1. Identify five important changes that transformed America in the nineteenth century.
A. Immigration: population growth recast the face of America in the late nineteenth century. More than 45 percent of the American population was immigrants.
B. Urban growth: the increase in immigration spurred urban growth. By the end of the nineteenth century, one-third of Americans were city dwellers.
C. Manufacturing: by the end of the nineteenth century, manufacturing had overtaken agriculture as the leading source of national wealth.
D. New inventions and machines: New inventions and discoveries in electricity, chemicals, and oil made possible other industries. Machines made rapid inroads in the countryside, as farmers relied on railroads to receive supplies and ship their crops to market.
E. Trade: the new immigrants helped to manufacture the goods that other countries valued. Towards the end of the century, international trade steadily gained significance in the U.S economy.
2. How did the economic depression that began in 1893 deepen the divisions in American society? Which groups suffered the most during the depression?
A. Immigration: population growth recast the face of America in the late nineteenth century. More than 45 percent of the American population was immigrants.
B. Urban growth: the increase in immigration spurred urban growth. By the end of the nineteenth century, one-third of Americans were city dwellers.
C. Manufacturing: by the end of the nineteenth century, manufacturing had overtaken agriculture as the leading source of national wealth.
D. New inventions and machines: New inventions and discoveries in electricity, chemicals, and oil made possible other industries. Machines made rapid inroads in the countryside, as farmers relied on railroads to receive supplies and ship their crops to market.
E. Trade: the new immigrants helped to manufacture the goods that other countries valued. Towards the end of the century, international trade steadily gained significance in the U.S economy.
2. How did the economic depression that began in 1893 deepen the divisions in American society? Which groups suffered the most during the depression?
The 1893 depression deepened an economic divide among the American people creating and highlighting the division of wealth and prosperity between bankers and business owners in the cities and blue collar laborers working in the fields and mines of rural America. There is no doubt that the working men and women who labored in the fields and the mines suffered greatly and were the most affected by the 1893 depression. Farmers were going into more and more debt. Crop prices were falling because of oversupply, manufactured goods were expensive, and the railroads charged high prices to move agriculture to market. Laborers struggled with low wages, poor working conditions, and long hours. On the other hand, wealthy business men who owned the factories that produced the expensive goods or the railroads which charged high prices to transport the farmers good had seen large profits prior to 1893. The tremendous wealth of bank and factory owners in the big cities contrasted sharply with the poverty of the laborers in the country side.
3. What were the values many Americans attached to the frontier? Why did many Americans fear that the closing of the frontier would harm America's national character?
White Americans viewed themselves as part of a dynamic opportunity filled society. Their concept of the Western frontier was closely related to the values with which they defined America, resourcefulness, bravery, pragmatism, ingenuity, individualism, egalitarianism, and patriotism. Many white Americans looked to the future of a closed frontier with concern. The identity that they attached to the frontier seemed to be in jeopardy. They worried that the nation’s prosperity could not be sustained without an abundance of land and unused resources.
4. Why did some Americans suggest greater involvement overseas?
Many political elites felt the time was perfect for greater involvement overseas. The U.S had territorial control from East to West. Native Americans had been conquered and the issue of slavery had been resolved. In some ways the U.S was as powerful as European nations. The fear that the American character was changing and the belief in American power combined to convince people that a more aggressive approach with other nations would be the best way to ensure the economic success of the U.S. Business men and politicians believed that oversea expansion would create economic growth. They saw tens of millions of Chinese consumers who could buy American products. They also worried that Japan and European countries were making deals with China and imposing their regulations on China’s trade. The U.S feared that it had to act quickly to compete with these other powers.
5. How did the theories of social Darwinism and scientific racism lend support to the cause of American imperialism?
3. What were the values many Americans attached to the frontier? Why did many Americans fear that the closing of the frontier would harm America's national character?
White Americans viewed themselves as part of a dynamic opportunity filled society. Their concept of the Western frontier was closely related to the values with which they defined America, resourcefulness, bravery, pragmatism, ingenuity, individualism, egalitarianism, and patriotism. Many white Americans looked to the future of a closed frontier with concern. The identity that they attached to the frontier seemed to be in jeopardy. They worried that the nation’s prosperity could not be sustained without an abundance of land and unused resources.
4. Why did some Americans suggest greater involvement overseas?
Many political elites felt the time was perfect for greater involvement overseas. The U.S had territorial control from East to West. Native Americans had been conquered and the issue of slavery had been resolved. In some ways the U.S was as powerful as European nations. The fear that the American character was changing and the belief in American power combined to convince people that a more aggressive approach with other nations would be the best way to ensure the economic success of the U.S. Business men and politicians believed that oversea expansion would create economic growth. They saw tens of millions of Chinese consumers who could buy American products. They also worried that Japan and European countries were making deals with China and imposing their regulations on China’s trade. The U.S feared that it had to act quickly to compete with these other powers.
5. How did the theories of social Darwinism and scientific racism lend support to the cause of American imperialism?
Imperialists used social Darwinism and scientific racism to justify their beliefs. Scientific racism and social Darwinism offered the view that the United States and a small number of European nations were superior and more suited to be in a position of power than other countries. Because social Darwinists saw the differences among the world’s racial and ethnic groups in terms of evolution, they believed in survival of the fittest. They saw imperialism reflecting that belief. Scientific racism which was based on faulty research and historical analysis, believed that mental abilities and personality traits were racial characteristics. Whites were believed to be superior along with the northern Europeans, the English, and the Germans while blacks were believed to be the most inferior. These two pseudo-scientific theories bolstered the foundation beliefs of imperialism that America was destined to rule in the world.
6. Summarize why the United States became involved in Samoa, Hawaii, and several Latin American nations.
6. Summarize why the United States became involved in Samoa, Hawaii, and several Latin American nations.
America became involved in all of these countries in order to protect or expand its own interest in civilization and export markets. In Samoa, the U.S agreed to a treaty, which gave the U.S access to Samoa’s harbor. In return, the Americans promised to help Samoa if any other nation tried to interfere. The United States ended up in a conflict with Germany, Britain, and various Samoan groups for eight years. However, in 1898, part of Samoa became an American territory. This made the expansionists happy because American interests now had a secure refueling point on their way to trade in Australia. The United States annexed Hawaii and made it a colony in 1898 because of the fear that Hawaii’s Japanese immigrant population would gain two much power and would demand rights. America feared also that it might not be able to make use of the U.S naval base at Pearl Harbor. In Nicaragua, the U.S negotiated and sent marines trying to ensure that a canal building company could continue to do business there. (The canal was eventually build in Panama)
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