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"New"
These people were from Southern and Eastern Europe. They spoke non-english languages, most of them were catholic of jewish, as well as extremely poor, most of them moved to ethnic "ghettos" in cities and took low paying jobs. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This act was passed by Congress. It prohibited immigration by Chinese laborers, limited the civil rights of Chinese immigrants that were already in the United States, it also forbade the naturalization of Chinese residents. -
Interstate Commerce Act
The Intersection Commerce Act was passed by Congress after the Wabash decision. It was the first federal law to regulate business practices. -
Court case involving the Chinese Exclusion Act
In 1898, a court case established that Chinese people born in America were United States citizens and could, therefore, come and go freely. But, many immigration officials ignored this ruling. -
Immigrant populations
By 1890, many cities had huge immigrant populations. In San Francisco and Chicago, immigrants made up more than 40% of the population. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
Congress forbade all trusts, combinations and conspiracies that limit or restrict interstate trade. In the 1890's it was even used against labor unions instead of against "Big Business". -
The Populist Party
The populist party was a populist platform of 1892. It included many far-reaching proposals that were later adopted: direct election of U.S Senators, secret ballot, progressive income tax, initiative, and referendum procedures, an eight-hour workday, and restrictions on immigration. -
Beginning of Hawaii's reign
Hawaii began her reign in 1893, she sought to rewrite her country's constitution. With the help of U.S Marines, American landowners in Hawaii forcibly removed the queen and set up a republic. The U.S Congress then voted not to annex Hawaii, but the anti-imperialist tide then turned. After the U.S defeated Spain, Congress approved the annexation of Hawaii. -
U.S v E.C Knight Company
The U.S Supreme Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could not be used to break up a monopoly controlling over 90% of all U.S sugar refining. This decision greatly weakened the reach of the Sherman Antitrust Act over "big business". -
"Cross of Gold" Speech
This speech was made by William Jennings Bryan, who was chosen as the Democratic Party nominee in 1896. The populist party followed suit rather than divide the "free silver" vote. -
The Spanish-American War
It was a conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. Cubans wanted their independence and rebelled in 1895 and Spain surpassed Cuban guerrilla warfare with brutal force. Americans were therefore motivated by humanitarian concerns and self-interest to help Cuba. -
"Open Door"
In 1899, Secretary of State John Hay declared "Open Door" policy, stating that trading rights in China were open to all foreigners in China. It called for protection of equal privileges for all countries trading with China and for the support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity -
The Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment was a treaty between the U.S. and Cuba that attempted to protect Cuba's independence from foreign intervention. It also gave the United States military bases in Cuba and the right to intervene in Cuban affairs at any time. -
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Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt believed that the President was the steward of people's interests. He greatly expanded the powers of the Presidency. His efforts were meant to give Americans a "square Deal", especially in natural resource conservation control of corporations and protection of the consumers. -
Coal Strike
The Coal strike was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America, where miners struck for higher wages, shorter workdays, and the recognition of their union. It was intervened to settle the dispute and get coal consumers. -
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Panama Canal
It was influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan's ideas and the Spanish American War experience. Theodore Roosevelt and other U.S leaders wanted to build an American-controlled canal through Central America for easier access between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Canal took a decade to build and was the most complicated engineering project of its day. -
The Treaty of Portsmouth
The Treaty of Portsmouth ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The negotiations were mediated in part by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. The final agreement affirmed the Japanese presence in south Manchuria and Korea and ceded the southern half of the island of Sakhalin to Japan. -
Gentlemen's Agreement
This was an understanding between the United States and Japan, where Japan agreed not to issue passports to emigrants to the United States, except to certain categories of business and professional men. This effort was made by President Theodore Roosevelt to calm growing tensions between two countries over the immigration of Japanese workers. -
The National Conservation Commission
The National Conservation Commission was appointed by President Roosevelt and composed of representatives of Congress and relevant executive agencies with Gifford Pinchot as chairman. It was divided into four sections, water, forests, lands, and minerals, with each having its own chairman; it prepared the first inventory of the nation's natural resources, -
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Wiliam Howard Taft
He continued many of Roosevelts policies but was a clumsy politician and later came into conflict with Roosevelt. He introduced the 16th amendment, making a federal tax on individual incomes possible. -
Election of 1912
William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of the conservative part of the party. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called his own convention and created the Progressive Party. It nominated Roosevelt and then Democrat Woodrow Wilson was nominated on the 46th ballot of a contentious convention, thanks to the support of William Jennings Bryan. -
Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It was created by the Congress to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. -
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Woodrow Wilson
His "New Freedom" attacked the "triple wall of privilege": banks, trusts, tariffs. He lowered tariffs, introduced the graduated income tax, created the Federal Reserve system. and strengthened antitrust legislation with the Clayton Antitrust Act. -
Brutal war between the nations of Europe
Nationalism, militarism, imperialism and entangling alliances combined with other factors to lead the nations of Europe into a brutal war. The war quickly spread around the globe. The United States remained neutral at first but ended up abandoning its long tradition of staying out of European conflicts. -
Lusitania
In May 1915, a German submarine sank the Lusitania, a British passenger ship. The attack led to over a thousand deaths, including 128 Americans and 98 children, and greatly stirred anti German feelings among Americans. -
Prohibition of Child Labor
Pasada federel law prohibited child labor in 1916. The act limited children's working hours and prohibited the interstate sale of goods produced by child labor. The Supreme Court then declared it unconstitutional. -
Zimmerman Telegram
Germany promised the return of New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas to Mexico, if Mexico allied itself with Germany. The publication of this telegram in U.S newspapers outraged the public. -
Sedition Act of 1918
It was enacted to extend the Espionage Act of 1917. The Sedition Act covered a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds. Basically it made it a crime to use "disloyal" language. -
Schenck vs U.S
The Supreme Court held that the Espionage Act did not violate the 1st Amendment and was an appropriate exercise of Congress' authority. The Supreme Court said that the First Amendment could also be interpreted to prevent the punishment of speech after its expression. It stated that speech can be restricted whenever a "clear and present" danger is evident. -
The United States and the League of Nations
The United States never joined the League of Nations. But instead it signed a separate peace treaty with Germany in 1921.