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Clayton-Bulwar Treaty
Both U.S. and England wanted to build a Panama Canal. This said that if either of us built it, we'd get the builder's permission to use it and would share the profits. -
Teller Amendment
Legislation that promised the US would not annex Cuba after winning the Spanish-American war. -
Treaty of Paris
concluded the Spanish American War, Commissioners from the U.S. were sent to Paris on October 1, 1898 to produce a treaty that would bring an end to the war with Spain after six months of hostilitiy. From the treaty America got Guam, Puerto Rico and they paid 20 million dollars for the Philipines. Cuba was freed from Spain. -
Boxer Rebellion
Chinese rebellion against foreign influence. -
Foraker Act
gave the US direct control over and power to set up a government in Puerto Rico -
Insular Cases
These were court cases dealing with islands/countries that had been recently annexed and demanded the rights of a citizen. These Supreme Court cases decided that the Constitution did not always follow the flag, thus denying the rights of a citizen to Puerto Ricans and Filipinos. -
Platt Amendment
Legislation that severely restricted Cuba's sovereignty and gave the US the right to intervene if Cuba got into trouble. -
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt's 1904 extension of the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States has the right to protect its economic interests in South And Central America by using military force. -
Hepburn Act
Act aiming to restrain the railroad industry: free passes, with their hint of bribery, were severely restricted. -
Meat Inspection Act
Act passed in 1906 that decreed the preparation of meat shipped over state lines would be subject to federal inspection from corral to can. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
Act passed in 1906 designed to prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals. -
Gentlemen's Agreement
In 1907 Theodore Roosevelt arranged with Japan that Japan would voluntarily restrict the emmigration of its nationals to the U.S. -
Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
The Secretary of the Interior opened public lands in Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska to corporate development. He was sharply criticized by the chief of the Agriculture Department's Division of Forestry. When Taft dismissed, the Secretary of the Interior, Roosevelt and co. were heated, showing the widening gap between the then current and former presidents. -
Dollar Diplomacy
An approach to foreign diplomacy in which private investors would put their money into foreign regions of strategic concern to the US. By provoking investors from rival powers to do the same, the private investors from the US would then be strengthening American defenses and foreign policies. -
Elkins Act
An act aiming to restrain the railroad industry: aimed primarily at the rebate issue; heavy fines could now be placed on the railroads that gave rebates and on the shippers that accepted them. -
Federal Reserve Board
Federal Reserve Act Act passed in 1913. It created the , appointed by the president, that oversaw a nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts, each with its own central bank. The board was empowered to issue paper money. There was a substantial measure of public control over the board. -
Sixteenth Amendment
Amendment that granted Congress the authority to enact an income tax, beginning with a modest tax on incomes over $3000 (then considerably higher than the average family's income). -
Seventeenth Amendment
Amendment passed in 1913 that established the direct election of US Senators. -
Underwood Tariff
Wilson's first act as president: substantially reduced import fees. It was also a landmark in tax legislation. -
Federal Trade Commission
A presidentially appointed commission that turned a searchlight on industries engaged in interstate commerce. The commissioners were expected to crush monopoly at the source by rooting out unfair trade practices, including unlawful competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, and bribery. -
Clayton Antitrust Act
Act passed in 1914. It lengthened the Sherman Anti-Trust Act's list of business practices deemed objectionable in court. It also conferred benefits on labor, including reparations from lawsuits. -
18th Amendment
Amendment passed in 1919: the prohibition of liquor.