- tives, but most ultimately failed. The in 1892. Delegates from farm, labor,
out the second half of the century, heavier debt loads and the banks movement also enjoyed some politi- and reform organizations met in
as the railroads and the gradual that held their mortgages. Even the cal success. During the 1870s, a few Omaha, Nebraska, determined to
displacement of the Plains Indians weather was hostile. During the late states passed “Granger laws,” limit- overturn a U.S. political system they
opened up new areas for western 1880s droughts devastated the west- ing railroad and warehouse fees. viewed as hopelessly corrupted by
settlement. A similar expansion of ern Great Plains and bankrupted By 1880 the Grange was in decline the industrial and financial trusts.
agricultural lands in countries such thousands of settlers. and being replaced by the Farmers’ Their platform stated:
as Canada, Argentina, and Australia In the South, the end of slavery Alliances, which were similar in We are met, in the midst of a
compounded these problems in the brought major changes. Much ag- many respects but more overtly po- nation brought to the verge of
international market, where much ricultural land was now worked by litical. By 1890 the alliances, initially moral, political, and material ruin.
of U.S. agricultural production was sharecroppers, tenants who gave autonomous state organizations, Corruption dominates the ballot-
now sold. Everywhere, heavy sup- up to half of their crop to a land- had about 1.5 million members box, the legislatures, the Congress,
ply pushed the price of agricultural owner for rent, seed, and essential from New York to California. A par- and touches even the ermine of the
commodities downward. supplies. An estimated 80 percent allel African-American group, the bench [courts]. ... From the same

190 191
CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORM OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

prolific womb of governmental The financial panic of 1893 THE STRUGGLES OF LABOR 19th century and fostered huge

T
injustice we breed the two great heightened the tension of this de- concentrations of wealth and power
classes — tramps and millionaires. bate. Bank failures abounded in the he life of a 19th-century Ameri- was backed by a judiciary that time
South and Midwest; unemployment can industrial worker was hard. and again ruled against those who
The pragmatic portion of their soared and crop prices fell badly. Even in good times wages were low, challenged the system. In this, they
platform called for the nationaliza- The crisis and President Grover hours long, and working conditions were merely following the prevailing
tion of the railroads; a low tariff; Cleveland’s defense of the gold stan- hazardous. Little of the wealth that philosophy of the times. Drawing on
loans secured by non-perishable dard sharply divided the Democratic the growth of the nation had gener- a simplified understanding of Dar-
crops stored in government-owned Party. Democrats who were silver ated went to its workers. Moreover, winian science, many social think-
warehouses; and, most explosively, supporters went over to the Popu- women and children made up a high ers believed that both the growth
currency inflation through Treasury lists as the presidential elections of percentage of the work force in some of large business at the expense of
purchase and the unlimited coinage 1896 neared. industries and often received but a small enterprise and the wealth of
of silver at the “traditional” ratio The Democratic convention that fraction of the wages a man could a few alongside the poverty of many
of 16 ounces of silver to one ounce year was swayed by one of the most earn. Periodic economic crises swept was “survival of the fittest,” and an
of gold. famous speeches in U.S. political the nation, further eroding industri- unavoidable by-product of progress.
The Populists showed impressive history. Pleading with the conven- al wages and producing high levels of American workers, especially the
strength in the West and South, and tion not to “crucify mankind on unemployment. skilled among them, appear to have
their candidate for president polled a cross of gold,” William Jennings At the same time, technologi- lived at least as well as their coun-
more than a million votes. But Bryan, the young Nebraskan cham- cal improvements, which added so terparts in industrial Europe. Still,
the currency question soon over- pion of silver, won the Democrats’ much to the nation’s productivity, the social costs were high. As late as
shadowed all other issues. Agrar- presidential nomination. The Popu- continually reduced the demand for the year 1900, the United States had
ian spokesmen, convinced that their lists also endorsed Bryan. skilled labor. Yet the unskilled labor the highest job-related fatality rate
troubles stemmed from a shortage In the epic contest that followed, pool was constantly growing, as un- of any industrialized nation in the
of money in circulation, argued that Bryan carried almost all the South- precedented numbers of immigrants world. Most industrial workers still
increasing the volume of money ern and Western states. But he lost — 18 million between 1880 and worked a 10-hour day (12 hours in
would indirectly raise prices for the more populated, industrial 1910 — entered the country, eager the steel industry), yet earned less
farm products and drive up indus- North and East — and the election for work. than the minimum deemed neces-
trial wages, thus allowing debts to be — to Republican candidate William Before 1874, when Massachusetts sary for a decent life. The number of
paid with inflated currency. Conser- McKinley. passed the nation’s first legislation children in the work force doubled
vative groups and the financial class- The following year the country’s limiting the number of hours wom- between 1870 and 1900.
es, on the other hand, responded finances began to improve, in part en and child factory workers could The first major effort to orga-
that the 16:1 price ratio was nearly owing to the discovery of gold in perform to 10 hours a day, virtually nize workers’ groups on a nation-
twice the market price for silver. A Alaska and the Yukon. This pro- no labor legislation existed in the wide basis appeared with the Noble
policy of unlimited purchase would vided a basis for a conservative country. It was not until the 1930s Order of the Knights of Labor in
denude the U.S. Treasury of all its expansion of the money supply. In that the federal government would 1869. Originally a secret, ritualistic
gold holdings, sharply devalue the 1898 the Spanish-American War become actively involved. Until society organized by Philadelphia
dollar, and destroy the purchasing drew the nation’s attention further then, the field was left to the state garment workers and advocating a
power of the working and middle from Populist issues. Populism and and local authorities, few of whom cooperative program, it was open
classes. Only the gold standard, they the silver issue were dead. Many of were as responsive to the workers as to all workers, including African
said, offered stability. the movement’s other reform ideas, they were to wealthy industrialists. Americans, women, and farmers.
however, lived on. The laissez-faire capitalism that The Knights grew slowly until its
dominated the second half of the railway workers’ unit won a strike

192 193
CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORM OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

against the great railroad baron, Jay policemen and at least four workers put down. Influenced by militant country’s political foundations had
Gould, in 1885. Within a year they were reported killed. Some 60 police anarchism and openly calling for endured the vicissitudes of foreign
added 500,000 workers to their rolls, officers were injured. class warfare, the Wobblies gained and civil war, the tides of prosper-
but, not attuned to pragmatic trade In 1892, at Carnegie’s steel works many adherents after they won a dif- ity and depression. Immense strides
unionism and unable to repeat this in Homestead, Pennsylvania, a ficult strike battle in the textile mills had been made in agriculture and
success, the Knights soon fell into group of 300 Pinkerton detectives of Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1912. industry. Free public education had
a decline. the company had hired to break a Their call for work stoppages in the been largely realized and a free press
Their place in the labor move- bitter strike by the Amalgamated midst of World War I, however, led maintained. The ideal of religious
ment was gradually taken by the Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin to a government crackdown in 1917 freedom had been sustained. The
American Federation of Labor Workers fought a fierce and losing that virtually destroyed them. influence of big business was now
(AFL). Rather than open member- gun battle with strikers. The Na- more firmly entrenched than ever,
ship to all, the AFL, under former ci- tional Guard was called in to protect THE REFORM IMPULSE however, and local and municipal

T
gar union official Samuel Gompers, non-union workers and the strike government often was in the hands
was a group of unions focused on was broken. Unions were not let he presidential election of 1900 of corrupt politicians.
skilled workers. Its objectives were back into the plant until 1937. gave the American people a chance In response to the excesses of
“pure and simple” and apolitical: In 1894, wage cuts at the Pullman to pass judgment on the Republican 19th-century capitalism and politi-
increasing wages, reducing hours, Company just outside Chicago led to administration of President McKin- cal corruption, a reform movement
and improving working conditions. a strike, which, with the support of ley, especially its foreign policy. arose called “progressivism,” which
It did much to turn the labor move- the American Railway Union, soon Meeting at Philadelphia, the Repub- gave American politics and thought
ment away from the socialist views tied up much of the country’s rail licans expressed jubilation over the its special character from approxi-
of most European labor movements. system. As the situation deteriorat- successful outcome of the war with mately 1890 until the American
Nonetheless, both before the ed, U.S. Attorney General Richard Spain, the restoration of prosperity, entry into World War I in 1917. The
founding of the AFL and after, Olney, himself a former railroad and the effort to obtain new mar- Progressives had diverse objectives.
American labor history was violent. lawyer, deputized over 3,000 men kets through the Open Door policy. In general, however, they saw them-
In the Great Rail Strike of 1877, rail in an attempt to keep the rails open. McKinley easily defeated his oppo- selves as engaged in a democratic
workers across the nation went out This was followed by a federal court nent, once again William Jennings crusade against the abuses of ur-
in response to a 10-percent pay cut. injunction against union interfer- Bryan. But the president did not live ban political bosses and the corrupt
Attempts to break the strike led to ri- ence with the trains. When rioting to enjoy his victory. In September “robber barons” of big business.
oting and wide-scale destruction in ensued, President Cleveland sent in 1901, while attending an exposi- Their goals were greater democracy
several cities: Baltimore, Maryland; federal troops, and the strike was tion in Buffalo, New York, he was and social justice, honest govern-
Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburgh, Penn- eventually broken. shot down by an assassin, the third ment, more effective regulation of
sylvania; Buffalo, New York; and The most militant of the strike- president to be assassinated since the business, and a revived commitment
San Francisco, California. Federal favoring unions was the Indus- Civil War. to public service. They believed that
troops had to be sent to several loca- trial Workers of the World (IWW). Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley’s expanding the scope of government
tions before the strike was ended. Formed from an amalgam of unions vice president, assumed the presi- would ensure the progress of U.S. so-
Nine years later, in Chicago’s fighting for better conditions in the dency. Roosevelt’s accession coin- ciety and the welfare of its citizens.
Haymarket Square incident, some- West’s mining industry, the IWW, or cided with a new epoch in American The years 1902 to 1908 marked
one threw a bomb at police about “Wobblies” as they were commonly political life and international rela- the era of greatest reform activity,
to break up an anarchist rally in known, gained particular promi- tions. The continent was peopled; as writers and journalists strongly
support of an ongoing strike at the nence from the Colorado mine the frontier was disappearing. A protested practices and principles
McCormick Harvester Company in clashes of 1903 and the singularly small, formerly struggling repub- inherited from the 18th-century
Chicago. In the ensuing melee, seven brutal fashion in which they were lic had become a world power. The rural republic that were proving

194 195
CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORM OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

inadequate for a 20th-century ur- labor laws were strengthened and and shippers equally liable with Commission real authority in regu-
ban state. Years before, in 1873, new ones adopted, raising age limits, railroads for rebates. Meanwhile, lating rates, extended the commis-
the celebrated author Mark Twain shortening work hours, restricting Congress had created a new Cabi- sion’s jurisdiction, and forced the
had exposed American society to night work, and requiring school net Department of Commerce and railroads to surrender their inter-
critical scrutiny in The Gilded Age. attendance. Labor, which included a Bureau of locking interests in steamship lines
Now, trenchant articles dealing with Corporations empowered to inves- and coal companies.
trusts, high finance, impure foods, ROOSEVELT’S REFORMS tigate the affairs of large business Other congressional measures

B
and abusive railroad practices began aggregations. carried the principle of federal con-
to appear in the daily newspapers y the early 20th century, most of Roosevelt won acclaim as a trol still further. The Pure Food and
and in such popular magazines as the larger cities and more than half “trust-buster,” but his actual atti- Drug Act of 1906 prohibited the use
McClure’s and Collier’s. Their au- the states had established an eight- tude toward big business was com- of any “deleterious drug, chemical,
thors, such as the journalist Ida M. hour day on public works. Equally plex. Economic concentration, he or preservative” in prepared medi-
Tarbell, who crusaded against the important were the workman’s believed, was inevitable. Some trusts cines and foods. The Meat Inspec-
Standard Oil Trust, became known compensation laws, which made were “good,” some “bad.” The task tion Act of the same year mandated
as “muckrakers.” employers legally responsible for of government was to make rea- federal inspection of all meat-pack-
In his sensational novel, The injuries sustained by employees at sonable distinctions. When, for ex- ing establishments engaged in inter-
Jungle, Upton Sinclair exposed work. New revenue laws were also ample, the Bureau of Corporations state commerce.
unsanitary conditions in the great enacted, which, by taxing inheri- discovered in 1907 that the Ameri- Conservation of the nation’s
Chicago meat-packing houses and tances, incomes, and the property or can Sugar Refining Company had natural resources, managed devel-
condemned the grip of the beef earnings of corporations, sought to evaded import duties, subsequent opment of the public domain, and
trust on the nation’s meat supply. place the burden of government on legal actions recovered more than the reclamation of wide stretches of
Theodore Dreiser, in his novels those best able to pay. $4 million and convicted several neglected land were among the other
The Financier and The Titan made It was clear to many people — company officials. The Standard Oil major achievements of the Roosevelt
it easy for laymen to understand notably President Theodore Roos- Company was indicted for receiving era. Roosevelt and his aides were
the machinations of big business. evelt and Progressive leaders in the secret rebates from the Chicago and more than conservationists, but giv-
Frank Norris’s The Octopus assailed Congress (foremost among them Alton Railroad, convicted, and fined en the helter-skelter exploitation of
amoral railroad management; his Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFol- a staggering $29 million. public resources that had preceded
The Pit depicted secret manipula- lette) — that most of the problems Roosevelt’s striking personality them, conservation loomed large on
tions on the Chicago grain market. reformers were concerned about and his trust-busting activities cap- their agenda. Whereas his predeces-
Lincoln Steffens’s The Shame of the could be solved only if dealt with on tured the imagination of the ordinary sors had set aside 18,800,000 hect-
Cities bared local political corrup- a national scale. Roosevelt declared individual; approval of his progres- ares of timberland for preservation
tion. This “literature of exposure” his determination to give all the sive measures cut across party lines. and parks, Roosevelt increased the
roused people to action. American people a “Square Deal.” In addition, the abounding prosper- area to 59,200,000 hectares. They
The hammering impact of un- During his first term, he initiated ity of the country at this time led also began systematic efforts to pre-
compromising writers and an in- a policy of increased government su- people to feel satisfied with the party vent forest fires and to re-timber
creasingly aroused public spurred pervision through the enforcement in office. He won an easy victory in denuded tracts.
political leaders to take practical of antitrust laws. With his back- the 1904 presidential election.
measures. Many states enacted laws ing, Congress passed the Elkins Act Emboldened by a sweeping elec- TAFT AND WILSON

R
to improve the conditions under (1903), which greatly restricted the toral triumph, Roosevelt called for
which people lived and worked. At railroad practice of giving rebates stronger railroad regulation. In June oosevelt’s popularity was at its
the urging of such prominent so- to favored shippers. The act made 1906 Congress passed the Hepburn peak as the campaign of 1908 neared,
cial critics as Jane Addams, child published rates the lawful standard, Act. It gave the Interstate Commerce but he was unwilling to break the

196 197
CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORM OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

tradition by which no president had against Roosevelt who ran as the Bank in each, all supervised by a of 1914 established an “extension
held office for more than two terms. candidate of a new Progressive Party. national Federal Reserve Board with system” of county agents to assist
Instead, he supported William How- Wilson, in a spirited campaign, de- limited authority to set interest rates. farming throughout the country.
ard Taft, who had served under him feated both rivals. The act assured greater flexibility in Subsequent acts made credit avail-
as governor of the Philippines and During his first term, Wilson se- the money supply and made provi- able to farmers at low rates of in-
secretary of war. Taft, pledging to cured one of the most notable legis- sion for issuing federal-reserve notes terest. The Seamen’s Act of 1915
continue Roosevelt’s programs, de- lative programs in American history. to meet business demands. Greater improved living and working con-
feated Bryan, who was running for The first task was tariff revision. centralization of the system would ditions on board ships. The Federal
the third and last time. “The tariff duties must be altered,” come in the 1930s. Workingman’s Compensation Act
The new president continued the Wilson said. “We must abolish ev- The next important task was in 1916 authorized allowances to
prosecution of trusts with less dis- erything that bears any semblance trust regulation and investiga- civil service employees for disabili-
crimination than Roosevelt, further of privilege.” The Underwood Tariff, tion of corporate abuses. Congress ties incurred at work and established
strengthened the Interstate Com- signed on October 3, 1913, provided authorized a Federal Trade Com- a model for private enterprise. The
merce Commission, established a substantial rate reductions on im- mission to issue orders prohibiting Adamson Act of the same year es-
postal savings bank and a parcel ported raw materials and foodstuffs, “unfair methods of competition” tablished an eight-hour day for rail-
post system, expanded the civil ser- cotton and woolen goods, iron and by business concerns in interstate road labor.
vice, and sponsored the enactment steel; it removed the duties from trade. The Clayton Antitrust Act This record of achievement won
of two amendments to the Constitu- more than a hundred other items. forbade many corporate practices Wilson a firm place in American
tion, both adopted in 1913. Although the act retained many that had thus far escaped specific history as one of the nation’s fore-
The 16th Amendment, ratified protective features, it was a genuine condemnation: interlocking direc- most progressive reformers. How-
just before Taft left office, autho- attempt to lower the cost of living. torates, price discrimination among ever, his domestic reputation would
rized a federal income tax; the 17th To compensate for lost revenues, it purchasers, use of the injunction in soon be overshadowed by his record
Amendment, approved a few months established a modest income tax. labor disputes, and ownership by as a wartime president who led his
later, mandated the direct election The second item on the Demo- one corporation of stock in similar country to victory but could not
of senators by the people, instead cratic program was a long overdue, enterprises. hold the support of his people for
of state legislatures. Yet balanced thorough reorganization of the ram- Farmers and other workers were the peace that followed. 9
against these progressive measures shackle banking and currency sys- not forgotten. The Smith-Lever Act
was Taft’s acceptance of a new tariff tem. “Control,” said Wilson, “must
with higher protective schedules; his be public, not private, must be vested
opposition to the entry of the state in the government itself, so that the
of Arizona into the Union because banks may be the instruments, not
of its liberal constitution; and his the masters, of business and of indi-
growing reliance on the conserva- vidual enterprise and initiative.”
tive wing of his party. The Federal Reserve Act of De-
By 1910 Taft’s party was bitterly cember 23, 1913, was Wilson’s most
divided. Democrats gained control enduring legislative accomplish-
of Congress in the midterm elec- ment. Conservatives had favored
tions. Two years later, Woodrow establishment of one powerful cen-
Wilson, the Democratic, progres- tral bank. The new act, in line with
sive governor of the state of New the Democratic Party’s Jeffersonian
Jersey, campaigned against Taft, the sentiments, divided the country into
Republican candidate — and also 12 districts, with a Federal Reserve

198 199
CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORM OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

A NATION OF NATIONS

No country’s history has been more closely bound to immigration than that grants were from Italy, Russia, Poland, Greece, and the Balkans. Non-Euro-
peans came, too: east from Japan, south from Canada, and north from Mexico.
of the United States. During the first 15 years of the 20th century alone, over By the early 1920s, an alliance was forged between wage-conscious
13 million people came to the United States, many passing through Ellis Is- organized labor and those who called for restricted immigration on racial or
land, the federal immigration center that opened in New York harbor in 1892. religious grounds, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Immigration Restriction
(Though no longer in service, Ellis Island reopened in 1992 as a monument to League. The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 permanently curtailed
the millions who crossed the nation’s threshold there.) the influx of newcomers with quotas calculated on nation of origin.
The first official census in 1790 had numbered Americans at 3,929,214. The Great Depression of the 1930s dramatically slowed immigration still
Approximately half of the population of the original 13 states was of English further. With public opinion generally opposed to immigration, even for per-
origin; the rest were Scots-Irish, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Welsh, secuted European minorities, relatively few refugees found sanctuary in the
and Finnish. These white Europeans were mostly Protestants. A fifth of the United States after Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power in 1933.
population was enslaved Africans. Throughout the postwar decades, the United States continued to cling
From early on, Americans viewed immigrants as a necessary resource for to nationally based quotas. Supporters of the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952
an expanding country. As a result, few official restrictions were placed upon argued that quota relaxation might inundate the United States with Marxist
immigration into the United States until the 1920s. As more and more im- subversives from Eastern Europe.
migrants arrived, however, some Americans became fearful that their culture In 1965 Congress replaced national quotas with hemispheric ones. Rela-
was threatened. tives of U.S. citizens received preference, as did immigrants with job skills
The Founding Fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson, had been ambivalent in short supply in the United States. In 1978 the hemispheric quotas were
over whether or not the United States ought to welcome arrivals from every replaced by a worldwide ceiling of 290,000, a limit reduced to 270,000 after
corner of the globe. Jefferson wondered whether democracy could ever rest passage of the Refugee Act of 1980.
safely in the hands of men from countries that revered monarchs or replaced Since the mid-1970s, the United States has experienced a fresh wave of
royalty with mob rule. However, few supported closing the gates to newcomers immigration, with arrivals from Asia, Africa, and Latin America transforming
in a country desperate for labor. communities throughout the country. Current estimates suggest a total annual
Immigration lagged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as wars dis- arrival of approximately 600,000 legal newcomers to the United States.
rupted trans-Atlantic travel and European governments restricted movement Because immigrant and refugee quotas remain well under demand, how-
to retain young men of military age. Still, as European populations increased, ever, illegal immigration is still a major problem. Mexicans and other Latin
more people on the same land constricted the size of farming lots to a point Americans daily cross the Southwestern U.S. borders to find work, higher
where families could barely survive. Moreover, cottage industries were falling wages, and improved education and health care for their families. Likewise,
victim to an Industrial Revolution that was mechanizing production. Thou- there is a substantial illegal migration from countries like China and other
sands of artisans unwilling or unable to find jobs in factories were out of work Asian nations. Estimates vary, but some suggest that as many as 600,000
in Europe. illegals per year arrive in the United States.
In the mid-1840s millions more made their way to the United States as Large surges of immigration have historically created social strains along
a result of a potato blight in Ireland and continual revolution in the German with economic and cultural dividends. Deeply ingrained in most Americans,
homelands. Meanwhile, a trickle of Chinese immigrants, most from impov- however, is the conviction that the Statue of Liberty does, indeed, stand as a
erished Southeastern China, began to make their way to the American West symbol for the United States as she lifts her lamp before the “golden door,”
Coast. welcoming those “yearning to breathe free.” This belief, and the sure knowl-
Almost 19 million people arrived in the United States between 1890 and edge that their forebears were once immigrants, has kept the United States a
1921, the year Congress first passed severe restrictions. Most of these immi- nation of nations. 

200 201
10
CHAPTER

WAR,
PROSPERITY,
AND
DEPRESSION

Depression era soup line,


1930s.

202
CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“The chief business after two more attacks — the sink-


ing of the British steamer Arabic in
President Wilson contributed
greatly to an early end to the war

of the American people August 1915, and the torpedoing of


the French liner Sussex in March
by defining American war aims that
characterized the struggle as be-

is business.” 1916 — Wilson issued an ultimatum


threatening to break diplomatic re-
ing waged not against the German
people but against their autocratic
lations unless Germany abandoned government. His Fourteen Points,
submarine warfare. Germany agreed submitted to the Senate in January
President Calvin Coolidge, 1925 and refrained from further attacks 1918, called for: abandonment of se-
through the end of the year. cret international agreements; free-
Wilson won reelection in 1916, dom of the seas; free trade between
partly on the slogan: “He kept us out nations; reductions in national ar-
of war.” Feeling he had a mandate to maments; an adjustment of colonial
act as a peacemaker, he delivered a claims in the interests of the inhab-
speech to the Senate, January 22, itants affected; self-rule for subju-
1917, urging the warring nations to gated European nationalities; and,
accept a “peace without victory.” most importantly, the establishment
of an association of nations to afford
WAR AND NEUTRAL RIGHTS carriers, confiscating “contraband” UNITED STATES ENTERS “mutual guarantees of political in-

T bound for Germany. Germany em- WORLD WAR I dependence and territorial integrity

O
o the American public of 1914, ployed its major naval weapon, the to great and small states alike.”
the outbreak of war in Europe submarine, to sink shipping bound n January 31, 1917, however, In October 1918, the German
— with Germany and Austria-Hun- for Britain or France. President Wil- the German government resumed government, facing certain defeat,
gary fighting Britain, France, and son warned that the United States unrestricted submarine warfare. appealed to Wilson to negotiate on
Russia — came as a shock. At first would not forsake its traditional After five U.S. vessels were sunk, the basis of the Fourteen Points.
the encounter seemed remote, but right as a neutral to trade with bel- Wilson on April 2, 1917, asked for a After a month of secret negotiations
its economic and political effects ligerent nations. He also declared declaration of war. Congress quickly that gave Germany no firm guar-
were swift and deep. By 1915 U.S. that the nation would hold Germany approved. The government rapidly antees, an armistice (technically a
industry, which had been mildly de- to “strict accountability” for the loss mobilized military resources, indus- truce, but actually a surrender) was
pressed, was prospering again with of American vessels or lives. On May try, labor, and agriculture. By Octo- concluded on November 11.
munitions orders from the Western 7, 1915, a German submarine sunk ber 1918, on the eve of Allied victory,
Allies. Both sides used propaganda the British liner Lusitania, killing a U.S. army of over 1,750,000 had THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Itreaty,
to arouse the public passions of 1,198 people, 128 of them Ameri- been deployed in France.
Americans — a third of whom were cans. Wilson, reflecting American In the summer of 1918, fresh t was Wilson’s hope that the final
either foreign-born or had one or outrage, demanded an immediate American troops under the com- drafted by the victors, would
two foreign-born parents. More- halt to attacks on liners and mer- mand of General John J. Pershing be even-handed, but the passion
over, Britain and Germany both act- chant ships. played a decisive role in stopping and material sacrifice of more than
ed against U.S. shipping on the high Anxious to avoid war with the a last-ditch German offensive. four years of war caused the Euro-
seas, bringing sharp protests from United States, Germany agreed to That fall, Americans were key par- pean Allies to make severe demands.
President Woodrow Wilson. give warning to commercial ves- ticipants in the Meuse-Argonne of- Persuaded that his greatest hope for
Britain, which controlled the seas, sels — even if they flew the enemy fensive, which cracked Germany’s peace, a League of Nations, would
stopped and searched American flag — before firing on them. But vaunted Hindenburg Line. never be realized unless he made

204 205
CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

concessions, Wilson compromised world order. Wilson’s defeat showed in turn, authorized federal roundups ment fostered private business, ben-
somewhat on the issues of self-de- that the American people were not of radicals and deported many who efits would radiate out to most of the
termination, open diplomacy, and yet ready to play a commanding role were not citizens. Strikes were often rest of the population.
other specifics. He successfully re- in world affairs. His utopian vision blamed on radicals and depicted as Accordingly, the Republicans
sisted French demands for the entire had briefly inspired the nation, but the opening shots of a revolution. tried to create the most favorable
Rhineland, and somewhat moder- its collision with reality quickly led Palmer’s dire warnings fueled a conditions for U.S. industry. The
ated that country’s insistence upon to widespread disillusion with world “Red Scare” that subsided by mid- Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922
charging Germany the whole cost affairs. America reverted to its in- 1920. Even a murderous bombing and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of
of the war. The final agreement (the stinctive isolationism. in Wall Street in September failed to 1930 brought American trade bar-
Treaty of Versailles), however, pro- reawaken it. From 1919 on, however, riers to new heights, guaranteeing
vided for French occupation of the POSTWAR UNREST a current of militant hostility toward U.S. manufacturers in one field

T
coal and iron rich Saar Basin, and revolutionary communism would after another a monopoly of the
a very heavy burden of reparations he transition from war to peace simmer not far beneath the surface domestic market, but blocking a
upon Germany. was tumultuous. A postwar eco- of American life. healthy trade with Europe that
In the end, there was little left of nomic boom coexisted with rapid would have reinvigorated the inter-
Wilson’s proposals for a generous increases in consumer prices. La- THE BOOMING 1920S national economy. Occurring at the

W
and lasting peace but the League of bor unions that had refrained from beginning of the Great Depression,
Nations itself, which he had made an striking during the war engaged in ilson, distracted by the war, Hawley-Smoot triggered retaliation
integral part of the treaty. Display- several major job actions. During the then laid low by his stroke, had from other manufacturing nations
ing poor judgment, however, the summer of 1919, several race riots oc- mishandled almost every postwar and contributed greatly to a collaps-
president had failed to involve lead- curred, reflecting apprehension over issue. The booming economy began ing cycle of world trade that intensi-
ing Republicans in the treaty nego- the emergence of a “New Negro” to collapse in mid-1920. The Repub- fied world economic misery.
tiations. Returning with a partisan who had seen military service or lican candidates for president and The federal government also start-
document, he then refused to make gone north to work in war industry. vice president, Warren G. Harding ed a program of tax cuts, reflecting
concessions necessary to satisfy Re- Reaction to these events merged and Calvin Coolidge, easily defeated Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon’s
publican concerns about protecting with a widespread national fear of their Democratic opponents, James belief that high taxes on individual
American sovereignty. a new international revolutionary M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt. incomes and corporations discour-
With the treaty stalled in a Senate movement. In 1917, the Bolsheviks Following ratification of the 19th aged investment in new industrial
committee, Wilson began a national had seized power in Russia; after the Amendment to the Constitution, enterprises. Congress, in laws passed
tour to appeal for support. On Sep- war, they attempted revolutions in women voted in a presidential elec- between 1921 and 1929, responded
tember 25, 1919, physically ravaged Germany and Hungary. By 1919, it tion for the first time. favorably to his proposals.
by the rigors of peacemaking and seemed they had come to America. The first two years of Harding’s “The chief business of the Amer-
the pressures of the wartime presi- Excited by the Bolshevik example, administration saw a continuance ican people is business,” declared
dency, he suffered a crippling stroke. large numbers of militants split of the economic recession that had Calvin Coolidge, the Vermont-born
Critically ill for weeks, he never fully from the Socialist Party to found begun under Wilson. By 1923, how- vice president who succeeded to the
recovered. In two separate votes what would become the Communist ever, prosperity was back. For the presidency in 1923 after Harding’s
— November 1919 and March 1920 Party of the United States. In April next six years the country enjoyed death, and was elected in his own
— the Senate once again rejected 1919, the postal service intercepted the strongest economy in its history, right in 1924. Coolidge hewed to
the Versailles Treaty and with it the nearly 40 bombs addressed to prom- at least in urban areas. Governmen- the conservative economic policies
League of Nations. inent citizens. Attorney General tal economic policy during the 1920s of the Republican Party, but he was
The League of Nations would A. Mitchell Palmer’s residence in was eminently conservative. It was a much abler administrator than the
never be capable of maintaining Washington was bombed. Palmer, based upon the belief that if govern- hapless Harding, whose administra-

206 207
CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

tion was mired in charges of corrup- decade in which the ordinary fam- urban ethnic enclaves, the new im- CLASH OF CULTURES

S
tion in the months before his death. ily purchased its first automobile, migrants were seen as maintaining
Throughout the 1920s, private obtained refrigerators and vacuum Old World customs, getting along ome Americans expressed their
business received substantial en- cleaners, listened to the radio for en- with very little English, and sup- discontent with the character of
couragement, including construc- tertainment, and went regularly to porting unsavory political machines modern life in the 1920s by focus-
tion loans, profitable mail-carry- motion pictures. Prosperity was real that catered to their needs. Nativists ing on family and religion, as an
ing contracts, and other indirect and broadly distributed. The Repub- wanted to send them back to Europe; increasingly urban, secular society
subsidies. The Transportation Act licans profited politically, as a result, social workers wanted to American- came into conflict with older rural
of 1920, for example, had already by claiming credit for it. ize them. Both agreed that they were traditions. Fundamentalist preach-
restored to private management the a threat to American identity. ers such as Billy Sunday provided an
nation’s railways, which had been TENSIONS OVER Halted by World War I, mass outlet for many who yearned for a
under government control during IMMIGRATION immigration resumed in 1919, but return to a simpler past.

D
the war. The Merchant Marine, quickly ran into determined oppo- Perhaps the most dramatic dem-
which had been owned and largely uring the 1920s, the United sition from groups as varied as the onstration of this yearning was the
operated by the government, was States sharply restricted foreign im- American Federation of Labor and religious fundamentalist crusade
sold to private operators. migration for the first time in its the reorganized Ku Klux Klan. Mil- that pitted Biblical texts against
Republican policies in agricul- history. Large inflows of foreigners lions of old-stock Americans who the Darwinian theory of biologi-
ture, however, faced mounting long had created a certain amount belonged to neither organization ac- cal evolution. In the 1920s, bills to
criticism, for farmers shared least of social tension, but most had been cepted commonly held assumptions prohibit the teaching of evolution
in the prosperity of the 1920s. The of Northern European stock and, about the inferiority of non-Nordics began appearing in Midwestern and
period since 1900 had been one if not quickly assimilated, at least and backed restrictions. Of course, Southern state legislatures. Leading
of rising farm prices. The unprec- possessed a certain commonality there were also practical arguments this crusade was the aging William
edented wartime demand for U.S. with most Americans. By the end of in favor of a maturing nation putting Jennings Bryan, long a spokesman
farm products had provided a strong the 19th century, however, the flow some limits on new arrivals. for the values of the countryside as
stimulus to expansion. But by the was predominantly from southern In 1921, Congress passed a sharp- well as a progressive politician. Bry-
close of 1920, with the abrupt end and Eastern Europe. According to ly restrictive emergency immigration an skillfully reconciled his anti-evo-
of wartime demand, the commer- the census of 1900, the population act. It was supplanted in 1924 by the lutionary activism with his earlier
cial agriculture of staple crops such of the United States was just over Johnson-Reed National Origins Act, economic radicalism, declaring that
as wheat and corn fell into sharp 76 million. Over the next 15 years, which established an immigration evolution “by denying the need or
decline. Many factors accounted for more than 15 million immigrants quota for each nationality. Those possibility of spiritual regeneration,
the depression in American agricul- entered the country. quotas were pointedly based on the discourages all reforms.”
ture, but foremost was the loss of Around two-thirds of the inflow census of 1890, a year in which the The issue came to a head in 1925,
foreign markets. This was partly in consisted of “newer” nationalities newer immigration had not yet left when a young high school teacher,
reaction to American tariff policy, and ethnic groups — Russian Jews, its mark. Bitterly resented by south- John Scopes, was prosecuted for vio-
but also because excess farm pro- Poles, Slavic peoples, Greeks, south- ern and Eastern European ethnic lating a Tennessee law that forbade
duction was a worldwide phenom- ern Italians. They were non-Prot- groups, the new law reduced immi- the teaching of evolution in the pub-
enon. When the Great Depression estant, non-“Nordic,” and, many gration to a trickle. After 1929, the lic schools. The case became a nation-
struck in the 1930s, it devastated an Americans feared, nonassimilable. economic impact of the Great De- al spectacle, drawing intense news
already fragile farm economy. They did hard, often dangerous, pression would reduce the trickle to coverage. The American Civil Lib-
The distress of agriculture aside, low-pay work — but were accused a reverse flow — until refugees from erties Union retained the renowned
the Twenties brought the best life of driving down the wages of native- European fascism began to press for attorney Clarence Darrow to defend
ever to most Americans. It was the born Americans. Settling in squalid admission to the country. Scopes. Bryan wrangled an appoint-

208 209
CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSION OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ment as special prosecutor, then manners and morals that caused numbers of African Americans initial American recession became
foolishly allowed Darrow to call him the decade to be called the Jazz Age, moved from the South to the North part of a worldwide depression.
as a hostile witness. Bryan’s confused the Roaring Twenties, or the era of in search of jobs and personal free- Business houses closed their doors,
defense of Biblical passages as literal “flaming youth.” World War I had dom. Most settled in urban areas, factories shut down, banks failed
rather than metaphorical truth drew overturned the Victorian social especially New York City’s Harlem, with the loss of depositors’ savings.
widespread criticism. Scopes, nearly and moral order. Mass prosperity Detroit, and Chicago. In 1910 W.E.B. Farm income fell some 50 percent.
forgotten in the fuss, was convicted, enabled an open and hedonistic life Du Bois and other intellectuals had By November 1932, approximately
but his fine was reversed on a tech- style for the young middle classes. founded the National Association one of every five American workers
nicality. Bryan died shortly after the The leading intellectuals were for the Advancement of Colored was unemployed.
trial ended. The state wisely declined supportive. H.L. Mencken, the People (NAACP), which helped The presidential campaign of
to retry Scopes. Urban sophisticates decade’s most important social African Americans gain a national 1932 was chiefly a debate over the
ridiculed fundamentalism, but it critic, was unsparing in denounc- voice that would grow in importance causes and possible remedies of the
continued to be a powerful force in ing sham and venality in American with the passing years. Great Depression. President Herbert
rural, small-town America. life. He usually found these qualities An African-American literary Hoover, unlucky in entering the
Another example of a power- in rural areas and among business- and artistic movement, called the White House only eight months be-
ful clash of cultures — one with men. His counterparts of the pro- “Harlem Renaissance,” emerged. fore the stock market crash, had tried
far greater national consequences gressive movement had believed in Like the “Lost Generation,” its harder than any other president be-
— was Prohibition. In 1919, after al- “the people” and sought to extend writers, such as the poets Langs- fore him to deal with economic hard
most a century of agitation, the 18th democracy. Mencken, an elitist and ton Hughes and Countee Cullen, times. He had attempted to organize
Amendment to the Constitution was admirer of Nietzsche, bluntly called rejected middle-class values and business, had sped up public works
enacted, prohibiting the manufac- democratic man a boob and charac- conventional literary forms, even schedules, established the Recon-
ture, sale, or transportation of alco- terized the American middle class as as they addressed the realities of struction Finance Corporation to
holic beverages. Intended to elimi- the “booboisie.” African-American experience. Af- support businesses and financial
nate the saloon and the drunkard Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald cap- rican-American musicians — Duke institutions, and had secured from a
from American society, Prohibition tured the energy, turmoil, and disil- Ellington, King Oliver, Louis Arm- reluctant Congress an agency to un-
created thousands of illegal drinking lusion of the decade in such works strong — first made jazz a staple of derwrite home mortgages. Nonethe-
places called “speakeasies,” made in- as The Beautiful and the Damned American culture in the 1920’s. less, his efforts had little impact, and
toxication fashionable, and created a (1922) and The Great Gatsby (1925). he was a picture of defeat.
new form of criminal activity — the Sinclair Lewis, the first American to THE GREAT DEPRESSION His Democratic opponent, Frank-

I
transportation of illegal liquor, or win a Nobel Prize for literature, sati- lin D. Roosevelt, already popular as
“bootlegging.” Widely observed in rized mainstream America in Main n October 1929 the booming stock the governor of New York during
rural America, openly evaded in Street (1920) and Babbitt (1922). Er- market crashed, wiping out many the developing crisis, radiated infec-
urban America, Prohibition was an nest Hemingway vividly portrayed investors. The collapse did not in tious optimism. Prepared to use the
emotional issue in the prosperous the malaise wrought by the war in itself cause the Great Depression, federal government’s authority for
Twenties. When the Depression hit, The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A although it reflected excessively easy even bolder experimental remedies,
it seemed increasingly irrelevant. Farewell to Arms (1929). Fitzgerald, credit policies that had allowed the he scored a smashing victory — re-
The 18th Amendment would be re- Hemingway, and many other writ- market to get out of hand. It also ag- ceiving 22,800,000 popular votes to
pealed in 1933. ers dramatized their alienation from gravated fragile economies in Europe Hoover’s 15,700,000. The United
Fundamentalism and Prohibition America by spending much of the that had relied heavily on American States was about to enter a new era
were aspects of a larger reaction to a decade in Paris. loans. Over the next three years, an of economic and political change. 9
modernist social and intellectual African-American culture flow-
revolution most visible in changing ered. Between 1910 and 1930, huge

210 211
11
CHAPTER

THE
NEW DEAL
AND
WORLD
WAR II

U.S. battleships West


Virginia and Tennessee,
following the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor,
December 7, 1941.

212
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“We must be astonishing rapidity the nation’s


banks were first closed — and then
bird sanctuaries; and conserving
coal, petroleum, shale, gas, sodium,

the great arsenal reopened only if they were solvent.


The administration adopted a policy
and helium deposits.
A Public Works Administration

of democracy.” of moderate currency inflation to


start an upward movement in com-
(PWA) provided employment for
skilled construction workers on a
modity prices and to afford some wide variety of mostly medium- to
relief to debtors. New governmental large-sized projects. Among the
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941 agencies brought generous credit most memorable of its many accom-
facilities to industry and agricul- plishments were the Bonneville and
ture. The Federal Deposit Insurance Grand Coulee Dams in the Pacific
Corporation (FDIC) insured sav- Northwest, a new Chicago sewer
ings-bank deposits up to $5,000. system, the Triborough Bridge in
Federal regulations were imposed New York City, and two aircraft car-
upon the sale of securities on the riers (Yorktown and Enterprise) for
stock exchange. the U.S. Navy.
The Tennessee Valley Authority
Unemployment. Roosevelt faced (TVA), both a work relief program
ROOSEVELT AND THE gressive era of Theodore Roosevelt unprecedented mass unemployment. and an exercise in public planning,
NEW DEAL and Woodrow Wilson. By the time he took office, as many developed the impoverished Ten-

ID.nRoosevelt, What was truly novel about the as 13 million Americans — more nessee River valley area through a
1933 the new president, Franklin New Deal, however, was the speed than a quarter of the labor force series of dams built for flood control
brought an air of con- with which it accomplished what — were out of work. Bread lines and hydroelectric power generation.
fidence and optimism that quickly previously had taken generations. were a common sight in most cit- Its provision of cheap electricity for
rallied the people to the banner of Many of its reforms were hast- ies. Hundreds of thousands roamed the area stimulated some economic
his program, known as the New ily drawn and weakly administered; the country in search of food, work, progress, but won it the enmity of
Deal. “The only thing we have to some actually contradicted others. and shelter. “Brother, can you spare private electric companies. New
fear is fear itself,” the president de- Moreover, it never succeeded in a dime?” was the refrain of a popu- Dealers hailed it as an example of
clared in his inaugural address to restoring prosperity. Yet its actions lar song. “grass roots democracy.”
the nation. provided tangible help for mil- An early step for the unemployed The Federal Emergency Relief
In one sense, the New Deal lions of Americans, laid the basis came in the form of the Civilian Administration (FERA), in opera-
merely introduced social and eco- for a powerful new political coali- Conservation Corps (CCC), a pro- tion from 1933 to 1935, distributed
nomic reforms familiar to many tion, and brought to the individual gram that brought relief to young direct relief to hundreds of thou-
Europeans for more than a gen- citizen a sharp revival of interest in men between 18 and 25 years of age. sands of people, usually in the form
eration. Moreover, the New Deal government. CCC enrollees worked in camps ad- of direct payments. Sometimes, it
represented the culmination of a ministered by the army. About two assumed the salaries of schoolteach-
long-range trend toward abandon- THE FIRST NEW DEAL million took part during the decade. ers and other local public service
ment of “laissez-faire” capitalism, They participated in a variety of workers. It also developed numerous
going back to the regulation of Banking and Finance. When Roos- conservation projects: planting trees small-scale public works projects,
the railroads in the 1880s, and the evelt took the presidential oath, the to combat soil erosion and maintain as did the Civil Works Administra-
flood of state and national reform banking and credit system of the na- national forests; eliminating stream tion (CWA) from late 1933 into the
legislation introduced in the Pro- tion was in a state of paralysis. With pollution; creating fish, game, and spring of 1934. Criticized as “make

214 215
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

work,” the jobs funded ranged from and dust storms during the 1930s wheat, and a system of planned stor- not only in industry but also in poli-
ditch digging to highway repairs to created what became known as the age to ensure a stable food supply. tics. Roosevelt’s Democratic Party
teaching. Roosevelt and his key of- “Dust Bowl.” Crops were destroyed Economic stability for the farmer benefited enormously from these
ficials worried about costs but con- and farms ruined. was substantially achieved, albeit at developments.
tinued to favor unemployment pro- By 1940, 2.5 million people had great expense and with extraordi-
grams based on work relief rather moved out of the Plains states, the nary government oversight. THE SECOND NEW DEAL

Isponsored
than welfare. largest migration in American histo-
ry. Of those, 200,000 moved to Cali- Industry and Labor. The National n its early years, the New Deal
Agriculture. In the spring of 1933, fornia. The migrants were not only Recovery Administration (NRA), a remarkable series of
the agricultural sector of the econo- farmers, but also professionals, re- established in 1933 with the National legislative initiatives and achieved
my was in a state of collapse. It there- tailers, and others whose livelihoods Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), at- significant increases in production
by provided a laboratory for the New were connected to the health of the tempted to end cut-throat competi- and prices — but it did not bring
Dealers’ belief that greater regulation farm communities. Many ended up tion by setting codes of fair compet- an end to the Depression. As the
would solve many of the country’s competing for seasonal jobs picking itive practice to generate more jobs sense of immediate crisis eased, new
problems. In 1933, Congress passed crops at extremely low wages. and thus more buying. Although demands emerged. Businessmen
the Agricultural Adjustment Act The government provided aid in welcomed initially, the NRA was mourned the end of “laissez-faire”
(AAA) to provide economic relief the form of the Soil Conservation soon criticized for over-regulation and chafed under the regulations
to farmers. The AAA proposed to Service, established in 1935. Farm and was unable to achieve industrial of the NIRA. Vocal attacks also
raise crop prices by paying farmers a practices that damaged the soil recovery. It was declared unconstitu- mounted from the political left
subsidy to compensate for voluntary had intensified the impact of the tional in 1935. and right as dreamers, schemers,
cutbacks in production. Funds for drought. The service taught farmers The NIRA had guaranteed to la- and politicians alike emerged with
the payments would be generated measures to reduce erosion. In ad- bor the right of collective bargaining economic panaceas that drew wide
by a tax levied on industries that dition, almost 30,000 kilometers of through labor unions representing audiences. Dr. Francis E. Townsend
processed crops. By the time the act trees were planted to break the force individual workers, but the NRA advocated generous old-age pen-
had become law, however, the grow- of winds. had failed to overcome strong busi- sions. Father Charles Coughlin, the
ing season was well under way, and Although the AAA had been ness opposition to independent “radio priest,” called for inflation-
the AAA paid farmers to plow under mostly successful, it was abandoned unionism. After its demise in 1935, ary policies and blamed interna-
their abundant crops. Crop reduc- in 1936, when its tax on food pro- Congress passed the National Labor tional bankers in speeches increas-
tion and further subsidies through cessors was ruled unconstitutional Relations Act, which restated that ingly peppered with anti-Semitic
the Commodity Credit Corporation, by the Supreme Court. Congress guarantee and prohibited employers imagery. Most formidably, Senator
which purchased commodities to be quickly passed a farm-relief act, from unfairly interfering with union Huey P. Long of Louisiana, an elo-
kept in storage, drove output down which authorized the government to activities. It also created the Nation- quent and ruthless spokesman for
and farm prices up. make payments to farmers who took al Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to the displaced, advocated a radical
Between 1932 and 1935, farm land out of production for the pur- supervise collective bargaining, ad- redistribution of wealth. (If he had
income increased by more than 50 pose of soil conservation. In 1938, minister elections, and ensure work- not been assassinated in September
percent, but only partly because of with a pro-New Deal majority on ers the right to choose the organiza- 1935, Long very likely would have
federal programs. During the same the Supreme Court, Congress rein- tion that should represent them in launched a presidential challenge to
years that farmers were being en- stated the AAA. dealing with employers. Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.)
couraged to take land out of pro- By 1940 nearly six million farm- The great progress made in labor In the face of these pressures,
duction — displacing tenants and ers were receiving federal subsidies. organization brought working peo- President Roosevelt backed a new set
sharecroppers — a severe drought New Deal programs also provided ple a growing sense of common in- of economic and social measures.
hit the Plains states. Violent wind loans on surplus crops, insurance for terests, and labor’s power increased Prominent among them were mea-

216 217
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

sures to fight poverty, create more To these, Roosevelt added the increasingly recalcitrant Southern WAR AND UNEASY
work for the unemployed, and pro- National Labor Relations Act, the conservatives from the Democratic NEUTRALITY

B
vide a social safety net. “Wealth Tax Act” that increased Party. When he cut high govern-
The Works Progress Adminis- taxes on the wealthy, the Public ment spending, moreover, the econ- efore Roosevelt’s second term
tration (WPA), the principal relief Utility Holding Company Act to omy collapsed. These events led to was well under way, his domestic
agency of the so-called second New break up large electrical utility con- the rise of a conservative coalition program was overshadowed by the
Deal, was the biggest public works glomerates, and a Banking Act that in Congress that was unreceptive to expansionist designs of totalitarian
agency yet. It pursued small-scale greatly expanded the power of the new initiatives. regimes in Japan, Italy, and Ger-
projects throughout the country, Federal Reserve Board over the large From 1932 to 1938 there was many. In 1931 Japan had invaded
constructing buildings, roads, air- private banks. Also notable was the widespread public debate on the Manchuria, crushed Chinese resis-
ports, and schools. Actors, paint- establishment of the Rural Electri- meaning of New Deal policies to tance, and set up the puppet state
ers, musicians, and writers were fication Administration, which ex- the nation’s political and economic of Manchukuo. Italy, under Benito
employed through the Federal The- tended electricity into farming areas life. Americans clearly wanted the Mussolini, enlarged its boundar-
ater Project, the Federal Art Project, throughout the country. government to take greater respon- ies in Libya and in 1935 conquered
and the Federal Writers Project. sibility for the welfare of ordinary Ethiopia. Germany, under Nazi
The National Youth Administra- A NEW COALITION people, however uneasy they might leader Adolf Hitler, militarized its

Iwonn athedecisive
tion gave part-time employment be about big government in general. economy and reoccupied the Rhine-
to students, established training 1936 election, Roosevelt The New Deal established the foun- land (demilitarized by the Treaty of
programs, and provided aid to victory over his Re- dations of the modern welfare state Versailles) in 1936. In 1938, Hitler
unemployed youth. The WPA only publican opponent, Alf Landon of in the United States. Roosevelt, per- incorporated Austria into the Ger-
included about three million jobless Kansas. He was personally popular, haps the most imposing of the 20th- man Reich and demanded cession of
at a time; when it was abandoned in and the economy seemed near re- century presidents, had established a the German-speaking Sudetenland
1943, it had helped a total of nine covery. He took 60 percent of the new standard of mass leadership. from Czechoslovakia. By then, war
million people. vote and carried all but two states. No American leader, then or seemed imminent.
The New Deal’s cornerstone, ac- A broad new coalition aligned with since, used the radio so effectively. The United States, disillusioned
cording to Roosevelt, was the Social the Democratic Party emerged, con- In a radio address in 1938, Roos- by the failure of the crusade for
Security Act of 1935. Social Security sisting of labor, most farmers, most evelt declared: “Democracy has democracy in World War I, an-
created a system of state-adminis- urban ethnic groups, African Amer- disappeared in several other great nounced that in no circumstances
tered welfare payments for the poor, icans, and the traditionally Demo- nations, not because the people of could any country involved in the
unemployed, and disabled based on cratic South. The Republican Party those nations disliked democracy, conflict look to it for aid. Neutral-
matching state and federal contribu- received the support of business as but because they had grown tired ity legislation, enacted piecemeal
tions. It also established a national well as middle-class members of of unemployment and insecurity, of from 1935 to 1937, prohibited trade
system of retirement benefits draw- small towns and suburbs. This po- seeing their children hungry while in arms with any warring nations,
ing on a “trust fund” created by em- litical alliance, with some variation they sat helpless in the face of gov- required cash for all other com-
ployer and employee contributions. and shifting, remained intact for ernment confusion and government modities, and forbade American
Many other industrialized nations several decades. weakness through lack of leader- flag merchant ships from carrying
had already enacted such programs, Roosevelt’s second term was a ship.” Americans, he concluded, those goods. The objective was to
but calls for such an initiative in the time of consolidation. The presi- wanted to defend their liberties at prevent, at almost any cost, the in-
United States had gone unheeded. dent made two serious political any cost and understood that “the volvement of the United States in a
Social Security today is the largest missteps: an ill-advised, unsuccess- first line of the defense lies in the foreign war.
domestic program administered by ful attempt to enlarge the Supreme protection of economic security.” With the Nazi conquest of Po-
the U.S. government. Court and a failed effort to “purge” land in 1939 and the outbreak of

218 219
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

World War II, isolationist sentiment toward intervention. Thus the No- JAPAN, PEARL HARBOR, States release Japanese assets and
increased, even though Americans vember election yielded another AND WAR stop U.S. naval expansion in the

W
clearly favored the victims of Hitler’s majority for the president, making Pacific. Hull countered with a pro-
aggression and supported the Allied Roosevelt the first, and last, U. S. hile most Americans anxiously posal for Japanese withdrawal from
democracies, Britain and France. chief executive to be elected to a watched the course of the European all its conquests. The swift Japanese
Roosevelt could only wait until pub- third term. war, tension mounted in Asia. Tak- rejection on December 1 left the
lic opinion regarding U.S. involve- In early 1941, Roosevelt got Con- ing advantage of an opportunity to talks stalemated.
ment was altered by events. gress to approve the Lend-Lease improve its strategic position, Japan On the morning of December 7,
After the fall of France and the Program, which enabled him to boldly announced a “new order” in Japanese carrier-based planes ex-
beginning of the German air war transfer arms and equipment to which it would exercise hegemony ecuted a devastating surprise attack
against Britain in mid-1940, the de- any nation (notably Great Britain, over all of the Pacific. Battling for against the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl
bate intensified between those in the later the Soviet Union and China) survival against Nazi Germany, Brit- Harbor, Hawaii.
United States who favored aiding the deemed vital to the defense of the ain was unable to resist, abandoning Twenty-one ships were destroyed
democracies and the antiwar faction United States. Total Lend-Lease aid its concession in Shanghai and tem- or temporarily disabled; 323 aircraft
known as the isolationists. Roos- by war’s end would amount to more porarily closing the Chinese supply were destroyed or damaged; 2,388
evelt did what he could to nudge than $50,000 million. route from Burma. In the summer soldiers, sailors, and civilians were
public opinion toward intervention. Most remarkably, in August, he of 1940, Japan won permission killed. However, the U.S. aircraft
The United States joined Canada met with Prime Minister Churchill from the weak Vichy government in carriers that would play such a criti-
in a Mutual Board of Defense, and off the coast of Newfoundland. The France to use airfields in northern cal role in the ensuing naval war in
aligned with the Latin American re- two leaders issued a “joint state- Indochina (North Vietnam). That the Pacific were at sea and not an-
publics in extending collective pro- ment of war aims,” which they September the Japanese formally chored at Pearl Harbor.
tection to the nations in the Western called the Atlantic Charter. Bearing joined the Rome-Berlin Axis. The American opinion, still divided
Hemisphere. a remarkable resemblance to Wood- United States countered with an about the war in Europe, was uni-
Congress, confronted with the row Wilson’s Fourteen Points, it embargo on the export of scrap iron fied overnight by what President
mounting crisis, voted immense called for these objectives: no ter- to Japan. Roosevelt called “a day that will
sums for rearmament, and in Sep- ritorial aggrandizement; no territo- In July 1941 the Japanese oc- live in infamy.” On December 8,
tember 1940 passed the first peace- rial changes without the consent of cupied southern Indochina (South Congress declared a state of war
time conscription bill ever enacted the people concerned; the right of Vietnam), signaling a probable with Japan; three days later Ger-
in the United States. In that month all people to choose their own form move southward toward the oil, tin, many and Italy declared war on the
also, Roosevelt concluded a daring of government; the restoration of and rubber of British Malaya and United States.
executive agreement with British self-government to those deprived the Dutch East Indies. The United
Prime Minister Winston Churchill. of it; economic collaboration be- States, in response, froze Japanese MOBILIZATION FOR
The United States gave the British tween all nations; freedom from assets and initiated an embargo on TOTAL WAR

T
Navy 50 “overage” destroyers in re- war, from fear, and from want for the one commodity Japan needed
turn for British air and naval bases all peoples; freedom of the seas; above all others — oil. he nation rapidly geared itself for
in Newfoundland and the North and the abandonment of the use General Hideki Tojo became mobilization of its people and its
Atlantic. of force as an instrument of inter- prime minister of Japan that Oc- entire industrial capacity. Over the
The 1940 presidential election national policy. tober. In mid-November, he sent a next three-and-a-half years, war in-
campaign demonstrated that the America was now neutral in special envoy to the United States dustry achieved staggering produc-
isolationists, while vocal, were a name only. to meet with Secretary of State tion goals — 300,000 aircraft, 5,000
minority. Roosevelt’s Republican Cordell Hull. Among other things, cargo ships, 60,000 landing craft,
opponent, Wendell Wilkie, leaned Japan demanded that the United 86,000 tanks. Women workers, ex-

220 221
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

emplified by “Rosie the Riveter,” THE WAR IN NORTH AFRICA During that time, Benito Musso- sians advancing irresistibly from the
played a bigger part in industrial AND EUROPE lini fell from power in Italy. His East. On May 7, Germany surren-

S
production than ever before. Total successors began negotiations with dered unconditionally.
strength of the U.S. armed forces at oon after the United States en- the Allies and surrendered imme-
the end of the war was more than tered the war, the United States, diately after the invasion of the Ital- THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC

U
12 million. All the nation’s activi- Britain, and the Soviet Union (at ian mainland in September. How-
ties — farming, manufacturing, war with Germany since June 22, ever, the German Army had by then .S. troops were forced to surren-
mining, trade, labor, investment, 1941) decided that their primary taken control of the peninsula. The der in the Philippines in early 1942,
communications, even education military effort was to be concen- fight against Nazi forces in Italy was but the Americans rallied in the
and cultural undertakings — were trated in Europe. bitter and protracted. Rome was not following months. General James
in some fashion brought under new Throughout 1942, British and liberated until June 4, 1944. As the “Jimmy” Doolittle led U.S. Army
and enlarged controls. German forces fought inconclusive Allies slowly moved north, they built bombers on a raid over Tokyo in
As a result of Pearl Harbor and back-and-forth battles across Libya airfields from which they made dev- April; it had little actual military
the fear of Asian espionage, Ameri- and Egypt for control of the Suez astating air raids against railroads, significance, but gave Americans an
cans also committed what was Canal. But on October 23, Brit- factories, and weapon emplacements immense psychological boost.
later recognized as an act of intol- ish forces commanded by General in southern Germany and central In May, at the Battle of the Coral
erance: the internment of Japanese Sir Bernard Montgomery struck at Europe, including the oil installa- Sea — the first naval engagement in
Americans. In February 1942, nearly the Germans from El Alamein. tions at Ploesti, Romania. history in which all the fighting was
120,000 Japanese Americans resid- Equipped with a thousand tanks, Late in 1943 the Allies, after much done by carrier-based planes — a
ing in California were removed from many made in America, they defeat- debate over strategy, decided to open Japanese naval invasion fleet sent
their homes and interned behind ed General Erwin Rommel’s army a front in France to compel the Ger- to strike at southern New Guinea
barbed wire in 10 wretched tem- in a grinding two-week campaign. mans to divert far larger forces from and Australia was turned back by a
porary camps, later to be moved to On November 7, American and Brit- the Soviet Union. U.S. task force in a close battle. A few
“relocation centers” outside isolated ish armed forces landed in French U.S. General Dwight D. Eisen- weeks later, the naval Battle of Mid-
Southwestern towns. North Africa. Squeezed between hower was appointed Supreme way in the central Pacific resulted in
Nearly 63 percent of these Japa- forces advancing from east and west, Commander of Allied Forces in Eu- the first major defeat of the Japanese
nese Americans were American- the Germans were pushed back and, rope. After immense preparations, Navy, which lost four aircraft car-
born U.S. citizens. A few were Japa- after fierce resistance, surrendered on June 6, 1944, a U.S., British, and riers. Ending the Japanese advance
nese sympathizers, but no evidence in May 1943. Canadian invasion army, protected across the central Pacific, Midway
of espionage ever surfaced. Others The year 1942 was also the turn- by a greatly superior air force, land- was the turning point.
volunteered for the U.S. Army and ing point on the Eastern Front. The ed on five beaches in Normandy. Other battles also contributed
fought with distinction and valor Soviet Union, suffering immense With the beachheads established to Allied success. The six-month
in two infantry units on the Italian losses, stopped the Nazi invasion at after heavy fighting, more troops land and sea battle for the island of
front. Some served as interpreters the gates of Leningrad and Moscow. poured in, and pushed the Germans Guadalcanal (August 1942-Febru-
and translators in the Pacific. In the winter of 1942-43, the Red back in one bloody engagement af- ary 1943) was the first major U.S.
In 1983 the U.S. government ac- Army defeated the Germans at Stal- ter another. On August 25 Paris was ground victory in the Pacific. For
knowledged the injustice of intern- ingrad (Volgograd) and began the liberated. most of the next two years, Ameri-
ment with limited payments to those long offensive that would take them The Allied offensive stalled that can and Australian troops fought
Japanese-Americans of that era who to Berlin in 1945. fall, then suffered a setback in east- their way northward from the
were still living. In July 1943 British and Ameri- ern Belgium during the winter, but South Pacific and westward from
can forces invaded Sicily and won in March, the Americans and British the Central Pacific, capturing the
control of the island in a month. were across the Rhine and the Rus- Solomons, the Gilberts, the Mar-

222 223
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

shalls, and the Marianas in a series cretly agreed to enter the war against Japanese Prime Minister Tojo. Gen- a preview of what they would face in
of amphibious assaults. Japan three months after the sur- eral Douglas MacArthur — who a planned invasion of Japan.
render of Germany. In return, the had reluctantly left the Philippines The heads of the U.S., British,
THE POLITICS OF WAR USSR would gain effective control of two years before to escape Japanese and Soviet governments met at Pots-

A Manchuria and receive the Japanese capture — returned to the islands in dam, a suburb outside Berlin, from
llied military efforts were ac- Kurile Islands as well as the southern October. The accompanying Battle July 17 to August 2, 1945, to discuss
companied by a series of important half of Sakhalin Island. The eastern of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval en- operations against Japan, the peace
international meetings on the politi- boundary of Poland was set roughly gagement ever fought, was the final settlement in Europe, and a policy
cal objectives of the war. In January at the Curzon line of 1919, thus giv- decisive defeat of the Japanese Navy. for the future of Germany. Perhaps
1943 at Casablanca, Morocco, an ing the USSR half its prewar terri- By February 1945, U.S. forces had presaging the coming end of the al-
Anglo-American conference de- tory. Discussion of reparations to be taken Manila. liance, they had no trouble on vague
cided that no peace would be con- collected from Germany — payment Next, the United States set its matters of principle or the practical
cluded with the Axis and its Balkan demanded by Stalin and opposed by sight on the strategic island of Iwo issues of military occupation, but
satellites except on the basis of “un- Roosevelt and Churchill — was in- Jima in the Bonin Islands, about reached no agreement on many tan-
conditional surrender.” This term, conclusive. Specific arrangements halfway between the Marianas and gible issues, including reparations.
insisted upon by Roosevelt, sought were made concerning Allied occu- Japan. The Japanese, trained to die The day before the Potsdam Con-
to assure the people of all the fight- pation in Germany and the trial and fighting for the Emperor, made sui- ference began, U.S. nuclear scientists
ing nations that no separate peace punishment of war criminals. Also cidal use of natural caves and rocky engaged in the secret Manhattan
negotiations would be carried on at Yalta it was agreed that the great terrain. U.S. forces took the island Project exploded an atomic bomb
with representatives of Fascism and powers in the Security Council of by mid-March, but not before los- near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The
Nazism and there would be no com- the proposed United Nations should ing the lives of some 6,000 U.S. test was the culmination of three
promise of the war’s idealistic objec- have the right of veto in matters af- Marines. Nearly all the Japanese de- years of intensive research in labo-
tives. Axis propagandists, of course, fecting their security. fenders perished. By now the United ratories across the United States. It
used it to assert that the Allies were Two months after his return States was undertaking extensive air lay behind the Potsdam Declara-
engaged in a war of extermination. from Yalta, Franklin Roosevelt died attacks on Japanese shipping and tion, issued on July 26 by the United
At Cairo, in November 1943, of a cerebral hemorrhage while va- airfields and wave after wave of in- States and Britain, promising that
Roosevelt and Churchill met with cationing in Georgia. Few figures cendiary bombing attacks against Japan would neither be destroyed
Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang in U.S. history have been so deeply Japanese cities. nor enslaved if it surrendered. If
Kai-shek to agree on terms for Ja- mourned, and for a time the Ameri- At Okinawa (April 1-June 21, Japan continued the war, however,
pan, including the relinquishment can people suffered from a numbing 1945), the Americans met even fierc- it would meet “prompt and utter
of gains from past aggression. At sense of irreparable loss. Vice Presi- er resistance. With few of the de- destruction.” President Truman,
Tehran, shortly afterward, Roos- dent Harry Truman, former senator fenders surrendering, the U.S. Army calculating that an atomic bomb
evelt, Churchill, and Soviet leader from Missouri, succeeded him. and Marines were forced to wage a might be used to gain Japan’s sur-
Joseph Stalin made basic agreements war of annihilation. Waves of Ka- render more quickly and with fewer
on the postwar occupation of Ger- WAR, VICTORY, AND mikaze suicide planes pounded the casualties than an invasion of the
many and the establishment of a THE BOMB offshore Allied fleet, inflicting more mainland, ordered that the bomb be

T
new international organization, the damage than at Leyte Gulf. Japan used if the Japanese did not surren-
United Nations. he final battles in the Pacific were lost 90-100,000 troops and prob- der by August 3.
In February 1945, the three Al- among the war’s bloodiest. In June ably as many Okinawan civilians. A committee of U.S. military and
lied leaders met again at Yalta (now 1944, the Battle of the Philippine Sea U.S. losses were more than 11,000 political officials and scientists had
in Ukraine), with victory seemingly effectively destroyed Japanese naval killed and nearly 34,000 wounded. considered the question of targets
secure. There, the Soviet Union se- air power, forcing the resignation of Most Americans saw the fighting as for the new weapon. Secretary of

224 225
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THE RISE OF INDUSTRIAL UNIONS


War Henry L. Stimson argued suc- tion they drafted outlined a world
cessfully that Kyoto, Japan’s ancient
capital and a repository of many
organization in which international
differences could be discussed
While the 1920s were years of relative prosperity in the United States, the
workers in industries such as steel, automobiles, rubber, and textiles benefited
national and religious treasures, be peacefully and common cause made
less than they would later in the years after World War II. Working conditions
taken out of consideration. Hiro- against hunger and disease. In con-
in many of these industries did improve. Some companies in the 1920s began
shima, a center of war industries trast to its rejection of U.S. mem-
and military operations, became the bership in the League of Nations to institute “welfare capitalism” by offering workers various pension, profit-
first objective. after World War I, the U.S. Senate sharing, stock option, and health plans to ensure their loyalty. Still, shop floor
On August 6, a U.S. plane, the promptly ratified the U.N. Charter environments were often hard and authoritarian.
Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb by an 89 to 2 vote. This action con- The 1920s saw the mass production industries redouble their efforts to
on the city of Hiroshima. On Au- firmed the end of the spirit of isola- prevent the growth of unions, which under the American Federation of Labor
gust 9, a second atomic bomb was tionism as a dominating element in (AFL) had enjoyed some success during World War I. They did so by using
dropped, this time on Nagasaki. American foreign policy. spies and armed strikebreakers and by firing those suspected of union sym-
The bombs destroyed large sections In November 1945 at Nurem- pathies. Independent unions were often accused of being Communist. At the
of both cities, with massive loss of berg, Germany, the criminal trials same time, many companies formed their own compliant employee organiza-
life. On August 8, the USSR declared of 22 Nazi leaders, provided for at tions, often called “company unions.”
war on Japan and attacked Japanese Potsdam, took place. Before a group
Traditionally, state legislatures, reflecting the views of the American mid-
forces in Manchuria. On August of distinguished jurists from Brit-
dle class, supported the concept of the “open shop,” which prevented a union
14, Japan agreed to the terms set at ain, France, the Soviet Union, and
Potsdam. On September 2, 1945, the United States, the Nazis were ac- from being the exclusive representative of all workers. This made it easier for
Japan formally surrendered. Ameri- cused not only of plotting and wag- companies to deny unions the right to collective bargaining and block union-
cans were relieved that the bomb ing aggressive war but also of violat- ization through court enforcement.
hastened the end of the war. The ing the laws of war and of humanity Between 1920 and 1929, union membership in the United States
realization of the full implications of in the systematic genocide, known as dropped from about five million to three-and-a-half million. The large un-
nuclear weapons’ awesome destruc- the Holocaust, of European Jews and skilled or semi-skilled industries remained unorganized.
tiveness would come later. other peoples. The trials lasted more The onset of the Great Depression led to widespread unemployment. By
Within a month, on October than 10 months. Twenty-two defen- 1933 there were over 12 million Americans out of work. In the automobile in-
24, the United Nations came into dants were convicted, 12 of them dustry, for example, the work force was cut in half between 1929 and 1933. At
existence following the meeting of sentenced to death. Similar proceed- the same time, wages dropped by two-thirds.
representatives of 50 nations in San ings would be held against Japanese
The election of Franklin Roosevelt, however, was to change the status of
Francisco, California. The constitu- war leaders. 9
the American industrial worker forever. The first indication that Roosevelt was
interested in the well-being of workers came with the appointment of Frances
Perkins, a prominent social welfare advocate, to be his secretary of labor.
(Perkins was also the first woman to hold a Cabinet-level position.) The far-
reaching National Industrial Recovery Act sought to raise industrial wages,
limit the hours in a work week, and eliminate child labor. Most importantly,
the law recognized the right of employees “to organize and bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing.”
John L. Lewis, the feisty and articulate head of the United Mine Work-
ers (UMW), understood more than any other labor leader what the New Deal
meant for workers. Stressing Roosevelt’s support, Lewis engineered a major

226 227
CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR II
In the depths of the Great Depression, March 1933, anxious depositors line up
outside of a New York bank. The new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
had just temporarily closed the nation’s banks to end the drain on the
unionizing campaign, rebuilding the UMW’s declining membership from banks’ reserves. Only those banks that were still solvent were permitted
150,000 to over 500,000 within a year. to reopen after a four-day “bank holiday.”
Lewis was eager to get the AFL, where he was a member of the Execu-
tive Council, to launch a similar drive in the mass production industries. But
the AFL, with its historic focus on the skilled trade worker, was unwilling to
do so. After a bitter internal feud, Lewis and a few others broke with the AFL
to set up the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), later the Congress
of Industrial Organizations. The passage of the National Labor Relations Act
(NLRA) in 1935 and the friendly attitude of the National Labor Relations
Board put the power and authority of the federal government behind the CIO.
Its first targets were the notoriously anti-union auto and steel industries.
In late 1936 a series of sit-down strikes, orchestrated by the fledgling United
Auto Workers union under Walter Reuther, erupted at General Motors plants
in Cleveland, Ohio, and Flint, Michigan. Soon 135,000 workers were involved
and GM production ground to a halt.
With the sympathetic governor of Michigan refusing to evict the strikers,
a settlement was reached in early 1937. By September of that year, the United
Auto Workers had contracts with 400 companies involved in the automobile
industry, assuring workers a minimum wage of 75 cents per hour and a 40-
hour work week.
In the first six months of its existence, the Steel Workers Organizing
Committee (SWOC), headed by Lewis lieutenant Philip Murray, picked up
125,000 members. The major American steel company, U.S. Steel, realizing
that times had changed, also came to terms in 1937. That same year the Su-
TU R M O I L AN D

CHANGE
preme Court upheld the constitutionality of the NLRA. Subsequently, smaller
companies, traditionally even more anti-union than the large corporations,
gave in. One by one, other industries — rubber, oil, electronics, and textiles
— also followed suit.
The rise of big labor had two major long-term impacts. It became the A PICTURE PROFILE
organizational core of the national Democratic Party, and it gained material
benefits for its members that all but erased the economic distinction between For the United States, the 20th century was a period of extraordinary
turmoil and change. In these decades, the nation endured the worst
working-class and middle-class America. 
economic depression in its history; emerged triumphant, with the
Allies, in World War II; assumed a role of global leadership in the
century’s twilight conflict known as the Cold War; and underwent a
remarkable social, economic, and political transition at home. Where
once the United States transformed itself over the slow march of
centuries, it now seemed to reinvent itself almost by decades.

228 229
Men and women strikers dance the time away on March 11, 1937, during a strike
at the Chevrolet Fisher Body Plants in St. Louis, Missouri. Strikes such as these
succeeded in winning union recognition for industrial workers throughout
the country in the 1930s.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs perhaps the most far-reaching legislation World War II in the Pacific was characterized by large-scale naval and air battles.
of the New Deal: the Social Security Act of 1935. Today, Social Security, one of Here, a Japanese plane plunges down in flames during an attack on a U.S. carrier
the largest government programs in the United States, provides retirement and fleet in the Mariana Islands, June 1944. U.S. Army and Marine forces’ “island hopping”
disability income to millions of Americans. campaign began at Guadalcanal in August 1942 and ended with the assault on
Okinawa in April 1945.

230 231
Assembly line of P-38 Lightning
fighter planes during World War
II. With its massive output of war
materiel, the United States became,
in the words of President Roosevelt,
“the arsenal of democracy.”

Top, General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander in Europe, talks with


paratroopers shortly before the Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944.
Above, General Douglas MacArthur (center) had declared, “I shall return,” Japanese Americans await
when he escaped from advancing Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1942. relocation to internment
Two years later, he made good on his promise and waded ashore at Leyte as camps in the worst violation
American forces began the liberation of the Philippines. of human rights that occurred
inside the United States
during World II.

232 233
In perhaps the most
famous photograph
in American political
history, President Harry
Truman holds aloft a
newspaper wrongly
announcing his defeat
by Republican nominee
Thomas Dewey in
the 1948 presidential
election. Truman’s
come-from-behind
victory surprised all
political experts
that day.

Meeting of British Prime


Minister Winston Churchill,
President Roosevelt, and
Soviet leader Josef Stalin
at Yalta in February 1945.
Disagreements over the
future of Europe anticipated
the division of the European
continent that remained a
fixture of the Cold War.

U.S. troops witness a


nuclear test in the Nevada
desert in 1951. The threat of
nuclear weapons remained
a constant and ominous fact
of life throughout the
U.S. infantry fire against North Korean forces invading South Korea in 1951,
Cold War era.
in a conflict that lasted three painful years.

234
At a congressional hearing in 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy points to a map
purportedly showing Communist Party influence in the United States in 1950.
His chief antagonist at the hearing, lawyer Joseph Welch, sits at left. Welch
successfully discredited McCarthy at these hearings, which were among the
first to be televised across the country.

Jackie Robinson, sliding home in a 1948 baseball game. Robinson broke the
color barrier against black professional baseball players when he joined the
Brooklyn Dodgers and became one of the stars of the game.

Portrait of President Dwight


Eisenhower, whose genial,
reassuring personality
dominated the decade of
the 1950s.

236 237
Lucille Ball (second from left) with her supporting cast, including husband
Desi Arnaz (standing), on one of the most popular television comedy shows of the
1950s, I Love Lucy. The show established many of the techniques and conventions
shared by hundreds of the televised “situation comedies” that followed.

America’s first star of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, performing on television’s “Ed
Sullivan Show,” September 9, 1956. Today, years after his death, he is still
revered by legions of his fans as “The King.”

238 239
Above, Rosa Parks sits in one of the front seats of a city bus following
the successful boycott of the bus system in 1955-56 by African-
American citizens of Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott was
organized to protest the practice of segregation in which African
Americans were forced to sit in the back of the bus. The Supreme
Court agreed that this practice was a constitutional violation a
year after the boycott began. The great leader of the civil rights
movement in America, Martin Luther King Jr., gained national
prominence through the Montgomery bus boycott.

Opposite page, right, Martin Luther King Jr. escorts children to a


previously all-white public school in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1966.
Although school segregation was outlawed in the landmark Brown
v. Board of Education decision of the Supreme Court in 1954, it took
decades of protest, political pressure, and additional court decisions
to enforce school desegregation across the country.

240 241
President John F. Kennedy addresses nearly a quarter of a million Germans in
West Berlin in June 1963. Honoring the courage of those living in one of the
flash points of the Cold War, he said, “All free men, wherever they may live, are
citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin ein
Berliner’ (I am a Berliner.)”

Ratification document for


the 1963 Limited Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty, one of
the first arms control
agreements between the
West and the Soviet bloc,
which ended atmospheric
nuclear testing.
242
Thurgood Marshall, one of the champions of equal rights for all Americans. As President Lyndon B. Johnson, born in Texas, was Senate majority leader in the
a counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Eisenhower years and vice president under John F. Kennedy before becoming
(NAACP), Marshall successfully argued the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of president. One of the most powerful political personalities to serve in Washington,
Education case before the Supreme Court, which outlawed segregation in public Johnson engineered the most ambitious domestic legislative agenda through
schools. He later served a distinguished career as a justice of the Supreme Court. Congress since Roosevelt’s New Deal. The Vietnam War ended his presidency,
however, since it divided the nation.

244 245
A U.S. Army unit searches for snipers while on
patrol in South Vietnam in 1965. From 60,000
troops in 1965, U.S. forces grew to more than
540,000 by 1969, in a conflict that divided
the nation more bitterly than any other in the
20th century. The last U.S. combat forces left
Vietnam in 1973.

247
Antiwar demonstrators and police clash during violent protests at the 1968
Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Antiwar candidates at
the convention lost the presidential nomination to Lyndon Johnson’s vice
president, Hubert Humphrey.

The crest of the counterculture wave in the United


States: the three-day 1969 outdoor rock concert
and gathering known as Woodstock.

Two of the leaders of the women’s movement in the 1960s: Kate Millett (left),
author of a controversial book of the time, Sexual Politics, and journalist and
activist Gloria Steinem.

248 249
Mexican-American labor activist César
Chávez (center) talking with grape
pickers in the field in 1968. Head of the
United Farm Workers Union in California,
Chávez was a leading voice for the
rights of migrant farm workers, focusing
national attention on their terrible
working conditions.

President Richard M. Nixon, with his wife Pat Nixon


and Secretary of State William Rogers (far right),
walks along a portion of the Great Wall of China.
Nixon’s 1972 opening to the People’s Republic of
China was a major diplomatic triumph at a time
when U.S. forces were slowly withdrawing from
South Vietnam.

250 251
Civil rights leader and political activist Jesse Jackson at a political
rally in 1984. For more than four decades, Jackson has remained
among the most prominent, politically active, and eloquent
representatives of what he has termed a “Rainbow Coalition”
of the poor, African Americans, and other minorities.

Participant in a demonstration by Native


Americans in Washington, D.C., in 1978.
They also have sought to assert their rights
and identity in recent decades.

Oil fires burn behind a destroyed Iraqi


tank at the conclusion of the Gulf
War in February 1991. The United
States led a coalition of more than 30
nations in an air and ground campaign
called Desert Storm that ended Iraq’s
occupation of Kuwait.

252 253
President George
H.W. Bush with
Poland’s Lech Walesa
(center) and First
Lady Barbara Bush
in Warsaw, July 1989.
That remarkable year
saw the end of the
Cold War, as well
as the end to the
40-year division of
Europe into hostile
East and West blocs.

President William (Bill)


J. Clinton, delivering
his inaugural address
to the nation, January
21, 1993. During his
administration, the
United States enjoyed
more peace and
economic well-being
than at any time in its
history. He was the
A launch of a space shuttle, the first reusable space vehicle. The versatile shuttle, second U.S. president
which has been used to place satellites in orbit and conduct wide-ranging experiments, to be impeached and
is indispensable in the assemblage (beginning June 1998) and running of the found not guilty.
International Space Station.
254 255
12
CHAPTER

POSTWAR
AMERICA

Moving day in a newly


opened suburban
community, 1953.

256
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“We must build a new world, COLD WAR AIMS (1929-40), America now advocated

T open trade for two reasons: to create

a far better world — he Cold War was the most im-


portant political and diplomatic
markets for American agricultural
and industrial products, and to en-

one in which the issue of the early postwar period. It


grew out of longstanding disagree-
sure the ability of Western Euro-
pean nations to export as a means

eternal dignity of man ments between the Soviet Union


and the United States that devel-
of rebuilding their economies.
Reduced trade barriers, American

is respected.”
oped after the Russian Revolution of policy makers believed, would pro-
1917. The Soviet Communist Party mote economic growth at home and
under V.I. Lenin considered itself abroad, bolstering U.S. friends and
the spearhead of an international allies in the process.
President Harry S Truman, 1945 movement that would replace the The Soviet Union had its own
existing political orders in the West, agenda. The Russian historical
and indeed throughout the world. In tradition of centralized, autocratic
1918 American troops participated government contrasted with the
in the Allied intervention in Russia American emphasis on democracy.
on behalf of anti-Bolshevik forces. Marxist-Leninist ideology had been
American diplomatic recognition of downplayed during the war but still
the Soviet Union did not come until guided Soviet policy. Devastated by
CONSENSUS AND CHANGE the growth of government author- 1933. Even then, suspicions persist- the struggle in which 20 million

T ity and accepted the outlines of the ed. During World War II, however, Soviet citizens had died, the Soviet
he United States dominated global rudimentary welfare state first for- the two countries found themselves Union was intent on rebuilding and
affairs in the years immediately af- mulated during the New Deal. They allied and downplayed their differ- on protecting itself from another
ter World War II. Victorious in that enjoyed a postwar prosperity that ences to counter the Nazi threat. such terrible conflict. The Soviets
great struggle, its homeland undam- created new levels of affluence. At the war’s end, antagonisms were particularly concerned about
aged from the ravages of war, the But gradually some began to surfaced again. The United States another invasion of their terri-
nation was confident of its mission question dominant assumptions. hoped to share with other countries tory from the west. Having repelled
at home and abroad. U.S. leaders Challenges on a variety of fronts its conception of liberty, equality, Hitler’s thrust, they were determined
wanted to maintain the democratic shattered the consensus. In the and democracy. It sought also to to preclude another such attack.
structure they had defended at 1950s, African Americans launched learn from the perceived mistakes of They demanded “defensible” bor-
tremendous cost and to share the a crusade, joined later by other mi- the post-WWI era, when American ders and “friendly” regimes in East-
benefits of prosperity as widely as nority groups and women, for a larg- political disengagement and eco- ern Europe and seemingly equated
possible. For them, as for publisher er share of the American dream. In nomic protectionism were thought both with the spread of Commu-
Henry Luce of Time magazine, this the 1960s, politically active students to have contributed to the rise of dic- nism, regardless of the wishes of
was the “American Century.” protested the nation’s role abroad, tatorships in Europe and elsewhere. native populations. However, the
For 20 years most Americans particularly in the corrosive war in Faced again with a postwar world United States had declared that one
remained sure of this confident Vietnam. A youth counterculture of civil wars and disintegrating of its war aims was the restoration
approach. They accepted the need emerged to challenge the status quo. empires, the nation hoped to pro- of independence and self-govern-
for a strong stance against the So- Americans from many walks of life vide the stability to make peaceful ment to Poland, Czechoslovakia,
viet Union in the Cold War that sought to establish a new social and reconstruction possible. Recalling and the other countries of Central
unfolded after 1945. They endorsed political equilibrium. the specter of the Great Depression and Eastern Europe.

258 259
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

HARRY TRUMAN’S ment following the Western model. descended across the Continent.” straits between the Black Sea and
LEADERSHIP The Yalta Conference of February Britain and the United States, he the Mediterranean. In early 1947,

T 1945 had produced an agreement on declared, had to work together to American policy crystallized when
he nation’s new chief executive, Eastern Europe open to different in- counter the Soviet threat. Britain told the United States that
Harry S Truman, succeeded Frank- terpretations. It included a promise it could no longer afford to support
lin D. Roosevelt as president before of “free and unfettered” elections. CONTAINMENT the government of Greece against a

C
the end of the war. An unpretentious Meeting with Soviet Minister of strong Communist insurgency.
man who had previously served as Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov ontainment of the Soviet Union In a strongly worded speech to
Democratic senator from Missouri, less than two weeks after becoming became American policy in the Congress, Truman declared, “I be-
then as vice president, Truman president, Truman stood firm on postwar years. George Kennan, a lieve that it must be the policy of the
initially felt ill-prepared to govern. Polish self-determination, lecturing top official at the U.S. embassy in United States to support free peoples
Roosevelt had not discussed com- the Soviet diplomat about the need Moscow, defined the new approach who are resisting attempted subjuga-
plex postwar issues with him, and he to implement the Yalta accords. in the Long Telegram he sent to tion by armed minorities or by out-
had little experience in international When Molotov protested, “I have the State Department in 1946. He side pressures.” Journalists quickly
affairs. “I’m not big enough for this never been talked to like that in my extended his analysis in an ar- dubbed this statement the “Truman
job,” he told a former colleague. life,” Truman retorted, “Carry out ticle under the signature “X” in the Doctrine.” The president asked
Still, Truman responded quickly your agreements and you won’t get prestigious journal Foreign Affairs. Congress to provide $400 million for
to new challenges. Sometimes im- talked to like that.” Relations dete- Pointing to Russia’s traditional sense economic and military aid, mostly
pulsive on small matters, he proved riorated from that point onward. of insecurity, Kennan argued that to Greece but also to Turkey. After
willing to make hard and carefully During the closing months of the Soviet Union would not soften an emotional debate that resembled
considered decisions on large ones. World War II, Soviet military forces its stance under any circumstances. the one between interventionists
A small sign on his White House occupied all of Central and Eastern Moscow, he wrote, was “committed and isolationists before World War
desk declared, “The Buck Stops Europe. Moscow used its military fanatically to the belief that with the II, the money was appropriated.
Here.” His judgments about how power to support the efforts of United States there can be no perma- Critics from the left later charged
to respond to the Soviet Union ulti- the Communist parties in Eastern nent modus vivendi, that it is desir- that to whip up American support
mately determined the shape of the Europe and crush the democratic able and necessary that the internal for the policy of containment, Tru-
early Cold War. parties. Communists took over one harmony of our society be disrupt- man overstated the Soviet threat to
nation after another. The process ed.” Moscow’s pressure to expand the United States. In turn, his state-
ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR concluded with a shocking coup its power had to be stopped through ments inspired a wave of hysterical

T d’etat in Czechoslovakia in 1948. “firm and vigilant containment of anti-Communism throughout the
he Cold War developed as differ- Public statements defined the Russian expansive tendencies. ...” country. Perhaps so. Others, how-
ences about the shape of the postwar beginning of the Cold War. In 1946 The first significant application ever, would counter that this argu-
world created suspicion and distrust Stalin declared that international of the containment doctrine came ment ignores the backlash that likely
between the United States and the peace was impossible “under the in the Middle East and eastern Med- would have occurred if Greece, Tur-
Soviet Union. The first — and present capitalist development of iterranean. In early 1946, the United key, and other countries had fallen
most difficult — test case was Po- the world economy.” Former British States demanded, and obtained, a within the Soviet orbit with no op-
land, the eastern half of which had Prime Minister Winston Churchill full Soviet withdrawal from Iran, position from the United States.
been invaded and occupied by the delivered a dramatic speech in Ful- the northern half of which it had Containment also called for ex-
USSR in 1939. Moscow demanded a ton, Missouri, with Truman sitting occupied during the war. That sum- tensive economic aid to assist the re-
government subject to Soviet influ- on the platform. “From Stettin in mer, the United States pointedly covery of war-torn Western Europe.
ence; Washington wanted a more the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,” supported Turkey against Soviet de- With many of the region’s nations
independent, representative govern- Churchill said, “an iron curtain has mands for control of the Turkish economically and politically un-

260 261
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

stable, the United States feared that American leaders feared that policy. Based on the assumption that of control, at least in Asia.
local Communist parties, directed losing Berlin would be a prelude to “the Soviet Union was engaged in a The Korean War brought armed
by Moscow, would capitalize on losing Germany and subsequently all fanatical effort to seize control of conflict between the United States
their wartime record of resistance to of Europe. Therefore, in a successful all governments wherever possible,” and China. The United States and
the Nazis and come to power. “The demonstration of Western resolve the document committed America the Soviet Union had divided Korea
patient is sinking while the doctors known as the Berlin Airlift, Allied air to assist allied nations anywhere in along the 38th parallel after liberat-
deliberate,” declared Secretary of forces took to the sky, flying supplies the world that seemed threatened by ing it from Japan at the end of World
State George C. Marshall. In mid- into Berlin. U.S., French, and British Soviet aggression. After the start of War II. Originally a matter of mili-
1947 Marshall asked troubled Euro- planes delivered nearly 2,250,000 the Korean War, a reluctant Truman tary convenience, the dividing line
pean nations to draw up a program tons of goods, including food and approved the document. The United became more rigid as both major
“directed not against any country or coal. Stalin lifted the blockade after States proceeded to increase defense powers set up governments in their
doctrine but against hunger, pov- 231 days and 277,264 flights. spending dramatically. respective occupation zones and
erty, desperation, and chaos.” By then, Soviet domination of continued to support them even af-
The Soviets participated in the Eastern Europe, and especially the THE COLD WAR IN ASIA AND ter departing.
first planning meeting, then de- Czech coup, had alarmed the West- THE MIDDLE EAST In June 1950, after consultations

W
parted rather than share economic ern Europeans. The result, initiated with and having obtained the assent
data and submit to Western controls by the Europeans, was a military hile seeking to prevent Commu- of the Soviet Union, North Korean
on the expenditure of the aid. The alliance to complement economic ef- nist ideology from gaining further leader Kim Il-sung dispatched his
remaining 16 nations hammered forts at containment. The Norwegian adherents in Europe, the United Soviet-supplied army across the
out a request that finally came to historian Geir Lundestad has called States also responded to challenges 38th parallel and attacked south-
$17,000 million for a four-year pe- it “empire by invitation.” In 1949 the elsewhere. In China, Americans ward, overrunning Seoul. Truman,
riod. In early 1948 Congress voted United States and 11 other countries worried about the advances of Mao perceiving the North Koreans as
to fund the “Marshall Plan,” which established the North Atlantic Treaty Zedong and his Communist Party. Soviet pawns in the global struggle,
helped underwrite the economic Organization (NATO). An attack During World War II, the Nation- readied American forces and ordered
resurgence of Western Europe. It against one was to be considered an alist government under Chiang World War II hero General Douglas
is generally regarded as one of the attack against all, to be met by ap- Kai-shek and the Communist forces MacArthur to Korea. Meanwhile,
most successful foreign policy ini- propriate force. NATO was the first waged a civil war even as they fought the United States was able to secure
tiatives in U.S. history. peacetime “entangling alliance” with the Japanese. Chiang had been a a U.N. resolution branding North
Postwar Germany was a special powers outside the Western hemi- war-time ally, but his government Korea as an aggressor. (The Soviet
problem. It had been divided into sphere in American history. was hopelessly inefficient and cor- Union, which could have vetoed any
U.S., Soviet, British, and French The next year, the United States rupt. American policy makers had action had it been occupying its seat
zones of occupation, with the for- defined its defense aims clearly. The little hope of saving his regime and on the Security Council, was boycot-
mer German capital of Berlin (itself National Security Council (NSC) considered Europe vastly more im- ting the United Nations to protest a
divided into four zones), near the — the forum where the President, portant. With most American aid decision not to admit Mao’s new
center of the Soviet zone. When Cabinet officers, and other execu- moving across the Atlantic, Mao’s Chinese regime.)
the Western powers announced tive branch members consider na- forces seized power in 1949. Chi- The war seesawed back and forth.
their intention to create a consoli- tional security and foreign affairs ang’s government fled to the island U.S. and Korean forces were initially
dated federal state from their zones, issues — undertook a full-fledged of Taiwan. When China’s new ruler pushed into an enclave far to the
Stalin responded. On June 24, 1948, review of American foreign and announced that he would support south around the city of Pusan. A
Soviet forces blockaded Berlin, cut- defense policy. The resulting docu- the Soviet Union against the “im- daring amphibious landing at In-
ting off all road and rail access from ment, known as NSC-68, signaled a perialist” United States, it appeared chon, the port for the city of Seoul,
the West. new direction in American security that Communism was spreading out drove the North Koreans back and

262 263
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

threatened to occupy the entire States officially recognized the new Freedom is pitted against slavery, tian Sinai. The president exerted
peninsula. In November, China state of Israel 15 minutes after it was lightness against dark.” heavy pressure on all three countries
entered the war, sending massive proclaimed — a decision Truman The new president and his secre- to withdraw. Still, the nuclear threat
forces across the Yalu River. U.N. made over strong resistance from tary of state, John Foster Dulles, had may have been taken seriously by
forces, largely American, retreated Marshall and the State Department. argued that containment did not go Communist China, which refrained
once again in bitter fighting. Com- The result was an enduring dilemma far enough to stop Soviet expansion. not only from attacking Taiwan, but
manded by General Matthew B. — how to maintain ties with Israel Rather, a more aggressive policy from occupying small islands held
Ridgway, they stopped the overex- while keeping good relations with of liberation was necessary, to free by Nationalist Chinese just off the
tended Chinese, and slowly fought bitterly anti-Israeli (and oil-rich) those subjugated by Communism. mainland. It may also have deterred
their way back to the 38th parallel. Arab states. But when a democratic rebellion Soviet occupation of Berlin, which
MacArthur meanwhile challenged broke out in Hungary in 1956, the reemerged as a festering problem
Truman’s authority by attempting EISENHOWER AND THE United States stood back as Soviet during Eisenhower’s last two years
to orchestrate public support for COLD WAR forces suppressed it. in office.

Icame
bombing China and assisting an Eisenhower’s basic commitment
invasion of the mainland by Chiang n 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower be- to contain Communism remained, THE COLD WAR AT HOME

N
Kai-shek’s forces. In April 1951, Tru- the first Republican president and to that end he increased Ameri-
man relieved him of his duties and in 20 years. A war hero rather than can reliance on a nuclear shield. The ot only did the Cold War shape
replaced him with Ridgway. a career politician, he had a natu- United States had created the first U.S. foreign policy, it also had a pro-
The Cold War stakes were high. ral, common touch that made him atomic bombs. In 1950 Truman had found effect on domestic affairs.
Mindful of the European priority, widely popular. “I like Ike” was the authorized the development of a new Americans had long feared radical
the U.S. government decided against campaign slogan of the time. After and more powerful hydrogen bomb. subversion. These fears could at
sending more troops to Korea and serving as Supreme Commander Eisenhower, fearful that defense times be overdrawn, and used to jus-
was ready to settle for the prewar of Allied Forces in Western Eu- spending was out of control, re- tify otherwise unacceptable political
status quo. The result was frustra- rope during World War II, Eisen- versed Truman’s NSC-68 policy of a restrictions, but it also was true that
tion among many Americans who hower had been army chief of staff, large conventional military buildup. individuals under Communist Party
could not understand the need president of Columbia University, Relying on what Dulles called “mas- discipline and many “fellow trav-
for restraint. Truman’s popularity and military head of NATO before sive retaliation,” the administration eler” hangers-on gave their political
plunged to a 24-percent approval seeking the Republican presidential signaled it would use nuclear weap- allegiance not to the United States,
rating, the lowest to that time of any nomination. Skillful at getting peo- ons if the nation or its vital interests but to the international Communist
president since pollsters had begun ple to work together, he functioned were attacked. movement, or, practically speaking,
to measure presidential popularity. as a strong public spokesman and In practice, however, the nuclear to Moscow. During the Red Scare
Truce talks began in July 1951. The an executive manager somewhat re- option could be used only against of 1919-1920, the government had
two sides finally reached an agree- moved from detailed policy making. extremely critical attacks. Real attempted to remove perceived
ment in July 1953, during the first Despite disagreements on detail, Communist threats were generally threats to American society. After
term of Truman’s successor, Dwight he shared Truman’s basic view of peripheral. Eisenhower rejected the World War II, it made strong efforts
Eisenhower. American foreign policy. He, too, use of nuclear weapons in Indo- against Communism within the
Cold War struggles also occurred perceived Communism as a mono- china, when the French were ousted United States. Foreign events, espio-
in the Middle East. The region’s stra- lithic force struggling for world su- by Vietnamese Communist forces nage scandals, and politics created
tegic importance as a supplier of oil premacy. In his first inaugural ad- in 1954. In 1956, British and French an anti-Communist hysteria.
had provided much of the impetus dress, he declared, “Forces of good forces attacked Egypt following When Republicans were victori-
for pushing the Soviets out of Iran in and evil are massed and armed and Egyptian nationalization of the Suez ous in the midterm congressional
1946. But two years later, the United opposed as rarely before in history. Canal and Israel invaded the Egyp- elections of 1946 and appeared

264 265
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ready to investigate subversive activ- The most vigorous anti-Commu- munist threat at home and abroad 1950s another wave occurred. Fran-
ity, President Truman established a nist warrior was Senator Joseph R. had been grossly overblown. As the chise operations like McDonald’s
Federal Employee Loyalty Program. McCarthy, a Republican from Wis- country moved into the 1960s, anti- fast-food restaurants allowed small
It had little impact on the lives of consin. He gained national attention Communism became increasingly entrepreneurs to make themselves
most civil servants, but a few hun- in 1950 by claiming that he had a list suspect, especially among intellectu- part of large, efficient enterprises.
dred were dismissed, some unfairly. of 205 known Communists in the als and opinion-shapers. Big American corporations also
In 1947 the House Committee State Department. Though McCar- developed holdings overseas, where
on Un-American Activities investi- thy subsequently changed this figure THE POSTWAR ECONOMY: labor costs were often lower.
gated the motion-picture industry several times and failed to substan- 1945-1960 Workers found their own lives

IWorld
to determine whether Communist tiate any of his charges, he struck a changing as industrial America
sentiments were being reflected in responsive public chord. n the decade and a half after changed. Fewer workers produced
popular films. When some writers McCarthy gained power when War II, the United States goods; more provided services. As
(who happened to be secret mem- the Republican Party won control experienced phenomenal economic early as 1956 a majority of employ-
bers of the Communist Party) re- of the Senate in 1952. As a commit- growth and consolidated its position ees held white-collar jobs, working
fused to testify, they were cited for tee chairman, he now had a forum as the world’s richest country. Gross as managers, teachers, salespersons,
contempt and sent to prison. After for his crusade. Relying on extensive national product (GNP), a measure and office operatives. Some firms
that, the film companies refused to press and television coverage, he of all goods and services produced granted a guaranteed annual wage,
hire anyone with a marginally ques- continued to search for treachery in the United States, jumped from long-term employment contracts,
tionable past. among second-level officials in the about $200,000-million in 1940 to and other benefits. With such
In 1948, Alger Hiss, who had Eisenhower administration. Enjoy- $300,000-million in 1950 to more changes, labor militancy was under-
been an assistant secretary of state ing the role of a tough guy doing than $500,000-million in 1960. mined and some class distinctions
and an adviser to Roosevelt at dirty but necessary work, he pursued More and more Americans now began to fade.
Yalta, was publicly accused of be- presumed Communists with vigor. considered themselves part of the Farmers — at least those with
ing a Communist spy by Whittaker McCarthy overstepped himself middle class. small operations — faced tough
Chambers, a former Soviet agent. by challenging the U.S. Army when The growth had different sourc- times. Gains in productivity led
Hiss denied the accusation, but in one of his assistants was drafted. es. The economic stimulus provided to agricultural consolidation, and
1950 he was convicted of perjury. Television brought the hearings into by large-scale public spending for farming became a big business.
Subsequent evidence indicates that millions of homes. Many Americans World War II helped get it started. More and more family farmers left
he was indeed guilty. saw McCarthy’s savage tactics for Two basic middle-class needs did the land.
In 1949 the Soviet Union shocked the first time, and public support much to keep it going. The number Other Americans moved too.
Americans by testing its own atomic began to wane. The Republican of automobiles produced annually The West and the Southwest grew
bomb. In 1950, the government un- Party, which had found McCarthy quadrupled between 1946 and 1955. with increasing rapidity, a trend that
covered a British-American spy net- useful in challenging a Democratic A housing boom, stimulated in part would continue through the end
work that transferred to the Soviet administration when Truman was by easily affordable mortgages for of the century. Sun Belt cities like
Union materials about the develop- president, began to see him as an returning servicemen, fueled the ex- Houston, Texas; Miami, Florida; Al-
ment of the atomic bomb. Two of embarrassment. The Senate finally pansion. The rise in defense spend- buquerque, New Mexico; and Phoe-
its operatives, Julius Rosenberg and condemned him for his conduct. ing as the Cold War escalated also nix, Arizona, expanded rapidly. Los
his wife Ethel, were sentenced to McCarthy in many ways repre- played a part. Angeles, California, moved ahead of
death. Attorney General J. Howard sented the worst domestic excesses After 1945 the major corporations Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the
McGrath declared there were many of the Cold War. As Americans in America grew even larger. There third largest U.S. city and then sur-
American Communists, each bear- repudiated him, it became natural had been earlier waves of mergers passed Chicago, metropolis of the
ing “the germ of death for society.” for many to assume that the Com- in the 1890s and in the 1920s; in the Midwest. The 1970 census showed

266 267
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

that California had displaced New terns. Developed in the 1930s, it was as guaranteed loans for home-buy- In 1948 he sought reelection, despite
York as the nation’s largest state. not widely marketed until after the ing and financial aid for industrial polls indicating that he had little
By 2000, Texas had moved ahead of war. In 1946 the country had fewer training and university education. chance. After a vigorous campaign,
New York into second place. than 17,000 television sets. Three More troubling was labor unrest. Truman scored one of the great up-
An even more important form years later consumers were buying As war production ceased, many sets in American politics, defeating
of movement led Americans out of 250,000 sets a month, and by 1960 workers found themselves without the Republican nominee, Thomas
inner cities into new suburbs, where three-quarters of all families owned jobs. Others wanted pay increases Dewey, governor of New York. Re-
they hoped to find affordable hous- at least one set. In the middle of the they felt were long overdue. In 1946, viving the old New Deal coalition,
ing for the larger families spawned decade, the average family watched 4.6 million workers went on strike, Truman held on to labor, farmers,
by the postwar baby boom. Develop- television four to five hours a day. more than ever before in American and African-American voters.
ers like William J. Levitt built new Popular shows for children included history. They challenged the automo- When Truman finally left of-
communities — with homes that Howdy Doody Time and The Mickey bile, steel, and electrical industries. fice in 1953, his Fair Deal was but
all looked alike — using the tech- Mouse Club ; older viewers preferred When they took on the railroads and a mixed success. In July 1948 he
niques of mass production. Levitt’s situation comedies like I Love Lucy soft-coal mines, Truman intervened banned racial discrimination in fed-
houses were prefabricated — partly and Father Knows Best. Americans of to stop union excesses, but in so do- eral government hiring practices and
assembled in a factory rather than all ages became exposed to increas- ing he alienated many workers. ordered an end to segregation in the
on the final location — and mod- ingly sophisticated advertisements While dealing with immediately military. The minimum wage had
est, but Levitt’s methods cut costs for products said to be necessary for pressing issues, Truman also provid- risen, and social security programs
and allowed new owners to possess a the good life. ed a broader agenda for action. Less had expanded. A housing program
part of the American dream. than a week after the war ended, he brought some gains but left many
As suburbs grew, businesses THE FAIR DEAL presented Congress with a 21-point needs unmet. National health insur-

T
moved into the new areas. Large program, which provided for pro- ance, aid-to-education measures,
shopping centers containing a great he Fair Deal was the name given tection against unfair employment reformed agricultural subsidies,
variety of stores changed consumer to President Harry Truman’s domes- practices, a higher minimum wage, and his legislative civil rights agenda
patterns. The number of these cen- tic program. Building on Roosevelt’s greater unemployment compensa- never made it through Congress.
ters rose from eight at the end of New Deal, Truman believed that the tion, and housing assistance. In The president’s pursuit of the Cold
World War II to 3,840 in 1960. With federal government should guaran- the next several months, he added War, ultimately his most important
easy parking and convenient evening tee economic opportunity and social proposals for health insurance and objective, made it especially difficult
hours, customers could avoid city stability. He struggled to achieve those atomic energy legislation. But this to develop support for social reform
shopping entirely. An unfortunate ends in the face of fierce political op- scattershot approach often left Tru- in the face of intense opposition.
by-product was the “hollowing-out” position from legislators determined man’s priorities unclear.
of formerly busy urban cores. to reduce the role of government. Republicans were quick to attack. EISENHOWER’S APPROACH

W
New highways created better ac- Truman’s first priority in the In the 1946 congressional elections
cess to the suburbs and its shops. immediate postwar period was to they asked, “Had enough?” and hen Dwight Eisenhower suc-
The Highway Act of 1956 provided make the transition to a peacetime voters responded that they had. Re- ceeded Truman as president, he ac-
$26,000-million, the largest public economy. Servicemen wanted to publicans, with majorities in both cepted the basic framework of gov-
works expenditure in U.S. history, to come home quickly, but once they houses of Congress for the first ernment responsibility established
build more than 64,000 kilometers arrived they faced competition for time since 1928, were determined by the New Deal, but sought to hold
of limited access interstate highways housing and employment. The G.I. to reverse the liberal direction of the the line on programs and expendi-
to link the country together. Bill, passed before the end of the war, Roosevelt years. tures. He termed his approach “dy-
Television, too, had a powerful helped ease servicemen back into ci- Truman fought with the Congress namic conservatism” or “modern
impact on social and economic pat- vilian life by providing benefits such as it cut spending and reduced taxes. Republicanism,” which meant, he ex-

268 269
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

plained, “conservative when it comes THE CULTURE OF THE 1950S paper. Lacking traditional punctua- tary services and in the work force,

D
to money, liberal when it comes to tion and paragraph structure, the and they had made limited gains.
human beings.” A critic countered uring the 1950s, many cul- book glorified the possibilities of the
Millions of African Americans had
that Eisenhower appeared to argue tural commentators pointed out free life. Poet Allen Ginsberg gainedleft Southern farms for Northern
that he would “strongly recommend that a sense of uniformity pervaded similar notoriety for his poem cities, where they hoped to find
the building of a great many schools American society. Conformity, they “Howl,” a scathing critique of mod- better jobs. They found instead
... but not provide the money.” asserted, was numbingly common. ern, mechanized civilization. When crowded conditions in urban slums.
Eisenhower’s first priority was Though men and women had been police charged that it was obscene Now, African-American servicemen
to balance the budget after years of forced into new employment pat- and seized the published version, returned home, many intent on re-
deficits. He wanted to cut spending terns during World War II, once the Ginsberg successfully challenged the jecting second-class citizenship.
and taxes and maintain the value of war was over, traditional roles were ruling in court. Jackie Robinson dramatized the
the dollar. Republicans were will- reaffirmed. Men expected to be the Musicians and artists rebelled asracial question in 1947 when he
ing to risk unemployment to keep breadwinners in each family; wom- well. Tennessee singer Elvis Presley broke baseball’s color line and be-
inflation in check. Reluctant to en, even when they worked, assumed was the most successful of several gan playing in the major leagues. A
stimulate the economy too much, their proper place was at home. In his white performers who popularized member of the Brooklyn Dodgers,
they saw the country suffer three influential book, The Lonely Crowd, a sensual and pulsating style of Af- he often faced trouble with oppo-
economic recessions in the eight sociologist David Riesman called rican-American music, which began nents and teammates as well. But
years of the Eisenhower presidency, this new society “other-directed,” to be called “rock and roll.” At first,
an outstanding first season led to
but none was very severe. characterized by conformity, but he outraged middle-class Americans his acceptance and eased the way
In other areas, the administra- also by stability. Television, still very with his ducktail haircut and undu- for other African-American players,
tion transferred control of offshore limited in the choices it gave its view- lating hips. But in a few years his who now left the Negro leagues to
oil lands from the federal govern- ers, contributed to the homogenizing performances would seem relatively which they had been confined.
ment to the states. It also favored cultural trend by providing young tame alongside the antics of later Government officials, and many
private development of electrical and old with a shared experience re- performances such as the British other Americans, discovered the
power rather than the public ap- flecting accepted social patterns. Rolling Stones. Similarly, it was in connection between racial problems
proach the Democrats had initiated. Yet beneath this seemingly the 1950s that painters like Jackson and Cold War politics. As the leader
In general, its orientation was sym- bland surface, important segments Pollock discarded easels and laid outof the free world, the United States
pathetic to business. of American society seethed with gigantic canvases on the floor, then sought support in Africa and Asia.
Compared to Truman, Eisen- rebellion. A number of writers, applied paint, sand, and other mate- Discrimination at home impeded
hower had only a modest domestic collectively known as the “Beat rials in wild splashes of color. All of
the effort to win friends in other
program. When he was active in Generation,” went out of their way these artists and authors, whatever parts of the world.
promoting a bill, it likely was to trim to challenge the patterns of respect- the medium, provided models for Harry Truman supported the
the New Deal legacy a bit — as in ability and shock the rest of the the wider and more deeply felt socialearly civil rights movement. He per-
reducing agricultural subsidies or culture. Stressing spontaneity and revolution of the 1960s. sonally believed in political equality,
placing mild restrictions on labor spirituality, they preferred intuition though not in social equality, and
unions. His disinclination to push over reason, Eastern mysticism over ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL recognized the growing importance
fundamental change in either direc- Western institutionalized religion. RIGHTS MOVEMENT of the African-American urban vote.

A
tion was in keeping with the spirit of The literary work of the beats When apprised in 1946 of a spate of
the generally prosperous Fifties. He displayed their sense of alienation frican Americans became in- lynchings and anti-black violence
was one of the few presidents who and quest for self-realization. Jack creasingly restive in the postwar in the South, he appointed a com-
left office as popular as when he Kerouac typed his best-selling novel years. During the war they had chal- mittee on civil rights to investigate
entered it. On the Road on a 75-meter roll of lenged discrimination in the mili- discrimination. Its report, To Secure

270 271
CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICA OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

These Rights, issued the next year, Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, that seg- year. However, a federal court or- powerful, thoughtful, and eloquent
documented African Americans’ regation of African-American and dered them reopened the follow- leader in Martin Luther King Jr.
second-class status in American white students was constitutional if ing year. They did so in a tense African Americans also sought to
life and recommended numerous facilities were “separate but equal.” atmosphere with a tiny number of secure their voting rights. Although
federal measures to secure the rights
That decree had been used for de- African-American students. Thus, the 15th Amendment to the U.S.
guaranteed to all citizens. cades to sanction rigid segregation school desegregation proceeded at a Constitution guaranteed the right
Truman responded by sending in all aspects of Southern life, where slow and uncertain pace throughout to vote, many states had found ways
a 10-point civil rights program to facilities were seldom, if ever, equal. much of the South. to circumvent the law. The states
Congress. Southern Democrats in African Americans achieved their Another milestone in the civil would impose a poll (“head”) tax
Congress were able to block its en- goal of overturning Plessy in 1954 rights movement occurred in 1955 in or a literacy test — typically much
actment. A number of the angriest, when the Supreme Court — pre- Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks, more stringently interpreted for
led by Governor Strom Thurmond sided over by an Eisenhower ap- a 42-year-old African-American African Americans — to prevent
of South Carolina, formed a States pointee, Chief Justice Earl Warren seamstress who was also secretary poor African Americans with little
Rights Party to oppose the president— handed down its Brown v. Board of the state chapter of the NAACP, education from voting. Eisenhower,
in 1948. Truman thereupon issued of Education ruling. The Court de- sat down in the front of a bus in a working with Senate majority leader
an executive order barring discrimi-clared unanimously that “separate section reserved by law and custom Lyndon B. Johnson, lent his support
nation in federal employment, or- facilities are inherently unequal,” for whites. Ordered to move to the to a congressional effort to guaran-
dered equal treatment in the armed and decreed that the “separate but back, she refused. Police came and tee the vote. The Civil Rights Act
forces, and appointed a committee equal” doctrine could no longer be arrested her for violating the segre- of 1957, the first such measure in
to work toward an end to military used in public schools. A year later, gation statutes. African-American 82 years, marked a step forward, as
segregation, which was largely endedthe Supreme Court demanded that leaders, who had been waiting for it authorized federal intervention
during the Korean War. local school boards move “with all just such a case, organized a boycott in cases where African Americans
African Americans in the South deliberate speed” to implement the of the bus system. were denied the chance to vote. Yet
in the 1950s still enjoyed few, if any,
decision. Martin Luther King Jr., a young loopholes remained, and so activ-
civil and political rights. In general, Eisenhower, although sympa- minister of the Baptist church where ists pushed successfully for the Civil
they could not vote. Those who triedthetic to the needs of the South as it the African Americans met, became Rights Act of 1960, which provided
to register faced the likelihood of faced a major transition, nonetheless a spokesman for the protest. “There stiffer penalties for interfering with
beatings, loss of job, loss of credit,
acted to see that the law was upheld comes a time,” he said, “when peo- voting, but still stopped short of au-
or eviction from their land. Occa- in the face of massive resistance from ple get tired ... of being kicked about thorizing federal officials to register
sional lynchings still occurred. Jimmuch of the South. He faced a major by the brutal feet of oppression.” African Americans.
Crow laws enforced segregation of crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, in King was arrested, as he would be Relying on the efforts of African
the races in streetcars, trains, hotels,
1957, when Governor Orval Faubus again and again; a bomb damaged Americans themselves, the civil
restaurants, hospitals, recreationalattempted to block a desegregation the front of his house. But African rights movement gained momen-
facilities, and employment. plan calling for the admission of nine Americans in Montgomery sus- tum in the postwar years. Working
black students to the city’s previous- tained the boycott. About a year through the Supreme Court and
DESEGREGATION ly all-white Central High School. later, the Supreme Court affirmed through Congress, civil rights sup-

T After futile efforts at negotiation, that bus segregation, like school porters had created the groundwork
he National Association for the the president sent federal troops to segregation, was unconstitutional. for a dramatic yet peaceful “revolu-
Advancement of Colored People Little Rock to enforce the plan. The boycott ended. The civil rights tion” in American race relations in
(NAACP) took the lead in efforts to Governor Faubus responded by movement had won an important the 1960s. 9
overturn the judicial doctrine, es- ordering the Little Rock high schools victory — and discovered its most
tablished in the Supreme Court case closed down for the 1958-59 school

272 273
13
CHAPTER

DECADES
OF
CHANGE:
1960-1980

Astronaut on the moon,


July 20, 1969.

274
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“I have a dream that one day of younger activists, sought reform


through peaceful confrontation.
themselves, forced his hand. When
James Meredith was denied admis-

on the red hills of Georgia, In 1960 African-American col-


lege students sat down at a segre-
sion to the University of Mississippi
in 1962 because of his race, Kennedy

sons of former slaves and gated Woolworth’s lunch counter


in North Carolina and refused to
sent federal troops to uphold the law.
After protests aimed at the desegre-

the sons of former slave leave. Their sit-in captured media


attention and led to similar demon-
gation of Birmingham, Alabama,
prompted a violent response by the

owners will be able to sit


strations throughout the South. The police, he sent Congress a new civil
next year, civil rights workers orga- rights bill mandating the integration
nized “freedom rides,” in which Af- of public places. Not even the March
down together at the table rican Americans and whites boarded on Washington, however, could ex-
buses heading south toward segre- tricate the measure from a congres-
of brotherhood.” gated terminals, where confronta-
tions might capture media attention
sional committee, where it was still
bottled up when Kennedy was assas-
and lead to change. sinated in 1963.
Martin Luther King Jr., 1963 They also organized rallies, the President Lyndon B. Johnson
largest of which was the “March was more successful. Displaying
on Washington” in 1963. More negotiating skills he had so fre-
than 200,000 people gathered in quently employed during his years
the nation’s capital to demonstrate as Senate majority leader, Johnson
By 1960, the United States was on politics, many of the offspring of the their commitment to equality for persuaded the Senate to limit delay-
the verge of a major social change. World War II generation emerged as all. The high point of a day of songs ing tactics preventing a final vote
American society had always been advocates of a new America char- and speeches came with the address on the sweeping Civil Rights Act of
more open and fluid than that of acterized by a cultural and ethnic of Martin Luther King Jr., who had 1964, which outlawed discrimina-
the nations in most of the rest of the pluralism that their parents often emerged as the preeminent spokes- tion in all public accommodations.
world. Still, it had been dominated viewed with unease. man for civil rights. “I have a dream The next year’s Voting Rights Act
primarily by old-stock, white males. that one day on the red hills of Geor- of 1965 authorized the federal gov-
During the 1960s, groups that previ- THE CIVIL RIGHTS gia the sons of former slaves and the ernment to register voters where lo-
ously had been submerged or sub- MOVEMENT 1960-1980 sons of former slave owners will be cal officials had prevented African

T
ordinate began more forcefully and able to sit down together at the table Americans from doing so. By 1968
successfully to assert themselves: Af- he struggle of African Americans of brotherhood,” King proclaimed. a million African Americans were
rican Americans, Native Americans, for equality reached its peak in the Each time he used the refrain “I have registered in the deep South. Na-
women, the white ethnic offspring of mid-1960s. After progressive vic- a dream,” the crowd roared. tionwide, the number of African-
the “new immigration,” and Latinos. tories in the 1950s, African Ameri- The level of progress initially American elected officials increased
Much of the support they received cans became even more committed achieved did not match the rhetoric substantially. In 1968, the Congress
came from a young population larg- to nonviolent direct action. Groups of the civil rights movement. Presi- passed legislation banning discrimi-
er than ever, making its way through like the Southern Christian Leader- dent Kennedy was initially reluc- nation in housing.
a college and university system that ship Conference (SCLC), made up tant to press white Southerners for Once unleashed, however, the
was expanding at an unprecedented of African-American clergy, and support on civil rights because he civil rights revolution produced
pace. Frequently embracing “coun- the Student Nonviolent Coordinat- needed their votes on other issues. leaders impatient with both the pace
tercultural” life styles and radical ing Committee (SNCC), composed Events, driven by African Americans of change and the goal of channel-

276 277
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ing African Americans into main- their neighborhoods to achieve ra- was made up mainly of members of al years, 35 of the necessary 38 states
stream white society. Malcolm X, cial balance in metropolitan schools the middle class, and thus partook ratified it. The courts also moved
an eloquent activist, was the most or about the use of “affirmative ac- of the spirit of rebellion that affect- to expand women’s rights. In 1973
prominent figure arguing for Af- tion.” These policies and programs ed large segments of middle-class the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade
rican-American separation from were viewed by some as active mea- youth in the 1960s. sanctioned women’s right to obtain
the white race. Stokely Carmichael, sures to ensure equal opportunity, as Reform legislation also prompted an abortion during the early months
a student leader, became similarly in education and employment, and change. During debate on the 1964 of pregnancy — seen as a significant
disillusioned by the notions of non- by others as reverse discrimination. Civil Rights bill, opponents hoped victory for the women’s movement
violence and interracial cooperation. The courts worked their way to defeat the entire measure by pro- — but Roe also spurred the growth
He popularized the slogan “black through these problems with deci- posing an amendment to outlaw dis- of an anti-abortion movement.
power,” to be achieved by “whatever sions that were often inconsistent. crimination on the basis of gender as In the mid- to late-1970s, howev-
means necessary,” in the words of In the meantime, the steady march well as race. First the amendment, er, the women’s movement seemed
Malcolm X. of African Americans into the ranks then the bill itself, passed, giving to stagnate. It failed to broaden its
Violence accompanied militant of the middle class and once largely women a valuable legal tool. appeal beyond the middle class.
calls for reform. Riots broke out in white suburbs quietly reflected a In 1966, 28 professional women, Divisions arose between moderate
several big cities in 1966 and 1967. profound demographic change. including Friedan, established the and radical feminists. Conservative
In the spring of 1968, Martin Lu- National Organization for Women opponents mounted a campaign
ther King Jr. fell before an assassin’s THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT (NOW) “to take action to bring against the Equal Rights Amend-

D
bullet. Several months later, Senator American women into full partici- ment, and it died in 1982 without
Robert Kennedy, a spokesman for uring the 1950s and 1960s, pation in the mainstream of Ameri- gaining the approval of the 38 states
the disadvantaged, an opponent of increasing numbers of married can society now.” While NOW and needed for ratification.
the Vietnam War, and the brother women entered the labor force, but similar feminist organizations boast
of the slain president, met the same in 1963 the average working woman of substantial memberships today, THE LATINO MOVEMENT

IAmericans
fate. To many these two assassina- earned only 63 percent of what a arguably they attained their greatest
tions marked the end of an era of in- man made. That year Betty Friedan influence in the early 1970s, a time n post-World War II America,
nocence and idealism. The growing published The Feminine Mystique, that also saw the journalist Gloria of Mexican and Puerto
militancy on the left, coupled with an explosive critique of middle- Steinem and several other women Rican descent had faced discrimina-
an inevitable conservative backlash, class living patterns that articulated found Ms. magazine. They also tion. New immigrants, coming from
opened a rift in the nation’s psyche a pervasive sense of discontent that spurred the formation of counter- Cuba, Mexico, and Central America
that took years to heal. Friedan contended was felt by many feminist groups, often led by women, — often unskilled and unable to
By then, however, a civil rights women. Arguing that women often including most prominently the po- speak English — suffered from dis-
movement supported by court de- had no outlets for expression other litical activist Phyllis Schlafly. These crimination as well. Some Hispanics
cisions, congressional enactments, than “finding a husband and bear- groups typically argued for more worked as farm laborers and at times
and federal administrative regula- ing children,” Friedan encouraged “traditional” gender roles and op- were cruelly exploited while harvest-
tions was irreversibly woven into the her readers to seek new roles and re- posed the proposed “Equal Rights” ing crops; others gravitated to the
fabric of American life. The major sponsibilities and to find their own constitutional amendment. cities, where, like earlier immigrant
issues were about implementation personal and professional identities, Passed by Congress in 1972, groups, they encountered difficul-
of equality and access, not about the rather than have them defined by a that amendment declared in part, ties in their quest for a better life.
legality of segregation or disenfran- male-dominated society. “Equality of rights under the law Chicanos, or Mexican-Ameri-
chisement. The arguments of the The women’s movement of the shall not be denied or abridged by cans, mobilized in organizations
1970s and thereafter were over mat- 1960s and 1970s drew inspiration the United States or by any State on like the radical Asociación Nacio-
ters such as busing children out of from the civil rights movement. It account of sex.” Over the next sever- nal Mexico-Americana, yet did

278 279
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

not become confrontational until creased. Several prominent Hispan- traz Island in San Francisco Bay and and beards became common. Blue
the 1960s. Hoping that Lyndon ics have served in the Bill Clinton held it until federal officials removed jeans and tee shirts took the place
Johnson’s poverty program would and George W. Bush cabinets. them in 1971. In 1973 AIM took over of slacks, jackets, and ties. The use
expand opportunities for them, the South Dakota village of Wound- of illegal drugs increased. Rock
they found that bureaucrats failed THE NATIVE-AMERICAN ed Knee, where soldiers in the late and roll grew, proliferated, and
to respond to less vocal groups. MOVEMENT 19th century had massacred a Sioux transformed into many musical

Istruggled
The example of black activism in encampment. Militants hoped to variations. The Beatles, the Rolling
particular taught Hispanics the n the 1950s, Native Americans dramatize the poverty and alcohol- Stones, and other British groups
importance of pressure politics in with the government’s ism in the reservation surrounding took the country by storm. “Hard
a pluralistic society. policy of moving them off reser- the town. The episode ended after rock” grew popular, and songs with
The National Labor Relations Act vations and into cities where they one Native American was killed a political or social commentary,
of 1935 had excluded agricultural might assimilate into mainstream and another wounded, with a gov- such as those by singer-songwriter
workers from its guarantee of the America. Many of the uprooted ernment agreement to re-examine Bob Dylan, became common. The
right to organize and bargain col- often had difficulties adjusting to treaty rights. youth counterculture reached its
lectively. But César Chávez, founder urban life. In 1961, when the policy Still, Native-American activism apogee in August 1969 at Wood-
of the overwhelmingly Hispanic was discontinued, the U.S. Com- brought results. Other Americans stock, a three-day music festival in
United Farm Workers, demonstrat- mission on Civil Rights noted that, became more aware of Native- rural New York State attended by
ed that direct action could achieve for Native Americans, “poverty and American needs. Government of- almost half-a-million persons. The
employer recognition for his union. deprivation are common.” ficials responded with measures festival, mythologized in films and
California grape growers agreed to In the 1960s and 1970s, watch- including the Education Assistance record albums, gave its name to the
bargain with the union after Chávez ing both the development of Third Act of 1975 and the 1996 Native- era, the Woodstock Generation.
led a nationwide consumer boy- World nationalism and the progress American Housing and Self-De- A parallel manifestation of the
cott. Similar boycotts of lettuce and of the civil rights movement, Native termination Act. The Senate’s first new sensibility of the young was
other products were also successful. Americans became more aggressive Native-American member, Ben the rise of the New Left, a group of
Though farm interests continued to in pressing for their own rights. A Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, young, college-age radicals. The New
try to obstruct Chávez’s organiza- new generation of leaders went to was elected in 1992. Leftists, who had close counterparts
tion, the legal foundation had been court to protect what was left of tribal in Western Europe, were in many in-
laid for representation to secure lands or to recover those which had THE COUNTERCULTURE stances the children of the older gen-

T
higher wages and improved working been taken, often illegally, in previ- eration of radicals. Nonetheless, they
conditions. ous times. In state after state, they he agitation for equal opportuni- rejected old-style Marxist rhetoric.
Hispanics became politically challenged treaty violations, and in ty sparked other forms of upheaval. Instead, they depicted university
active as well. In 1961 Henry B. 1967 won the first of many victories Young people in particular rejected students as themselves an oppressed
González won election to Congress guaranteeing long-abused land and the stable patterns of middle-class class that possessed special insights
from Texas. Three years later Eligio water rights. The American Indian life their parents had created in the into the struggle of other oppressed
(“Kika”) de la Garza, another Texan, Movement (AIM), founded in 1968, decades after World War II. Some groups in American society.
followed him, and Joseph Montoya helped channel government funds plunged into radical political activ- New Leftists participated in the
of New Mexico went to the Sen- to Native-American-controlled or- ity; many more embraced new stan- civil rights movement and the strug-
ate. Both González and de la Garza ganizations and assisted neglected dards of dress and sexual behavior. gle against poverty. Their greatest
later rose to positions of power as Native Americans in the cities. The visible signs of the coun- success — and the one instance in
committee chairmen in the House. Confrontations became more terculture spread through parts of which they developed a mass follow-
In the 1970s and 1980s, the pace of common. In 1969 a landing party American society in the late 1960s ing — was in opposing the Vietnam
Hispanic political involvement in- of 78 Native Americans seized Alca- and early 1970s. Hair grew longer War, an issue of emotional interest

280 281
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

to their draft-age contemporaries. provement Act, which assigned to welfare. Many Republicans accept- derly, and create a new Department
By the late 1970s, the student New the polluter the responsibility of ed a level of government responsi- of Urban Affairs. And so, despite his
Left had disappeared, but many cleaning up off-shore oil spills. Also, bility, but hoped to cap spending lofty rhetoric, Kennedy’s policies
of its activists made their way into in 1970, the Environmental Protec- and restore a larger measure of were often limited and restrained.
mainstream politics. tion Agency (EPA) was created as individual initiative. The presiden- One priority was to end the reces-
an independent federal agency to tial election of 1960 revealed a na- sion, in progress when Kennedy took
ENVIRONMENTALISM spearhead the effort to bring abus- tion almost evenly divided between office, and restore economic growth.

T es under control. During the next these visions. But Kennedy lost the confidence of
he energy and sensibility that fu- three decades, the EPA, bolstered by John F. Kennedy, the Democratic business leaders in 1962, when he
eled the civil rights movement, the legislation that increased its author- victor by a narrow margin, was at 43 succeeded in rolling back what the
counterculture, and the New Left ity, became one of the most active the youngest man ever to win the administration regarded as an exces-
also stimulated an environmental agencies in the government, issuing presidency. On television, in a series sive price increase in the steel indus-
movement in the mid-1960s. Many strong regulations covering air and of debates with opponent Richard try. Though the president achieved
were aroused by the publication in water quality. Nixon, he appeared able, articulate, his immediate goal, he alienated an
1962 of Rachel Carson’s book Silent and energetic. In the campaign, he important source of support. Per-
Spring, which alleged that chemical KENNEDY AND THE spoke of moving aggressively into suaded by his economic advisers that
pesticides, particularly DDT, caused RESURGENCE OF BIG the new decade, for “the New Fron- a large tax cut would stimulate the
cancer, among other ills. Public GOVERNMENT LIBERALISM tier is here whether we seek it or economy, Kennedy backed a bill pro-

B
concern about the environment not.” In his first inaugural address, viding for one. Conservative opposi-
continued to increase throughout y 1960 government had become he concluded with an eloquent plea: tion in Congress, however, appeared
the 1960s as many became aware of an increasingly powerful force in “Ask not what your country can do to destroy any hopes of passing a bill
other pollutants surrounding them people’s lives. During the Great for you — ask what you can do for most congressmen thought would
— automobile emissions, industrial Depression of the 1930s, new ex- your country.” Throughout his brief widen the budget deficit.
wastes, oil spills — that threatened ecutive agencies were created to deal presidency, Kennedy’s special com- The overall legislative record of
their health and the beauty of their with many aspects of American life. bination of grace, wit, and style — the Kennedy administration was
surroundings. On April 22, 1970, During World War II, the number far more than his specific legislative meager. The president made some
schools and communities across the of civilians employed by the federal agenda — sustained his popularity gestures toward civil rights leaders
United States celebrated Earth Day government rose from one million and influenced generations of politi- but did not embrace the goals of the
for the first time. “Teach-ins” edu- to 3.8 million, then stabilized at cians to come. civil rights movement until demon-
cated Americans about the dangers 2.5 million in the 1950s. Federal Kennedy wanted to exert strong strations led by Martin Luther King
of environmental pollution. expenditures, which had stood at leadership to extend economic Jr. forced his hand in 1963. Like Tru-
Few denied that pollution was $3,100-million in 1929, increased to benefits to all citizens, but a razor- man before him, he could not secure
a problem, but the proposed solu- $75,000-million in 1953 and passed thin margin of victory limited his congressional passage of federal aid
tions involved expense and inconve- $150,000-million in the 1960s. mandate. Even though the Demo- to public education or for a medical
nience. Many believed these would Most Americans accepted gov- cratic Party controlled both houses care program limited to the elderly.
reduce the economic growth upon ernment’s expanded role, even as of Congress, conservative Southern He gained only a modest increase
which many Americans’ standard they disagreed about how far that Democrats often sided with the in the minimum wage. Still, he did
of living depended. Nevertheless, in expansion should continue. Demo- Republicans on issues involving the secure funding for a space program,
1970, Congress amended the Clean crats generally wanted the govern- scope of governmental intervention and established the Peace Corps to
Air Act of 1967 to develop uniform ment to ensure growth and stabil- in the economy. They resisted plans send men and women overseas to
national air-quality standards. It ity. They wanted to extend federal to increase federal aid to education, assist developing countries in meet-
also passed the Water Quality Im- benefits for education, health, and provide health insurance for the el- ing their own needs.

282 283
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

KENNEDY AND THE that Kennedy had risked nuclear di- Elections were to be held two years After Kennedy’s death, President
COLD WAR saster when quiet diplomacy might later to unify the country. Persuaded Lyndon Johnson enthusiastically

P have been effective. But most Ameri- that the fall of Vietnam could lead to supported the space program. In
resident Kennedy came into of- cans and much of the non-Commu- the fall of Burma, Thailand, and In- the mid-1960s, U.S. scientists de-
fice pledged to carry on the Cold nist world applauded his decisive- donesia, Eisenhower backed Diem’s veloped the two-person Gemini
War vigorously, but he also hoped ness. The missile crisis made him refusal to hold elections in 1956 and spacecraft. Gemini achieved several
for accommodation and was reluc- for the first time the acknowledged effectively established South Viet- firsts, including an eight-day mis-
tant to commit American power. leader of the democratic West. nam as an American client state. sion in August 1965 — the longest
During his first year-and-a-half In retrospect, the Cuban mis- Kennedy increased assistance, space flight at that time — and in
in office, he rejected American in- sile crisis marked a turning point and sent small numbers of military November 1966, the first automati-
tervention after the CIA-guided in U.S.-Soviet relations. Both sides advisors, but a new guerrilla struggle cally controlled reentry into the
Cuban exile invasion at the Bay of saw the need to defuse tensions that between North and South contin- Earth’s atmosphere. Gemini also ac-
Pigs failed, effectively ceded the could lead to direct military con- ued. Diem’s unpopularity grew and complished the first manned linkup
landlocked Southeast Asian nation flict. The following year, the United the military situation worsened. In of two spacecraft in flight as well as
of Laos to Communist control, and States, the Soviet Union, and Great late 1963, Kennedy secretly assented the first U.S. walks in space.
acquiesced in the building of the Britain signed a landmark Limited to a coup d’etat. To the president’s The three-person Apollo space-
Berlin Wall. Kennedy’s decisions Test Ban Treaty prohibiting nuclear surprise, Diem and his power- craft achieved Kennedy’s goal and
reinforced impressions of weakness weapons tests in the atmosphere. ful brother-in-law, Ngo Dien Nu, demonstrated to the world that the
that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrush- Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cam- were killed. It was at this uncertain United States had surpassed So-
chev had formed in their only per- bodia), a French possession before juncture that Kennedy’s presidency viet capabilities in space. On July 20,
sonal meeting, a summit meeting at World War II, was still another Cold ended three weeks later. 1969, with hundreds of millions of
Vienna in June 1961. War battlefield. The French effort to television viewers watching around
It was against this backdrop that reassert colonial control there was THE SPACE PROGRAM the world, Neil Armstrong became

D
Kennedy faced the most serious opposed by Ho Chi Minh, a Viet- the first human to walk on the sur-
event of the Cold War, the Cuban namese Communist, whose Viet uring Eisenhower’s second term, face of the moon.
missile crisis. Minh movement engaged in a guer- outer space had become an arena for Other Apollo flights followed, but
In the fall of 1962, the adminis- rilla war with the French army. U.S.-Soviet competition. In 1957, many Americans began to question
tration learned that the Soviet Union Both Truman and Eisenhower, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik the value of manned space flight. In
was secretly installing offensive nu- eager to maintain French support for — an artificial satellite — thereby the early 1970s, as other priorities
clear missiles in Cuba. After con- the policy of containment in Europe, demonstrating it could build more became more pressing, the United
sidering different options, Kennedy provided France with economic aid powerful rockets than the United States scaled down the space pro-
decided on a quarantine to prevent that freed resources for the struggle States. The United States launched gram. Some Apollo missions were
Soviet ships from bringing addition- in Vietnam. But the French suffered its first satellite, Explorer I, in 1958. scrapped; only one of two proposed
al supplies to Cuba. He demanded a decisive defeat in Dien Bien Phu in But three months after Kennedy Skylab space stations was built.
publicly that the Soviets remove the May 1954. At an international confer- became president, the USSR put
weapons and warned that an attack ence in Geneva, Laos and Cambodia the first man in orbit. Kennedy re- DEATH OF A PRESIDENT

Jprestige
from that island would bring retali- were given their independence. Viet- sponded by committing the United
ation against the USSR. After several nam was divided, with Ho in power States to land a man on the moon ohn Kennedy had gained world
days of tension, during which the in the North and Ngo Dinh Diem, a and bring him back “before this de- by his management of the
world was closer than ever before Roman Catholic anti-Communist in cade is out.” With Project Mercury Cuban missile crisis and had won
to nuclear war, the Soviets agreed to a largely Buddhist population, head- in 1962, John Glenn became the first great popularity at home. Many
remove the missiles. Critics charged ing the government in the South. U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth. believed he would win re-election

284 285
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

easily in 1964. But on November 22, and calling on the legislators’ respect icaid, a program providing health- immigration quotas. This triggered
1963, he was assassinated while rid- for the slain president, Johnson suc- care assistance for the poor. a new wave of immigration, much
ing in an open car during a visit to ceeded in gaining passage of both Johnson succeeded in the effort of it from South and East Asia and
Dallas, Texas. His death, amplified during his first year in office. The to provide more federal aid for el- Latin America.
by television coverage, was a trau- tax cuts stimulated the economy. ementary and secondary schooling, The Great Society was the largest
matic event, just as Roosevelt’s had The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the traditionally a state and local func- burst of legislative activity since the
been 18 years earlier. most far-reaching such legislation tion. The measure that was enacted New Deal. But support weakened
In retrospect, it is clear that Ken- since Reconstruction. gave money to the states based on as early as 1966. Some of Johnson’s
nedy’s reputation stems more from Johnson addressed other issues as the number of their children from programs did not live up to expecta-
his style and eloquently stated ideals well. By the spring of 1964, he had low-income families. Funds could tions; many went underfunded. The
than from the implementation of his begun to use the name “Great Soci- be used to assist public- and private- urban crisis seemed, if anything, to
policies. He had laid out an impres- ety” to describe his socio-economic school children alike. worsen. Still, whether because of the
sive agenda but at his death much re- program. That summer he secured Convinced the United States Great Society spending or because of
mained blocked in Congress. It was passage of a federal jobs program for confronted an “urban crisis” char- a strong economic upsurge, poverty
largely because of the political skill impoverished young people. It was acterized by declining inner cities, did decline at least marginally dur-
and legislative victories of his succes- the first step in what he called the the Great Society architects devised ing the Johnson administration.
sor that Kennedy would be seen as a “War on Poverty.” In the presiden- a new housing act that provided rent
force for progressive change. tial election that November, he won supplements for the poor and estab- THE WAR IN VIETNAM

D
a landslide victory over conservative lished a Department of Housing and
LYNDON JOHNSON AND Republican Barry Goldwater. Signif- Urban Development. issatisfaction with the Great So-
THE GREAT SOCIETY icantly, the 1964 election gave liberal Other legislation had an impact ciety came to be more than matched

L Democrats firm control of Congress on many aspects of American life. by unhappiness with the situation
yndon Johnson, a Texan who was for the first time since 1938. This Federal assistance went to artists in Vietnam. A series of South Viet-
majority leader in the Senate before would enable them to pass legisla- and scholars to encourage their namese strong men proved little
becoming Kennedy’s vice president, tion over the combined opposition work. In September 1966, Johnson more successful than Diem in mobi-
was a masterful politician. He had of Republicans and conservative signed into law two transportation lizing their country. The Viet Cong,
been schooled in Congress, where Southern Democrats. bills. The first provided funds to insurgents supplied and coordinated
he developed an extraordinary abil- The War on Poverty became the state and local governments for de- from North Vietnam, gained ground
ity to get things done. He excelled at centerpiece of the administration’s veloping safety programs, while the in the countryside.
pleading, cajoling, or threatening as Great Society program. The Office other set up federal safety standards Determined to halt Communist
necessary to achieve his ends. His of Economic Opportunity, estab- for cars and tires. The latter program advances in South Vietnam, Johnson
liberal idealism was probably deeper lished in 1964, provided training reflected the efforts of a crusading made the Vietnam War his own. Af-
than Kennedy’s. As president, he for the poor and established vari- young radical, Ralph Nader. In his ter a North Vietnamese naval attack
wanted to use his power aggressively ous community-action agencies, 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed: The on two American destroyers, John-
to eliminate poverty and spread the guided by an ethic of “participatory Designed-In Dangers of the Ameri- son won from Congress on August 7,
benefits of prosperity to all. democracy” that aimed to give the can Automobile, Nader argued that 1964, passage of the Gulf of Tonkin
Johnson took office determined poor themselves a voice in housing, automobile manufacturers were Resolution, which allowed the presi-
to secure the passage of Kennedy’s health, and education programs. sacrificing safety features for style, dent to “take all necessary measures
legislative agenda. His immediate Medical care came next. Under and charged that faulty engineering to repel any armed attack against
priorities were his predecessor’s bills Johnson’s leadership, Congress en- contributed to highway fatalities. the forces of the United States and
to reduce taxes and guarantee civil acted Medicare, a health insurance In 1965, Congress abolished the to prevent further aggression.” After
rights. Using his skills of persuasion program for the elderly, and Med- discriminatory 1924 national-origin his re-election in November 1964,

286 287
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

he embarked on a policy of escala- measures of the 1960s galvanized departed, the war lingered on into Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in
tion. From 25,000 troops at the start the third-party candidacy of Ala- the spring of 1975, when Congress which they agreed to limit stockpiles
of 1965, the number of soldiers — bama Governor George Wallace, a cut off assistance to South Vietnam of missiles, cooperate in space, and
both volunteers and draftees — rose Democrat who captured his home and North Vietnam consolidated its ease trading restrictions. The Stra-
to 500,000 by 1968. A bombing cam- state, Mississippi, and Arkansas, control over the entire country. tegic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
paign wrought havoc in both North Louisiana, and Georgia, states The war left Vietnam devastated, culminated in 1972 in an arms con-
and South Vietnam. typically carried in that era by the with millions maimed or killed. It trol agreement limiting the growth
Grisly television coverage with a Democratic nominee. Republican also left the United States trauma- of nuclear arsenals and restricting
critical edge dampened support for Richard Nixon, who ran on a plan to tized. The nation had spent over anti-ballistic missile systems.
the war. Some Americans thought it extricate the United States from the $150,000-million in a losing effort
immoral; others watched in dismay war and to increase “law and order” that cost more than 58,000 Ameri- NIXON’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
as the massive military campaign at home, scored a narrow victory. can lives. Americans were no longer AND DEFEATS

V
seemed to be ineffective. Large pro- united by a widely held Cold War
tests, especially among the young, NIXON, VIETNAM, AND THE consensus, and became wary of fur- ice president under Eisenhower
and a mounting general public dis- COLD WAR ther foreign entanglements. before his unsuccessful run for

D
satisfaction pressured Johnson to Yet as Vietnam wound down, the presidency in 1960, Nixon was
begin negotiating for peace. etermined to achieve “peace the Nixon administration took his- seen as among the shrewdest of
with honor,” Nixon slowly withdrew toric steps toward closer ties with American politicians. Although
THE ELECTION OF 1968 American troops while redoubling the major Communist powers. The Nixon subscribed to the Republi-

B efforts to equip the South Vietnam- most dramatic move was a new rela- can value of fiscal responsibility, he
y 1968 the country was in tur- ese army to carry on the fight. He tionship with the People’s Republic accepted a need for government’s
moil over both the Vietnam War and also ordered strong American offen- of China. In the two decades since expanded role and did not oppose
civil disorder, expressed in urban sive actions. The most important of Mao Zedong’s victory, the United the basic contours of the welfare
riots that reflected African-Ameri- these was an invasion of Cambodia States had argued that the Nation- state. He simply wanted to manage
can anger. On March 31, 1968, the in 1970 to cut off North Vietnamese alist government on Taiwan rep- its programs better. Not opposed
president renounced any inten- supply lines to South Vietnam. This resented all of China. In 1971 and to African-American civil rights
tion of seeking another term. Just led to another round of protests and 1972, Nixon softened the American on principle, he was wary of large
a week later, Martin Luther King demonstrations. Students in many stance, eased trading restrictions, federal civil rights bureaucracies.
Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, universities took to the streets. At and became the first U.S. president Nonetheless, his administration
Tennessee. John Kennedy’s younger Kent State in Ohio, the national ever to visit Beijing. The “Shanghai vigorously enforced court orders
brother, Robert, made an emotional guard troops who had been called in Communique” signed during that on school desegregation even as it
anti-war campaign for the Demo- to restore order panicked and killed visit established a new U.S. policy: courted Southern white voters.
cratic nomination, only to be assas- four students. that there was one China, that Tai- Perhaps his biggest domestic
sinated in June. By the fall of 1972, however, wan was a part of China, and that problem was the economy. He in-
At the Democratic National Con- troop strength in Vietnam was be- a peaceful settlement of the dis- herited both a slowdown from its
vention in Chicago, Illinois, protest- low 50,000 and the military draft, pute of the question by the Chinese Vietnam peak under Johnson, and
ers fought street battles with police. which had caused so much cam- themselves was a U.S. interest. a continuing inflationary surge that
A divided Democratic Party nomi- pus discontent, was all but dead. A With the Soviet Union, Nixon was had been a by-product of the war. He
nated Vice President Hubert Hum- cease-fire, negotiated for the United equally successful in pursuing the dealt with the first by becoming the
phrey, once the hero of the liberals States by Nixon’s national security policy he and his Secretary of State first Republican president to endorse
but now seen as a Johnson loyalist. adviser, Henry Kissinger, was signed Henry Kissinger called détente. He deficit spending as a way to stimu-
White opposition to the civil rights in 1973. Although American troops held several cordial meetings with late the economy; the second by

288 289
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

imposing wage and price controls, Nixon’s rhetoric about the need feeling it necessary to head off thedency in 1976. Portraying himself
a policy in which the Right had no for “law and order” in the face of spectacle of a possible prosecution during the campaign as an outsider
long-term faith, in 1971. In the short rising crime rates, increased drug of Nixon, he issued a blanket pardonto Washington politics, he promised
run, these decisions stabilized the use, and more permissive views to his predecessor. Although it was a fresh approach to governing, but
economy and established favorable about sex resonated with more perhaps necessary, the move was his lack of experience at the national
conditions for Nixon’s re-election in Americans than not. But this con- nonetheless unpopular. level complicated his tenure from
1972. He won an overwhelming vic- cern was insufficient to quell con- In public policy, Ford followed the start. A naval officer and engi-
tory over peace-minded Democratic cerns about the Watergate break-in the course Nixon had set. Economic neer by training, he often appeared
Senator George McGovern. and the economy. Seeking to ener- problems remained serious, as infla-to be a technocrat, when Americans
Things began to sour very quick- gize and enlarge his own political tion and unemployment continued wanted someone more visionary to
ly into the president’s second term. constituency, Nixon lashed out at to rise. Ford first tried to reassure
lead them through troubled times.
Very early on, he faced charges that demonstrators, attacked the press the public, much as Herbert Hoover In economic affairs, Carter at
his re-election committee had man- for distorted coverage, and sought had done in 1929. When that failed, first permitted a policy of deficit
aged a break-in at the Watergate to silence his opponents. Instead, he he imposed measures to curb in- spending. Inflation rose to 10 per-
building headquarters of the Demo- left an unfavorable impression with flation, which sent unemployment cent a year when the Federal Reserve
cratic National Committee and that many who saw him on television and above 8 percent. A tax cut, coupled Board, responsible for setting mon-
he had participated in a cover-up. perceived him as unstable. Adding with higher unemployment ben- etary policy, increased the money
Special prosecutors and congres- to Nixon’s troubles, Vice President efits, helped a bit but the economy supply to cover deficits. Carter
sional committees dogged his presi- Spiro Agnew, his outspoken point remained weak. responded by cutting the budget,
dency thereafter. man against the media and liberals, In foreign policy, Ford adopted but cuts affected social programs at
Factors beyond Nixon’s control was forced to resign in 1973, plead- Nixon’s strategy of detente. Perhapsthe heart of Democratic domestic
undermined his economic policies. ing “no contest” to a criminal charge its major manifestation was the policy. In mid-1979, anger in the
In 1973 the war between Israel and of tax evasion. Helsinki Accords of 1975, in which financial community practically
Egypt and Syria prompted Saudi Nixon probably had not known the United States and Western Euro- forced him to appoint Paul Volcker
Arabia to embargo oil shipments to in advance of the Watergate bur- pean nations effectively recognized as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Israel’s ally, the United States. Other glary, but he had tried to cover it up, Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe Volcker was an “inflation hawk”
member nations of the Organization and had lied to the American people in return for Soviet affirmation who increased interest rates in an
of the Petroleum Exporting Coun- about it. Evidence of his involve- of human rights. The agreement attempt to halt price increases, at
tries (OPEC) quadrupled their pric- ment mounted. On July 27, 1974, the had little immediate significance, the cost of negative consequences
es. Americans faced both shortages, House Judiciary Committee voted but over the long run may have for the economy.
exacerbated in the view of many by to recommend his impeachment. made maintenance of the Soviet Carter also faced criticism for his
over-regulation of distribution, and Facing certain ouster from office, he empire more difficult. Western failure to secure passage of an ef-
rapidly rising prices. Even when the resigned on August 9, 1974. nations effectively used periodic fective energy policy. He presented
embargo ended the next year, prices “Helsinki review meetings” to call a comprehensive program, aimed
remained high and affected all areas THE FORD INTERLUDE attention to various abuses of hu- at reducing dependence on foreign

N
of American economic life: In 1974, man rights by Communist regimes oil, that he called the “moral equiv-
inflation reached 12 percent, causing ixon’s vice president, Gerald of the Eastern bloc. alent of war.” Opponents thwarted
disruptions that led to even higher Ford (appointed to replace Agnew), it in Congress.
unemployment rates. The unprec- was an unpretentious man who had THE CARTER YEARS Though Carter called himself a

J
edented economic boom America spent most of his public life in Con- populist, his political priorities were
had enjoyed since 1948 was grinding gress. His first priority was to restore immy Carter, former Democratic never wholly clear. He endorsed
to a halt. trust in the government. However, governor of Georgia, won the presi- government’s protective role, but

290 291
CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980
The digital revolution of the past decade has transformed
the economy and the way Americans live, influencing work;
interactions with colleagues, family, and friends; access to
then began the process of deregula- But Carter enjoyed less success information; even shopping and leisure-time habits.
tion, the removal of governmental with the Soviet Union. Though
controls in economic life. Argu- he assumed office with detente
ing that some restrictions over the at high tide and declared that the
course of the past century limited United States had escaped its “in-
competition and increased con- ordinate fear of Communism,” his
sumer costs, he favored decontrol insistence that “our commitment to
in the oil, airline, railroad, and human rights must be absolute” an-
trucking industries. tagonized the Soviet government. A
Carter’s political efforts failed to SALT II agreement further limiting
gain either public or congressional nuclear stockpiles was signed, but
support. By the end of his term, his not ratified by the U.S. Senate, many
disapproval rating reached 77 per- of whose members felt the treaty
cent, and Americans began to look was unbalanced. The 1979 Soviet
toward the Republican Party again. invasion of Afghanistan killed the
Carter’s greatest foreign policy treaty and triggered a Carter defense
accomplishment was the negotia- build-up that paved the way for the
tion of a peace settlement between huge expenditures of the 1980s.
Egypt, under President Anwar Carter’s most serious foreign pol-
al-Sadat, and Israel, under Prime icy challenge came in Iran. After an
Minister Menachem Begin. Acting Islamic fundamentalist revolution
as both mediator and participant, he led by Shiite Muslim leader Ayatol-
persuaded the two leaders to end a lah Ruhollah Khomeini replaced a
30-year state of war. The subsequent corrupt but friendly regime, Carter

21 CENTURY
ST
peace treaty was signed at the White admitted the deposed shah to the
House in March 1979. United States for medical treatment.
After protracted and often emo- Angry Iranian militants, supported
tional debate, Carter also secured by the Islamic regime, seized the
Senate ratification of treaties ceding
the Panama Canal to Panama by the
American embassy in Tehran and
held 53 American hostages for more
NATI O N
A PICTURE PROFILE
year 2000. Going a step farther than than a year. The long-running hos-
Nixon, he extended formal diplo- tage crisis dominated the final year The first years of the new century unleashed a new threat to
matic recognition to the People’s of his presidency and greatly dam- peace and democracy: international terrorist attacks that killed and
Republic of China. aged his chances for re-election. 9 maimed thousands in the United States and around the world.
Just as it has with earlier dangers, the United States took up this
formidable challenge in unison with its allies. At the same time,
it coped with changes sparked by globalization, fast-paced
technological developments, and new waves of immigration that
have made American society more diverse than in the past.
The country sought to build upon the achievements of its history,
and to honor those who have sacrificed in its cause.

292 293
President George W. Bush
(center) meets with British
Prime Minister Tony Blair
(left), National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice,
and Secretary of State Colin
Powell (right) at the White
House during his first term.
Great Britain has been a key
U.S. ally in the fight against
terrorism.

Malalai Joya, one of


about 100 women
delegates to the
constitutional council
in Afghanistan, speaks
to the council in Kabul,
December 17, 2003.
Afghanistan has its first
democratically elected
government as a result
of the U.S., allied, and
Northern Alliance
military action in 2001
that toppled the Taliban
for sheltering Osama bin
Laden, mastermind of President George W. Bush walks with African leaders during a side meeting at the
the September 11, 2001, Group of Eight Summit in Evian, France, June 1, 2003. Left to right are: South African
terrorist attacks against President Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, Bush,
the United States. and President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade.

294 295
Cable News Network (CNN) report from Moscow: The combination of hundreds
of cable television channels and 24-hour news services like CNN give an
unprecedented impact and immediacy to news developments around the world.

Top, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates talks with Antwoinette Hayes, a participant
in a Microsoft initiative to provide technology access to children and teens.
Above, Apple founder and chief executive officer Steve Jobs with his
company’s iPod mini. Gates and Jobs are seen as the most powerful symbols of
the creative and commercial talent that shaped the digital era.

Combine youth, rock and hip hop music, and 24-hour television, and you get MTV,
a television network whose influence extends beyond music videos to fashion,
advertising, and sales.
296
Bales of sorted recyclables are stacked for processing
at the Rumpke recycling center in Columbus, Ohio.
Growing environmental consciousness in the United
States has led to huge recycling efforts for materials
such as glass, paper, steel, and aluminum.

The massive AIDS quilt, with each square commemorating an individual who
has died of the disease. The United States is a leading contributor to the
fight against this global pandemic.

298 299
Americans’ love affair with the automobile continues, resulting
in increased traffic congestion as well as considerable efforts by
government and industry to reduce air pollution.

300
With husbands and wives in the typical family both working outside the home,
daycare centers for children are commonplace throughout the United States.

Iraqis queuing to vote for a Transitional National Assembly at a polling station in the
center of Az Zubayr, Iraq, January 30, 2005. More than 8.5 million Iraqis braved
threats of violence and terrorist attacks to participate in the elections. The vote
followed the 2003 war, led by the United States and other coalition members, which
rid Iraq of dictator Saddam Hussein.
A new generation peers into its future.

302 303
14
CHAPTER

THE
NEW
CONSERVATISM
AND
A
NEW
WORLD
ORDER

President Ronald Reagan


and USSR President
Mikhail Gorbachev after
signing the Intermediate–
Range Nuclear Forces
(INF) Treaty, December
1987.

304
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“I have always believed that efficient Japanese carmakers. By


1980 Japanese companies already
1980, 808,000 immigrants arrived,
the highest number in 60 years, as the
there was some divine plan manufactured a fifth of the vehicles
sold in the United States. American
country once more became a haven
for people from around the world.
that placed this great continent manufacturers struggled with some
success to match the cost efficien-
Additional groups became active
participants in the struggle for equal
between two oceans to be sought cies and engineering standards of
their Japanese rivals, but their for-
opportunity. Homosexuals, using
the tactics and rhetoric of the civil
out by those who were possessed mer dominance of the domestic car
market was gone forever. The giant
rights movement, depicted them-
selves as an oppressed group seeking
of an abiding love of freedom old-line steel companies shrank to
relative insignificance as foreign
recognition of basic rights. In 1975,
the U.S. Civil Service Commission
and a special kind of courage.” steel makers adopted new technolo-
gies more readily.
lifted its ban on employment of
homosexuals. Many states enacted
Consumers were the beneficiaries anti-discrimination laws.
California Governor Ronald Reagan, 1974
of this ferocious competition in the Then, in 1981, came the discov-
manufacturing industries, but the ery of AIDS (Acquired Immune
painful struggle to cut costs meant Deficiency Syndrome). Transmitted
the permanent loss of hundreds of sexually or through blood transfu-
thousands of blue-collar jobs. Those sions, it struck homosexual men and
who could made the switch to the intravenous drug users with par-
A SOCIETY IN TRANSITION software that could aggregate previ- service sector; others became unfor- ticular virulence, although the gen-

S ously unimagined amounts of data tunate statistics. eral population proved vulnerable as
hifts in the structure of Ameri- about economic and social trends. Population patterns shifted as well. By 1992, over 220,000 Ameri-
can society, begun years or even de- The federal government had made well. After the end of the postwar cans had died of AIDS. The AIDS ep-
cades earlier, had become apparent significant investments in computer “baby boom” (1946 to 1964), the idemic has by no means been limited
by the time the 1980s arrived. The technology in the 1950s and 1960s overall rate of population growth to the United States, and the effort to
composition of the population and for its military and space programs. declined and the population grew treat the disease now encompasses
the most important jobs and skills In 1976, two young California en- older. Household composition also physicians and medical researchers
in American society had undergone trepreneurs, working out of a garage, changed. In 1980 the percentage throughout the world.
major changes. assembled the first widely marketed of family households dropped; a
The dominance of service jobs in computer for home use, named it quarter of all groups were now clas- CONSERVATISM AND THE
the economy became undeniable. By the Apple, and ignited a revolution. sified as “nonfamily households,” RISE OF RONALD REAGAN

F
the mid-1980s, nearly three-fourths By the early 1980s, millions of mi- in which two or more unrelated
of all employees worked in the ser- crocomputers had found their way persons lived together. or many Americans, the econom-
vice sector, for instance, as retail into U.S. businesses and homes, and New immigrants changed the ic, social, and political trends of the
clerks, office workers, teachers, phy- in 1982, Time magazine dubbed the character of American society in previous two decades — crime and
sicians, and government employees. computer its “Machine of the Year.” other ways. The 1965 reform in im- racial polarization in many urban
Service-sector activity benefited Meanwhile, America’s “smoke- migration policy shifted the focus centers, challenges to traditional
from the availability and increased stack industries” were in decline. away from Western Europe, facilitat- values, the economic downturn and
use of the computer. The informa- The U.S. automobile industry reeled ing a dramatic increase in new arriv- inflation of the Carter years — en-
tion age arrived, with hardware and under competition from highly als from Asia and Latin America. In gendered a mood of disillusionment.

306 307
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

It also strengthened a renewed sus- gelicals, most of whom regarded fense, a constitutional amendment program of deregulation begun by
picion of government and its ability abortion under virtually any cir- to permit prayer in public schools, Jimmy Carter. He sought to abolish
to deal effectively with the country’s cumstances as tantamount to mur- and opposition to abortion. many regulations affecting the con-
social and political problems. der. Pro-choice and pro-life (that is, The figure that drew all these dis- sumer, the workplace, and the envi-
Conservatives, long out of power pro- and anti-abortion rights) dem- parate strands together was Ronald ronment. These, he argued, were in-
at the national level, were well posi- onstrations became a fixture of the Reagan. Reagan, born in Illinois, efficient, expensive, and detrimental
tioned politically in the context of political landscape. achieved stardom as an actor in to economic growth.
this new mood. Many Americans Within the Republican Party, the Hollywood movies and television Reagan also reflected the belief
were receptive to their message of conservative wing grew dominant before turning to politics. He first held by many conservatives that the
limited government, strong national once again. They had briefly seized achieved political prominence with a law should be strictly applied against
defense, and the protection of tradi- control of the Republican Party in nationwide televised speech in 1964 violators. Shortly after becoming
tional values. 1964 with its presidential candidate, in support of Barry Goldwater. In president, he faced a nationwide
This conservative upsurge had Barry Goldwater, then faded from 1966 Reagan won the governorship strike by U.S. air transportation con-
many sources. A large group of the spotlight. By 1980, however, of California and served until 1975. trollers. Although the job action was
fundamentalist Christians were par- with the apparent failure of liberal- He narrowly missed winning the Re- forbidden by law, such strikes had
ticularly concerned about crime and ism under Carter, a “New Right” was publican nomination for president been widely tolerated in the past.
sexual immorality. They hoped to poised to return to dominance. in 1976 before succeeding in 1980 When the air controllers refused to
return religion or the moral precepts Using modern direct mail tech- and going on to win the presidency return to work, he ordered them all
often associated with it to a central niques as well as the power of mass from the incumbent, Jimmy Carter. fired. Over the next few years the
place in American life. One of the communications to spread their President Reagan’s unflagging system was rebuilt with new hires.
most politically effective groups in message and raise funds, drawing on optimism and his ability to celebrate
the early 1980s, the Moral Majority, the ideas of conservatives like econ- the achievements and aspirations THE ECONOMY IN THE 1980S

P
was led by a Baptist minister, Jerry omist Milton Friedman, journalists of the American people persisted
Falwell. Another, led by the Reverend William F. Buckley and George Will, throughout his two terms in office. resident Reagan’s domestic pro-
Pat Robertson, built an organization, and research institutions like the He was a figure of reassurance and gram was rooted in his belief that the
the Christian Coalition, that by the Heritage Foundation, the New Right stability for many Americans. Whol- nation would prosper if the power of
1990s was a significant force in the played a significant role in defining ly at ease before the microphone and the private economic sector was un-
Republican Party. Using television the issues of the 1980s. the television camera, Reagan was leashed. The guiding theory behind
to spread their messages, Falwell, The “Old” Goldwater Right had called the “Great Communicator.” it, “supply side” economics, held
Robertson, and others like them de- favored strict limits on government Taking a phrase from the 17th- that a greater supply of goods and
veloped substantial followings. intervention in the economy. This century Puritan John Winthrop, he services, made possible by measures
Another galvanizing issue for tendency was reinforced by a signifi- told the nation that the United States to increase business investment,
conservatives was divisive and emo- cant group of “New Right” “liber- was a “shining city on a hill,” invest- was the swiftest road to economic
tional: abortion. Opposition to the tarian conservatives” who distrusted ed with a God-given mission to de- growth. Accordingly, the Reagan
1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. government in general and opposed fend the world against the spread of administration argued that a large
Wade, which upheld a woman’s right state interference in personal behav- Communist totalitarianism. tax cut would increase capital in-
to an abortion in the early months ior. But the New Right also encom- Reagan believed that government vestment and corporate earnings,
of pregnancy, brought together a passed a stronger, often evangelical intruded too deeply into American so that even lower taxes on these
wide array of organizations and in- faction determined to wield state life. He wanted to cut programs larger earnings would increase gov-
dividuals. They included, but were power to encourage its views. The he contended the country did not ernment revenues.
not limited to, Catholics, political New Right favored tough measures need, and to eliminate “waste, fraud, Despite only a slim Republican
conservatives, and religious evan- against crime, a strong national de- and abuse.” Reagan accelerated the majority in the Senate and a House

308 309
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

of Representatives controlled by the rise in oil prices pushed up costs, former Senator and Vice President voluntary quota on its automobile
Democrats, President Reagan suc- and a worldwide economic slump Walter Mondale, by an overwhelm- exports to the United States.
ceeded during his first year in office in 1980 reduced the demand for ag- ing margin. The economy was jolted on Oc-
in enacting the major components ricultural products. Their numbers The United States entered one tober 19, 1987, “Black Monday,”
of his economic program, including declined, as production increasingly of the longest periods of sustained when the stock market suffered the
a 25-percent tax cut for individuals became concentrated in large opera- economic growth since World War greatest one-day crash in its history,
to be phased in over three years. tions. Those small farmers who sur- II. Consumer spending increased 22.6 percent. The causes of the crash
The administration also sought and vived had major difficulties making in response to the federal tax cut. included the large U.S. international
won significant increases in defense ends meet. The stock market climbed as it re- trade and federal-budget deficits, the
spending to modernize the nation’s The increased military budget flected the optimistic buying spree. high level of corporate and personal
military and counter what it felt was — combined with the tax cuts and Over a five-year period following debt, and new computerized stock
a continual and growing threat from the growth in government health the start of the recovery, Gross Na- trading techniques that allowed in-
the Soviet Union. spending — resulted in the fed- tional Product grew at an annual stantaneous selling of stocks and fu-
Under Paul Volcker, the Federal eral government spending far more rate of 4.2 percent. The annual in- tures. Despite the memories of 1929
Reserve’s draconian increases in than it received in revenues each flation rate remained between 3 and it evoked, however, the crash was a
interest rates squeezed the runaway year. Some analysts charged that the 5 percent from 1983 to 1987, except transitory event with little impact.
inflation that had begun in the late deficits were part of a deliberate ad- in 1986 when it fell to just under 2 In fact, economic growth continued,
1970s. The recession hit bottom in ministration strategy to prevent fur- percent, the lowest level in decades. with the unemployment rate drop-
1982, with the prime interest rates ther increases in domestic spending The nation’s GNP grew substantially ping to a 14-year low of 5.2 percent
approaching 20 percent and the sought by the Democrats. However, during the 1980s; from 1982 to 1987, in June 1988.
economy falling sharply. That year, both Democrats and Republicans in its economy created more than 13
real gross domestic product (GDP) Congress refused to cut such spend- million new jobs. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Ia more
fell by 2 percent; the unemployment ing. From $74,000-million in 1980, Steadfast in his commitment
rate rose to nearly 10 percent, and al- the deficit soared to $221,000-mil- to lower taxes, Reagan signed the n foreign policy, Reagan sought
most one-third of America’s indus- lion in 1986 before falling back to most sweeping federal tax-reform assertive role for the nation,
trial plants lay idle. Throughout the $150,000-million in 1987. measure in 75 years during his and Central America provided an
Midwest, major firms like General The deep recession of the early second term. This measure, which early test. The United States pro-
Electric and International Harvester 1980s successfully curbed the run- had widespread Democratic as well vided El Salvador with a program of
released workers. Stubbornly high away inflation that had started dur- as Republican support, lowered in- economic aid and military training
petroleum prices contributed to the ing the Carter years. Fuel prices, come tax rates, simplified tax brack- when a guerrilla insurgency threat-
decline. Economic rivals like Ger- moreover, fell sharply, with at least ets, and closed loopholes. ened to topple its government. It also
many and Japan won a greater share part of the drop attributable to However, a significant percentage actively encouraged the transition to
of world trade, and U.S. consump- Reagan’s decision to abolish con- of this growth was based on deficit an elected democratic government,
tion of goods from other countries trols on the pricing and allocation spending. Moreover, the national but efforts to curb active right-wing
rose sharply. of gasoline. Conditions began to debt, far from being stabilized by death squads were only partly suc-
Farmers also suffered hard times. improve in late 1983. By early 1984, strong economic growth, nearly tri- cessful. U.S. support helped stabi-
During the 1970s, American farm- the economy had rebounded. By pled. Much of the growth occurred lize the government, but the level of
ers had helped India, China, the the fall of 1984, the recovery was in skilled service and technical ar- violence there remained undimin-
Soviet Union, and other countries well along, allowing Reagan to run eas. Many poor and middle-class ished. A peace agreement was finally
suffering from crop shortages, and for re-election on the slogan, “It’s families did less well. The adminis- reached in early 1992.
had borrowed heavily to buy land morning again in America.” He tration, although an advocate of free U.S. policy toward Nicaragua
and increase production. But the defeated his Democratic opponent, trade, pressured Japan to agree to a was more controversial. In 1979

310 311
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

revolutionaries calling themselves of Corazón Aquino overthrew the tempting to bolster a weak, but mod- East and Central America. In a
Sandinistas overthrew the repres- dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, erate pro-Western government, end- larger sense, the hearings were a con-
sive right-wing Somoza regime and and elections in South Korea ended ed tragically, when 241 U.S. Marines stitutional debate about government
established a pro-Cuba, pro-Soviet decades of military rule. were killed in a terrorist bombing in secrecy and presidential versus con-
dictatorship. Regional peace efforts By contrast, South Africa re- October 1983. In April 1986, U.S. gressional authority in the conduct
ended in failure, and the focus of mained intransigent in the face of Navy and Air Force planes struck of foreign relations. Unlike the cele-
administration efforts shifted to U.S. efforts to encourage an end to targets in Tripoli and Benghazi, brated Senate Watergate hearings 14
support for the anti-Sandinista re- racial apartheid through the contro- Libya, in retaliation for Libyan- years earlier, they found no grounds
sistance, known as the contras. versial policy of “constructive en- instigated terrorist attacks on U.S. for impeaching the president and
Following intense political debate gagement,” quiet diplomacy coupled military personnel in Europe. could reach no definitive conclusion
over this policy, Congress ended all with public endorsement of reform. In the Persian Gulf, the earlier about these perennial issues.
military aid to the contras in Octo- In 1986, frustrated at the lack of breakdown in U.S.-Iranian rela-
ber 1984, then, under administra- progress, the U.S. Congress overrode tions and the Iran-Iraq War set the U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONS

IPresident
tion pressure, reversed itself in the Reagan’s veto and imposed a set of stage for U.S. naval activities in the
fall of 1986, and approved $100 mil- economic sanctions on South Afri- region. Initially, the United States n relations with the Soviet Union,
lion in military aid. However, a lack ca. In February 1990, South African responded to a request from Kuwait Reagan’s declared policy
of success on the battlefield, charges President F.W. de Klerk announced for protection of its tanker fleet; but was one of peace through strength.
of human rights abuses, and the rev- Nelson Mandela’s release and began eventually the United States, along He was determined to stand firm
elation that funds from secret arms the slow dismantling of apartheid. with naval vessels from Western Eu- against the country he would in
sales to Iran (see below) had been Despite its outspoken anti-Com- rope, kept vital shipping lanes open 1983 call an “evil empire.” Two early
diverted to the contras undercut munist rhetoric, the Reagan ad- by escorting convoys of tankers and events increased U.S.-Soviet ten-
congressional support to continue ministration’s direct use of military other neutral vessels traveling up sions: the suppression of the Soli-
this aid. force was restrained. On October and down the Gulf. darity labor movement in Poland in
Subsequently, the administra- 25, 1983, U.S. forces landed on the In late 1986 Americans learned December 1981, and the destruction
tion of President George H.W. Bush, Caribbean island of Grenada after that the administration had secretly with 269 fatalities of an off-course
who succeeded Reagan as president an urgent appeal for help by neigh- sold arms to Iran in an attempt to civilian airliner, Korean Airlines
in 1989, abandoned any effort to boring countries. The action fol- resume diplomatic relations with the Flight 007, by a Soviet jet fighter on
secure military aid for the contras. lowed the assassination of Grenada’s hostile Islamic government and win September 1, 1983. The United States
The Bush administration also ex- leftist prime minister by members freedom for American hostages held also condemned the continuing So-
erted pressure for free elections and of his own Marxist-oriented party. in Lebanon by radical organizations viet occupation of Afghanistan and
supported an opposition political After a brief period of fighting, U.S. that Iran controlled. Investigation continued aid begun by the Carter
coalition, which won an astonish- troops captured hundreds of Cuban also revealed that funds from the administration to the mujahedeen
ing upset election in February 1990, military and construction personnel arms sales had been diverted to the resistance there.
ousting the Sandinistas from power. and seized caches of Soviet-supplied Nicaraguan contras during a period During Reagan’s first term, the
The Reagan administration was arms. In December 1983, the last when Congress had prohibited such United States spent unprecedented
more fortunate in witnessing a re- American combat troops left Grena- military aid. sums for a massive defense build-
turn to democracy throughout the da, which held democratic elections The ensuing Iran-contra hear- up, including the placement of in-
rest of Latin America, from Guate- a year later. ings before a joint House-Senate termediate-range nuclear missiles
mala to Argentina. The emergence of The Middle East, however, pre- committee examined issues of pos- in Europe to counter Soviet deploy-
democratically elected governments sented a far more difficult situation. sible illegality as well as the broader ments of similar missiles. And on
was not limited to Latin America; in A military presence in Lebanon, question of defining American for- March 23, 1983, in one of the most
Asia, the “people power” campaign where the United States was at- eign policy interests in the Middle hotly debated policy decisions of his

312 313
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

presidency, Reagan announced the THE PRESIDENCY OF seemed necessary, and Bush pos- solvencies among these thrifts (the
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) re- GEORGE H. W. BUSH sessed little leeway to introduce new umbrella term for consumer-orient-

P
search program to explore advanced budget items. ed institutions like savings and loan
technologies, such as lasers and resident Reagan enjoyed unusu- The Bush administration ad- associations and savings banks). By
high-energy projectiles, to defend ally high popularity at the end of vanced new policy initiatives in ar- 1993, the total cost of selling and
against intercontinental ballistic his second term in office, but under eas not requiring major new federal shuttering failed thrifts was stagger-
missiles. Although many scientists the terms of the U.S. Constitution expenditures. Thus, in November ing, nearly $525,000-million.
questioned the technological feasi- he could not run again in 1988. The 1990, Bush signed sweeping legisla- In January 1990, President Bush
bility of SDI and economists pointed Republican nomination went to Vice tion imposing new federal standards presented his budget proposal to
to the extraordinary sums of money President George Herbert Walker on urban smog, automobile exhaust, Congress. Democrats argued that
involved, the administration pressed Bush, who was elected the 41st presi- toxic air pollution, and acid rain, administration budget projections
ahead with the project. dent of the United States. but with industrial polluters bear- were far too optimistic, and that
After re-election in 1984, Rea- Bush campaigned by promis- ing most of the costs. He accepted meeting the deficit-reduction law
gan softened his position on arms ing voters a continuation of the legislation requiring physical access would require tax increases and
control. Moscow was amenable to prosperity Reagan had brought. In for the disabled, but with no fed- sharper cuts in defense spending.
agreement, in part because its econ- addition, he argued that he would eral assumption of the expense of That June, after protracted negotia-
omy already expended a far greater support a strong defense for the modifying buildings to accommo- tions, the president agreed to a tax
proportion of national output on its United States more reliably than date wheelchairs and the like. The increase. All the same, the combi-
military than did the United States. the Democratic candidate, Michael president also launched a campaign nation of economic recession, losses
Further increases, Soviet leader Dukakis. He also promised to work to encourage volunteerism, which from the savings and loan industry
Mikhail Gorbachev felt, would for “a kinder, gentler America.” he called, in a memorable phrase, “a rescue operation, and escalating
cripple his plans to liberalize the Dukakis, the governor of Massa- thousand points of light.” health care costs for Medicare and
Soviet economy. chusetts, claimed that less fortunate Medicaid offset all the deficit-re-
In November 1985, Reagan and Americans were hurting economi- BUDGETS AND DEFICITS duction measures and produced a

B
Gorbachev agreed in principle cally and that the government had shortfall in 1991 at least as large as
to seek 50-percent reductions in to help them while simultaneously ush administration efforts to the previous year’s.
strategic offensive nuclear arms as bringing the federal debt and de- gain control over the federal budget
well as an interim agreement on fense spending under control. The deficit, however, were more problem- END TO THE COLD WAR

W
intermediate-range nuclear forces. public was much more engaged, atic. One source of the difficulty was
In December 1987, they signed the however, by Bush’s economic mes- the savings and loan crisis. Savings hen Bush became president,
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces sage: No new taxes. In the balloting, banks — formerly tightly regulated, the Soviet empire was on the verge
(INF) Treaty providing for the de- Bush finished with a 54-to-46-per- low-interest safe havens for ordinary of collapse. Gorbachev’s efforts to
struction of that entire category cent popular vote margin. people — had been deregulated, al- open up the USSR’s economy ap-
of nuclear weapons. By then, the During his first year in office, lowing these institutions to compete peared to be floundering. In 1989,
Soviet Union seemed a less menac- Bush followed a conservative fiscal more aggressively by paying higher the Communist governments in
ing adversary. Reagan could take program, pursuing policies on taxes, interest rates and by making riskier one Eastern European country af-
much of the credit for a greatly di- spending, and debt that were faithful loans. Increases in the government’s ter another simply collapsed, after
minished Cold War, but as his ad- to the Reagan administration’s eco- deposit insurance guaranteed re- it became clear that Russian troops
ministration ended, almost no one nomic program. But the new presi- duced consumer incentive to shun would not be sent to prop them up.
realized just how shaky the USSR dent soon found himself squeezed less-sound institutions. Fraud, In mid-1991, hard-liners attempted
had become. between a large budget deficit and a mismanagement, and the choppy a coup d’etat, only to be foiled by
deficit-reduction law. Spending cuts economy produced widespread in- Gorbachev rival Boris Yeltsin, presi-

314 315
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

dent of the Russian republic. At the changed the diplomatic calculation countries, succeeded in liberating The talks began in Madrid, Spain,
end of that year, Yeltsin, now domi- overnight. Kuwait with a devastating, U.S.-led on October 30, 1991. In turn, they
nant, forced the dissolution of the President Bush strongly con- air campaign that lasted slightly set the stage for the secret negotia-
Soviet Union. demned the Iraqi action, called for more than a month. It was followed tions in Norway that led to what at
The Bush administration adeptly Iraq’s unconditional withdrawal, by a massive invasion of Kuwait the time seemed a historic agree-
brokered the end of the Cold War, and sent a major deployment of U.S. and Iraq by armored and airborne ment between Israel and the Pales-
working closely with Gorbachev and troops to the Middle East. He assem- infantry forces. With their superior tine Liberation Organization, signed
Yeltsin. It led the negotiations that bled one of the most extraordinary speed, mobility, and firepower, the at the White House on September
brought the unification of East and military and political coalitions of allied forces overwhelmed the Iraqi 13, 1993.
West Germany (September 1990), modern times, with military forces forces in a land campaign lasting
agreement on large arms reductions from Asia, Europe, and Africa, as only 100 hours. PANAMA AND NAFTA

T
in Europe (November 1990), and well as the Middle East. The victory, however, was incom-
large cuts in nuclear arsenals (July In the days and weeks follow- plete and unsatisfying. The U.N. res- he president also received broad
1991). After the liquidation of the ing the invasion, the U.N. Security olution, which Bush enforced to the bipartisan congressional backing for
Soviet Union, the United States and Council passed 12 resolutions con- letter, called only for the expulsion of the brief U.S. invasion of Panama on
the new Russian Federation agreed demning the Iraqi invasion and Iraq from Kuwait. Saddam Hussein December 20, 1989, that deposed
to phase out all multiple-warhead imposing wide-ranging economic remained in power, savagely repress- dictator General Manuel Antonio
missiles over a 10-year period. sanctions on Iraq. On November 29, ing the Kurds in the north and the Noriega. In the 1980s, addiction to
The disposal of nuclear materi- it approved the use of force if Iraq Shiites in the south, both of whom crack cocaine reached epidemic pro-
als and the ever-present concerns did not withdraw from Kuwait by the United States had encouraged to portions, and President Bush put the
of nuclear proliferation now super- January 15, 1991. Gorbachev’s Soviet rebel. Hundreds of oil-well fires, de- “War on Drugs” at the center of his
seded the threat of nuclear conflict Union, once Iraq’s major arms sup- liberately set in Kuwait by the Iraqis, domestic agenda. Moreover, Norie-
between Washington and Moscow. plier, made no effort to protect its took until November 1991 to extin- ga, an especially brutal dictator,
former client. guish. Saddam’s regime also appar- had attempted to maintain himself
THE GULF WAR Bush also confronted a major ently thwarted U.N. inspectors who, in power with rather crude displays

T constitutional issue. The U.S. Con- operating in accordance with Secu- of anti-Americanism. After seek-
he euphoria caused by the draw- stitution gives the legislative branch rity Council resolutions, worked to ing refuge in the Vatican embassy,
ing down of the Cold War was dra- the power to declare war. Yet in the locate and destroy Iraq’s weapons of Noriega turned himself over to U.S.
matically overshadowed by the Au- second half of the 20th century, the mass destruction, including nuclear authorities. He was later tried and
gust 2, 1990, invasion of the small United States had become involved facilities more advanced than had convicted in U.S. federal court in
nation of Kuwait by Iraq. Iraq, under in Korea and Vietnam without an previously been suspected and huge Miami, Florida, of drug trafficking
Saddam Hussein, and Iran, under its official declaration of war and with stocks of chemical weapons. and racketeering.
Islamic fundamentalist regime, had only murky legislative authoriza- The Gulf War enabled the United On the economic front, the Bush
emerged as the two major military tion. On January 12, 1991, three days States to persuade the Arab states, administration negotiated the North
powers in the oil-rich Persian Gulf before the U.N. deadline, Congress Israel, and a Palestinian delegation America Free Trade Agreement
area. The two countries had fought a granted President Bush the author- to begin direct negotiations aimed (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.
long, inconclusive war in the 1980s. ity he sought in the most explicit and at resolving the complex and inter- It would be ratified after an intense
Less hostile to the United States than sweeping war-making power given a locked issues that could eventually debate in the first year of the Clinton
Iran, Iraq had won some support president in nearly half a century. lead to a lasting peace in the region. administration. 9
from the Reagan and Bush adminis- The United States, in coalition
trations. The occupation of Kuwait, with Great Britain, France, Italy,
posing a threat to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other

316 317
CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDER OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

THIRD-PARTY AND INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES

The United States is often thought of as functioning under a two-party sys- also strongly supported increased taxation on the wealthy and the right of col-
lective bargaining. He carried only his home state of Wisconsin.
tem. In practical effect this is true: Either a Democrat or a Republican has Henry Wallace. The Progressive Party reinvented itself in 1948 with
occupied the White House every year since 1852. At the same time, however, the nomination of Henry Wallace, a former secretary of agriculture and vice
the country has produced a plethora of third and minor parties over the years. president under Franklin Roosevelt. Wallace’s 1948 platform opposed the
For example, 58 parties were represented on at least one state ballot during Cold War, the Marshall Plan, and big business. He also campaigned to end
the 1992 presidential elections. Among these were obscure parties such as the discrimination against African Americans and women, backed a minimum
Apathy, the Looking Back, the New Mexico Prohibition, the Tish Independent wage, and called for the elimination of the House Committee on Un-Ameri-
Citizens, and the Vermont Taxpayers. can Activities. His failure to repudiate the U.S. Communist Party, which had
Third parties organize around a single issue or set of issues. They tend endorsed him, undermined his popularity and he wound up with just over 2.4
to fare best when they have a charismatic leader. With the presidency out of percent of the popular vote.
reach, most seek a platform to publicize their political and social concerns. Dixiecrats. Like the Progressives, the States Rights or Dixiecrat Party,
Theodore Roosevelt. The most successful third-party candidate of led by South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, emerged in 1948 as a spi-
the 20th century was a Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, the former presi- noff from the Democratic Party. Its opposition stemmed from Truman’s civil
dent. His Progressive or Bull Moose Party won 27.4 percent of the vote in the rights platform. Although defined in terms of “states’ rights,” the party’s goal
1912 election. The progressive wing of the Republican Party, having grown was continuing racial segregation and the “Jim Crow” laws that sustained it.
disenchanted with President William Howard Taft, whom Roosevelt had George Wallace. The racial and social upheavals of the 1960s helped
hand-picked as his successor, urged Roosevelt to seek the party nomination in bring George Wallace, another segregationist Southern governor, to national
1912. This he did, defeating Taft in a number of primaries. Taft controlled the attention. Wallace built a following through his colorful attacks against civil
party machinery, however, and secured the nomination. rights, liberals, and the federal government. Founding the American Indepen-
Roosevelt’s supporters then broke away and formed the Progressive Party. dent Party in 1968, he ran his campaign from the statehouse in Montgomery,
Declaring himself as fit as a bull moose (hence the party’s popular name), Alabama, winning 13.5 percent of the overall presidential vote.
Roosevelt campaigned on a platform of regulating “big business,” women’s H. Ross Perot. Every third party seeks to capitalize on popular dis-
suffrage, a graduated income tax, the Panama Canal, and conservation. His satisfaction with the major parties and the federal government. At few times in
effort was sufficient to defeat Taft. By splitting the Republican vote, however, recent history, however, has this sentiment been as strong as it was during the
he helped ensure the election of the Democrat Woodrow Wilson. 1992 election. A hugely wealthy Texas businessman, Perot possessed a knack
Socialists. The Socialist Party also reached its high point in 1912, for getting his message of economic common sense and fiscal responsibility
attaining 6 percent of the popular vote. Perennial candidate Eugene Debs won across to a wide spectrum of the people. Lampooning the nation’s leaders and
nearly 900,000 votes that year, advocating collective ownership of the trans- reducing his economic message to easily understood formulas, Perot found
portation and communication industries, shorter working hours, and public little difficulty gaining media attention. His campaign organization, United We
works projects to spur employment. Convicted of sedition during World War I, Stand, was staffed primarily by volunteers and backed by his personal fortune.
Debs campaigned from his cell in 1920. Far from resenting his wealth, many admired Perot’s business success and the
Robert LaFollette. Another Progressive was Senator Robert La Fol- freedom it brought him from soliciting campaign funds from special interests.
lette, who won more than 16 percent of the vote in the 1924 election. Long a Perot withdrew from the race in July. Re-entering it a month before the elec-
champion of farmers and industrial workers, and an ardent foe of big business, tion, he won over 19 million votes as the Reform Party standard-bearer, nearly
La Follette was a prime mover in the recreation of the Progressive movement 19 percent of the total cast. This was by far the largest number ever tallied by
following World War I. Backed by the farm and labor vote, as well as by So- a third-party candidate and second only to Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 show-
cialists and remnants of Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party, La Follette ran on a ing as a percentage of the total. 
platform of nationalizing railroads and the country’s natural resources. He

318 319
15
CHAPTER

BRIDGE
TO
THE
21ST
CENTURY

Firefighters beneath
the destroyed vertical
struts of the World Trade
Center’s twin towers after
the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks in New
York and Washington, D.C.

320
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

“The best hope for peace siles and bombers on constant high
alert — were gone. Eastern Europe
able independent candidate, wealthy
Texas entrepreneur H. Ross Perot.

in our world is was independent, the Soviet Union


had dissolved, Germany was united,
Perot tapped into a deep wellspring
of frustration over the inability of

the expansion of freedom Arabs and Israelis were engaged in


direct negotiations, and the threat
Washington to deal effectively with
economic issues, principally the fed-

in all the world.” of nuclear conflict was greatly di-


minished. It was as though one
eral deficit. He possessed a colorful
personality and a gift for the telling
great history volume had closed one-line political quip. He would
and another had opened. be the most successful third-party
President George W. Bush, 2005 Yet at home, Americans were less candidate since Theodore Roosevelt
sanguine, and they faced some deep in 1912.
and familiar problems. The United The Bush re-election effort was
States found itself in its deepest built around a set of ideas tradition-
recession since the early 1980s. ally used by incumbents: experi-
Many of the job losses were occur- ence and trust. George Bush, 68,
ring among white-collar workers in the last of a line of presidents who
middle management positions, not had served in World War II, faced
solely, as earlier, among blue-collar a young challenger in Bill Clinton
workers in the manufacturing sec- who, at age 46, had never served in
tor. Even when the economy began the military and had participated in
recovering in 1992, its growth was protests against the Vietnam War. In
For most Americans the 1990s Improved crime and other social virtually imperceptible until late in emphasizing his experience as presi-
would be a time of peace, prosper- statistics aside, American politics re- the year. Moreover, the federal defi- dent and commander-in-chief, Bush
ity, and rapid technological change. mained ideological, emotional, and cit continued to mount, propelled drew attention to Clinton’s inexperi-
Some attributed this to the “Rea- characterized by intense divisions. most strikingly by rising expendi- ence at the national level.
gan Revolution” and the end of the Shortly after the nation entered the tures for health care. Bill Clinton organized his cam-
Cold War, others to the return of a new millennium, moreover, its post- President George Bush and Vice paign around another of the oldest
Democrat to the presidency. During Cold War sense of security was jolted President Dan Quayle easily won and most powerful themes in elec-
this period. the majority of Ameri- by an unprecedented terrorist attack renomination by the Republican toral politics: youth and change.
cans — political affiliation aside — that launched it on a new and diffi- Party. On the Democratic side, Bill As a high-school student, Clinton
asserted their support for tradition- cult international track Clinton, governor of Arkansas, de- had once met President Kennedy;
al family values, often grounded feated a crowded field of candidates 30 years later, much of his rhetoric
in their faiths. New York Times 1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION to win his party’s nomination. As consciously echoed that of Kennedy

A
columnist David Brooks suggested his vice presidential nominee, he se- in his 1960 campaign.
that the country was experiencing s the 1992 presidential elec- lected Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, As governor of Arkansas for 12
“moral self-repair,“ as “many of tion approached, Americans found generally acknowledged as one of the years, Clinton could point to his
the indicators of social breakdown, themselves in a world transformed Congress’s strongest advocates of en- experience in wrestling with the
which shot upward in the late 1960s in ways almost unimaginable four vironmental protection. very issues of economic growth,
and 1970s, and which plateaued at years earlier. The familiar land- The country’s deep unease over education, and health care that
high levels in the 1980s,” were now marks of the Cold War — from the the direction of the economy also were, according to public opinion
in decline. Berlin Wall to intercontinental mis- sparked the emergence of a remark- polls, among President Bush’s chief

322 323
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

vulnerabilities. Where Bush offered Avoiding ideological rhetoric gays, who, claiming a group status cine. After a year of discussion, it
an economic program based on that declared big government to be as victims of discrimination, had died without a vote in Congress.
lower taxes and cuts in government a positive good, he proposed a num- become an important Democratic Clinton was more successful on
spending, Clinton proposed higher ber of programs that earned him constituency. another matter with great repercus-
taxes on the wealthy and increased the label “New Democrat.” Control Immediately after his inaugu- sions for the domestic economy.
spending on investments in educa- of the federal bureaucracy and ju- ration, President Clinton issued The previous president, George
tion, transportation, and commu- dicial appointments provided one an executive order rescinding the Bush, had negotiated the North
nications that, he believed, would means of satisfying political claims long-established military policy of American Free Trade Agreement
boost the nation’s productivity and of organized labor and civil rights dismissing known gays from the (NAFTA) to establish fully open
growth and thereby lower the defi- groups. On the ever-controversial service. The order quickly drew trade between Canada, the United
cit. Similarly, Clinton’s health care abortion issue, Clinton supported furious criticism from the military, States, and Mexico. Key Demo-
proposals called for much heavier the Roe v. Wade decision, but also most Republicans, and large seg- cratic constituencies opposed the
involvement by the federal govern- declared that abortion should be ments of American society. Clinton agreement. Labor unions believed
ment than Bush’s. “safe, legal, and rare.” quickly modified it with a “don’t it would encourage the export of
Clinton proved to be a highly President Clinton’s closest col- ask, don’t tell” order that effectively jobs and undermine American la-
effective communicator, not least laborator was his wife, Hillary restored the old policy but discour- bor standards. Environmentalists
on television, a medium that high- Rodham Clinton. In the campaign, aged active investigation of one’s asserted that it would lead Ameri-
lighted his charm and intelligence. he had quipped that those who sexual practices. can industries to relocate to coun-
The incumbent’s very success in voted for him “got two for the price The effort to achieve a national tries with weak pollution controls.
handling the end of the Cold War of one.” She supported her husband health plan proved to be a far larger These were the first indications of
and reversing the Iraqi thrust into against accusations about his per- setback. The administration set up a a growing movement on the left
Kuwait lent strength to Clinton’s sonal life. large task force, chaired by Hillary wing of American politics against
implicit argument that foreign af- As energetic and as activist as her Clinton. Composed of prominent the vision of an integrated world
fairs had become relatively less im- husband, Ms. Clinton assumed a policy intellectuals and political economic system.
portant, given pressing social and more prominent role in the admin- activists, it labored in secrecy for President Clinton nonetheless
economic needs at home. istration than any first lady before months to develop a plan that would accepted the argument that open
On November 3, Clinton won her, even Eleanor Roosevelt. Her provide medical coverage for every trade was ultimately beneficial to
election as the 42nd president of the first important assignment would American. all parties because it would lead to
United States, with 43 percent of the be to develop a national health pro- The working assumption be- a greater flow of more efficiently
popular vote against 37 percent for gram. In 2000, with her husband’s hind the plan was that a govern- produced goods and services. His
Bush and 19 percent for Perot. administration coming to a close, ment-managed “single-payer” plan administration not only submitted
she would be elected a U.S. senator could deliver health services to the NAFTA to the Senate, it also backed
A NEW PRESIDENCY from New York. entire nation more efficiently than the establishment of a greatly liber-

C the current decentralized system alized international trading system


linton was in many respects LAUNCHING A NEW with its thousands of insurers and to be administered by the World
the perfect leader for a party di- DOMESTIC POLICY disconnected providers. As finally Trade Organization (WTO). After

Idemanded
vided between liberal and moderate delivered to Congress in September a vigorous debate, Congress ap-
wings. He tried to assume the image n practice, Clinton’s centrism 1993, however, the plan mirrored proved NAFTA in 1993. It would
of a pragmatic centrist who could choices that sometimes the complexity of its subject. Most approve membership in the WTO
moderate the demands of various elicited vehement emotions. The Republicans and some Democrats a year later.
Democratic Party interest groups president’s first policy initiative was criticized it as a hopelessly elaborate Although Clinton had talked
without alienating them. designed to meet the demands of federal takeover of American medi- about a “middle class tax cut” dur-

324 325
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ing the presidential campaign, he new political realities, Clinton in- THE AMERICAN ECONOMY nesses, greatly enhancing productiv-
submitted to Congress a budget stead moderated his political course. IN THE 1990S ity and creating new opportunities

B
calling for a general tax increase. Policy initiatives for the remainder for profit. Fledgling industries that
It originally included a wide tax of his presidency were few. Contrary y the mid-1990s, the country fed demand for the new equipment
on energy consumption designed to Republican predictions of doom, had not simply recovered from the became multi-billion-dollar com-
to promote conservation, but that the tax increases of 1993 did not get brief, but sharp, recession of the panies almost overnight, creating
was quickly replaced by a nomi- in the way of a steadily improving Bush presidency. It was entering an an enormous new middle class of
nal increase in the federal gasoline economy. era of booming prosperity, and do- software technicians, managers, and
tax. It also taxed social security The new Republican leadership ing so despite the decline of its tradi- publicists.
benefits for recipients of moderate in the House of Representatives, by tional industrial base. Probably the A final impetus was the turn of
income and above. The big empha- contrast, pressed hard to achieve major force behind this new growth the millennium. A huge push to up-
sis, however, was on increasing the its policy objectives, a sharp con- was the blossoming of the personal grade outdated computing equip-
income tax for high earners. The trast with the administration’s new computer (PC). ment that might not recognize the
subsequent debate amounted to a moderate tone. When right-wing Less than 20 years after its in- year 2000 brought data technology
rerun of the arguments between extremists bombed an Oklahoma troduction, the PC had become a spending to a peak.
tax cutters and advocates of “fiscal City federal building in April 1995, familiar item, not simply in business These developments began to
responsibility” that had marked the Clinton responded with a tone of offices of all types, but in homes take shape during Clinton’s first
Reagan years. In the end, Clinton moderation and healing that height- throughout America. Vastly more term. By the end of his second one
got his way, but very narrowly. The ened his stature and implicitly left powerful than anyone could have they were fueling a surging econ-
tax bill passed the House of Repre- some doubts about his conservative imagined two decades earlier, able omy. When he had been elected
sentatives by only one vote. opponents. At the end of the year, to store enormous amounts of data, president, unemployment was at 7.4
By then, the congressional elec- he vetoed a Republican budget bill, available at the cost of a good refrig- percent. When he stood for re-elec-
tion campaigns of 1994 were under shutting down the government for erator, it became a common appli- tion in 1996, it was at 5.4 percent.
way. Although the administration weeks. Most of the public seemed to ance in American homes. When voters went to the polls to
already had made numerous foreign blame the Republicans. Employing prepackaged soft- choose his successor in November
policy decisions, issues at home were The president also co-opted part ware, people used it for bookkeep- 2000, it was 3.9 percent. In many
clearly most important to the voters. of the Republican program. In his ing, word processing, or as a deposi- places, the issue was less one of tak-
The Republicans depicted Clinton State of the Union address of Janu- tory for music, photos, and video. ing care of the jobless than of find-
and the Democrats as unreformed ary 1996, he ostentatiously declared, The rise of the Internet, which grew ing employable workers.
tax and spenders. Clinton himself “The era of big government is over.” out of a previously closed defense No less a figure than Federal
was already beleaguered with charg- That summer, on the eve of the data network, provided access to Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
es of past financial impropriety in presidential campaign, he signed a information of all sorts, created new viewed a rapidly escalating stock
an Arkansas real estate project and major welfare reform bill that was shopping opportunities, and estab- market with concern and warned
new claims of sexual impropriety. In essentially a Republican product. lished e-mail as a common mode of “irrational exuberance.” Investor
November, the voters gave the Re- Designed to end permanent sup- of communication. The popularity exuberance, at its greatest since the
publicans control of both houses of port for most welfare recipients and of the mobile phone created a huge 1920s, continued in the conviction
Congress for the first time since the move them to work, it was opposed new industry that cross-fertilized that ordinary standards of valu-
election of 1952. Many observers be- by many in his own party. By and with the PC. ation had been rendered obsolete
lieved that Bill Clinton would likely large, it would prove successful in Instant communication and by a “new economy” with unlim-
be a one-term president. Apparently operation over the next decade. lightning-fast data manipulation ited potential. The good times were
making a decision to conform to speeded up the tempo of many busi- rolling dangerously fast, but most

326 327
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Americans were more inclined to further reinforcing the president’s resigned, and the party attempted oil to meet humanitarian needs,
enjoy the ride while it lasted than to standing as a fiscally responsible to develop a less strident image. proved relatively ineffective. Sad-
plan for a coming bust. moderate liberal. Nevertheless, in December the dam funneled much of the proceeds
In 1998, American politics en- House voted the first impeachment to himself, leaving large masses of
THE ELECTION OF 1996 AND tered a period of turmoil with the resolution against a sitting presi- his people in misery. Military “no-
THE POLITICAL AFTERMATH revelation that Clinton had car- dent since Andrew Johnson (1868), fly zones,” imposed to prevent the

P ried on an affair inside the White thereby handing the case to the Iraqi government from deploying its
resident Clinton undertook his House with a young intern. At first Senate for a trial. air power against rebellious Kurds in
campaign for re-election in 1996 the president denied this, telling the Clinton’s impeachment trial, the north and Shiites in the south,
under the most favorable of circum- American people: “I did not have presided over by the Chief Justice required constant U.S. and British
stances. If not an imposing person- sexual relations with that woman.” of the United States, held little air patrols, which regularly fended
ality in the manner of a Roosevelt, The president had faced similar suspense. In the midst of it, the off anti-aircraft missiles.
he was a natural campaigner, whom charges in the past. In a sexual ha- president delivered his annual State The United States also provided
many felt had an infectious charm. rassment lawsuit filed by a woman of the Union address to Congress. the main backing for U.N. weapons
He presided over a growing eco- he had known in Arkansas, Clinton He never testified, and no serious inspection teams, whose mission
nomic recovery. He had positioned denied under oath the White House observer expected that any of the was to ferret out Iraq’s chemical,
himself on the political spectrum in affair. This fit most Americans’ defi- several charges against him would biological, and nuclear programs,
a way that made him appear a man nition of perjury. In October 1998, win the two-thirds vote required verify the destruction of exist-
of the center leaning left. His Repub- the House of Representatives began for removal from office. In the end, ing weapons of mass destruction,
lican opponent, Senator Robert Dole impeachment hearings, focusing on none got even a simple majority. On and suppress ongoing programs to
of Kansas, Republican leader in the charges of perjury and obstruction February 12, 1999, Clinton was ac- manufacture them. Increasingly
upper house, was a formidable leg- of justice. quitted of all charges. obstructed, the U.N. inspectors
islator but less successful as a presi- Whatever the merits of that ap- were finally expelled in 1998. On
dential candidate. proach, a majority of Americans AMERICAN FOREIGN this, as well as earlier occasions
Clinton, promising to “build a seemed to view the matter as a pri- RELATIONS IN THE of provocation, the United States
bridge to the 21st century,” easily vate one to be sorted out with one’s CLINTON YEARS responded with limited missile

B
defeated Dole in a three-party race, family, a significant shift in public strikes. Saddam, Secretary of State
49.2 percent to 40.7 percent, with attitude. Also significantly, Hillary ill Clinton did not expect to be Madeline Albright declared, was
8.4 percent to Ross Perot. He thus Clinton continued to support her a president who emphasized foreign still “in his box.”
became the second American presi- husband. It surely helped also that policy. However, like his immediate The seemingly endless Israeli-
dent to win two consecutive elec- the times were good. In the midst predecessors, he quickly discovered Palestinian dispute inevitably en-
tions with less than a majority of the of the House impeachment debate, that all international crises seemed gaged the administration, although
total vote. (The other was Woodrow the president announced the largest to take a road that led through neither President Clinton nor former
Wilson in 1912 and 1916.) The Re- budget surplus in 30 years. Public Washington. President Bush had much to do with
publicans, however, retained control opinion polls showed Clinton’s ap- He had to deal with the messy the Oslo agreement of 1993, which
of both the House of Representatives proval rating to be the highest of his aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. established a Palestinian “authority”
and the Senate. six years in office. Having failed to depose Saddam to govern the Palestinian population
Clinton never stated much of That November, the Republicans Hussein, the United States, backed within the West Bank and the Gaza
a domestic program for his sec- took further losses in the midterm by Britain, attempted to contain Strip and obtained Palestinian rec-
ond term. The highlight of its first congressional elections, cutting him. A United Nations-adminis- ognition of Israel’s right to exist.
year was an accord with Congress their majorities to razor-thin mar- tered economic sanctions regime, As with so many past Middle
designed to balance the budget, gins. House Speaker Newt Gingrich designed to allow Iraq to sell enough Eastern agreements in principle,

328 329
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

however, Oslo eventually fell apart cess but left many details to be avoided, and, in other instances, By then the United States had
when details were discussed. Pales- worked out. Over the next several forced by the rest of the world already experienced an attack by
tinian leader Yasser Arafat rejected years, peace and order held better to do so. Muslim extremists. In February
final offers from peace-minded Is- in Northern Ireland than in the 1993, a huge car bomb was exploded
raeli leader Ehud Barak in 2000 and Middle East, but remained precari- INTIMATIONS OF TERRORISM in an underground parking garage

N
January 2001. A full-scale Palestin- ous. The final accord continued to beneath one of the twin towers of
ian insurgency, marked by the use elude negotiators. ear the close of his adminis- the World Trade Center in lower
of suicide bombers, erupted. Barak The post-Cold War disintegra- tration, George H. W. Bush sent Manhattan. The blast killed seven
fell from power, to be replaced by tion of Yugoslavia — a state ethni- American troops to the chaotic East people and injured nearly a thou-
the far tougher Ariel Sharon. U.S. cally and religiously divided among African nation of Somalia. Their sand, but it failed to bring down the
identification with Israel was con- Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnian mission was to spearhead a U.N. huge building with its thousands of
sidered by some a major problem Muslims, and Albanian Kosovars force that would allow the regular workers. New York and federal au-
in dealing with other issues in the — also made its way to Washing- movement of food to a starving thorities treated it as a criminal act,
region, but American diplomats ton after European governments population. apprehended four of the plotters,
could do little more than hope to failed to impose order. The Bush Somalia became yet another and obtained life prison sentences
contain the violence. After Arafat’s administration had refused to get legacy for the Clinton administra- for them. Subsequent plots to blow
death in late 2004, new Palestinian involved in the initial violence; tion. Efforts to establish a repre- up traffic tunnels, public buildings,
leadership appeared more receptive the Clinton administration finally sentative government there became and even the United Nations were
to a peace agreement, and Ameri- did so with great reluctance after a “nation-building” enterprise. In all discovered and dealt with in a
can policy makers resumed efforts being urged to do so by the Euro- October 1993, American troops similar fashion.
to promote a settlement. pean allies. In 1995, it negotiated sent to arrest a recalcitrant warlord Possible foreign terrorism was
President Clinton also became an accord in Dayton, Ohio, to es- ran into unexpectedly strong resis- nonetheless overshadowed by do-
closely engaged with “the troubles” tablish a semblance of peace in tance, losing an attack helicopter mestic terrorism, primarily the
in Northern Ireland. On one side Bosnia. In 1999, faced with Ser- and suffering 18 deaths. The war- Oklahoma City bombing. The work
was the violent Irish Republican bian massacres of Kosovars, it led a lord was never arrested. Over the of right-wing extremists Timo-
Army, supported primarily by those three-month NATO bombing cam- next several months, all American thy McVeigh and Terry Nichols,
Catholic Irish who wanted to incor- paign against Serbia, which finally combat units were withdrawn. it killed 166 and injured hundreds,
porate these British counties into the forced a settlement. From the standpoint of the ad- a far greater toll than the 1993
Republic of Ireland. On the other In 1994, the administration re- ministration, it seemed prudent Trade Center attack. But on June 25,
side were Unionists, with equally vi- stored ousted President Jean-Ber- enough simply to end a marginal, 1996, another huge bomb exploded
olent paramilitary forces, supported trand Aristide to power in Haiti, ill-advised commitment and con- at the Khobar Towers U.S. military
by most of the Protestant Scots-Irish where he would rule for nine years centrate on other priorities. It only housing complex in Saudi Arabia,
population, who wanted to remain before being ousted again. The in- became clear later that the Somalian killing 19 and wounding 515. A fed-
in the United Kingdom. tervention was largely a result of warlord had been aided by a shad- eral grand jury indicted 13 Saudis
Clinton gave the separatists Aristide’s carefully cultivated sup- owy and emerging organization that and one Lebanese man for the at-
greater recognition than they ever port in the United States and Ameri- would become known as al-Qaida, tack, but Saudi Arabia ruled out any
had obtained in the United States, can fears of waves of Haitian illegal headed by a fundamentalist Muslim extraditions.
but also worked closely with the immigrants. named Osama bin Laden. A fanati- Two years later, on August 7,
British governments of John Major In sum, the Clinton adminis- cal enemy of Western civilization, 1998, powerful bombs exploding
and Tony Blair. The ultimate result, tration remained primarily inward bin Laden reportedly felt confirmed simultaneously destroyed U.S. em-
the Good Friday peace accords of looking, willing to tackle interna- in his belief that Americans would bassies in Kenya and Tanzania, kill-
1998, established a political pro- tional problems that could not be not fight when attacked. ing 301 people and injuring more

330 331
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

than 5,000. In retaliation Clinton the governor of Texas and son of for- The final totals underscored the a specified standard. Projected defi-
ordered missile attacks on terrorist mer President George H. W. Bush. tightness of the election: Bush won cits in the social security trust fund
training camps run by bin Laden Gore ran as a dedicated liberal, 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266, but remained unaddressed.
in Afghanistan, but they appear to intensely concerned with damage Gore led him in the national popu- The Bush presidency changed
have been deserted. He also ordered to the environment and determined lar vote 48.4 percent to 47.9 percent. irrevocably on September 11, 2001,
a missile strike to destroy a suspectto seek more assistance for the Nader polled 2.7 percent and Bu- when the United States suffered
chemical factory in Sudan, a coun- less privileged sectors of society. He chanan .4 percent. Gore, his states the most devastating foreign at-
try which earlier had given sanctu- seemed to place himself somewhat colored blue in media graphics, tack ever against its mainland. That
ary to bin Laden. to the left of President Clinton. swept the Northeast and the West morning, Middle Eastern terrorists
On October 12, 2000, suicide Bush established a position closer Coast; he also ran well in the Mid- simultaneously hijacked four pas-
bombers rammed a speedboat into to the heritage of Ronald Reagan western industrial heartland. Bush, senger airplanes and used two of
the U.S. Navy destroyer Cole, on a than to that of his father. He dis- whose states were colored red, rolled them as suicide vehicles to destroy
courtesy visit to Yemen. Heroic ac- played a special interest in education over his opponent in the South, the the twin towers of the World Trade
tion by the crew kept the ship afloat,
and called himself a “compassion- rest of the Midwest, and the moun- Center. A third crashed into the
but 17 sailors were killed. Bin Ladenate conservative.” His embrace of tain states. Commentators every- Pentagon building, the Defense De-
had pretty clearly been behind the evangelical Christianity, which he where dwelled on the vast gap be- partment headquarters just outside
attacks in Saudi Arabia, Africa, and declared had changed his life after tween “red” and “blue” America, a of Washington, D.C. The fourth,
Yemen, but he was beyond reach a misspent youth, was of particular divide they characterized by cultural probably meant for the U.S. Capi-
unless the administration was pre- note. It underscored an attachment and social rather than economic dif- tol, crashed into the Pennsylvania
pared to invade Afghanistan to to traditional cultural values that ferences, and all the more emotional countryside as passengers fought
search for him. contrasted sharply with Gore’s tech- for that reason. George Bush took the hijackers.
The Clinton administration was nocratic modernism. The old cor- office in a climate of extreme parti- The death toll, most of it consist-
never willing to take such a step. Itporate gadfly Ralph Nader ran well san bitterness. ing of civilians at the World Trade
even shrank from the possibility of to Gore’s left as the candidate of the Bush expected to be a president Center, was approximately 3,000,
assassinating him if others might be Green Party. Conservative Republi- primarily concerned with domestic exceeding that of the Japanese at-
killed in the process. The attacks had
can Patrick Buchanan mounted an policy. He wanted to reform educa- tack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The
been remote and widely separated. It independent candidacy. tion. He had talked during his cam- economic costs were also heavy.
was easy to accept them as unwel- The final vote was nearly evenly paign about an overhaul of the social The destruction of the trade center
come but inevitable costs associated divided nationally; so were the elec- security system. He wanted to follow took several other buildings with it
with superpower status. Bin Laden toral votes. The pivotal state was Reagan’s example as a tax cutter. and shut down the financial mar-
remained a serious nuisance, but not Florida; there, only a razor-thin The president quickly discovered kets for several days. The effect was
a top priority for an administration margin separated the candidates that he had to deal with an economy to prolong the already developing
that was nearing its end. and thousands of ballots were that was beginning to slip back from recession.
disputed. After a series of state its lofty peak of the late 1990s. This As the nation began to recover
THE PRESIDENTIAL and federal court challenges over helped him secure passage of a tax from the 9/11 attack, an unknown
ELECTION OF 2000 AND the laws and procedures governing cut in May 2001. At the end of the person or group sent out let-
THE WAR ON TERROR recounts, the U.S. Supreme Court year, he also obtained the “No Child ters containing small amounts of

T handed down a narrow decision Left Behind” Act, which required anthrax bacteria. Some went to
he Democratic Party nominated that effectively gave the election public schools to test reading and members of Congress and admin-
Vice President Al Gore to head their to Bush. The Republicans main- mathematical proficiency on an an- istration officials, others to obscure
ticket in 2000. To oppose him the tained control of both houses of nual basis; it prescribed penalties for individuals. No notable person was
Republicans chose George W. Bush, Congress by a small margin. those institutions unable to achieve infected. Five victims died, how-

332 333
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

ever, and several others suffered se- which provided political support Throughout the year, the ad- U.S. ally in the war that followed;
rious illness. The mailings touched and access to air bases. ministration pressed for a U.N. Australia and most of the newly
off a wave of national hysteria, then Utilizing U.S. Army special forc- resolution demanding resumption independent Eastern European na-
stopped as suddenly as they had be- es and Central Intelligence Agency of weapons inspection with full and tions contributed assistance. The
gun, and remained a mystery. paramilitary operatives, the admin- free access. In October 2002, Bush governments of Italy and Spain
It was in this setting that the istration allied with long-marginal- secured congressional authorization also lent their backing. Turkey, long
administration obtained passage of ized Afghan rebels. Given effective for the use of military force by a vote a reliable American ally, declined
the USA Patriot Act on October 26, air support, the coalition ousted the of 296-133 in the House and 77-23 to do so.
2001. Designed to fight domestic Afghan government in two months. in the Senate. The U.S. military be- On March 19, 2003, American
terrorism, the new law considerably Bin Laden, Taliban leaders, and gan a buildup of personnel and ma- and British troops, supported by
broadened the search, seizure, and many of their fighters were believed teriel in Kuwait. small contingents from several other
detention powers of the federal gov- to have escaped into remote, semi- In November 2002, the U.N. Se- countries, began an invasion of Iraq
ernment. Its opponents argued that autonomous areas of northeastern curity Council unanimously adopt- from the south. Small groups airlift-
it amounted to a serious violation Pakistan. From there they would try ed Resolution 1441 requiring Iraq to ed into the north coordinated with
of constitutionally protected indi- to regroup and attack the shaky new afford U.N. inspectors the uncondi- Kurdish militia. On both fronts, re-
vidual rights. Its backers responded Afghan government. tional right to search anywhere in sistance was occasionally fierce but
that a country at war needed to pro- In the meantime, the Bush Iraq for banned weapons. Five days usually melted away. Baghdad fell
tect itself. administration identified other later, Iraq declared it would comply. on April 9. On April 14, Pentagon
After initial hesitation, the Bush sources of enemy terrorism. In his Nonetheless, the new inspections officials announced that the mili-
administration also decided to sup- 2002 State of the Union address, teams complained of bad faith. In tary campaign was over.
port the establishment of a gigan- the president named an “axis of January 2003, chief inspector Hans Taking Iraq turned out to be far
tic new Department of Homeland evil” that he thought threatened Blix presented a report to the Unit- easier than administering it. In the
Security. Authorized in November the nation: Iraq, Iran, and North ed Nations declaring that Iraq had first days after the end of major
2002, and designed to coordinate Korea. Of these three, Iraq seemed failed to account for its weapons combat, the country experienced
the fight against domestic terrorist to him and his advisers the most of mass destruction, although he pervasive looting. Hit-and-run at-
attack, the new department consoli- immediately troublesome. Saddam recommended more efforts before tacks on allied troops followed and
dated 22 federal agencies. Hussein had successfully ejected withdrawing. became increasingly organized, de-
Overseas, the administration re- U.N. weapons inspectors. The eco- Despite Saddam’s unsatisfac- spite the capture of Saddam Hus-
taliated quickly against the perpe- nomic sanctions against Iraq were tory cooperation with the weapons sein and the deaths of his two sons
trators of the September 11 attacks. breaking down, and, although inspectors, the American plans to and heirs. Different Iraqi factions
Determining that the attack had been the regime was not believed to be remove him from power encoun- at times seemed on the verge of war
an al-Qaida operation, it launched involved in the 9/11 attacks, it had tered unusually strong opposition with each other.
a military offensive against Osama engaged in some contacts with in much of Europe. France, Rus- New weapons inspection teams
bin Laden and the fundamental- al-Qaida. It was widely believed, sia, and Germany all opposed the were unable to find the expected
ist Muslim Taliban government not just in the United States but use of force, making impossible the stockpiles of chemical and bio-
of Afghanistan. The United States throughout the world, that Iraq passage of a new Security Council logical weaponry. Although neither
secured the passive cooperation of had large stockpiles of chemical resolution authorizing the use of explanation made much sense, it
the Russian Federation, established and biological weapons and might force against Iraq. Even in those increasingly seemed that Saddam
relationships with the former Soviet be working to acquire a nuclear nations whose governments sup- Hussein had either engaged in a
republics that bordered Afghani- capability. Why else throw out the ported the United States, there was gigantic and puzzling bluff, or pos-
stan, and, above all, resumed a long- inspection teams and endure con- strong popular hostility to coop- sibly that the weapons had been
neglected alliance with Pakistan, tinuing sanctions? eration. Britain became the major moved to another country.

334 335
CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

After the fall of Baghdad, the combatant who presumably could that he possessed a satisfactory strat-virtually every nationality and eth-
United States and Britain, with manage the Iraq conflict better egy to end the war. The Republicans nic group on the globe. It is also a
increasing cooperation from the than Bush. The Republicans, how- also scored small, but important nation where the pace and extent
United Nations, moved ahead with ever, highlighted his apparently gains in Congress. of change — economic, techno-
establishment of a provisional gov- contradictory votes of first autho- As George W. Bush began his logical, cultural, demographic, and
ernment that would assume sover- rizing the president to invade Iraq, second term, the United States faced social — is unceasing. The United
eignty over Iraq. The effort occurred then voting against an important challenges aplenty: the situation in States is often the harbinger of the
amidst increasing violence that in- appropriation for the war. A group Iraq, stresses within the Atlantic al- modernization and change that in-
cluded attacks not simply on allied of Vietnam veterans, moreover, at- liance, in part over Iraq, increasing evitably sweep up other nations and
troops but also Iraqis connected in tacked Kerry’s military record and budget deficits, the escalating cost societies in an increasingly interde-
any way with the new government. subsequent anti-war activism. of social entitlements, and a shaky pendent, interconnected world.
Most of the insurgents appeared to Bush, by contrast, portrayed currency. The electorate remained Yet the United States also main-
be Saddam loyalists; some were in- himself as frank and consistent in deeply divided. The United States in tains a sense of continuity, a set of
digenous Muslim sectarians; a fair speech and deed, a man of action the past had thrived on such crises. core values that can be traced to its
number likely were foreign fighters. willing to take all necessary steps Whether it would in the future re- founding. They include a faith in
It was not clear whether a liberal to protect the country. He stressed mained to be seen. individual freedom and democratic
democratic nation could be created his record of tax cuts and educa- government, and a commitment to
out of such chaos, but certain that tion reform and appealed strongly AFTERWORD economic opportunity and progress

F
the United States could not impose to supporters of traditional values for all. The continuing task of the
one if Iraqis did not want it. and morality. Public opinion polls rom its origins as a set of obscure United States will be to ensure that
suggested that Kerry gained some colonies hugging the Atlantic coast, its values of freedom, democracy,
THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ground following the first of three the United States has undergone and opportunity — the legacy of
ELECTION debates, but the challenger failed to a remarkable transformation into a rich and turbulent history — are

B erode the incumbent’s core support. what political analyst Ben Watten- protected and flourish as the na-
y mid-2004, with the United As in 2000, Bush registered strong berg has called “the first universal tion, and the world, move through
States facing a violent insurgency in majorities among Americans who nation,” a population of almost the 21st century. 9
Iraq and considerable foreign oppo- attended religious services at least 300 million people representing
sition to the war there, the country once a week and increased from
appeared as sharply divided as it had 2000 his majority among Christian
been four years earlier. To challenge evangelical voters.
President Bush, the Democrats The organizational tempo of the
nominated Senator John F. Kerry campaign was as frenetic as its rhe-
of Massachusetts. Kerry’s record torical pace. Both sides excelled at
as a decorated Vietnam veteran, his getting out their supporters; the to-
long experience in Washington, his tal popular vote was approximately
dignified demeanor, and his skills 20 percent higher than it had been
as a speaker all appeared to make in 2000. Bush won by 51 percent to
him the ideal candidate to unite his 48 percent, with the remaining 1
party. His initial campaign strategy percent going to Ralph Nader and a
was to avoid deep Democratic divi- number of other independent candi-
sions over the war by emphasizing dates. Kerry seems to have been un-
his personal record as a Vietnam successful in convincing a majority

336 337
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

BIBLIOGR APHY 2001 2001


Roaring Camp: The Social World of Founding Brothers: The
the California Gold Rush Revolutionary Generation
By Susan Lee Johnson By Joseph Ellis
RECENT PRIZE-WINNING A Nation Under Our Feet: Black W. W. Norton and Company Alfred A. Knopf
BOOKS Political Struggles in the Rural South
From Slavery to the Great Migration The Chief: The Life of
The Bancroft Prize for By Steven Hahn William Randolph Hearst SELECTED INTERNET
American History The Belknap Press of By David Nasaw RESOURCES
(Awarded by the Trustees of Harvard University Press Houghton Mifflin Company
Columbia University) American Historical Association
Jonathan Edwards: A Life Pulitzer Prize for a distinguished (AHA)
2005 By George M. Marsden book upon the history of the http://www.historians.org/
Israel on the Appomattox: Yale University Press United States index.cfm
A Southern Experiment in Black (Awarded by Columbia University
Freedom From the 1790s Through the 2003 Graduate School of Journalism) American History: A Documentary
Civil War Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Record
By Melvin Patrick Ely Kinship, and Community in the 2005 1492 - Present
Alfred A. Knopf Southwest Borderlands Washington’s Crossing http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/
By James F. Brooks By David Hackett Fischer avalon/chrono.htm
From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: University of North Carolina Oxford University Press
The Supreme Court and the Struggle Press for the Omohundro Institute The Avalon Project at the Yale Law
for Racial Equality of Early American History and 2004 School: Major Collections
By Michael J. Klarman Culture A Nation Under Our Feet: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/
Oxford University Press The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of Black Political Struggles in the Rural avalon/major.htm
the English Empire in the American South From Slavery to the Great
Conjectures of Order: Intellectual Life South, 1670-1717 Migration Biography of America
and the American South, 1810-1860 By Alan Gallay By Steven Hahn http://www.learner.org/
By Michael O’Brien Yale University Press The Belknap Press of biographyofamerica/
The University of Harvard University Press
North Carolina Press 2002 Digital History
Race and Reunion: The Civil War in 2003 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
2004 American Memory An Army at Dawn: The War in
In the Presence of Mine Enemies: By David W. Blight North Africa, 1942-1943 Documents for the Study of
War in the Heart of America, The Belknap Press of By Rick Atkinson American History
1859-1863 Harvard University Press Henry Holt and Company http://www.ku.edu/carrie/docs/
By Edward L. Ayers amdocs_index.html
W.W. Norton and Company In Pursuit of Equity: Women, 2002
Men, and the Quest for Economic The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Gilder Lehrman Institute of
Citizenship in 20th-Century America Ideas in America American History
By Alice Kessler-Harris By Louis Menand http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
Oxford University Press Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux

338 339
BIBLIOGRAPHY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

History Matters National Park Service: History in INDEX


http://historymatters.gmu.edu/ the Parks
http://www.cr.nps.gov/catsig.htm
The Library of Congress
Page references in boldface type refer civil rights movement, 240, 258,
American Memory: Historical Organization of American
to illustrations. 271-272
Collections for the National Digital Historians (OAH)
color barrier broken in sports, 237,
Library http://www.oah.org/
271
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ A
Colored Farmers National Alliance,
Smithsonian Abolition of slavery
191
The Library of Congress http://www.si.edu/ Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry
culture, 210-211
American Memory: Timeline (1859), 139
Freedmen’s Bureau and, 148, 151
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ The Historical Society constitutional amendment (13th),
“Harlem Renaissance,” 211
ndlpedu/features/timeline/ http://www.bu.edu/historic/ 148
jazz musicians, 211
index.html Democratic Party and, 152
labor unions and, 193
WWW Virtual Library: History: Douglass as abolitionist leader, 91
lynchings and violence against, 150,
Emancipation Proclamation, 144-
National Archives and Records United States 178, 271
145
Administration http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/ members of Congress, 96
Freedmen’s Bureau, 148, 151
http://www.nara.gov as sharecroppers and tenant
Garrison and The Liberator on, 91,
We the People 122, 133-134
farmers, 190-191
National Archives and Records http://www.wethepeople.gov U.S. Colored Troops in Union
Missouri Compromise (1820), 80,
Administration: Digital Classroom Army, 145
114, 132, 135, 137
http://www.archives.gov/digital_ See also Abolition of slavery; Civil
Northwest Ordinance slavery ban,
classroom/ rights; Racial discrimination;
71, 73, 113, 135
The U.S. Department of State assumes Slavery
no responsibility for the content and
religious social activism and, 87
National Archives and Records Agnew, Spiro, 290
availability of the resources from other as a sectional conflict/divided
Administration: Our Documents: Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA),
agencies and organizations listed above. nation, 128-139
A National Initiative on American All Internet links were active as of 216
southern statesmen on, 113
Fall 2005. Agriculture
History, Civics, and Service Underground Railroad, 91, 134, 136
farm-relief act, 216
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/ See also Slavery
Farmers’ Alliances, 191
index.php?flash=true& Adams, John, 52, 64, 72, 82-83
Grange movement, 191
Adams, John Quincy, 115, 116, 134
land grant and technical colleges,
National Park Service: Links to Adams, Samuel, 56-57
152, 177
the Past Adamson Act, 199
New Deal programs, 216-217
http://www.cr.nps.gov/ Addams, Jane, 196
Patrons of Husbandry (Grange),
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
191
(Twain), 97
plantation settlements, 26, 28, 113-
Afghanistan, U.S. relations, 294, 334
114, 128-129
AFL. See American Federation of
post-Revolutionary period, 70
Labor (AFL)
Republican policy, 79, 208
African Americans
scientific research, 177
bus boycott (Montgomery,
sharecroppers and tenant farmers,
Alabama), 240
190-191

340 341
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

small farmers and agricultural Olive Branch Petition, 60 B Brezhnev, Leonid, 289
consolidation, 267 significance of, 65 Babcock, Stephen, 177 British colonization. See English
technological revolution, 110-111, Treaty of Paris (1783), 47, 64 Ball, Lucille, 239 colonization
160, 177 Yorktown, British surrender at, 47- Banking Act, 218 Brooks, David, 322
westward expansion and, 125 48, 64 Banking and finance Brown, John, 139
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency American Sugar Refining Company, currency question and gold Brown v. Board of Education (1954),
Syndrome) 197 standard, 192 240, 244, 272
epidemic, 307 American Telephone and Telegraph Federal Reserve Board, 199, 218 Bryan, William Jennings, 192, 195, 198,
quilt (Wash., D.C.), 299 (AT&T), 158 Federal Reserve System, 119, 187, 209-210
AIM. See American Indian Movement American Temperance Union, 121 198-199 Buchanan, Pat, 332
(AIM) Amity and Commerce, Treaty of financial panic (1893), 192 Buckley, William F., 308
Alaska (France-American colonies), 63 First Bank of the United States, 79 Bull Moose Party, 318
gold rush, 192 Amnesty Act (1872), 150 insured savings (FDIC), 215 Burbank, Luther, 177
purchase, known as “Seward’s Anasazi, 8, 20 national bank, 79-80 Burgoyne, John, 62
Folly,” 182 Andros, Sir Edmund, 31 New Deal program reforms, 214- Bush, George Herbert Walker
Albany Plan of Union, 33, 69 Anthony, Susan B., 90, 122 215 budgets and deficits, 315
Albright, Madeline, 329 Antifederalists, 76 regional and local bank charters, domestic policy, 314-315
Alien Act, 82, 117 Antitrust legislation, 160, 187, 196-197, 119 end of Cold War, 315-316
Amalgamated Association of Iron, 199 Second Bank of the United States, foreign policy, 312, 316-317
Steel, and Tin Workers, 194 Apache Indians, 180, 181 118-119 photo of, 255
American Bible Society, 87 Aquino, Corazon, 312 state banking system, 119 presidential election (1998), 314;
American Civil Liberties Union, 209 Arafat, Yasser, 330 stock market crash (1929), 211 (1992), 322, 324
American Federation of Labor (AFL), Aristide, Jean-Bertrand, 330 Baptists, 87, 88 “war on drugs,” 317
194, 209, 227 Arlington Cemetery (Virginia), 174 Barak, Ehud, 330 Bush, George W.
American Independent Party, 319 Armour, Philip, 158 Beard, Charles, 75 as a “compassionate conservative,”
American Indian Movement (AIM), Arms control. See Nuclear weapons “Beat Generation” (1950s), 270 332
281 Armstrong, Louis, 211 Begin, Menachim, 292 Afghanistan invasion, 334
American Philosophical Society, 28 Armstrong, Neil, 285 Bell, Alexander Graham, 107, 156 with African leaders, 295
American Railway Union, 194 Arnaz, Desi, 239 Bell, John C., 139 domestic and foreign policy, 332-
American Revolution, 50-65 Arnold, Benedict, 62 Bell Telephone System, 158 336
Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57 Articles of the Confederation, 69-70 Bellamy, Edward, 160 on freedom, 322
British move through the South, Asia, Cold War, 263-264 Biddle, Nicholas, 119 Iraq War, 334-336
63-64 Atlantic Charter (U.S.-Britain), 220 Bill of Rights, 77 presidential elections (2000), 333;
colonial declaration of war, 60 Automobile industry bin Laden, Osama, 331, 332, 334 (2004), 336-337
Concord and Lexington battles auto worker strikes, 228, 230 Blaine, James G., 185 with Tony Blair, 294-295
(1775), 59-60 automobile safety crusade, 287 Blair, Tony, 294-295, 330
economic aftermath, 70 environmental issues/traffic Blix, Hans, 335 C
factors leading to, 50-59 congestion, 282, 300-301 Bolívar, Simon, 114 Cable News Network, 297
first shots fired at Lexington, 44-45, unemployment, 227 Booth, John Wilkes, 147 Cabot, John, 9
59 Borglum, Gutzon, 171 Cady Stanton, Elizabeth, 90, 122-123
Franco-American alliance, 62-63 Bosnia, 330 Calhoun, John C., 112, 116, 117, 125
Long Island, battle of (1776), 61 Boston Massacre (1770), 56 California
Loyalists and, 60, 65 Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57 as a free state, 136
Breckenridge, John C., 139 gold rush, 131, 136, 179

342 343
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

migrant farm workers’ unions, desegregation of schools, 240, 241, secession from the Union, 142-143 Coercive or Intolerable Acts (England),
279-280 244, 272-273, 277 Sherman’s march through the 57-59
territory, 135 desegregation of the military, 269, South, 146 Cold War, 258-267
Calvinism, 13, 29, 34, 65 272 Shiloh campaign, 144 in Asia, 263-264
Campbell, Ben Nighthorse, 281 Jesse Jackson’s “Rainbow Coalition,” Spotsylvania (Battle of the Eisenhower Administration, 264-
Capitalism, 187, 193, 214 253 Wilderness, 1864), 146 265
Carleton, Mark, 177 Truman 10-point civil rights surrender at Appomattox end of, 255, 315-316, 324
Carmichael, Stokely, 278 program, 271-272 Courthouse, 146 Kennedy Administration, 284-285
Carnegie, Andrew, 97, 156-157, 187, See also Civil rights movement; Vicksburg campaign (1863), 145, in the Middle East, 264
194 Individual rights; Racial 146 origins of, 260-261
Carson, Rachel, 282 discrimination See also Reconstruction Era Truman Administration, 261, 265
Carter, Jimmy, 291-292 Civil Rights Act (1957), 273 Civil Works Administration (CWA), College of William and Mary, 27
Cartier, Jacques, 10 Civil Rights Act (1960), 273 215-216 Colonial period
Carver, George Washington, 177 Civil Rights Act (1964), 277, 286 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), cultural developments, 27-29
Cattle ranching, 179-180 Civil rights movement (1960-80), 276- 215 Dutch colonies, 14, 15, 17, 24
Central Pacific Railroad, 179 278 Clark, William, 47 early settlements, 10-12, 24
A Century of Dishonor (Jackson), 181 “black power” activists, 277-278 Clay, Henry English settlers, 10-12, 13-15, 17, 24
Chambers, Whittaker, 266 “freedom rides,” 277 compromise agreements, 114, 136 French and Indian Wars, 32-33
Charles I (British king), 12, 13, 15 “March on Washington” (1963), portrait of, 90 German settlers, 24, 25, 26
Charles II (British king), 17, 18, 31 277 presidential elections, 116, 119 government of the colonies, 29-32
Chase, Salmon P., 138 origins of the, 271-272 protective tariffs, 112, 117, 118 Jamestown colony (Virginia), 10,
Chávez, César, 250, 280 riots (1960s), 278 Whig Party statesman, 120, 152 12-13, 16
Cherokee Indians, 125 sit-ins, 277 Clayton Antitrust Act, 199 Massachusetts colonies, 13-14,
Chiang Kai-shek, 224, 263, 264 Civil Service Commission, 307 Clean Air Act (1967), 282 24-25
Chicanos. See Latino movement Civil War (1861-65) Clemenceau, Georges, 108 middle colonies, 25-26
Child labor, 102-103, 177, 193, 196 African Americans in U.S. Colored Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 97, 196 Native American relations, 15-17,
China, People’s Republic of Troops in Union Army, 145 Cleveland, Grover, 159, 182, 183, 192, 18, 39
Boxer Rebellion (1900), 186 Alexandria, Union troop 194 New Amsterdam, 14, 15, 26
Taiwan relations, 263, 265, 289 encampment, 94 Clinton, Hillary Rodham, 324, 325, 328 New England colonies, 24-25
U.S. diplomatic relations, 186, 289, Antietam campaign (1862), 141, Clinton, William “Bill” New England Confederation, 17
292 144 Cabinet appointments, 280 Pennsylvania colony, 18, 25, 27-28,
Christian Coalition, 308 Bull Run (First Manassas), 143 domestic policy, 324-326 30, 39, 69
Churchill, Winston Bull Run (Second Manassas), 144 foreign policy, 329-331 rural country daily life, 26-27
on the “iron curtain,” 260-261 casualties, 92, 144, 145 impeachment hearings/trial, 328, Scots and Scots-Irish settlers, 24,
U.S. support for war effort, 220 Chancellorsville campaign (1863), 329 25, 26
at Yalta, 224, 234 92-93, 145 presidential election (1992), 322- southern colonies, 26-27
CIO. See Committee for Industrial Chattanooga and Lookout 324; (1996), 328 Swedish colonies, 15, 24
Organization (CIO); Congress of Mountain campaigns (1863), 146 presidential inaugural address Virginia colonies, 10, 12-13, 16, 26,
Industrial Organizations (CIO) Gettysburg address, by Lincoln, (1993), 255 28-30, 68-69
Citizenship, 82, 148-149, 178 142, 145 sexual impropriety/intern scandal, Colored-Farmers National Alliance,
Civil rights Gettysburg campaign (1863), 92, 326, 328 191
bus boycott (Montgomery, 145, 146 Arkansas real estate investigation, Columbus, Christopher, 9
Alabama), 240, 273 Petersburg campaign (1865), 146 326 Commission on Civil Rights, 280
desegregation, 272-273 postwar politics, 152-153

344 345
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Committee for Industrial Organization 19th (voting rights for women), See also Libraries; Literary works; Dreiser, Theodore, 196
(CIO), 228 207 Music, American Du Bois, W.E.B., 178, 211
Committees of Correspondence, 56-57 amendments process, 74 Currency Act (England, 1764), 53 Dukakis, Michael, 314
Commodity Credit Corporation, 216 Bill of Rights, 77 Custer, George, 98-99, 180 Dulles, John Foster, 265
Common Sense (Paine), 60 Congressional powers, 75 Dunmore, Lord, 60
Communism, 206-207 debate and compromise, 73-75 D Dutch colonization, 14, 15, 17
Cold War and, 258-267, 315-316 declaration of war powers, 316-317 Dakota Sioux, 98, 180, 281 patroon system, 14-15
Eisenhower containment policy, on display at National Archives, 174 Darrow, Clarence, 209-210 Dutch East India Company, 14
264-265 motivations of Founding Fathers, Darwinian theory Dylan, Bob, 281
Federal Employee Loyalty Program, 75 Scopes trial, 209-210
266 ratification, 75-76 “survival of the fittest,” 193 E
House Committee on Un- separation of powers principle, 74 Davis, Jefferson, 142 East India Company, 57
American Activities, 266 signing of, at Constitution Hall Dawes (General Allotment) Act Eastman, George, 106, 157
McCarthy Senate hearings on, 236, (Philadelphia), 164 (1887), 181 Edison, Thomas, 106, 157
266 Constitutional Convention De Soto, Hernando, 9 Education
Red Scare (1919-20), 207, 265 (Philadelphia, 1787), 66-67, 71-77 Declaration of Independence, 61, 68 in the colonies, 27-29
spread of, 263 Constitutional Union Party, 139 burial site for three signers of, 162- computer technology and, 303
Truman Doctrine of containment, Continental Association, 58-59 163 day care centers, 303
261-263 Continental Congress, First (1774), 58 Declaratory Act (England), 55 No Child Left Behind Act, 333
Communist Party, 206, 263, 265, 266 Continental Congress, Second (1775), Delaware Indians, 18, 39 private schools, 27
Compromise of 1850, 90, 135-136 60, 61, 69, 71 Democracy in America (Tocqueville), private tutors, 28
Confederation Congress, 71 Coolidge, Calvin, 204, 207 130 public school systems, 121
Congress of Industrial Organizations Cornwallis, Lord Charles, 46-47, 64 Democratic Party, 116, 137, 152, 153, school desegregation, 240, 244, 272-
(CIO), 228 Coronado, Francisco Vázquez de, 9 192, 218-219 273, 277
Congress, U.S. Corporations, 158-159 Depression. See Great Depression Edwards, Jonathan, 29
African-American members, 96 Coughlin, Charles, 217 Dewey, George, 183 Eisenhower, Dwight David
first Native American member, 281 Counterculture (1960s), 281-282 Dewey, Thomas, 235, 269 civil rights supporter, 272, 273
Hispanic members, 280 New Leftists, 281-282 Dickens, Charles, 130-131 Cold War and foreign policy, 264-
power to make Laws, 75 Vietnam War demonstrations, 281 Dickinson, Emily, 96 265
representation in House and “Woodstock Generation,” 249, 281 Dickinson, John, 55, 69 domestic policy of “dynamic
Senate, 73 Cox, James M., 207 Digital revolution, 293, 296 conservatism,” 269-270
Conservatism, 307-309 Crawford, William, 116 e-mail communication, 327 portrait of, 236
Constitution, state constitutions, 68-69 Crazy Horse (Sioux chief), 180 mobile phones, 327 as president of U.S., 264-265, 269-
Constitution, U.S. Creek Indians, 125 personal computer (PC) growth, 270
amendments Cromwell, Oliver, 12, 17, 31 306, 327 as Supreme Commander of Allied
1st thru 12th, 77 Cuba, Spanish-American War and, Dix, Dorothea, 121 Forces, 223, 232, 264
13th (abolishing slavery), 148 182-183 Dixiecrats, 319 Electoral College, 116, 117
14th (citizenship rights), 148- Cuban missile crisis (1962), 284 Dole, Robert, 328 Elkins Act (1903), 196
149, 178 Cullen, Countee, 211 Doolittle, James “Jimmy,” 223 Ellington, Duke, 211
15th (voting rights), 149, 273 Culture Dorset, Marion, 177 Ellis Island Monument, 102, 103, 200
16th (federal income tax), 198 of the 1950s, 270-271 Douglas, Stephen A., 136, 137, 138-139 Emancipation Proclamation, 144-145
17th (direct election of in the colonies, 27-29 Douglass, Frederick, 91, 122, 134, 145 Embargo Act (1807), 84
senators), 198 counterculture of the 1960s, 281- Drake, Francis, 10 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 59
18th (prohibition), 210 282 Dred Scott decision, 138, 149

346 347
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Enforcement Acts (1870 and 1871), The Financier (Dreiser), 196 Georgia soup lines, 202-203
150 Finney, Charles, Grandison, 87 colonial royal government, 31 stock market crash (1929), 211
English Civil War (1642-49), 31 Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 210 early settlement, 18 “Great Society,” 286-287
English colonization Force Act, 118 Native American tribes relocated, Greeley, Horace, 112, 124
early settlements, 10-12 Ford, Gerald, 290-291 118 Green Party, 332
French and Indian War and, 32-33 Ford, Henry, 109 German unification, 316 Greenspan, Alan, 327
map of, 36-37 Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922), 207 Germany Grey, Zane, 180
in Maryland, 15 Foreign policy. See U.S. foreign policy Berlin Airlift, 262 Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, 135
in Massachusetts, 13-14 France Kennedy speech in West Berlin, Guam, U.S. relations, 184
New England Confederation, 17 Louisiana Territory sold to U.S., 242-243
English common law, 30 83-84 postwar period, 262 H
Enola Gay (U.S. bomber), attacks on New World exploration, 9-10 reparations, World War I, 224 Haiti, political situation, 330
Hiroshima nd Nagasaki, 226 U.S. diplomatic relations, 82-83 Germany in World War II Hamilton, Alexander
Environmental movement, 282, 298 XYZ Affair, 82 Holocaust (Jewish genocide), 226 and Bank of the United States, 79,
Environmental Protection Agency Franco-American Treaty of Alliance Nazism, 219, 224, 226 118
(EPA), 282 (1778), 62-63, 80, 82 North African campaign, 222 Constitutional Convention
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), 279 Franklin, Benjamin, 28, 33, 43, 63, 64, Nuremberg war crime trials, 226 delegate, 71, 72
Erik the Red, 9 72, 75 reparations, 206 Federalist Papers and, 43, 76
Free Soil Party, 136, 137, 138 submarine warfare, 204-205 as first Treasury Department
F Freedmen’s Bureau, 148, 151 Geronimo (Apache chief), 181 secretary, 77
Falwell, Jerry, 308 Fremont, John, 138 Gerry, Elbridge, 72, 73 portrait of, 48
Farragut, David, 143 French and Indian War, 32-33 Ghent, Treaty of (1814), 85 and Republican Party, 152
Faubus, Orval, 272 French exploration, 10 Gilbert, Humphrey, 10 vs. Jefferson, 48, 78-80
Federal Aid Road Act (1916), 113 French Huguenots, 24 The Gilded Age (Twain), 196 Hamilton, Andrew, 28
Federal Artists Project, 218 French Revolution, 34, 79, 80, 81 Ginsberg, Allen, 271 Harding, Warren G., 207
Federal Deposit and Insurance Friedan, Betty, 278, 279 Glenn, John, 285 Harrison, Benjamin, 160
Corporation (FDIC), 215 Friedman, Milton, 308 Glorious Revolution (1688-89), 31, 32 Harrison, William Henry, 85, 120
Federal Emergency Relief Fugitive Slave Act, 136, 137 Goethals, George W., 185 Hartford Convention (1814), 117
Administration (FERA), 215 Fundamentalism, religious, 209, 210, Goldwater, Barry, 286, 308, 309 Harvard College, 27
Federal Employee Loyalty Program, 308 Gompers, Samuel, 194 Hawaii, statehood (1959), 184
266 González, Henry B., 280 Hawaiian Islands, U.S. policy of
Federal Reserve Act (1913), 198 G Gorbachev, Mikhail, 304-305, 314, 315, annexation, 183-184
Federal Reserve Board, 199, 218, 291, Gage, Thomas, 59 316 Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act (1930), 207
310 Gallatin, Albert, 83 Gore, Al, 323, 332, 333 Hay, John, 184, 186
Federal Reserve System, 119, 187, 198- Garrison, William Lloyd, 91, 122, 133- Gould, Jay, 194 Hayes, Rutherford B., 150-151, 153
199 134 Grange movement, 191 Haymarket Square incident, 194
Federal Theatre Project, 218 Garza, Eligio “Kika” de la, 280 Grant, Ulysses S. Helsinki Accords (1975), 291
Federal Trade Commission, 199 Gates, Bill, 296 portrait of, 95 Hemingway, Ernest, 109, 210
Federal Workingman’s Compensation Gates, Horatio, 62, 63-64 as president of U.S., 150, 153 Henry, Patrick, 42, 54, 76, 77
Act (1916), 199 Gay rights, 307, 324-325 as Union Army general, 144, 145 Hepburn Act (1906), 197
Federal Writers Project, 218 Genet, Edmond Charles, 80-81 Great Depression (1929-40) Hidalgo, Miguel de, 114
The Federalist Papers, 43, 76 George, Henry, 160 decline in immigration, 201 Highway Act (1956), 268
Federalists, 76, 78, 81, 82, 86, 116 George III (British king), 55, 59 “Dust Bowl” migration, 216
The Feminine Mystique (Friedan), 278 New Deal programs, 214-218

348 349
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Hispanics Apache wars, 180, 181 Israel as first State Department secretary,
in politics, 280 Custer’s Last Stand at Little Egypt invasion, 265 77
See also Latino movement Bighorn, 98-99, 180 Palestinian relations, 330 portrait of, 46
Hiss, Alger, 266 French and Indian War, 32-33 U.S. policy, 264 as president of U.S., 83
Hitler, Adolf, 201, 219 Pequot War (1637), 16 on right of self-government, 68
Ho Chi Minh, 284 and westward expansion, 124, 180- J on slavery, 114
Hohokam settlements, 7 181 Jacinto, Battle of, 134 as U.S. minister to France, 72, 79-80
Holy Alliance, 115 Indians of North America. See Native Jackson, Andrew vs. Adams, 82
Homeland Security Department, 334 Americans conflicts with Indians, 125 vs. Hamilton, 48, 78-80
Homestead Act (1862), 124, 152, 179, Individual rights, 34, 65, 76-77 as general in War of 1812, 86 “Jim Crow” laws (separate but equal
180 See also Civil rights portrait of, 89 segregation), 151, 240, 272, 319
Hoover, Herbert, 185, 211 Industrial development. See under as president of U.S., 89, 117-118 Jobs, Steve, 296
Hopewellians, 7 names of industry presidential election (1824), 116 Johnson, Andrew
Hopi Indians, 8 Industrial Workers of the World presidential election (1828), 117 impeachment trial, 149-150
Housing and Urban Development (IWW), 194 Jackson, Helen Hunt, 181 as president of U.S., 147-149, 153
Department, 287 Interstate Commerce Commission Jackson, Jesse, 253 Johnson, Lyndon B.
Houston, Sam, 134 (ICC), 159, 197, 198 Jackson, Thomas J. (“Stonewall”), 144, civil rights supporter, 273, 277
Howe, William, 61-62 Inventions 145 Great Society programs, 286-287
Hudson, Henry, 14 adding machine, 157 James I (British king), 12 portrait of, 245
Hughes, Langston, 211 airplane, 107 James II (British king), 31 space program, 285
Hull, Cordell, 221 cash register, 157 Jamestown colony (Virginia), 10, 12- Vietnam War policy, 287-288
Humphrey, Hubert, 288 cotton gin, 114, 133 13, 16 “War on Poverty,” 286
Hungary, rebellion (1956), 265 light bulb/incandescent lamp, 106, Japan Johnson-Reed National Origins Act
Hutchinson, Anne, 14 157 attack on Pearl Harbor, 212-213, (1924), 201, 209
linotype machine, 157 221, 222 The Jungle (Sinclair), 196
I motion picture projector, 106, 157 Kamikaze suicide missions, 225
Immigrants and immigration reaper (farm machine), 131, 158, surrender (1945), 226 K
diversity of immigrants, 200-201 160 U.S. attacks on Hiroshima and Kansas
Ellis Island Monument, 102, 103, telegraph, 156 Nagasaki, 226 slavery issue and, 138
200 telephone, 107, 156 U.S. relations, 186 territory (“bleeding Kansas”), 137,
illegal immigrants, 201 television, 268 Japanese-Americans, internment 138
immigration quotas, 201, 209 typewriter, 157 camps, 222, 233 Kansas-Nebraska Act, 137
“Little Italy” in New York City, 104- Iran, U.S. relations, 292 Jay, John, 43, 64, 76, 81, 82 Kennan, George, 261
105 Axis of evil, 334 Jay Treaty (Britain-U.S.), 81, 82 Kennedy, John F.
Nativists and, 209 Iraq Jazz Age, 210 assassination of, 277, 286
policy reform, 307 elections (2005), 302 Jefferson Memorial (Wash., D.C.), 161 Bay of Pigs invasion, 284
restrictions on immigration, 208- provisional government, 335 Jefferson, Thomas civil rights policy, 277, 283
209 U.N. weapons inspections, 329, on abolition of slavery, 113 Cold War and, 284-285
Immigration Restriction League, 201 334-335 as drafter of Declaration of Cuban missile crisis, 284
Imperialism, 181-182 U.S.-led invasion, 335 Independence, 61 as president of U.S., 282-285
Indentured servants, 18-19 Iron and steel industry, 157, 187 face of (Mount Rushmore), 170- space program, 285-286
Indian Removal Act (1830), 125 strikes, 194, 228 171 Vietnam War policy, 284-285
Indian Reorganization Act (1934), 181 Iroquois Indians, 14, 16-17, 33 West Berlin speech during Cold
Indian Wars Isolationism, 78, 206, 220 War, 242-243

350 351
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Kennedy, Robert, assassination of, 278, Latin America, U.S. intervention, 184- as president during Civil War, 142- Manhattan. See New York
288 185 147 Manhattan project (atomic bomb
Kentucky Latin American Revolution, 114-116 presidential election (1860), 139 development), 225
Resolutions (1798), 117 Latino movement, 279-280 presidential election (1864), 147, Mann, Horace, 121
statehood (1792), 7-8 League of Nations, 205-206, 226 153 Mao Zedong, 263, 289
Kerouac, Jack, 270 Lee, Richard Henry, 61, 64 presidential inaugural address, 142 Marbury v. Madison (1803), 113
Kerry, John F., 336-337 Lee, Robert E. senatorial campaign (1858), 138- Marcos, Ferdinand, 312
Khomeini, Ayatollah, 292 capture of John Brown at Harper’s 139 Marshall, George C., 262
Khrushchev, Nikita, 284 Ferry, 139 on slavery and the Union, 130, 138 Marshall, John
Kim Il-sung, 263 commander of Confederate Army, Lincoln, Benjamin, 63, 70 as chief justice of the Supreme
King, Martin Luther, Jr. 144 Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858), 138- Court, 49, 113
assassination of, 278, 288 declines command of Union Army, 139 funeral of, 168
civil rights movement and, 240, 143 Literary works portrait of, 49
241, 273, 283 portrait of, 95 “Beat Generation” (1950s), 270-271 Marshall Plan, 262
“I have a dream” speech, 276, 277 surrender at Appomattox colonial period, 28-29 Marshall, Thurgood, 244
King, Rufus, 72 Courthouse, 146 “Harlem Renaissance,” 211 Martin, Josiah, 60
Kissinger, Henry, 289 Leif (son of Erik the Red), 9 “Lost Generation” (1920s), 109, 211 Maryland
Know-Nothing Party, 120 Lenin, V.I., 259 New Deal programs and, 218 Calvert family charter, 15, 30
Korean War, 235, 263, 264 Levitt, William J., 268 See also names of individual authors Catholic settlements, 15
Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 65 Lewis and Clark expedition, or works St. Mary’s, first town in, 15
Ku Klux Klan, 150, 201, 209 bicentennial commemorative stamp, Lloyd George, David, 108 Toleration Act and religious
46 Locke, John, 17, 32, 34, 61, 65, 73 freedom, 17
L Lewis, John L., 227-228 Lodge, Henry Cabot, 181, 184 Mason, George, 76
Labor unions, 121, 193-195 Lewis, Meriwether, 47 Logan, James, 28 Massachusetts
air controllers strike, 309 Lewis, Sinclair, 210 The Lonely Crowd (Riesman), 270 Boston Massacre (1770), 56
auto workers strikes, 228 The Liberator, 91, 133 Long, Huey P., assassination of, 217 Boston Port Bill, 57
collective bargaining, 217 Libraries “Lost Generation” (1920s), 109, 211 Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57
Haymarket Square incident, 194 American Philosophical Society Louis XVI (French king), 64, 80 colonial government charter, 30-31
membership in U.S., 227-228 (Philadelphia), 28 Louisiana Purchase, 83-84 early settlements, 13-14
migrant farm workers, 250, 279-280 in the colonies, 27, 28 Lovejoy, Elijah P., 134 Old Granary Cemetery (Boston),
mine workers membership/strikes, public libraries endowed by Lowell, James Russell, 147 162-163
194-195, 227-228 Carnegie, 97 Luce, Henry, 258 Salem witch trials, 35
New Deal programs, 217 subscription, 28 Lundestad, Geir, 262 schools and education, 27
post-World War I strikes, 206 Lincoln, Abraham Shays Rebellion, 70
post-World War II strikes, 269 assassination of, 147, 153 M trade and economic development,
railway worker strikes, 193, 194 at Civil War Union encampment, MacArthur, Douglas, 225, 232, 263 24-25
steel worker strikes, 194, 228 140-141 Macdonough, Thomas, 85 Massachusetts Bay Colony, 25, 31
textile worker strikes, 195 Emancipation Proclamation, 144- Madison, James, 43, 72, 75, 76, 84-86, Massachusetts Bay Company, 18
“Wobblies,” 194-195 145 113 Mather, Cotton, 28, 40
See also under names of specific face of (Mount Rushmore), 170- as “Father of the Constitution,” 72 Mayflower Compact, 13, 22-23, 30
unions 171 Mahan, Alfred Thayer, 184 Mayflower (ship), 13
Lafayette, Marquis de, 65 Free-Soil Party and, 138 Maine (U.S. warship) incident, 182 Mbeki, Thabo, 295
LaFollette, Robert, 196, 318-319 Gettysburg address, 142, 145 Major, John, 330 McCarran-Walter Act (1952), 201
Landon, Alf, 218 on Grant, 95 Malcolm X, 277 McCarthy, Joseph R., 236, 266

352 353
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

McClellan, George, 144, 147 Monetary policy. See U.S. monetary Trade Agreement (NAFTA) relations with European settlers,
McCormick, Cyrus, 131, 158, 160 policy Napoleon, 82, 83, 84 15-17, 18, 39
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), 113 Monroe Doctrine, 114-116 National Association for the religious beliefs, 8
McGovern, George, 290 Monroe, James, 113, 115, 116 Advancement of Colored People slave trade, 18
McGrath, J. Howard, 266 Montgomery, Bernard, 222 (NAACP), 211, 244, 272, 273 Trail of Tears (Cherokee forced
McKinley, William Montoya, Joseph, 280 National Industrial Recovery Act relocation), 125
assassination of, 195 Monuments and memorials, 161-176 (NIRA), 217, 227 U.S. policy, 181
Hawaii annexation treaty, 184 See also under names of individual National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Westward expansion and, 178
Maine (U.S. warship) incident, 182 memorials 217, 218, 228, 280 See also Indian Wars; and See under
Open Door foreign policy, 195 Moral Majority, 308 National Labor Relations Board names of individual tribes
as president of U.S., 182, 184, 192, Morgan, John Pierpoint (J.P.), 187 (NLRB), 217 Nativists, 209
195 Morrill Land Grant College Act (1862), National Organization for Women Naturalization Act, 82
McVeigh, Timothy, 331 152, 177 (NOW), 279 Nebraska, territory, 137
Meat Inspection Act, 197 Morris, Gouverneur, 72 National Recovery Administration New Amsterdam. See under New York
Meat-packing industry, 158, 196, 197 Morse, Samuel F. B., 156 (NRA), 217 New Deal programs, 214-218
Mellon, Andrew, 207 Mott, Lucretia, 122 National Security Council (NSC), New England colonies, 17, 24-25, 30-
Mencken, H. L., 210 Mound builders, 7 NSC-68 security report on Soviet 31
Menéndez, Pedro, 10 Mount Rushmore Monument (South Union, 262-263, 265 New England Confederation, 17
Merchant Marine, 208 Dakota), 170-171 National Woman Suffrage Association New Mexico territory, 136
Meredith, James, 277 Mount Vernon (Virginia), (NWSA), 123 New World exploration, 9-11
Methodists, 87, 88 Washington’s plantation home, 170- National Youth Administration, 218 New World settlements. See Colonial
Mexican-Americans. See Latino 171 Native-American movement, 280-281 period
movement Ms. (feminist magazine), 279 American Indian Movement New York
Mexican War, 134-135 MTV, 297 (AIM), 281 colonial royal government, 31
Mexico Murray-Philip, 228 Wounded Knee (South Dakota) Dutch settlers, 14, 15, 25-26
conquest of, 9 Music, American incident, 180, 281 Manhattan, early settlement, 14, 15,
revolution, 185 Beatles, 281 Native Americans 25-26
Spanish colonization, 11 “hard rock,” 281 cultural groups, map of, 21 New Amsterdam/New Netherland
Middle colonies, 25-26 Jazz Age (1920s), 210 demonstration in Washington settlement, 14, 15, 26
Middle East Jazz musicians, 211 (1978), 252 polyglot of early settlers, 25-26
Palestinians, 329-330 rock and roll (1950s), 271, 281 effect of European disease on, 8 New York Weekly Journal, 28
peace negotiations, 329-330 Rolling Stones, 271, 281 European contact, 9-10 Ngo Dien Nu, 285
Persian Gulf War, 316-317 Woodstock (outdoor rock concert, Great Serpent Mound, Ohio, 168 Ngo Dinh Diem, 285
U.S. policy, 264, 292, 313, 329-330 1969), 249, 281 Indian uprisings, 16-17, 180-181 Nichols, Terry, 331
Millet, Kate, 248 Mussolini, Benito, 219, 223 Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, 4-5, 8 NIRA. See National Industrial
Mining industry strikes, 194-195 Mutual Board of Defense (U.S.- migration across Beringia land Recovery Act (NIRA)
Miranda, Francisco, 114 Canada), 220 bridge, 6 Nixon, Richard M.
Missouri Compromise (1820), 90, 114, mound builders of Ohio, 7 China-U.S. diplomatic relations,
132, 135, 137 N Northwest Passage and, 9, 10 289
Mohler, George, 177 NAACP. See National Association for oral tradition, 8 at Great Wall of China, 250-251
Molasses Act (England, 1733), 53 the Advancement of Colored People Pacific Northwest potlatches, 8 impeachment and resignation, 290
Molotov, Vyacheslav, 260 (NAACP) population, 8 as president of U.S., 288-290
Mondale, Walter, 311 Nader, Ralph, 287, 332, 336 Pueblo Indians, 8, 20 presidential elections (1960, 1968,
NAFTA. See North American Free 1972), 283, 288, 290

354 355
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Soviet Union détente policy, 289 O state constitution, 69 Radical Republicans, 148-151
Watergate affair, 290 Oath of office, presidential, 77 See also Philadelphia Reform Party, 319
NLRA. See National Labor Relations Obasanjo, Olusegun, 295 Pequot Indian War (1637), 16 Republicans (or Democratic-
Act (NLRA) The Octopus (Norris), 196 Perkins, Frances, 227 Republicans), 78, 81, 138, 139, 152,
No Child Left Behind Act, 333 Office of Economic Opportunity, 286 Perot, H. Ross, 319, 323, 328 153, 218
Noble Order of the Knights of Labor Oglethorpe, James, 18 Perry, Oliver Hazard, 85 Socialists, 206, 318
(1869), 193 Oklahoma Territory, City, homestead Pershing, John J., 205 Southern Democrats, 139
Non-Intercourse Act (1809), 84 claims, 101 Persian Gulf War, 316-317 States Rights, 272
Noriega, Manuel Antonio, 317 Oliver, King, 211 Desert Storm campaign, 252-253 third party and independent
Norris, Frank, 196 Olney, Richard, 194 Philadelphia candidates, 318-319
North American Free Trade Agreement On the Road (Kerouac), 270 American Philosophical Society, 28 Whigs, 119-121, 137-138, 152, 153
(NAFTA), 317, 325 Organization of American States as “City of Brotherly Love,” 18 Polk, James K., 134, 135
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (formerly Pan American Union), 185 colonial period in, 18, 25 Ponce de Léon, Juan, 9
(NATO), 262 Organization of the Petroleum Friends Public School, 27 Population growth
North Carolina colony, 17, 30 Exporting Countries (OPEC), 290 Independence Hall, 164-165 in cities and towns, 159
Northern Securities Company, 187 Organized labor. See Labor unions Liberty Bell, 168 household composition, 307
Northwest Ordinance (1787), 71, 73, Orlando, Vittorio, 108 private schools, 27 postwar migrations, 267-268
113, 135 subscription libraries, 28 Population, U.S.
Northwest Passage, 9, 10 P Philippine Islands in 1690, 24
Northwest Territory, 71, 113 Pacific Railway Acts (1862-64), 152 elections, 312 in 1775, 24
NOW. See National Organization for Paine, Thomas, 60 MacArthur’s return, 232 1790 census, 200
Women (NOW) Palmer, A. Mitchell, 206-207 U.S. relations, 183, 184 1812 to 1852, 124
Nuclear weapons Panama, U.S. invasion, 317 World War II battles, 224-225, 232 1860 census, 132
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Panama Canal Pierce, Franklin, 137 Populist Party, 191-192
(INF) Treaty, 304-305, 314 Gatun locks, 100-101 Pilgrims, 13, 22-23, 30, 65 Powell, Colin, 294-295
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty treaties, 101, 184-185, 292 Pinckney, Charles, 81 Presidency, U.S.
(1963), 243, 284 Paris Peace Conference (1919), 108 The Pit (Norris), 196 Cabinet, 77-78, 280
Manhattan Project (atomic bomb Paris, Treaty of (1783), 47, 64 Pitcairn, John, 59 impeachment, 149-150, 290, 328,
development), 225 Parker, John, 59 Pizarro, Francisco, 9 329
SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Parks, Rosa, 240, 273 Plains Indians, 10, 98, 180-181 oath of office, 77
Talks), 289 Patroon system, 14-15 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), 178, 272 role of first lady, 324
SALT II agreement, 292 Peace Democrats or “Copperheads,” Political parties See also names of individual
Soviet atomic bomb testing, 266 152 American Independent, 319 presidents
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), Peace of Paris (1763), 33 Bull Moose Party, 318 Presidential elections
313-314 Penn, William, 18, 25, 30, 39 Constitutional Union Party, 139 1789 (Washington, first), 77
test bans, 284 Pennsylvania colony Democrats, 116, 137, 152, 153, 192, 1797 (Adams), 82
U.S. attacks on Hiroshima and colonial government, 30 218-219 1800 (Jefferson), 83
Nagasaki, 226 cultural developments, 27-28 Dixiecrats, 319 1824 (Jackson), 116
U.S. defense buildup, 314 German settlers, 25 Federalists, 76, 78, 81, 82, 86, 116 1828 (Jackson), 117
U.S. military defense buildup, 314 population, 25 Free Soil Party, 136, 137, 138 1860 (Lincoln), 139
U.S. nuclear testing, 234 Quakers as early setters, 18, 25, 27 Green Party, 332 1864 (Lincoln), 147, 153
U.S. policy during Cold War, 265 relations with Native Americans, Know-Nothings, 120 1868 (Grant), 150
Nullification doctrine, 83, 117-118 18, 39 Populists, 191-192 1884 (Cleveland), 159
schools and education, 27-28 Progressive, 318-319 1892 (Cleveland), 160

356 357
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

1896 (McKinley), 192 Public Works Administration (PWA), (Emerson), 59 as “Great Communicator,” 309
1900 (McKinley), 195 215 “thousand points of light” (Bush), Grenada invasion, 312-313
1904 (Roosevelt), 197 Pueblo Indians, 8, 20 315 Iran-Contra affair, 312-313
1908 (Taft), 197-198 Puerto Rico “tyranny over the mind of man” with Mikhail Gorbachev, 304-305
1912 (Wilson), 318, 328 ceded to U.S., 182-183 (Jefferson), 161 Reconstruction Act (1867), 148
1916 (Wilson), 205, 328 as U.S. commonwealth, 184 “With malice towards none” Reconstruction Era, 148-151
1920 (Harding), 207 Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), 197 (Lincoln), 147 African-American members in
1924 (Coolidge), 318-319 Puritans, 13-14, 40, 40, 65 Congress during, 96
1932 (Roosevelt), 211 R Lincoln’s program, 147-148
1936 (Roosevelt), 218 Q Race riots, 152, 206 Reconstruction Finance Corporation,
1940 (Roosevelt), 220 Quakers Racial discrimination 211
1948 (Truman), 235, 269, 319 abolition movement and, 133 bus segregation, 240, 273 Red Cloud (Sioux chief), 180
1960 (Kennedy), 283 and British government relations, color barrier broken by Jackie Reform Party, 319
1964 (Johnson), 286, 308, 309 59 Robinson, 237, 271 Refugee Act (1980), 201
1968 (Nixon), 288, 319 Pennsylvania settlements, 18, 25 in federal government employment, Religion
1972 (Nixon), 290 schools and education, 27 269, 272 camp meetings and revivals, 87-88
1976 (Carter), 291 Quartering Act (England, 1765), 53- “Jim Crow” laws (segregation), 151, Christian Coalition, 308
1980 (Reagan), 309 54, 58 272, 319 Christian evangelicals, 332, 336
1984 (Reagan), 310-311 Quayle, Dan, 323 lynchings and violence against circuit riders, 88
1988 (Bush), 314 Quebec Act (England), 58 African Americans, 150, 178, 271 fundamentalism, 209, 210, 308
1992 (Clinton), 319, 322-324 Quotations, notable military segregation, 269, 272 Great Awakening, 29
1996 (Clinton), 328-329 “Ask not what your country can do school segregation, 240, 244 Moral Majority, 308
2000 (Bush), 332-333 for youÑask what you can do for separate but equal Salem witch trials, 35
2004 (Bush), 336-337 your country” (Kennedy), 283 accommodations, 178, 240, 272 Second Great Awakening, 87-88
Presley, Elvis, 238, 271 “axis of evil” (Bush), 334 South African apartheid, 312 Religious freedom
Press “The Buck Stops Here,” 260 white supremacy and belief in black Coercive or Intolerable Acts and, 58
Cable News Network (CNN), 297 “city upon a hill” (Winthrop), 13, inferiority, 178 freedom of worship, 32
first newspaper, 28 309 Radical Republicans, 148-151 and tolerance, 17, 29, 32
first printing press in colonies, 27 “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed Railroad industry, 131-132 Republicanism, 65, 68
freedom of the, 28-29 ahead” (Farragut), 143 Great Rail Strike (1877), 194 Republicans (or Democratic-
Progressive Party, 318-319 “a day that will live in infamy” nationalization of, 192 Republicans), 78, 81, 138, 139, 152,
Progressivism, 195, 196 (Roosevelt), 221 Pullman Company, 194 153, 218
Prohibition, 121, 210 “Give me liberty, or give me death” regulation, 159, 197 Reuther, Walter, 228
Protestant religion (Henry), 42 transcontinental link at Revels, H.R., 96
Baptists, 87, 88 “Go west, young man” (Greeley), Promontory Point (1869), 179 Revolution. See American Revolution;
Great Awakening, 29 112, 124 transcontinental railroad, 154-155 French Revolution; Latin American
Methodists, 87, 88 “A house divided against itself westward expansion and, 179 Revolution
revivals in “Burned-Over District,” cannot stand” (Lincoln), 130, 138 workers’ hours, 199 Revolutionary War. See American
87 “I have a dream...” (King, Jr.), 276 workers’ strikes, 193, 194 Revolution
Second Great Awakening and, 87-88 “I shall return” (MacArthur), 232 Raleigh, Walter, 10 Rhode Island colony, 14, 31, 41
See also Pilgrims; Puritans “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Reagan, Ronald Rice, Condoleeza, 295
Public Utility Holding Company Act, Berliner) (Kennedy), 242 conservatism and, 307-309 Ridgway, Matthew B., 264
218 “iron curtain” (Churchill), 260-261 economic policy, 309-311 Riesman, David, 270
“shot heard round the world” foreign policy, 311-313 “Roaring Twenties,” 109, 210

358 359
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Robertson, Pat, 308 Royal Proclamation (England, 1763), Slave owners, 132 Social Security, 218
Robinson, Jackie, 237, 271 53 Slave population, 132 Truman Fair Deal programs, 268-
Rochambeau, Comte Jean de, 64 Rural Electrification Administration, Slave trade, 19, 25, 133, 136 269
Rockefeller, John D., 158 218 Slavery War on Poverty, 286
Roe v. Wade (1973), 279, 308, 324 Russian Revolution (1917), 206, 259 African slaves, 19, 24 welfare state and, 219
Rogers, William, 251 Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), 186 constitutional amendment (13th) Social Security Act (1935), 218, 230
Rolfe, John, 12 abolishing, 148 Socialist Party, 206, 318
Rommel, Erwin, 222 S Dred Scott decision, 138, 149 Society for the Promotion of
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 324 Sadat, Anwar al-, 292 Emancipation Proclamation, 144- Temperance, 87, 121
Roosevelt, Franklin D. Saddam Hussein, 316, 317, 329, 334- 145 Soil Conservation Service, 216
death of, 224 335 equal rights and, 69 Somalia, 331
on democracy, 214, 219 San Martin, José de, 114 extension of, 113-114 Sons of Liberty, 54
foreign policy, 185 Santa Anna, Antonio López de, 134 free vs. slave states, 114, 123 Soule, John, 124
Good Neighbor Policy, 185 Scopes, John, 209 Fugitive Slave Laws, 136, 137 South Africa, racial apartheid, 312
labor unions and, 227 Scopes trial, 209-210 Indian slaves, 17-18 South Carolina
New Deal programs, 214-218 Scott, Dred, 138 Missouri Compromise (1820), 90, colonial government, 30
presidential elections (1932, 1936, Scott, Winfield, 135 114, 132, 135, 137 during American Revolution, 63-64
1940), 207, 211, 218, 220 Seamen’s Act (1915), 199 Northwest Ordinance ban on, 71, early settlements, 17, 26
Social Security Act, signing of, 230 Second Treatise on Government 73, 113, 135 French Huguenots, 24
Social Security program, 218, 230 (Locke), 32, 61 as the “peculiar institution,” 132 nullification crisis, 117-118
World War II and, 219-220 Sectionalism, and slavery issue, 128- plantations in the south and, 113- protective tariffs, 117
World War II peace negotiations, 139 114, 128-129 secession from the Union, 142
224 Sedition Act, 82, 117 revolt in Haiti, 83 Southern Christian Leadership
at Yalta (1945), 224, 234 Seminole Indians, 125 as a sectional conflict/divided Conference (SCLC), 276
Roosevelt, Theodore Separation of church and state, 14 nation, 128-139 Southern colonies, 26-27
accession to the presidency, 195 Separation of powers principle, 74 in the territories, 71, 73, 113, 135, Southern Democrats, 139
on democracy, 190 Separatists, 13 136-138 Soviet Union
face of (Mount Rushmore), 170- Seven Years’ War, 33, 63, 83 See also Abolition of slavery Cold War, 258-265
171 Seventh Day Adventists, 87 Smith, Capt. John, 6, 12, 36 Sputnik and the space program, 285
foreign policy, 181, 184, 186 Seward, William, 138, 182 Smith-Lever Act (1914), 199 U.S. containment doctrine, 261-263
Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1906), Seymour, Horatio, 152 Social activism, 87 U.S. détente policy, 289, 291, 292
186 The Shame of the Cities (Steffens), 196 Social-contract (theory of U.S. relations, 284, 313-314
Panama Canal treaty, 184-185 Sharon, Ariel, 330 government), 61 Space program, 254, 274-275, 285
presidential election (1912), 318 Shays, Daniel, 70 Social liberalism, 34 Spain, and American Revolution, 63
“Rough Riders” in the Spanish- Shays’s Rebellion (1787), 70, 73 Social reforms, 121-122, 195-196 Spanish-American War (1898), 182,
American War, 183 Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), 160, Great Society programs, 286-287 183
“Square Deal,” 196 187 Medicaid program, 287 Spanish exploration
as “trust-buster” and antitrust laws, Sherman, Roger, 72, 73 Medicare program, 286 missions in California, 169
160, 187, 196-197 Sherman, William T., 146 mental health care, 121-122 Seven Cities of Cibola and, 9
Root, Elihu, 181 Silent Spring (Carson), 282 New Deal programs, 214-218 St. Augustine (Florida), first
Rose, Ernestine, 122 Sinclair, Upton, 196 prison reform, 121 European settlement, 9, 11, 169
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, 266 Sioux Indians, 98, 180, 281 progressivism, 195 St. John de Crèvecoeur, J. Hector, 24
“Rosie the Riveter,” 222 Sitting Bull (Sioux chief), 98 prohibition and the temperance St. Mary’s (Maryland), 15
Slave family, 128-129 movement, 121, 210 Stalin, Joseph, at Yalta, 224, 234

360 361
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Stamp Act (England), 54, 55 T Texas U


Standard Oil Company, 158, 196, 197 Taft, William Howard, 197-198, 318 Alamo, battle of, 134 Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 137
Stanton, Edwin, 153 Taiwan, 263, 265, 289 Battle of San Jacinto, 134 Underground Railroad, 91, 134, 136
State constitutions, 68-69 Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, 82 territory of, 134 Union Army of the Potomac, 145
Statehood, 78 Tarbell, Ida M., 196 and War with Mexico, 134-135 Union Pacific Railroad, 179
States’ rights, 79, 80 Taxation Textile industry strikes, 195 United Auto Workers, 228
nullification doctrine, 83, 117-118 Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57 Thorpe, Jim, 181 United Mine Workers (UMW), 227-
States Rights Party, 272 British right to tax colonies Thurmond, Strom, 272, 319 228
Statue of Liberty (New York City), 167, (Declaratory Act), 55 The Titan (Dreiser), 196 United Nations, 224, 226
201 colonial period, 33, 53-59 To Secure These Rights, 271-272 United States Steel Corporation, 157-
Steel industry. See Iron and steel Committees of Correspondence, Tocqueville, Alexis de, 126, 130 158, 187
industry 56-57 Tojo, Hideki, 221, 225 U.S. economy
Steel Workers Organizing Committee “without representation,” 53, 54-55 Toleration Act (England, 1689), 31 in the 1980s, 309-311
(SWOC), 228 See also names of individual acts Toleration Act (Maryland), 17 in the 1990s, 327-328
Steffens, Lincoln, 196 Taylor, Zachary, 135 Townsend, Francis E., 217 “Black Monday” (stock market
Steinem, Gloria, 248, 279 Technology. See Inventions Townshend Acts (England), 55-56 crash, 1987), 311
Steuben, Friedrich von, 65 Television Townshend, Charles, 55 federal budget deficits, 310-311, 315
Stevens, Thaddeus, 148 Cable News Network (CNN), 297 Trade policy. See U.S. trade policy migration patterns in U.S., 267
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 137 growth of, 268 Transportation Act (1920), 208 post-World War II period, 267-268
Student Nonviolent Coordinating impact of, 268, 297 Treaties. See under name of individual stock market crash (1929), 211
Committee (SNCC), 276 MTV, 297 treaty suburban development and, 268
Sugar Act (England, 1764), 53, 55 programming, 239, 268 Truman Doctrine, 261 “supply side” economics, 309
Sunday, Billy, 209 Temperance movement, 87, 121 Truman, Harry S unemployment, 215-216, 227, 327
Supreme Court Building (Wash., Tennessee, statehood (1796), 78 accession to the presidency, 224 See also Banking and finance; Great
D.C.), 166 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 215 civil rights program, 271-272 Depression
Supreme Court, U.S. Tenure of Office Act, 149 Fair Deal domestic program, 268- U.S. foreign policy, 80-82, 181-186
cases Terrorism 269 in Asia, 185-186
Brown v. Board of Education, anthrax poisoning scare, 333-334 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic Bush (George W.) Administration,
241, 244, 272 Cole (U.S. Navy destroyer) bombing bomb attacks, 226 332-337
Marbury v. Madison, 113 (Yemen), 332 labor unions and, 269 Clinton Administration, 328-331
McCulloch v. Maryland, 113 Khobar Towers U.S. military NSC-68 defense policy, 262, 265 Cold War and, 258-267
Plessy v. Ferguson, 178, 272 housing (Saudi Arabia, 1996), 331 as president of U.S., 258, 260 imperialism and “Manifest
Roe v. Wade, 279, 308, 324 Oklahoma City bombing (1995), presidential election (1948), 235, Destiny,” 181-182
decisions, 113 326, 331 269 Iran-Contra affair, 312-313
Court’s right of judicial review, Palestinian suicide bombings, 330 Trusts, 158 isolationism, 78, 206, 220
49 September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S., Tubman, Harriet, 91 Jay Treaty with Britain, 81
Dred Scott, 138, 149 320-321, 333 Turner, Frederick Jackson, 126 in Latin America, 185
enlargement proposal, 218-219 U.S. embassies (Kenya and Twain, Mark. See Clemens, Samuel Monroe Doctrine, 115-116
See also Marshall, John; Marshall, Tanzania, 1998), 331-332 Langhorne Open Door policy, 186, 195
Thurgood World Trade Center bombings Tyler, John, 120 in the Pacific area, 183-184
Swedish colonization, 15, 200 (1993), 331 Panama Canal treaty, 184-185
Swift, Gustavus, 158 Reagan Administration, 313-314
Truman Doctrine of containment,
261-263

362 363
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

XYZ Affair with France, 82 Vietnam War presiding officer (1787), 66-67, 71 Williams, Roger, 14, 41
U.S. monetary policy, 79-80 antiwar demonstrations, 248, 258, crossing the Delaware (1776), 62 Wilson, James, 72
currency question, 192 281, 288-289 face of (Mount Rushmore), 170- Wilson, Woodrow
gold standard, 192 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 287 171 Fourteen Points for WWI armistice,
See also Banking and finance; Kent State (Ohio) student as first U.S. president, 77-78 205
Federal Reserve Board demonstration, 288 Long Island, battle of (1776), 61 League of Nations and, 205-206
U.S. trade policy military draft, 288 Mount Vernon plantation, home of, portrait of, 108
economic impact of War of 1812, U.S. forces in, 246-247 170-171 as president of U.S., 198-199, 204-
86 Villa, Francisco “Pancho,” 185 presidential oath of office, 77 206
Embargo Act (1807), 84 Virginia retirement from presidency, 82 presidential elections (1912 and
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922), Antifederalists, 76 at Valley Forge (Pennsylvania), 62 1916), 205, 328
207 colonial government, 29-30 as Virginia militia commander, 33 relations with Mexico, 185
Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930), 207 Declaration of Rights, 77 Yorktown, British surrender, 46-47 U.S. neutrality policy, 204-205
Massachusetts Bay Company education by private tutors, 28 Washington Monument (Wash., D.C.), Winthrop, John, 13, 309
“triangular U.S. trade policy,” 25 Jamestown colony, 10, 12-13, 16 175 “Witch hunt,” origin of the term, 35
McKinley tariff, 160, 191 Resolutions (1798), 117 Water Quality Improvement Act, 282 Women
Native Americans with European secession from the Union, 142-143 Wattenberg, Ben, 337 constitutional council
settlers, 15-16 state constitution, 68-69 Webster, Daniel, 120, 136 (Afghanistan) delegates, 294
Non-Intercourse Act (1809), 84 Tidewater region plantation Welch, Joseph, 236 education in the home arts, 27, 122
North American Free Trade settlements, 26, 28 Weld, Theodore Dwight, 134 labor unions and, 193
Agreement, 317, 325 Virginia Company, 12, 18, 29-30 Welfare state. See Social reforms no political rights, 69
protective tariffs, 112, 117, 152, 159 Volcker, Paul, 291, 310 Welles, Gideon, 143 role of first lady, 324
slave trade, 19, 25, 133 Voting rights “The West.” See Westward expansion role of Native American, 8
Underwood Tariff (1913), 198 for African Americans, 273, 277 West, Benjamin, 39 workers in war production (“Rosie
World Trade Organization (WTO), church membership requirement, Western Union, 158 the Riveter”), 222
325 14 Westward expansion working conditions, 193
USA Patriot Act, 334 Pennsylvania constitution, 69 cowboy life and “The Wild West,” Women’s rights, 122-123
Utah territory, 136 for women, 122 180 abortion issue, 308
Voting Rights Act (1965), 277 frontier settlers’ life, 123-124 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA),
V Homestead Act (1862), 124, 152, 279
Van Buren, Martin, 120 W 179, 180 feminism and, 278-279
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 158 Wade, Abdoulaye, 295 homesteading in the last frontier/ Married Women’s Property Act, 122
Vermont, statehood (1791), 78 Wallace, George, 288, 319 ”The West,” 126, 179-180 in Pennsylvania colony, 18
Verrazano, Giovanni da, 10 Wallace, Henry, 319 Louisiana Purchase and, 83-84 state constitutions and, 69
Versailles, Treaty of, 206 Wampanoag Indians, 13 map of, 127 Women’s rights movement, 90, 248,
Vespucci, Amerigo, 9 War of 1812, 85-86, 112 Northwest Ordinance (1787), 71, 278-279
Vietnam Warren, Earl, 272 73, 135 Women’s suffrage, 90, 122
French involvement, 284-285 Washington, Booker T., 178 in Oklahoma Territory, 101 march on Washington (1913), 188-
U.S. involvement, 285 Washington, George problems of, 53, 70-71 189
Viet Minh movement, 284 on abolition of slavery, 113 Whig Party, 119-121, 137-138, 152, 153 “Woodstock Generation” (1960s), 249,
Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Wash., as commander in American Whitefield, George, 29 281
D.C.), 172-173 Revolution, 60-62 Whitney, Eli, 114
Constitutional Convention Wigglesworth, Rev. Michael, 28
Will, George, 308

364 365
INDEX OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY

Works Progress Administration peace-time conscription bill, 220


(WPA), 218 Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on
World Trade Center Memorial (New (1941), 212-213, 221
York City), 176 politics of, 224
World Trade Organization (WTO), postwar economy, 267-268 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
325 postwar period, 258
World War I Potsdam Declaration, 225 Outline of U.S. History is a publication of the U.S.
American infantry forces, 108 Roosevelt call for “unconditional Department of State. The first edition (1949-50) was
“Big Four” at Paris Peace surrender,” 224 produced under the editorship of Francis Whitney,
Conference (1919), 108 Russian defense of Leningrad and
first of the State Department Office of International
German submarine warfare, 204- Moscow, 222
Information and later of the U.S. Information Agency.
205 U.S. mobilization, 221-222
Richard Hofstadter, professor of history at Columbia
postwar unrest, 206-207 U.S. neutrality policy, 219-220
University, and Wood Gray, professor of American
U.S. involvement, 205 World War II Memorial (Wash., D.C.),
U.S. neutrality policy, 204-205 176 history at The George Washington University, served
Wilson’s Fourteen Points for Wright, Frances, 122 as academic consultants. D. Steven Endsley of
armistice, 205 Wright, Orville (and Wilbur), 107 Berkeley, California, prepared additional material.
World War II It has been updated and revised extensively over the
Atlantic Charter, 220 X years by, among others, Keith W. Olsen, professor of
Coral Sea, Battle of the (1942), 223 XYZ Affair, 82 American history at the University of Maryland, and
Doolittle’s Tokyo bombing raid, 223 Nathan Glick, writer and former editor of the USIA
Eastern Front, 222 Y journal, Dialogue. Alan Winkler, professor of history
G.I. Bill (veterans benefits), 268-269 Yale University (formerly Collegiate at Miami University (Ohio), wrote the post-World
Guadalcanal, Battle of, 223, 231 School of Connecticut), 27 War II chapters for previous editions.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic Yalta Conference (1945), 224, 234, 260
bomb attacks, 225, 226 Yeltsin, Boris, 315-316 This new edition has been completely revised and
Holocaust (Jewish genocide), 226 Yorktown, British surrender at, 46-47, updated by Alonzo L. Hamby, Distinguished
Iwo Jima campaign, 225 64 Professor of History at Ohio University. Professor
Japanese-American internment Yugoslavia, post-Cold War, 330 Hamby has written extensively on American politics
camps, 222, 233 and society. Among his books are Man of the People:
Japanese Kamikaze suicide Z A Life of Harry S. Truman and For the Survival of
missions, 225 Zenger, John Peter, 28 Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of
Lend-Lease Program, 220 the 1930s. He lives and works in Athens, Ohio.
Leyte Gulf, Battle of, 225
Manhattan Project, 225
Midway, Battle of, 223
Normandy allied invasion, 223, 232
North African campaign, 222-223
Nuremberg war crime trials, 226 Executive Editor: George Clack
Okinawa campaign, 225 Managing Editor: Mildred Solá Neely
in the Pacific arena, 223-224, 224- Art Director/Design: Min-Chih Yao
225, 231 Cover Illustration: Tom White
Photo Research: Maggie Johnson Sliker

366 367
PHOTO CREDITS:
Credits from left to right are separated by CORBIS. 127: Courtesy Bureau of Census,
semicolons, from top to bottom by dashes. Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection,
University of Texas. 128,129: © Bettmann/
Cover Design: © tom white.images with CORBIS. 140,141: LOC. 154,155: California
photos from: AP/Wide World (George State Railroad Museum Library.161-166: ©
Washington; Jesse Owens; Golden Gate Robert Llewellyn. 167: © James Casserly.
Bridge; Ellis Island Immigrants, Abraham 168: Mark C. Burnett/Photo Researchers,
Lincoln; Model T Ford; Susan B. Anthony; Inc. – Interior Department/National Park
Iwo Jima Memorial; John F. Kennedy; Service. 169: © Miles Ertman/Masterfile
Dwight D. Eisenhower; Reagan/Gorbachev – © Chuck Place. 170, 171: AP/Wide World
signing). Getty Images (Louis Armstrong; Photo – Cameron Davidson/FOLIO, Inc.
Franklin D. Roosevelt; Albert Einstein). 172,173: Shawn Thew/AFP/Getty Images. 174:
Library of Congress (Benjamin Franklin; US PhotoSpin, Inc. -- Michael Ventura/FOLIO,
Territorial expansion map detail). © Joseph Inc. 175: Mario Tama/AFP/Getty Images. 176:
Sohm/Photo Researchers Inc. (Statue of Joe Raedle/Getty Images – AP/Wide World
Liberty). National Archives and Records Photo. 188, 189: LOC. 202,203: The American
Administration (U.S. Constitution, first page). History Slide Collection, © (IRC). 212, 213:
All others, Royalty-Free from PhotoDisc, The National Archives. 229: New York
Fotosearch, or PhotoSpin, Inc. Daily News. 230: AP/Wide World (2). 231:
Pages 4, 5: (c) © Russ Finley/Finley-Holiday The National Archives. 232: US Army – The
Films. 21: National Atlas of the United National Archives. 233: Lockheed – American
States. 22-38: Library of Congress (3). 39: History Slide Collection, © IRC. 234: US Army
Courtesy The Pennsylvania Academy of – LOC. 235: © Bettmann/CORBIS – US Army.
Fine Arts. 40, 41: USIA Library – Library of 236: © Bettmann/CORBIS – Yousuf Karsh.
Congress (2). 42, 43: Library of Congress 237: AP/Wide World Photo. 238: AP/Wide
(LOC); Time Life Pictures/ Getty Images World Photo. 239: Culver. 240: © Bettmann/
– The American History Slide Collection,© CORBIS. 241: AP/Wide World Photo. 242,
Instructional Resources Corporation (IRC).. 243: USIS Berlin – © Bettmann/CORBIS.
44, 45: Painting by Don Troiani, www.historic 244: Ebony Magazine. 245: AP/Wide World
alprints.com. 46, 47: AP/Wide World Photo; Photo.246,247: US Army. 248, 249: CORBIS
LOC – courtesy www.texasphilatelic.org. – AP/Wide World Photo; Culver. 250, 251:
48: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Arthur Schatz/Time Life Pictures/Getty
Institution. 49: AP/Wide World Photo. 50, 51: Images; © Bettmann/CORBIS. 252, 253:
LOC. 66, 67: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Barbara Ann Richards; Carol Hightower
Richmond. Gift of Edgar William and Bernice – John Wicart. 254: National Aeronautics
Chrysler Garbisch. and Space Administration (NASA). 255:
89, 90: LOC (3). 91- 93: The National Archives David Valdez/The White House – Dwight
(NARA) – LOC (3). 94, 95: American History Somers.256, 257: J.R Eyerman/Time Life
Slide Collection, © IRC (2), top right, LOC. Pictures/Getty Images. 274,275: NASA.
96: LOC – Amherst College Archives 293: Chris Honduras/Newsmakers/Getty
and Special Collections, by permission Images. 294, 295: AP/Wide World Photo (3).
of the Trustees of Amherst College. 97: 296: Jeff Christensen/AFP/Getty Images
LOC – AP/Wide World Photo. 98, 99: – AP/Wide World Photos.297: Courtesy
LOC; NARA. 100,101: courtesy Oklahoma CNN – Courtesy MTV. 298, 299: AP/Wide
Historical Society – AP/Wide World Photo. World Photo; © John Harrington/Black Star.
102,103: Culver – LOC. 104,105: LOC. 300,301: Kevin Horan. 302: AP/Wide World
106, 107: Edison Birthday Committee; © Photo. 303. Ken White – © Steve Krongard.
Bettmann/CORBIS – Fox Photos/Getty 304, 305: Dirck Halstead/Time Life Pictures/
Images. 108: The National Archives (2). Getty Images. 320,321: AP/Wide World Bureau of International Information Programs
109: Hulton Archive/Getty Images – AP/ Photo. U.S. Department of State
Wide World Photo. 110, 111: © Bettmann/
http://usinfo.state.gov/
2005

You might also like