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CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“Heaven and Earth neveragreed better to frame a placefor man’s habitation.”THE FIRST AMERICANSAt the height of the Ice Age, between34,000 and 30,000 B.C., muchof the world’s water was locked upin vast continental ice sheets. As aresult, the Bering Sea was hundredsof meters below its current level, anda land bridge, known as Beringia,emerged between Asia and NorthAmerica. At its peak, Beringia isthought to have been some 1,500 kilometerswide. A moist and treelesstundra, it was covered with grassesand plant life, attracting the largeanimals that early humans huntedfor their survival.The first people to reach NorthAmerica almost certainly did sowithout knowing they had crossedinto a new continent. They wouldhave been following game, as theirJamestown founder John Smith, 1607ancestors had for thousands ofyears, along the Siberian coast andthen across the land bridge.Once in Alaska, it would takethese first North Americans thousandsof years more to work theirway through the openings in greatglaciers south to what is now theUnited States. Evidence of early lifein North America continues to befound. Little of it, however, can bereliably dated before 12,000 B.C.; arecent discovery of a hunting lookoutin northern Alaska, for example,may date from almost that time.So too may the finely crafted spearpoints and items found near Clovis,New Mexico.Similar artifacts have been foundat sites throughout North and SouthAmerica, indicating that life wasprobably already well established inmuch of the Western Hemisphere bysome time prior to 10,000 B.C.Around that time the mammothbegan to die out and the bison tookits place as a principal source offood and hides for these early NorthAmericans. Over time, as more andmore species of large game vanished— whether from overhunting ornatural causes — plants, berries,and seeds became an increasinglyimportant part of the early Americandiet. Gradually, foraging andthe first attempts at primitive agricultureappeared. Native Americansin what is now central Mexico ledthe way, cultivating corn, squash,and beans, perhaps as early as 8,000B.C. Slowly, this knowledge spreadnorthward.By 3,000 B.C., a primitive type ofcorn was being grown in the rivervalleys of New Mexico and Arizona.Then the first signs of irrigationbegan to appear, and, by 300 B.C.,signs of early village life.By the first centuries A.D., theHohokam were living in settlementsnear what is now Phoenix, Arizona,where they built ball courts andpyramid-like mounds reminiscentof those found in Mexico, as well asa canal and irrigation system.MOUND BUILDERS ANDPUEBLOSThe first Native-American groupto build mounds in what is now theUnited States often are called theAdenans. They began constructingearthen burial sites and fortificationsaround 600 B.C. Somemounds from that era are in theshape of birds or serpents; theyprobably served religious purposesnot yet fully understood.The Adenans appear to havebeen absorbed or displaced by variousgroups collectively known asHopewellians. One of the most importantcenters of their culture wasfound in southern Ohio, where theremains of several thousand of thesemounds still can be seen. Believedto be great traders, the Hopewelliansused and exchanged tools andmaterials across a wide region ofhundreds of kilometers.By around 500 A.D., theHopewellians disappeared, too,gradually giving way to a broadgroup of tribes generally knownas the Mississippians or TempleMound culture. One city, Cahokia,near Collinsville, Illinois, is thoughtto have had a population of about20,000 at its peak in the early 12thcentury. At the center of the citystood a huge earthen mound, flattenedat the top, that was 30 metershigh and 37 hectares at the base.Eighty other mounds have beenfound nearby.Cities such as Cahokia dependedon a combination of hunting, foraging,trading, and agriculture fortheir food and supplies. Influencedby the thriving societies to thesouth, they evolved into complex hierarchicalsocieties that took slavesand practiced human sacrifice.67

CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYaxes, weapons, cooking utensils,fishhooks, and a host of othergoods. Those Indians who tradedinitially had significant advantageover rivals who did not. In responseto European demand, tribes such asthe Iroquois began to devote moreattention to fur trapping during the17th century. Furs and pelts providedtribes the means to purchasecolonial goods until late into the18th century.Early colonial-Native-Americanrelations were an uneasy mix ofcooperation and conflict. On theone hand, there were the exemplaryrelations that prevailed during thefirst half century of Pennsylvania’sexistence. On the other were a longseries of setbacks, skirmishes, andwars, which almost invariably resultedin an Indian defeat and furtherloss of land.The first of the important Native-American uprisings occurred in Virginiain 1622, when some 347 whiteswere killed, including a number ofmissionaries who had just recentlycome to Jamestown.White settlement of the ConnecticutRiver region touched off thePequot War in 1637. In 1675 KingPhilip, the son of the native chiefwho had made the original peacewith the Pilgrims in 1621, attemptedto unite the tribes of southern NewEngland against further Europeanencroachment of their lands. Inthe struggle, however, Philip losthis life and many Indians were soldinto servitude.The steady influx of settlersinto the backwoods regions of theEastern colonies disrupted Native-American life. As more and moregame was killed off, tribes werefaced with the difficult choice of goinghungry, going to war, or movingand coming into conflict with othertribes to the west.The Iroquois, who inhabited thearea below lakes Ontario and Erie innorthern New York and Pennsylvania,were more successful in resistingEuropean advances. In 1570 fivetribes joined to form the most complexNative-American nation of itstime, the “Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee,” orLeague of the Iroquois. The leaguewas run by a council made up of 50representatives from each of the fivemember tribes. The council dealtwith matters common to all thetribes, but it had no say in how thefree and equal tribes ran their dayto-dayaffairs. No tribe was allowedto make war by itself. The councilpassed laws to deal with crimes suchas murder.The Iroquois League was a strongpower in the 1600s and 1700s. Ittraded furs with the British andsided with them against the Frenchin the war for the dominance ofAmerica between 1754 and 1763.The British might not have won thatwar otherwise.The Iroquois League stayedstrong until the American Revolution.Then, for the first time, thecouncil could not reach a unanimousdecision on whom to support.Member tribes made their own decisions,some fighting with the British,some with the colonists, someremaining neutral. As a result, everyonefought against the Iroquois.Their losses were great and theleague never recovered.SECOND GENERATION OFBRITISH COLONIESThe religious and civil conflict inEngland in the mid-17th centurylimited immigration, as well as theattention the mother country paidthe fledgling American colonies.In part to provide for the defensemeasures England was neglecting,the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth,Connecticut, and New Havencolonies formed the New EnglandConfederation in 1643. It was theEuropean colonists’ first attempt atregional unity.The early history of the Britishsettlers reveals a good deal of contention— religious and political— as groups vied for power and positionamong themselves and theirneighbors. Maryland, in particular,suffered from the bitter religious rivalriesthat afflicted England duringthe era of Oliver Cromwell. One ofthe casualties was the state’s TolerationAct, which was revoked in the1650s. It was soon reinstated, however,along with the religious freedomit guaranteed.With the restoration of KingCharles II in 1660, the British onceagain turned their attention toNorth America. Within a brief span,the first European settlements wereestablished in the Carolinas and theDutch driven out of New Netherland.New proprietary colonies wereestablished in New York, New Jersey,Delaware, and Pennsylvania.The Dutch settlements had beenruled by autocratic governors appointedin Europe. Over the years,the local population had becomeestranged from them. As a result,when the British colonists began encroachingon Dutch claims in LongIsland and Manhattan, the unpopulargovernor was unable to rally thepopulation to their defense. NewNetherland fell in 1664. The termsof the capitulation, however, weremild: The Dutch settlers were ableto retain their property and worshipas they pleased.As early as the 1650s, the AlbemarleSound region off the coastof what is now northern NorthCarolina was inhabited by settlerstrickling down from Virginia. Thefirst proprietary governor arrived in1664. The first town in Albemarle, aremote area even today, was not establisheduntil the arrival of a groupof French Huguenots in 1704.In 1670 the first settlers, drawnfrom New England and the Caribbeanisland of Barbados, arrivedin what is now Charleston, SouthCarolina. An elaborate system ofgovernment, to which the Britishphilosopher John Locke contributed,was prepared for the new colony.One of its prominent features was afailed attempt to create a hereditarynobility. One of the colony’s leastappealing aspects was the early trade1617

CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYin Indian slaves. With time, however,timber, rice, and indigo gave thecolony a worthier economic base.In 1681 William Penn, a wealthyQuaker and friend of Charles II, receiveda large tract of land west ofthe Delaware River, which becameknown as Pennsylvania. To helppopulate it, Penn actively recruiteda host of religious dissenters fromEngland and the continent — Quakers,Mennonites, Amish, Moravians,and Baptists.When Penn arrived the followingyear, there were already Dutch,Swedish, and English settlers livingalong the Delaware River. It wasthere he founded Philadelphia, the“City of Brotherly Love.”In keeping with his faith, Pennwas motivated by a sense of equalitynot often found in other Americancolonies at the time. Thus, womenin Pennsylvania had rights longbefore they did in other parts ofAmerica. Penn and his deputiesalso paid considerable attentionto the colony’s relations with theDelaware Indians, ensuring thatthey were paid for land on whichthe Europeans settled.Georgia was settled in 1732,the last of the 13 colonies to beestablished. Lying close to, if not actuallyinside the boundaries of SpanishFlorida, the region was viewed asa buffer against Spanish incursion.But it had another unique quality:The man charged with Georgia’s fortifications,General James Oglethorpe,was a reformer who deliberatelyset out to create a refuge where thepoor and former prisoners would begiven new opportunities.SETTLERS, SLAVES, ANDSERVANTSMen and women with little activeinterest in a new life in America wereoften induced to make the move tothe New World by the skillful persuasionof promoters. William Penn,for example, publicized the opportunitiesawaiting newcomers to thePennsylvania colony. Judges andprison authorities offered convictsa chance to migrate to colonies likeGeorgia instead of serving prisonsentences.But few colonists could financethe cost of passage for themselvesand their families to make a start inthe new land. In some cases, ships’captains received large rewards fromthe sale of service contracts for poormigrants, called indentured servants,and every method from extravagantpromises to actual kidnapping wasused to take on as many passengersas their vessels could hold.In other cases, the expenses oftransportation and maintenancewere paid by colonizing agencies likethe Virginia or Massachusetts BayCompanies. In return, indenturedservants agreed to work for the agenciesas contract laborers, usually forfour to seven years. Free at the end ofthis term, they would be given “freedomdues,” sometimes including asmall tract of land.Perhaps half the settlers living inthe colonies south of New Englandcame to America under this system.Although most of them fulfilledtheir obligations faithfully, some ranaway from their employers. Nevertheless,many of them were eventuallyable to secure land and set uphomesteads, either in the colonies inwhich they had originally settled orin neighboring ones. No social stigmawas attached to a family that hadits beginning in America under thissemi-bondage. Every colony had itsshare of leaders who were former indenturedservants.There was one very importantexception to this pattern: Africanslaves. The first black Africans werebrought to Virginia in 1619, just 12years after the founding of Jamestown.Initially, many were regardedas indentured servants who couldearn their freedom. By the 1660s,however, as the demand for plantationlabor in the Southern coloniesgrew, the institution of slavery beganto harden around them, andAfricans were brought to America inshackles for a lifetime of involuntaryservitude. 91819

CHAPTER 1: EARLY AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYTHE ENDURING MYSTERY OF THE ANASAZITime-worn pueblos and dramatic cliff towns, set amid the stark, rugged mesasand canyons of Colorado and New Mexico, mark the settlements of some ofthe 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 inthe American Southwest, where they hunted and grew crops of corn, squash,and beans. The Anasazi flourished over the centuries, developing sophisticateddams and irrigation systems; creating a masterful, distinctive pottery tradition;and carving multiroom dwellings into the sheer sides of cliffs that remainamong the most striking archaeological sites in the United States today.Yet by the year 1300, they had abandoned their settlements, leaving theirpottery, implements, even clothing — as though they intended to return — andseemingly vanished into history. Their homeland remained empty of humanbeings for more than a century — until the arrival of new tribes, such as theNavajo and the Ute, followed by the Spanish and other European settlers.The story of the Anasazi is tied inextricably to the beautiful but harshenvironment in which they chose to live. Early settlements, consisting of simplepithouses scooped out of the ground, evolved into sunken kivas (undergroundrooms) that served as meeting and religious sites. Later generations developedthe masonry techniques for building square, stone pueblos. But the most dramaticchange in Anasazi living was the move to the cliff sides below the flattoppedmesas, where the Anasazi carved their amazing, multilevel dwellings.The Anasazi lived in a communal society. They traded with other peoplesin the region, but signs of warfare are few and isolated. And although the Anasazicertainly had religious and other leaders, as well as skilled artisans, socialor class distinctions were virtually nonexistent.Religious and social motives undoubtedly played a part in the buildingof the cliff communities and their final abandonment. But the struggle to raisefood in an increasingly difficult environment was probably the paramount factor.As populations grew, farmers planted larger areas on the mesas, causingsome communities to farm marginal lands, while others left the mesa tops forthe cliffs. But the Anasazi couldn’t halt the steady loss of the land’s fertilityfrom constant use, nor withstand the region’s cyclical droughts. Analysis of treerings, 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, theirlegacy remains in the remarkable archaeological record that they left behind,and in the Hopi, Zuni, and other Pueblo peoples who are their descendants. Major Native American cultural groupings, A.D. 500-1300.2021

C H A P T E R2THECOLONIALPERIODPilgrims signing theMayflower Compactaboard ship, 1620.22

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“What then is the American,this new man?”NEW PEOPLESMost settlers who came to Americain the 17th century were English,but there were also Dutch, Swedes,and Germans in the middle region,a few French Huguenots in SouthCarolina and elsewhere, slaves fromAfrica, primarily in the South, anda scattering of Spaniards, Italians,and Portuguese throughout the colonies.After 1680 England ceased tobe the chief source of immigration,supplanted by Scots and “Scots-Irish” (Protestants from NorthernIreland). In addition, tens of thousandsof refugees fled northwesternEurope to escape war, oppression,and absentee-landlordism. By 1690the American population had risento a quarter of a million. From thenon, it doubled every 25 years until,in 1775, it numbered more than 2.5million. Although families occasionallymoved from one colony toanother, distinctions between individualcolonies were marked. TheyAmerican author and agriculturistJ. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, 1782were even more so among the threeregional groupings of colonies.NEW ENGLANDThe northeastern New Englandcolonies had generally thin, stonysoil, relatively little level land, andlong winters, making it difficultto make a living from farming.Turning to other pursuits, the NewEnglanders harnessed waterpowerand established grain mills andsawmills. Good stands of timberencouraged shipbuilding. Excellentharbors promoted trade, and thesea became a source of great wealth.In Massachusetts, the cod industryalone quickly furnished a basis forprosperity.With the bulk of the early settlersliving in villages and towns aroundthe harbors, many New Englanderscarried on some kind of trade orbusiness. Common pastureland andwoodlots served the needs of townspeople,who worked small farmsnearby. Compactness made possiblethe village school, the village church,and the village or town hall, wherecitizens met to discuss matters ofcommon interest.The Massachusetts Bay Colonycontinued to expand its commerce.From the middle of the 17th centuryonward it grew prosperous, so thatBoston became one of America’sgreatest ports.Oak timber for ships’ hulls, tallpines for spars and masts, and pitchfor the seams of ships came from theNortheastern forests. Building theirown vessels and sailing them to portsall over the world, the shipmasters ofMassachusetts Bay laid the foundationfor a trade that was to growsteadily in importance. By the endof the colonial period, one-third ofall vessels under the British flag werebuilt in New England. Fish, ship’sstores, and woodenware swelled theexports. New England merchantsand shippers soon discovered thatrum and slaves were profitable commodities.One of their most enterprising— if unsavory — tradingpractices of the time was the “triangulartrade.” Traders would purchaseslaves off the coast of Africa for NewEngland rum, then sell the slaves inthe West Indies where they wouldbuy molasses to bring home for saleto the local rum producers.THE MIDDLE COLONIESSociety in the middle colonies wasfar more varied, cosmopolitan, andtolerant than in New England. UnderWilliam Penn, Pennsylvania functionedsmoothly and grew rapidly.By 1685, its population was almost9,000. The heart of the colony wasPhiladelphia, a city of broad, treeshadedstreets, substantial brick andstone houses, and busy docks. By theend of the colonial period, nearly acentury later, 30,000 people livedthere, representing many languages,creeds, and trades. Their talent forsuccessful business enterprise madethe city one of the thriving centers ofthe British Empire.Though the Quakers dominatedin Philadelphia, elsewhere in Pennsylvaniaothers were well represented.Germans became the colony’smost skillful farmers. Important,too, were cottage industries such asweaving, shoemaking, cabinetmaking,and other crafts. Pennsylvaniawas also the principal gateway intothe New World for the Scots-Irish,who moved into the colony in theearly 18th century. “Bold and indigentstrangers,” as one Pennsylvaniaofficial called them, they hated theEnglish and were suspicious of allgovernment. The Scots-Irish tendedto settle in the backcountry, wherethey cleared land and lived by huntingand subsistence farming.New York best illustrated thepolyglot nature of America. By 1646the population along the HudsonRiver included Dutch, French, Danes,Norwegians, Swedes, English, Scots,Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians,Portuguese, and Italians. The Dutchcontinued to exercise an importantsocial and economic influence on2425

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYthe New York region long after thefall of New Netherland and theirintegration into the British colonialsystem. Their sharp-stepped gableroofs became a permanent part ofthe city’s architecture, and theirmerchants gave Manhattan muchof its original bustling, commercialatmosphere.THE SOUTHERN COLONIESIn contrast to New England andthe middle colonies, the Southerncolonies were predominantly ruralsettlements.By the late 17th century, Virginia’sand Maryland’s economic andsocial structure rested on the greatplanters and the yeoman farmers.The planters of the Tidewater region,supported by slave labor, held mostof the political power and the bestland. They built great houses, adoptedan aristocratic way of life, andkept in touch as best they could withthe world of culture overseas.The yeoman farmers, who workedsmaller tracts, sat in popular assembliesand found their way into politicaloffice. Their outspoken independencewas a constant warning to theoligarchy of planters not to encroachtoo far upon the rights of free men.The settlers of the Carolinasquickly learned to combine agricultureand commerce, and themarketplace became a major sourceof prosperity. Dense forests broughtrevenue: Lumber, tar, and resinfrom the longleaf pine providedsome of the best shipbuilding materialsin the world. Not bound toa single crop as was Virginia, Northand South Carolina also producedand exported rice and indigo, a bluedye obtained from native plants thatwas used in coloring fabric. By 1750more than 100,000 people lived inthe two colonies of North and SouthCarolina. Charleston, South Carolina,was the region’s leading port andtrading center.In the southernmost colonies, aseverywhere else, population growthin the backcountry had special significance.German immigrants andScots-Irish, unwilling to live inthe original Tidewater settlementswhere English influence was strong,pushed inland. Those who could notsecure fertile land along the coast, orwho had exhausted the lands theyheld, found the hills farther westa bountiful refuge. Although theirhardships were enormous, restlesssettlers kept coming; by the 1730sthey were pouring into the ShenandoahValley of Virginia. Soon theinterior was dotted with farms.Living on the edge of NativeAmerican country, frontier familiesbuilt cabins, cleared the wilderness,and cultivated maize and wheat.The men wore leather made fromthe skin of deer or sheep, knownas buckskin; the women wore garmentsof cloth they spun at home.Their food consisted of venison,wild turkey, and fish. They had theirown amusements: great barbecues,dances, housewarmings for newlymarried couples, shooting matches,and contests for making quiltedblankets. Quilt-making remains anAmerican tradition today.SOCIETY, SCHOOLS, ANDCULTUREA significant factor deterring theemergence of a powerful aristocraticor gentry class in the colonies wasthe ability of anyone in an establishedcolony to find a new homeon the frontier. Time after time,dominant Tidewater figures wereobliged to liberalize political policies,land-grant requirements, andreligious practices by the threat of amass exodus to the frontier.Of equal significance for thefuture were the foundations ofAmerican education and cultureestablished during the colonial period.Harvard College was foundedin 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Near the end of the century,the College of William and Marywas established in Virginia. A fewyears later, the Collegiate School ofConnecticut, later to become YaleUniversity, was chartered.Even more noteworthy was thegrowth of a school system maintainedby governmental authority.The Puritan emphasis on readingdirectly from the Scriptures underscoredthe importance of literacy. In1647 the Massachusetts Bay Colonyenacted the “ye olde deluder Satan”Act, requiring every town havingmore than 50 families to establisha grammar school (a Latin schoolto prepare students for college).Shortly thereafter, all the other NewEngland colonies, except for RhodeIsland, followed its example.The Pilgrims and Puritans hadbrought their own little librariesand continued to import booksfrom London. And as early as the1680s, Boston booksellers were doinga thriving business in works ofclassical literature, history, politics,philosophy, science, theology, andbelles-lettres. In 1638 the first printingpress in the English colonies andthe second in North America wasinstalled at Harvard College.The first school in Pennsylvaniawas begun in 1683. It taught reading,writing, and keeping of accounts.Thereafter, in some fashion, everyQuaker community provided for theelementary teaching of its children.More advanced training — in classicallanguages, history, and literature— was offered at the Friends PublicSchool, which still operates in Philadelphiaas the William Penn CharterSchool. The school was free to thepoor, but parents were required topay tuition if they were able.In Philadelphia, numerous privateschools with no religious affiliationtaught languages, mathematics,and natural science; there werealso night schools for adults. Womenwere not entirely overlooked, buttheir educational opportunities werelimited to training in activities thatcould be conducted in the home.Private teachers instructed thedaughters of prosperous Philadelphiansin French, music, dancing,painting, singing, grammar, andsometimes bookkeeping.2627

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYIn the 18th century, the intellectualand cultural developmentof Pennsylvania reflected, in largemeasure, the vigorous personalitiesof two men: James Logan and BenjaminFranklin. Logan was secretaryof the colony, and it was in his fine librarythat young Franklin found thelatest scientific works. In 1745 Loganerected a building for his collectionand bequeathed both building andbooks to the city.Franklin contributed even moreto the intellectual activity of Philadelphia.He formed a debating clubthat became the embryo of theAmerican Philosophical Society. Hisendeavors also led to the foundingof a public academy that later developedinto the University of Pennsylvania.He was a prime mover inthe establishment of a subscriptionlibrary, which he called “the motherof all North American subscriptionlibraries.”In the Southern colonies, wealthyplanters and merchants importedprivate tutors from Ireland or Scotlandto teach their children. Somesent their children to school in England.Having these other opportunities,the upper classes in the Tidewaterwere not interested in supportingpublic education. In addition, thediffusion of farms and plantationsmade the formation of communityschools difficult. There were only afew free schools in Virginia.The desire for learning did notstop at the borders of establishedcommunities, however. On the frontier,the Scots-Irish, though living inprimitive cabins, were firm devoteesof scholarship, and they made greatefforts to attract learned ministers totheir settlements.Literary production in thecolonies was largely confined toNew England. Here attention concentratedon religious subjects.Sermons were the most commonproducts of the press. A famousPuritan minister, the Reverend CottonMather, wrote some 400 works.His masterpiece, Magnalia ChristiAmericana, presented the pageantof New England’s history. The mostpopular single work of the day wasthe Reverend Michael Wigglesworth’slong poem, “The Day of Doom,”which described the Last Judgmentin terrifying terms.In 1704 Cambridge, Massachusetts,launched the colonies’ firstsuccessful newspaper. By 1745 therewere 22 newspapers being publishedin British North America.In New York, an important stepin establishing the principle of freedomof the press took place with thecase of John Peter Zenger, whoseNew York Weekly Journal, begun in1733, represented the opposition tothe government. After two years ofpublication, the colonial governorcould no longer tolerate Zenger’ssatirical barbs, and had him throwninto prison on a charge of seditiouslibel. Zenger continued to edit hispaper from jail during his ninemonthtrial, which excited intenseinterest throughout the colonies.Andrew Hamilton, the prominentlawyer who defended Zenger, arguedthat the charges printed by Zengerwere true and hence not libelous.The jury returned a verdict of notguilty, and Zenger went free.The increasing prosperity of thetowns prompted fears that the devilwas luring society into pursuit ofworldly gain and may have contributedto the religious reaction of the1730s, known as the Great Awakening.Its two immediate sources wereGeorge Whitefield, a Wesleyan revivalistwho arrived from Englandin 1739, and Jonathan Edwards, whoserved the Congregational Churchin Northampton, Massachusetts.Whitefield began a religious revivalin Philadelphia and then movedon to New England. He enthralledaudiences of up to 20,000 peopleat a time with histrionic displays,gestures, and emotional oratory.Religious turmoil swept throughoutNew England and the middlecolonies as ministers left establishedchurches to preach the revival.Edwards was the most prominentof those influenced by Whitefieldand the Great Awakening. His mostmemorable contribution was his1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Handsof an Angry God.” Rejecting theatrics,he delivered his message in aquiet, thoughtful manner, arguingthat the established churches soughtto deprive Christianity of its functionof redemption from sin. Hismagnum opus, Of Freedom of Will(1754), attempted to reconcile Calvinismwith the Enlightenment.The Great Awakening gave riseto evangelical denominations (thoseChristian churches that believe inpersonal conversion and the inerrancyof the Bible) and the spirit ofrevivalism, which continue to playsignificant roles in American religiousand cultural life. It weakenedthe status of the established clergyand provoked believers to rely ontheir own conscience. Perhaps mostimportant, it led to the proliferationof sects and denominations, whichin turn encouraged general acceptanceof the principle of religioustoleration.EMERGENCE OF COLONIALGOVERNMENTIn the early phases of colonial development,a striking feature was thelack of controlling influence by theEnglish government. All colonies exceptGeorgia emerged as companiesof shareholders, or as feudal proprietorshipsstemming from chartersgranted by the Crown. The fact thatthe king had transferred his immediatesovereignty over the New Worldsettlements to stock companies andproprietors did not, of course, meanthat the colonists in America werenecessarily free of outside control.Under the terms of the VirginiaCompany charter, for example, fullgovernmental authority was vestedin the company itself. Nevertheless,the crown expected that the companywould be resident in England.Inhabitants of Virginia, then, wouldhave no more voice in their governmentthan if the king himself hadretained absolute rule.2829

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYStill, the colonies consideredthemselves chiefly as commonwealthsor states, much like Englanditself, having only a loose associationwith the authorities in London. Inone way or another, exclusive rulefrom the outside withered away. Thecolonists — inheritors of the longEnglish tradition of the strugglefor political liberty — incorporatedconcepts of freedom into Virginia’sfirst charter. It provided that Englishcolonists were to exercise all liberties,franchises, and immunities “asif they had been abiding and bornwithin this our Realm of England.”They were, then, to enjoy the benefitsof the Magna Carta — thecharter of English political andcivil liberties granted by King Johnin 1215 — and the common law— the English system of law basedon legal precedents or tradition, notstatutory law. In 1618 the VirginiaCompany issued instructions to itsappointed governor providing thatfree inhabitants of the plantationsshould elect representatives to joinwith the governor and an appointivecouncil in passing ordinances for thewelfare of the colony.These measures proved to besome of the most far-reaching in theentire colonial period. From thenon, it was generally accepted that thecolonists had a right to participate intheir own government. In most instances,the king, in making futuregrants, provided in the charter thatthe free men of the colony shouldhave a voice in legislation affectingthem. Thus, charters awarded to theCalverts in Maryland, William Pennin Pennsylvania, the proprietors inNorth and South Carolina, and theproprietors in New Jersey specifiedthat legislation should be enactedwith “the consent of the freemen.”In New England, for many years,there was even more completeself-government than in the othercolonies. Aboard the Mayflower, thePilgrims adopted an instrument forgovernment called the “MayflowerCompact,” to “combine ourselves togetherinto a civil body politic for ourbetter ordering and preservation ...and by virtue hereof [to] enact, constitute,and frame such just and equallaws, ordinances, acts, constitutions,and offices ... as shall be thought mostmeet and convenient for the generalgood of the colony. ...”Although there was no legal basisfor the Pilgrims to establish a systemof self-government, the action wasnot contested, and, under the compact,the Plymouth settlers were ablefor many years to conduct their ownaffairs without outside interference.A similar situation developed inthe Massachusetts Bay Company,which had been given the right togovern itself. Thus, full authorityrested in the hands of persons residingin the colony. At first, the dozenor so original members of the companywho had come to America attemptedto rule autocratically. Butthe other colonists soon demandeda voice in public affairs and indicatedthat refusal would lead to amass migration.The company members yielded,and control of the governmentpassed to elected representatives.Subsequently, other New Englandcolonies — such as Connecticutand Rhode Island — also succeededin becoming self-governing simplyby asserting that they were beyondany governmental authority, andthen setting up their own politicalsystem modeled after that of thePilgrims at Plymouth.In only two cases was the selfgovernmentprovision omitted.These were New York, which wasgranted to Charles II’s brother, theDuke of York (later to become KingJames II), and Georgia, which wasgranted to a group of “trustees.” Inboth instances the provisions forgovernance were short-lived, forthe colonists demanded legislativerepresentation so insistently that theauthorities soon yielded.In the mid-17th century, theEnglish were too distracted by theirCivil War (1642-49) and OliverCromwell’s Puritan Commonwealthto pursue an effective colonial policy.After the restoration of CharlesII and the Stuart dynasty in 1660,England had more opportunity toattend to colonial administration.Even then, however, it was inefficientand lacked a coherent plan.The colonies were left largely to theirown devices.The remoteness afforded by a vastocean also made control of the coloniesdifficult. Added to this was thecharacter of life itself in early America.From countries limited in spaceand dotted with populous towns,the settlers had come to a land ofseemingly unending reach. On sucha continent, natural conditions promoteda tough individualism, aspeople became used to making theirown decisions. Government penetratedthe backcountry only slowly,and conditions of anarchy often prevailedon the frontier.Yet the assumption of self-governmentin the colonies did not goentirely unchallenged. In the 1670s,the Lords of Trade and Plantations,a royal committee established toenforce the mercantile system inthe colonies, moved to annul theMassachusetts Bay charter becausethe colony was resisting the government’seconomic policy. James II in1685 approved a proposal to createa Dominion of New England andplace colonies south through NewJersey under its jurisdiction, therebytightening the Crown’s control overthe whole region. A royal governor,Sir Edmund Andros, levied taxesby executive order, implemented anumber of other harsh measures,and jailed those who resisted.When news of the Glorious Revolution(1688-89), which deposedJames II in England, reached Boston,the population rebelled and imprisonedAndros. Under a new charter,Massachusetts and Plymouth wereunited for the first time in 1691 asthe royal colony of MassachusettsBay. The other New England coloniesquickly reinstalled their previousgovernments.The English Bill of Rights andthe Toleration Act of 1689 affirmed3031

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYfreedom of worship for Christiansin the colonies as well as in Englandand enforced limits on the Crown.Equally important, John Locke’sSecond Treatise on Government(1690), the Glorious Revolution’smajor theoretical justification, setforth a theory of government basednot on divine right but on contract.It contended that the people, endowedwith natural rights of life,liberty, and property, had the rightto rebel when governments violatedtheir rights.By the early 18th century, almostall the colonies had been broughtunder the direct jurisdiction of theBritish Crown, but under the rulesestablished by the Glorious Revolution.Colonial governors sought toexercise powers that the king hadlost in England, but the colonialassemblies, aware of events there,attempted to assert their “rights”and “liberties.” Their leverage restedon two significant powers similarto those held by the English Parliament:the right to vote on taxes andexpenditures, and the right to initiatelegislation rather than merely reactto proposals of the governor.The legislatures used these rightsto check the power of royal governorsand to pass other measures toexpand their power and influence.The recurring clashes between governorand assembly made colonialpolitics tumultuous and workedincreasingly to awaken the coloniststo the divergence between Americanand English interests. In many cases,the royal authorities did not understandthe importance of what thecolonial assemblies were doing andsimply neglected them. Nonetheless,the precedents and principlesestablished in the conflicts betweenassemblies and governors eventuallybecame part of the unwritten “constitution”of the colonies. In this way,the colonial legislatures asserted theright of self-government.THE FRENCH ANDINDIAN WARFrance and Britain engaged in asuccession of wars in Europe andthe Caribbean throughout the 18thcentury. Though Britain securedcertain advantages — primarily inthe sugar-rich islands of the Caribbean— the struggles were generallyindecisive, and France remained in apowerful position in North America.By 1754, France still had a strongrelationship with a number of NativeAmerican tribes in Canada andalong the Great Lakes. It controlledthe Mississippi River and, by establishinga line of forts and tradingposts, had marked out a great crescent-shapedempire stretching fromQuebec to New Orleans. The Britishremained confined to the narrowbelt east of the Appalachian Mountains.Thus the French threatenednot only the British Empire but alsothe American colonists themselves,for in holding the Mississippi Valley,France could limit their westwardexpansion.An armed clash took place in1754 at Fort Duquesne, the site wherePittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is now located,between a band of French regularsand Virginia militiamen underthe command of 22-year-old GeorgeWashington, a Virginia planter andsurveyor. The British governmentattempted to deal with the conflictby calling a meeting of representativesfrom New York, Pennsylvania,Maryland, and the New Englandcolonies. From June 19 to July 10,1754, the Albany Congress, as itcame to be known, met with the Iroquoisin Albany, New York, in orderto improve relations with them andsecure their loyalty to the British.But the delegates also declareda union of the American colonies“absolutely necessary for their preservation”and adopted a proposaldrafted by Benjamin Franklin. TheAlbany Plan of Union provided for apresident appointed by the king anda grand council of delegates chosenby the assemblies, with each colonyto be represented in proportion to itsfinancial contributions to the generaltreasury. This body would havecharge of defense, Native Americanrelations, and trade and settlementof the west. Most importantly, itwould have independent authorityto levy taxes. But none of the coloniesaccepted the plan, since theywere not prepared to surrender eitherthe power of taxation or controlover the development of the westernlands to a central authority.England’s superior strategic positionand her competent leadershipultimately brought victory in theconflict with France, known as theFrench and Indian War in Americaand the Seven Years’ War in Europe.Only a modest portion of it wasfought in the Western Hemisphere.In the Peace of Paris (1763),France relinquished all of Canada,the Great Lakes, and the territoryeast of the Mississippi to the British.The dream of a French empire inNorth America was over.Having triumphed over France,Britain was now compelled to facea problem that it had hitherto neglected,the governance of its empire.London thought it essential toorganize its now vast possessions tofacilitate defense, reconcile the divergentinterests of different areas andpeoples, and distribute more evenlythe cost of imperial administration.In North America alone, Britishterritories had more than doubled.A population that had been predominantlyProtestant and English nowincluded French-speaking Catholicsfrom Quebec, and large numbers ofpartly Christianized Native Americans.Defense and administrationof the new territories, as well as ofthe old, would require huge sums ofmoney and increased personnel. Theold colonial system was obviouslyinadequate to these tasks. Measuresto establish a new one, however,would rouse the latent suspicionsof colonials who increasingly wouldsee Britain as no longer a protectorof their rights, but rather a dangerto them. 93233

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYAN EXCEPTIONAL NATION?The United States of America did not emerge as a nation until about 175years after its establishment as a group of mostly British colonies. Yet from thebeginning it was a different society in the eyes of many Europeans who viewedit from afar, whether with hope or apprehension. Most of its settlers — whetherthe younger sons of aristocrats, religious dissenters, or impoverished indenturedservants — came there lured by a promise of opportunity or freedom notavailable in the Old World. The first Americans were reborn free, establishingthemselves in a wilderness unencumbered by any social order other than thatof the primitive aboriginal peoples they displaced. Having left the baggage ofa feudal order behind them, they faced few obstacles to the development of asociety built on the principles of political and social liberalism that emergedwith difficulty in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Based on the thinking of thephilosopher John Locke, this sort of liberalism emphasized the rights of theindividual and constraints on government power.Most immigrants to America came from the British Isles, the mostliberal of the European polities along with The Netherlands. In religion, themajority adhered to various forms of Calvinism with its emphasis on bothdivine and secular contractual relationships. These greatly facilitated theemergence of a social order built on individual rights and social mobility. Thedevelopment of a more complex and highly structured commercial society incoastal cities by the mid-18th century did not stunt this trend; it was in thesecities that the American Revolution was made. The constant reconstruction ofsociety along an ever-receding Western frontier equally contributed to a liberal-democraticspirit.In Europe, ideals of individual rights advanced slowly and unevenly; theconcept of democracy was even more alien. The attempt to establish both incontinental Europe’s oldest nation led to the French Revolution. The effort todestroy a neofeudal society while establishing the rights of man and democraticfraternity generated terror, dictatorship, and Napoleonic despotism. In theend, it led to reaction and gave legitimacy to a decadent old order. In America,the European past was overwhelmed by ideals that sprang naturally from theprocess of building a new society on virgin land. The principles of liberalismand democracy were strong from the beginning. A society that had thrown offthe burdens of European history would naturally give birth to a nation thatsaw itself as exceptional.THE WITCHES OF SALEMIn 1692 a group of adolescent girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, becamesubject to strange fits after hearing tales told by a West Indian slave. Theyaccused several women of being witches. The townspeople were appalled butnot surprised: Belief in witchcraft was widespread throughout 17th-centuryAmerica and Europe. Town officials convened a court to hear the charges ofwitchcraft. Within a month, six women were convicted and hanged.The hysteria grew, in large measure because the court permitted witnessesto testify that they had seen the accused as spirits or in visions. Such“spectral evidence” could neither be verified nor made subject to objectiveexamination. By the fall of 1692, 20 victims, including several men, had beenexecuted, and more than 100 others were in jail (where another five victimsdied) — among them some of the town’s most prominent citizens. When thecharges threatened to spread beyond Salem, ministers throughout the colonycalled for an end to the trials. The governor of the colony agreed. Those stillin jail were later acquitted or given reprieves.Although an isolated incident, the Salem episode has long fascinatedAmericans. Most historians agree that Salem Village in 1692 experienced akind of public hysteria, fueled by a genuine belief in the existence of witchcraft.While some of the girls may have been acting, many responsible adultsbecame caught up in the frenzy as well.Even more revealing is a closer analysis of the identities of the accusedand the accusers. Salem Village, as much of colonial New England, wasundergoing an economic and political transition from a largely agrarian, Puritan-dominatedcommunity to a more commercial, secular society. Many ofthe accusers were representatives of a traditional way of life tied to farmingand the church, whereas a number of the accused witches were members of arising commercial class of small shopkeepers and tradesmen. Salem’s obscurestruggle for social and political power between older traditional groups and anewer commercial class was one repeated in communities throughout Americanhistory. It took a bizarre and deadly detour when its citizens were sweptup by the conviction that the devil was loose in their homes.The Salem witch trials also serve as a dramatic parable of the deadlyconsequences of making sensational, but false, charges. Three hundred yearslater, we still call false accusations against a large number of people a“witch hunt.”3435

CHAPTER 2: THE COLONIAL PERIODOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYMap depicting the English colonies and western territories, 1763-1775.37

John Smith,the stalwartEnglish explorerand settler whoseleadership helpedsave Jamestown fromcollapse during its criticalearly years.B E C O M I N G ANATIONA P I C T U R E P R O F I L EThe United States of America was transformed in the two centuriesfrom the first English settlement at Jamestown in 1607 to thebeginning of the 19th century. From a series of isolated colonialsettlements hugging the Atlantic Coast, the United States evolvedinto a new nation, born in revolution, and guided by a Constitutionembodying the principles of democratic self-government.Detail from a painting by American artist Benjamin West(1738-1820), which depicts William Penn’s treaty with theNative Americans living where he founded the colony ofPennsylvania as a haven for Quakers and others seekingreligious freedom. Penn’s fair treatment of the DelawareIndians led to long-term, friendly relations, unlike the conflictsbetween European settlers and Indian tribes in other colonies.3839

A devout Puritan elder (right) confronts patrons drinking ale outside atavern. Tensions between the strictly religious Puritans, who first settledthe region, and the more secular population were characteristic of thecolonial era in New England.Cotton Mather was one ofthe leading Puritan figuresof the late 17th and early18th centuries. His massiveEcclesiastical History ofNew England (1702) is anexhaustive chronicle of thesettlement of New Englandand the Puritan effort toestablish a kingdom of Godin the wilderness of theNew World.Statue of Roger Williams, early champion of religious freedomand the separation of church and state. Williams founded the colony ofRhode Island after leaving Massachusetts because of his disapprovalof 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 ofIndependence and the Constitution. Franklinembodied the virtues of shrewd practicality andthe optimistic belief in self-improvement oftenassociated with America itself.Drawing of revolutionary firebrand Patrick Henry (standingto the left) uttering perhaps the most famous words of theAmerican Revolution — “Give me liberty or give me death!”— in a debate before the Virginia Assembly in 1775.James Madison, fourth president ofthe United States, is often regardedas the “Father of the Constitution.”His essays in the debate overratification of the Constitution werecollected with those of AlexanderHamilton and John Jay as TheFederalist Papers. Today, they areregarded as a classic defense ofrepublican government, in which theexecutive, legislative, and judicialbranches check and balance eachother to protect the rights andfreedoms of the people.42 43

Artist’s depiction of the first shots of the AmericanRevolution, fired at Lexington, Massachusetts,on April 19, 1775. Local militia confronted Britishtroops marching to seize colonial armamentsin the nearby town of Concord.4445

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declarationof Independence and third president ofthe United States. Jefferson also foundedthe University of Virginia and built oneof America’s most celebrated houses,Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia.Above: Surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army to Americanand French forces commanded by George Washington at Yorktown,Virginia, on October 19, 1781. The battle of Yorktown led to the end of thewar and American independence, secured in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.Left: U.S. postage stamp commemorating the bicentennial of the Lewisand 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 intothe uncharted West that lasted four years. They traveled thousands ofmiles, from Camp Wood, Illinois, to Oregon, through lands that eventuallybecame 11 American states.47

Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury in the administration ofPresident George Washington. Hamilton advocated a strong federal governmentand the encouragement of industry. He was opposed by Thomas Jefferson,a believer in decentralized government, states’ rights, and the virtues ofthe independent farmers and land owners.John Marshall, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, in a portraitby Alonzo Chappel. In a series of landmark cases, Marshall established the principleof judicial review – the right of the courts to determine if any act of Congress or theexecutive branch is constitutional, and therefore valid and legal.48 49

C H A P T E R3THE ROADTOINDEPENDENCEThe protest against Britishtaxes known as the “BostonTea Party,” 1773.50

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCEOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“The Revolution was effectedbefore the war commenced.The Revolution was inthe hearts and minds ofthe people.”Throughout the 18th century, thematuring British North Americancolonies inevitably forged a distinctidentity. They grew vastly in economicstrength and cultural attainment;virtually all had long yearsof self-government behind them.In the 1760s their combined populationexceeded 1,500,000 — a sixfoldincrease since 1700. Nonetheless,England and America did notbegin an overt parting of the waysuntil 1763, more than a centuryand a half after the founding of thefirst permanent settlement at Jamestown,Virginia.A NEW COLONIAL SYSTEMIn the aftermath of the French andIndian War, London saw a need fora new imperial design that wouldinvolve more centralized control,Former President John Adams, 1818spread the costs of empire more equitably,and speak to the interests ofboth French Canadians and NorthAmerican Indians. The colonies, onthe other hand, long accustomed toa large measure of independence, expectedmore, not less, freedom. And,with the French menace eliminated,they felt far less need for a strongBritish presence. A scarcely comprehendingCrown and Parliament onthe other side of the Atlantic founditself contending with coloniststrained in self-government and impatientwith interference.The organization of Canadaand of the Ohio Valley necessitatedpolicies that would not alienate theFrench and Indian inhabitants. HereLondon was in fundamental conflictwith the interests of the colonies.Fast increasing in population, andneeding more land for settlement,they claimed the right to extendtheir boundaries as far west as theMississippi River.The British government, fearinga series of Indian wars, believedthat the lands should be opened ona more gradual basis. Restrictingmovement was also a way of ensuringroyal control over existing settlementsbefore allowing the formationof new ones. The Royal Proclamationof 1763 reserved all the westernterritory between the AlleghenyMountains, Florida, the MississippiRiver, and Quebec for use by NativeAmericans. Thus the Crown attemptedto sweep away every westernland claim of the 13 colonies and tostop westward expansion. Althoughnever effectively enforced, this measure,in the eyes of the colonists,constituted a high-handed disregardof their fundamental right to occupyand settle western lands.More serious in its repercussionswas the new British revenuepolicy. London needed more moneyto support its growing empire andfaced growing taxpayer discontent athome. It seemed reasonable enoughthat the colonies should pay for theirown defense. That would involve newtaxes, levied by Parliament — at theexpense of colonial self-government.The first step was the replacementof the Molasses Act of 1733, whichplaced a prohibitive duty, or tax,on the import of rum and molassesfrom non-English areas, with theSugar Act of 1764. This act outlawedthe importation of foreign rum; italso put a modest duty on molassesfrom all sources and levied taxes onwines, silks, coffee, and a number ofother luxury items. The hope wasthat lowering the duty on molasseswould reduce the temptation tosmuggle the commodity from theDutch and French West Indies forthe rum distilleries of New England.The British government enforcedthe Sugar Act energetically. Customsofficials were ordered to show moreeffectiveness. British warships inAmerican waters were instructed toseize smugglers, and “writs of assistance,”or warrants, authorized theking’s officers to search suspectedpremises.Both the duty imposed by theSugar Act and the measures to enforceit caused consternation amongNew England merchants. They contendedthat payment of even thesmall duty imposed would be ruinousto their businesses. Merchants,legislatures, and town meetings protestedthe law. Colonial lawyers protested“taxation without representation,”a slogan that was to persuademany Americans they were beingoppressed by the mother country.Later in 1764, Parliament enacteda Currency Act “to prevent paperbills of credit hereafter issued inany of His Majesty’s colonies frombeing made legal tender.” Since thecolonies were a deficit trade areaand were constantly short of hardcurrency, this measure added a seriousburden to the colonial economy.Equally objectionable from the colonialviewpoint was the QuarteringAct, passed in 1765, which required5253

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCEOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYcolonies to provide royal troops withprovisions and barracks.THE STAMP ACTA general tax measure sparkedthe greatest organized resistance.Known as the “Stamp Act,” it requiredall newspapers, broadsides,pamphlets, licenses, leases, and otherlegal documents to bear revenuestamps. The proceeds, collected byAmerican customs agents, would beused for “defending, protecting, andsecuring” the colonies.Bearing equally on people whodid any kind of business, the StampAct aroused the hostility of the mostpowerful and articulate groups inthe American population: journalists,lawyers, clergymen, merchantsand businessmen, North and South,East and West. Leading merchantsorganized for resistance and formednonimportation associations.Trade with the mother countryfell off sharply in the summer of1765, as prominent men organizedthemselves into the “Sons of Liberty”— secret organizations formedto protest the Stamp Act, oftenthrough violent means. From Massachusettsto South Carolina, mobs,forcing luckless customs agents toresign their offices, destroyed thehated stamps. Militant resistance effectivelynullified the Act.Spurred by delegate Patrick Henry,the Virginia House of Burgessespassed a set of resolutions in Maydenouncing taxation without representationas a threat to colonialliberties. It asserted that Virginians,enjoying the rights of Englishmen,could be taxed only by their ownrepresentatives. The MassachusettsAssembly invited all the colonies toappoint delegates to a “Stamp ActCongress” in New York, held in October1765, to consider appeals forrelief to the Crown and Parliament.Twenty-seven representatives fromnine colonies seized the opportunityto mobilize colonial opinion. Aftermuch debate, the congress adopted aset of resolutions asserting that “notaxes ever have been or can be constitutionallyimposed on them, butby their respective legislatures,” andthat the Stamp Act had a “manifesttendency to subvert the rights andliberties of the colonists.”TAXATION WITHOUTREPRESENTATIONThe issue thus drawn centered onthe question of representation. Thecolonists believed they could notbe represented unless they actuallyelected members to the House ofCommons. But this idea conflictedwith the English principle of “virtualrepresentation,” according to whicheach member of Parliament representedthe interests of the wholecountry and the empire — even ifhis electoral base consisted of onlya tiny minority of property ownersfrom a given district. This theoryassumed that all British subjectsshared the same interests as theproperty owners who elected membersof Parliament.The American leaders arguedthat their only legal relations werewith the Crown. It was the king whohad agreed to establish colonies beyondthe sea and the king who providedthem with governments. Theyasserted that he was equally a king ofEngland and a king of the colonies,but they insisted that the EnglishParliament had no more right topass laws for the colonies than anycolonial legislature had the right topass laws for England. In fact, however,their struggle was equally withKing George III and Parliament.Factions aligned with the Crowngenerally controlled Parliament andreflected the king’s determination tobe a strong monarch.The British Parliament rejectedthe colonial contentions. Britishmerchants, however, feeling the effectsof the American boycott, threwtheir weight behind a repeal movement.In 1766 Parliament yielded,repealing the Stamp Act and modifyingthe Sugar Act. However, tomollify the supporters of centralcontrol over the colonies, Parliamentfollowed these actions with passageof the Declaratory Act, which assertedthe authority of Parliament tomake laws binding the colonies “inall cases whatsoever.” The colonistshad won only a temporary respitefrom an impending crisis.THE TOWNSHEND ACTSThe year 1767 brought anotherseries of measures that stirred anewall the elements of discord. CharlesTownshend, British chancellor of theexchequer, attempted a new fiscalprogram in the face of continueddiscontent over high taxes at home.Intent upon reducing British taxesby making more efficient the collectionof duties levied on Americantrade, he tightened customs administrationand enacted duties on colonialimports of paper, glass, lead, andtea from Britain. The “TownshendActs” were based on the premise thattaxes imposed on goods imported bythe colonies were legal while internaltaxes (like the Stamp Act) were not.The Townshend Acts were designedto raise revenue that wouldbe used in part to support colonialofficials and maintain the Britisharmy in America. In response,Philadelphia lawyer John Dickinson,in Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer,argued that Parliament had theright to control imperial commercebut did not have the right to tax thecolonies, whether the duties wereexternal or internal.The agitation following enactmentof the Townshend duties wasless violent than that stirred by theStamp Act, but it was neverthelessstrong, particularly in the cities ofthe Eastern seaboard. Merchantsonce again resorted to non-importationagreements, and people madedo with local products. Colonists,for example, dressed in homespunclothing and found substitutes fortea. They used homemade paperand their houses went unpainted.In Boston, enforcement of thenew regulations provoked violence.5455

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCEOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYWhen customs officials sought tocollect duties, they were set upon bythe populace and roughly handled.For this infraction, two British regimentswere dispatched to protect thecustoms commissioners.The presence of British troops inBoston was a standing invitation todisorder. On March 5, 1770, antagonismbetween citizens and Britishsoldiers again flared into violence.What began as a harmless snowballingof British soldiers degeneratedinto a mob attack. Someone gave theorder to fire. When the smoke hadcleared, three Bostonians lay dead inthe snow. Dubbed the “Boston Massacre,”the incident was dramaticallypictured as proof of British heartlessnessand tyranny.Faced with such opposition, Parliamentin 1770 opted for a strategicretreat and repealed all the Townshendduties except that on tea, whichwas a luxury item in the colonies,imbibed only by a very small minority.To most, the action of Parliamentsignified that the colonists had wona major concession, and the campaignagainst England was largelydropped. A colonial embargo on“English tea” continued but was nottoo scrupulously observed. Prosperitywas increasing and most colonialleaders were willing to let the futuretake care of itself.SAMUEL ADAMSDuring a three-year interval ofcalm, a relatively small number ofradicals strove energetically to keepthe controversy alive. They contendedthat payment of the tax constitutedan acceptance of the principlethat Parliament had the right to ruleover the colonies. They feared that atany time in the future, the principleof parliamentary rule might be appliedwith devastating effect on allcolonial liberties.The radicals’ most effectiveleader was Samuel Adams of Massachusetts,who toiled tirelessly fora single end: independence. Fromthe time he graduated from HarvardCollege in 1743, Adams was a publicservant in some capacity — inspectorof chimneys, tax-collector, andmoderator of town meetings. Aconsistent failure in business, he wasshrewd and able in politics, with theNew England town meeting his theaterof action.Adams wanted to free peoplefrom their awe of social and politicalsuperiors, make them aware oftheir own power and importance,and thus arouse them to action. Towardthese objectives, he publishedarticles in newspapers and madespeeches in town meetings, instigatingresolutions that appealed to thecolonists’ democratic impulses.In 1772 he induced the Bostontown meeting to select a “Committeeof Correspondence” to statethe rights and grievances of thecolonists. The committee opposeda British decision to pay the salariesof judges from customs revenues; itfeared that the judges would no longerbe dependent on the legislaturefor their incomes and thus no longeraccountable to it, thereby leading tothe emergence of “a despotic formof government.” The committeecommunicated with other towns onthis matter and requested them todraft replies. Committees were setup in virtually all the colonies, andout of them grew a base of effectiverevolutionary organizations. Still,Adams did not have enough fuel toset a fire.THE BOSTON “TEA PARTY”In 1773, however, Britain furnishedAdams and his allies with an incendiaryissue. The powerful East IndiaCompany, finding itself in critical financialstraits, appealed to the Britishgovernment, which granted it amonopoly on all tea exported to thecolonies. The government also permittedthe East India Company tosupply retailers directly, bypassingcolonial wholesalers. By then, mostof the tea consumed in America wasimported illegally, duty-free. By sellingits tea through its own agents ata price well under the customaryone, the East India Company madesmuggling unprofitable and threatenedto eliminate the independentcolonial merchants. Aroused notonly by the loss of the tea trade butalso by the monopolistic practiceinvolved, colonial traders joined theradicals agitating for independence.In ports up and down the Atlanticcoast, agents of the East IndiaCompany were forced to resign.New shipments of tea were eitherreturned to England or warehoused.In Boston, however, the agents defiedthe colonists; with the supportof the royal governor, they madepreparations to land incoming cargoesregardless of opposition. Onthe night of December 16, 1773, aband of men disguised as MohawkIndians and led by Samuel Adamsboarded three British ships lying atanchor and dumped their tea cargointo Boston harbor. Doubting theircountrymen’s commitment to principle,they feared that if the tea werelanded, colonists would actuallypurchase the tea and pay the tax.A crisis now confronted Britain.The East India Company had carriedout a parliamentary statute. Ifthe destruction of the tea went unpunished,Parliament would admitto the world that it had no controlover the colonies. Official opinionin Britain almost unanimously condemnedthe Boston Tea Party as anact of vandalism and advocated legalmeasures to bring the insurgentcolonists into line.THE COERCIVE ACTSParliament responded with newlaws that the colonists called the“Coercive” or “Intolerable Acts.” Thefirst, the Boston Port Bill, closedthe port of Boston until the tea waspaid for. The action threatened thevery life of the city, for to preventBoston from having access to thesea meant economic disaster. Otherenactments restricted local authorityand banned most town meetingsheld without the governor’s consent.5657

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCEOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYA Quartering Act required local authoritiesto find suitable quarters forBritish troops, in private homes ifnecessary. Instead of subduing andisolating Massachusetts, as Parliamentintended, these acts rallied itssister colonies to its aid. The QuebecAct, passed at nearly the sametime, extended the boundaries ofthe province of Quebec south to theOhio River. In conformity with previousFrench practice, it provided fortrials without jury, did not establisha representative assembly, and gavethe Catholic Church semi-establishedstatus. By disregarding oldcharter claims to western lands, itthreatened to block colonial expansionto the North and Northwest; itsrecognition of the Roman CatholicChurch outraged the Protestantsects that dominated every colony.Though the Quebec Act had notbeen passed as a punitive measure,Americans associated it with the CoerciveActs, and all became knownas the “Five Intolerable Acts.”At the suggestion of the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses, colonialrepresentatives met in Philadelphiaon September 5, 1774, “to consultupon the present unhappy stateof the Colonies.” Delegates to thismeeting, known as the First ContinentalCongress, were chosen byprovincial congresses or popularconventions. Only Georgia failed tosend a delegate; the total number of55 was large enough for diversity ofopinion, but small enough for genuinedebate and effective action. Thedivision of opinion in the coloniesposed a genuine dilemma for thedelegates. They would have to givean appearance of firm unanimityto induce the British governmentto make concessions. But they alsowould have to avoid any show ofradicalism or spirit of independencethat would alarm more moderateAmericans.A cautious keynote speech, followedby a “resolve” that no obediencewas due the Coercive Acts,ended with adoption of a set ofresolutions affirming the right ofthe colonists to “life, liberty, andproperty,” and the right of provinciallegislatures to set “all cases oftaxation and internal polity.” Themost important action taken by theCongress, however, was the formationof a “Continental Association”to reestablish the trade boycott. It setup a system of committees to inspectcustoms entries, publish the namesof merchants who violated the agreements,confiscate their imports, andencourage frugality, economy, andindustry.The Continental Association immediatelyassumed the leadershipin the colonies, spurring new localorganizations to end what remainedof royal authority. Led by the pro-independenceleaders, they drew theirsupport not only from the less wellto-do,but from many members ofthe professional class (especiallylawyers), most of the planters of theSouthern colonies, and a numberof merchants. They intimidated thehesitant into joining the popularmovement and punished the hostile;began the collection of military suppliesand the mobilization of troops;and fanned public opinion into revolutionaryardor.Many of those opposed to Britishencroachment on American rightsnonetheless favored discussion andcompromise as the proper solution.This group included Crownappointedofficers, Quakers, andmembers of other religious sectsopposed to the use of violence, numerousmerchants (especially in themiddle colonies), and some discontentedfarmers and frontiersmen inthe Southern colonies.The king might well have effectedan alliance with these moderatesand, by timely concessions, sostrengthened their position that therevolutionaries would have found itdifficult to proceed with hostilities.But George III had no intention ofmaking concessions. In September1774, scorning a petition by PhiladelphiaQuakers, he wrote, “The dieis now cast, the Colonies must eithersubmit or triumph.” This action isolatedLoyalists who were appalledand frightened by the course ofevents following the Coercive Acts.THE REVOLUTION BEGINSGeneral Thomas Gage, an amiableEnglish gentleman with an American-bornwife, commanded thegarrison at Boston, where politicalactivity had almost wholly replacedtrade. Gage’s main duty in the colonieshad been to enforce the CoerciveActs. When news reached himthat the Massachusetts colonistswere collecting powder and militarystores at the town of Concord, 32kilometers away, Gage sent a strongdetail to confiscate these munitions.After a night of marching, theBritish troops reached the village ofLexington on April 19, 1775, and sawa grim band of 77 Minutemen — sonamed because they were said to beready to fight in a minute — throughthe early morning mist. The Minutemenintended only a silent protest,but Marine Major John Pitcairn, theleader of the British troops, yelled,“Disperse, you damned rebels! Youdogs, run!” The leader of the Minutemen,Captain John Parker, toldhis troops not to fire unless firedat first. The Americans were withdrawingwhen someone fired a shot,which led the British troops to fireat the Minutemen. The British thencharged with bayonets, leaving eightdead and 10 wounded. In the oftenquotedphrase of 19th century poetRalph Waldo Emerson, this was “theshot heard round the world.”The British pushed on to Concord.The Americans had taken awaymost of the munitions, but they destroyedwhatever was left. In themeantime, American forces in thecountryside had mobilized to harassthe British on their long return toBoston. All along the road, behindstone walls, hillocks, and houses,militiamen from “every Middlesexvillage and farm” made targets ofthe bright red coats of the Britishsoldiers. By the time Gage’s wearydetachment stumbled into Boston,5859

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCEOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYit had suffered more than 250 killedand wounded. The Americans lost93 men.The Second Continental Congressmet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,on May 10. The Congressvoted to go to war, inducting thecolonial militias into continentalservice. It appointed Colonel GeorgeWashington of Virginia as theircommander-in-chief on June 15.Within two days, the Americans hadincurred high casualties at BunkerHill just outside Boston. Congressalso ordered American expeditionsto march northward into Canada byfall. Capturing Montreal, they failedin a winter assault on Quebec, andeventually retreated to New York.Despite the outbreak of armedconflict, the idea of complete separationfrom England was still repugnantto many members of the ContinentalCongress. In July, it adoptedthe Olive Branch Petition, beggingthe king to prevent further hostileactions until some sort of agreementcould be worked out. King Georgerejected it; instead, on August 23,1775, he issued a proclamation declaringthe colonies to be in a stateof rebellion.Britain had expected the Southerncolonies to remain loyal, in partbecause of their reliance on slavery.Many in the Southern coloniesfeared that a rebellion against themother country would also triggera slave uprising. In November 1775,Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia,tried to capitalize on that fearby offering freedom to all slaves whowould fight for the British. Instead,his proclamation drove to the rebelside many Virginians who wouldotherwise have remained Loyalist.The governor of North Carolina,Josiah Martin, also urged NorthCarolinians to remain loyal to theCrown. When 1,500 men answeredMartin’s call, they were defeated byrevolutionary armies before Britishtroops could arrive to help.British warships continued downthe coast to Charleston, South Carolina,and opened fire on the city inearly June 1776. But South Carolinianshad time to prepare, andrepulsed the British by the end ofthe month. They would not returnSouth for more than two years.COMMON SENSE ANDINDEPENDENCEIn January 1776, Thomas Paine,a radical political theorist andwriter who had come to Americafrom England in 1774, published a50-page pamphlet, Common Sense.Within three months, it sold 100,000copies. Paine attacked the idea of ahereditary monarchy, declaring thatone honest man was worth more tosociety than “all the crowned ruffiansthat ever lived.” He presentedthe alternatives — continued submissionto a tyrannical king andan outworn government, or libertyand happiness as a self-sufficient,independent republic. Circulatedthroughout the colonies, CommonSense helped to crystallize a decisionfor separation.There still remained the task,however, of gaining each colony’sapproval of a formal declaration. OnJune 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginiaintroduced a resolution in theSecond Continental Congress, declaring,“That these United Coloniesare, and of right ought to be, freeand independent states. ...” Immediately,a committee of five, headedby Thomas Jefferson of Virginia,was appointed to draft a documentfor a vote.Largely Jefferson’s work, the Declarationof Independence, adoptedJuly 4, 1776, not only announcedthe birth of a new nation, but alsoset forth a philosophy of humanfreedom that would become a dynamicforce throughout the entireworld. The Declaration drew uponFrench and English Enlightenmentpolitical philosophy, but one influencein particular stands out: JohnLocke’s Second Treatise on Government.Locke took conceptions of thetraditional rights of Englishmen anduniversalized them into the naturalrights of all humankind. TheDeclaration’s familiar opening passageechoes Locke’s social-contracttheory of government:We hold these truths to be selfevident,that all men are createdequal, that they are endowedby their Creator with certainunalienable Rights, that amongthese are Life, Liberty and thepursuit of Happiness. — That tosecure these rights, Governmentsare instituted among Men,deriving their just powers fromthe consent of the governed,— That whenever any Form ofGovernment becomes destructiveof these ends, it is the Right of thePeople to alter or to abolish it,and to institute new Government,laying its foundation on suchprinciples and organizing itspowers in such form, as to themshall seem most likely to effect theirSafety and Happiness.Jefferson linked Locke’s principlesdirectly to the situation in the colonies.To fight for American independencewas to fight for a governmentbased on popular consent in placeof a government by a king who had“combined with others to subjectus to a jurisdiction foreign to ourconstitution, and unacknowledgedby our laws. ...” Only a governmentbased on popular consent could securenatural rights to life, liberty,and the pursuit of happiness. Thus,to fight for American independencewas to fight on behalf of one’s ownnatural rights.DEFEATS AND VICTORIESAlthough the Americans sufferedsevere setbacks for months afterindependence was declared, theirtenacity and perseverance eventuallypaid off. During August 1776,in the Battle of Long Island in NewYork, Washington’s position becameuntenable, and he executed amasterly retreat in small boats fromBrooklyn to the Manhattan shore.British General William Howe twicehesitated and allowed the Americans6061

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCEOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYto escape. By November, however,Howe had captured Fort Washingtonon Manhattan Island. New YorkCity would remain under Britishcontrol until the end of the war.That December, Washington’sforces were near collapse, as suppliesand promised aid failed tomaterialize. Howe again missed hischance to crush the Americans bydeciding to wait until spring to resumefighting. On Christmas Day,December 25, 1776, Washingtoncrossed the Delaware River, northof Trenton, New Jersey. In the earlymorninghours of December 26, histroops surprised the British garrisonthere, taking more than 900 prisoners.A week later, on January 3, 1777,Washington attacked the British atPrinceton, regaining most of theterritory formally occupied by theBritish. The victories at Trenton andPrinceton revived flagging Americanspirits.In September 1777, however,Howe defeated the American armyat Brandywine in Pennsylvania andoccupied Philadelphia, forcing theContinental Congress to flee. Washingtonhad to endure the bitterlycold winter of 1777-1778 at ValleyForge, Pennsylvania, lacking adequatefood, clothing, and supplies.Farmers and merchants exchangedtheir goods for British gold and silverrather than for dubious papermoney issued by the ContinentalCongress and the states.Valley Forge was the lowest ebbfor Washington’s Continental Army,but elsewhere 1777 proved to be theturning point in the war. BritishGeneral John Burgoyne, movingsouth from Canada, attempted toinvade New York and New Englandvia Lake Champlain and the HudsonRiver. He had too much heavyequipment to negotiate the woodedand marshy terrain. On August 6,at Oriskany, New York, a band ofLoyalists and Native Americans underBurgoyne’s command ran into amobile and seasoned American forcethat managed to halt their advance.A few days later at Bennington, Vermont,more of Burgoyne’s forces,seeking much-needed supplies, werepushed back by American troops.Moving to the west side of theHudson River, Burgoyne’s armyadvanced on Albany. The Americanswere waiting for him. Led byBenedict Arnold — who wouldlater betray the Americans at WestPoint, New York — the colonialstwice repulsed the British. Havingby this time incurred heavy losses,Burgoyne fell back to Saratoga, NewYork, where a vastly superior Americanforce under General HoratioGates surrounded the British troops.On October 17, 1777, Burgoyne surrenderedhis entire army — six generals,300 other officers, and 5,500enlisted personnel.FRANCO-AMERICANALLIANCEIn France, enthusiasm for theAmerican cause was high: TheFrench intellectual world was itselfstirring against feudalism andprivilege. However, the Crown lentits support to the colonies for geopoliticalrather than ideologicalreasons: The French governmenthad been eager for reprisal againstBritain ever since France’s defeat in1763. To further the American cause,Benjamin Franklin was sent to Parisin 1776. His wit, guile, and intellectsoon made their presence felt in theFrench capital, and played a majorrole in winning French assistance.France began providing aid to thecolonies in May 1776, when it sent 14ships with war supplies to America.In fact, most of the gunpowder usedby the American armies came fromFrance. After Britain’s defeat at Saratoga,France saw an opportunity toseriously weaken its ancient enemyand restore the balance of power thathad been upset by the Seven Years’War (called the French and IndianWar in the American colonies). OnFebruary 6, 1778, the colonies andFrance signed a Treaty of Amity andCommerce, in which France recognizedthe United States and offeredtrade concessions. They also signeda Treaty of Alliance, which stipulatedthat if France entered the war,neither country would lay down itsarms until the colonies won theirindependence, that neither wouldconclude peace with Britain withoutthe consent of the other, and thateach guaranteed the other’s possessionsin America. This was the onlybilateral defense treaty signed bythe United States or its predecessorsuntil 1949.The Franco-American alliancesoon broadened the conflict. In June1778 British ships fired on Frenchvessels, and the two countries wentto war. In 1779 Spain, hoping to reacquireterritories taken by Britainin the Seven Years’ War, enteredthe conflict on the side of France,but not as an ally of the Americans.In 1780 Britain declared war on theDutch, who had continued to tradewith the Americans. The combinationof these European powers, withFrance in the lead, was a far greaterthreat to Britain than the Americancolonies standing alone.THE BRITISH MOVE SOUTHWith the French now involved,the British, still believing that mostSoutherners were Loyalists, steppedup their efforts in the Southerncolonies. A campaign began in late1778, with the capture of Savannah,Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Britishtroops and naval forces convergedon Charleston, South Carolina, theprincipal Southern port. They managedto bottle up American forces onthe Charleston peninsula. On May12, 1780, General Benjamin Lincolnsurrendered the city and its 5,000troops, in the greatest American defeatof the war.But the reversal in fortune onlyemboldened the American rebels.South Carolinians began roamingthe countryside, attacking Britishsupply lines. In July, American GeneralHoratio Gates, who had assembleda replacement force of untrainedmilitiamen, rushed to Camden,6263

CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCESouth Carolina, to confront Britishforces led by General Charles Cornwallis.But Gates’s makeshift armypanicked and ran when confrontedby the British regulars. Cornwallis’stroops met the Americans severalmore times, but the most significantbattle took place at Cowpens,South Carolina, in early 1781, wherethe Americans soundly defeated theBritish. After an exhausting butunproductive chase through NorthCarolina, Cornwallis set his sightson Virginia.VICTORY ANDINDEPENDENCEIn July 1780 France’s King LouisXVI had sent to America an expeditionaryforce of 6,000 men underthe Comte Jean de Rochambeau.In addition, the French fleet harassedBritish shipping and blockedreinforcement and resupply of Britishforces in Virginia. French andAmerican armies and navies, totaling18,000 men, parried with Cornwallisall through the summer andinto the fall. Finally, on October 19,1781, after being trapped at Yorktownnear the mouth of ChesapeakeBay, Cornwallis surrendered hisarmy of 8,000 British soldiers.Although Cornwallis’s defeatdid not immediately end the war— which would drag on inconclusivelyfor almost two more years — anew British government decided topursue peace negotiations in Paris inearly 1782, with the American siderepresented by Benjamin Franklin,John Adams, and John Jay. On April15, 1783, Congress approved the finaltreaty. Signed on September 3,the Treaty of Paris acknowledgedthe independence, freedom, andsovereignty of the 13 former colonies,now states. The new UnitedStates stretched west to the MississippiRiver, north to Canada, andsouth to Florida, which was returnedto Spain. The fledgling colonies thatRichard Henry Lee had spoken ofmore than seven years before hadfinally become “free and independentstates.”The task of knitting together anation remained. 9OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYTHE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONThe American Revolution had a significance far beyond the North Americancontinent. It attracted the attention of a political intelligentsia throughout theEuropean continent. Idealistic notables such as Thaddeus Kosciusko, Friedrichvon Steuben, and the Marquis de Lafayette joined its ranks to affirm liberalideas they hoped to transfer to their own nations. Its success strengthened theconcept of natural rights throughout the Western world and furthered the Enlightenmentrationalist critique of an old order built around hereditary monarchyand an established church. In a very real sense, it was a precursor to theFrench Revolution, but it lacked the French Revolution’s violence and chaosbecause it had occurred in a society that was already fundamentally liberal.The ideas of the Revolution have been most often depicted as a triumphof the social contract/natural rights theories of John Locke. Correct so far as itgoes, this characterization passes too quickly over the continuing importanceof Calvinist dissenting Protestantism, which from the Pilgrims and Puritans onhad also stood for the ideals of the social contract and the self-governing community.Lockean intellectuals and the Protestant clergy were both importantadvocates of compatible strains of liberalism that had flourished in the BritishNorth American colonies.Scholars have also argued that another persuasion contributed to theRevolution: “republicanism.” Republicanism, they assert, did not deny theexistence of natural rights but subordinated them to the belief that the maintenanceof a free republic required a strong sense of communal responsibilityand the cultivation of self-denying virtue among its leaders. The assertion ofindividual rights, even the pursuit of individual happiness, seemed egoistic bycontrast. For a time republicanism threatened to displace natural rights as themajor theme of the Revolution. Most historians today, however, concede thatthe distinction was much overdrawn. Most individuals who thought about suchthings in the 18th century envisioned the two ideas more as different sides ofthe same intellectual coin.Revolution usually entails social upheaval and violence on a wide scale.By these criteria, the American Revolution was relatively mild. About 100,000Loyalists left the new United States. Some thousands were members of oldelites who had suffered expropriation of their property and been expelled;others were simply common people faithful to their King. The majority ofthose who went into exile did so voluntarily. The Revolution did open up andfurther liberalize an already liberal society. In New York and the Carolinas,large Loyalist estates were divided among small farmers. Liberal assumptionsbecame the official norm of American political culture — whether in the disestablishmentof the Anglican Church, the principle of elected national andstate executives, or the wide dissemination of the idea of individual freedom.Yet the structure of society changed little. Revolution or not, most people remainedsecure in their life, liberty, and property.6465

C H A P T E R4THEFORMATIONOF ANATIONALGOVERNMENTGeorge Washingtonaddressing theConstitutional Conventionin Philadelphia, 1787.66

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“Every man, andevery body of men on Earth,possesses the right ofself-government.”STATE CONSTITUTIONSThe success of the Revolution gaveAmericans the opportunity to givelegal form to their ideals as expressedin the Declaration of Independence,and to remedy some of their grievancesthrough state constitutions.As early as May 10, 1776, Congresshad passed a resolution advisingthe colonies to form new governments“such as shall best conduceto the happiness and safety of theirconstituents.” Some of them hadalready done so, and within a yearafter the Declaration of Independence,all but three had drawn upconstitutions.The new constitutions showedthe impact of democratic ideas.None made any drastic break withthe past, since all were built on theDrafter of the Declaration of IndependenceThomas Jefferson, 1790solid foundation of colonial experienceand English practice. But eachwas also animated by the spirit ofrepublicanism, an ideal that hadlong been praised by Enlightenmentphilosophers.Naturally, the first objective ofthe framers of the state constitutionswas to secure those “unalienablerights” whose violation had causedthe former colonies to repudiatetheir connection with Britain. Thus,each constitution began with a declarationor bill of rights. Virginia’s,which served as a model for all theothers, included a declaration ofprinciples: popular sovereignty, rotationin office, freedom of elections,and an enumeration of fundamentalliberties: moderate bail and humanepunishment, speedy trial by jury,freedom of the press and of con-science, and the right of the majorityto reform or alter the government.Other states enlarged the list ofliberties to freedom of speech, of assembly,and of petition. Their constitutionsfrequently included suchprovisions as the right to bear arms,to a writ of habeas corpus, to inviolabilityof domicile, and to equal protectionunder the law. Moreover, allprescribed a three-branch structureof government —executive, legislative,and judiciary — each checkedand balanced by the others.Pennsylvania’s constitution wasthe most radical. In that state, Philadelphiaartisans, Scots-Irish frontiersmen,and German-speakingfarmers had taken control. The provincialcongress adopted a constitutionthat permitted every male taxpayerand his sons to vote, requiredrotation in office (no one could serveas a representative more than fouryears out of every seven), and set upa single-chamber legislature.The state constitutions had someglaring limitations, particularly bymore recent standards. Constitutionsestablished to guarantee peopletheir natural rights did not securefor everyone the most fundamentalnatural right — equality. The coloniessouth of Pennsylvania excludedtheir slave populations from theirinalienable rights as human beings.Women had no political rights. Nostate went so far as to permit universalmale suffrage, and even in thosestates that permitted all taxpayers tovote (Delaware, North Carolina, andGeorgia, in addition to Pennsylvania),office-holders were required toown a certain amount of property.THE ARTICLES OFCONFEDERATIONThe struggle with England haddone much to change colonial attitudes.Local assemblies had rejectedthe Albany Plan of Union in1754, refusing to surrender even thesmallest part of their autonomy toany other body, even one they themselveshad elected. But in the courseof the Revolution, mutual aid hadproved effective, and the fear of relinquishingindividual authority hadlessened to a large degree.John Dickinson produced the“Articles of Confederation and PerpetualUnion” in 1776. The ContinentalCongress adopted them inNovember 1777, and they went intoeffect in 1781, having been ratified byall the states. Reflecting the fragilityof a nascent sense of nationhood,the Articles provided only for a veryloose union. The national governmentlacked the authority to set uptariffs, to regulate commerce, and tolevy taxes. It possessed scant controlof international relations: A numberof states had begun their own negotiationswith foreign countries. Ninestates had their own armies, severaltheir own navies. In the absence ofa sound common currency, the newnation conducted its commerce witha curious hodgepodge of coins and abewildering variety of state and nationalpaper bills, all fast depreciatingin value.6869

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYEconomic difficulties after thewar prompted calls for change. Theend of the war had a severe effect onmerchants who supplied the armiesof both sides and who had lost theadvantages deriving from participationin the British mercantilesystem. The states gave preferenceto American goods in their tariffpolicies, but these were inconsistent,leading to the demand for a strongercentral government to implement auniform policy.Farmers probably suffered themost from economic difficultiesfollowing the Revolution. Thesupply of farm produce exceededdemand; unrest centered chieflyamong farmer-debtors who wantedstrong remedies to avoid foreclosureon their property and imprisonmentfor debt. Courts were cloggedwith suits for payment filed by theircreditors. All through the summerof 1786, popular conventions andinformal gatherings in several statesdemanded reform in the state administrations.That autumn, mobs of farmers inMassachusetts under the leadershipof a former army captain, DanielShays, began forcibly to preventthe county courts from sitting andpassing further judgments for debt,pending the next state election.In January 1787 a ragtag army of1,200 farmers moved toward thefederal arsenal at Springfield. Therebels, armed chiefly with stavesand pitchforks, were repulsed by asmall state militia force; GeneralBenjamin Lincoln then arrived withreinforcements from Boston androuted the remaining Shaysites,whose leader escaped to Vermont.The government captured 14 rebelsand sentenced them to death, but ultimatelypardoned some and let theothers off with short prison terms.After the defeat of the rebellion,a newly elected legislature, whosemajority sympathized with the rebels,met some of their demands fordebt relief.THE PROBLEM OF EXPANSIONWith the end of the Revolution,the United States again had to facethe old unsolved Western question,the problem of expansion,with its complications of land, furtrade, Indians, settlement, and localgovernment. Lured by the richestland yet found in the country,pioneers poured over the AppalachianMountains and beyond. By1775 the far-flung outposts scatteredalong the waterways had tensof thousands of settlers. Separatedby mountain ranges and hundredsof kilometers from the centers ofpolitical authority in the East, theinhabitants established their owngovernments. Settlers from all theTidewater states pressed on intothe fertile river valleys, hardwoodforests, and rolling prairies of theinterior. By 1790 the population ofthe trans-Appalachian region numberedwell over 120,000.Before the war, several colonieshad laid extensive and often overlappingclaims to land beyond theAppalachians. To those withoutsuch claims this rich territorialprize seemed unfairly apportioned.Maryland, speaking for the lattergroup, introduced a resolution thatthe western lands be consideredcommon property to be parceledby the Congress into free and independentgovernments. This ideawas not received enthusiastically.Nonetheless, in 1780 New York ledthe way by ceding its claims. In 1784Virginia, which held the grandestclaims, relinquished all land northof the Ohio River. Other statesceded their claims, and it becameapparent that Congress would comeinto possession of all the lands northof the Ohio River and west of the AlleghenyMountains. This commonpossession of millions of hectareswas the most tangible evidence yetof nationality and unity, and gave acertain substance to the idea of nationalsovereignty. At the same time,these vast territories were a problemthat required solution.The Confederation Congress establisheda system of limited selfgovernmentfor this new nationalNorthwest Territory. The NorthwestOrdinance of 1787 provided for itsorganization, initially as a singledistrict, ruled by a governor andjudges appointed by the Congress.When this territory had 5,000 freemale inhabitants of voting age, itwas to be entitled to a legislatureof two chambers, itself electing thelower house. In addition, it could atthat time send a nonvoting delegateto Congress. Three to five stateswould be formed as the territory wassettled. Whenever any one of themhad 60,000 free inhabitants, it wasto be admitted to the Union “onan equal footing with the originalstates in all respects.” The ordinanceguaranteed civil rights and liberties,encouraged education, and prohibitedslavery or other forms of involuntaryservitude.The new policy repudiated thetime-honored concept that coloniesexisted for the benefit of the mothercountry, were politically subordinate,and peopled by social inferiors.Instead, it established the principlethat colonies (“territories”) were anextension of the nation and entitled,not as a privilege but as a right, to allthe benefits of equality.CONSTITUTIONALCONVENTIONBy the time the Northwest Ordinancewas enacted, American leaderswere in the midst of drafting a newand stronger constitution to replacethe Articles of Confederation. Theirpresiding officer, George Washington,had written accurately that thestates were united only by a “rope ofsand.” Disputes between Marylandand Virginia over navigation onthe Potomac River led to a conferenceof representatives of five statesat Annapolis, Maryland, in 1786.One of the delegates, AlexanderHamilton of New York, convincedhis colleagues that commerce wasbound up with large political andeconomic questions. What was re-7071

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYquired was a fundamental rethinkingof the Confederation.The Annapolis conference issueda call for all the states to appointrepresentatives to a convention to beheld the following spring in Philadelphia.The Continental Congress wasat first indignant over this bold step,but it acquiesced after Washingtongave the project his backing and waselected a delegate. During the nextfall and winter, elections were heldin all states but Rhode Island.A remarkable gathering of notablesassembled at the Federal Conventionin May 1787. The state legislaturessent leaders with experiencein colonial and state governments, inCongress, on the bench, and in thearmy. Washington, regarded as thecountry’s first citizen because of hisintegrity and his military leadershipduring the Revolution, was chosenas presiding officer.Prominent among the more activemembers were two Pennsylvanians:Gouverneur Morris, who clearly sawthe need for national government,and James Wilson, who laboredindefatigably for the national idea.Also elected by Pennsylvania wasBenjamin Franklin, nearing the endof an extraordinary career of publicservice and scientific achievement.From Virginia came James Madison,a practical young statesman, a thoroughstudent of politics and history,and, according to a colleague, “froma spirit of industry and application ...the best-informed man on any pointin debate.” He would be recognizedas the “Father of the Constitution.”Massachusetts sent Rufus Kingand Elbridge Gerry, young men ofability and experience. Roger Sherman,shoemaker turned judge, wasone of the representatives fromConnecticut. From New York cameAlexander Hamilton, who had proposedthe meeting. Absent fromthe Convention were Thomas Jefferson,who was serving as ministerrepresenting the United States inFrance, and John Adams, serving inthe same capacity in Great Britain.Youth predominated among the 55delegates — the average age was 42.Congress had authorized theConvention merely to draft amendmentsto the Articles of Confederationbut, as Madison later wrote, thedelegates, “with a manly confidencein their country,” simply threw theArticles aside and went ahead withthe building of a wholly new formof government.They recognized that the paramountneed was to reconcile twodifferent powers — the power oflocal control, which was alreadybeing exercised by the 13 semi-independentstates, and the power ofa central government. They adoptedthe principle that the functions andpowers of the national government— being new, general, and inclusive— had to be carefully definedand stated, while all other functionsand powers were to be understood asbelonging to the states. But realizingthat the central government had tohave real power, the delegates alsogenerally accepted the fact that thegovernment should be authorized,among other things, to coin money,to regulate commerce, to declarewar, and to make peace.DEBATE AND COMPROMISEThe 18th-century statesmen whomet in Philadelphia were adherentsof Montesquieu’s concept of thebalance of power in politics. Thisprinciple was supported by colonialexperience and strengthened by thewritings of John Locke, with whichmost of the delegates were familiar.These influences led to the convictionthat three equal and coordinatebranches of government should beestablished. Legislative, executive,and judicial powers were to be soharmoniously balanced that noone could ever gain control. Thedelegates agreed that the legislativebranch, like the colonial legislaturesand the British Parliament, shouldconsist of two houses.On these points there was unanimitywithin the assembly. Butsharp differences also arose. Representativesof the small states — NewJersey, for instance — objected tochanges that would reduce their influencein the national governmentby basing representation upon populationrather than upon statehood,as was the case under the Articles ofConfederation.On the other hand, representativesof large states, like Virginia,argued for proportionate representation.This debate threatened to goon endlessly until Roger Shermancame forward with arguments forrepresentation in proportion to thepopulation of the states in one houseof Congress, the House of Representatives,and equal representation inthe other, the Senate.The alignment of large againstsmall states then dissolved. Butalmost every succeeding questionraised new divisions, to be resolvedonly by new compromises. Northernerswanted slaves counted whendetermining each state’s tax share,but not in determining the numberof seats a state would have in theHouse of Representatives. Under acompromise reached with little dissent,tax levies and House membershipwould be apportioned accordingto the number of free inhabitantsplus three-fifths of the slaves.Certain members, such as Shermanand Elbridge Gerry, still smartingfrom Shays’s Rebellion, fearedthat the mass of people lacked sufficientwisdom to govern themselvesand thus wished no branch of thefederal government to be elected directlyby the people. Others thoughtthe national government should begiven as broad a popular base aspossible. Some delegates wished toexclude the growing West from theopportunity of statehood; otherschampioned the equality principleestablished in the Northwest Ordinanceof 1787.There was no serious differenceon such national economic questionsas paper money, laws concerningcontract obligations, or the roleof women, who were excluded frompolitics. But there was a need for7273

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYbalancing sectional economic interests;for settling arguments as tothe powers, term, and selection ofthe chief executive; and for solvingproblems involving the tenure ofjudges and the kind of courts to beestablished.Laboring through a hot Philadelphiasummer, the convention finallyachieved a draft incorporating ina brief document the organizationof the most complex governmentyet devised, one that would be supremewithin a clearly defined andlimited sphere. It would have fullpower to levy taxes, borrow money,establish uniform duties and excisetaxes, coin money, regulate interstatecommerce, fix weights andmeasures, grant patents and copyrights,set up post offices, and buildpost roads. It also was authorized toraise and maintain an army andnavy, manage Native American affairs,conduct foreign policy, andwage war. It could pass laws fornaturalizing foreigners and controllingpublic lands; it could admit newstates on a basis of absolute equalitywith the old. The power to pass allnecessary and proper laws for executingthese clearly defined powersrendered the federal governmentable to meet the needs of later generationsand of a greatly expandedbody politic.The principle of separation ofpowers had already been given a fairtrial in most state constitutions andhad proved sound. Accordingly, theconvention set up a governmentalsystem with separate legislative,executive, and judiciary branches,each checked by the others. Thuscongressional enactments were notto become law until approved bythe president. And the presidentwas to submit the most importantof his appointments and all his treatiesto the Senate for confirmation.The president, in turn, could be impeachedand removed by Congress.The judiciary was to hear all casesarising under federal laws and theConstitution; in effect, the courtswere empowered to interpret boththe fundamental and the statutelaw. But members of the judiciary,appointed by the president and confirmedby the Senate, could also beimpeached by Congress.To protect the Constitution fromhasty alteration, Article V stipulatedthat amendments to the Constitutionbe proposed either by twothirdsof both houses of Congress orby two-thirds of the states, meetingin convention. The proposals were tobe ratified by one of two methods:either by the legislatures of threefourthsof the states, or by conventionin three-fourths of the states,with the Congress proposing themethod to be used.Finally, the convention facedthe most important problem of all:How should the powers given tothe new government be enforced?Under the Articles of Confederation,the national government hadpossessed — on paper — significantpowers, which, in practice, hadcome to naught, for the states paidno attention to them. What was tosave the new government from thesame fate?At the outset, most delegates furnisheda single answer — the use offorce. But it was quickly seen that theapplication of force upon the stateswould destroy the Union. The decisionwas that the government shouldnot act upon the states but upon thepeople within the states, and shouldlegislate for and upon all the individualresidents of the country. Asthe keystone of the Constitution, theconvention adopted two brief buthighly significant statements:Congress shall have power ...to make all Laws which shall benecessary and proper for carryinginto Execution the ... Powersvested by this Constitution in theGovernment of the United States.... (Article I, Section 7)This Constitution, and theLaws of the United States whichshall be made in Pursuancethereof; and all Treaties made, orwhich shall be made, under theAuthority of the United States,shall be the supreme Law of theLand; and the Judges in everyState shall be bound thereby,any Thing in the Constitution orLaws of any State to the Contrarynotwithstanding. (Article VI)Thus the laws of the United Statesbecame enforceable in its own nationalcourts, through its own judgesand marshals, as well as in the statecourts through the state judges andstate law officers.Debate continues to this dayabout the motives of those whowrote the Constitution. In 1913 historianCharles Beard, in An EconomicInterpretation of the Constitution,argued that the Founding Fathersrepresented emerging commercial-capitalistinterests that neededa strong national government. Healso believed many may have beenmotivated by personal holdings oflarge amounts of depreciated governmentsecurities. However, JamesMadison, principal drafter of theConstitution, held no bonds andwas a Virginia planter. Conversely,some opponents of the Constitutionowned large amounts of bondsand securities. Economic interestsinfluenced the course of the debate,but so did state, sectional, and ideologicalinterests. Equally importantwas the idealism of the framers.Products of the Enlightenment, theFounding Fathers designed a governmentthat they believed wouldpromote individual liberty andpublic virtue. The ideals embodiedin the U.S. Constitution remain anessential element of the Americannational identity.RATIFICATION ANDTHE BILL OF RIGHTSOn September 17, 1787, after 16weeks of deliberation, the finishedConstitution was signed by 39 ofthe 42 delegates present. Franklin,pointing to the half-sun painted inbrilliant gold on the back of Washington’schair, said:7475

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYI have often in the course of thesession ... looked at that [chair]behind the president, withoutbeing able to tell whether it wasrising or setting; but now, atlength, I have the happiness toknow that it is a rising, and not asetting, sun.The convention was over; themembers “adjourned to the CityTavern, dined together, and tooka cordial leave of each other.” Yeta crucial part of the struggle for amore perfect union remained tobe faced. The consent of popularlyelected state conventions was stillrequired before the document couldbecome effective.The convention had decided thatthe Constitution would take effectupon ratification by conventions innine of the 13 states. By June 1788the required nine states had ratifiedthe Constitution, but the large statesof Virginia and New York had not.Most people felt that without theirsupport the Constitution would neverbe honored. To many, the documentseemed full of dangers: Wouldnot the strong central governmentthat it established tyrannize them,oppress them with heavy taxes, anddrag them into wars?Differing views on these questionsbrought into existence twoparties, the Federalists, who favoreda strong central government, and theAntifederalists, who preferred a looseassociation of separate states. Impassionedarguments on both sides werevoiced by the press, the legislatures,and the state conventions.In Virginia, the Antifederalistsattacked the proposed new governmentby challenging the openingphrase of the Constitution: “Wethe People of the United States.”Without using the individual statenames in the Constitution, the delegatesargued, the states would notretain their separate rights or powers.Virginia Antifederalists were ledby Patrick Henry, who became thechief spokesman for back-countryfarmers who feared the powers ofthe new central government. Waveringdelegates were persuaded bya proposal that the Virginia conventionrecommend a bill of rights,and Antifederalists joined with theFederalists to ratify the Constitutionon June 25.In New York, Alexander Hamilton,John Jay, and James Madisonpushed for the ratification of theConstitution in a series of essaysknown as The Federalist Papers.The essays, published in New Yorknewspapers, provided a now-classicargument for a central federal government,with separate executive,legislative, and judicial branches thatchecked and balanced one another.With The Federalist Papers influencingthe New York delegates, the Constitutionwas ratified on July 26.Antipathy toward a strong centralgovernment was only oneconcern among those opposed tothe Constitution; of equal concernto many was the fear that theConstitution did not protect individualrights and freedoms sufficiently.Virginian George Mason, authorof Virginia’s Declaration of Rightsof 1776, was one of three delegatesto the Constitutional Conventionwho had refused to sign the finaldocument because it did not enumerateindividual rights. Togetherwith Patrick Henry, he campaignedvigorously against ratification of theConstitution by Virginia. Indeed,five states, including Massachusetts,ratified the Constitution on the conditionthat such amendments beadded immediately.When the first Congress convenedin New York City in September1789, the calls for amendmentsprotecting individual rights werevirtually unanimous. Congressquickly adopted 12 such amendments;by December 1791, enoughstates had ratified 10 amendmentsto make them part of the Constitution.Collectively, they are knownas the Bill of Rights. Among theirprovisions: freedom of speech, press,religion, and the right to assemblepeacefully, protest, and demandchanges (First Amendment); protectionagainst unreasonable searches,seizures of property, and arrest(Fourth Amendment); due processof law in all criminal cases (FifthAmendment); right to a fair andspeedy trial (Sixth Amendment);protection against cruel and unusualpunishment (Eighth Amendment);and provision that the people retainadditional rights not listed in theConstitution (Ninth Amendment).Since the adoption of the Billof Rights, only 17 more amendmentshave been added to theConstitution. Although a number ofthe subsequent amendments revisedthe federal government’s structureand operations, most followed theprecedent established by the Billof Rights and expanded individualrights and freedoms.PRESIDENT WASHINGTONOne of the last acts of the Congressof the Confederation was to arrangefor the first presidential election, settingMarch 4, 1789, as the date thatthe new government would comeinto being. One name was on everyone’slips for the new chief of state,George Washington. He was unanimouslychosen president and tookthe oath of office at his inaugurationon April 30, 1789. In words spokenby every president since, Washingtonpledged to execute the duties ofthe presidency faithfully and, to thebest of his ability, to “preserve, protect,and defend the Constitution ofthe United States.”When Washington took office,the new Constitution enjoyed neithertradition nor the full backing oforganized public opinion. The newgovernment had to create its ownmachinery and legislate a system oftaxation that would support it. Untila judiciary could be established, lawscould not be enforced. The army wassmall. The navy had ceased to exist.Congress quickly created thedepartments of State and Treasury,with Thomas Jefferson and AlexanderHamilton as their respectivesecretaries. Departments of War7677

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYand Justice were also created. SinceWashington preferred to make decisionsonly after consulting thosemen whose judgment he valued,the American presidential Cabinetcame into existence, consisting ofthe heads of all the departments thatCongress might create. Simultaneously,Congress provided for a federaljudiciary — a Supreme Court,with one chief justice and five associatejustices, three circuit courts,and 13 district courts.Meanwhile, the country wasgrowing steadily and immigrationfrom Europe was increasing. Americanswere moving westward: NewEnglanders and Pennsylvanians intoOhio; Virginians and Caroliniansinto Kentucky and Tennessee. Goodfarms were to be had for small sums;labor was in strong demand. Therich valley stretches of upper NewYork, Pennsylvania, and Virginiasoon became great wheat-growingareas.Although many items were stillhomemade, the Industrial Revolutionwas dawning in the UnitedStates. Massachusetts and RhodeIsland were laying the foundation ofimportant textile industries; Connecticutwas beginning to turn outtinware and clocks; New York, NewJersey, and Pennsylvania were producingpaper, glass, and iron. Shippinghad grown to such an extentthat on the seas the United Stateswas second only to Britain. Even before1790, American ships were travelingto China to sell furs and bringback tea, spices, and silk.At this critical juncture in thecountry’s growth, Washington’s wiseleadership was crucial. He organizeda national government, developedpolicies for settlement of territoriespreviously held by Britain and Spain,stabilized the northwestern frontier,and oversaw the admission of threenew states: Vermont (1791), Kentucky(1792), and Tennessee (1796).Finally, in his Farewell Address, hewarned the nation to “steer clear ofpermanent alliances with any portionof the foreign world.” This adviceinfluenced American attitudestoward the rest of the world for generationsto come.HAMILTON VS. JEFFERSONA conflict took shape in the 1790sbetween America’s first politicalparties. Indeed, the Federalists, ledby Alexander Hamilton, and theRepublicans (also called Democratic-Republicans),led by ThomasJefferson, were the first politicalparties in the Western world. Unlikeloose political groupings in theBritish House of Commons or inthe American colonies before theRevolution, both had reasonablyconsistent and principled platforms,relatively stable popular followings,and continuing organizations.The Federalists in the main representedthe interests of trade andmanufacturing, which they saw asforces of progress in the world. Theybelieved these could be advancedonly by a strong central governmentcapable of establishing sound publiccredit and a stable currency. Openlydistrustful of the latent radicalismof the masses, they could nonethelesscredibly appeal to workers andartisans. Their political strongholdwas in the New England states. SeeingEngland as in many respects anexample the United States should tryto emulate, they favored good relationswith their mother country.Although Alexander Hamiltonwas never able to muster the popularappeal to stand successfully for electiveoffice, he was far and away theFederalists’ main generator of ideologyand public policy. He brought topublic life a love of efficiency, order,and organization. In response to thecall of the House of Representativesfor a plan for the “adequate supportof public credit,” he laid down andsupported principles not only of thepublic economy, but of effective government.Hamilton pointed out thatthe United States must have creditfor industrial development, commercialactivity, and the operationsof government, and that its obligationsmust have the complete faithand support of the people.There were many who wishedto repudiate the Confederation’snational debt or pay only part of it.Hamilton insisted upon full paymentand also upon a plan by whichthe federal government took overthe unpaid debts of the states incurredduring the Revolution. Healso secured congressional legislationfor a Bank of the United States.Modeled after the Bank of England,it acted as the nation’s central financialinstitution and operatedbranches in different parts of thecountry. Hamilton sponsored a nationalmint, and argued in favor oftariffs, saying that temporary protectionof new firms could help fosterthe development of competitivenational industries. These measures— placing the credit of the federalgovernment on a firm foundationand giving it all the revenues itneeded — encouraged commerceand industry, and created a solidphalanx of interests firmly behindthe national government.The Republicans, led by ThomasJefferson, spoke primarily for agriculturalinterests and values. Theydistrusted bankers, cared little forcommerce and manufacturing, andbelieved that freedom and democracyflourished best in a rural societycomposed of self-sufficient farmers.They felt little need for a strongcentral government; in fact, theytended to see it as a potential sourceof oppression. Thus they favoredstates’ rights. They were strongest inthe South.Hamilton’s great aim was moreefficient organization, whereas Jeffersononce said, “I am not a friendto a very energetic government.”Hamilton feared anarchy andthought in terms of order; Jeffersonfeared tyranny and thought in termsof freedom. Where Hamilton sawEngland as an example, Jefferson,who had been minister to France inthe early stages of the French Revolution,looked to the overthrow ofthe French monarchy as vindication7879

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYof the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment.Against Hamilton’s instinctiveconservatism, he projected aneloquent democratic radicalism.An early clash between them,which occurred shortly after Jeffersontook office as secretary of state,led to a new and profoundly importantinterpretation of the Constitution.When Hamilton introducedhis bill to establish a national bank,Jefferson, speaking for those whobelieved in states’ rights, argued thatthe Constitution expressly enumeratedall the powers belonging to thefederal government and reserved allother powers to the states. Nowherewas the federal government empoweredto set up a bank.Hamilton responded that becauseof the mass of necessary detail, avast body of powers had to beimplied by general clauses, and oneof these authorized Congress to“make all laws which shall be necessaryand proper” for carrying outother powers specifically granted.The Constitution authorized thenational government to levy andcollect taxes, pay debts, and borrowmoney. A national bank wouldmaterially help in performing thesefunctions efficiently. Congress,therefore, was entitled, under its impliedpowers, to create such a bank.Washington and the Congress acceptedHamilton’s view — and setan important precedent for an expansiveinterpretation of the federalgovernment’s authority.CITIZEN GENET ANDFOREIGN POLICYAlthough one of the first tasksof the new government was tostrengthen the domestic economyand make the nation financiallysecure, the United States could notignore foreign affairs. The cornerstonesof Washington’s foreignpolicy were to preserve peace, togive the country time to recoverfrom its wounds, and to permit theslow work of national integration tocontinue. Events in Europe threatenedthese goals. Many Americanswatched the French Revolution withkeen interest and sympathy. In April1793, news came that France haddeclared war on Great Britain andSpain, and that a new French envoy,Edmond Charles Genet — CitizenGenet — was coming to the UnitedStates.When the revolution in Franceled to the execution of King LouisXVI in January 1793, Britain, Spain,and Holland became involved inwar with France. According to theFranco-American Treaty of Allianceof 1778, the United States and Francewere perpetual allies, and the UnitedStates was obliged to help Francedefend the West Indies. However,the United States, militarily andeconomically a very weak country,was in no position to become involvedin another war with majorEuropean powers.On April 22, 1793, Washingtoneffectively abrogated the terms of the1778 treaty that had made Americanindependence possible by proclaimingthe United States to be “friendlyand impartial toward the belligerentpowers.” When Genet arrived, hewas cheered by many citizens, buttreated with cool formality by thegovernment. Angered, he violateda promise not to outfit a capturedBritish ship as a privateer (privatelyowned warships commissioned toprey on ships of enemy nations).Genet then threatened to take hiscause directly to the American people,over the head of the government.Shortly afterward, the United Statesrequested his recall by the Frenchgovernment.The Genet incident strainedAmerican relations with France ata time when those with Great Britainwere far from satisfactory. Britishtroops still occupied forts in theWest, property carried off by Britishsoldiers during the Revolution hadnot been restored or paid for, and theBritish Navy was seizing Americanships bound for French ports. Thetwo countries seemed to be driftingtoward war. Washington sent JohnJay, first chief justice of the SupremeCourt, to London as a special envoy.Jay negotiated a treaty that securedwithdrawal of British soldiers fromwestern forts but allowed the Britishto continue the fur trade with theIndians in the Northwest. Londonagreed to pay damages for Americanships and cargoes seized in 1793 and1794, but made no commitments onpossible future seizures. Moreover,the treaty failed to address the festeringissue of British “impressment”of American sailors into the RoyalNavy, placed severe limitations onAmerican trade with the West Indies,and accepted the British viewthat food and naval stores, as well aswar materiel, were contraband subjectto seizure if bound for enemyports on neutral ships.American diplomat CharlesPinckney was more successful indealing with Spain. In 1795, he negotiatedan important treaty settlingthe Florida border on Americanterms and giving Americans accessto the port of New Orleans. All thesame, the Jay Treaty with the Britishreflected a continuing Americanweakness vis-a-vis a world superpower.Deeply unpopular, it wasvocally supported only by Federalistswho valued cultural and economicties with Britain. Washingtonbacked it as the best bargain available,and, after a heated debate, theSenate approved it.Citizen Genet’s antics and Jay’sTreaty demonstrated both the difficultiesfaced by a small weak nationcaught between two great powersand the wide gap in outlook betweenFederalists and Republicans. To theFederalists, Republican backers ofthe increasingly violent and radicalFrench Revolution were dangerousradicals (“Jacobins”); to the Republicans,advocates of amity with Englandwere monarchists who wouldsubvert the natural rights of Americans.The Federalists connected virtueand national development withcommerce; the Republicans saw8081

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYAmerica’s destiny as that of a vastagrarian republic. The politics oftheir conflicting positions becameincreasingly vehement.ADAMS AND JEFFERSONWashington retired in 1797, firmlydeclining to serve for more thaneight years as the nation’s head.Thomas Jefferson of Virginia (Republican)and John Adams (Federalist)vied to succeed him. Adamswon a narrow election victory. Fromthe beginning, however, he was atthe head of a party and an administrationdivided between his backersand those of his rival, Hamilton.Adams faced serious internationaldifficulties. France, angered byJay’s treaty with Britain, adopted itsdefinition of contraband and beganto seize American ships headed forBritain. By 1797 France had snatched300 American ships and brokenoff diplomatic relations with theUnited States. When Adams sentthree commissioners to Paris tonegotiate, agents of Foreign MinisterCharles Maurice de Talleyrand(whom Adams labeled X, Y, andZ in his report to Congress) informedthe Americans that negotiationscould only begin if the UnitedStates loaned France $12 millionand bribed officials of the Frenchgovernment. American hostility toFrance rose to an excited pitch. Theso-called XYZ Affair led to the enlistmentof troops and the strengtheningof the fledgling U.S. Navy.In 1799, after a series of sea battleswith the French, war seemedinevitable. In this crisis, Adamsrejected the guidance of Hamilton,who wanted war, and reopened negotiationswith France. Napoleon,who had just come to power, receivedthem cordially. The dangerof conflict subsided with the negotiationof the Convention of 1800,which formally released the UnitedStates from its 1778 defense alliancewith France. However, reflectingAmerican weakness, France refusedto pay $20 million in compensationfor American ships taken by theFrench Navy.Hostility to France had led Congressto pass the Alien and SeditionActs, which had severe repercussionsfor American civil liberties. TheNaturalization Act, which changedthe requirement for citizenshipfrom five to 14 years, was targetedat Irish and French immigrantssuspected of supporting the Republicans.The Alien Act, operative fortwo years only, gave the presidentthe power to expel or imprisonaliens in time of war. The SeditionAct proscribed writing, speaking,or publishing anything of “a false,scandalous, and malicious” natureagainst the president or Congress.The few convictions won under itcreated martyrs to the cause of civilliberties and aroused support for theRepublicans.The acts met with resistance. Jeffersonand Madison sponsored thepassage of the Kentucky and VirginiaResolutions by the legislaturesof these two states in November andDecember 1798. Extreme declarationof states’ rights, the resolutionsasserted that states could “interpose”their views on federal actionsand “nullify” them. The doctrineof nullification would be used laterfor the Southern states’ resistance toprotective tariffs, and, more ominously,slavery.By 1800 the American peoplewere ready for a change. UnderWashington and Adams, the Federalistshad established a strong government,but sometimes failing tohonor the principle that the Americangovernment must be responsiveto the will of the people, they hadfollowed policies that alienated largegroups. For example, in 1798 theyhad enacted a tax on houses, land,and slaves, affecting every propertyowner in the country.Jefferson had steadily gatheredbehind him a great mass of smallfarmers, shopkeepers, and otherworkers. He won a close victory ina contested election. Jefferson enjoyedextraordinary favor because ofhis appeal to American idealism. Inhis inaugural address, the first suchspeech in the new capital of Washington,D.C., he promised “a wiseand frugal government” that wouldpreserve order among the inhabitantsbut leave people “otherwise freeto regulate their own pursuits of industry,and improvement.”Jefferson’s mere presence in theWhite House encouraged democraticprocedures. He preachedand practiced democratic simplicity,eschewing much of the pompand ceremony of the presidency. Inline with Republican ideology, hesharply cut military expenditures.Believing America to be a havenfor the oppressed, he secured a liberalnaturalization law. By the endof his second term, his far-sightedsecretary of the treasury, AlbertGallatin, had reduced the nationaldebt to less than $560 million.Widely popular, Jefferson won reelectionas president easily.LOUISIANA AND BRITAINOne of Jefferson’s acts doubled thearea of the country. At the end of theSeven Years’ War, France had cededits territory west of the MississippiRiver to Spain. Access to the portof New Orleans near its mouth wasvital for the shipment of Americanproducts from the Ohio and Mississippiriver valleys. Shortly after Jeffersonbecame president, Napoleonforced a weak Spanish governmentto cede this great tract, the LouisianaTerritory, back to France. The movefilled Americans with apprehensionand indignation. French plans fora huge colonial empire just west ofthe United States seriously threatenedthe future development of theUnited States. Jefferson asserted thatif France took possession of Louisiana,“from that moment we mustmarry ourselves to the British fleetand nation.”Napoleon, however, lost interestafter the French were expelled fromHaiti by a slave revolt. Knowing thatanother war with Great Britain was8283

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYimpending, he resolved to fill histreasury and put Louisiana beyondthe reach of Britain by selling it tothe United States. His offer presentedJefferson with a dilemma: TheConstitution conferred no explicitpower to purchase territory. At firstthe president wanted to propose anamendment, but delay might leadNapoleon to change his mind. Advisedthat the power to purchaseterritory was inherent in the powerto make treaties, Jefferson relented,saying that “the good sense of ourcountry will correct the evil of looseconstruction when it shall produceill effects.”The United States obtained the“Louisiana Purchase” for $15 millionin 1803. It contained morethan 2,600,000 square kilometersas well as the port of New Orleans.The nation had gained a sweep ofrich plains, mountains, forests, andriver systems that within 80 yearswould become its heartland — anda breadbasket for the world.As Jefferson began his secondterm in 1805, he declared Americanneutrality in the struggle betweenGreat Britain and France. Althoughboth sides sought to restrict neutralshipping to the other, British controlof the seas made its interdiction andseizure much more serious thanany actions by Napoleonic France.British naval commanders routinelysearched American ships, seized vesselsand cargoes, and took off sailorsbelieved to be British subjects. Theyalso frequently impressed Americanseamen into their service.When Jefferson issued a proclamationordering British warshipsto leave U.S. territorial waters, theBritish reacted by impressing moresailors. Jefferson then decided to relyon economic pressure; in December1807 Congress passed the EmbargoAct, forbidding all foreign commerce.Ironically, the law requiredstrong police authority that vastlyincreased the powers of the nationalgovernment. Economically, it wasdisastrous. In a single year Americanexports fell to one-fifth of theirformer volume. Shipping interestswere almost ruined by the measure;discontent rose in New England andNew York. Agricultural interestssuffered heavily also. Prices droppeddrastically when the Southern andWestern farmers could not exporttheir surplus grain, cotton, meat,and tobacco.The embargo failed to starveGreat Britain into a change of policy.As the grumbling at home increased,Jefferson turned to a mildermeasure, which partially conciliateddomestic shipping interests. In early1809 he signed the Non-IntercourseAct permitting commerce with allcountries except Britain or Franceand their dependencies.James Madison succeeded Jeffersonas president in 1809. Relationswith Great Britain grew worse, andthe two countries moved rapidly towardwar. The president laid beforeCongress a detailed report, showingseveral thousand instances in whichthe British had impressed Americancitizens. In addition, northwesternsettlers had suffered from attacksby Indians whom they believed hadbeen incited by British agents inCanada. In turn, many Americansfavored conquest of Canada and theelimination of British influence inNorth America, as well as vengeancefor impressment and commercialrepression. By 1812, war fervor wasdominant. On June 18, the UnitedStates declared war on Britain.THE WAR OF 1812The nation went to war bitterlydivided. While the South and Westfavored the conflict, New York andNew England opposed it becauseit interfered with their commerce.The U.S. military was weak. Thearmy had fewer than 7,000 regularsoldiers, distributed in widely scatteredposts along the coast, near theCanadian border, and in the remoteinterior. The state militias werepoorly trained and undisciplined.Hostilities began with an invasionof Canada, which, if properlytimed and executed, would havebrought united action against Montreal.Instead, the entire campaignmiscarried and ended with the Britishoccupation of Detroit. The U.S.Navy, however, scored successes.In addition, American privateers,swarming the Atlantic, captured 500British vessels during the fall andwinter months of 1812 and 1813.The campaign of 1813 centeredon Lake Erie. General WilliamHenry Harrison — who would laterbecome president — led an armyof militia, volunteers, and regularsfrom Kentucky with the object ofreconquering Detroit. On September12, while he was still in upper Ohio,news reached him that CommodoreOliver Hazard Perry had annihilatedthe British fleet on Lake Erie. Harrisonoccupied Detroit and pushedinto Canada, defeating the fleeingBritish and their Indian allies onthe Thames River. The entire regionnow came under American control.A year later Commodore ThomasMacdonough won a point-blankgun duel with a British flotilla onLake Champlain in upper NewYork. Deprived of naval support, aBritish invasion force of 10,000 menretreated to Canada. Nevertheless,the British fleet harassed the Easternseaboard with orders to “destroyand lay waste.” On the night of August24, 1814, an expeditionary forcerouted American militia, marchedto Washington, D.C., and left thecity in flames. President James Madisonfled to Virginia.British and American negotiatorsconducted talks in Europe.The British envoys decided to concede,however, when they learnedof Macdonough’s victory on LakeChamplain. Faced with the depletionof the British treasury due inlarge part to the heavy costs of theNapoleonic Wars, the negotiatorsfor Great Britain accepted the Treatyof Ghent in December 1814. It providedfor the cessation of hostilities,the restoration of conquests, and acommission to settle boundary disputes.Unaware that a peace treaty8485

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYhad been signed, the two sides continuedfighting into 1815 near NewOrleans, Louisiana. Led by GeneralAndrew Jackson, the United Statesscored the greatest land victory ofthe war, ending for once and for allany British hopes of reestablishingcontinental influence south of theCanadian border.While the British and Americanswere negotiating a settlement,Federalist delegates selected by thelegislatures of Massachusetts, RhodeIsland, Connecticut, Vermont, andNew Hampshire gathered in Hartford,Connecticut, to express oppositionto “Mr. Madison’s war.” NewEngland had managed to trade withthe enemy throughout the conflict,and some areas actually prosperedfrom this commerce. Nevertheless,the Federalists claimed that the warwas ruining the economy. With apossibility of secession from theUnion in the background, the conventionproposed a series of constitutionalamendments that wouldprotect New England interests. Instead,the end of the war, punctuatedby the smashing victory at New Orleans,stamped the Federalists with astigma of disloyalty from which theynever recovered. 9THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENINGBy the end of the 18th century, many educated Americans no longerprofessed traditional Christian beliefs. In reaction to the secularism of the age,a religious revival spread westward in the first half of the 19th century.This “Second Great Awakening” consisted of several kinds of activity,distinguished by locale and expression of religious commitment. In NewEngland, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism.In western New York, the spirit of revival encouraged the emergence of newdenominations. In the Appalachian region of Kentucky and Tennessee, therevival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists, and spawned a new formof religious expression — the camp meeting.In contrast to the Great Awakening of the 1730s, the revivals in theEast were notable for the absence of hysteria and open emotion. Rather,unbelievers were awed by the “respectful silence” of those bearing witnessto their faith. The evangelical enthusiasm in New England gave rise tointerdenominational missionary societies, formed to evangelize the West.Members of these societies not only acted as apostles for the faith, but aseducators, civic leaders, and exponents of Eastern, urban culture. Publicationand education societies promoted Christian education. Most notable amongthem was the American Bible Society, founded in 1816. Social activisminspired by the revival gave rise to abolition of slavery groups and the Societyfor the Promotion of Temperance, as well as to efforts to reform prisons andcare for the handicapped and mentally ill.Western New York, from Lake Ontario to the Adirondack Mountains, hadbeen the scene of so many religious revivals in the past that it was known asthe “Burned-Over District.” Here, the dominant figure was Charles GrandisonFinney, a lawyer who had experienced a religious epiphany and set out topreach the Gospel. His revivals were characterized by careful planning,showmanship, and advertising. Finney preached in the Burned-Over Districtthroughout the 1820s and the early 1830s, before moving to Ohio in 1835to take a chair in theology at Oberlin College, of which he subsequentlybecame president.Two other important religious denominations in America — the Mormonsand the Seventh Day Adventists — also got their start in the Burned-Over District.8687

CHAPTER 4: THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENTIn the Appalachian region, the revival took on characteristics similarto the Great Awakening of the previous century. But here, the center of therevival was the camp meeting, a religious service of several days’ length, fora group that was obliged to take shelter on the spot because of the distancefrom home. Pioneers in thinly populated areas looked to the camp meetingas a refuge from the lonely life on the frontier. The sheer exhilaration ofparticipating in a religious revival with hundreds and perhaps thousandsof people inspired the dancing, shouting, and singing associated with theseevents. Probably the largest camp meeting was at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, inAugust 1801; between 10,000 and 25,000 people attended.The great revival quickly spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, andsouthern Ohio, with the Methodists and the Baptists its prime beneficiaries.Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. TheMethodists 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 arapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert. The Baptists hadno formal church organization. Their farmer-preachers were people whoreceived “the call” from God, studied the Bible, and founded a church, whichthen ordained them. Other candidates for the ministry emerged from thesechurches, and established a presence farther into the wilderness. Using suchmethods, the Baptists became dominant throughout the border states andmost of the South.The Second Great Awakening exercised a profound impact on Americanhistory. The numerical strength of the Baptists and Methodists rose relativeto that of the denominations dominant in the colonial period — Anglicans,Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. The growing differenceswithin American Protestantism reflected the growth and diversity of anexpanding nation.Andrew Jackson, president from 1829 to 1837. Charismatic, forceful,and passionate, Jackson forged an effective political coalition withinthe Democratic Party with Westerners, farmers, and working people.TRANSFORMINGA N A T I O NA P I C T U R E P R O F I L EThe United States transformed itself again in the 19th andearly 20th centuries. A rural, agricultural nation became anindustrial power whose backbone was steel and coal, railroads,and steam power. A young country once bound by the MississippiRiver expanded across the North American continent, and on tooverseas territories. A nation divided by the issue of slavery andtested by the trauma of civil war became a world power whoseglobal influence was first felt in World War I.88 89

Henry Clay of Kentucky,although never president,was one of the mostinfluential Americanpoliticians of the first halfof the 19th century. Claybecame indispensable forhis role in preserving theUnion with the MissouriCompromise of 1820 andthe Compromise of 1850.Both pieces of legislationresolved, for a time,disputes over slavery inthe territories.William Lloyd Garrison, whosepassionate denunciations of slaveryand eloquent defense of the rightsof enslaved African Americansappeared in his weekly paper, theLiberator, from its first issue in 1831 to1865, when the last issue appeared atthe close of the Civil War.The great champions ofwomen’s rights in the 19thcentury: Elizabeth CadyStanton (seated) and SusanB. Anthony. Stanton helpedorganize the first women’srights convention in 1848in Seneca Falls, New York.In later years, she joinedAnthony in founding theNational Woman SuffrageAssociation. “I forged thethunderbolts,” Stanton saidof their partnership, “and shefired them.”Frederick Douglass, the nation’s leadingAfrican-American abolitionist of the19th century, escaped from slavery in1838. His speech about his sufferingsas a slave at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society’s annual conventionin Nantucket launched his career asan outspoken lecturer, writer, andpublisher on the abolition of slaveryand racial equality.90 91Harriet Tubman, a former slave who rescuedhundreds from slavery through the UndergroundRailroad. The Underground Railroad was a vastnetwork of people who helped fugitive slavesescape to the North and to Canada in the firsthalf of the 19th century.

Confederate dead along a stone wall during the Chancellorsville campaign, May 1863.Victorious at Chancellorsville, Southern forces advanced north into Pennsylvania, butwere defeated at the three-day battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the Civil Warand the largest battle ever fought in North America. More Americans died in the CivilWar (1861-65) than in any other conflict in U.S. history.93

Union General Ulysses S. Grant, who led Unionforces to victory in the Civil War and becamethe 18th president of the United States. Despiteheavy losses in several battles against hisopponent, General Lee (below), Grant refusedto retreat, leading President Lincoln to say tocritics calling for his removal “I can’t spare thisgeneral. 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. Militaryhistorians to this day study his tacticsand Grant’s in battles such as Vicksburg,Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness.94 95

Engraving of the first African-American members elected to the U.S. Congress duringthe Reconstruction Era, following the Civil War. Seated at left is H.R. Revels, senatorfrom Mississippi. The others were members of the House of Representatives, fromthe states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia.Andrew Carnegie, business tycoon and philanthropist. Born in Scotland of a poorfamily, Carnegie immigrated to the United States and made his fortune by buildingthe country’s largest iron and steel manufacturing corporation. Believing that thewealthy had an obligation to give back to society, he endowed public libraries acrossthe United States.Although practicallyunknown during herlifetime, Emily Dickinson(1830-1886) is now seen asone of the most brilliantand original poets Americahas ever produced.Samuel Langhorne Clemens(1835-1910), better known byhis pen name of Mark Twain,is perhaps the most widelyread and enjoyed Americanwriter and humorist. In hisAdventures of HuckleberryFinn and other works, Twaindeveloped a style based onvigorous, realistic, colloquialAmerican speech.96 97

Sitting Bull, Sioux chief who led the last great battleof the Plains Indians against the U.S. Army, when hiswarriors defeated forces under the command ofGeneral George Custer at the Battle ofLittle Bighorn in 1876.Custer’s army on the march prior toLittle Bighorn. The Plains Indians whodefeated his army were resisting whiteintrusions into their sacred lands andU.S. government attempts to forcethem back onto South Dakota’sGreat Sioux Reservation.98 99

Above, Oklahoma City in 1889, four weeks after the OklahomaTerritory was opened up for settlement. Settlers staked their claim,put up tents, and then swiftly began erecting board shacks andhouses — a pattern repeated throughout the West.Left, a vessel at the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal. The UnitedStates acquired the rights to build the canal in 1903 in a treaty withPanama, which had just rebelled and broken away from Colombia.Under the terms of the 1977 treaty, the canal reverted toPanamanian control on December 31, 1999.101

Left, opposite page, immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in New YorkCity, principal gateway to the United States in the late 19th and early20th centuries. From 1890 to 1921, almost 19 million people enteredthe 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 theProgressive movement in this era.102103

Mulberry Street in New York City, also known as“Little Italy,” in the early years of the 20th century.Newly arrived immigrant families, largely fromEastern and southern Europe in this period,often settled in densely populated urbanenclaves. Typically, their children,or grandchildren, would disperse,moving to other cities or otherparts of the country.104 105

Orville Wright, who built and flew the first heavier-than-air airplane atKitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, with his brother Wilbur. Orville isshown here at the controls of a later model plane in 1909.Thomas Edison examines film used in the motion pictureprojector that he invented with George Eastman. The mostcelebrated of Edison’s hundreds of inventions was theincandescent light bulb.Alexander Graham Bell makes the first telephone call fromNew York City to Chicago in 1892. Bell, an immigrant fromScotland who settled in Boston, invented the telephone 16 yearsearlier, in 1876.106 107

American infantry forces in 1918, firing a 37 mm. gun, advance against Germanpositions in World War I.The “Big Four” at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, following the end of World WarI. They are, seated from left, Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George of Great Britain, Premier Georges Clemenceau of France, andPresident Woodrow Wilson of the United States. Despite strenuous efforts, Wilsonwas unable to persuade the U.S. Senate to agree to American participation in the newLeague of Nations established in the aftermath of the war.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 voluntaryexile in Paris. It was also the “flapper era” of frivolity and excess in which young peoplecould reject the constraints and traditions of their elders. Top, flappers posing for thecamera at a 1920s-era party. Above, Henry Ford and his son stand with one of his earlyautomobiles, and the 10 millionth Ford Model-T. The Model-T was the first car whoseprice and availability made car ownership possible for large numbers of people.108 109

C H A P T E R5WESTWARDEXPANSIONANDREGIONALDIFFERENCESHorse-drawn combineharvesting wheat in theMidwest, 19th century.110

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“Go West, young man,and grow up withthe country.”BUILDING UNITYThe War of 1812 was, in a sense,a second war of independence thatconfirmed once and for all theAmerican break with England. Withits conclusion, many of the seriousdifficulties that the young republichad faced since the Revolutiondisappeared. National union underthe Constitution brought a balancebetween liberty and order. With alow national debt and a continentawaiting exploration, the prospect ofpeace, prosperity, and social progressopened before the nation.Commerce cemented nationalunity. The privations of war convincedmany of the importance ofprotecting the manufacturers ofAmerica until they could stand aloneagainst foreign competition. Economicindependence, many argued,Newspaper editor Horace Greeley, 1851was as essential as political independence.To foster self-sufficiency,congressional leaders Henry Clay ofKentucky and John C. Calhoun ofSouth Carolina urged a policy of protectionism— imposition of restrictionson imported goods to foster thedevelopment of American industry.The time was propitious for raisingthe customs tariff. The shepherdsof Vermont and Ohio wanted protectionagainst an influx of Englishwool. In Kentucky, a new industryof weaving local hemp into cottonbagging was threatened by the Scottishbagging industry. Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, already a flourishingcenter of iron smelting, was eager tochallenge British and Swedish ironsuppliers. The tariff enacted in 1816imposed duties high enough to givemanufacturers real protection.In addition, Westerners advo-cated a national system of roads andcanals to link them with Eastern citiesand ports, and to open frontierlands for settlement. However, theywere unsuccessful in pressing theirdemands for a federal role in internalimprovement because of oppositionfrom New England and theSouth. Roads and canals remainedthe province of the states until thepassage of the Federal Aid Road Actof 1916.The position of the federal governmentat this time was greatlystrengthened by several SupremeCourt decisions. A committed Federalist,John Marshall of Virginiabecame chief justice in 1801 andheld office until his death in 1835.The court — weak before his administration— was transformedinto a powerful tribunal, occupyinga position co-equal to the Congressand the president. In a successionof historic decisions, Marshall establishedthe power of the SupremeCourt and strengthened the nationalgovernment.Marshall was the first in a longline of Supreme Court justiceswhose decisions have molded themeaning and application of theConstitution. When he finishedhis long service, the court had decidednearly 50 cases clearly involvingconstitutional issues. In one ofMarshall’s most famous opinions— Marbury v. Madison (1803) — hedecisively established the right of theSupreme Court to review the constitutionalityof any law of Congress orof a state legislature. In McCulloch v.Maryland (1819), he boldly upheldthe Hamiltonian theory that theConstitution by implication givesthe government powers beyondthose expressly stated.EXTENSION OF SLAVERYSlavery, which up to now had receivedlittle public attention, beganto assume much greater importanceas a national issue. In the early yearsof the republic, when the Northernstates were providing for immediateor gradual emancipation of theslaves, many leaders had supposedthat slavery would die out. In 1786George Washington wrote that hedevoutly wished some plan mightbe adopted “by which slavery maybe abolished by slow, sure, and imperceptibledegrees.” Virginians Jefferson,Madison, and Monroe andother leading Southern statesmenmade similar statements.The Northwest Ordinance of 1787had banned slavery in the NorthwestTerritory. As late as 1808, when theinternational slave trade was abolished,there were many Southernerswho thought that slavery wouldsoon end. The expectation provedfalse, for during the next generation,the South became solidly unitedbehind the institution of slavery asnew economic factors made slaveryfar more profitable than it had beenbefore 1790.Chief among these was the rise ofa great cotton-growing industry inthe South, stimulated by the introductionof new types of cotton and112113

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYby Eli Whitney’s invention in 1793 ofthe cotton gin, which separated theseeds from cotton. At the same time,the Industrial Revolution, whichmade textile manufacturing a largescaleoperation, vastly increased thedemand for raw cotton. And theopening of new lands in the Westafter 1812 greatly extended the areaavailable for cotton cultivation. Cottonculture moved rapidly from theTidewater states on the East Coastthrough much of the lower Southto the delta region of the Mississippiand eventually to Texas.Sugar cane, another labor-intensivecrop, also contributed toslavery’s extension in the South.The rich, hot lands of southeasternLouisiana proved ideal for growingsugar cane profitably. By 1830 thestate was supplying the nation withabout half its sugar supply. Finally,tobacco growers moved westward,taking slavery with them.As the free society of the Northand the slave society of the Southspread westward, it seemed politicallyexpedient to maintain a roughequality among the new statescarved out of western territories. In1818, when Illinois was admitted tothe Union, 10 states permitted slaveryand 11 states prohibited it; butbalance was restored after Alabamawas admitted as a slave state. Populationwas growing faster in the North,which permitted Northern states tohave a clear majority in the Houseof Representatives. However, equalitybetween the North and the Southwas maintained in the Senate.In 1819 Missouri, which had10,000 slaves, applied to enter theUnion. Northerners rallied to opposeMissouri’s entry except as afree state, and a storm of protestswept the country. For a time Congresswas deadlocked, but HenryClay arranged the so-called MissouriCompromise: Missouri wasadmitted as a slave state at the sametime Maine came in as a free state.In addition, Congress banned slaveryfrom the territory acquired bythe Louisiana Purchase north ofMissouri’s southern boundary. Atthe time, this provision appeared tobe a victory for the Southern statesbecause it was thought unlikely thatthis “Great American Desert” wouldever be settled. The controversy wastemporarily resolved, but ThomasJefferson wrote to a friend that “thismomentous question, like a fire bellin the night, awakened and filled mewith terror. I considered it at once asthe knell of the Union.”LATIN AMERICA AND THEMONROE DOCTRINEDuring the opening decades ofthe 19th century, Central and SouthAmerica turned to revolution. Theidea of liberty had stirred the peopleof Latin America from the time theEnglish colonies gained their freedom.Napoleon’s conquest of Spainand Portugal in 1808 provided thesignal for Latin Americans to risein revolt. By 1822, ably led by SimónBolívar, Francisco Miranda, José deSan Martín and Miguel de Hidalgo,most of Hispanic America — fromArgentina and Chile in the south toMexico in the north — had won independence.The people of the United Statestook a deep interest in what seemeda repetition of their own experiencein breaking away from Europeanrule. The Latin American independencemovements confirmed theirown belief in self-government. In1822 President James Monroe, underpowerful public pressure, receivedauthority to recognize the newcountries of Latin America and soonexchanged ministers with them. Hethereby confirmed their status asgenuinely independent countries,entirely separated from their formerEuropean connections.At just this point, Russia, Prussia,and Austria formed an association,the Holy Alliance, to protect themselvesagainst revolution. By interveningin countries where popularmovements threatened monarchies,the alliance — joined by post-NapoleonicFrance — hoped to preventthe spread of revolution. This policywas the antithesis of the Americanprinciple of self-determination.As long as the Holy Alliance confinedits activities to the Old World,it aroused no anxiety in the UnitedStates. But when the alliance announcedits intention of restoring toSpain its former colonies, Americansbecame very concerned. Britain, towhich Latin American trade had becomeof great importance, resolved toblock any such action. London urgedjoint Anglo-American guaranteesto Latin America, but Secretary ofState John Quincy Adams convincedMonroe to act unilaterally: “It wouldbe more candid, as well as more dignified,to avow our principles explicitlyto Russia and France, than tocome in as a cock-boat in the wakeof the British man-of-war.”In December 1823, with theknowledge that the British navywould defend Latin America fromthe Holy Alliance and France, PresidentMonroe took the occasion ofhis annual message to Congressto pronounce what would becomeknown as the Monroe Doctrine— the refusal to tolerate any furtherextension of European dominationin the Americas:The American continents ... arehenceforth not to be considered assubjects for future colonization byany European powers.We should consider any attempton their part to extend their[political] system to any portionof this hemisphere, as dangerous toour peace and safety.With the existing colonies ordependencies of any Europeanpower we have not interfered,and shall not interfere. Butwith the governments who havedeclared their independence,and maintained it, and whoseindependence we have ...acknowledged, we could not viewany interposition for the purpose ofoppressing them, or controlling, inany other manner, their destiny, byany European power in any otherlight than as the manifestation of114115

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYan unfriendly disposition towardsthe United States.The Monroe Doctrine expresseda spirit of solidarity with the newlyindependent republics of LatinAmerica. These nations in turn recognizedtheir political affinity withthe United States by basing their newconstitutions, in many instances, onthe North American model.FACTIONALISM ANDPOLITICAL PARTIESDomestically, the presidency ofMonroe (1817-1825) was termed the“era of good feelings.” The phrase acknowledgedthe political triumph ofthe Republican Party over the FederalistParty, which had collapsed as anational force. All the same, this wasa period of vigorous factional andregional conflict.The end of the Federalists led to abrief period of factional politics andbrought disarray to the practice ofchoosing presidential nominees bycongressional party caucuses. Fora time, state legislatures nominatedcandidates. In 1824 Tennessee andPennsylvania chose Andrew Jackson,with South Carolina SenatorJohn C. Calhoun as his runningmate. Kentucky selected Speaker ofthe House Henry Clay; Massachusetts,Secretary of State John QuincyAdams, son of the second president,John Adams. A congressional caucus,widely derided as undemocratic,picked Secretary of the TreasuryWilliam Crawford.Personality and sectional allegianceplayed important roles indetermining the outcome of theelection. Adams won the electoralvotes from New England and mostof New York; Clay won Kentucky,Ohio, and Missouri; Jackson wonthe Southeast, Illinois, Indiana, theCarolinas, Pennsylvania, Maryland,and New Jersey; and Crawford wonVirginia, Georgia, and Delaware.No candidate gained a majority inthe Electoral College, so, accordingto the provisions of the Constitution,the election was thrown intothe House of Representatives, whereClay was the most influential figure.He supported Adams, who gainedthe presidency.During Adams’s administration,new party alignments appeared.Adams’s followers, some of whomwere former Federalists, took thename of “National Republicans”as emblematic of their support ofa federal government that wouldtake a strong role in developing anexpanding nation. Though he governedhonestly and efficiently, Adamswas not a popular president.He failed in his effort to institute anational system of roads and canals.His coldly intellectual temperamentdid not win friends. Jackson, by contrast,had enormous popular appealand a strong political organization.His followers coalesced to establishthe Democratic Party, claimed directlineage from the Democratic-Republican Party of Jefferson, andin general advocated the principlesof small, decentralized government.Mounting a strong anti-Adams campaign,they accused the president ofa “corrupt bargain” for naming Claysecretary of state. In the election of1828, Jackson defeated Adams by anoverwhelming electoral majority.Jackson — Tennessee politician,fighter in wars against Native Americanson the Southern frontier, andhero of the Battle of New Orleansduring the War of 1812 — drewhis support from the “commonpeople.” He came to the presidencyon a rising tide of enthusiasm forpopular democracy. The election of1828 was a significant benchmarkin the trend toward broader voterparticipation. By then most stateshad either enacted universal whitemale suffrage or minimized propertyrequirements. In 1824 membersof the Electoral College in six stateswere still selected by the state legislatures.By 1828 presidential electorswere chosen by popular vote inevery state but Delaware and SouthCarolina. These developments werethe products of a widespread sensethat the people should rule and thatgovernment by traditional elites hadcome to an end.NULLIFICATION CRISISToward the end of his first termin office, Jackson was forced to confrontthe state of South Carolina,the most important of the emergingDeep South cotton states, on theissue of the protective tariff. Businessand farming interests in thestate had hoped that the presidentwould use his power to modify the1828 act that they called the Tariffof Abominations. In their view, allits benefits of protection went toNorthern manufacturers, leavingagricultural South Carolina poorer.In 1828, the state’s leading politician— and Jackson’s vice president untilhis resignation in 1832 — John C.Calhoun had declared in his SouthCarolina Exposition and Protest thatstates had the right to nullify oppressivenational legislation.In 1832, Congress passed andJackson signed a bill that revisedthe 1828 tariff downward, but it wasnot enough to satisfy most SouthCarolinians. The state adopted anOrdinance of Nullification, whichdeclared both the tariffs of 1828 and1832 null and void within state borders.Its legislature also passed lawsto enforce the ordinance, includingauthorization for raising a militaryforce and appropriations for arms.Nullification was a long-establishedtheme of protest against perceivedexcesses by the federal government.Jefferson and Madison had proposedit in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutionsof 1798, to protest the Alienand Sedition Acts. The HartfordConvention of 1814 had invoked itto protest the War of 1812. Neverbefore, however, had a state actuallyattempted nullification. The youngnation faced its most dangerouscrisis yet.In response to South Carolina’sthreat, Jackson sent seven smallnaval vessels and a man-of-war toCharleston in November 1832. OnDecember 10, he issued a resound-116117

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYing proclamation against the nullifiers.South Carolina, the presidentdeclared, stood on “the brink ofinsurrection and treason,” and heappealed to the people of the stateto reassert their allegiance to theUnion. He also let it be known that,if necessary, he personally would leadthe U.S. Army to enforce the law.When the question of tariff dutiesagain came before Congress, Jackson’spolitical rival, Senator HenryClay, a great advocate of protectionbut also a devoted Unionist, sponsoreda compromise measure. Clay’stariff bill, quickly passed in 1833,specified that all duties in excess of20 percent of the value of the goodsimported were to be reduced year byyear, so that by 1842 the duties onall articles would reach the level ofthe moderate tariff of 1816. At thesame time, Congress passed a ForceAct, authorizing the president to usemilitary power to enforce the laws.South Carolina had expected thesupport of other Southern states,but instead found itself isolated.(Its most likely ally, the state governmentof Georgia, wanted, andgot, U.S. military force to removeNative American tribes from thestate.) Eventually, South Carolinarescinded its action. Both sides, nevertheless,claimed victory. Jacksonhad strongly defended the Union.But South Carolina, by its show ofresistance, had obtained many ofits demands and had demonstratedthat a single state could force its willon Congress.THE BANK FIGHTAlthough the nullification crisispossessed the seeds of civil war, itwas not as critical a political issueas a bitter struggle over the continuedexistence of the nation’s centralbank, the second Bank of the UnitedStates. The first bank, established in1791 under Alexander Hamilton’sguidance, had been chartered fora 20-year period. Though the governmentheld some of its stock, thebank, like the Bank of England andother central banks of the time, wasa private corporation with profitspassing to its stockholders. Its publicfunctions were to act as a depositoryfor government receipts, to makeshort-term loans to the government,and above all to establish a soundcurrency by refusing to accept at facevalue notes (paper money) issued bystate-chartered banks in excess oftheir ability to redeem.To the Northeastern financialand commercial establishment, thecentral bank was a needed enforcerof prudent monetary policy, butfrom the beginning it was resentedby Southerners and Westernerswho believed their prosperity andregional development dependedupon ample money and credit. TheRepublican Party of Jefferson andMadison doubted its constitutionality.When its charter expired in 1811,it was not renewed.For the next few years, the bankingbusiness was in the hands ofstate-chartered banks, which issuedcurrency in excessive amounts, creatinggreat confusion and fuelinginflation. It became increasinglyclear that state banks could not providethe country with a reliable currency.In 1816 a second Bank of theUnited States, similar to the first,was again chartered for 20 years.From its inception, the second bankwas unpopular in the newer statesand territories, especially with stateand local bankers who resented itsvirtual monopoly over the country’scredit and currency, but also withless prosperous people everywhere,who believed that it represented theinterests of the wealthy few.On the whole, the bank waswell managed and rendered a valuableservice; but Jackson long hadshared the Republican distrust ofthe financial establishment. Electedas a tribune of the people, he sensedthat the bank’s aristocratic manager,Nicholas Biddle, was an easytarget. When the bank’s supportersin Congress pushed through anearly renewal of its charter, Jacksonresponded with a stinging veto thatdenounced monopoly and specialprivilege. The effort to override theveto failed.In the presidential campaign thatfollowed, the bank question revealeda fundamental division. Establishedmerchant, manufacturing, andfinancial interests favored soundmoney. Regional bankers and entrepreneurson the make wanted anincreased money supply and lowerinterest rates. Other debtor classes,especially farmers, shared those sentiments.Jackson and his supporterscalled the central bank a “monster”and coasted to an easy election victoryover Henry Clay.The president interpreted his triumphas a popular mandate to crushthe central bank irrevocably. In September1833 he ordered an end todeposits of government money inthe bank, and gradual withdrawalsof the money already in its custody.The government deposited its fundsin selected state banks, characterizedas “pet banks” by the opposition.For the next generation theUnited States would get by on arelatively unregulated state bankingsystem, which helped fuel westwardexpansion through cheap credit butkept the nation vulnerable to periodicpanics. During the Civil War,the United States initiated a systemof national charters for local andregional banks, but the nation returnedto a central bank only withthe establishment of the Federal Reservesystem in 1913.WHIGS, DEMOCRATS, ANDKNOW-NOTHINGSJackson’s political opponents, unitedby little more than a commonopposition to him, eventually coalescedinto a common party calledthe Whigs, a British term signifyingopposition to Jackson’s “monarchialrule.” Although they organized soonafter the election campaign of 1832,it was more than a decade beforethey reconciled their differencesand were able to draw up a platform.Largely through the magnetism of118119

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYHenry Clay and Daniel Webster, theWhigs’ most brilliant statesmen, theparty solidified its membership. Butin the 1836 election, the Whigs werestill too divided to unite behind asingle man. New York’s Martin VanBuren, Jackson’s vice president, wonthe contest.An economic depression and thelarger-than-life personality of hispredecessor obscured Van Buren’smerits. His public acts aroused noenthusiasm, for he lacked the compellingqualities of leadership andthe dramatic flair that had attendedJackson’s every move. The electionof 1840 found the country afflictedwith hard times and low wages —and the Democrats on the defensive.The Whig candidate for presidentwas William Henry Harrisonof Ohio, vastly popular as a heroof conflicts with Native Americansand the War of 1812. He was promoted,like Jackson, as a representativeof the democratic West. Hisvice presidential candidate was JohnTyler — a Virginian whose views onstates’ rights and a low tariff werepopular in the South. Harrison wona sweeping victory.Within a month of his inauguration,however, the 68-year-old Harrisondied, and Tyler became president.Tyler’s beliefs differed sharplyfrom those of Clay and Webster, stillthe most influential men in Congress.The result was an open breakbetween the new president and theparty that had elected him. TheTyler presidency would accomplishlittle other than to establish definitivelythat, if a president died, thevice president would assume the officewith full powers for the balanceof his term.Americans found themselves dividedin other, more complex ways.The large number of Catholic immigrantsin the first half of the 19thcentury, primarily Irish and German,triggered a backlash amongnative-born Protestant Americans.Immigrants brought strange newcustoms and religious practices toAmerican shores. They competedwith the native-born for jobs incities along the Eastern seaboard.The coming of universal white malesuffrage in the 1820s and 1830sincreased their political clout. Displacedpatrician politicians blamedthe immigrants for their fall frompower. The Catholic Church’s failureto support the temperance movementgave rise to charges that Romewas trying to subvert the UnitedStates through alcohol.The most important of the nativistorganizations that sprang up inthis period was a secret society, theOrder of the Star-Spangled Banner,founded in 1849. When its membersrefused to identify themselves, theywere swiftly labeled the “Know-Nothings.” In a few years, they becamea national organization withconsiderable political power.The Know-Nothings advocatedan extension in the period requiredfor naturalized citizenship from fiveto 21 years. They sought to excludethe foreign-born and Catholics frompublic office. In 1855 they won controlof legislatures in New York andMassachusetts; by then, about 90U.S. congressmen were linked to theparty. That was its high point. Soonafter, the gathering crisis betweenNorth and South over the extensionof slavery fatally divided the party,consuming it along with the olddebates between Whigs and Democratsthat had dominated Americanpolitics in the second quarter of the19th century.STIRRINGS OF REFORMThe democratic upheaval in politicsexemplified by Jackson’s electionwas merely one phase of thelong American quest for greaterrights and opportunities for all citizens.Another was the beginning oflabor organization, primarily amongskilled and semiskilled workers. In1835 labor forces in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, succeeded in reducingthe old “dark-to-dark” workday toa 10-hour day. By 1860, the newwork day had become law in severalof the states and was a generallyaccepted standard.The spread of suffrage had alreadyled to a new concept of education.Clear-sighted statesmen everywhereunderstood that universalsuffrage required a tutored, literateelectorate. Workingmen’s organizationsdemanded free, tax-supportedschools open to all children. Gradually,in one state after another, legislationwas enacted to provide forsuch free instruction. The leadershipof Horace Mann in Massachusettswas especially effective. The publicschool system became commonthroughout the North. In otherparts of the country, however, thebattle for public education continuedfor years.Another influential social movementthat emerged during this periodwas the opposition to the saleand use of alcohol, or the temperancemovement. It stemmed froma variety of concerns and motives:religious beliefs, the effect of alcoholon the work force, the violenceand suffering women and childrenexperienced at the hands of heavydrinkers. In 1826 Boston ministersorganized the Society for the Promotionof Temperance. Seven yearslater, in Philadelphia, the societyconvened a national convention,which formed the American TemperanceUnion. The union called forthe prohibition of all alcoholic beverages,and pressed state legislaturesto ban their production and sale.Thirteen states had done so by 1855,although the laws were subsequentlychallenged in court. They survivedonly in northern New England, butbetween 1830 and 1860 the temperancemovement reduced Americans’per capita consumption of alcohol.Other reformers addressed theproblems of prisons and care for theinsane. Efforts were made to turnprisons, which stressed punishment,into penitentiaries where the guiltywould undergo rehabilitation. InMassachusetts, Dorothea Dix led astruggle to improve conditions forinsane persons, who were kept con-120121

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYfined in wretched almshouses andprisons. After winning improvementsin Massachusetts, she tookher campaign to the South, wherenine states established hospitals forthe insane between 1845 and 1852.WOMEN’S RIGHTSSuch social reforms brought manywomen to a realization of their ownunequal position in society. Fromcolonial times, unmarried womenhad enjoyed many of the same legalrights as men, although custom requiredthat they marry early. Withmatrimony, women virtually losttheir separate identities in the eyesof the law. Women were not permittedto vote. Their education in the17th and 18th centuries was limitedlargely to reading, writing, music,dancing, and needlework.The awakening of women beganwith the visit to America of FrancesWright, a Scottish lecturer and journalist,who publicly promoted women’srights throughout the UnitedStates during the 1820s. At a timewhen women were often forbiddento speak in public places, Wright notonly spoke out, but shocked audiencesby her views advocating therights of women to seek informationon birth control and divorce. By the1840s an American women’s rightsmovement emerged. Its foremostleader was Elizabeth Cady Stanton.In 1848 Cady Stanton and hercolleague Lucretia Mott organizeda women’s rights convention — thefirst in the history of the world — atSeneca Falls, New York. Delegatesdrew up a “Declaration of Sentiments,”demanding equality withmen before the law, the right to vote,and equal opportunities in educationand employment. The resolutionspassed unanimously with theexception of the one for women’ssuffrage, which won a majority onlyafter an impassioned speech in favorby Frederick Douglass, the blackabolitionist.At Seneca Falls, Cady Stantongained national prominence as aneloquent writer and speaker forwomen’s rights. She had realizedearly on that without the right tovote, women would never be equalwith men. Taking the abolitionistWilliam Lloyd Garrison as her model,she saw that the key to success layin changing public opinion, and notin party action. Seneca Falls becamethe catalyst for future change. Soonother women’s rights conventionswere held, and other women wouldcome to the forefront of the movementfor their political and socialequality.In 1848 also, Ernestine Rose, aPolish immigrant, was instrumentalin getting a law passed in the stateof New York that allowed marriedwomen to keep their property intheir own name. Among the firstlaws in the nation of this kind, theMarried Women’s Property Act encouragedother state legislatures toenact similar laws.In 1869 Elizabeth Cady Stantonand another leading women’s rightsactivist, Susan B. Anthony, foundedthe National Woman Suffrage Association(NWSA), to promote a constitutionalamendment for women’sright to the vote. These two wouldbecome the women’s movement’smost outspoken advocates. Describingtheir partnership, Cady Stantonwould say, “I forged the thunderboltsand she fired them.”WESTWARDThe frontier did much to shapeAmerican life. Conditions alongthe entire Atlantic seaboard stimulatedmigration to the newer regions.From New England, where the soilwas incapable of producing highyields of grain, came a steady streamof men and women who left theircoastal farms and villages to takeadvantage of the rich interior landof the continent. In the backcountrysettlements of the Carolinas andVirginia, people handicapped by thelack of roads and canals giving accessto coastal markets and resentfulof the political dominance of theTidewater planters also moved westward.By 1800 the Mississippi andOhio River valleys were becoming agreat frontier region. “Hi-o, away wego, floating down the river on the O-hi-o,” became the song of thousandsof migrants.The westward flow of populationin the early 19th century led to thedivision of old territories and thedrawing of new boundaries. As newstates were admitted, the politicalmap stabilized east of the MississippiRiver. From 1816 to 1821, six stateswere created — Indiana, Illinois,and Maine (which were free states),and Mississippi, Alabama, and Missouri(slave states). The first frontierhad been tied closely to Europe, thesecond to the coastal settlements,but the Mississippi Valley was independentand its people looked westrather than east.Frontier settlers were a variedgroup. One English traveler describedthem as “a daring, hardyrace of men, who live in miserablecabins. ... They are unpolished buthospitable, kind to strangers, honest,and trustworthy. They raise alittle Indian corn, pumpkins, hogs,and sometimes have a cow or two.... But the rifle is their principalmeans of support.” Dexterous withthe ax, snare, and fishing line, thesemen blazed the trails, built the firstlog cabins, and confronted NativeAmerican tribes, whose land theyoccupied.As more and more settlers penetratedthe wilderness, many becamefarmers as well as hunters. A comfortablelog house with glass windows,a chimney, and partitionedrooms replaced the cabin; the wellreplaced the spring. Industrioussettlers would rapidly clear theirland of timber, burning the woodfor potash and letting the stumpsdecay. They grew their own grain,vegetables, and fruit; ranged thewoods for deer, wild turkeys, andhoney; fished the nearby streams;looked after cattle and hogs. Landspeculators bought large tracts of thecheap land and, if land values rose,122123

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYsold their holdings and moved stillfarther west, making way for others.Doctors, lawyers, storekeepers,editors, preachers, mechanics, andpoliticians soon followed the farmers.The farmers were the sturdybase, however. Where they settled,they intended to stay and hopedtheir children would remain afterthem. They built large barns andbrick or frame houses. They broughtimproved livestock, plowed the landskillfully, and sowed productiveseed. Some erected flour mills, sawmills,and distilleries. They laid outgood highways, and built churchesand schools. Incredible transformationswere accomplished in a fewyears. In 1830, for example, Chicago,Illinois, was merely an unpromisingtrading village with a fort; butlong before some of its original settlershad died, it had become oneof the largest and richest cities inthe nation.Farms were easy to acquire. Governmentland after 1820 could bebought for $1.25 for about half ahectare, and after the 1862 HomesteadAct, could be claimed bymerely occupying and improvingit. In addition, tools for workingthe land were easily available. It wasa time when, in a phrase coined byIndiana newspaperman John Souleand popularized by New York Tribuneeditor Horace Greeley, youngmen could “go west and grow withthe country.”Except for a migration into Mexican-ownedTexas, the westwardmarch of the agricultural frontierdid not pass Missouri into thevast Western territory acquired inthe Louisiana Purchase until after1840. In 1819, in return for assumingthe claims of American citizensto the amount of $5 million, theUnited States obtained from Spainboth Florida and Spain’s rights tothe Oregon country in the Far West.In the meantime, the Far West hadbecome a field of great activity inthe fur trade, which was to havesignificance far beyond the valueof the skins. As in the first days ofFrench exploration in the MississippiValley, the trader was a pathfinderfor the settlers beyond the Mississippi.The French and Scots-Irishtrappers, exploring the great riversand their tributaries and discoveringthe passes through the Rockyand Sierra Mountains, made possiblethe overland migration of the1840s and the later occupation ofthe interior of the nation.Overall, the growth of the nationwas enormous: Population grewfrom 7.25 million to more than 23million from 1812 to 1852, and theland available for settlement increasedby almost the size of WesternEurope — from 4.4 million to7.8 million square kilometers. Stillunresolved, however, were the basicconflicts rooted in sectionaldifferences that, by the decade ofthe 1860s, would explode into civilwar. Inevitably, too, this westwardexpansion brought settlers into conflictwith the original inhabitants ofthe land: the Native Americans.In the first part of the 19th century,the most prominent figureassociated with these conflicts wasAndrew Jackson, the first “Westerner”to occupy the White House. Inthe midst of the War of 1812, Jackson,then in charge of the Tennesseemilitia, was sent into southern Alabama,where he ruthlessly put downan uprising of Creek Indians. TheCreeks soon ceded two-thirds oftheir land to the United States. Jacksonlater routed bands of Seminolesfrom their sanctuaries in SpanishownedFlorida.In the 1820s, President Monroe’ssecretary of war, John C. Calhoun,pursued a policy of removing the remainingtribes from the old Southwestand resettling them beyond theMississippi. Jackson continued thispolicy as president. In 1830 Congresspassed the Indian Removal Act, providingfunds to transport the easterntribes beyond the Mississippi.In 1834 a special Native Americanterritory was set up in what is nowOklahoma. In all, the tribes signed94 treaties during Jackson’s twoterms, ceding millions of hectaresto the federal government and removingdozens of tribes from theirancestral homelands.The most terrible chapter in thisunhappy history concerned theCherokees, whose lands in westernNorth Carolina and Georgia hadbeen guaranteed by treaty since1791. Among the most progressiveof the eastern tribes, the Cherokeesnevertheless were sure to be displacedwhen gold was discovered ontheir land in 1829. Forced to makea long and cruel trek to Oklahomain 1838, the tribe lost many of itsnumbers from disease and privationon what became known as the“Trail of Tears.” 9124125

CHAPTER 5: WESTWARD EXPANSION AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCESTHE FRONTIER, “THE WEST,” ANDTHE AMERICAN EXPERIENCEThe frontier — the point at which settled territory met unoccupied land— began at Jamestown and Plymouth Rock. It moved in a westward directionfor nearly 300 years through densely forested wilderness and barren plainsuntil the decennial census of 1890 revealed that at last the United States nolonger 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 ofEnglish civilization to a huge independent nation with an identity of its own.It was easy to believe that the experience of settlement and post-settlementdevelopment, constantly repeated as a people conquered a continent, had beenthe defining factor in the nation’s development.In 1893, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner, expressing a widely heldsentiment, declared that the frontier had made the United States more than anextension of Europe. It had created a nation with a culture that was perhapscoarser than Europe’s, but also more pragmatic, energetic, individualistic, anddemocratic. The existence of large areas of “free land” had created a nation ofproperty holders and had provided a “safety valve” for discontent in cities andmore settled areas. His analysis implied that an America without a frontierwould trend ominously toward what were seen as the European ills of stratifiedsocial systems, class conflict, and diminished opportunity.After more than a hundred years scholars still debate the significance ofthe frontier in American history. Few believe it was quite as all-important asTurner suggested; its absence does not appear to have led to dire consequences.Some have gone farther, rejecting the Turner argument as a romantic glorificationof a bloody, brutal process — marked by a war of conquest againstMexico, near-genocidal treatment of Native American tribes, and environmentaldespoliation. The common experience of the frontier, they argue, was oneof hardship and failure.Yet it remains hard to believe that three centuries of westward movementhad no impact on the national character and suggestive that intelligent foreignobservers, such as the French intellectual, Alexis de Tocqueville, were fascinatedby the American West. Indeed, the last area of frontier settlement, thevast area stretching north from Texas to the Canadian border, which Americanstoday commonly call “the West,” still seems characterized by ideals ofindividualism, democracy, and opportunity that are more palpable than in therest 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 thatfinal frontier — the “cowboy.”OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYUnited States of America, showing territorial expansion from 1803 to 1898.126127

C H A P T E R6SECTIONALCONFLICTSlave family picking cottonnear Savannah, Georgia,in the early 1860s.128

CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYA house divided againstitself cannot stand. I believethis government cannotendure permanentlyhalf-slave and half-free.TWO AMERICASNo visitor to the United States lefta more enduring record of his travelsand observations than the Frenchwriter and political theorist Alexisde Tocqueville, whose Democracyin America, first published in 1835,remains one of the most trenchantand insightful analyses of Americansocial and political practices.Tocqueville was far too shrewd anobserver to be uncritical about theUnited States, but his verdict wasfundamentally positive. “The governmentof a democracy brings thenotion of political rights to the levelof the humblest citizens,” he wrote,“just as the dissemination of wealthbrings the notion of property withinthe reach of all men.” Nonetheless,Tocqueville was only one in the firstof a long line of thinkers to worrySenatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln, 1858whether such rough equality couldsurvive in the face of a growing factorysystem that threatened to createdivisions between industrial workersand a new business elite.Other travelers marveled at thegrowth and vitality of the country,where they could see “everywherethe most unequivocal proofs ofprosperity and rapid progress in agriculture,commerce, and great publicworks.” But such optimistic viewsof the American experiment wereby no means universal. One skepticwas the English novelist CharlesDickens, who first visited the UnitedStates in 1841-42. “This is not theRepublic I came to see,” he wrotein a letter. “This is not the Republicof my imagination. ... The more Ithink of its youth and strength, thepoorer and more trifling in a thousandrespects, it appears in my eyes.In everything of which it has madea boast — excepting its education ofthe people, and its care for poor children— it sinks immeasurably belowthe level I had placed it upon.”Dickens was not alone. Americain the 19th century, as throughout itshistory, generated expectations andpassions that often conflicted witha reality at once more mundane andmore complex. The young nation’ssize and diversity defied easy generalizationand invited contradiction:America was both a freedom-lovingand slave-holding society, a nationof expansive and primitive frontiers,a society with cities built on growingcommerce and industrialization.LANDS OF PROMISEBy 1850 the national territorystretched over forest, plain, andmountain. Within its far-flung limitsdwelt 23 million people in a Unioncomprising 31 states. In the East, industryboomed. In the Midwest andthe South, agriculture flourished.After 1849 the gold mines of Californiapoured their precious ore intothe channels of trade.New England and the MiddleAtlantic states were the main centersof manufacturing, commerce,and finance. Principal products ofthese areas were textiles, lumber,clothing, machinery, leather, andwoolen goods. The maritime tradehad reached the height of its prosperity;vessels flying the Americanflag plied the oceans, distributingwares of all nations.The South, from the Atlantic tothe Mississippi River and beyond,featured an economy centered onagriculture. Tobacco was importantin Virginia, Maryland, and NorthCarolina. In South Carolina, ricewas an abundant crop. The climateand soil of Louisiana encouragedthe cultivation of sugar. But cottoneventually became the dominantcommodity and the one with whichthe South was identified. By 1850 theAmerican South grew more than 80percent of the world’s cotton. Slavescultivated all these crops.The Midwest, with its boundlessprairies and swiftly growingpopulation, flourished. Europe andthe older settled parts of Americademanded its wheat and meat products.The introduction of labor-savingimplements — notably the Mc-Cormick reaper (a machine to cutand harvest grain) — made possiblean unparalleled increase in grainproduction. The nation’s wheatcrops swelled from some 35 millionhectoliters in 1850 to nearly 61 millionin 1860, more than half grownin the Midwest.An important stimulus to thecountry’s prosperity was the greatimprovement in transportation facilities;from 1850 to 1857 the AppalachianMountain barrier waspierced by five railway trunk lineslinking the Midwest and the Northeast.These links established theeconomic interests that would undergirdthe political alliance of theUnion from 1861 to 1865. The Southlagged behind. It was not until the130131

CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYlate 1850s that a continuous line ranthrough the mountains connectingthe lower Mississippi River area withthe southern Atlantic seaboard.SLAVERY AND SECTIONALISMOne overriding issue exacerbatedthe regional and economic differencesbetween North and South:slavery. Resenting the large profitsamassed by Northern businessmenfrom marketing the cotton crop,many Southerners attributed thebackwardness of their own sectionto Northern aggrandizement. ManyNortherners, on the other hand, declaredthat slavery — the “peculiarinstitution” that the South regardedas essential to its economy — waslargely responsible for the region’srelative financial and industrialbackwardness.As far back as the Missouri Compromisein 1819, sectional lines hadbeen steadily hardening on theslavery question. In the North, sentimentfor outright abolition grewincreasingly powerful. Southernersin general felt little guilt about slaveryand defended it vehemently. Insome seaboard areas, slavery by 1850was well over 200 years old; it was anintegral part of the basic economy ofthe region.Although the 1860 census showedthat there were nearly four millionslaves out of a total population of12.3 million in the 15 slave states,only a minority of Southern whitesowned slaves. There were some385,000 slave owners out of about1.5 million white families. Fiftypercent of these slave owners ownedno more than five slaves. Twelve percentowned 20 or more slaves, thenumber defined as turning a farmerinto a planter. Three-quarters ofSouthern white families, includingthe “poor whites,” those on the lowestrung of Southern society, ownedno slaves.It is easy to understand the interestof the planters in slave holding.But the yeomen and poor whitessupported the institution of slaveryas well. They feared that, if freed,blacks would compete with themeconomically and challenge theirhigher social status. Southern whitesdefended slavery not simply on thebasis of economic necessity but outof a visceral dedication to whitesupremacy.As they fought the weight ofNorthern opinion, political leadersof the South, the professionalclasses, and most of the clergy nowno longer apologized for slavery butchampioned it. Southern publicistsinsisted, for example, that the relationshipbetween capital and laborwas more humane under the slaverysystem than under the wage systemof the North.Before 1830 the old patriarchalsystem of plantation government,with its personal supervision of theslaves by their owners or masters,was still characteristic. Gradually,however, with the introduction oflarge-scale cotton production inthe lower South, the master graduallyceased to exercise close personalsupervision over his slaves, andemployed professional overseerscharged with exacting from slavesa maximum amount of work. Insuch circumstances, slavery couldbecome a system of brutality andcoercion in which beatings and thebreakup of families through the saleof individuals were commonplace.In other settings, however, it couldbe much milder.In the end, however, the mosttrenchant criticism of slavery wasnot the behavior of individual mastersand overseers. Systematicallytreating African-American laborersas if they were domestic animals,slavery, the abolitionists pointedout, violated every human being’sinalienable right to be free.THE ABOLITIONISTSIn national politics, Southernerschiefly sought protection andenlargement of the interests representedby the cotton/slavery system.They sought territorial expansionbecause the wastefulness of cultivatinga single crop, cotton, rapidlyexhausted the soil, increasing theneed for new fertile lands. Moreover,new territory would establish a basisfor additional slave states to offsetthe admission of new free states.Antislavery Northerners saw in theSouthern view a conspiracy for proslaveryaggrandizement. In the 1830stheir opposition became fierce.An earlier antislavery movement,an offshoot of the American Revolution,had won its last victory in 1808when Congress abolished the slavetrade with Africa. Thereafter, oppositioncame largely from the Quakers,who kept up a mild but ineffectualprotest. Meanwhile, the cottongin and westward expansion intothe Mississippi delta region createdan increasing demand for slaves.The abolitionist movement thatemerged in the early 1830s wascombative, uncompromising, andinsistent upon an immediate endto slavery. This approach found aleader in William Lloyd Garrison,a young man from Massachusetts,who combined the heroism of amartyr with the crusading zeal ofa demagogue. On January 1, 1831,Garrison produced the first issue ofhis newspaper, The Liberator, whichbore the announcement: “I shallstrenuously contend for the immediateenfranchisement of our slavepopulation. ... On this subject, I donot wish to think, or speak, or write,with moderation. ... I am in earnest— I will not equivocate — I will notexcuse — I will not retreat a singleinch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.”Garrison’s sensational methodsawakened Northerners to the evilin an institution many had longcome to regard as unchangeable. Hesought to hold up to public gaze themost repulsive aspects of slavery andto castigate slave holders as torturersand traffickers in human life. Herecognized no rights of the masters,acknowledged no compromise,tolerated no delay. Other abolitionists,unwilling to subscribe to hislaw-defying tactics, held that reform132133

CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYshould be accomplished by legal andpeaceful means. Garrison was joinedby another powerful voice, that ofFrederick Douglass, an escaped slavewho galvanized Northern audiences.Theodore Dwight Weld and manyother abolitionists crusaded againstslavery in the states of the old NorthwestTerritory with evangelical zeal.One activity of the movement involvedhelping slaves escape to saferefuges in the North or over the borderinto Canada. The “UndergroundRailroad,” an elaborate network ofsecret routes, was firmly establishedin the 1830s in all parts of the North.In Ohio alone, from 1830 to 1860, asmany as 40,000 fugitive slaves werehelped to freedom. The number oflocal antislavery societies increasedat such a rate that by 1838 there wereabout 1,350 with a membership ofperhaps 250,000.Most Northerners nonetheless eitherheld themselves aloof from theabolitionist movement or activelyopposed it. In 1837, for example, amob attacked and killed the antislaveryeditor Elijah P. Lovejoy inAlton, Illinois. Still, Southern repressionof free speech allowed theabolitionists to link the slavery issuewith the cause of civil libertiesfor whites. In 1835 an angry mobdestroyed abolitionist literature inthe Charleston, South Carolina, postoffice. When the postmaster-generalstated he would not enforce deliveryof abolitionist material, bitter debatesensued in Congress. Abolitionistsflooded Congress with petitionscalling for action against slavery. In1836 the House voted to table suchpetitions automatically, thus effectivelykilling them. Former PresidentJohn Quincy Adams, elected to theHouse of Representatives in 1830,fought this so-called gag rule as aviolation of the First Amendment,finally winning its repeal in 1844.TEXAS AND WAR WITHMEXICOThroughout the 1820s, Americanssettled in the vast territory ofTexas, often with land grants fromthe Mexican government. However,their numbers soon alarmed theauthorities, who prohibited furtherimmigration in 1830. In 1834 GeneralAntonio López de Santa Annaestablished a dictatorship in Mexico,and the following year Texansrevolted. Santa Anna defeated theAmerican rebels at the celebratedsiege of the Alamo in early 1836,but Texans under Sam Houstondestroyed the Mexican Army andcaptured Santa Anna a month laterat the Battle of San Jacinto, ensuringTexan independence.For almost a decade, Texas remainedan independent republic,largely because its annexation as ahuge new slave state would disruptthe increasingly precarious balanceof political power in the UnitedStates. In 1845, President James K.Polk, narrowly elected on a platformof westward expansion, brought theRepublic of Texas into the Union.Polk’s move was the first gambit ina larger design. Texas claimed thatits border with Mexico was the RioGrande; Mexico argued that theborder stood far to the north alongthe Nueces River. Meanwhile, settlerswere flooding into the territoriesof New Mexico and California.Many Americans claimed that theUnited States had a “manifest destiny”to expand westward to thePacific Ocean.U.S. attempts to purchase fromMexico the New Mexico and Californiaterritories failed. In 1846,after a clash of Mexican and U.S.troops along the Rio Grande, theUnited States declared war. Americantroops occupied the lightlypopulated territory of New Mexico,then supported a revolt of settlersin California. A U.S. force underZachary Taylor invaded Mexico,winning victories at Monterrey andBuena Vista, but failing to bring theMexicans to the negotiating table. InMarch 1847, a U.S. Army commandedby Winfield Scott landed nearVeracruz on Mexico’s east coast, andfought its way to Mexico City. TheUnited States dictated the Treatyof Guadalupe Hidalgo in whichMexico ceded what would becomethe American Southwest region andCalifornia for $15 million.The war was a training groundfor American officers who wouldlater fight on both sides in the CivilWar. It was also politically divisive.Polk, in a simultaneous facedownwith Great Britain, had achievedBritish recognition of Americansovereignty in the Pacific Northwestto the 49th parallel. Still, antislaveryforces, mainly among the Whigs,attacked Polk’s expansion as a proslaveryplot.With the conclusion of the MexicanWar, the United States gaineda vast new territory of 1.36 millionsquare kilometers encompassing thepresent-day states of New Mexico,Nevada, California, Utah, most ofArizona, and portions of Coloradoand Wyoming. The nation alsofaced a revival of the most explosivequestion in American politics of thetime: Would the new territories beslave or free?THE COMPROMISE OF 1850Until 1845, it had seemed likelythat slavery would be confined to theareas where it already existed. It hadbeen given limits by the MissouriCompromise in 1820 and had no opportunityto overstep them. The newterritories made renewed expansionof slavery a real likelihood.Many Northerners believed thatif not allowed to spread, slaverywould ultimately decline and die.To justify their opposition to addingnew slave states, they pointed to thestatements of Washington and Jefferson,and to the Ordinance of 1787,which forbade the extension of slaveryinto the Northwest. Texas, whichalready permitted slavery, naturallyentered the Union as a slave state.But the California, New Mexico,and Utah territories did not haveslavery. From the beginning, therewere strongly conflicting opinionson whether they should.134135

CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYSoutherners urged that all thelands acquired from Mexico shouldbe thrown open to slave holders.Antislavery Northerners demandedthat all the new regions be closedto slavery. One group of moderatessuggested that the MissouriCompromise line be extended tothe Pacific with free states north ofit and slave states to the south. Anothergroup proposed that the questionbe left to “popular sovereignty.”The government should permit settlersto enter the new territory withor without slaves as they pleased.When the time came to organize theregion into states, the people themselvescould decide.Despite the vitality of the abolitionistmovement, most Northernerswere unwilling to challenge the existenceof slavery in the South. Many,however, were against its expansion.In 1848 nearly 300,000 men votedfor the candidates of a new Free SoilParty, which declared that the bestpolicy was “to limit, localize, anddiscourage slavery.” In the immediateaftermath of the war with Mexico,however, popular sovereigntyhad considerable appeal.In January 1848 the discoveryof gold in California precipitateda headlong rush of settlers, morethan 80,000 in the single year of1849. Congress had to determine thestatus of this new region quickly inorder to establish an organized government.The venerable KentuckySenator Henry Clay, who twicebefore in times of crisis had comeforward with compromise arrangements,advanced a complicated andcarefully balanced plan. His oldMassachusetts rival, Daniel Webster,supported it. Illinois DemocraticSenator Stephen A. Douglas, theleading advocate of popular sovereignty,did much of the work inguiding it through Congress.The Compromise of 1850 containedthe following provisions: (1)California was admitted to the Unionas a free state; (2) the remainder ofthe Mexican cession was divided intothe two territories of New Mexico andUtah and organized without mentionof slavery; (3) the claim of Texas to aportion of New Mexico was satisfiedby a payment of $10 million; (4) newlegislation (the Fugitive Slave Act)was passed to apprehend runawayslaves and return them to their masters;and (5) the buying and selling ofslaves (but not slavery) was abolishedin the District of Columbia.The country breathed a sigh ofrelief. For the next three years, thecompromise seemed to settle nearlyall differences. The new FugitiveSlave Law, however, was an immediatesource of tension. It deeplyoffended many Northerners, whorefused to have any part in catchingslaves. Some actively and violentlyobstructed its enforcement. The UndergroundRailroad became moreefficient and daring than ever.A DIVIDED NATIONDuring the 1850s, the issue of slaverysevered the political bonds thathad held the United States together.It ate away at the country’s two greatpolitical parties, the Whigs and theDemocrats, destroying the first andirrevocably dividing the second. Itproduced weak presidents whoseirresolution mirrored that of theirparties. It eventually discreditedeven the Supreme Court.The moral fervor of abolitionistfeeling grew steadily. In 1852,Harriet Beecher Stowe publishedUncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel provokedby the passage of the FugitiveSlave Law. More than 300,000 copieswere sold the first year. Pressesran day and night to keep up withthe demand. Although sentimentaland full of stereotypes, Uncle Tom’sCabin portrayed with undeniableforce the cruelty of slavery and positeda fundamental conflict betweenfree and slave societies. It inspiredwidespread enthusiasm for the antislaverycause, appealing as it didto basic human emotions — indignationat injustice and pity forthe helpless individuals exposed toruthless exploitation.In 1854 the issue of slavery inthe territories was renewed and thequarrel became more bitter. The regionthat now comprises Kansas andNebraska was being rapidly settled,increasing pressure for the establishmentof territorial, and eventually,state governments.Under terms of the MissouriCompromise of 1820, the entireregion was closed to slavery. Dominantslave-holding elements inMissouri objected to letting Kansasbecome a free territory, for theirstate would then have three free-soilneighbors (Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas)and might be forced to becomea free state as well. Their congressionaldelegation, backed by Southerners,blocked all efforts to organizethe region.At this point, Stephen A. Douglasenraged all free-soil supporters.Douglas argued that the Compromiseof 1850, having left Utah andNew Mexico free to resolve the slaveryissue for themselves, supersededthe Missouri Compromise. His plancalled for two territories, Kansasand Nebraska. It permitted settlersto carry slaves into them and eventuallyto determine whether theyshould enter the Union as free orslave states.Douglas’s opponents accused himof currying favor with the South inorder to gain the presidency in 1856.The free-soil movement, which hadseemed to be in decline, reemergedwith greater momentum than ever.Yet in May 1854, Douglas’s plan inthe form of the Kansas-NebraskaAct passed Congress to be signed byPresident Franklin Pierce. Southernenthusiasts celebrated with cannonfire. But when Douglas subsequentlyvisited Chicago to speak in his owndefense, the ships in the harbor loweredtheir flags to half-mast, thechurch bells tolled for an hour, and acrowd of 10,000 hooted so loudly thathe could not make himself heard.The immediate results of Douglas’sill-starred measure were momentous.The Whig Party, which hadstraddled the question of slavery ex-136137

CHAPTER 6: SECTIONAL CONFLICTOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYpansion, sank to its death, and in itsstead a powerful new organizationarose, the Republican Party, whoseprimary demand was that slaverybe excluded from all the territories.In 1856, it nominated John Fremont,whose expeditions into the Far Westhad won him renown. Fremont lostthe election, but the new party swepta great part of the North. Such freesoilleaders as Salmon P. Chase andWilliam Seward exerted greater influencethan ever. Along with themappeared a tall, lanky Illinois attorney,Abraham Lincoln.Meanwhile, the flow of bothSouthern slave holders and antislaveryfamilies into Kansas resulted inarmed conflict. Soon the territorywas being called “bleeding Kansas.”The Supreme Court made thingsworse with its infamous 1857 DredScott decision.Scott was a Missouri slave who,some 20 years earlier, had beentaken by his master to live in Illinoisand the Wisconsin Territory; in bothplaces, slavery was banned. Returningto Missouri and becoming discontentedwith his life there, Scottsued for liberation on the ground ofhis residence on free soil. A majorityof the Supreme Court — dominatedby Southerners — decided that Scottlacked standing in court because hewas not a citizen; that the laws of afree state (Illinois) had no effect onhis status because he was the residentof a slave state (Missouri); andthat slave holders had the right totake their “property” anywhere inthe federal territories. Thus, Congresscould not restrict the expansionof slavery. This last assertioninvalidated former compromises onslavery and made new ones impossibleto craft.The Dred Scott decision stirredfierce resentment throughout theNorth. Never before had the Courtbeen so bitterly condemned. ForSouthern Democrats, the decisionwas a great victory, since it gave judicialsanction to their justificationof slavery throughout the territories.LINCOLN, DOUGLAS, ANDBROWNAbraham Lincoln had long regardedslavery as an evil. As early as1854 in a widely publicized speech,he declared that all national legislationshould be framed on theprinciple that slavery was to be restrictedand eventually abolished.He contended also that the principleof popular sovereignty was false, forslavery in the western territories wasthe concern not only of the local inhabitantsbut of the United States asa whole.In 1858 Lincoln opposed StephenA. Douglas for election to the U.S.Senate from Illinois. In the firstparagraph of his opening campaignspeech, on June 17, Lincoln struckthe keynote of American history forthe seven years to follow:A house divided against itselfcannot stand. I believe thisgovernment cannot endurepermanently half-slave and halffree.I do not expect the Union tobe dissolved — I do not expect thehouse to fall — but I do expect itwill cease to be divided.Lincoln and Douglas engagedin a series of seven debates in theensuing months of 1858. SenatorDouglas, known as the “Little Giant,”had an enviable reputation asan orator, but he met his match inLincoln, who eloquently challengedDouglas’s concept of popular sovereignty.In the end, Douglas wonthe election by a small margin, butLincoln had achieved stature as anational figure.By then events were spinning outof control. On the night of October16, 1859, John Brown, an antislaveryfanatic who had captured and killedfive proslavery settlers in Kansasthree years before, led a band of followersin an attack on the federalarsenal at Harper’s Ferry (in whatis now West Virginia). Brown’s goalwas to use the weapons seized tolead a slave uprising. After two daysof fighting, Brown and his survivingmen were taken prisoner by a forceof U.S. Marines commanded byColonel Robert E. Lee.Brown’s attempt confirmed theworst fears of many Southerners.Antislavery activists, on the otherhand, generally hailed Brown as amartyr to a great cause. Virginiaput Brown on trial for conspiracy,treason, and murder. On December2, 1859, he was hanged. Althoughmost Northerners had initially condemnedhim, increasing numberswere coming to accept his view thathe had been an instrument in thehand of God.THE 1860 ELECTIONIn 1860 the Republican Partynominated Abraham Lincoln as itscandidate for president. The Republicanplatform declared that slaverycould spread no farther, promised atariff for the protection of industry,and pledged the enactment of a lawgranting free homesteads to settlerswho would help in the opening ofthe West. Southern Democrats, unwillingin the wake of the Dred Scottcase to accept Douglas’s popularsovereignty, split from the party andnominated Vice President John C.Breckenridge of Kentucky for president.Stephen A. Douglas was thenominee of northern Democrats.Diehard Whigs from the borderstates, formed into the ConstitutionalUnion Party, nominated JohnC. Bell of Tennessee.Lincoln and Douglas competedin the North, Breckenridge andBell in the South. Lincoln won only39 percent of the popular vote, buthad a clear majority of 180 electoralvotes, carrying all 18 free states. Bellwon Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia;Breckenridge took the otherslave states except for Missouri,which was won by Douglas. Despitehis poor showing, Douglas trailedonly Lincoln in the popular vote. 9138139

C H A P T E R7THECIVIL WARANDRECONSTRUCTIONPresident Abraham Lincoln(center), at a Union Armyencampment in October1862, following the battleof Antietam.140

CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYThat this nationunder Godshall have anew birth of freedom.President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863SECESSION AND CIVIL WARLincoln’s victory in the presidentialelection of November 1860made South Carolina’s secessionfrom the Union December 20 aforegone conclusion. The state hadlong been waiting for an event thatwould unite the South against theantislavery forces. By February 1,1861, five more Southern states hadseceded. On February 8, the sixstates signed a provisional constitutionfor the Confederate States ofAmerica. The remaining Southernstates as yet remained in the Union,although Texas had begun to moveon its secession.Less than a month later, March 4,1861, Abraham Lincoln was swornin as president of the United States.In his inaugural address, he declaredthe Confederacy “legally void.” Hisspeech closed with a plea for restorationof the bonds of union, but theSouth turned a deaf ear. On April12, Confederate guns opened fire onthe federal garrison at Fort Sumterin the Charleston, South Carolina,harbor. A war had begun in whichmore Americans would die than inany other conflict before or since.In the seven states that had seceded,the people responded positivelyto the Confederate actionand the leadership of ConfederatePresident Jefferson Davis. Bothsides now tensely awaited the actionof the slave states that thus far hadremained loyal. Virginia seceded onApril 17; Arkansas, Tennessee, andNorth Carolina followed quickly.No state left the Union withgreater reluctance than Virginia.Her statesmen had a leading part inthe winning of the Revolution andthe framing of the Constitution, andshe had provided the nation withfive presidents. With Virginia wentColonel Robert E. Lee, who declinedthe command of the Union Armyout of loyalty to his native state.Between the enlarged Confederacyand the free-soil North laythe border slave states of Delaware,Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri,which, despite some sympathy withthe South, would remain loyal tothe Union.Each side entered the war withhigh hopes for an early victory. Inmaterial resources the North enjoyeda decided advantage. Twenty-threestates with a population of 22 millionwere arrayed against 11 statesinhabited by nine million, includingslaves. The industrial superiority ofthe North exceeded even its preponderancein population, providing itwith abundant facilities for manufacturingarms and ammunition,clothing, and other supplies. It had agreatly superior railway network.The South nonetheless had certainadvantages. The most importantwas geography; the South wasfighting a defensive war on its ownterritory. It could establish its independencesimply by beating off theNorthern armies. The South alsohad a stronger military tradition,and possessed the more experiencedmilitary leaders.WESTERN ADVANCE,EASTERN STALEMATEThe first large battle of the war, atBull Run, Virginia (also known asFirst Manassas) near Washington,stripped away any illusions that victorywould be quick or easy. It alsoestablished a pattern, at least in theEastern United States, of bloodySouthern victories that never translatedinto a decisive military advantagefor the Confederacy.In contrast to its military failuresin the East, the Union was able to securebattlefield victories in the Westand slow strategic success at sea.Most of the Navy, at the war’s beginning,was in Union hands, but it wasscattered and weak. Secretary of theNavy Gideon Welles took promptmeasures to strengthen it. Lincolnthen proclaimed a blockade of theSouthern coasts. Although the effectof the blockade was negligibleat first, by 1863 it almost completelyprevented shipments of cotton toEurope and blocked the importationof sorely needed munitions,clothing, and medical supplies tothe South.A brilliant Union naval commander,David Farragut, conductedtwo remarkable operations. In April1862, he took a fleet into the mouthof the Mississippi River and forcedthe surrender of the largest city inthe South, New Orleans, Louisiana.In August 1864, with the cry, “Damnthe torpedoes! Full speed ahead,” heled a force past the fortified entranceof Mobile Bay, Alabama, captureda Confederate ironclad vessel, andsealed off the port.In the Mississippi Valley, theUnion forces won an almost uninterruptedseries of victories. Theybegan by breaking a long Confeder-142143

CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYate line in Tennessee, thus makingit possible to occupy almost all thewestern part of the state. When theimportant Mississippi River port ofMemphis was taken, Union troopsadvanced some 320 kilometers intothe heart of the Confederacy. Withthe tenacious General Ulysses S.Grant in command, they withstooda sudden Confederate counterattackat Shiloh, on the bluffs overlookingthe Tennessee River. Those killedand wounded at Shiloh numberedmore than 10,000 on each side, a casualtyrate that Americans had neverbefore experienced. But it was onlythe beginning of the carnage.In Virginia, by contrast, Uniontroops continued to meet one defeatafter another in a succession ofbloody attempts to capture Richmond,the Confederate capital. TheConfederates enjoyed strong defensepositions afforded by numerousstreams cutting the road betweenWashington and Richmond. Theirtwo best generals, Robert E. Lee andThomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson,both far surpassed in ability theirearly Union counterparts. In 1862Union commander George McClellanmade a slow, excessively cautiousattempt to seize Richmond. But inthe Seven Days’ Battles between June25 and July 1, the Union troops weredriven steadily backward, both sidessuffering terrible losses.After another Confederate victoryat the Second Battle of BullRun (or Second Manassas), Leecrossed the Potomac River and invadedMaryland. McClellan againresponded tentatively, despite learningthat Lee had split his army andwas heavily outnumbered. TheUnion and Confederate Armies metat Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg,Maryland, on September 17, 1862, inthe bloodiest single day of the war:More than 4,000 died on both sidesand 18,000 were wounded. Despitehis numerical advantage, however,McClellan failed to break Lee’s linesor press the attack, and Lee was ableto retreat across the Potomac withhis army intact. As a result, Lincolnfired McClellan.Although Antietam was inconclusivein military terms, its consequenceswere nonetheless momentous.Great Britain and France,both on the verge of recognizingthe Confederacy, delayed their decision,and the South never receivedthe diplomatic recognition and theeconomic aid from Europe that itdesperately sought.Antietam also gave Lincoln theopening he needed to issue thepreliminary Emancipation Proclamation,which declared that as ofJanuary 1, 1863, all slaves in states rebellingagainst the Union were free.In practical terms, the proclamationhad little immediate impact; it freedslaves only in the Confederate states,while leaving slavery intact in theborder states. Politically, however, itmeant that in addition to preservingthe Union, the abolition of slaverywas now a declared objective of theUnion war effort.The final Emancipation Proclamation,issued January 1, 1863,also authorized the recruitment ofAfrican Americans into the UnionArmy, a move abolitionist leaderssuch as Frederick Douglass had beenurging since the beginning of armedconflict. Union forces already hadbeen sheltering escaped slaves as“contraband of war,” but followingthe Emancipation Proclamation, theUnion Army recruited and trainedregiments of African-Americansoldiers that fought with distinctionin battles from Virginia to theMississippi. About 178,000 AfricanAmericans served in the U.S. ColoredTroops, and 29,500 served inthe Union Navy.Despite the political gains representedby the Emancipation Proclamation,however, the North’s militaryprospects in the East remainedbleak as Lee’s Army of Northern Virginiacontinued to maul the UnionArmy of the Potomac, first at Fredericksburg,Virginia, in December1862 and then at Chancellorsvillein May 1863. But Chancellorsville,although one of Lee’s most brilliantmilitary victories, was also one of hismost costly. His most valued lieutenant,General “Stonewall” Jackson,was mistakenly shot and killed byhis own men.GETTYSBURG TOAPPOMATTOXYet none of the Confederate victorieswas decisive. The Union simplymustered new armies and triedagain. Believing that the North’scrushing defeat at Chancellorsvillegave him his chance, Lee strucknorthward into Pennsylvania at thebeginning of July 1863, almost reachingthe state capital at Harrisburg. Astrong Union force intercepted himat Gettysburg, where, in a titanicthree-day battle — the largest of theCivil War — the Confederates madea valiant effort to break the Unionlines. They failed, and on July 4 Lee’sarmy, after crippling losses, retreatedbehind the Potomac.More than 3,000 Union soldiersand almost 4,000 Confederates diedat Gettysburg; wounded and missingtotaled more than 20,000 oneach side. On November 19, 1863,Lincoln dedicated a new nationalcemetery there with perhaps themost famous address in U.S. history.He concluded his brief remarks withthese words:... we here highly resolve that thesedead shall not have died in vain —that this nation, under God, shallhave a new birth of freedom —and that government of the people,by the people, for the people, shallnot perish from the earth.On the Mississippi, Union controlhad been blocked at Vicksburg,where the Confederates had stronglyfortified themselves on bluffs toohigh for naval attack. In early 1863Grant began to move below andaround Vicksburg, subjecting it toa six-week siege. On July 4, he capturedthe town, together with thestrongest Confederate Army in theWest. The river was now entirely inUnion hands. The Confederacy wasbroken in two, and it became almost144145

CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYimpossible to bring supplies fromTexas and Arkansas.The Northern victories at Vicksburgand Gettysburg in July 1863marked the turning point of the war,although the bloodshed continuedunabated for more than a year-anda-half.Lincoln brought Grant east andmade him commander-in-chiefof all Union forces. In May 1864Grant advanced deep into Virginiaand met Lee’s Confederate Armyin the three-day Battle of the Wilderness.Losses on both sides wereheavy, but unlike other Union commanders,Grant refused to retreat.Instead, he attempted to outflankLee, stretching the Confederate linesand pounding away with artilleryand infantry attacks. “I propose tofight it out along this line if it takesall summer,” the Union commandersaid at Spotsylvania, during five daysof bloody trench warfare that characterizedfighting on the easternfront for almost a year.In the West, Union forces gainedcontrol of Tennessee in the fall of1863 with victories at Chattanoogaand nearby Lookout Mountain,opening the way for General WilliamT. Sherman to invade Georgia.Sherman outmaneuvered severalsmaller Confederate armies, occupiedthe state capital of Atlanta,then marched to the Atlantic coast,systematically destroying railroads,factories, warehouses, and otherfacilities in his path. His men, cutoff from their normal supply lines,ravaged the countryside for food.From the coast, Sherman marchednorthward; by February 1865, hehad taken Charleston, South Carolina,where the first shots of theCivil War had been fired. Sherman,more than any other Union general,understood that destroying the willand morale of the South was as importantas defeating its armies.Grant, meanwhile, lay siege to Petersburg,Virginia, for nine months,before Lee, in March 1865, knew thathe had to abandon both Petersburgand the Confederate capital of Richmondin an attempt to retreat south.But it was too late. On April 9, 1865,surrounded by huge Union armies,Lee surrendered to Grant at AppomattoxCourthouse. Although scatteredfighting continued elsewherefor several months, the Civil Warwas over.The terms of surrender at Appomattoxwere magnanimous, andon his return from his meeting withLee, Grant quieted the noisy demonstrationsof his soldiers by remindingthem: “The rebels are our countrymenagain.” The war for Southernindependence had become the “lostcause,” whose hero, Robert E. Lee,had won wide admiration throughthe brilliance of his leadership andhis greatness in defeat.WITH MALICE TOWARD NONEFor the North, the war produceda still greater hero in Abraham Lincoln— a man eager, above all else,to weld the Union together again,not by force and repression but bywarmth and generosity. In 1864 hehad been elected for a second termas president, defeating his Democraticopponent, George McClellan,the general he had dismissed afterAntietam. Lincoln’s second inauguraladdress closed with these words:With malice toward none; withcharity for all; with firmness inthe right, as God gives us to seethe right, let us strive on to finishthe work we are in; to bind up thenation’s wounds; to care for himwho shall have borne the battle,and for his widow, and his orphan— to do all which may achieveand cherish a just, and a lastingpeace, among ourselves, and withall nations.Three weeks later, two days afterLee’s surrender, Lincoln deliveredhis last public address, in which heunfolded a generous reconstructionpolicy. On April 14, 1865, thepresident held what was to be hislast Cabinet meeting. That evening— with his wife and a young couplewho were his guests — he attendeda performance at Ford’s Theater.There, as he sat in the presidentialbox, he was assassinated by JohnWilkes Booth, a Virginia actor embitteredby the South’s defeat. Boothwas killed in a shootout some dayslater in a barn in the Virginia countryside.His accomplices were capturedand later executed.Lincoln died in a downstairsbedroom of a house across the streetfrom Ford’s Theater on the morningof April 15. Poet James Russell Lowellwrote:Never before that startled Aprilmorning did such multitudes ofmen shed tears for the death ofone they had never seen, as if withhim a friendly presence had beentaken from their lives, leavingthem colder and darker. Neverwas funeral panegyric so eloquentas the silent look of sympathywhich strangers exchanged whenthey met that day. Their commonmanhood had lost a kinsman.The first great task confrontingthe victorious North — now underthe leadership of Lincoln’s vice president,Andrew Johnson, a Southernerwho remained loyal to the Union— was to determine the status ofthe states that had seceded. Lincolnhad already set the stage. In his view,the people of the Southern stateshad never legally seceded; they hadbeen misled by some disloyal citizensinto a defiance of federal authority.And since the war was theact of individuals, the federal governmentwould have to deal withthese individuals and not withthe states. Thus, in 1863 Lincolnproclaimed that if in any state 10percent of the voters of record in1860 would form a government loyalto the U.S. Constitution and wouldacknowledge obedience to the lawsof the Congress and the proclamationsof the president, he would recognizethe government so created asthe state’s legal government.Congress rejected this plan. ManyRepublicans feared it would simplyentrench former rebels in power;they challenged Lincoln’s right to146147

CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYdeal with the rebel states withoutconsultation. Some members ofCongress advocated severe punishmentfor all the seceded states; otherssimply felt the war would havebeen in vain if the old Southern establishmentwas restored to power.Yet even before the war was whollyover, new governments had been setup in Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas,and Louisiana.To deal with one of its majorconcerns — the condition of formerslaves — Congress establishedthe Freedmen’s Bureau in March1865 to act as guardian over AfricanAmericans and guide them towardself-support. And in December ofthat year, Congress ratified the 13thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution,which abolished slavery.Throughout the summer of 1865Johnson proceeded to carry out Lincoln’sreconstruction program, withminor modifications. By presidentialproclamation he appointed a governorfor each of the former Confederatestates and freely restored politicalrights to many Southerners throughuse of presidential pardons.In due time conventions wereheld in each of the former Confederatestates to repeal the ordinancesof secession, repudiate the war debt,and draft new state constitutions.Eventually a native Unionist becamegovernor in each state with authorityto convoke a convention of loyal voters.Johnson called upon each conventionto invalidate the secession,abolish slavery, repudiate all debtsthat went to aid the Confederacy,and ratify the 13th Amendment.By the end of 1865, this process wascompleted, with a few exceptions.RADICAL RECONSTRUCTIONBoth Lincoln and Johnson hadforeseen that the Congress wouldhave the right to deny Southernlegislators seats in the U.S. Senate orHouse of Representatives, under theclause of the Constitution that says,“Each house shall be the judge of the... qualifications of its own members.”This came to pass when, underthe leadership of Thaddeus Stevens,those congressmen called “RadicalRepublicans,” who were wary of aquick and easy “reconstruction,” refusedto seat newly elected Southernsenators and representatives. Withinthe next few months, Congress proceededto work out a plan for thereconstruction of the South quitedifferent from the one Lincoln hadstarted and Johnson had continued.Wide public support graduallydeveloped for those members ofCongress who believed that AfricanAmericans should be given full citizenship.By July 1866, Congress hadpassed a civil rights bill and set upa new Freedmen’s Bureau — bothdesigned to prevent racial discriminationby Southern legislatures.Following this, the Congress passeda 14th Amendment to the Constitution,stating that “all persons born ornaturalized in the United States, andsubject to the jurisdiction thereof,are citizens of the United States andof the State wherein they reside.”This repudiated the Dred Scott ruling,which had denied slaves theirright of citizenship.All the Southern state legislatures,with the exception of Tennessee,refused to ratify the amendment,some voting against it unanimously.In addition, Southern state legislaturespassed “codes” to regulate theAfrican-American freedmen. Thecodes differed from state to state,but some provisions were common.African Americans were required toenter into annual labor contracts,with penalties imposed in case ofviolation; dependent children weresubject to compulsory apprenticeshipand corporal punishments bymasters; vagrants could be sold intoprivate service if they could not paysevere fines.Many Northerners interpretedthe Southern response as an attemptto reestablish slavery and repudiatethe hard-won Union victory inthe Civil War. It did not help thatJohnson, although a Unionist, wasa Southern Democrat with an addictionto intemperate rhetoric andan aversion to political compromise.Republicans swept the congressionalelections of 1866. Firmly in power,the Radicals imposed their own visionof Reconstruction.In the Reconstruction Act ofMarch 1867, Congress, ignoring thegovernments that had been establishedin the Southern states, dividedthe South into five military districts,each administered by a Union general.Escape from permanent militarygovernment was open to those statesthat established civil governments,ratified the 14th Amendment, andadopted African-American suffrage.Supporters of the Confederacy whohad not taken oaths of loyalty to theUnited States generally could notvote. The 14 th Amendment was ratifiedin 1868. The 15th Amendment,passed by Congress the followingyear and ratified in 1870 by state legislatures,provided that “The right ofcitizens of the United States to voteshall not be denied or abridged bythe United States or any state on accountof race, color, or previous conditionof servitude.”The Radical Republicans inCongress were infuriated by PresidentJohnson’s vetoes (even thoughthey were overridden) of legislationprotecting newly freed AfricanAmericans and punishing formerConfederate leaders by deprivingthem of the right to hold office.Congressional antipathy to Johnsonwas so great that, for the first timein American history, impeachmentproceedings were instituted to removethe president from office.Johnson’s main offense was hisopposition to punitive congressionalpolicies and the violent language heused in criticizing them. The mostserious legal charge his enemiescould level against him was that,despite the Tenure of Office Act(which required Senate approval forthe removal of any officeholder theSenate had previously confirmed),he had removed from his Cabinetthe secretary of war, a staunch supporterof the Congress. When the148149

CHAPTER 7: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYimpeachment trial was held in theSenate, it was proved that Johnsonwas technically within his rights inremoving the Cabinet member. Evenmore important, it was pointed outthat a dangerous precedent would beset if the Congress were to remove apresident because he disagreed withthe majority of its members. Thefinal vote was one short of the twothirdsrequired for conviction.Johnson continued in office untilhis term expired in 1869, but Congresshad established an ascendancythat would endure for the rest of thecentury. The Republican victor inthe presidential election of 1868, formerUnion general Ulysses S. Grant,would enforce the reconstructionpolicies the Radicals had initiated.By June 1868, Congress had readmittedthe majority of the formerConfederate states back intothe Union. In many of these reconstructedstates, the majority ofthe governors, representatives, andsenators were Northern men — socalledcarpetbaggers — who hadgone South after the war to maketheir political fortunes, often inalliance with newly freed AfricanAmericans. In the legislatures ofLouisiana and South Carolina, AfricanAmericans actually gained amajority of the seats.Many Southern whites, theirpolitical and social dominancethreatened, turned to illegal meansto prevent African Americans fromgaining equality. Violence againstAfrican Americans by such extralegalorganizations as the Ku KluxKlan became more and more frequent.Increasing disorder led to thepassage of Enforcement Acts in 1870and 1871, severely punishing thosewho attempted to deprive the African-Americanfreedmen of theircivil rights.THE END OFRECONSTRUCTIONAs time passed, it became moreand more obvious that the problemsof the South were not being solvedby harsh laws and continuing rancoragainst former Confederates. Moreover,some Southern Radical stategovernments with prominent African-Americanofficials appearedcorrupt and inefficient. The nationwas quickly tiring of the attempt toimpose racial democracy and liberalvalues on the South with Union bayonets.In May 1872, Congress passeda general Amnesty Act, restoring fullpolitical rights to all but about 500former rebels.Gradually Southern states beganelecting members of the DemocraticParty into office, ousting carpetbaggergovernments and intimidatingAfrican Americans from voting orattempting to hold public office.By 1876 the Republicans remainedin power in only three Southernstates. As part of the bargaining thatresolved the disputed presidentialelections that year in favor of RutherfordB. Hayes, the Republicanspromised to withdraw federal troopsthat had propped up the remainingRepublican governments. In 1877Hayes kept his promise, tacitly abandoningfederal responsibility for enforcingblacks’ civil rights.The South was still a region devastatedby war, burdened by debtcaused by misgovernment, and demoralizedby a decade of racial warfare.Unfortunately, the pendulumof national racial policy swung fromone extreme to the other. A federalgovernment that had supportedharsh penalties against Southernwhite leaders now tolerated new andhumiliating kinds of discriminationagainst African Americans. The lastquarter of the 19th century saw aprofusion of “Jim Crow” laws inSouthern states that segregated publicschools, forbade or limited African-Americanaccess to many publicfacilities such as parks, restaurants,and hotels, and denied most blacksthe right to vote by imposing polltaxes and arbitrary literacy tests.“Jim Crow” is a term derived froma song in an 1828 minstrel showwhere a white man first performedin “blackface.”Historians have tended to judgeReconstruction harshly, as a murkyperiod of political conflict, corruption,and regression that failed toachieve its original high-mindedgoals and collapsed into a sinkholeof virulent racism. Slaves were grantedfreedom, but the North completelyfailed to address their economicneeds. The Freedmen’s Bureau wasunable to provide former slaveswith political and economic opportunity.Union military occupiersoften could not even protect themfrom violence and intimidation.Indeed, federal army officers andagents of the Freedmen’s Bureauwere often racists themselves. Withouteconomic resources of their own,many Southern African Americanswere forced to become tenant farmerson land owned by their formermasters, caught in a cycle of povertythat would continue well into the20th century.Reconstruction-era governmentsdid make genuine gains in rebuildingSouthern states devastated bythe war, and in expanding publicservices, notably in establishingtax-supported, free public schoolsfor African Americans and whites.However, recalcitrant Southernersseized upon instances of corruption(hardly unique to the South in thisera) and exploited them to bringdown radical regimes. The failureof Reconstruction meant that thestruggle of African Americans forequality and freedom was deferreduntil the 20th century — when itwould become a national, not just aSouthern issue. 9150151

C H A P T E R8GROWTHANDTRANSFORMATIONBuilding thetranscontinental railroad,1868.154

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 ofthe Declaration of Independence, and six governors of Massachusetts. Originally foundedby religious dissidents from England known as Puritans, Massachusetts was a leader in thestruggle for independence against England. It was the setting for the Boston Tea Party andthe first battles of the American Revolution — in Lexington and Concord.163

Statues guard the majestic façade of the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest courtin the land. The words engraved on the lintel over the Greek pillars embody oneof America’s founding principles: “Equal Justice Under Law.”The Statue of Liberty, one of the United States’ most beloved monuments, stands 151feet high at the entrance to New York harbor. A gift of friendship from the peopleof France to the United States, it was intended to be an impressive symbol of humanliberty. It was certainly that for the millions of immigrants who came to the UnitedStates 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. Carbontests of the effigy revealed that the creators of this 1,330-foot monument weremembers of the Native-American Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000-1550).The Liberty Bell, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, anenduring symbol of Americanfreedom. First rung on July8, 1776, to celebrate theadoption of the Declarationof Independence, it crackedin 1836, during the funeral ofJohn Marshall, Chief Justiceof the U.S. Supreme Court.Two monuments to the central role Spain played in the exploration of what is nowthe United States. Top, the Castillo de San Marcos, built 1672-1695 to guard St.Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in the continentalUnited States. Above, fountain and mission remains of the San Juan CapistranoMission, California, one of nine missions founded by Spanish Franciscanmissionaries led by Fray Junípero Serra in the 1770s. Serra led the Spanishcolonization of what is today the state of California.168

The faces of four of the most admired American presidents werecarved by Gutzon Borglum into the southeast face of MountRushmore in South Dakota, beginning in 1927. From left to right,they are: George Washington, commander of the RevolutionaryArmy 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 strongforeign policy; and Abraham Lincoln, who led the country throughthe Civil War and freed the slaves.George Washington’s beloved home, Mount Vernon,by the Potomac River in Virginia, where he died onDecember 14, 1799, and is buried along with his wifeMartha. Among other treasured items owned by thefirst president on display there, visitors can see one ofthe keys to the Bastille, a gift to Washington from theMarquis de Lafayette.170 171

Six-year-old Mary Zheng straightens a flower placed at the Vietnam VeteransMemorial in Washington, D.C., April 30, 2000. The names of more than 58,000servicemen who died in the war or remain missing are etched on the “wall” part of thememorial, 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-knownnational burial grounds. More than 260,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery,including veterans from all the nation’s wars.A mother and daughter viewing documents in the Exhibition Hallof the National Archives. The U.S. Constitution, the Declaration ofIndependence, and the Bill of Rights are on display in this Washington,D.C., building.Fireworks celebrating the arrival of the Millennium illuminate two majormonuments in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial on the left and theobelisk-shaped Washington Monument, center. The Lincoln Memorial’s north andsouth side chambers contain carved inscriptions of his Second Inaugural Addressand his Gettysburg Address. The tallest structure in the nation’s capital,the Washington Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885.175

OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYTop, the World War II Memorial, opened in 2004, is the most recent addition tothe many national monuments in Washington, D.C. It honors the 16 million whoserved in the armed forces of the United States, the more than 400,000 who died,and all who supported the war effort from home. Above, the planned design forthe World Trade Center Memorial in New York City is depicted in this photographof a model unveiled in late 2004. “Reflecting Absence” will preserve not only thememory of those who died in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, but thevisible remnants of the buildings destroyed that morning, too.machine, and the reaper-thresher orcombine. Mechanical planters, cutters,huskers, and shellers appeared,as did cream separators, manurespreaders, potato planters, hay driers,poultry incubators, and a hundredother inventions.Scarcely less important than machineryin the agricultural revolutionwas science. In 1862 the MorrillLand Grant College Act allottedpublic land to each state for the establishmentof agricultural and industrialcolleges. These were to serveboth as educational institutions andas centers for research in scientificfarming. Congress subsequentlyappropriated funds for the creationof agricultural experiment stationsthroughout the country and grantedfunds directly to the Department ofAgriculture for research purposes.By the beginning of the new century,scientists throughout the UnitedStates were at work on a wide varietyof agricultural projects.One of these scientists, MarkCarleton, traveled for the Departmentof Agriculture to Russia. Therehe found and exported to his homelandthe rust- and drought-resistantwinter wheat that now accountsfor more than half the U.S. wheatcrop. Another scientist, MarionDorset, conquered the dreaded hogcholera, while still another, GeorgeMohler, helped prevent hoof-andmouthdisease. From North Africa,one researcher brought back Kaffircorn; from Turkestan, anotherimported the yellow-flowering alfalfa.Luther Burbank in Californiaproduced scores of new fruits andvegetables; in Wisconsin, StephenBabcock devised a test for determiningthe butterfat content of milk; atTuskegee Institute in Alabama, theAfrican-American scientist GeorgeWashington Carver found hundredsof new uses for the peanut, sweet potato,and soybean.In varying degrees, the explosionin agricultural science and technologyaffected farmers all over theworld, raising yields, squeezing outsmall producers, and driving migrationto industrial cities. Railroadsand steamships, moreover, began topull regional markets into one largeworld market with prices instantlycommunicated by trans-Atlanticcable as well as ground wires. Goodnews for urban consumers, fallingagricultural prices threatened thelivelihood of many American farmersand touched off a wave of agrariandiscontent.THE DIVIDED SOUTHAfter Reconstruction, Southernleaders pushed hard to attract industry.States offered large inducementsand cheap labor to investors to developthe steel, lumber, tobacco, andtextile industries. Yet in 1900 theregion’s percentage of the nation’sindustrial base remained about whatit had been in 1860. Moreover, theprice of this drive for industrializationwas high: Disease and childlabor proliferated in Southern milltowns. Thirty years after the CivilWar, the South was still poor, over-176177

CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYwhelmingly agrarian, and economicallydependent. Moreover, its racerelations reflected not just the legacyof slavery, but what was emerging asthe central theme of its history — adetermination to enforce white supremacyat any cost.Intransigent white Southernersfound ways to assert state controlto maintain white dominance. SeveralSupreme Court decisions alsobolstered their efforts by upholdingtraditional Southern views of the appropriatebalance between nationaland state power.In 1873 the Supreme Court foundthat the 14th Amendment (citizenshiprights not to be abridged)conferred no new privileges or immunitiesto protect African Americansfrom state power. In 1883,furthermore, it ruled that the 14thAmendment did not prevent individuals,as opposed to states, frompracticing discrimination. And inPlessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Courtfound that “separate but equal”public accommodations for AfricanAmericans, such as trains andrestaurants, did not violate theirrights. Soon the principle of segregationby race extended into everyarea of Southern life, from railroadsto restaurants, hotels, hospitals, andschools. Moreover, any area of lifethat was not segregated by law wassegregated by custom and practice.Further curtailment of the right tovote followed. Periodic lynchingsby mobs underscored the region’sdetermination to subjugate its African-Americanpopulation.Faced with pervasive discrimination,many African Americans followedBooker T. Washington, whocounseled them to focus on modesteconomic goals and to accept temporarysocial discrimination. Others,led by the African-Americanintellectual W.E.B. Du Bois, wantedto challenge segregation throughpolitical action. But with both majorparties uninterested in the issueand scientific theory of the timegenerally accepting black inferiority,calls for racial justice attractedlittle support.THE LAST FRONTIERIn 1865 the frontier line generallyfollowed the western limits of thestates bordering the Mississippi River,but bulged outward beyond theeastern sections of Texas, Kansas,and Nebraska. Then, running northand south for nearly 1,600 kilometers,loomed huge mountain ranges,many rich in silver, gold, and othermetals. To their west, plains and desertsstretched to the wooded coastalranges and the Pacific Ocean. Apartfrom the settled districts in Californiaand scattered outposts, thevast inland region was populatedby Native Americans: among themthe Great Plains tribes — Sioux andBlackfoot, Pawnee and Cheyenne— and the Indian cultures of theSouthwest, including Apache, Navajo,and Hopi.A mere quarter-century later,virtually all this country had beencarved into states and territories.Miners had ranged over the wholeof the mountain country, tunnelinginto the earth, establishing littlecommunities in Nevada, Montana,and Colorado. Cattle ranchers,taking advantage of the enormousgrasslands, had laid claim to thehuge expanse stretching from Texasto the upper Missouri River. Sheepherders had found their way to thevalleys and mountain slopes. Farmerssank their plows into the plainsand closed the gap between the Eastand West. By 1890 the frontier linehad disappeared.Settlement was spurred by theHomestead Act of 1862, whichgranted free farms of 64 hectaresto citizens who would occupy andimprove the land. Unfortunatelyfor the would-be farmers, much ofthe Great Plains was suited more forcattle ranching than farming, andby 1880 nearly 22,400,000 hectaresof “free” land was in the hands ofcattlemen or the railroads.In 1862 Congress also voted acharter to the Union Pacific Railroad,which pushed westward fromCouncil Bluffs, Iowa, using mostlythe labor of ex-soldiers and Irish immigrants.At the same time, the CentralPacific Railroad began to buildeastward from Sacramento, California,relying heavily on Chineseimmigrant labor. The whole countrywas stirred as the two lines steadilyapproached each other, finally meetingon May 10, 1869, at PromontoryPoint in Utah. The months of laborioustravel hitherto separating thetwo oceans was now cut to about sixdays. The continental rail networkgrew steadily; by 1884 four greatlines linked the central MississippiValley area with the Pacific.The first great rush of populationto the Far West was drawn to themountainous regions, where goldwas found in California in 1848,in Colorado and Nevada 10 yearslater, in Montana and Wyoming inthe 1860s, and in the Black Hills ofthe Dakota country in the 1870s.Miners opened up the country, establishedcommunities, and laid thefoundations for more permanentsettlements. Eventually, however,though a few communities continuedto be devoted almost exclusivelyto mining, the real wealth of Montana,Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho,and California proved to be in thegrass and soil. Cattle-raising, longan important industry in Texas,flourished after the Civil War, whenenterprising men began to drivetheir Texas longhorn cattle northacross the open public land. Feedingas they went, the cattle arrivedat railway shipping points in Kansas,larger and fatter than when theystarted. The annual cattle drive becamea regular event; for hundredsof kilometers, trails were dotted withherds moving northward.Next, immense cattle ranchesappeared in Colorado, Wyoming,Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotaterritory. Western cities flourishedas centers for the slaughter anddressing of meat. The cattle boompeaked in the mid-1880s. By then,not far behind the rancher creaked178179

C H A P T E R9DISCONTENTANDREFORMSuffragists march onPennsylvania Avenue,Washington, D.C.,March 3, 1913.188

CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORMOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“A great democracy will beneither great nor a democracyif it is not progressive.”Former President Theodore Roosevelt, circa 1910AGRARIAN DISTRESS ANDTHE RISE OF POPULISMIn spite of their remarkable progress,late-19th century Americanfarmers experienced recurring periodsof hardship. Mechanical improvementsgreatly increased yieldper hectare. The amount of land undercultivation grew rapidly throughoutthe second half of the century,as the railroads and the gradualdisplacement of the Plains Indiansopened up new areas for westernsettlement. A similar expansion ofagricultural lands in countries suchas Canada, Argentina, and Australiacompounded these problems in theinternational market, where muchof U.S. agricultural production wasnow sold. Everywhere, heavy supplypushed the price of agriculturalcommodities downward.Midwestern farmers were increasinglyrestive over what theyconsidered excessive railroadfreight rates to move their goodsto market. They believed that theprotective tariff, a subsidy to bigbusiness, drove up the price of theirincreasingly expensive equipment.Squeezed by low market pricesand high costs, they resented everheavierdebt loads and the banksthat held their mortgages. Even theweather was hostile. During the late1880s droughts devastated the westernGreat Plains and bankruptedthousands of settlers.In the South, the end of slaverybrought major changes. Much agriculturalland was now worked bysharecroppers, tenants who gaveup to half of their crop to a landownerfor rent, seed, and essentialsupplies. An estimated 80 percentof the South’s African-Americanfarmers and 40 percent of its whiteones lived under this debilitatingsystem. Most were locked in a cycleof debt, from which the only hope ofescape was increased planting. Thisled to the over-production of cottonand tobacco, and thus to decliningprices and the further exhaustionof the soil.The first organized effort to addressgeneral agricultural problemswas by the Patrons of Husbandry, afarmer’s group popularly known asthe Grange movement. Launchedin 1867 by employees of the U.S.Department of Agriculture, theGranges focused initially on socialactivities to counter the isolationmost farm families encountered.Women’s participation was activelyencouraged. Spurred by the Panicof 1873, the Grange soon grew to20,000 chapters and one-and-a-halfmillion members.The Granges set up their ownmarketing systems, stores, processingplants, factories, and cooperatives,but most ultimately failed. Themovement also enjoyed some politicalsuccess. During the 1870s, a fewstates passed “Granger laws,” limitingrailroad and warehouse fees.By 1880 the Grange was in declineand being replaced by the Farmers’Alliances, which were similar inmany respects but more overtly political.By 1890 the alliances, initiallyautonomous state organizations,had about 1.5 million membersfrom New York to California. A parallelAfrican-American group, theColored Farmers National Alliance,claimed over a million members.Federating into two large Northernand Southern blocs, the alliancespromoted elaborate economicprograms to “unite the farmers ofAmerica for their protection againstclass legislation and the encroachmentsof concentrated capital.”By 1890 the level of agrarian distress,fueled by years of hardship andhostility toward the McKinley tariff,was at an all-time high. Workingwith sympathetic Democrats in theSouth or small third parties in theWest, the Farmers’ Alliances madea push for political power. A thirdpolitical party, the People’s (or Populist)Party, emerged. Never beforein American politics had there beenanything like the Populist fervorthat swept the prairies and cottonlands. The elections of 1890 broughtthe new party into power in a dozenSouthern and Western states, andsent a score of Populist senators andrepresentatives to Congress.The first Populist convention wasin 1892. Delegates from farm, labor,and reform organizations met inOmaha, Nebraska, determined tooverturn a U.S. political system theyviewed as hopelessly corrupted bythe industrial and financial trusts.Their platform stated:We are met, in the midst of anation brought to the verge ofmoral, political, and material ruin.Corruption dominates the ballotbox,the legislatures, the Congress,and touches even the ermine of thebench [courts]. ... From the same190191

CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORMOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYprolific womb of governmentalinjustice we breed the two greatclasses — tramps and millionaires.The pragmatic portion of theirplatform called for the nationalizationof the railroads; a low tariff;loans secured by non-perishablecrops stored in government-ownedwarehouses; and, most explosively,currency inflation through Treasurypurchase and the unlimited coinageof silver at the “traditional” ratioof 16 ounces of silver to one ounceof gold.The Populists showed impressivestrength in the West and South, andtheir candidate for president polledmore than a million votes. Butthe currency question soon overshadowedall other issues. Agrarianspokesmen, convinced that theirtroubles stemmed from a shortageof money in circulation, argued thatincreasing the volume of moneywould indirectly raise prices forfarm products and drive up industrialwages, thus allowing debts to bepaid with inflated currency. Conservativegroups and the financial classes,on the other hand, respondedthat the 16:1 price ratio was nearlytwice the market price for silver. Apolicy of unlimited purchase woulddenude the U.S. Treasury of all itsgold holdings, sharply devalue thedollar, and destroy the purchasingpower of the working and middleclasses. Only the gold standard, theysaid, offered stability.The financial panic of 1893heightened the tension of this debate.Bank failures abounded in theSouth and Midwest; unemploymentsoared and crop prices fell badly.The crisis and President GroverCleveland’s defense of the gold standardsharply divided the DemocraticParty. Democrats who were silversupporters went over to the Populistsas the presidential elections of1896 neared.The Democratic convention thatyear was swayed by one of the mostfamous speeches in U.S. politicalhistory. Pleading with the conventionnot to “crucify mankind ona cross of gold,” William JenningsBryan, the young Nebraskan championof silver, won the Democrats’presidential nomination. The Populistsalso endorsed Bryan.In the epic contest that followed,Bryan carried almost all the Southernand Western states. But he lostthe more populated, industrialNorth and East — and the election— to Republican candidate WilliamMcKinley.The following year the country’sfinances began to improve, in partowing to the discovery of gold inAlaska and the Yukon. This provideda basis for a conservativeexpansion of the money supply. In1898 the Spanish-American Wardrew the nation’s attention furtherfrom Populist issues. Populism andthe silver issue were dead. Many ofthe movement’s other reform ideas,however, lived on.THE STRUGGLES OF LABORThe life of a 19th-century Americanindustrial worker was hard.Even in good times wages were low,hours long, and working conditionshazardous. Little of the wealth thatthe growth of the nation had generatedwent to its workers. Moreover,women and children made up a highpercentage of the work force in someindustries and often received but afraction of the wages a man couldearn. Periodic economic crises sweptthe nation, further eroding industrialwages and producing high levels ofunemployment.At the same time, technologicalimprovements, which added somuch to the nation’s productivity,continually reduced the demand forskilled labor. Yet the unskilled laborpool was constantly growing, as unprecedentednumbers of immigrants— 18 million between 1880 and1910 — entered the country, eagerfor work.Before 1874, when Massachusettspassed the nation’s first legislationlimiting the number of hours womenand child factory workers couldperform to 10 hours a day, virtuallyno labor legislation existed in thecountry. It was not until the 1930sthat the federal government wouldbecome actively involved. Untilthen, the field was left to the stateand local authorities, few of whomwere as responsive to the workers asthey were to wealthy industrialists.The laissez-faire capitalism thatdominated the second half of the19th century and fostered hugeconcentrations of wealth and powerwas backed by a judiciary that timeand again ruled against those whochallenged the system. In this, theywere merely following the prevailingphilosophy of the times. Drawing ona simplified understanding of Darwinianscience, many social thinkersbelieved that both the growthof large business at the expense ofsmall enterprise and the wealth ofa few alongside the poverty of manywas “survival of the fittest,” and anunavoidable by-product of progress.American workers, especially theskilled among them, appear to havelived at least as well as their counterpartsin industrial Europe. Still,the social costs were high. As late asthe year 1900, the United States hadthe highest job-related fatality rateof any industrialized nation in theworld. Most industrial workers stillworked a 10-hour day (12 hours inthe steel industry), yet earned lessthan the minimum deemed necessaryfor a decent life. The number ofchildren in the work force doubledbetween 1870 and 1900.The first major effort to organizeworkers’ groups on a nationwidebasis appeared with the NobleOrder of the Knights of Labor in1869. Originally a secret, ritualisticsociety organized by Philadelphiagarment workers and advocating acooperative program, it was opento all workers, including AfricanAmericans, women, and farmers.The Knights grew slowly until itsrailway workers’ unit won a strike192193

CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORMOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYagainst the great railroad baron, JayGould, in 1885. Within a year theyadded 500,000 workers to their rolls,but, not attuned to pragmatic tradeunionism and unable to repeat thissuccess, the Knights soon fell intoa decline.Their place in the labor movementwas gradually taken by theAmerican Federation of Labor(AFL). Rather than open membershipto all, the AFL, under former cigarunion official Samuel Gompers,was a group of unions focused onskilled workers. Its objectives were“pure and simple” and apolitical:increasing wages, reducing hours,and improving working conditions.It did much to turn the labor movementaway from the socialist viewsof most European labor movements.Nonetheless, both before thefounding of the AFL and after,American labor history was violent.In the Great Rail Strike of 1877, railworkers across the nation went outin response to a 10-percent pay cut.Attempts to break the strike led to riotingand wide-scale destruction inseveral cities: Baltimore, Maryland;Chicago, Illinois; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;Buffalo, New York; andSan Francisco, California. Federaltroops had to be sent to several locationsbefore the strike was ended.Nine years later, in Chicago’sHaymarket Square incident, someonethrew a bomb at police aboutto break up an anarchist rally insupport of an ongoing strike at theMcCormick Harvester Company inChicago. In the ensuing melee, sevenpolicemen and at least four workerswere reported killed. Some 60 policeofficers were injured.In 1892, at Carnegie’s steel worksin Homestead, Pennsylvania, agroup of 300 Pinkerton detectivesthe company had hired to break abitter strike by the AmalgamatedAssociation of Iron, Steel, and TinWorkers fought a fierce and losinggun battle with strikers. The NationalGuard was called in to protectnon-union workers and the strikewas broken. Unions were not letback into the plant until 1937.In 1894, wage cuts at the PullmanCompany just outside Chicago led toa strike, which, with the support ofthe American Railway Union, soontied up much of the country’s railsystem. As the situation deteriorated,U.S. Attorney General RichardOlney, himself a former railroadlawyer, deputized over 3,000 menin an attempt to keep the rails open.This was followed by a federal courtinjunction against union interferencewith the trains. When riotingensued, President Cleveland sent infederal troops, and the strike waseventually broken.The most militant of the strikefavoringunions was the IndustrialWorkers of the World (IWW).Formed from an amalgam of unionsfighting for better conditions in theWest’s mining industry, the IWW, or“Wobblies” as they were commonlyknown, gained particular prominencefrom the Colorado mineclashes of 1903 and the singularlybrutal fashion in which they wereput down. Influenced by militantanarchism and openly calling forclass warfare, the Wobblies gainedmany adherents after they won a difficultstrike battle in the textile millsof Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1912.Their call for work stoppages in themidst of World War I, however, ledto a government crackdown in 1917that virtually destroyed them.THE REFORM IMPULSEThe presidential election of 1900gave the American people a chanceto pass judgment on the Republicanadministration of President McKinley,especially its foreign policy.Meeting at Philadelphia, the Republicansexpressed jubilation over thesuccessful outcome of the war withSpain, the restoration of prosperity,and the effort to obtain new marketsthrough the Open Door policy.McKinley easily defeated his opponent,once again William JenningsBryan. But the president did not liveto enjoy his victory. In September1901, while attending an expositionin Buffalo, New York, he wasshot down by an assassin, the thirdpresident to be assassinated since theCivil War.Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley’svice president, assumed the presidency.Roosevelt’s accession coincidedwith a new epoch in Americanpolitical life and international relations.The continent was peopled;the frontier was disappearing. Asmall, formerly struggling republichad become a world power. Thecountry’s political foundations hadendured the vicissitudes of foreignand civil war, the tides of prosperityand depression. Immense strideshad been made in agriculture andindustry. Free public education hadbeen largely realized and a free pressmaintained. The ideal of religiousfreedom had been sustained. Theinfluence of big business was nowmore firmly entrenched than ever,however, and local and municipalgovernment often was in the handsof corrupt politicians.In response to the excesses of19th-century capitalism and politicalcorruption, a reform movementarose called “progressivism,” whichgave American politics and thoughtits special character from approximately1890 until the Americanentry into World War I in 1917. TheProgressives had diverse objectives.In general, however, they saw themselvesas engaged in a democraticcrusade against the abuses of urbanpolitical bosses and the corrupt“robber barons” of big business.Their goals were greater democracyand social justice, honest government,more effective regulation ofbusiness, and a revived commitmentto public service. They believed thatexpanding the scope of governmentwould ensure the progress of U.S. societyand the welfare of its citizens.The years 1902 to 1908 markedthe era of greatest reform activity,as writers and journalists stronglyprotested practices and principlesinherited from the 18th-centuryrural republic that were proving194195

CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORMOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYinadequate for a 20th-century urbanstate. Years before, in 1873,the celebrated author Mark Twainhad exposed American society tocritical scrutiny in The Gilded Age.Now, trenchant articles dealing withtrusts, high finance, impure foods,and abusive railroad practices beganto appear in the daily newspapersand in such popular magazines asMcClure’s and Collier’s. Their authors,such as the journalist Ida M.Tarbell, who crusaded against theStandard Oil Trust, became knownas “muckrakers.”In his sensational novel, TheJungle, Upton Sinclair exposedunsanitary conditions in the greatChicago meat-packing houses andcondemned the grip of the beeftrust on the nation’s meat supply.Theodore Dreiser, in his novelsThe Financier and The Titan madeit easy for laymen to understandthe machinations of big business.Frank Norris’s The Octopus assailedamoral railroad management; hisThe Pit depicted secret manipulationson the Chicago grain market.Lincoln Steffens’s The Shame of theCities bared local political corruption.This “literature of exposure”roused people to action.The hammering impact of uncompromisingwriters and an increasinglyaroused public spurredpolitical leaders to take practicalmeasures. Many states enacted lawsto improve the conditions underwhich people lived and worked. Atthe urging of such prominent socialcritics as Jane Addams, childlabor laws were strengthened andnew ones adopted, raising age limits,shortening work hours, restrictingnight work, and requiring schoolattendance.ROOSEVELT’S REFORMSBy the early 20th century, most ofthe larger cities and more than halfthe states had established an eighthourday on public works. Equallyimportant were the workman’scompensation laws, which madeemployers legally responsible forinjuries sustained by employees atwork. New revenue laws were alsoenacted, which, by taxing inheritances,incomes, and the property orearnings of corporations, sought toplace the burden of government onthose best able to pay.It was clear to many people —notably President Theodore Rooseveltand Progressive leaders in theCongress (foremost among themWisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette)— that most of the problemsreformers were concerned aboutcould be solved only if dealt with ona national scale. Roosevelt declaredhis determination to give all theAmerican people a “Square Deal.”During his first term, he initiateda policy of increased government supervisionthrough the enforcementof antitrust laws. With his backing,Congress passed the Elkins Act(1903), which greatly restricted therailroad practice of giving rebatesto favored shippers. The act madepublished rates the lawful standard,and shippers equally liable withrailroads for rebates. Meanwhile,Congress had created a new CabinetDepartment of Commerce andLabor, which included a Bureau ofCorporations empowered to investigatethe affairs of large businessaggregations.Roosevelt won acclaim as a“trust-buster,” but his actual attitudetoward big business was complex.Economic concentration, hebelieved, was inevitable. Some trustswere “good,” some “bad.” The taskof government was to make reasonabledistinctions. When, for example,the Bureau of Corporationsdiscovered in 1907 that the AmericanSugar Refining Company hadevaded import duties, subsequentlegal actions recovered more than$4 million and convicted severalcompany officials. The Standard OilCompany was indicted for receivingsecret rebates from the Chicago andAlton Railroad, convicted, and fineda staggering $29 million.Roosevelt’s striking personalityand his trust-busting activities capturedthe imagination of the ordinaryindividual; approval of his progressivemeasures cut across party lines.In addition, the abounding prosperityof the country at this time ledpeople to feel satisfied with the partyin office. He won an easy victory inthe 1904 presidential election.Emboldened by a sweeping electoraltriumph, Roosevelt called forstronger railroad regulation. In June1906 Congress passed the HepburnAct. It gave the Interstate CommerceCommission real authority in regulatingrates, extended the commission’sjurisdiction, and forced therailroads to surrender their interlockinginterests in steamship linesand coal companies.Other congressional measurescarried the principle of federal controlstill further. The Pure Food andDrug Act of 1906 prohibited the useof any “deleterious drug, chemical,or preservative” in prepared medicinesand foods. The Meat InspectionAct of the same year mandatedfederal inspection of all meat-packingestablishments engaged in interstatecommerce.Conservation of the nation’snatural resources, managed developmentof the public domain, andthe reclamation of wide stretches ofneglected land were among the othermajor achievements of the Rooseveltera. Roosevelt and his aides weremore than conservationists, but giventhe helter-skelter exploitation ofpublic resources that had precededthem, conservation loomed large ontheir agenda. Whereas his predecessorshad set aside 18,800,000 hectaresof timberland for preservationand parks, Roosevelt increased thearea to 59,200,000 hectares. Theyalso began systematic efforts to preventforest fires and to re-timberdenuded tracts.TAFT AND WILSONRoosevelt’s popularity was at itspeak as the campaign of 1908 neared,but he was unwilling to break the196197

CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORMOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYtradition by which no president hadheld office for more than two terms.Instead, he supported William HowardTaft, who had served under himas governor of the Philippines andsecretary of war. Taft, pledging tocontinue Roosevelt’s programs, defeatedBryan, who was running forthe third and last time.The new president continued theprosecution of trusts with less discriminationthan Roosevelt, furtherstrengthened the Interstate CommerceCommission, established apostal savings bank and a parcelpost system, expanded the civil service,and sponsored the enactmentof two amendments to the Constitution,both adopted in 1913.The 16th Amendment, ratifiedjust before Taft left office, authorizeda federal income tax; the 17thAmendment, approved a few monthslater, mandated the direct electionof senators by the people, insteadof state legislatures. Yet balancedagainst these progressive measureswas Taft’s acceptance of a new tariffwith higher protective schedules; hisopposition to the entry of the stateof Arizona into the Union becauseof its liberal constitution; and hisgrowing reliance on the conservativewing of his party.By 1910 Taft’s party was bitterlydivided. Democrats gained controlof Congress in the midterm elections.Two years later, WoodrowWilson, the Democratic, progressivegovernor of the state of NewJersey, campaigned against Taft, theRepublican candidate — and alsoagainst Roosevelt who ran as thecandidate of a new Progressive Party.Wilson, in a spirited campaign, defeatedboth rivals.During his first term, Wilson securedone of the most notable legislativeprograms in American history.The first task was tariff revision.“The tariff duties must be altered,”Wilson said. “We must abolish everythingthat bears any semblanceof privilege.” The Underwood Tariff,signed on October 3, 1913, providedsubstantial rate reductions on importedraw materials and foodstuffs,cotton and woolen goods, iron andsteel; it removed the duties frommore than a hundred other items.Although the act retained manyprotective features, it was a genuineattempt to lower the cost of living.To compensate for lost revenues, itestablished a modest income tax.The second item on the Democraticprogram was a long overdue,thorough reorganization of the ramshacklebanking and currency system.“Control,” said Wilson, “mustbe public, not private, must be vestedin the government itself, so that thebanks may be the instruments, notthe masters, of business and of individualenterprise and initiative.”The Federal Reserve Act of December23, 1913, was Wilson’s mostenduring legislative accomplishment.Conservatives had favoredestablishment of one powerful centralbank. The new act, in line withthe Democratic Party’s Jeffersoniansentiments, divided the country into12 districts, with a Federal ReserveBank in each, all supervised by anational Federal Reserve Board withlimited authority to set interest rates.The act assured greater flexibility inthe money supply and made provisionfor issuing federal-reserve notesto meet business demands. Greatercentralization of the system wouldcome in the 1930s.The next important task wastrust regulation and investigationof corporate abuses. Congressauthorized a Federal Trade Commissionto issue orders prohibiting“unfair methods of competition”by business concerns in interstatetrade. The Clayton Antitrust Actforbade many corporate practicesthat had thus far escaped specificcondemnation: interlocking directorates,price discrimination amongpurchasers, use of the injunction inlabor disputes, and ownership byone corporation of stock in similarenterprises.Farmers and other workers werenot forgotten. The Smith-Lever Actof 1914 established an “extensionsystem” of county agents to assistfarming throughout the country.Subsequent acts made credit availableto farmers at low rates of interest.The Seamen’s Act of 1915improved living and working conditionson board ships. The FederalWorkingman’s Compensation Actin 1916 authorized allowances tocivil service employees for disabilitiesincurred at work and establisheda model for private enterprise. TheAdamson Act of the same year establishedan eight-hour day for railroadlabor.This record of achievement wonWilson a firm place in Americanhistory as one of the nation’s foremostprogressive reformers. However,his domestic reputation wouldsoon be overshadowed by his recordas a wartime president who led hiscountry to victory but could nothold the support of his people forthe peace that followed. 9198199

CHAPTER 9: DISCONTENT AND REFORMA NATION OF NATIONSNo country’s history has been more closely bound to immigration than thatof the United States. During the first 15 years of the 20th century alone, over13 million people came to the United States, many passing through Ellis Island,the federal immigration center that opened in New York harbor in 1892.(Though no longer in service, Ellis Island reopened in 1992 as a monument tothe millions who crossed the nation’s threshold there.)The first official census in 1790 had numbered Americans at 3,929,214.Approximately half of the population of the original 13 states was of Englishorigin; the rest were Scots-Irish, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Welsh,and Finnish. These white Europeans were mostly Protestants. A fifth of thepopulation was enslaved Africans.From early on, Americans viewed immigrants as a necessary resource foran expanding country. As a result, few official restrictions were placed uponimmigration into the United States until the 1920s. As more and more immigrantsarrived, however, some Americans became fearful that their culturewas threatened.The Founding Fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson, had been ambivalentover whether or not the United States ought to welcome arrivals from everycorner of the globe. Jefferson wondered whether democracy could ever restsafely in the hands of men from countries that revered monarchs or replacedroyalty with mob rule. However, few supported closing the gates to newcomersin a country desperate for labor.Immigration lagged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as wars disruptedtrans-Atlantic travel and European governments restricted movementto retain young men of military age. Still, as European populations increased,more people on the same land constricted the size of farming lots to a pointwhere families could barely survive. Moreover, cottage industries were fallingvictim to an Industrial Revolution that was mechanizing production. Thousandsof artisans unwilling or unable to find jobs in factories were out of workin Europe.In the mid-1840s millions more made their way to the United States asa result of a potato blight in Ireland and continual revolution in the Germanhomelands. Meanwhile, a trickle of Chinese immigrants, most from impoverishedSoutheastern China, began to make their way to the American WestCoast.Almost 19 million people arrived in the United States between 1890 and1921, the year Congress first passed severe restrictions. Most of these immi-OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYgrants were from Italy, Russia, Poland, Greece, and the Balkans. Non-Europeanscame, too: east from Japan, south from Canada, and north from Mexico.By the early 1920s, an alliance was forged between wage-consciousorganized labor and those who called for restricted immigration on racial orreligious grounds, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Immigration RestrictionLeague. The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 permanently curtailedthe influx of newcomers with quotas calculated on nation of origin.The Great Depression of the 1930s dramatically slowed immigration stillfurther. With public opinion generally opposed to immigration, even for persecutedEuropean minorities, relatively few refugees found sanctuary in theUnited States after Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power in 1933.Throughout the postwar decades, the United States continued to clingto nationally based quotas. Supporters of the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952argued that quota relaxation might inundate the United States with Marxistsubversives from Eastern Europe.In 1965 Congress replaced national quotas with hemispheric ones. Relativesof U.S. citizens received preference, as did immigrants with job skillsin short supply in the United States. In 1978 the hemispheric quotas werereplaced by a worldwide ceiling of 290,000, a limit reduced to 270,000 afterpassage of the Refugee Act of 1980.Since the mid-1970s, the United States has experienced a fresh wave ofimmigration, with arrivals from Asia, Africa, and Latin America transformingcommunities throughout the country. Current estimates suggest a total annualarrival of approximately 600,000 legal newcomers to the United States.Because immigrant and refugee quotas remain well under demand, however,illegal immigration is still a major problem. Mexicans and other LatinAmericans daily cross the Southwestern U.S. borders to find work, higherwages, and improved education and health care for their families. Likewise,there is a substantial illegal migration from countries like China and otherAsian nations. Estimates vary, but some suggest that as many as 600,000illegals per year arrive in the United States.Large surges of immigration have historically created social strains alongwith economic and cultural dividends. Deeply ingrained in most Americans,however, is the conviction that the Statue of Liberty does, indeed, stand as asymbol for the United States as she lifts her lamp before the “golden door,”welcoming those “yearning to breathe free.” This belief, and the sure knowledgethat their forebears were once immigrants, has kept the United States anation of nations.200201

C H A P T E R10WAR,PROSPERITY,ANDDEPRESSIONDepression era soup line,1930s.202

CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYconcessions, Wilson compromisedsomewhat on the issues of self-determination,open diplomacy, andother specifics. He successfully resistedFrench demands for the entireRhineland, and somewhat moderatedthat country’s insistence uponcharging Germany the whole costof the war. The final agreement (theTreaty of Versailles), however, providedfor French occupation of thecoal and iron rich Saar Basin, anda very heavy burden of reparationsupon Germany.In the end, there was little left ofWilson’s proposals for a generousand lasting peace but the League ofNations itself, which he had made anintegral part of the treaty. Displayingpoor judgment, however, thepresident had failed to involve leadingRepublicans in the treaty negotiations.Returning with a partisandocument, he then refused to makeconcessions necessary to satisfy Republicanconcerns about protectingAmerican sovereignty.With the treaty stalled in a Senatecommittee, Wilson began a nationaltour to appeal for support. On September25, 1919, physically ravagedby the rigors of peacemaking andthe pressures of the wartime presidency,he suffered a crippling stroke.Critically ill for weeks, he never fullyrecovered. In two separate votes— November 1919 and March 1920— the Senate once again rejectedthe Versailles Treaty and with it theLeague of Nations.The League of Nations wouldnever be capable of maintainingworld order. Wilson’s defeat showedthat the American people were notyet ready to play a commanding rolein world affairs. His utopian visionhad briefly inspired the nation, butits collision with reality quickly ledto widespread disillusion with worldaffairs. America reverted to its instinctiveisolationism.POSTWAR UNRESTThe transition from war to peacewas tumultuous. A postwar economicboom coexisted with rapidincreases in consumer prices. Laborunions that had refrained fromstriking during the war engaged inseveral major job actions. During thesummer of 1919, several race riots occurred,reflecting apprehension overthe emergence of a “New Negro”who had seen military service orgone north to work in war industry.Reaction to these events mergedwith a widespread national fear ofa new international revolutionarymovement. In 1917, the Bolshevikshad seized power in Russia; after thewar, they attempted revolutions inGermany and Hungary. By 1919, itseemed they had come to America.Excited by the Bolshevik example,large numbers of militants splitfrom the Socialist Party to foundwhat would become the CommunistParty of the United States. In April1919, the postal service interceptednearly 40 bombs addressed to prominentcitizens. Attorney GeneralA. Mitchell Palmer’s residence inWashington was bombed. Palmer,in turn, authorized federal roundupsof radicals and deported many whowere not citizens. Strikes were oftenblamed on radicals and depicted asthe opening shots of a revolution.Palmer’s dire warnings fueled a“Red Scare” that subsided by mid-1920. Even a murderous bombingin Wall Street in September failed toreawaken it. From 1919 on, however,a current of militant hostility towardrevolutionary communism wouldsimmer not far beneath the surfaceof American life.THE BOOMING 1920SWilson, distracted by the war,then laid low by his stroke, hadmishandled almost every postwarissue. The booming economy beganto collapse in mid-1920. The Republicancandidates for president andvice president, Warren G. Hardingand Calvin Coolidge, easily defeatedtheir Democratic opponents, JamesM. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt.Following ratification of the 19thAmendment to the Constitution,women voted in a presidential electionfor the first time.The first two years of Harding’sadministration saw a continuanceof the economic recession that hadbegun under Wilson. By 1923, however,prosperity was back. For thenext six years the country enjoyedthe strongest economy in its history,at least in urban areas. Governmentaleconomic policy during the 1920swas eminently conservative. It wasbased upon the belief that if governmentfostered private business, benefitswould radiate out to most of therest of the population.Accordingly, the Republicanstried to create the most favorableconditions for U.S. industry. TheFordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff of1930 brought American trade barriersto new heights, guaranteeingU.S. manufacturers in one fieldafter another a monopoly of thedomestic market, but blocking ahealthy trade with Europe thatwould have reinvigorated the internationaleconomy. Occurring at thebeginning of the Great Depression,Hawley-Smoot triggered retaliationfrom other manufacturing nationsand contributed greatly to a collapsingcycle of world trade that intensifiedworld economic misery.The federal government also starteda program of tax cuts, reflectingTreasury Secretary Andrew Mellon’sbelief that high taxes on individualincomes and corporations discouragedinvestment in new industrialenterprises. Congress, in laws passedbetween 1921 and 1929, respondedfavorably to his proposals.“The chief business of the Americanpeople is business,” declaredCalvin Coolidge, the Vermont-bornvice president who succeeded to thepresidency in 1923 after Harding’sdeath, and was elected in his ownright in 1924. Coolidge hewed tothe conservative economic policiesof the Republican Party, but he wasa much abler administrator than thehapless Harding, whose administra-206207

CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYtion was mired in charges of corruptionin the months before his death.Throughout the 1920s, privatebusiness received substantial encouragement,including constructionloans, profitable mail-carryingcontracts, and other indirectsubsidies. The Transportation Actof 1920, for example, had alreadyrestored to private management thenation’s railways, which had beenunder government control duringthe war. The Merchant Marine,which had been owned and largelyoperated by the government, wassold to private operators.Republican policies in agriculture,however, faced mountingcriticism, for farmers shared leastin the prosperity of the 1920s. Theperiod since 1900 had been oneof rising farm prices. The unprecedentedwartime demand for U.S.farm products had provided a strongstimulus to expansion. But by theclose of 1920, with the abrupt endof wartime demand, the commercialagriculture of staple crops suchas wheat and corn fell into sharpdecline. Many factors accounted forthe depression in American agriculture,but foremost was the loss offoreign markets. This was partly inreaction to American tariff policy,but also because excess farm productionwas a worldwide phenomenon.When the Great Depressionstruck in the 1930s, it devastated analready fragile farm economy.The distress of agriculture aside,the Twenties brought the best lifeever to most Americans. It was thedecade in which the ordinary familypurchased its first automobile,obtained refrigerators and vacuumcleaners, listened to the radio for entertainment,and went regularly tomotion pictures. Prosperity was realand broadly distributed. The Republicansprofited politically, as a result,by claiming credit for it.TENSIONS OVERIMMIGRATIONDuring the 1920s, the UnitedStates sharply restricted foreign immigrationfor the first time in itshistory. Large inflows of foreignerslong had created a certain amountof social tension, but most had beenof Northern European stock and,if not quickly assimilated, at leastpossessed a certain commonalitywith most Americans. By the end ofthe 19th century, however, the flowwas predominantly from southernand Eastern Europe. According tothe census of 1900, the populationof the United States was just over76 million. Over the next 15 years,more than 15 million immigrantsentered the country.Around two-thirds of the inflowconsisted of “newer” nationalitiesand ethnic groups — Russian Jews,Poles, Slavic peoples, Greeks, southernItalians. They were non-Protestant,non-“Nordic,” and, manyAmericans feared, nonassimilable.They did hard, often dangerous,low-pay work — but were accusedof driving down the wages of nativebornAmericans. Settling in squalidurban ethnic enclaves, the new immigrantswere seen as maintainingOld World customs, getting alongwith very little English, and supportingunsavory political machinesthat catered to their needs. Nativistswanted to send them back to Europe;social workers wanted to Americanizethem. Both agreed that they werea threat to American identity.Halted by World War I, massimmigration resumed in 1919, butquickly ran into determined oppositionfrom groups as varied as theAmerican Federation of Labor andthe reorganized Ku Klux Klan. Millionsof old-stock Americans whobelonged to neither organization acceptedcommonly held assumptionsabout the inferiority of non-Nordicsand backed restrictions. Of course,there were also practical argumentsin favor of a maturing nation puttingsome limits on new arrivals.In 1921, Congress passed a sharplyrestrictive emergency immigrationact. It was supplanted in 1924 by theJohnson-Reed National Origins Act,which established an immigrationquota for each nationality. Thosequotas were pointedly based on thecensus of 1890, a year in which thenewer immigration had not yet leftits mark. Bitterly resented by southernand Eastern European ethnicgroups, the new law reduced immigrationto a trickle. After 1929, theeconomic impact of the Great Depressionwould reduce the trickle toa reverse flow — until refugees fromEuropean fascism began to press foradmission to the country.CLASH OF CULTURESSome Americans expressed theirdiscontent with the character ofmodern life in the 1920s by focusingon family and religion, as anincreasingly urban, secular societycame into conflict with older ruraltraditions. Fundamentalist preacherssuch as Billy Sunday provided anoutlet for many who yearned for areturn to a simpler past.Perhaps the most dramatic demonstrationof this yearning was thereligious fundamentalist crusadethat pitted Biblical texts againstthe Darwinian theory of biologicalevolution. In the 1920s, bills toprohibit the teaching of evolutionbegan appearing in Midwestern andSouthern state legislatures. Leadingthis crusade was the aging WilliamJennings Bryan, long a spokesmanfor the values of the countryside aswell as a progressive politician. Bryanskillfully reconciled his anti-evolutionaryactivism with his earliereconomic radicalism, declaring thatevolution “by denying the need orpossibility of spiritual regeneration,discourages all reforms.”The issue came to a head in 1925,when a young high school teacher,John Scopes, was prosecuted for violatinga Tennessee law that forbadethe teaching of evolution in the publicschools. The case became a nationalspectacle, drawing intense newscoverage. The American Civil LibertiesUnion retained the renownedattorney Clarence Darrow to defendScopes. Bryan wrangled an appoint-208209

CHAPTER 10: WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYment as special prosecutor, thenfoolishly allowed Darrow to call himas a hostile witness. Bryan’s confuseddefense of Biblical passages as literalrather than metaphorical truth drewwidespread criticism. Scopes, nearlyforgotten in the fuss, was convicted,but his fine was reversed on a technicality.Bryan died shortly after thetrial ended. The state wisely declinedto retry Scopes. Urban sophisticatesridiculed fundamentalism, but itcontinued to be a powerful force inrural, small-town America.Another example of a powerfulclash of cultures — one withfar greater national consequences— was Prohibition. In 1919, after almosta century of agitation, the 18thAmendment to the Constitution wasenacted, prohibiting the manufacture,sale, or transportation of alcoholicbeverages. Intended to eliminatethe saloon and the drunkardfrom American society, Prohibitioncreated thousands of illegal drinkingplaces called “speakeasies,” made intoxicationfashionable, and created anew form of criminal activity — thetransportation of illegal liquor, or“bootlegging.” Widely observed inrural America, openly evaded inurban America, Prohibition was anemotional issue in the prosperousTwenties. When the Depression hit,it seemed increasingly irrelevant.The 18th Amendment would be repealedin 1933.Fundamentalism and Prohibitionwere aspects of a larger reaction to amodernist social and intellectualrevolution most visible in changingmanners and morals that causedthe decade to be called the Jazz Age,the Roaring Twenties, or the era of“flaming youth.” World War I hadoverturned the Victorian socialand moral order. Mass prosperityenabled an open and hedonistic lifestyle for the young middle classes.The leading intellectuals weresupportive. H.L. Mencken, thedecade’s most important socialcritic, was unsparing in denouncingsham and venality in Americanlife. He usually found these qualitiesin rural areas and among businessmen.His counterparts of the progressivemovement had believed in“the people” and sought to extenddemocracy. Mencken, an elitist andadmirer of Nietzsche, bluntly calleddemocratic man a boob and characterizedthe American middle class asthe “booboisie.”Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald capturedthe energy, turmoil, and disillusionof the decade in such worksas The Beautiful and the Damned(1922) and The Great Gatsby (1925).Sinclair Lewis, the first American towin a Nobel Prize for literature, satirizedmainstream America in MainStreet (1920) and Babbitt (1922). ErnestHemingway vividly portrayedthe malaise wrought by the war inThe Sun Also Rises (1926) and AFarewell to Arms (1929). Fitzgerald,Hemingway, and many other writersdramatized their alienation fromAmerica by spending much of thedecade in Paris.African-American culture flowered.Between 1910 and 1930, hugenumbers of African Americansmoved from the South to the Northin search of jobs and personal freedom.Most settled in urban areas,especially New York City’s Harlem,Detroit, and Chicago. In 1910 W.E.B.Du Bois and other intellectuals hadfounded the National Associationfor the Advancement of ColoredPeople (NAACP), which helpedAfrican Americans gain a nationalvoice that would grow in importancewith the passing years.An African-American literaryand artistic movement, called the“Harlem Renaissance,” emerged.Like the “Lost Generation,” itswriters, such as the poets LangstonHughes and Countee Cullen,rejected middle-class values andconventional literary forms, evenas they addressed the realities ofAfrican-American experience. African-Americanmusicians — DukeEllington, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong— first made jazz a staple ofAmerican culture in the 1920’s.THE GREAT DEPRESSIONIn October 1929 the booming stockmarket crashed, wiping out manyinvestors. The collapse did not initself cause the Great Depression,although it reflected excessively easycredit policies that had allowed themarket to get out of hand. It also aggravatedfragile economies in Europethat had relied heavily on Americanloans. Over the next three years, aninitial American recession becamepart of a worldwide depression.Business houses closed their doors,factories shut down, banks failedwith the loss of depositors’ savings.Farm income fell some 50 percent.By November 1932, approximatelyone of every five American workerswas unemployed.The presidential campaign of1932 was chiefly a debate over thecauses and possible remedies of theGreat Depression. President HerbertHoover, unlucky in entering theWhite House only eight months beforethe stock market crash, had triedharder than any other president beforehim to deal with economic hardtimes. He had attempted to organizebusiness, had sped up public worksschedules, established the ReconstructionFinance Corporation tosupport businesses and financialinstitutions, and had secured from areluctant Congress an agency to underwritehome mortgages. Nonetheless,his efforts had little impact, andhe was a picture of defeat.His Democratic opponent, FranklinD. Roosevelt, already popular asthe governor of New York duringthe developing crisis, radiated infectiousoptimism. Prepared to use thefederal government’s authority foreven bolder experimental remedies,he scored a smashing victory — receiving22,800,000 popular votes toHoover’s 15,700,000. The UnitedStates was about to enter a new eraof economic and political change. 9210211

C H A P T E R11THENEW DEALANDWORLDWAR IIU.S. battleships WestVirginia and Tennessee,following the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor,December 7, 1941.212

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYROOSEVELT AND THENEW DEAL“We must bethe great arsenalof democracy.”President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941In 1933 the new president, FranklinD. Roosevelt, brought an air of confidenceand optimism that quicklyrallied the people to the banner ofhis program, known as the NewDeal. “The only thing we have tofear is fear itself,” the president declaredin his inaugural address tothe nation.In one sense, the New Dealmerely introduced social and economicreforms familiar to manyEuropeans for more than a generation.Moreover, the New Dealrepresented the culmination of along-range trend toward abandonmentof “laissez-faire” capitalism,going back to the regulation ofthe railroads in the 1880s, and theflood of state and national reformlegislation introduced in the Progressiveera of Theodore Rooseveltand Woodrow Wilson.What was truly novel about theNew Deal, however, was the speedwith which it accomplished whatpreviously had taken generations.Many of its reforms were hastilydrawn and weakly administered;some actually contradicted others.Moreover, it never succeeded inrestoring prosperity. Yet its actionsprovided tangible help for millionsof Americans, laid the basisfor a powerful new political coalition,and brought to the individualcitizen a sharp revival of interest ingovernment.THE FIRST NEW DEALBanking and Finance. When Roosevelttook the presidential oath, thebanking and credit system of the nationwas in a state of paralysis. Withastonishing rapidity the nation’sbanks were first closed — and thenreopened only if they were solvent.The administration adopted a policyof moderate currency inflation tostart an upward movement in commodityprices and to afford somerelief to debtors. New governmentalagencies brought generous creditfacilities to industry and agriculture.The Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation (FDIC) insured savings-bankdeposits up to $5,000.Federal regulations were imposedupon the sale of securities on thestock exchange.Unemployment. Roosevelt facedunprecedented mass unemployment.By the time he took office, as manyas 13 million Americans — morethan a quarter of the labor force— were out of work. Bread lineswere a common sight in most cities.Hundreds of thousands roamedthe country in search of food, work,and shelter. “Brother, can you sparea dime?” was the refrain of a popularsong.An early step for the unemployedcame in the form of the CivilianConservation Corps (CCC), a programthat brought relief to youngmen between 18 and 25 years of age.CCC enrollees worked in camps administeredby the army. About twomillion took part during the decade.They participated in a variety ofconservation projects: planting treesto combat soil erosion and maintainnational forests; eliminating streampollution; creating fish, game, andbird sanctuaries; and conservingcoal, petroleum, shale, gas, sodium,and helium deposits.A Public Works Administration(PWA) provided employment forskilled construction workers on awide variety of mostly medium- tolarge-sized projects. Among themost memorable of its many accomplishmentswere the Bonneville andGrand Coulee Dams in the PacificNorthwest, a new Chicago sewersystem, the Triborough Bridge inNew York City, and two aircraft carriers(Yorktown and Enterprise) forthe U.S. Navy.The Tennessee Valley Authority(TVA), both a work relief programand an exercise in public planning,developed the impoverished TennesseeRiver valley area through aseries of dams built for flood controland hydroelectric power generation.Its provision of cheap electricity forthe area stimulated some economicprogress, but won it the enmity ofprivate electric companies. NewDealers hailed it as an example of“grass roots democracy.”The Federal Emergency ReliefAdministration (FERA), in operationfrom 1933 to 1935, distributeddirect relief to hundreds of thousandsof people, usually in the formof direct payments. Sometimes, itassumed the salaries of schoolteachersand other local public serviceworkers. It also developed numeroussmall-scale public works projects,as did the Civil Works Administration(CWA) from late 1933 into thespring of 1934. Criticized as “make214215

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYwork,” the jobs funded ranged fromditch digging to highway repairs toteaching. Roosevelt and his key officialsworried about costs but continuedto favor unemployment programsbased on work relief ratherthan welfare.Agriculture. In the spring of 1933,the agricultural sector of the economywas in a state of collapse. It therebyprovided a laboratory for the NewDealers’ belief that greater regulationwould solve many of the country’sproblems. In 1933, Congress passedthe Agricultural Adjustment Act(AAA) to provide economic reliefto farmers. The AAA proposed toraise crop prices by paying farmers asubsidy to compensate for voluntarycutbacks in production. Funds forthe payments would be generatedby a tax levied on industries thatprocessed crops. By the time the acthad become law, however, the growingseason was well under way, andthe AAA paid farmers to plow undertheir abundant crops. Crop reductionand further subsidies throughthe Commodity Credit Corporation,which purchased commodities to bekept in storage, drove output downand farm prices up.Between 1932 and 1935, farmincome increased by more than 50percent, but only partly because offederal programs. During the sameyears that farmers were being encouragedto take land out of production— displacing tenants andsharecroppers — a severe droughthit the Plains states. Violent windand dust storms during the 1930screated what became known as the“Dust Bowl.” Crops were destroyedand farms ruined.By 1940, 2.5 million people hadmoved out of the Plains states, thelargest migration in American history.Of those, 200,000 moved to California.The migrants were not onlyfarmers, but also professionals, retailers,and others whose livelihoodswere connected to the health of thefarm communities. Many ended upcompeting for seasonal jobs pickingcrops at extremely low wages.The government provided aid inthe form of the Soil ConservationService, established in 1935. Farmpractices that damaged the soilhad intensified the impact of thedrought. The service taught farmersmeasures to reduce erosion. In addition,almost 30,000 kilometers oftrees were planted to break the forceof winds.Although the AAA had beenmostly successful, it was abandonedin 1936, when its tax on food processorswas ruled unconstitutionalby the Supreme Court. Congressquickly passed a farm-relief act,which authorized the government tomake payments to farmers who tookland out of production for the purposeof soil conservation. In 1938,with a pro-New Deal majority onthe Supreme Court, Congress reinstatedthe AAA.By 1940 nearly six million farmerswere receiving federal subsidies.New Deal programs also providedloans on surplus crops, insurance forwheat, and a system of planned storageto ensure a stable food supply.Economic stability for the farmerwas substantially achieved, albeit atgreat expense and with extraordinarygovernment oversight.Industry and Labor. The NationalRecovery Administration (NRA),established in 1933 with the NationalIndustrial Recovery Act (NIRA), attemptedto end cut-throat competitionby setting codes of fair competitivepractice to generate more jobsand thus more buying. Althoughwelcomed initially, the NRA wassoon criticized for over-regulationand was unable to achieve industrialrecovery. It was declared unconstitutionalin 1935.The NIRA had guaranteed to laborthe right of collective bargainingthrough labor unions representingindividual workers, but the NRAhad failed to overcome strong businessopposition to independentunionism. After its demise in 1935,Congress passed the National LaborRelations Act, which restated thatguarantee and prohibited employersfrom unfairly interfering with unionactivities. It also created the NationalLabor Relations Board (NLRB) tosupervise collective bargaining, administerelections, and ensure workersthe right to choose the organizationthat should represent them indealing with employers.The great progress made in labororganization brought working peoplea growing sense of common interests,and labor’s power increasednot only in industry but also in politics.Roosevelt’s Democratic Partybenefited enormously from thesedevelopments.THE SECOND NEW DEALIn its early years, the New Dealsponsored a remarkable series oflegislative initiatives and achievedsignificant increases in productionand prices — but it did not bringan end to the Depression. As thesense of immediate crisis eased, newdemands emerged. Businessmenmourned the end of “laissez-faire”and chafed under the regulationsof the NIRA. Vocal attacks alsomounted from the political leftand right as dreamers, schemers,and politicians alike emerged witheconomic panaceas that drew wideaudiences. Dr. Francis E. Townsendadvocated generous old-age pensions.Father Charles Coughlin, the“radio priest,” called for inflationarypolicies and blamed internationalbankers in speeches increasinglypeppered with anti-Semiticimagery. Most formidably, SenatorHuey P. Long of Louisiana, an eloquentand ruthless spokesman forthe displaced, advocated a radicalredistribution of wealth. (If he hadnot been assassinated in September1935, Long very likely would havelaunched a presidential challenge toFranklin Roosevelt in 1936.)In the face of these pressures,President Roosevelt backed a new setof economic and social measures.Prominent among them were mea-216217

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYsures to fight poverty, create morework for the unemployed, and providea social safety net.The Works Progress Administration(WPA), the principal reliefagency of the so-called second NewDeal, was the biggest public worksagency yet. It pursued small-scaleprojects throughout the country,constructing buildings, roads, airports,and schools. Actors, painters,musicians, and writers wereemployed through the Federal TheaterProject, the Federal Art Project,and the Federal Writers Project.The National Youth Administrationgave part-time employmentto students, established trainingprograms, and provided aid tounemployed youth. The WPA onlyincluded about three million joblessat a time; when it was abandoned in1943, it had helped a total of ninemillion people.The New Deal’s cornerstone, accordingto Roosevelt, was the SocialSecurity Act of 1935. Social Securitycreated a system of state-administeredwelfare payments for the poor,unemployed, and disabled based onmatching state and federal contributions.It also established a nationalsystem of retirement benefits drawingon a “trust fund” created by employerand employee contributions.Many other industrialized nationshad already enacted such programs,but calls for such an initiative in theUnited States had gone unheeded.Social Security today is the largestdomestic program administered bythe U.S. government.To these, Roosevelt added theNational Labor Relations Act, the“Wealth Tax Act” that increasedtaxes on the wealthy, the PublicUtility Holding Company Act tobreak up large electrical utility conglomerates,and a Banking Act thatgreatly expanded the power of theFederal Reserve Board over the largeprivate banks. Also notable was theestablishment of the Rural ElectrificationAdministration, which extendedelectricity into farming areasthroughout the country.A NEW COALITIONIn the 1936 election, Rooseveltwon a decisive victory over his Republicanopponent, Alf Landon ofKansas. He was personally popular,and the economy seemed near recovery.He took 60 percent of thevote and carried all but two states.A broad new coalition aligned withthe Democratic Party emerged, consistingof labor, most farmers, mosturban ethnic groups, African Americans,and the traditionally DemocraticSouth. The Republican Partyreceived the support of business aswell as middle-class members ofsmall towns and suburbs. This politicalalliance, with some variationand shifting, remained intact forseveral decades.Roosevelt’s second term was atime of consolidation. The presidentmade two serious politicalmissteps: an ill-advised, unsuccessfulattempt to enlarge the SupremeCourt and a failed effort to “purge”increasingly recalcitrant Southernconservatives from the DemocraticParty. When he cut high governmentspending, moreover, the economycollapsed. These events led tothe rise of a conservative coalitionin Congress that was unreceptive tonew initiatives.From 1932 to 1938 there waswidespread public debate on themeaning of New Deal policies tothe nation’s political and economiclife. Americans clearly wanted thegovernment to take greater responsibilityfor the welfare of ordinarypeople, however uneasy they mightbe about big government in general.The New Deal established the foundationsof the modern welfare statein the United States. Roosevelt, perhapsthe most imposing of the 20thcenturypresidents, had established anew standard of mass leadership.No American leader, then orsince, used the radio so effectively.In a radio address in 1938, Rooseveltdeclared: “Democracy hasdisappeared in several other greatnations, not because the people ofthose nations disliked democracy,but because they had grown tiredof unemployment and insecurity, ofseeing their children hungry whilethey sat helpless in the face of governmentconfusion and governmentweakness through lack of leadership.”Americans, he concluded,wanted to defend their liberties atany cost and understood that “thefirst line of the defense lies in theprotection of economic security.”WAR AND UNEASYNEUTRALITYBefore Roosevelt’s second termwas well under way, his domesticprogram was overshadowed by theexpansionist designs of totalitarianregimes in Japan, Italy, and Germany.In 1931 Japan had invadedManchuria, crushed Chinese resistance,and set up the puppet stateof Manchukuo. Italy, under BenitoMussolini, enlarged its boundariesin Libya and in 1935 conqueredEthiopia. Germany, under Nazileader Adolf Hitler, militarized itseconomy and reoccupied the Rhineland(demilitarized by the Treaty ofVersailles) in 1936. In 1938, Hitlerincorporated Austria into the GermanReich and demanded cession ofthe German-speaking Sudetenlandfrom Czechoslovakia. By then, warseemed imminent.The United States, disillusionedby the failure of the crusade fordemocracy in World War I, announcedthat in no circumstancescould any country involved in theconflict look to it for aid. Neutralitylegislation, enacted piecemealfrom 1935 to 1937, prohibited tradein arms with any warring nations,required cash for all other commodities,and forbade Americanflag merchant ships from carryingthose goods. The objective was toprevent, at almost any cost, the involvementof the United States in aforeign war.With the Nazi conquest of Polandin 1939 and the outbreak of218219

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYWorld War II, isolationist sentimentincreased, even though Americansclearly favored the victims of Hitler’saggression and supported the Allieddemocracies, Britain and France.Roosevelt could only wait until publicopinion regarding U.S. involvementwas altered by events.After the fall of France and thebeginning of the German air waragainst Britain in mid-1940, the debateintensified between those in theUnited States who favored aiding thedemocracies and the antiwar factionknown as the isolationists. Rooseveltdid what he could to nudgepublic opinion toward intervention.The United States joined Canadain a Mutual Board of Defense, andaligned with the Latin American republicsin extending collective protectionto the nations in the WesternHemisphere.Congress, confronted with themounting crisis, voted immensesums for rearmament, and in September1940 passed the first peacetimeconscription bill ever enactedin the United States. In that monthalso, Roosevelt concluded a daringexecutive agreement with BritishPrime Minister Winston Churchill.The United States gave the BritishNavy 50 “overage” destroyers in returnfor British air and naval basesin Newfoundland and the NorthAtlantic.The 1940 presidential electioncampaign demonstrated that theisolationists, while vocal, were aminority. Roosevelt’s Republicanopponent, Wendell Wilkie, leanedtoward intervention. Thus the Novemberelection yielded anothermajority for the president, makingRoosevelt the first, and last, U. S.chief executive to be elected to athird term.In early 1941, Roosevelt got Congressto approve the Lend-LeaseProgram, which enabled him totransfer arms and equipment toany nation (notably Great Britain,later the Soviet Union and China)deemed vital to the defense of theUnited States. Total Lend-Lease aidby war’s end would amount to morethan $50,000 million.Most remarkably, in August, hemet with Prime Minister Churchilloff the coast of Newfoundland. Thetwo leaders issued a “joint statementof war aims,” which theycalled the Atlantic Charter. Bearinga remarkable resemblance to WoodrowWilson’s Fourteen Points, itcalled for these objectives: no territorialaggrandizement; no territorialchanges without the consent ofthe people concerned; the right ofall people to choose their own formof government; the restoration ofself-government to those deprivedof it; economic collaboration betweenall nations; freedom fromwar, from fear, and from want forall peoples; freedom of the seas;and the abandonment of the useof force as an instrument of internationalpolicy.America was now neutral inname only.JAPAN, PEARL HARBOR,AND WARWhile most Americans anxiouslywatched the course of the Europeanwar, tension mounted in Asia. Takingadvantage of an opportunity toimprove its strategic position, Japanboldly announced a “new order” inwhich it would exercise hegemonyover all of the Pacific. Battling forsurvival against Nazi Germany, Britainwas unable to resist, abandoningits concession in Shanghai and temporarilyclosing the Chinese supplyroute from Burma. In the summerof 1940, Japan won permissionfrom the weak Vichy government inFrance to use airfields in northernIndochina (North Vietnam). ThatSeptember the Japanese formallyjoined the Rome-Berlin Axis. TheUnited States countered with anembargo on the export of scrap ironto Japan.In July 1941 the Japanese occupiedsouthern Indochina (SouthVietnam), signaling a probablemove southward toward the oil, tin,and rubber of British Malaya andthe Dutch East Indies. The UnitedStates, in response, froze Japaneseassets and initiated an embargo onthe one commodity Japan neededabove all others — oil.General Hideki Tojo becameprime minister of Japan that October.In mid-November, he sent aspecial envoy to the United Statesto meet with Secretary of StateCordell Hull. Among other things,Japan demanded that the UnitedStates release Japanese assets andstop U.S. naval expansion in thePacific. Hull countered with a proposalfor Japanese withdrawal fromall its conquests. The swift Japaneserejection on December 1 left thetalks stalemated.On the morning of December 7,Japanese carrier-based planes executeda devastating surprise attackagainst the U.S. Pacific Fleet at PearlHarbor, Hawaii.Twenty-one ships were destroyedor temporarily disabled; 323 aircraftwere destroyed or damaged; 2,388soldiers, sailors, and civilians werekilled. However, the U.S. aircraftcarriers that would play such a criticalrole in the ensuing naval war inthe Pacific were at sea and not anchoredat Pearl Harbor.American opinion, still dividedabout the war in Europe, was unifiedovernight by what PresidentRoosevelt called “a day that willlive in infamy.” On December 8,Congress declared a state of warwith Japan; three days later Germanyand Italy declared war on theUnited States.MOBILIZATION FORTOTAL WARThe nation rapidly geared itself formobilization of its people and itsentire industrial capacity. Over thenext three-and-a-half years, war industryachieved staggering productiongoals — 300,000 aircraft, 5,000cargo ships, 60,000 landing craft,86,000 tanks. Women workers, ex-220221

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYemplified by “Rosie the Riveter,”played a bigger part in industrialproduction than ever before. Totalstrength of the U.S. armed forces atthe end of the war was more than12 million. All the nation’s activities— farming, manufacturing,mining, trade, labor, investment,communications, even educationand cultural undertakings — werein some fashion brought under newand enlarged controls.As a result of Pearl Harbor andthe fear of Asian espionage, Americansalso committed what waslater recognized as an act of intolerance:the internment of JapaneseAmericans. In February 1942, nearly120,000 Japanese Americans residingin California were removed fromtheir homes and interned behindbarbed wire in 10 wretched temporarycamps, later to be moved to“relocation centers” outside isolatedSouthwestern towns.Nearly 63 percent of these JapaneseAmericans were AmericanbornU.S. citizens. A few were Japanesesympathizers, but no evidenceof espionage ever surfaced. Othersvolunteered for the U.S. Army andfought with distinction and valorin two infantry units on the Italianfront. Some served as interpretersand translators in the Pacific.In 1983 the U.S. government acknowledgedthe injustice of internmentwith limited payments to thoseJapanese-Americans of that era whowere still living.THE WAR IN NORTH AFRICAAND EUROPESoon after the United States enteredthe war, the United States,Britain, and the Soviet Union (atwar with Germany since June 22,1941) decided that their primarymilitary effort was to be concentratedin Europe.Throughout 1942, British andGerman forces fought inconclusiveback-and-forth battles across Libyaand Egypt for control of the SuezCanal. But on October 23, Britishforces commanded by GeneralSir Bernard Montgomery struck atthe Germans from El Alamein.Equipped with a thousand tanks,many made in America, they defeatedGeneral Erwin Rommel’s armyin a grinding two-week campaign.On November 7, American and Britisharmed forces landed in FrenchNorth Africa. Squeezed betweenforces advancing from east and west,the Germans were pushed back and,after fierce resistance, surrenderedin May 1943.The year 1942 was also the turningpoint on the Eastern Front. TheSoviet Union, suffering immenselosses, stopped the Nazi invasion atthe gates of Leningrad and Moscow.In the winter of 1942-43, the RedArmy defeated the Germans at Stalingrad(Volgograd) and began thelong offensive that would take themto Berlin in 1945.In July 1943 British and Americanforces invaded Sicily and woncontrol of the island in a month.During that time, Benito Mussolinifell from power in Italy. Hissuccessors began negotiations withthe Allies and surrendered immediatelyafter the invasion of the Italianmainland in September. However,the German Army had by thentaken control of the peninsula. Thefight against Nazi forces in Italy wasbitter and protracted. Rome was notliberated until June 4, 1944. As theAllies slowly moved north, they builtairfields from which they made devastatingair raids against railroads,factories, and weapon emplacementsin southern Germany and centralEurope, including the oil installationsat Ploesti, Romania.Late in 1943 the Allies, after muchdebate over strategy, decided to opena front in France to compel the Germansto divert far larger forces fromthe Soviet Union.U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhowerwas appointed SupremeCommander of Allied Forces in Europe.After immense preparations,on June 6, 1944, a U.S., British, andCanadian invasion army, protectedby a greatly superior air force, landedon five beaches in Normandy.With the beachheads establishedafter heavy fighting, more troopspoured in, and pushed the Germansback in one bloody engagement afteranother. On August 25 Paris wasliberated.The Allied offensive stalled thatfall, then suffered a setback in easternBelgium during the winter, butin March, the Americans and Britishwere across the Rhine and the Russiansadvancing irresistibly from theEast. On May 7, Germany surrenderedunconditionally.THE WAR IN THE PACIFICU.S. troops were forced to surrenderin the Philippines in early 1942,but the Americans rallied in thefollowing months. General James“Jimmy” Doolittle led U.S. Armybombers on a raid over Tokyo inApril; it had little actual militarysignificance, but gave Americans animmense psychological boost.In May, at the Battle of the CoralSea — the first naval engagement inhistory in which all the fighting wasdone by carrier-based planes — aJapanese naval invasion fleet sentto strike at southern New Guineaand Australia was turned back by aU.S. task force in a close battle. A fewweeks later, the naval Battle of Midwayin the central Pacific resulted inthe first major defeat of the JapaneseNavy, which lost four aircraft carriers.Ending the Japanese advanceacross the central Pacific, Midwaywas the turning point.Other battles also contributedto Allied success. The six-monthland and sea battle for the island ofGuadalcanal (August 1942-February1943) was the first major U.S.ground victory in the Pacific. Formost of the next two years, Americanand Australian troops foughttheir way northward from theSouth Pacific and westward fromthe Central Pacific, capturing theSolomons, the Gilberts, the Mar-222223

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYshalls, and the Marianas in a seriesof amphibious assaults.THE POLITICS OF WARAllied military efforts were accompaniedby a series of importantinternational meetings on the politicalobjectives of the war. In January1943 at Casablanca, Morocco, anAnglo-American conference decidedthat no peace would be concludedwith the Axis and its Balkansatellites except on the basis of “unconditionalsurrender.” This term,insisted upon by Roosevelt, soughtto assure the people of all the fightingnations that no separate peacenegotiations would be carried onwith representatives of Fascism andNazism and there would be no compromiseof the war’s idealistic objectives.Axis propagandists, of course,used it to assert that the Allies wereengaged in a war of extermination.At Cairo, in November 1943,Roosevelt and Churchill met withNationalist Chinese leader ChiangKai-shek to agree on terms for Japan,including the relinquishmentof gains from past aggression. AtTehran, shortly afterward, Roosevelt,Churchill, and Soviet leaderJoseph Stalin made basic agreementson the postwar occupation of Germanyand the establishment of anew international organization, theUnited Nations.In February 1945, the three Alliedleaders met again at Yalta (nowin Ukraine), with victory seeminglysecure. There, the Soviet Union secretlyagreed to enter the war againstJapan three months after the surrenderof Germany. In return, theUSSR would gain effective control ofManchuria and receive the JapaneseKurile Islands as well as the southernhalf of Sakhalin Island. The easternboundary of Poland was set roughlyat the Curzon line of 1919, thus givingthe USSR half its prewar territory.Discussion of reparations to becollected from Germany — paymentdemanded by Stalin and opposed byRoosevelt and Churchill — was inconclusive.Specific arrangementswere made concerning Allied occupationin Germany and the trial andpunishment of war criminals. Alsoat Yalta it was agreed that the greatpowers in the Security Council ofthe proposed United Nations shouldhave the right of veto in matters affectingtheir security.Two months after his returnfrom Yalta, Franklin Roosevelt diedof a cerebral hemorrhage while vacationingin Georgia. Few figuresin U.S. history have been so deeplymourned, and for a time the Americanpeople suffered from a numbingsense of irreparable loss. Vice PresidentHarry Truman, former senatorfrom Missouri, succeeded him.WAR, VICTORY, ANDTHE BOMBThe final battles in the Pacific wereamong the war’s bloodiest. In June1944, the Battle of the Philippine Seaeffectively destroyed Japanese navalair power, forcing the resignation ofJapanese Prime Minister Tojo. GeneralDouglas MacArthur — whohad reluctantly left the Philippinestwo years before to escape Japanesecapture — returned to the islands inOctober. The accompanying Battleof Leyte Gulf, the largest naval engagementever fought, was the finaldecisive defeat of the Japanese Navy.By February 1945, U.S. forces hadtaken Manila.Next, the United States set itssight on the strategic island of IwoJima in the Bonin Islands, abouthalfway between the Marianas andJapan. The Japanese, trained to diefighting for the Emperor, made suicidaluse of natural caves and rockyterrain. U.S. forces took the islandby mid-March, but not before losingthe lives of some 6,000 U.S.Marines. Nearly all the Japanese defendersperished. By now the UnitedStates was undertaking extensive airattacks on Japanese shipping andairfields and wave after wave of incendiarybombing attacks againstJapanese cities.At Okinawa (April 1-June 21,1945), the Americans met even fiercerresistance. With few of the defenderssurrendering, the U.S. Armyand Marines were forced to wage awar of annihilation. Waves of Kamikazesuicide planes pounded theoffshore Allied fleet, inflicting moredamage than at Leyte Gulf. Japanlost 90-100,000 troops and probablyas many Okinawan civilians.U.S. losses were more than 11,000killed and nearly 34,000 wounded.Most Americans saw the fighting asa preview of what they would face ina planned invasion of Japan.The heads of the U.S., British,and Soviet governments met at Potsdam,a suburb outside Berlin, fromJuly 17 to August 2, 1945, to discussoperations against Japan, the peacesettlement in Europe, and a policyfor the future of Germany. Perhapspresaging the coming end of the alliance,they had no trouble on vaguematters of principle or the practicalissues of military occupation, butreached no agreement on many tangibleissues, including reparations.The day before the Potsdam Conferencebegan, U.S. nuclear scientistsengaged in the secret ManhattanProject exploded an atomic bombnear Alamogordo, New Mexico. Thetest was the culmination of threeyears of intensive research in laboratoriesacross the United States. Itlay behind the Potsdam Declaration,issued on July 26 by the UnitedStates and Britain, promising thatJapan would neither be destroyednor enslaved if it surrendered. IfJapan continued the war, however,it would meet “prompt and utterdestruction.” President Truman,calculating that an atomic bombmight be used to gain Japan’s surrendermore quickly and with fewercasualties than an invasion of themainland, ordered that the bomb beused if the Japanese did not surrenderby August 3.A committee of U.S. military andpolitical officials and scientists hadconsidered the question of targetsfor the new weapon. Secretary of224225

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYWar Henry L. Stimson argued successfullythat Kyoto, Japan’s ancientcapital and a repository of manynational and religious treasures, betaken out of consideration. Hiroshima,a center of war industriesand military operations, became thefirst objective.On August 6, a U.S. plane, theEnola Gay, dropped an atomic bombon the city of Hiroshima. On August9, a second atomic bomb wasdropped, this time on Nagasaki.The bombs destroyed large sectionsof both cities, with massive loss oflife. On August 8, the USSR declaredwar on Japan and attacked Japaneseforces in Manchuria. On August14, Japan agreed to the terms set atPotsdam. On September 2, 1945,Japan formally surrendered. Americanswere relieved that the bombhastened the end of the war. Therealization of the full implications ofnuclear weapons’ awesome destructivenesswould come later.Within a month, on October24, the United Nations came intoexistence following the meeting ofrepresentatives of 50 nations in SanFrancisco, California. The constitutionthey drafted outlined a worldorganization in which internationaldifferences could be discussedpeacefully and common cause madeagainst hunger and disease. In contrastto its rejection of U.S. membershipin the League of Nationsafter World War I, the U.S. Senatepromptly ratified the U.N. Charterby an 89 to 2 vote. This action confirmedthe end of the spirit of isolationismas a dominating element inAmerican foreign policy.In November 1945 at Nuremberg,Germany, the criminal trialsof 22 Nazi leaders, provided for atPotsdam, took place. Before a groupof distinguished jurists from Britain,France, the Soviet Union, andthe United States, the Nazis were accusednot only of plotting and wagingaggressive war but also of violatingthe laws of war and of humanityin the systematic genocide, known asthe Holocaust, of European Jews andother peoples. The trials lasted morethan 10 months. Twenty-two defendantswere convicted, 12 of themsentenced to death. Similar proceedingswould be held against Japanesewar leaders. 9THE RISE OF INDUSTRIAL UNIONSWhile the 1920s were years of relative prosperity in the United States, theworkers in industries such as steel, automobiles, rubber, and textiles benefitedless than they would later in the years after World War II. Working conditionsin many of these industries did improve. Some companies in the 1920s beganto institute “welfare capitalism” by offering workers various pension, profitsharing,stock option, and health plans to ensure their loyalty. Still, shop floorenvironments were often hard and authoritarian.The 1920s saw the mass production industries redouble their efforts toprevent the growth of unions, which under the American Federation of Labor(AFL) had enjoyed some success during World War I. They did so by usingspies and armed strikebreakers and by firing those suspected of union sympathies.Independent unions were often accused of being Communist. At thesame time, many companies formed their own compliant employee organizations,often called “company unions.”Traditionally, state legislatures, reflecting the views of the American middleclass, supported the concept of the “open shop,” which prevented a unionfrom being the exclusive representative of all workers. This made it easier forcompanies to deny unions the right to collective bargaining and block unionizationthrough court enforcement.Between 1920 and 1929, union membership in the United Statesdropped from about five million to three-and-a-half million. The large unskilledor semi-skilled industries remained unorganized.The onset of the Great Depression led to widespread unemployment. By1933 there were over 12 million Americans out of work. In the automobile industry,for example, the work force was cut in half between 1929 and 1933. Atthe same time, wages dropped by two-thirds.The election of Franklin Roosevelt, however, was to change the status ofthe American industrial worker forever. The first indication that Roosevelt wasinterested in the well-being of workers came with the appointment of FrancesPerkins, a prominent social welfare advocate, to be his secretary of labor.(Perkins was also the first woman to hold a Cabinet-level position.) The farreachingNational 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 collectivelythrough representatives of their own choosing.”John L. Lewis, the feisty and articulate head of the United Mine Workers(UMW), understood more than any other labor leader what the New Dealmeant for workers. Stressing Roosevelt’s support, Lewis engineered a major226227

CHAPTER 11: THE NEW DEAL AND WORLD WAR IIunionizing campaign, rebuilding the UMW’s declining membership from150,000 to over 500,000 within a year.Lewis was eager to get the AFL, where he was a member of the ExecutiveCouncil, to launch a similar drive in the mass production industries. Butthe AFL, with its historic focus on the skilled trade worker, was unwilling todo so. After a bitter internal feud, Lewis and a few others broke with the AFLto set up the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), later the Congressof Industrial Organizations. The passage of the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA) in 1935 and the friendly attitude of the National Labor RelationsBoard 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 UnitedAuto Workers union under Walter Reuther, erupted at General Motors plantsin Cleveland, Ohio, and Flint, Michigan. Soon 135,000 workers were involvedand 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 UnitedAuto Workers had contracts with 400 companies involved in the automobileindustry, 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 OrganizingCommittee (SWOC), headed by Lewis lieutenant Philip Murray, picked up125,000 members. The major American steel company, U.S. Steel, realizingthat times had changed, also came to terms in 1937. That same year the SupremeCourt upheld the constitutionality of the NLRA. Subsequently, smallercompanies, 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 theorganizational core of the national Democratic Party, and it gained materialbenefits for its members that all but erased the economic distinction betweenworking-class and middle-class America.In the depths of the Great Depression, March 1933, anxious depositors line upoutside of a New York bank. The new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt,had just temporarily closed the nation’s banks to end the drain on thebanks’ reserves. Only those banks that were still solvent were permittedto reopen after a four-day “bank holiday.”T U R M O I L A N DCHANGEA P I C T U R E P R O F I L EFor the United States, the 20th century was a period of extraordinaryturmoil and change. In these decades, the nation endured the worsteconomic depression in its history; emerged triumphant, with theAllies, in World War II; assumed a role of global leadership in thecentury’s twilight conflict known as the Cold War; and underwent aremarkable social, economic, and political transition at home. Whereonce the United States transformed itself over the slow march ofcenturies, 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 strikeat the Chevrolet Fisher Body Plants in St. Louis, Missouri. Strikes such as thesesucceeded in winning union recognition for industrial workers throughoutthe country in the 1930s.President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs perhaps the most far-reaching legislationof the New Deal: the Social Security Act of 1935. Today, Social Security, one ofthe largest government programs in the United States, provides retirement anddisability income to millions of Americans.World War II in the Pacific was characterized by large-scale naval and air battles.Here, a Japanese plane plunges down in flames during an attack on a U.S. carrierfleet in the Mariana Islands, June 1944. U.S. Army and Marine forces’ “island hopping”campaign began at Guadalcanal in August 1942 and ended with the assault onOkinawa in April 1945.230 231

Assembly line of P-38 Lightningfighter planes during World WarII. With its massive output of warmateriel, the United States became,in the words of President Roosevelt,“the arsenal of democracy.”Top, General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander in Europe, talks withparatroopers shortly before the Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944.Above, General Douglas MacArthur (center) had declared, “I shall return,”when he escaped from advancing Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1942.Two years later, he made good on his promise and waded ashore at Leyte asAmerican forces began the liberation of the Philippines.Japanese Americans awaitrelocation to internmentcamps in the worst violationof human rights that occurredinside the United Statesduring World II.232 233

In perhaps the mostfamous photographin American politicalhistory, President HarryTruman holds aloft anewspaper wronglyannouncing his defeatby Republican nomineeThomas Dewey inthe 1948 presidentialelection. Truman’scome-from-behindvictory surprised allpolitical expertsthat day.Meeting of British PrimeMinister Winston Churchill,President Roosevelt, andSoviet leader Josef Stalinat Yalta in February 1945.Disagreements over thefuture of Europe anticipatedthe division of the Europeancontinent that remained afixture of the Cold War.U.S. troops witness anuclear test in the Nevadadesert in 1951. The threat ofnuclear weapons remaineda constant and ominous factof life throughout theCold War era.U.S. infantry fire against North Korean forces invading South Korea in 1951,in a conflict that lasted three painful years.234

At a congressional hearing in 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy points to a mappurportedly showing Communist Party influence in the United States in 1950.His chief antagonist at the hearing, lawyer Joseph Welch, sits at left. Welchsuccessfully discredited McCarthy at these hearings, which were among thefirst to be televised across the country.Jackie Robinson, sliding home in a 1948 baseball game. Robinson broke thecolor barrier against black professional baseball players when he joined theBrooklyn Dodgers and became one of the stars of the game.Portrait of President DwightEisenhower, whose genial,reassuring personalitydominated the decade ofthe 1950s.236 237

Lucille Ball (second from left) with her supporting cast, including husbandDesi Arnaz (standing), on one of the most popular television comedy shows of the1950s, I Love Lucy. The show established many of the techniques and conventionsshared by hundreds of the televised “situation comedies” that followed.America’s first star of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, performing on television’s “EdSullivan Show,” September 9, 1956. Today, years after his death, he is stillrevered by legions of his fans as “The King.”238 239

Above, Rosa Parks sits in one of the front seats of a city bus followingthe successful boycott of the bus system in 1955-56 by African-American citizens of Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott wasorganized to protest the practice of segregation in which AfricanAmericans were forced to sit in the back of the bus. The SupremeCourt agreed that this practice was a constitutional violation ayear after the boycott began. The great leader of the civil rightsmovement in America, Martin Luther King Jr., gained nationalprominence through the Montgomery bus boycott.Opposite page, right, Martin Luther King Jr. escorts children to apreviously all-white public school in Grenada, Mississippi, in 1966.Although school segregation was outlawed in the landmark Brownv. Board of Education decision of the Supreme Court in 1954, it tookdecades of protest, political pressure, and additional court decisionsto enforce school desegregation across the country.240 241

President John F. Kennedy addresses nearly a quarter of a million Germans inWest Berlin in June 1963. Honoring the courage of those living in one of theflash points of the Cold War, he said, “All free men, wherever they may live, arecitizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin einBerliner’ (I am a Berliner.)”242Ratification document forthe 1963 Limited NuclearTest Ban Treaty, one ofthe first arms controlagreements between theWest and the Soviet bloc,which ended atmosphericnuclear testing.

Thurgood Marshall, one of the champions of equal rights for all Americans. Asa counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP), Marshall successfully argued the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board ofEducation case before the Supreme Court, which outlawed segregation in publicschools. He later served a distinguished career as a justice of the Supreme Court.President Lyndon B. Johnson, born in Texas, was Senate majority leader in theEisenhower years and vice president under John F. Kennedy before becomingpresident. One of the most powerful political personalities to serve in Washington,Johnson engineered the most ambitious domestic legislative agenda throughCongress 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 onpatrol in South Vietnam in 1965. From 60,000troops in 1965, U.S. forces grew to more than540,000 by 1969, in a conflict that dividedthe nation more bitterly than any other in the20th century. The last U.S. combat forces leftVietnam in 1973.247

Antiwar demonstrators and police clash during violent protests at the 1968Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Antiwar candidates atthe convention lost the presidential nomination to Lyndon Johnson’s vicepresident, Hubert Humphrey.The crest of the counterculture wave in the UnitedStates: the three-day 1969 outdoor rock concertand 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 andactivist Gloria Steinem.248 249

Mexican-American labor activist CésarChávez (center) talking with grapepickers in the field in 1968. Head of theUnited Farm Workers Union in California,Chávez was a leading voice for therights of migrant farm workers, focusingnational attention on their terribleworking conditions.President Richard M. Nixon, with his wife Pat Nixonand 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 ofChina was a major diplomatic triumph at a timewhen U.S. forces were slowly withdrawing fromSouth Vietnam.250 251

Civil rights leader and political activist Jesse Jackson at a politicalrally in 1984. For more than four decades, Jackson has remainedamong the most prominent, politically active, and eloquentrepresentatives of what he has termed a “Rainbow Coalition”of the poor, African Americans, and other minorities.Participant in a demonstration by NativeAmericans in Washington, D.C., in 1978.They also have sought to assert their rightsand identity in recent decades.Oil fires burn behind a destroyed Iraqitank at the conclusion of the GulfWar in February 1991. The UnitedStates led a coalition of more than 30nations in an air and ground campaigncalled Desert Storm that ended Iraq’soccupation of Kuwait.252 253

President GeorgeH.W. Bush withPoland’s Lech Walesa(center) and FirstLady Barbara Bushin Warsaw, July 1989.That remarkable yearsaw the end of theCold War, as wellas the end to the40-year division ofEurope into hostileEast and West blocs.A launch of a space shuttle, the first reusable space vehicle. The versatile shuttle,which has been used to place satellites in orbit and conduct wide-ranging experiments,is indispensable in the assemblage (beginning June 1998) and running of theInternational Space Station.President William (Bill)J. Clinton, deliveringhis inaugural addressto the nation, January21, 1993. During hisadministration, theUnited States enjoyedmore peace andeconomic well-beingthan at any time in itshistory. He was thesecond U.S. presidentto be impeached andfound not guilty.254255

C H A P T E R12POSTWARAMERICAMoving day in a newlyopened suburbancommunity, 1953.256

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“We must build a new world,a far better world —one in which theeternal dignity of manis respected.”CONSENSUS AND CHANGEThe United States dominated globalaffairs in the years immediately afterWorld War II. Victorious in thatgreat struggle, its homeland undamagedfrom the ravages of war, thenation was confident of its missionat home and abroad. U.S. leaderswanted to maintain the democraticstructure they had defended attremendous cost and to share thebenefits of prosperity as widely aspossible. For them, as for publisherHenry Luce of Time magazine, thiswas the “American Century.”For 20 years most Americansremained sure of this confidentapproach. They accepted the needfor a strong stance against the SovietUnion in the Cold War thatunfolded after 1945. They endorsedPresident Harry S Truman, 1945the growth of government authorityand accepted the outlines of therudimentary welfare state first formulatedduring the New Deal. Theyenjoyed a postwar prosperity thatcreated new levels of affluence.But gradually some began toquestion dominant assumptions.Challenges on a variety of frontsshattered the consensus. In the1950s, African Americans launcheda crusade, joined later by other minoritygroups and women, for a largershare of the American dream. Inthe 1960s, politically active studentsprotested the nation’s role abroad,particularly in the corrosive war inVietnam. A youth countercultureemerged to challenge the status quo.Americans from many walks of lifesought to establish a new social andpolitical equilibrium.COLD WAR AIMSThe Cold War was the most importantpolitical and diplomaticissue of the early postwar period. Itgrew out of longstanding disagreementsbetween the Soviet Unionand the United States that developedafter the Russian Revolution of1917. The Soviet Communist Partyunder V.I. Lenin considered itselfthe spearhead of an internationalmovement that would replace theexisting political orders in the West,and indeed throughout the world. In1918 American troops participatedin the Allied intervention in Russiaon behalf of anti-Bolshevik forces.American diplomatic recognition ofthe Soviet Union did not come until1933. Even then, suspicions persisted.During World War II, however,the two countries found themselvesallied and downplayed their differencesto counter the Nazi threat.At the war’s end, antagonismssurfaced again. The United Stateshoped to share with other countriesits conception of liberty, equality,and democracy. It sought also tolearn from the perceived mistakes ofthe post-WWI era, when Americanpolitical disengagement and economicprotectionism were thoughtto have contributed to the rise of dictatorshipsin Europe and elsewhere.Faced again with a postwar worldof civil wars and disintegratingempires, the nation hoped to providethe stability to make peacefulreconstruction possible. Recallingthe specter of the Great Depression(1929-40), America now advocatedopen trade for two reasons: to createmarkets for American agriculturaland industrial products, and to ensurethe ability of Western Europeannations to export as a meansof rebuilding their economies.Reduced trade barriers, Americanpolicy makers believed, would promoteeconomic growth at home andabroad, bolstering U.S. friends andallies in the process.The Soviet Union had its ownagenda. The Russian historicaltradition of centralized, autocraticgovernment contrasted with theAmerican emphasis on democracy.Marxist-Leninist ideology had beendownplayed during the war but stillguided Soviet policy. Devastated bythe struggle in which 20 millionSoviet citizens had died, the SovietUnion was intent on rebuilding andon protecting itself from anothersuch terrible conflict. The Sovietswere particularly concerned aboutanother invasion of their territoryfrom the west. Having repelledHitler’s thrust, they were determinedto preclude another such attack.They demanded “defensible” bordersand “friendly” regimes in EasternEurope and seemingly equatedboth with the spread of Communism,regardless of the wishes ofnative populations. However, theUnited States had declared that oneof its war aims was the restorationof independence and self-governmentto Poland, Czechoslovakia,and the other countries of Centraland Eastern Europe.258259

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYHARRY TRUMAN’SLEADERSHIPThe nation’s new chief executive,Harry S Truman, succeeded FranklinD. Roosevelt as president beforethe end of the war. An unpretentiousman who had previously served asDemocratic senator from Missouri,then as vice president, Trumaninitially felt ill-prepared to govern.Roosevelt had not discussed complexpostwar issues with him, and hehad little experience in internationalaffairs. “I’m not big enough for thisjob,” he told a former colleague.Still, Truman responded quicklyto new challenges. Sometimes impulsiveon small matters, he provedwilling to make hard and carefullyconsidered decisions on large ones.A small sign on his White Housedesk declared, “The Buck StopsHere.” His judgments about howto respond to the Soviet Union ultimatelydetermined the shape of theearly Cold War.ORIGINS OF THE COLD WARThe Cold War developed as differencesabout the shape of the postwarworld created suspicion and distrustbetween the United States and theSoviet Union. The first — andmost difficult — test case was Poland,the eastern half of which hadbeen invaded and occupied by theUSSR in 1939. Moscow demanded agovernment subject to Soviet influence;Washington wanted a moreindependent, representative governmentfollowing the Western model.The Yalta Conference of February1945 had produced an agreement onEastern Europe open to different interpretations.It included a promiseof “free and unfettered” elections.Meeting with Soviet Minister ofForeign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotovless than two weeks after becomingpresident, Truman stood firm onPolish self-determination, lecturingthe Soviet diplomat about the needto implement the Yalta accords.When Molotov protested, “I havenever been talked to like that in mylife,” Truman retorted, “Carry outyour agreements and you won’t gettalked to like that.” Relations deterioratedfrom that point onward.During the closing months ofWorld War II, Soviet military forcesoccupied all of Central and EasternEurope. Moscow used its militarypower to support the efforts ofthe Communist parties in EasternEurope and crush the democraticparties. Communists took over onenation after another. The processconcluded with a shocking coupd’etat in Czechoslovakia in 1948.Public statements defined thebeginning of the Cold War. In 1946Stalin declared that internationalpeace was impossible “under thepresent capitalist development ofthe world economy.” Former BritishPrime Minister Winston Churchilldelivered a dramatic speech in Fulton,Missouri, with Truman sittingon the platform. “From Stettin inthe Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,”Churchill said, “an iron curtain hasdescended across the Continent.”Britain and the United States, hedeclared, had to work together tocounter the Soviet threat.CONTAINMENTContainment of the Soviet Unionbecame American policy in thepostwar years. George Kennan, atop official at the U.S. embassy inMoscow, defined the new approachin the Long Telegram he sent tothe State Department in 1946. Heextended his analysis in an articleunder the signature “X” in theprestigious journal Foreign Affairs.Pointing to Russia’s traditional senseof insecurity, Kennan argued thatthe Soviet Union would not softenits stance under any circumstances.Moscow, he wrote, was “committedfanatically to the belief that with theUnited States there can be no permanentmodus vivendi, that it is desirableand necessary that the internalharmony of our society be disrupted.”Moscow’s pressure to expandits power had to be stopped through“firm and vigilant containment ofRussian expansive tendencies. ...”The first significant applicationof the containment doctrine camein the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean.In early 1946, the UnitedStates demanded, and obtained, afull Soviet withdrawal from Iran,the northern half of which it hadoccupied during the war. That summer,the United States pointedlysupported Turkey against Soviet demandsfor control of the Turkishstraits between the Black Sea andthe Mediterranean. In early 1947,American policy crystallized whenBritain told the United States thatit could no longer afford to supportthe government of Greece against astrong Communist insurgency.In a strongly worded speech toCongress, Truman declared, “I believethat it must be the policy of theUnited States to support free peopleswho are resisting attempted subjugationby armed minorities or by outsidepressures.” Journalists quicklydubbed this statement the “TrumanDoctrine.” The president askedCongress to provide $400 million foreconomic and military aid, mostlyto Greece but also to Turkey. Afteran emotional debate that resembledthe one between interventionistsand isolationists before World WarII, the money was appropriated.Critics from the left later chargedthat to whip up American supportfor the policy of containment, Trumanoverstated the Soviet threat tothe United States. In turn, his statementsinspired a wave of hystericalanti-Communism throughout thecountry. Perhaps so. Others, however,would counter that this argumentignores the backlash that likelywould have occurred if Greece, Turkey,and other countries had fallenwithin the Soviet orbit with no oppositionfrom the United States.Containment also called for extensiveeconomic aid to assist the recoveryof war-torn Western Europe.With many of the region’s nationseconomically and politically un-260261

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYstable, the United States feared thatlocal Communist parties, directedby Moscow, would capitalize ontheir wartime record of resistance tothe Nazis and come to power. “Thepatient is sinking while the doctorsdeliberate,” declared Secretary ofState George C. Marshall. In mid-1947 Marshall asked troubled Europeannations to draw up a program“directed not against any country ordoctrine but against hunger, poverty,desperation, and chaos.”The Soviets participated in thefirst planning meeting, then departedrather than share economicdata and submit to Western controlson the expenditure of the aid. Theremaining 16 nations hammeredout a request that finally came to$17,000 million for a four-year period.In early 1948 Congress votedto fund the “Marshall Plan,” whichhelped underwrite the economicresurgence of Western Europe. Itis generally regarded as one of themost successful foreign policy initiativesin U.S. history.Postwar Germany was a specialproblem. It had been divided intoU.S., Soviet, British, and Frenchzones of occupation, with the formerGerman capital of Berlin (itselfdivided into four zones), near thecenter of the Soviet zone. Whenthe Western powers announcedtheir intention to create a consolidatedfederal state from their zones,Stalin responded. On June 24, 1948,Soviet forces blockaded Berlin, cuttingoff all road and rail access fromthe West.American leaders feared thatlosing Berlin would be a prelude tolosing Germany and subsequently allof Europe. Therefore, in a successfuldemonstration of Western resolveknown as the Berlin Airlift, Allied airforces took to the sky, flying suppliesinto Berlin. U.S., French, and Britishplanes delivered nearly 2,250,000tons of goods, including food andcoal. Stalin lifted the blockade after231 days and 277,264 flights.By then, Soviet domination ofEastern Europe, and especially theCzech coup, had alarmed the WesternEuropeans. The result, initiatedby the Europeans, was a militaryalliance to complement economic effortsat containment. The Norwegianhistorian Geir Lundestad has calledit “empire by invitation.” In 1949 theUnited States and 11 other countriesestablished the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization (NATO). An attackagainst one was to be considered anattack against all, to be met by appropriateforce. NATO was the firstpeacetime “entangling alliance” withpowers outside the Western hemispherein American history.The next year, the United Statesdefined its defense aims clearly. TheNational Security Council (NSC)— the forum where the President,Cabinet officers, and other executivebranch members consider nationalsecurity and foreign affairsissues — undertook a full-fledgedreview of American foreign anddefense policy. The resulting document,known as NSC-68, signaled anew direction in American securitypolicy. Based on the assumption that“the Soviet Union was engaged in afanatical effort to seize control ofall governments wherever possible,”the document committed Americato assist allied nations anywhere inthe world that seemed threatened bySoviet aggression. After the start ofthe Korean War, a reluctant Trumanapproved the document. The UnitedStates proceeded to increase defensespending dramatically.THE COLD WAR IN ASIA ANDTHE MIDDLE EASTWhile seeking to prevent Communistideology from gaining furtheradherents in Europe, the UnitedStates also responded to challengeselsewhere. In China, Americansworried about the advances of MaoZedong and his Communist Party.During World War II, the Nationalistgovernment under ChiangKai-shek and the Communist forceswaged a civil war even as they foughtthe Japanese. Chiang had been awar-time ally, but his governmentwas hopelessly inefficient and corrupt.American policy makers hadlittle hope of saving his regime andconsidered Europe vastly more important.With most American aidmoving across the Atlantic, Mao’sforces seized power in 1949. Chiang’sgovernment fled to the islandof Taiwan. When China’s new rulerannounced that he would supportthe Soviet Union against the “imperialist”United States, it appearedthat Communism was spreading outof control, at least in Asia.The Korean War brought armedconflict between the United Statesand China. The United States andthe Soviet Union had divided Koreaalong the 38th parallel after liberatingit from Japan at the end of WorldWar II. Originally a matter of militaryconvenience, the dividing linebecame more rigid as both majorpowers set up governments in theirrespective occupation zones andcontinued to support them even afterdeparting.In June 1950, after consultationswith and having obtained the assentof the Soviet Union, North Koreanleader Kim Il-sung dispatched hisSoviet-supplied army across the38th parallel and attacked southward,overrunning Seoul. Truman,perceiving the North Koreans asSoviet pawns in the global struggle,readied American forces and orderedWorld War II hero General DouglasMacArthur to Korea. Meanwhile,the United States was able to securea U.N. resolution branding NorthKorea as an aggressor. (The SovietUnion, which could have vetoed anyaction had it been occupying its seaton the Security Council, was boycottingthe United Nations to protest adecision not to admit Mao’s newChinese regime.)The war seesawed back and forth.U.S. and Korean forces were initiallypushed into an enclave far to thesouth around the city of Pusan. Adaring amphibious landing at Inchon,the port for the city of Seoul,drove the North Koreans back and262263

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYthreatened to occupy the entirepeninsula. In November, Chinaentered the war, sending massiveforces across the Yalu River. U.N.forces, largely American, retreatedonce again in bitter fighting. Commandedby General Matthew B.Ridgway, they stopped the overextendedChinese, and slowly foughttheir way back to the 38th parallel.MacArthur meanwhile challengedTruman’s authority by attemptingto orchestrate public support forbombing China and assisting aninvasion of the mainland by ChiangKai-shek’s forces. In April 1951, Trumanrelieved him of his duties andreplaced him with Ridgway.The Cold War stakes were high.Mindful of the European priority,the U.S. government decided againstsending more troops to Korea andwas ready to settle for the prewarstatus quo. The result was frustrationamong many Americans whocould not understand the needfor restraint. Truman’s popularityplunged to a 24-percent approvalrating, the lowest to that time of anypresident since pollsters had begunto measure presidential popularity.Truce talks began in July 1951. Thetwo sides finally reached an agreementin July 1953, during the firstterm of Truman’s successor, DwightEisenhower.Cold War struggles also occurredin the Middle East. The region’s strategicimportance as a supplier of oilhad provided much of the impetusfor pushing the Soviets out of Iran in1946. But two years later, the UnitedStates officially recognized the newstate of Israel 15 minutes after it wasproclaimed — a decision Trumanmade over strong resistance fromMarshall and the State Department.The result was an enduring dilemma— how to maintain ties with Israelwhile keeping good relations withbitterly anti-Israeli (and oil-rich)Arab states.EISENHOWER AND THECOLD WARIn 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower becamethe first Republican presidentin 20 years. A war hero rather thana career politician, he had a natural,common touch that made himwidely popular. “I like Ike” was thecampaign slogan of the time. Afterserving as Supreme Commanderof Allied Forces in Western Europeduring World War II, Eisenhowerhad been army chief of staff,president of Columbia University,and military head of NATO beforeseeking the Republican presidentialnomination. Skillful at getting peopleto work together, he functionedas a strong public spokesman andan executive manager somewhat removedfrom detailed policy making.Despite disagreements on detail,he shared Truman’s basic view ofAmerican foreign policy. He, too,perceived Communism as a monolithicforce struggling for world supremacy.In his first inaugural address,he declared, “Forces of goodand evil are massed and armed andopposed as rarely before in history.Freedom is pitted against slavery,lightness against dark.”The new president and his secretaryof state, John Foster Dulles, hadargued that containment did not gofar enough to stop Soviet expansion.Rather, a more aggressive policyof liberation was necessary, to freethose subjugated by Communism.But when a democratic rebellionbroke out in Hungary in 1956, theUnited States stood back as Sovietforces suppressed it.Eisenhower’s basic commitmentto contain Communism remained,and to that end he increased Americanreliance on a nuclear shield. TheUnited States had created the firstatomic bombs. In 1950 Truman hadauthorized the development of a newand more powerful hydrogen bomb.Eisenhower, fearful that defensespending was out of control, reversedTruman’s NSC-68 policy of alarge conventional military buildup.Relying on what Dulles called “massiveretaliation,” the administrationsignaled it would use nuclear weaponsif the nation or its vital interestswere attacked.In practice, however, the nuclearoption could be used only againstextremely critical attacks. RealCommunist threats were generallyperipheral. Eisenhower rejected theuse of nuclear weapons in Indochina,when the French were oustedby Vietnamese Communist forcesin 1954. In 1956, British and Frenchforces attacked Egypt followingEgyptian nationalization of the SuezCanal and Israel invaded the EgyptianSinai. The president exertedheavy pressure on all three countriesto withdraw. Still, the nuclear threatmay have been taken seriously byCommunist China, which refrainednot only from attacking Taiwan, butfrom occupying small islands heldby Nationalist Chinese just off themainland. It may also have deterredSoviet occupation of Berlin, whichreemerged as a festering problemduring Eisenhower’s last two yearsin office.THE COLD WAR AT HOMENot only did the Cold War shapeU.S. foreign policy, it also had a profoundeffect on domestic affairs.Americans had long feared radicalsubversion. These fears could attimes be overdrawn, and used to justifyotherwise unacceptable politicalrestrictions, but it also was true thatindividuals under Communist Partydiscipline and many “fellow traveler”hangers-on gave their politicalallegiance not to the United States,but to the international Communistmovement, or, practically speaking,to Moscow. During the Red Scareof 1919-1920, the government hadattempted to remove perceivedthreats to American society. AfterWorld War II, it made strong effortsagainst Communism within theUnited States. Foreign events, espionagescandals, and politics createdan anti-Communist hysteria.When Republicans were victoriousin the midterm congressionalelections of 1946 and appeared264265

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYready to investigate subversive activity,President Truman established aFederal Employee Loyalty Program.It had little impact on the lives ofmost civil servants, but a few hundredwere dismissed, some unfairly.In 1947 the House Committeeon Un-American Activities investigatedthe motion-picture industryto determine whether Communistsentiments were being reflected inpopular films. When some writers(who happened to be secret membersof the Communist Party) refusedto testify, they were cited forcontempt and sent to prison. Afterthat, the film companies refused tohire anyone with a marginally questionablepast.In 1948, Alger Hiss, who hadbeen an assistant secretary of stateand an adviser to Roosevelt atYalta, was publicly accused of beinga Communist spy by WhittakerChambers, a former Soviet agent.Hiss denied the accusation, but in1950 he was convicted of perjury.Subsequent evidence indicates thathe was indeed guilty.In 1949 the Soviet Union shockedAmericans by testing its own atomicbomb. In 1950, the government uncovereda British-American spy networkthat transferred to the SovietUnion materials about the developmentof the atomic bomb. Two ofits operatives, Julius Rosenberg andhis wife Ethel, were sentenced todeath. Attorney General J. HowardMcGrath declared there were manyAmerican Communists, each bearing“the germ of death for society.”The most vigorous anti-Communistwarrior was Senator Joseph R.McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin.He gained national attentionin 1950 by claiming that he had a listof 205 known Communists in theState Department. Though McCarthysubsequently changed this figureseveral times and failed to substantiateany of his charges, he struck aresponsive public chord.McCarthy gained power whenthe Republican Party won controlof the Senate in 1952. As a committeechairman, he now had a forumfor his crusade. Relying on extensivepress and television coverage, hecontinued to search for treacheryamong second-level officials in theEisenhower administration. Enjoyingthe role of a tough guy doingdirty but necessary work, he pursuedpresumed Communists with vigor.McCarthy overstepped himselfby challenging the U.S. Army whenone of his assistants was drafted.Television brought the hearings intomillions of homes. Many Americanssaw McCarthy’s savage tactics forthe first time, and public supportbegan to wane. The RepublicanParty, which had found McCarthyuseful in challenging a Democraticadministration when Truman waspresident, began to see him as anembarrassment. The Senate finallycondemned him for his conduct.McCarthy in many ways representedthe worst domestic excessesof the Cold War. As Americansrepudiated him, it became naturalfor many to assume that the Communistthreat at home and abroadhad been grossly overblown. As thecountry moved into the 1960s, anti-Communism became increasinglysuspect, especially among intellectualsand opinion-shapers.THE POSTWAR ECONOMY:1945-1960In the decade and a half afterWorld War II, the United Statesexperienced phenomenal economicgrowth and consolidated its positionas the world’s richest country. Grossnational product (GNP), a measureof all goods and services producedin the United States, jumped fromabout $200,000-million in 1940 to$300,000-million in 1950 to morethan $500,000-million in 1960.More and more Americans nowconsidered themselves part of themiddle class.The growth had different sources.The economic stimulus providedby large-scale public spending forWorld War II helped get it started.Two basic middle-class needs didmuch to keep it going. The numberof automobiles produced annuallyquadrupled between 1946 and 1955.A housing boom, stimulated in partby easily affordable mortgages forreturning servicemen, fueled the expansion.The rise in defense spendingas the Cold War escalated alsoplayed a part.After 1945 the major corporationsin America grew even larger. Therehad been earlier waves of mergersin the 1890s and in the 1920s; in the1950s another wave occurred. Franchiseoperations like McDonald’sfast-food restaurants allowed smallentrepreneurs to make themselvespart of large, efficient enterprises.Big American corporations alsodeveloped holdings overseas, wherelabor costs were often lower.Workers found their own liveschanging as industrial Americachanged. Fewer workers producedgoods; more provided services. Asearly as 1956 a majority of employeesheld white-collar jobs, workingas managers, teachers, salespersons,and office operatives. Some firmsgranted a guaranteed annual wage,long-term employment contracts,and other benefits. With suchchanges, labor militancy was underminedand some class distinctionsbegan to fade.Farmers — at least those withsmall operations — faced toughtimes. Gains in productivity ledto agricultural consolidation, andfarming became a big business.More and more family farmers leftthe land.Other Americans moved too.The West and the Southwest grewwith increasing rapidity, a trend thatwould continue through the endof the century. Sun Belt cities likeHouston, Texas; Miami, Florida; Albuquerque,New Mexico; and Phoenix,Arizona, expanded rapidly. LosAngeles, California, moved ahead ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, as thethird largest U.S. city and then surpassedChicago, metropolis of theMidwest. The 1970 census showed266267

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYthat California had displaced NewYork as the nation’s largest state.By 2000, Texas had moved ahead ofNew York into second place.An even more important formof movement led Americans out ofinner cities into new suburbs, wherethey hoped to find affordable housingfor the larger families spawnedby the postwar baby boom. Developerslike William J. Levitt built newcommunities — with homes thatall looked alike — using the techniquesof mass production. Levitt’shouses were prefabricated — partlyassembled in a factory rather thanon the final location — and modest,but Levitt’s methods cut costsand allowed new owners to possess apart of the American dream.As suburbs grew, businessesmoved into the new areas. Largeshopping centers containing a greatvariety of stores changed consumerpatterns. The number of these centersrose from eight at the end ofWorld War II to 3,840 in 1960. Witheasy parking and convenient eveninghours, customers could avoid cityshopping entirely. An unfortunateby-product was the “hollowing-out”of formerly busy urban cores.New highways created better accessto the suburbs and its shops.The Highway Act of 1956 provided$26,000-million, the largest publicworks expenditure in U.S. history, tobuild more than 64,000 kilometersof limited access interstate highwaysto link the country together.Television, too, had a powerfulimpact on social and economic patterns.Developed in the 1930s, it wasnot widely marketed until after thewar. In 1946 the country had fewerthan 17,000 television sets. Threeyears later consumers were buying250,000 sets a month, and by 1960three-quarters of all families ownedat least one set. In the middle of thedecade, the average family watchedtelevision four to five hours a day.Popular shows for children includedHowdy Doody Time and The MickeyMouse Club ; older viewers preferredsituation comedies like I Love Lucyand Father Knows Best. Americans ofall ages became exposed to increasinglysophisticated advertisementsfor products said to be necessary forthe good life.THE FAIR DEALThe Fair Deal was the name givento President Harry Truman’s domesticprogram. Building on Roosevelt’sNew Deal, Truman believed that thefederal government should guaranteeeconomic opportunity and socialstability. He struggled to achieve thoseends in the face of fierce political oppositionfrom legislators determinedto reduce the role of government.Truman’s first priority in theimmediate postwar period was tomake the transition to a peacetimeeconomy. Servicemen wanted tocome home quickly, but once theyarrived they faced competition forhousing and employment. The G.I.Bill, passed before the end of the war,helped ease servicemen back into civilianlife by providing benefits suchas guaranteed loans for home-buyingand financial aid for industrialtraining and university education.More troubling was labor unrest.As war production ceased, manyworkers found themselves withoutjobs. Others wanted pay increasesthey felt were long overdue. In 1946,4.6 million workers went on strike,more than ever before in Americanhistory. They challenged the automobile,steel, and electrical industries.When they took on the railroads andsoft-coal mines, Truman intervenedto stop union excesses, but in so doinghe alienated many workers.While dealing with immediatelypressing issues, Truman also provideda broader agenda for action. Lessthan a week after the war ended, hepresented Congress with a 21-pointprogram, which provided for protectionagainst unfair employmentpractices, a higher minimum wage,greater unemployment compensation,and housing assistance. Inthe next several months, he addedproposals for health insurance andatomic energy legislation. But thisscattershot approach often left Truman’spriorities unclear.Republicans were quick to attack.In the 1946 congressional electionsthey asked, “Had enough?” andvoters responded that they had. Republicans,with majorities in bothhouses of Congress for the firsttime since 1928, were determinedto reverse the liberal direction of theRoosevelt years.Truman fought with the Congressas it cut spending and reduced taxes.In 1948 he sought reelection, despitepolls indicating that he had littlechance. After a vigorous campaign,Truman scored one of the great upsetsin American politics, defeatingthe Republican nominee, ThomasDewey, governor of New York. Revivingthe old New Deal coalition,Truman held on to labor, farmers,and African-American voters.When Truman finally left officein 1953, his Fair Deal was buta mixed success. In July 1948 hebanned racial discrimination in federalgovernment hiring practices andordered an end to segregation in themilitary. The minimum wage hadrisen, and social security programshad expanded. A housing programbrought some gains but left manyneeds unmet. National health insurance,aid-to-education measures,reformed agricultural subsidies,and his legislative civil rights agendanever made it through Congress.The president’s pursuit of the ColdWar, ultimately his most importantobjective, made it especially difficultto develop support for social reformin the face of intense opposition.EISENHOWER’S APPROACHWhen Dwight Eisenhower succeededTruman as president, he acceptedthe basic framework of governmentresponsibility establishedby the New Deal, but sought to holdthe line on programs and expenditures.He termed his approach “dynamicconservatism” or “modernRepublicanism,” which meant, he ex-268269

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYplained, “conservative when it comesto money, liberal when it comes tohuman beings.” A critic counteredthat Eisenhower appeared to arguethat he would “strongly recommendthe building of a great many schools... but not provide the money.”Eisenhower’s first priority wasto balance the budget after years ofdeficits. He wanted to cut spendingand taxes and maintain the value ofthe dollar. Republicans were willingto risk unemployment to keepinflation in check. Reluctant tostimulate the economy too much,they saw the country suffer threeeconomic recessions in the eightyears of the Eisenhower presidency,but none was very severe.In other areas, the administrationtransferred control of offshoreoil lands from the federal governmentto the states. It also favoredprivate development of electricalpower rather than the public approachthe Democrats had initiated.In general, its orientation was sympatheticto business.Compared to Truman, Eisenhowerhad only a modest domesticprogram. When he was active inpromoting a bill, it likely was to trimthe New Deal legacy a bit — as inreducing agricultural subsidies orplacing mild restrictions on laborunions. His disinclination to pushfundamental change in either directionwas in keeping with the spirit ofthe generally prosperous Fifties. Hewas one of the few presidents wholeft office as popular as when heentered it.THE CULTURE OF THE 1950SDuring the 1950s, many culturalcommentators pointed outthat a sense of uniformity pervadedAmerican society. Conformity, theyasserted, was numbingly common.Though men and women had beenforced into new employment patternsduring World War II, once thewar was over, traditional roles werereaffirmed. Men expected to be thebreadwinners in each family; women,even when they worked, assumedtheir proper place was at home. In hisinfluential book, The Lonely Crowd,sociologist David Riesman calledthis new society “other-directed,”characterized by conformity, butalso by stability. Television, still verylimited in the choices it gave its viewers,contributed to the homogenizingcultural trend by providing youngand old with a shared experience reflectingaccepted social patterns.Yet beneath this seeminglybland surface, important segmentsof American society seethed withrebellion. A number of writers,collectively known as the “BeatGeneration,” went out of their wayto challenge the patterns of respectabilityand shock the rest of theculture. Stressing spontaneity andspirituality, they preferred intuitionover reason, Eastern mysticism overWestern institutionalized religion.The literary work of the beatsdisplayed their sense of alienationand quest for self-realization. JackKerouac typed his best-selling novelOn the Road on a 75-meter roll ofpaper. Lacking traditional punctuationand paragraph structure, thebook glorified the possibilities of thefree life. Poet Allen Ginsberg gainedsimilar notoriety for his poem“Howl,” a scathing critique of modern,mechanized civilization. Whenpolice charged that it was obsceneand seized the published version,Ginsberg successfully challenged theruling in court.Musicians and artists rebelled aswell. Tennessee singer Elvis Presleywas the most successful of severalwhite performers who popularizeda sensual and pulsating style of African-Americanmusic, which beganto be called “rock and roll.” At first,he outraged middle-class Americanswith his ducktail haircut and undulatinghips. But in a few years hisperformances would seem relativelytame alongside the antics of laterperformances such as the BritishRolling Stones. Similarly, it was inthe 1950s that painters like JacksonPollock discarded easels and laid outgigantic canvases on the floor, thenapplied paint, sand, and other materialsin wild splashes of color. All ofthese artists and authors, whateverthe medium, provided models forthe wider and more deeply felt socialrevolution of the 1960s.ORIGINS OF THE CIVILRIGHTS MOVEMENTAfrican Americans became increasinglyrestive in the postwaryears. During the war they had challengeddiscrimination in the militaryservices and in the work force,and they had made limited gains.Millions of African Americans hadleft Southern farms for Northerncities, where they hoped to findbetter jobs. They found insteadcrowded conditions in urban slums.Now, African-American servicemenreturned home, many intent on rejectingsecond-class citizenship.Jackie Robinson dramatized theracial question in 1947 when hebroke baseball’s color line and beganplaying in the major leagues. Amember of the Brooklyn Dodgers,he often faced trouble with opponentsand teammates as well. Butan outstanding first season led tohis acceptance and eased the wayfor other African-American players,who now left the Negro leagues towhich they had been confined.Government officials, and manyother Americans, discovered theconnection between racial problemsand Cold War politics. As the leaderof the free world, the United Statessought support in Africa and Asia.Discrimination at home impededthe effort to win friends in otherparts of the world.Harry Truman supported theearly civil rights movement. He personallybelieved in political equality,though not in social equality, andrecognized the growing importanceof the African-American urban vote.When apprised in 1946 of a spate oflynchings and anti-black violencein the South, he appointed a committeeon civil rights to investigatediscrimination. Its report, To Secure270271

CHAPTER 12: POSTWAR AMERICAOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYThese Rights, issued the next year,documented African Americans’second-class status in Americanlife and recommended numerousfederal measures to secure the rightsguaranteed to all citizens.Truman responded by sendinga 10-point civil rights program toCongress. Southern Democrats inCongress were able to block its enactment.A number of the angriest,led by Governor Strom Thurmondof South Carolina, formed a StatesRights Party to oppose the presidentin 1948. Truman thereupon issuedan executive order barring discriminationin federal employment, orderedequal treatment in the armedforces, and appointed a committeeto work toward an end to militarysegregation, which was largely endedduring the Korean War.African Americans in the Southin the 1950s still enjoyed few, if any,civil and political rights. In general,they could not vote. Those who triedto register faced the likelihood ofbeatings, loss of job, loss of credit,or eviction from their land. Occasionallynchings still occurred. JimCrow laws enforced segregation ofthe races in streetcars, trains, hotels,restaurants, hospitals, recreationalfacilities, and employment.DESEGREGATIONThe National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People(NAACP) took the lead in efforts tooverturn the judicial doctrine, establishedin the Supreme Court casePlessy v. Ferguson in 1896, that segregationof African-American andwhite students was constitutional iffacilities were “separate but equal.”That decree had been used for decadesto sanction rigid segregationin all aspects of Southern life, wherefacilities were seldom, if ever, equal.African Americans achieved theirgoal of overturning Plessy in 1954when the Supreme Court — presidedover by an Eisenhower appointee,Chief Justice Earl Warren— handed down its Brown v. Boardof Education ruling. The Court declaredunanimously that “separatefacilities are inherently unequal,”and decreed that the “separate butequal” doctrine could no longer beused in public schools. A year later,the Supreme Court demanded thatlocal school boards move “with alldeliberate speed” to implement thedecision.Eisenhower, although sympatheticto the needs of the South as itfaced a major transition, nonethelessacted to see that the law was upheldin the face of massive resistance frommuch of the South. He faced a majorcrisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, in1957, when Governor Orval Faubusattempted to block a desegregationplan calling for the admission of nineblack students to the city’s previouslyall-white Central High School.After futile efforts at negotiation,the president sent federal troops toLittle Rock to enforce the plan.Governor Faubus responded byordering the Little Rock high schoolsclosed down for the 1958-59 schoolyear. However, a federal court orderedthem reopened the followingyear. They did so in a tenseatmosphere with a tiny number ofAfrican-American students. Thus,school desegregation proceeded at aslow and uncertain pace throughoutmuch of the South.Another milestone in the civilrights movement occurred in 1955 inMontgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks,a 42-year-old African-Americanseamstress who was also secretaryof the state chapter of the NAACP,sat down in the front of a bus in asection reserved by law and customfor whites. Ordered to move to theback, she refused. Police came andarrested her for violating the segregationstatutes. African-Americanleaders, who had been waiting forjust such a case, organized a boycottof the bus system.Martin Luther King Jr., a youngminister of the Baptist church wherethe African Americans met, becamea spokesman for the protest. “Therecomes a time,” he said, “when peopleget tired ... of being kicked aboutby the brutal feet of oppression.”King was arrested, as he would beagain and again; a bomb damagedthe front of his house. But AfricanAmericans in Montgomery sustainedthe boycott. About a yearlater, the Supreme Court affirmedthat bus segregation, like schoolsegregation, was unconstitutional.The boycott ended. The civil rightsmovement had won an importantvictory — and discovered its mostpowerful, thoughtful, and eloquentleader in Martin Luther King Jr.African Americans also sought tosecure their voting rights. Althoughthe 15th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution guaranteed the rightto vote, many states had found waysto circumvent the law. The stateswould impose a poll (“head”) taxor a literacy test — typically muchmore stringently interpreted forAfrican Americans — to preventpoor African Americans with littleeducation from voting. Eisenhower,working with Senate majority leaderLyndon B. Johnson, lent his supportto a congressional effort to guaranteethe vote. The Civil Rights Actof 1957, the first such measure in82 years, marked a step forward, asit authorized federal interventionin cases where African Americanswere denied the chance to vote. Yetloopholes remained, and so activistspushed successfully for the CivilRights Act of 1960, which providedstiffer penalties for interfering withvoting, but still stopped short of authorizingfederal officials to registerAfrican Americans.Relying on the efforts of AfricanAmericans themselves, the civilrights movement gained momentumin the postwar years. Workingthrough the Supreme Court andthrough Congress, civil rights supportershad created the groundworkfor a dramatic yet peaceful “revolution”in American race relations inthe 1960s. 9272273

C H A P T E R13DECADESOFCHANGE:1960-1980Astronaut on the moon,July 20, 1969.274

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“I have a dream that one dayon the red hills of Georgia,sons of former slaves andthe sons of former slaveowners will be able to sitdown together at the tableof brotherhood.”By 1960, the United States was onthe verge of a major social change.American society had always beenmore open and fluid than that ofthe nations in most of the rest of theworld. Still, it had been dominatedprimarily by old-stock, white males.During the 1960s, groups that previouslyhad been submerged or subordinatebegan more forcefully andsuccessfully to assert themselves: AfricanAmericans, Native Americans,women, the white ethnic offspring ofthe “new immigration,” and Latinos.Much of the support they receivedcame from a young population largerthan ever, making its way througha college and university system thatwas expanding at an unprecedentedpace. Frequently embracing “countercultural”life styles and radicalMartin Luther King Jr., 1963politics, many of the offspring of theWorld War II generation emerged asadvocates of a new America characterizedby a cultural and ethnicpluralism that their parents oftenviewed with unease.THE CIVIL RIGHTSMOVEMENT 1960-1980The struggle of African Americansfor equality reached its peak in themid-1960s. After progressive victoriesin the 1950s, African Americansbecame even more committedto nonviolent direct action. Groupslike the Southern Christian LeadershipConference (SCLC), made upof African-American clergy, andthe Student Nonviolent CoordinatingCommittee (SNCC), composedof younger activists, sought reformthrough peaceful confrontation.In 1960 African-American collegestudents sat down at a segregatedWoolworth’s lunch counterin North Carolina and refused toleave. Their sit-in captured mediaattention and led to similar demonstrationsthroughout the South. Thenext year, civil rights workers organized“freedom rides,” in which AfricanAmericans and whites boardedbuses heading south toward segregatedterminals, where confrontationsmight capture media attentionand lead to change.They also organized rallies, thelargest of which was the “Marchon Washington” in 1963. Morethan 200,000 people gathered inthe nation’s capital to demonstratetheir commitment to equality forall. The high point of a day of songsand speeches came with the addressof Martin Luther King Jr., who hademerged as the preeminent spokesmanfor civil rights. “I have a dreamthat one day on the red hills of Georgiathe sons of former slaves and thesons of former slave owners will beable to sit down together at the tableof brotherhood,” King proclaimed.Each time he used the refrain “I havea dream,” the crowd roared.The level of progress initiallyachieved did not match the rhetoricof the civil rights movement. PresidentKennedy was initially reluctantto press white Southerners forsupport on civil rights because heneeded their votes on other issues.Events, driven by African Americansthemselves, forced his hand. WhenJames Meredith was denied admissionto the University of Mississippiin 1962 because of his race, Kennedysent federal troops to uphold the law.After protests aimed at the desegregationof Birmingham, Alabama,prompted a violent response by thepolice, he sent Congress a new civilrights bill mandating the integrationof public places. Not even the Marchon Washington, however, could extricatethe measure from a congressionalcommittee, where it was stillbottled up when Kennedy was assassinatedin 1963.President Lyndon B. Johnsonwas more successful. Displayingnegotiating skills he had so frequentlyemployed during his yearsas Senate majority leader, Johnsonpersuaded the Senate to limit delayingtactics preventing a final voteon the sweeping Civil Rights Act of1964, which outlawed discriminationin all public accommodations.The next year’s Voting Rights Actof 1965 authorized the federal governmentto register voters where localofficials had prevented AfricanAmericans from doing so. By 1968a million African Americans wereregistered in the deep South. Nationwide,the number of African-American elected officials increasedsubstantially. In 1968, the Congresspassed legislation banning discriminationin housing.Once unleashed, however, thecivil rights revolution producedleaders impatient with both the paceof change and the goal of channel-276277

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYing African Americans into mainstreamwhite society. Malcolm X,an eloquent activist, was the mostprominent figure arguing for African-Americanseparation fromthe white race. Stokely Carmichael,a student leader, became similarlydisillusioned by the notions of nonviolenceand interracial cooperation.He popularized the slogan “blackpower,” to be achieved by “whatevermeans necessary,” in the words ofMalcolm X.Violence accompanied militantcalls for reform. Riots broke out inseveral big cities in 1966 and 1967.In the spring of 1968, Martin LutherKing Jr. fell before an assassin’sbullet. Several months later, SenatorRobert Kennedy, a spokesman forthe disadvantaged, an opponent ofthe Vietnam War, and the brotherof the slain president, met the samefate. To many these two assassinationsmarked the end of an era of innocenceand idealism. The growingmilitancy on the left, coupled withan inevitable conservative backlash,opened a rift in the nation’s psychethat took years to heal.By then, however, a civil rightsmovement supported by court decisions,congressional enactments,and federal administrative regulationswas irreversibly woven into thefabric of American life. The majorissues were about implementationof equality and access, not about thelegality of segregation or disenfranchisement.The arguments of the1970s and thereafter were over matterssuch as busing children out oftheir neighborhoods to achieve racialbalance in metropolitan schoolsor about the use of “affirmative action.”These policies and programswere viewed by some as active measuresto ensure equal opportunity, asin education and employment, andby others as reverse discrimination.The courts worked their waythrough these problems with decisionsthat were often inconsistent.In the meantime, the steady marchof African Americans into the ranksof the middle class and once largelywhite suburbs quietly reflected aprofound demographic change.THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENTDuring the 1950s and 1960s,increasing numbers of marriedwomen entered the labor force, butin 1963 the average working womanearned only 63 percent of what aman made. That year Betty Friedanpublished The Feminine Mystique,an explosive critique of middleclassliving patterns that articulateda pervasive sense of discontent thatFriedan contended was felt by manywomen. Arguing that women oftenhad no outlets for expression otherthan “finding a husband and bearingchildren,” Friedan encouragedher readers to seek new roles and responsibilitiesand to find their ownpersonal and professional identities,rather than have them defined by amale-dominated society.The women’s movement of the1960s and 1970s drew inspirationfrom the civil rights movement. Itwas made up mainly of members ofthe middle class, and thus partookof the spirit of rebellion that affectedlarge segments of middle-classyouth in the 1960s.Reform legislation also promptedchange. During debate on the 1964Civil Rights bill, opponents hopedto defeat the entire measure by proposingan amendment to outlaw discriminationon the basis of gender aswell as race. First the amendment,then the bill itself, passed, givingwomen a valuable legal tool.In 1966, 28 professional women,including Friedan, established theNational Organization for Women(NOW) “to take action to bringAmerican women into full participationin the mainstream of Americansociety now.” While NOW andsimilar feminist organizations boastof substantial memberships today,arguably they attained their greatestinfluence in the early 1970s, a timethat also saw the journalist GloriaSteinem and several other womenfound Ms. magazine. They alsospurred the formation of counterfeministgroups, often led by women,including most prominently the politicalactivist Phyllis Schlafly. Thesegroups typically argued for more“traditional” gender roles and opposedthe proposed “Equal Rights”constitutional amendment.Passed by Congress in 1972,that amendment declared in part,“Equality of rights under the lawshall not be denied or abridged bythe United States or by any State onaccount of sex.” Over the next severalyears, 35 of the necessary 38 statesratified it. The courts also movedto expand women’s rights. In 1973the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wadesanctioned women’s right to obtainan abortion during the early monthsof pregnancy — seen as a significantvictory for the women’s movement— but Roe also spurred the growthof an anti-abortion movement.In the mid- to late-1970s, however,the women’s movement seemedto stagnate. It failed to broaden itsappeal beyond the middle class.Divisions arose between moderateand radical feminists. Conservativeopponents mounted a campaignagainst the Equal Rights Amendment,and it died in 1982 withoutgaining the approval of the 38 statesneeded for ratification.THE LATINO MOVEMENTIn post-World War II America,Americans of Mexican and PuertoRican descent had faced discrimination.New immigrants, coming fromCuba, Mexico, and Central America— often unskilled and unable tospeak English — suffered from discriminationas well. Some Hispanicsworked as farm laborers and at timeswere cruelly exploited while harvestingcrops; others gravitated to thecities, where, like earlier immigrantgroups, they encountered difficultiesin their quest for a better life.Chicanos, or Mexican-Americans,mobilized in organizationslike the radical Asociación NacionalMexico-Americana, yet did278279

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYnot become confrontational untilthe 1960s. Hoping that LyndonJohnson’s poverty program wouldexpand opportunities for them,they found that bureaucrats failedto respond to less vocal groups.The example of black activism inparticular taught Hispanics theimportance of pressure politics ina pluralistic society.The National Labor Relations Actof 1935 had excluded agriculturalworkers from its guarantee of theright to organize and bargain collectively.But César Chávez, founderof the overwhelmingly HispanicUnited Farm Workers, demonstratedthat direct action could achieveemployer recognition for his union.California grape growers agreed tobargain with the union after Chávezled a nationwide consumer boycott.Similar boycotts of lettuce andother products were also successful.Though farm interests continued totry to obstruct Chávez’s organization,the legal foundation had beenlaid for representation to securehigher wages and improved workingconditions.Hispanics became politicallyactive as well. In 1961 Henry B.González won election to Congressfrom Texas. Three years later Eligio(“Kika”) de la Garza, another Texan,followed him, and Joseph Montoyaof New Mexico went to the Senate.Both González and de la Garzalater rose to positions of power ascommittee chairmen in the House.In the 1970s and 1980s, the pace ofHispanic political involvement increased.Several prominent Hispanicshave served in the Bill Clintonand George W. Bush cabinets.THE NATIVE-AMERICANMOVEMENTIn the 1950s, Native Americansstruggled with the government’spolicy of moving them off reservationsand into cities where theymight assimilate into mainstreamAmerica. Many of the uprootedoften had difficulties adjusting tourban life. In 1961, when the policywas discontinued, the U.S. Commissionon Civil Rights noted that,for Native Americans, “poverty anddeprivation are common.”In the 1960s and 1970s, watchingboth the development of ThirdWorld nationalism and the progressof the civil rights movement, NativeAmericans became more aggressivein pressing for their own rights. Anew generation of leaders went tocourt to protect what was left of triballands or to recover those which hadbeen taken, often illegally, in previoustimes. In state after state, theychallenged treaty violations, and in1967 won the first of many victoriesguaranteeing long-abused land andwater rights. The American IndianMovement (AIM), founded in 1968,helped channel government fundsto Native-American-controlled organizationsand assisted neglectedNative Americans in the cities.Confrontations became morecommon. In 1969 a landing partyof 78 Native Americans seized AlcatrazIsland in San Francisco Bay andheld it until federal officials removedthem in 1971. In 1973 AIM took overthe South Dakota village of WoundedKnee, where soldiers in the late19th century had massacred a Siouxencampment. Militants hoped todramatize the poverty and alcoholismin the reservation surroundingthe town. The episode ended afterone Native American was killedand another wounded, with a governmentagreement to re-examinetreaty rights.Still, Native-American activismbrought results. Other Americansbecame more aware of Native-American needs. Government officialsresponded with measuresincluding the Education AssistanceAct of 1975 and the 1996 Native-American Housing and Self-DeterminationAct. The Senate’s firstNative-American member, BenNighthorse Campbell of Colorado,was elected in 1992.THE COUNTERCULTUREThe agitation for equal opportunitysparked other forms of upheaval.Young people in particular rejectedthe stable patterns of middle-classlife their parents had created in thedecades after World War II. Someplunged into radical political activity;many more embraced new standardsof dress and sexual behavior.The visible signs of the counterculturespread through parts ofAmerican society in the late 1960sand early 1970s. Hair grew longerand beards became common. Bluejeans and tee shirts took the placeof slacks, jackets, and ties. The useof illegal drugs increased. Rockand roll grew, proliferated, andtransformed into many musicalvariations. The Beatles, the RollingStones, and other British groupstook the country by storm. “Hardrock” grew popular, and songs witha political or social commentary,such as those by singer-songwriterBob Dylan, became common. Theyouth counterculture reached itsapogee in August 1969 at Woodstock,a three-day music festival inrural New York State attended byalmost half-a-million persons. Thefestival, mythologized in films andrecord albums, gave its name to theera, the Woodstock Generation.A parallel manifestation of thenew sensibility of the young wasthe rise of the New Left, a group ofyoung, college-age radicals. The NewLeftists, who had close counterpartsin Western Europe, were in many instancesthe children of the older generationof radicals. Nonetheless, theyrejected old-style Marxist rhetoric.Instead, they depicted universitystudents as themselves an oppressedclass that possessed special insightsinto the struggle of other oppressedgroups in American society.New Leftists participated in thecivil rights movement and the struggleagainst poverty. Their greatestsuccess — and the one instance inwhich they developed a mass following— was in opposing the VietnamWar, an issue of emotional interest280281

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYto their draft-age contemporaries.By the late 1970s, the student NewLeft had disappeared, but manyof its activists made their way intomainstream politics.ENVIRONMENTALISMThe energy and sensibility that fueledthe civil rights movement, thecounterculture, and the New Leftalso stimulated an environmentalmovement in the mid-1960s. Manywere aroused by the publication in1962 of Rachel Carson’s book SilentSpring, which alleged that chemicalpesticides, particularly DDT, causedcancer, among other ills. Publicconcern about the environmentcontinued to increase throughoutthe 1960s as many became aware ofother pollutants surrounding them— automobile emissions, industrialwastes, oil spills — that threatenedtheir health and the beauty of theirsurroundings. On April 22, 1970,schools and communities across theUnited States celebrated Earth Dayfor the first time. “Teach-ins” educatedAmericans about the dangersof environmental pollution.Few denied that pollution wasa problem, but the proposed solutionsinvolved expense and inconvenience.Many believed these wouldreduce the economic growth uponwhich many Americans’ standardof living depended. Nevertheless, in1970, Congress amended the CleanAir Act of 1967 to develop uniformnational air-quality standards. Italso passed the Water Quality ImprovementAct, which assigned tothe polluter the responsibility ofcleaning up off-shore oil spills. Also,in 1970, the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) was created asan independent federal agency tospearhead the effort to bring abusesunder control. During the nextthree decades, the EPA, bolstered bylegislation that increased its authority,became one of the most activeagencies in the government, issuingstrong regulations covering air andwater quality.KENNEDY AND THERESURGENCE OF BIGGOVERNMENT LIBERALISMBy 1960 government had becomean increasingly powerful force inpeople’s lives. During the GreatDepression of the 1930s, new executiveagencies were created to dealwith many aspects of American life.During World War II, the numberof civilians employed by the federalgovernment rose from one millionto 3.8 million, then stabilized at2.5 million in the 1950s. Federalexpenditures, which had stood at$3,100-million in 1929, increased to$75,000-million in 1953 and passed$150,000-million in the 1960s.Most Americans accepted government’sexpanded role, even asthey disagreed about how far thatexpansion should continue. Democratsgenerally wanted the governmentto ensure growth and stability.They wanted to extend federalbenefits for education, health, andwelfare. Many Republicans accepteda level of government responsibility,but hoped to cap spendingand restore a larger measure ofindividual initiative. The presidentialelection of 1960 revealed a nationalmost evenly divided betweenthese visions.John F. Kennedy, the Democraticvictor by a narrow margin, was at 43the youngest man ever to win thepresidency. On television, in a seriesof debates with opponent RichardNixon, he appeared able, articulate,and energetic. In the campaign, hespoke of moving aggressively intothe new decade, for “the New Frontieris here whether we seek it ornot.” In his first inaugural address,he concluded with an eloquent plea:“Ask not what your country can dofor you — ask what you can do foryour country.” Throughout his briefpresidency, Kennedy’s special combinationof grace, wit, and style —far more than his specific legislativeagenda — sustained his popularityand influenced generations of politiciansto come.Kennedy wanted to exert strongleadership to extend economicbenefits to all citizens, but a razorthinmargin of victory limited hismandate. Even though the DemocraticParty controlled both housesof Congress, conservative SouthernDemocrats often sided with theRepublicans on issues involving thescope of governmental interventionin the economy. They resisted plansto increase federal aid to education,provide health insurance for the elderly,and create a new Departmentof Urban Affairs. And so, despite hislofty rhetoric, Kennedy’s policieswere often limited and restrained.One priority was to end the recession,in progress when Kennedy tookoffice, and restore economic growth.But Kennedy lost the confidence ofbusiness leaders in 1962, when hesucceeded in rolling back what theadministration regarded as an excessiveprice increase in the steel industry.Though the president achievedhis immediate goal, he alienated animportant source of support. Persuadedby his economic advisers thata large tax cut would stimulate theeconomy, Kennedy backed a bill providingfor one. Conservative oppositionin Congress, however, appearedto destroy any hopes of passing a billmost congressmen thought wouldwiden the budget deficit.The overall legislative record ofthe Kennedy administration wasmeager. The president made somegestures toward civil rights leadersbut did not embrace the goals of thecivil rights movement until demonstrationsled by Martin Luther KingJr. forced his hand in 1963. Like Trumanbefore him, he could not securecongressional passage of federal aidto public education or for a medicalcare program limited to the elderly.He gained only a modest increasein the minimum wage. Still, he didsecure funding for a space program,and established the Peace Corps tosend men and women overseas toassist developing countries in meetingtheir own needs.282283

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYKENNEDY AND THECOLD WARPresident Kennedy came into officepledged to carry on the ColdWar vigorously, but he also hopedfor accommodation and was reluctantto commit American power.During his first year-and-a-halfin office, he rejected American interventionafter the CIA-guidedCuban exile invasion at the Bay ofPigs failed, effectively ceded thelandlocked Southeast Asian nationof Laos to Communist control, andacquiesced in the building of theBerlin Wall. Kennedy’s decisionsreinforced impressions of weaknessthat Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchevhad formed in their only personalmeeting, a summit meeting atVienna in June 1961.It was against this backdrop thatKennedy faced the most seriousevent of the Cold War, the Cubanmissile crisis.In the fall of 1962, the administrationlearned that the Soviet Unionwas secretly installing offensive nuclearmissiles in Cuba. After consideringdifferent options, Kennedydecided on a quarantine to preventSoviet ships from bringing additionalsupplies to Cuba. He demandedpublicly that the Soviets remove theweapons and warned that an attackfrom that island would bring retaliationagainst the USSR. After severaldays of tension, during which theworld was closer than ever beforeto nuclear war, the Soviets agreed toremove the missiles. Critics chargedthat Kennedy had risked nuclear disasterwhen quiet diplomacy mighthave been effective. But most Americansand much of the non-Communistworld applauded his decisiveness.The missile crisis made himfor the first time the acknowledgedleader of the democratic West.In retrospect, the Cuban missilecrisis marked a turning pointin U.S.-Soviet relations. Both sidessaw the need to defuse tensions thatcould lead to direct military conflict.The following year, the UnitedStates, the Soviet Union, and GreatBritain signed a landmark LimitedTest Ban Treaty prohibiting nuclearweapons tests in the atmosphere.Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia),a French possession beforeWorld War II, was still another ColdWar battlefield. The French effort toreassert colonial control there wasopposed by Ho Chi Minh, a VietnameseCommunist, whose VietMinh movement engaged in a guerrillawar with the French army.Both Truman and Eisenhower,eager to maintain French support forthe policy of containment in Europe,provided France with economic aidthat freed resources for the strugglein Vietnam. But the French suffereda decisive defeat in Dien Bien Phu inMay 1954. At an international conferencein Geneva, Laos and Cambodiawere given their independence. Vietnamwas divided, with Ho in powerin the North and Ngo Dinh Diem, aRoman Catholic anti-Communist ina largely Buddhist population, headingthe government in the South.Elections were to be held two yearslater to unify the country. Persuadedthat the fall of Vietnam could lead tothe fall of Burma, Thailand, and Indonesia,Eisenhower backed Diem’srefusal to hold elections in 1956 andeffectively established South Vietnamas an American client state.Kennedy increased assistance,and sent small numbers of militaryadvisors, but a new guerrilla strugglebetween North and South continued.Diem’s unpopularity grew andthe military situation worsened. Inlate 1963, Kennedy secretly assentedto a coup d’etat. To the president’ssurprise, Diem and his powerfulbrother-in-law, Ngo Dien Nu,were killed. It was at this uncertainjuncture that Kennedy’s presidencyended three weeks later.THE SPACE PROGRAMDuring Eisenhower’s second term,outer space had become an arena forU.S.-Soviet competition. In 1957,the Soviet Union launched Sputnik— an artificial satellite — therebydemonstrating it could build morepowerful rockets than the UnitedStates. The United States launchedits first satellite, Explorer I, in 1958.But three months after Kennedybecame president, the USSR putthe first man in orbit. Kennedy respondedby committing the UnitedStates to land a man on the moonand bring him back “before this decadeis out.” With Project Mercuryin 1962, John Glenn became the firstU.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth.After Kennedy’s death, PresidentLyndon Johnson enthusiasticallysupported the space program. Inthe mid-1960s, U.S. scientists developedthe two-person Geminispacecraft. Gemini achieved severalfirsts, including an eight-day missionin August 1965 — the longestspace flight at that time — and inNovember 1966, the first automaticallycontrolled reentry into theEarth’s atmosphere. Gemini also accomplishedthe first manned linkupof two spacecraft in flight as well asthe first U.S. walks in space.The three-person Apollo spacecraftachieved Kennedy’s goal anddemonstrated to the world that theUnited States had surpassed Sovietcapabilities in space. On July 20,1969, with hundreds of millions oftelevision viewers watching aroundthe world, Neil Armstrong becamethe first human to walk on the surfaceof the moon.Other Apollo flights followed, butmany Americans began to questionthe value of manned space flight. Inthe early 1970s, as other prioritiesbecame more pressing, the UnitedStates scaled down the space program.Some Apollo missions werescrapped; only one of two proposedSkylab space stations was built.DEATH OF A PRESIDENTJohn Kennedy had gained worldprestige by his management of theCuban missile crisis and had wongreat popularity at home. Manybelieved he would win re-election284285

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYeasily in 1964. But on November 22,1963, he was assassinated while ridingin an open car during a visit toDallas, Texas. His death, amplifiedby television coverage, was a traumaticevent, just as Roosevelt’s hadbeen 18 years earlier.In retrospect, it is clear that Kennedy’sreputation stems more fromhis style and eloquently stated idealsthan from the implementation of hispolicies. He had laid out an impressiveagenda but at his death much remainedblocked in Congress. It waslargely because of the political skilland legislative victories of his successorthat Kennedy would be seen as aforce for progressive change.LYNDON JOHNSON ANDTHE GREAT SOCIETYLyndon Johnson, a Texan who wasmajority leader in the Senate beforebecoming Kennedy’s vice president,was a masterful politician. He hadbeen schooled in Congress, wherehe developed an extraordinary abilityto get things done. He excelled atpleading, cajoling, or threatening asnecessary to achieve his ends. Hisliberal idealism was probably deeperthan Kennedy’s. As president, hewanted to use his power aggressivelyto eliminate poverty and spread thebenefits of prosperity to all.Johnson took office determinedto secure the passage of Kennedy’slegislative agenda. His immediatepriorities were his predecessor’s billsto reduce taxes and guarantee civilrights. Using his skills of persuasionand calling on the legislators’ respectfor the slain president, Johnson succeededin gaining passage of bothduring his first year in office. Thetax cuts stimulated the economy.The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was themost far-reaching such legislationsince Reconstruction.Johnson addressed other issues aswell. By the spring of 1964, he hadbegun to use the name “Great Society”to describe his socio-economicprogram. That summer he securedpassage of a federal jobs program forimpoverished young people. It wasthe first step in what he called the“War on Poverty.” In the presidentialelection that November, he wona landslide victory over conservativeRepublican Barry Goldwater. Significantly,the 1964 election gave liberalDemocrats firm control of Congressfor the first time since 1938. Thiswould enable them to pass legislationover the combined oppositionof Republicans and conservativeSouthern Democrats.The War on Poverty became thecenterpiece of the administration’sGreat Society program. The Officeof Economic Opportunity, establishedin 1964, provided trainingfor the poor and established variouscommunity-action agencies,guided by an ethic of “participatorydemocracy” that aimed to give thepoor themselves a voice in housing,health, and education programs.Medical care came next. UnderJohnson’s leadership, Congress enactedMedicare, a health insuranceprogram for the elderly, and Medicaid,a program providing healthcareassistance for the poor.Johnson succeeded in the effortto provide more federal aid for elementaryand secondary schooling,traditionally a state and local function.The measure that was enactedgave money to the states based onthe number of their children fromlow-income families. Funds couldbe used to assist public- and privateschoolchildren alike.Convinced the United Statesconfronted an “urban crisis” characterizedby declining inner cities,the Great Society architects deviseda new housing act that provided rentsupplements for the poor and establisheda Department of Housing andUrban Development.Other legislation had an impacton many aspects of American life.Federal assistance went to artistsand scholars to encourage theirwork. In September 1966, Johnsonsigned into law two transportationbills. The first provided funds tostate and local governments for developingsafety programs, while theother set up federal safety standardsfor cars and tires. The latter programreflected the efforts of a crusadingyoung radical, Ralph Nader. In his1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed: TheDesigned-In Dangers of the AmericanAutomobile, Nader argued thatautomobile manufacturers weresacrificing safety features for style,and charged that faulty engineeringcontributed to highway fatalities.In 1965, Congress abolished thediscriminatory 1924 national-originimmigration quotas. This triggereda new wave of immigration, muchof it from South and East Asia andLatin America.The Great Society was the largestburst of legislative activity since theNew Deal. But support weakenedas early as 1966. Some of Johnson’sprograms did not live up to expectations;many went underfunded. Theurban crisis seemed, if anything, toworsen. Still, whether because of theGreat Society spending or because ofa strong economic upsurge, povertydid decline at least marginally duringthe Johnson administration.THE WAR IN VIETNAMDissatisfaction with the Great Societycame to be more than matchedby unhappiness with the situationin Vietnam. A series of South Vietnamesestrong men proved littlemore successful than Diem in mobilizingtheir country. The Viet Cong,insurgents supplied and coordinatedfrom North Vietnam, gained groundin the countryside.Determined to halt Communistadvances in South Vietnam, Johnsonmade the Vietnam War his own. Aftera North Vietnamese naval attackon two American destroyers, Johnsonwon from Congress on August 7,1964, passage of the Gulf of TonkinResolution, which allowed the presidentto “take all necessary measuresto repel any armed attack againstthe forces of the United States andto prevent further aggression.” Afterhis re-election in November 1964,286287

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYhe embarked on a policy of escalation.From 25,000 troops at the startof 1965, the number of soldiers —both volunteers and draftees — roseto 500,000 by 1968. A bombing campaignwrought havoc in both Northand South Vietnam.Grisly television coverage with acritical edge dampened support forthe war. Some Americans thought itimmoral; others watched in dismayas the massive military campaignseemed to be ineffective. Large protests,especially among the young,and a mounting general public dissatisfactionpressured Johnson tobegin negotiating for peace.THE ELECTION OF 1968By 1968 the country was in turmoilover both the Vietnam War andcivil disorder, expressed in urbanriots that reflected African-Americananger. On March 31, 1968, thepresident renounced any intentionof seeking another term. Justa week later, Martin Luther KingJr. was shot and killed in Memphis,Tennessee. John Kennedy’s youngerbrother, Robert, made an emotionalanti-war campaign for the Democraticnomination, only to be assassinatedin June.At the Democratic National Conventionin Chicago, Illinois, protestersfought street battles with police.A divided Democratic Party nominatedVice President Hubert Humphrey,once the hero of the liberalsbut now seen as a Johnson loyalist.White opposition to the civil rightsmeasures of the 1960s galvanizedthe third-party candidacy of AlabamaGovernor George Wallace, aDemocrat who captured his homestate, Mississippi, and Arkansas,Louisiana, and Georgia, statestypically carried in that era by theDemocratic nominee. RepublicanRichard Nixon, who ran on a plan toextricate the United States from thewar and to increase “law and order”at home, scored a narrow victory.NIXON, VIETNAM, AND THECOLD WARDetermined to achieve “peacewith honor,” Nixon slowly withdrewAmerican troops while redoublingefforts to equip the South Vietnamesearmy to carry on the fight. Healso ordered strong American offensiveactions. The most important ofthese was an invasion of Cambodiain 1970 to cut off North Vietnamesesupply lines to South Vietnam. Thisled to another round of protests anddemonstrations. Students in manyuniversities took to the streets. AtKent State in Ohio, the nationalguard troops who had been called into restore order panicked and killedfour students.By the fall of 1972, however,troop strength in Vietnam was below50,000 and the military draft,which had caused so much campusdiscontent, was all but dead. Acease-fire, negotiated for the UnitedStates by Nixon’s national securityadviser, Henry Kissinger, was signedin 1973. Although American troopsdeparted, the war lingered on intothe spring of 1975, when Congresscut off assistance to South Vietnamand North Vietnam consolidated itscontrol over the entire country.The war left Vietnam devastated,with millions maimed or killed. Italso left the United States traumatized.The nation had spent over$150,000-million in a losing effortthat cost more than 58,000 Americanlives. Americans were no longerunited by a widely held Cold Warconsensus, and became wary of furtherforeign entanglements.Yet as Vietnam wound down,the Nixon administration took historicsteps toward closer ties withthe major Communist powers. Themost dramatic move was a new relationshipwith the People’s Republicof China. In the two decades sinceMao Zedong’s victory, the UnitedStates had argued that the Nationalistgovernment on Taiwan representedall of China. In 1971 and1972, Nixon softened the Americanstance, eased trading restrictions,and became the first U.S. presidentever to visit Beijing. The “ShanghaiCommunique” signed during thatvisit established a new U.S. policy:that there was one China, that Taiwanwas a part of China, and thata peaceful settlement of the disputeof the question by the Chinesethemselves was a U.S. interest.With the Soviet Union, Nixon wasequally successful in pursuing thepolicy he and his Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger called détente. Heheld several cordial meetings withSoviet leader Leonid Brezhnev inwhich they agreed to limit stockpilesof missiles, cooperate in space, andease trading restrictions. The StrategicArms Limitation Talks (SALT)culminated in 1972 in an arms controlagreement limiting the growthof nuclear arsenals and restrictinganti-ballistic missile systems.NIXON’S ACCOMPLISHMENTSAND DEFEATSVice president under Eisenhowerbefore his unsuccessful run forthe presidency in 1960, Nixon wasseen as among the shrewdest ofAmerican politicians. AlthoughNixon subscribed to the Republicanvalue of fiscal responsibility, heaccepted a need for government’sexpanded role and did not opposethe basic contours of the welfarestate. He simply wanted to manageits programs better. Not opposedto African-American civil rightson principle, he was wary of largefederal civil rights bureaucracies.Nonetheless, his administrationvigorously enforced court orderson school desegregation even as itcourted Southern white voters.Perhaps his biggest domesticproblem was the economy. He inheritedboth a slowdown from itsVietnam peak under Johnson, anda continuing inflationary surge thathad been a by-product of the war. Hedealt with the first by becoming thefirst Republican president to endorsedeficit spending as a way to stimulatethe economy; the second by288289

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYimposing wage and price controls,a policy in which the Right had nolong-term faith, in 1971. In the shortrun, these decisions stabilized theeconomy and established favorableconditions for Nixon’s re-election in1972. He won an overwhelming victoryover peace-minded DemocraticSenator George McGovern.Things began to sour very quicklyinto the president’s second term.Very early on, he faced charges thathis re-election committee had manageda break-in at the Watergatebuilding headquarters of the DemocraticNational Committee and thathe had participated in a cover-up.Special prosecutors and congressionalcommittees dogged his presidencythereafter.Factors beyond Nixon’s controlundermined his economic policies.In 1973 the war between Israel andEgypt and Syria prompted SaudiArabia to embargo oil shipments toIsrael’s ally, the United States. Othermember nations of the Organizationof the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) quadrupled their prices.Americans faced both shortages,exacerbated in the view of many byover-regulation of distribution, andrapidly rising prices. Even when theembargo ended the next year, pricesremained high and affected all areasof American economic life: In 1974,inflation reached 12 percent, causingdisruptions that led to even higherunemployment rates. The unprecedentedeconomic boom Americahad enjoyed since 1948 was grindingto a halt.Nixon’s rhetoric about the needfor “law and order” in the face ofrising crime rates, increased druguse, and more permissive viewsabout sex resonated with moreAmericans than not. But this concernwas insufficient to quell concernsabout the Watergate break-inand the economy. Seeking to energizeand enlarge his own politicalconstituency, Nixon lashed out atdemonstrators, attacked the pressfor distorted coverage, and soughtto silence his opponents. Instead, heleft an unfavorable impression withmany who saw him on television andperceived him as unstable. Addingto Nixon’s troubles, Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew, his outspoken pointman against the media and liberals,was forced to resign in 1973, pleading“no contest” to a criminal chargeof tax evasion.Nixon probably had not knownin advance of the Watergate burglary,but he had tried to cover it up,and had lied to the American peopleabout it. Evidence of his involvementmounted. On July 27, 1974, theHouse Judiciary Committee votedto recommend his impeachment.Facing certain ouster from office, heresigned on August 9, 1974.THE FORD INTERLUDENixon’s vice president, GeraldFord (appointed to replace Agnew),was an unpretentious man who hadspent most of his public life in Congress.His first priority was to restoretrust in the government. However,feeling it necessary to head off thespectacle of a possible prosecutionof Nixon, he issued a blanket pardonto his predecessor. Although it wasperhaps necessary, the move wasnonetheless unpopular.In public policy, Ford followedthe course Nixon had set. Economicproblems remained serious, as inflationand unemployment continuedto rise. Ford first tried to reassurethe public, much as Herbert Hooverhad done in 1929. When that failed,he imposed measures to curb inflation,which sent unemploymentabove 8 percent. A tax cut, coupledwith higher unemployment benefits,helped a bit but the economyremained weak.In foreign policy, Ford adoptedNixon’s strategy of detente. Perhapsits major manifestation was theHelsinki Accords of 1975, in whichthe United States and Western Europeannations effectively recognizedSoviet hegemony in Eastern Europein return for Soviet affirmationof human rights. The agreementhad little immediate significance,but over the long run may havemade maintenance of the Sovietempire more difficult. Westernnations effectively used periodic“Helsinki review meetings” to callattention to various abuses of humanrights by Communist regimesof the Eastern bloc.THE CARTER YEARSJimmy Carter, former Democraticgovernor of Georgia, won the presidencyin 1976. Portraying himselfduring the campaign as an outsiderto Washington politics, he promiseda fresh approach to governing, buthis lack of experience at the nationallevel complicated his tenure fromthe start. A naval officer and engineerby training, he often appearedto be a technocrat, when Americanswanted someone more visionary tolead them through troubled times.In economic affairs, Carter atfirst permitted a policy of deficitspending. Inflation rose to 10 percenta year when the Federal ReserveBoard, responsible for setting monetarypolicy, increased the moneysupply to cover deficits. Carterresponded by cutting the budget,but cuts affected social programs atthe heart of Democratic domesticpolicy. In mid-1979, anger in thefinancial community practicallyforced him to appoint Paul Volckeras chairman of the Federal Reserve.Volcker was an “inflation hawk”who increased interest rates in anattempt to halt price increases, atthe cost of negative consequencesfor the economy.Carter also faced criticism for hisfailure to secure passage of an effectiveenergy policy. He presenteda comprehensive program, aimedat reducing dependence on foreignoil, that he called the “moral equivalentof war.” Opponents thwartedit in Congress.Though Carter called himself apopulist, his political priorities werenever wholly clear. He endorsedgovernment’s protective role, but290291

CHAPTER 13: DECADES OF CHANGE: 1960-1980then began the process of deregulation,the removal of governmentalcontrols in economic life. Arguingthat some restrictions over thecourse of the past century limitedcompetition and increased consumercosts, he favored decontrolin the oil, airline, railroad, andtrucking industries.Carter’s political efforts failed togain either public or congressionalsupport. By the end of his term, hisdisapproval rating reached 77 percent,and Americans began to looktoward the Republican Party again.Carter’s greatest foreign policyaccomplishment was the negotiationof a peace settlement betweenEgypt, under President Anwaral-Sadat, and Israel, under PrimeMinister Menachem Begin. Actingas both mediator and participant, hepersuaded the two leaders to end a30-year state of war. The subsequentpeace treaty was signed at the WhiteHouse in March 1979.After protracted and often emotionaldebate, Carter also securedSenate ratification of treaties cedingthe Panama Canal to Panama by theyear 2000. Going a step farther thanNixon, he extended formal diplomaticrecognition to the People’sRepublic of China.But Carter enjoyed less successwith the Soviet Union. Thoughhe assumed office with detenteat high tide and declared that theUnited States had escaped its “inordinatefear of Communism,” hisinsistence that “our commitment tohuman rights must be absolute” antagonizedthe Soviet government. ASALT II agreement further limitingnuclear stockpiles was signed, butnot ratified by the U.S. Senate, manyof whose members felt the treatywas unbalanced. The 1979 Sovietinvasion of Afghanistan killed thetreaty and triggered a Carter defensebuild-up that paved the way for thehuge expenditures of the 1980s.Carter’s most serious foreign policychallenge came in Iran. After anIslamic fundamentalist revolutionled by Shiite Muslim leader AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini replaced acorrupt but friendly regime, Carteradmitted the deposed shah to theUnited States for medical treatment.Angry Iranian militants, supportedby the Islamic regime, seized theAmerican embassy in Tehran andheld 53 American hostages for morethan a year. The long-running hostagecrisis dominated the final yearof his presidency and greatly damagedhis chances for re-election. 9The digital revolution of the past decade has transformedthe economy and the way Americans live, influencing work;interactions with colleagues, family, and friends; access toinformation; even shopping and leisure-time habits.21 ST CENTURYN A T I O NA P I C T U R E P R O F I L EThe first years of the new century unleashed a new threat topeace and democracy: international terrorist attacks that killed andmaimed thousands in the United States and around the world.Just as it has with earlier dangers, the United States took up thisformidable challenge in unison with its allies. At the same time,it coped with changes sparked by globalization, fast-pacedtechnological developments, and new waves of immigration thathave 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 BritishPrime Minister Tony Blair(left), National SecurityAdviser Condoleezza Rice,and Secretary of State ColinPowell (right) at the WhiteHouse during his first term.Great Britain has been a keyU.S. ally in the fight againstterrorism.Malalai Joya, one ofabout 100 womendelegates to theconstitutional councilin Afghanistan, speaksto the council in Kabul,December 17, 2003.Afghanistan has its firstdemocratically electedgovernment as a resultof the U.S., allied, andNorthern Alliancemilitary action in 2001that toppled the Talibanfor sheltering Osama binLaden, mastermind ofthe September 11, 2001,terrorist attacks againstthe United States.President George W. Bush walks with African leaders during a side meeting at theGroup of Eight Summit in Evian, France, June 1, 2003. Left to right are: South AfricanPresident Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, Bush,and President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade.294295

Cable News Network (CNN) report from Moscow: The combination of hundredsof cable television channels and 24-hour news services like CNN give anunprecedented impact and immediacy to news developments around the world.Top, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates talks with Antwoinette Hayes, a participantin a Microsoft initiative to provide technology access to children and teens.Above, Apple founder and chief executive officer Steve Jobs with hiscompany’s iPod mini. Gates and Jobs are seen as the most powerful symbols ofthe creative and commercial talent that shaped the digital era.296Combine 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.

Bales of sorted recyclables are stacked for processingat the Rumpke recycling center in Columbus, Ohio.Growing environmental consciousness in the UnitedStates has led to huge recycling efforts for materialssuch as glass, paper, steel, and aluminum.The massive AIDS quilt, with each square commemorating an individual whohas died of the disease. The United States is a leading contributor to thefight against this global pandemic.298 299

Americans’ love affair with the automobile continues, resultingin increased traffic congestion as well as considerable efforts bygovernment 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 thecenter of Az Zubayr, Iraq, January 30, 2005. More than 8.5 million Iraqis bravedthreats of violence and terrorist attacks to participate in the elections. The votefollowed the 2003 war, led by the United States and other coalition members, whichrid Iraq of dictator Saddam Hussein.A new generation peers into its future.302 303

C H A P T E R14THENEWCONSERVATISMANDANEWWORLDORDERPresident Ronald Reaganand USSR PresidentMikhail Gorbachev aftersigning the Intermediate–Range Nuclear Forces(INF) Treaty, December1987.304

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDEROUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“I have always believed thatthere was some divine planthat placed this great continentbetween two oceans to be soughtout by those who were possessedof an abiding love of freedomand a special kind of courage.”A SOCIETY IN TRANSITIONShifts in the structure of Americansociety, begun years or even decadesearlier, had become apparentby the time the 1980s arrived. Thecomposition of the population andthe most important jobs and skillsin American society had undergonemajor changes.The dominance of service jobs inthe economy became undeniable. Bythe mid-1980s, nearly three-fourthsof all employees worked in the servicesector, for instance, as retailclerks, office workers, teachers, physicians,and government employees.Service-sector activity benefitedfrom the availability and increaseduse of the computer. The informationage arrived, with hardware andCalifornia Governor Ronald Reagan, 1974software that could aggregate previouslyunimagined amounts of dataabout economic and social trends.The federal government had madesignificant investments in computertechnology in the 1950s and 1960sfor its military and space programs.In 1976, two young California entrepreneurs,working out of a garage,assembled the first widely marketedcomputer for home use, named itthe Apple, and ignited a revolution.By the early 1980s, millions of microcomputershad found their wayinto U.S. businesses and homes, andin 1982, Time magazine dubbed thecomputer its “Machine of the Year.”Meanwhile, America’s “smokestackindustries” were in decline.The U.S. automobile industry reeledunder competition from highlyefficient Japanese carmakers. By1980 Japanese companies alreadymanufactured a fifth of the vehiclessold in the United States. Americanmanufacturers struggled with somesuccess to match the cost efficienciesand engineering standards oftheir Japanese rivals, but their formerdominance of the domestic carmarket was gone forever. The giantold-line steel companies shrank torelative insignificance as foreignsteel makers adopted new technologiesmore readily.Consumers were the beneficiariesof this ferocious competition in themanufacturing industries, but thepainful struggle to cut costs meantthe permanent loss of hundreds ofthousands of blue-collar jobs. Thosewho could made the switch to theservice sector; others became unfortunatestatistics.Population patterns shifted aswell. After the end of the postwar“baby boom” (1946 to 1964), theoverall rate of population growthdeclined and the population grewolder. Household composition alsochanged. In 1980 the percentageof family households dropped; aquarter of all groups were now classifiedas “nonfamily households,”in which two or more unrelatedpersons lived together.New immigrants changed thecharacter of American society inother ways. The 1965 reform in immigrationpolicy shifted the focusaway from Western Europe, facilitatinga dramatic increase in new arrivalsfrom Asia and Latin America. In1980, 808,000 immigrants arrived,the highest number in 60 years, as thecountry once more became a havenfor people from around the world.Additional groups became activeparticipants in the struggle for equalopportunity. Homosexuals, usingthe tactics and rhetoric of the civilrights movement, depicted themselvesas an oppressed group seekingrecognition of basic rights. In 1975,the U.S. Civil Service Commissionlifted its ban on employment ofhomosexuals. Many states enactedanti-discrimination laws.Then, in 1981, came the discoveryof AIDS (Acquired ImmuneDeficiency Syndrome). Transmittedsexually or through blood transfusions,it struck homosexual men andintravenous drug users with particularvirulence, although the generalpopulation proved vulnerable aswell. By 1992, over 220,000 Americanshad died of AIDS. The AIDS epidemichas by no means been limitedto the United States, and the effort totreat the disease now encompassesphysicians and medical researchersthroughout the world.CONSERVATISM AND THERISE OF RONALD REAGANFor many Americans, the economic,social, and political trends of theprevious two decades — crime andracial polarization in many urbancenters, challenges to traditionalvalues, the economic downturn andinflation of the Carter years — engendereda mood of disillusionment.306307

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDEROUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYIt also strengthened a renewed suspicionof government and its abilityto deal effectively with the country’ssocial and political problems.Conservatives, long out of powerat the national level, were well positionedpolitically in the context ofthis new mood. Many Americanswere receptive to their message oflimited government, strong nationaldefense, and the protection of traditionalvalues.This conservative upsurge hadmany sources. A large group offundamentalist Christians were particularlyconcerned about crime andsexual immorality. They hoped toreturn religion or the moral preceptsoften associated with it to a centralplace in American life. One of themost politically effective groups inthe early 1980s, the Moral Majority,was led by a Baptist minister, JerryFalwell. Another, led by the ReverendPat Robertson, built an organization,the Christian Coalition, that by the1990s was a significant force in theRepublican Party. Using televisionto spread their messages, Falwell,Robertson, and others like them developedsubstantial followings.Another galvanizing issue forconservatives was divisive and emotional:abortion. Opposition to the1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v.Wade, which upheld a woman’s rightto an abortion in the early monthsof pregnancy, brought together awide array of organizations and individuals.They included, but werenot limited to, Catholics, politicalconservatives, and religious evangelicals,most of whom regardedabortion under virtually any circumstancesas tantamount to murder.Pro-choice and pro-life (that is,pro- and anti-abortion rights) demonstrationsbecame a fixture of thepolitical landscape.Within the Republican Party, theconservative wing grew dominantonce again. They had briefly seizedcontrol of the Republican Party in1964 with its presidential candidate,Barry Goldwater, then faded fromthe spotlight. By 1980, however,with the apparent failure of liberalismunder Carter, a “New Right” waspoised to return to dominance.Using modern direct mail techniquesas well as the power of masscommunications to spread theirmessage and raise funds, drawing onthe ideas of conservatives like economistMilton Friedman, journalistsWilliam F. Buckley and George Will,and research institutions like theHeritage Foundation, the New Rightplayed a significant role in definingthe issues of the 1980s.The “Old” Goldwater Right hadfavored strict limits on governmentintervention in the economy. Thistendency was reinforced by a significantgroup of “New Right” “libertarianconservatives” who distrustedgovernment in general and opposedstate interference in personal behavior.But the New Right also encompasseda stronger, often evangelicalfaction determined to wield statepower to encourage its views. TheNew Right favored tough measuresagainst crime, a strong national defense,a constitutional amendmentto permit prayer in public schools,and opposition to abortion.The figure that drew all these disparatestrands together was RonaldReagan. Reagan, born in Illinois,achieved stardom as an actor inHollywood movies and televisionbefore turning to politics. He firstachieved political prominence with anationwide televised speech in 1964in support of Barry Goldwater. In1966 Reagan won the governorshipof California and served until 1975.He narrowly missed winning the Republicannomination for presidentin 1976 before succeeding in 1980and going on to win the presidencyfrom the incumbent, Jimmy Carter.President Reagan’s unflaggingoptimism and his ability to celebratethe achievements and aspirationsof the American people persistedthroughout his two terms in office.He was a figure of reassurance andstability for many Americans. Whollyat ease before the microphone andthe television camera, Reagan wascalled the “Great Communicator.”Taking a phrase from the 17thcenturyPuritan John Winthrop, hetold the nation that the United Stateswas a “shining city on a hill,” investedwith a God-given mission to defendthe world against the spread ofCommunist totalitarianism.Reagan believed that governmentintruded too deeply into Americanlife. He wanted to cut programshe contended the country did notneed, and to eliminate “waste, fraud,and abuse.” Reagan accelerated theprogram of deregulation begun byJimmy Carter. He sought to abolishmany regulations affecting the consumer,the workplace, and the environment.These, he argued, were inefficient,expensive, and detrimentalto economic growth.Reagan also reflected the beliefheld by many conservatives that thelaw should be strictly applied againstviolators. Shortly after becomingpresident, he faced a nationwidestrike by U.S. air transportation controllers.Although the job action wasforbidden by law, such strikes hadbeen widely tolerated in the past.When the air controllers refused toreturn to work, he ordered them allfired. Over the next few years thesystem was rebuilt with new hires.THE ECONOMY IN THE 1980SPresident Reagan’s domestic programwas rooted in his belief that thenation would prosper if the power ofthe private economic sector was unleashed.The guiding theory behindit, “supply side” economics, heldthat a greater supply of goods andservices, made possible by measuresto increase business investment,was the swiftest road to economicgrowth. Accordingly, the Reaganadministration argued that a largetax cut would increase capital investmentand corporate earnings,so that even lower taxes on theselarger earnings would increase governmentrevenues.Despite only a slim Republicanmajority in the Senate and a House308309

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDEROUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYof Representatives controlled by theDemocrats, President Reagan succeededduring his first year in officein enacting the major componentsof his economic program, includinga 25-percent tax cut for individualsto be phased in over three years.The administration also sought andwon significant increases in defensespending to modernize the nation’smilitary and counter what it felt wasa continual and growing threat fromthe Soviet Union.Under Paul Volcker, the FederalReserve’s draconian increases ininterest rates squeezed the runawayinflation that had begun in the late1970s. The recession hit bottom in1982, with the prime interest ratesapproaching 20 percent and theeconomy falling sharply. That year,real gross domestic product (GDP)fell by 2 percent; the unemploymentrate rose to nearly 10 percent, and almostone-third of America’s industrialplants lay idle. Throughout theMidwest, major firms like GeneralElectric and International Harvesterreleased workers. Stubbornly highpetroleum prices contributed to thedecline. Economic rivals like Germanyand Japan won a greater shareof world trade, and U.S. consumptionof goods from other countriesrose sharply.Farmers also suffered hard times.During the 1970s, American farmershad helped India, China, theSoviet Union, and other countriessuffering from crop shortages, andhad borrowed heavily to buy landand increase production. But therise in oil prices pushed up costs,and a worldwide economic slumpin 1980 reduced the demand for agriculturalproducts. Their numbersdeclined, as production increasinglybecame concentrated in large operations.Those small farmers who survivedhad major difficulties makingends meet.The increased military budget— combined with the tax cuts andthe growth in government healthspending — resulted in the federalgovernment spending far morethan it received in revenues eachyear. Some analysts charged that thedeficits were part of a deliberate administrationstrategy to prevent furtherincreases in domestic spendingsought by the Democrats. However,both Democrats and Republicans inCongress refused to cut such spending.From $74,000-million in 1980,the deficit soared to $221,000-millionin 1986 before falling back to$150,000-million in 1987.The deep recession of the early1980s successfully curbed the runawayinflation that had started duringthe Carter years. Fuel prices,moreover, fell sharply, with at leastpart of the drop attributable toReagan’s decision to abolish controlson the pricing and allocationof gasoline. Conditions began toimprove in late 1983. By early 1984,the economy had rebounded. Bythe fall of 1984, the recovery waswell along, allowing Reagan to runfor re-election on the slogan, “It’smorning again in America.” Hedefeated his Democratic opponent,former Senator and Vice PresidentWalter Mondale, by an overwhelmingmargin.The United States entered oneof the longest periods of sustainedeconomic growth since World WarII. Consumer spending increasedin response to the federal tax cut.The stock market climbed as it reflectedthe optimistic buying spree.Over a five-year period followingthe start of the recovery, Gross NationalProduct grew at an annualrate of 4.2 percent. The annual inflationrate remained between 3 and5 percent from 1983 to 1987, exceptin 1986 when it fell to just under 2percent, the lowest level in decades.The nation’s GNP grew substantiallyduring the 1980s; from 1982 to 1987,its economy created more than 13million new jobs.Steadfast in his commitmentto lower taxes, Reagan signed themost sweeping federal tax-reformmeasure in 75 years during hissecond term. This measure, whichhad widespread Democratic as wellas Republican support, lowered incometax rates, simplified tax brackets,and closed loopholes.However, a significant percentageof this growth was based on deficitspending. Moreover, the nationaldebt, far from being stabilized bystrong economic growth, nearly tripled.Much of the growth occurredin skilled service and technical areas.Many poor and middle-classfamilies did less well. The administration,although an advocate of freetrade, pressured Japan to agree to avoluntary quota on its automobileexports to the United States.The economy was jolted on October19, 1987, “Black Monday,”when the stock market suffered thegreatest one-day crash in its history,22.6 percent. The causes of the crashincluded the large U.S. internationaltrade and federal-budget deficits, thehigh level of corporate and personaldebt, and new computerized stocktrading techniques that allowed instantaneousselling of stocks and futures.Despite the memories of 1929it evoked, however, the crash was atransitory event with little impact.In fact, economic growth continued,with the unemployment rate droppingto a 14-year low of 5.2 percentin June 1988.FOREIGN AFFAIRSIn foreign policy, Reagan soughta more assertive role for the nation,and Central America provided anearly test. The United States providedEl Salvador with a program ofeconomic aid and military trainingwhen a guerrilla insurgency threatenedto topple its government. It alsoactively encouraged the transition toan elected democratic government,but efforts to curb active right-wingdeath squads were only partly successful.U.S. support helped stabilizethe government, but the level ofviolence there remained undiminished.A peace agreement was finallyreached in early 1992.U.S. policy toward Nicaraguawas more controversial. In 1979310311

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDEROUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYrevolutionaries calling themselvesSandinistas overthrew the repressiveright-wing Somoza regime andestablished a pro-Cuba, pro-Sovietdictatorship. Regional peace effortsended in failure, and the focus ofadministration efforts shifted tosupport for the anti-Sandinista resistance,known as the contras.Following intense political debateover this policy, Congress ended allmilitary aid to the contras in October1984, then, under administrationpressure, reversed itself in thefall of 1986, and approved $100 millionin military aid. However, a lackof success on the battlefield, chargesof human rights abuses, and the revelationthat funds from secret armssales to Iran (see below) had beendiverted to the contras undercutcongressional support to continuethis aid.Subsequently, the administrationof President George H.W. Bush,who succeeded Reagan as presidentin 1989, abandoned any effort tosecure military aid for the contras.The Bush administration also exertedpressure for free elections andsupported an opposition politicalcoalition, which won an astonishingupset election in February 1990,ousting the Sandinistas from power.The Reagan administration wasmore fortunate in witnessing a returnto democracy throughout therest of Latin America, from Guatemalato Argentina. The emergence ofdemocratically elected governmentswas not limited to Latin America; inAsia, the “people power” campaignof Corazón Aquino overthrew thedictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos,and elections in South Korea endeddecades of military rule.By contrast, South Africa remainedintransigent in the face ofU.S. efforts to encourage an end toracial apartheid through the controversialpolicy of “constructive engagement,”quiet diplomacy coupledwith public endorsement of reform.In 1986, frustrated at the lack ofprogress, the U.S. Congress overrodeReagan’s veto and imposed a set ofeconomic sanctions on South Africa.In February 1990, South AfricanPresident F.W. de Klerk announcedNelson Mandela’s release and beganthe slow dismantling of apartheid.Despite its outspoken anti-Communistrhetoric, the Reagan administration’sdirect use of militaryforce was restrained. On October25, 1983, U.S. forces landed on theCaribbean island of Grenada afteran urgent appeal for help by neighboringcountries. The action followedthe assassination of Grenada’sleftist prime minister by membersof his own Marxist-oriented party.After a brief period of fighting, U.S.troops captured hundreds of Cubanmilitary and construction personneland seized caches of Soviet-suppliedarms. In December 1983, the lastAmerican combat troops left Grenada,which held democratic electionsa year later.The Middle East, however, presenteda far more difficult situation.A military presence in Lebanon,where the United States was attemptingto bolster a weak, but moderatepro-Western government, endedtragically, when 241 U.S. Marineswere killed in a terrorist bombing inOctober 1983. In April 1986, U.S.Navy and Air Force planes strucktargets in Tripoli and Benghazi,Libya, in retaliation for Libyaninstigatedterrorist attacks on U.S.military personnel in Europe.In the Persian Gulf, the earlierbreakdown in U.S.-Iranian relationsand the Iran-Iraq War set thestage for U.S. naval activities in theregion. Initially, the United Statesresponded to a request from Kuwaitfor protection of its tanker fleet; buteventually the United States, alongwith naval vessels from Western Europe,kept vital shipping lanes openby escorting convoys of tankers andother neutral vessels traveling upand down the Gulf.In late 1986 Americans learnedthat the administration had secretlysold arms to Iran in an attempt toresume diplomatic relations with thehostile Islamic government and winfreedom for American hostages heldin Lebanon by radical organizationsthat Iran controlled. Investigationalso revealed that funds from thearms sales had been diverted to theNicaraguan contras during a periodwhen Congress had prohibited suchmilitary aid.The ensuing Iran-contra hearingsbefore a joint House-Senatecommittee examined issues of possibleillegality as well as the broaderquestion of defining American foreignpolicy interests in the MiddleEast and Central America. In alarger sense, the hearings were a constitutionaldebate about governmentsecrecy and presidential versus congressionalauthority in the conductof foreign relations. Unlike the celebratedSenate Watergate hearings 14years earlier, they found no groundsfor impeaching the president andcould reach no definitive conclusionabout these perennial issues.U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONSIn relations with the Soviet Union,President Reagan’s declared policywas one of peace through strength.He was determined to stand firmagainst the country he would in1983 call an “evil empire.” Two earlyevents increased U.S.-Soviet tensions:the suppression of the Solidaritylabor movement in Poland inDecember 1981, and the destructionwith 269 fatalities of an off-coursecivilian airliner, Korean AirlinesFlight 007, by a Soviet jet fighter onSeptember 1, 1983. The United Statesalso condemned the continuing Sovietoccupation of Afghanistan andcontinued aid begun by the Carteradministration to the mujahedeenresistance there.During Reagan’s first term, theUnited States spent unprecedentedsums for a massive defense buildup,including the placement of intermediate-rangenuclear missilesin Europe to counter Soviet deploymentsof similar missiles. And onMarch 23, 1983, in one of the mosthotly debated policy decisions of his312313

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDEROUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYpresidency, Reagan announced theStrategic Defense Initiative (SDI) researchprogram to explore advancedtechnologies, such as lasers andhigh-energy projectiles, to defendagainst intercontinental ballisticmissiles. Although many scientistsquestioned the technological feasibilityof SDI and economists pointedto the extraordinary sums of moneyinvolved, the administration pressedahead with the project.After re-election in 1984, Reagansoftened his position on armscontrol. Moscow was amenable toagreement, in part because its economyalready expended a far greaterproportion of national output on itsmilitary than did the United States.Further increases, Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev felt, wouldcripple his plans to liberalize theSoviet economy.In November 1985, Reagan andGorbachev agreed in principleto seek 50-percent reductions instrategic offensive nuclear arms aswell as an interim agreement onintermediate-range nuclear forces.In December 1987, they signed theIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces(INF) Treaty providing for the destructionof that entire categoryof nuclear weapons. By then, theSoviet Union seemed a less menacingadversary. Reagan could takemuch of the credit for a greatly diminishedCold War, but as his administrationended, almost no onerealized just how shaky the USSRhad become.THE PRESIDENCY OFGEORGE H. W. BUSHPresident Reagan enjoyed unusuallyhigh popularity at the end ofhis second term in office, but underthe terms of the U.S. Constitutionhe could not run again in 1988. TheRepublican nomination went to VicePresident George Herbert WalkerBush, who was elected the 41st presidentof the United States.Bush campaigned by promisingvoters a continuation of theprosperity Reagan had brought. Inaddition, he argued that he wouldsupport a strong defense for theUnited States more reliably thanthe Democratic candidate, MichaelDukakis. He also promised to workfor “a kinder, gentler America.”Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts,claimed that less fortunateAmericans were hurting economicallyand that the government hadto help them while simultaneouslybringing the federal debt and defensespending under control. Thepublic was much more engaged,however, by Bush’s economic message:No new taxes. In the balloting,Bush finished with a 54-to-46-percentpopular vote margin.During his first year in office,Bush followed a conservative fiscalprogram, pursuing policies on taxes,spending, and debt that were faithfulto the Reagan administration’s economicprogram. But the new presidentsoon found himself squeezedbetween a large budget deficit and adeficit-reduction law. Spending cutsseemed necessary, and Bush possessedlittle leeway to introduce newbudget items.The Bush administration advancednew policy initiatives in areasnot requiring major new federalexpenditures. Thus, in November1990, Bush signed sweeping legislationimposing new federal standardson urban smog, automobile exhaust,toxic air pollution, and acid rain,but with industrial polluters bearingmost of the costs. He acceptedlegislation requiring physical accessfor the disabled, but with no federalassumption of the expense ofmodifying buildings to accommodatewheelchairs and the like. Thepresident also launched a campaignto encourage volunteerism, whichhe called, in a memorable phrase, “athousand points of light.”BUDGETS AND DEFICITSBush administration efforts togain control over the federal budgetdeficit, however, were more problematic.One source of the difficulty wasthe savings and loan crisis. Savingsbanks — formerly tightly regulated,low-interest safe havens for ordinarypeople — had been deregulated, allowingthese institutions to competemore aggressively by paying higherinterest rates and by making riskierloans. Increases in the government’sdeposit insurance guaranteed reducedconsumer incentive to shunless-sound institutions. Fraud,mismanagement, and the choppyeconomy produced widespread insolvenciesamong these thrifts (theumbrella term for consumer-orientedinstitutions like savings and loanassociations and savings banks). By1993, the total cost of selling andshuttering failed thrifts was staggering,nearly $525,000-million.In January 1990, President Bushpresented his budget proposal toCongress. Democrats argued thatadministration budget projectionswere far too optimistic, and thatmeeting the deficit-reduction lawwould require tax increases andsharper cuts in defense spending.That June, after protracted negotiations,the president agreed to a taxincrease. All the same, the combinationof economic recession, lossesfrom the savings and loan industryrescue operation, and escalatinghealth care costs for Medicare andMedicaid offset all the deficit-reductionmeasures and produced ashortfall in 1991 at least as large asthe previous year’s.END TO THE COLD WARWhen Bush became president,the Soviet empire was on the vergeof collapse. Gorbachev’s efforts toopen up the USSR’s economy appearedto be floundering. In 1989,the Communist governments inone Eastern European country afteranother simply collapsed, afterit became clear that Russian troopswould not be sent to prop them up.In mid-1991, hard-liners attempteda coup d’etat, only to be foiled byGorbachev rival Boris Yeltsin, presi-314315

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDEROUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYdent of the Russian republic. At theend of that year, Yeltsin, now dominant,forced the dissolution of theSoviet Union.The Bush administration adeptlybrokered the end of the Cold War,working closely with Gorbachev andYeltsin. It led the negotiations thatbrought the unification of East andWest Germany (September 1990),agreement on large arms reductionsin Europe (November 1990), andlarge cuts in nuclear arsenals (July1991). After the liquidation of theSoviet Union, the United States andthe new Russian Federation agreedto phase out all multiple-warheadmissiles over a 10-year period.The disposal of nuclear materialsand the ever-present concernsof nuclear proliferation now supersededthe threat of nuclear conflictbetween Washington and Moscow.THE GULF WARThe euphoria caused by the drawingdown of the Cold War was dramaticallyovershadowed by the August2, 1990, invasion of the smallnation of Kuwait by Iraq. Iraq, underSaddam Hussein, and Iran, under itsIslamic fundamentalist regime, hademerged as the two major militarypowers in the oil-rich Persian Gulfarea. The two countries had fought along, inconclusive war in the 1980s.Less hostile to the United States thanIran, Iraq had won some supportfrom the Reagan and Bush administrations.The occupation of Kuwait,posing a threat to Saudi Arabia,changed the diplomatic calculationovernight.President Bush strongly condemnedthe Iraqi action, called forIraq’s unconditional withdrawal,and sent a major deployment of U.S.troops to the Middle East. He assembledone of the most extraordinarymilitary and political coalitions ofmodern times, with military forcesfrom Asia, Europe, and Africa, aswell as the Middle East.In the days and weeks followingthe invasion, the U.N. SecurityCouncil passed 12 resolutions condemningthe Iraqi invasion andimposing wide-ranging economicsanctions on Iraq. On November 29,it approved the use of force if Iraqdid not withdraw from Kuwait byJanuary 15, 1991. Gorbachev’s SovietUnion, once Iraq’s major arms supplier,made no effort to protect itsformer client.Bush also confronted a majorconstitutional issue. The U.S. Constitutiongives the legislative branchthe power to declare war. Yet in thesecond half of the 20th century, theUnited States had become involvedin Korea and Vietnam without anofficial declaration of war and withonly murky legislative authorization.On January 12, 1991, three daysbefore the U.N. deadline, Congressgranted President Bush the authorityhe sought in the most explicit andsweeping war-making power given apresident in nearly half a century.The United States, in coalitionwith Great Britain, France, Italy,Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and othercountries, succeeded in liberatingKuwait with a devastating, U.S.-ledair campaign that lasted slightlymore than a month. It was followedby a massive invasion of Kuwaitand Iraq by armored and airborneinfantry forces. With their superiorspeed, mobility, and firepower, theallied forces overwhelmed the Iraqiforces in a land campaign lastingonly 100 hours.The victory, however, was incompleteand unsatisfying. The U.N. resolution,which Bush enforced to theletter, called only for the expulsion ofIraq from Kuwait. Saddam Husseinremained in power, savagely repressingthe Kurds in the north and theShiites in the south, both of whomthe United States had encouraged torebel. Hundreds of oil-well fires, deliberatelyset in Kuwait by the Iraqis,took until November 1991 to extinguish.Saddam’s regime also apparentlythwarted U.N. inspectors who,operating in accordance with SecurityCouncil resolutions, worked tolocate and destroy Iraq’s weapons ofmass destruction, including nuclearfacilities more advanced than hadpreviously been suspected and hugestocks of chemical weapons.The Gulf War enabled the UnitedStates to persuade the Arab states,Israel, and a Palestinian delegationto begin direct negotiations aimedat resolving the complex and interlockedissues that could eventuallylead to a lasting peace in the region.The talks began in Madrid, Spain,on October 30, 1991. In turn, theyset the stage for the secret negotiationsin Norway that led to what atthe time seemed a historic agreementbetween Israel and the PalestineLiberation Organization, signedat the White House on September13, 1993.PANAMA AND NAFTAThe president also received broadbipartisan congressional backing forthe brief U.S. invasion of Panama onDecember 20, 1989, that deposeddictator General Manuel AntonioNoriega. In the 1980s, addiction tocrack cocaine reached epidemic proportions,and President Bush put the“War on Drugs” at the center of hisdomestic agenda. Moreover, Noriega,an especially brutal dictator,had attempted to maintain himselfin power with rather crude displaysof anti-Americanism. After seekingrefuge in the Vatican embassy,Noriega turned himself over to U.S.authorities. He was later tried andconvicted in U.S. federal court inMiami, Florida, of drug traffickingand racketeering.On the economic front, the Bushadministration negotiated the NorthAmerica Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.It would be ratified after an intensedebate in the first year of the Clintonadministration. 9316317

CHAPTER 14: THE NEW CONSERVATISM AND A NEW WORLD ORDERTHIRD-PARTY AND INDEPENDENT CANDIDATESThe United States is often thought of as functioning under a two-party system.In practical effect this is true: Either a Democrat or a Republican hasoccupied the White House every year since 1852. At the same time, however,the country has produced a plethora of third and minor parties over the years.For example, 58 parties were represented on at least one state ballot duringthe 1992 presidential elections. Among these were obscure parties such as theApathy, the Looking Back, the New Mexico Prohibition, the Tish IndependentCitizens, and the Vermont Taxpayers.Third parties organize around a single issue or set of issues. They tendto fare best when they have a charismatic leader. With the presidency out ofreach, most seek a platform to publicize their political and social concerns.Theodore Roosevelt. The most successful third-party candidate ofthe 20th century was a Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, the former president.His Progressive or Bull Moose Party won 27.4 percent of the vote in the1912 election. The progressive wing of the Republican Party, having growndisenchanted with President William Howard Taft, whom Roosevelt hadhand-picked as his successor, urged Roosevelt to seek the party nomination in1912. This he did, defeating Taft in a number of primaries. Taft controlled theparty machinery, however, and secured the nomination.Roosevelt’s supporters then broke away and formed the Progressive Party.Declaring himself as fit as a bull moose (hence the party’s popular name),Roosevelt campaigned on a platform of regulating “big business,” women’ssuffrage, a graduated income tax, the Panama Canal, and conservation. Hiseffort was sufficient to defeat Taft. By splitting the Republican vote, however,he helped ensure the election of the Democrat Woodrow Wilson.Socialists. The Socialist Party also reached its high point in 1912,attaining 6 percent of the popular vote. Perennial candidate Eugene Debs wonnearly 900,000 votes that year, advocating collective ownership of the transportationand communication industries, shorter working hours, and publicworks projects to spur employment. Convicted of sedition during World War I,Debs campaigned from his cell in 1920.Robert LaFollette. Another Progressive was Senator Robert La Follette,who won more than 16 percent of the vote in the 1924 election. Long achampion of farmers and industrial workers, and an ardent foe of big business,La Follette was a prime mover in the recreation of the Progressive movementfollowing World War I. Backed by the farm and labor vote, as well as by Socialistsand remnants of Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party, La Follette ran on aplatform of nationalizing railroads and the country’s natural resources. He318319OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYalso strongly supported increased taxation on the wealthy and the right of collectivebargaining. He carried only his home state of Wisconsin.Henry Wallace. The Progressive Party reinvented itself in 1948 withthe nomination of Henry Wallace, a former secretary of agriculture and vicepresident under Franklin Roosevelt. Wallace’s 1948 platform opposed theCold War, the Marshall Plan, and big business. He also campaigned to enddiscrimination against African Americans and women, backed a minimumwage, and called for the elimination of the House Committee on Un-AmericanActivities. His failure to repudiate the U.S. Communist Party, which hadendorsed him, undermined his popularity and he wound up with just over 2.4percent of the popular vote.Dixiecrats. Like the Progressives, the States Rights or Dixiecrat Party,led by South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, emerged in 1948 as a spinofffrom the Democratic Party. Its opposition stemmed from Truman’s civilrights platform. Although defined in terms of “states’ rights,” the party’s goalwas continuing racial segregation and the “Jim Crow” laws that sustained it.George Wallace. The racial and social upheavals of the 1960s helpedbring George Wallace, another segregationist Southern governor, to nationalattention. Wallace built a following through his colorful attacks against civilrights, liberals, and the federal government. Founding the American IndependentParty in 1968, he ran his campaign from the statehouse in Montgomery,Alabama, winning 13.5 percent of the overall presidential vote.H. Ross Perot. Every third party seeks to capitalize on popular dissatisfactionwith the major parties and the federal government. At few times inrecent history, however, has this sentiment been as strong as it was during the1992 election. A hugely wealthy Texas businessman, Perot possessed a knackfor getting his message of economic common sense and fiscal responsibilityacross to a wide spectrum of the people. Lampooning the nation’s leaders andreducing his economic message to easily understood formulas, Perot foundlittle difficulty gaining media attention. His campaign organization, United WeStand, was staffed primarily by volunteers and backed by his personal fortune.Far from resenting his wealth, many admired Perot’s business success and thefreedom it brought him from soliciting campaign funds from special interests.Perot withdrew from the race in July. Re-entering it a month before the election,he won over 19 million votes as the Reform Party standard-bearer, nearly19 percent of the total cast. This was by far the largest number ever tallied bya third-party candidate and second only to Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 showingas a percentage of the total.

C H A P T E R15BRIDGETOTHE21 STCENTURYFirefighters beneaththe destroyed verticalstruts of the World TradeCenter’s twin towers afterthe September 11, 2001,terrorist attacks in NewYork and Washington, D.C.320

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“The best hope for peacein our world isthe expansion of freedomin all the world.”For most Americans the 1990swould be a time of peace, prosperity,and rapid technological change.Some attributed this to the “ReaganRevolution” and the end of theCold War, others to the return of aDemocrat to the presidency. Duringthis period. the majority of Americans— political affiliation aside —asserted their support for traditionalfamily values, often groundedin their faiths. New York Timescolumnist David Brooks suggestedthat the country was experiencing“moral self-repair,“ as “many ofthe indicators of social breakdown,which shot upward in the late 1960sand 1970s, and which plateaued athigh levels in the 1980s,” were nowin decline.President George W. Bush, 2005Improved crime and other socialstatistics aside, American politics remainedideological, emotional, andcharacterized by intense divisions.Shortly after the nation entered thenew millennium, moreover, its post-Cold War sense of security was joltedby an unprecedented terrorist attackthat launched it on a new and difficultinternational track1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONAs the 1992 presidential electionapproached, Americans foundthemselves in a world transformedin ways almost unimaginable fouryears earlier. The familiar landmarksof the Cold War — from theBerlin Wall to intercontinental mis-siles and bombers on constant highalert — were gone. Eastern Europewas independent, the Soviet Unionhad dissolved, Germany was united,Arabs and Israelis were engaged indirect negotiations, and the threatof nuclear conflict was greatly diminished.It was as though onegreat history volume had closedand another had opened.Yet at home, Americans were lesssanguine, and they faced some deepand familiar problems. The UnitedStates found itself in its deepestrecession since the early 1980s.Many of the job losses were occurringamong white-collar workers inmiddle management positions, notsolely, as earlier, among blue-collarworkers in the manufacturing sector.Even when the economy beganrecovering in 1992, its growth wasvirtually imperceptible until late inthe year. Moreover, the federal deficitcontinued to mount, propelledmost strikingly by rising expendituresfor health care.President George Bush and VicePresident Dan Quayle easily wonrenomination by the RepublicanParty. On the Democratic side, BillClinton, governor of Arkansas, defeateda crowded field of candidatesto win his party’s nomination. Ashis vice presidential nominee, he selectedSenator Al Gore of Tennessee,generally acknowledged as one of theCongress’s strongest advocates of environmentalprotection.The country’s deep unease overthe direction of the economy alsosparked the emergence of a remarkableindependent candidate, wealthyTexas entrepreneur H. Ross Perot.Perot tapped into a deep wellspringof frustration over the inability ofWashington to deal effectively witheconomic issues, principally the federaldeficit. He possessed a colorfulpersonality and a gift for the tellingone-line political quip. He wouldbe the most successful third-partycandidate since Theodore Rooseveltin 1912.The Bush re-election effort wasbuilt around a set of ideas traditionallyused by incumbents: experienceand trust. George Bush, 68,the last of a line of presidents whohad served in World War II, faceda young challenger in Bill Clintonwho, at age 46, had never served inthe military and had participated inprotests against the Vietnam War. Inemphasizing his experience as presidentand commander-in-chief, Bushdrew attention to Clinton’s inexperienceat the national level.Bill Clinton organized his campaignaround another of the oldestand most powerful themes in electoralpolitics: youth and change.As a high-school student, Clintonhad once met President Kennedy;30 years later, much of his rhetoricconsciously echoed that of Kennedyin his 1960 campaign.As governor of Arkansas for 12years, Clinton could point to hisexperience in wrestling with thevery issues of economic growth,education, and health care thatwere, according to public opinionpolls, among President Bush’s chief322323

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYvulnerabilities. Where Bush offeredan economic program based onlower taxes and cuts in governmentspending, Clinton proposed highertaxes on the wealthy and increasedspending on investments in education,transportation, and communicationsthat, he believed, wouldboost the nation’s productivity andgrowth and thereby lower the deficit.Similarly, Clinton’s health careproposals called for much heavierinvolvement by the federal governmentthan Bush’s.Clinton proved to be a highlyeffective communicator, not leaston television, a medium that highlightedhis charm and intelligence.The incumbent’s very success inhandling the end of the Cold Warand reversing the Iraqi thrust intoKuwait lent strength to Clinton’simplicit argument that foreign affairshad become relatively less important,given pressing social andeconomic needs at home.On November 3, Clinton wonelection as the 42nd president of theUnited States, with 43 percent of thepopular vote against 37 percent forBush and 19 percent for Perot.A NEW PRESIDENCYClinton was in many respectsthe perfect leader for a party dividedbetween liberal and moderatewings. He tried to assume the imageof a pragmatic centrist who couldmoderate the demands of variousDemocratic Party interest groupswithout alienating them.Avoiding ideological rhetoricthat declared big government to bea positive good, he proposed a numberof programs that earned himthe label “New Democrat.” Controlof the federal bureaucracy and judicialappointments provided onemeans of satisfying political claimsof organized labor and civil rightsgroups. On the ever-controversialabortion issue, Clinton supportedthe Roe v. Wade decision, but alsodeclared that abortion should be“safe, legal, and rare.”President Clinton’s closest collaboratorwas his wife, HillaryRodham Clinton. In the campaign,he had quipped that those whovoted for him “got two for the priceof one.” She supported her husbandagainst accusations about his personallife.As energetic and as activist as herhusband, Ms. Clinton assumed amore prominent role in the administrationthan any first lady beforeher, even Eleanor Roosevelt. Herfirst important assignment wouldbe to develop a national health program.In 2000, with her husband’sadministration coming to a close,she would be elected a U.S. senatorfrom New York.LAUNCHING A NEWDOMESTIC POLICYIn practice, Clinton’s centrismdemanded choices that sometimeselicited vehement emotions. Thepresident’s first policy initiative wasdesigned to meet the demands ofgays, who, claiming a group statusas victims of discrimination, hadbecome an important Democraticconstituency.Immediately after his inauguration,President Clinton issuedan executive order rescinding thelong-established military policy ofdismissing known gays from theservice. The order quickly drewfurious criticism from the military,most Republicans, and large segmentsof American society. Clintonquickly modified it with a “don’task, don’t tell” order that effectivelyrestored the old policy but discouragedactive investigation of one’ssexual practices.The effort to achieve a nationalhealth plan proved to be a far largersetback. The administration set up alarge task force, chaired by HillaryClinton. Composed of prominentpolicy intellectuals and politicalactivists, it labored in secrecy formonths to develop a plan that wouldprovide medical coverage for everyAmerican.The working assumption behindthe plan was that a government-managed“single-payer” plancould deliver health services to theentire nation more efficiently thanthe current decentralized systemwith its thousands of insurers anddisconnected providers. As finallydelivered to Congress in September1993, however, the plan mirroredthe complexity of its subject. MostRepublicans and some Democratscriticized it as a hopelessly elaboratefederal takeover of American medicine.After a year of discussion, itdied without a vote in Congress.Clinton was more successful onanother matter with great repercussionsfor the domestic economy.The previous president, GeorgeBush, had negotiated the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) to establish fully opentrade between Canada, the UnitedStates, and Mexico. Key Democraticconstituencies opposed theagreement. Labor unions believedit would encourage the export ofjobs and undermine American laborstandards. Environmentalistsasserted that it would lead Americanindustries to relocate to countrieswith weak pollution controls.These were the first indications ofa growing movement on the leftwing of American politics againstthe vision of an integrated worldeconomic system.President Clinton nonethelessaccepted the argument that opentrade was ultimately beneficial toall parties because it would lead toa greater flow of more efficientlyproduced goods and services. Hisadministration not only submittedNAFTA to the Senate, it also backedthe establishment of a greatly liberalizedinternational trading systemto be administered by the WorldTrade Organization (WTO). Aftera vigorous debate, Congress approvedNAFTA in 1993. It wouldapprove membership in the WTOa year later.Although Clinton had talkedabout a “middle class tax cut” dur-324325

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYing the presidential campaign, hesubmitted to Congress a budgetcalling for a general tax increase.It originally included a wide taxon energy consumption designedto promote conservation, but thatwas quickly replaced by a nominalincrease in the federal gasolinetax. It also taxed social securitybenefits for recipients of moderateincome and above. The big emphasis,however, was on increasing theincome tax for high earners. Thesubsequent debate amounted to arerun of the arguments betweentax cutters and advocates of “fiscalresponsibility” that had marked theReagan years. In the end, Clintongot his way, but very narrowly. Thetax bill passed the House of Representativesby only one vote.By then, the congressional electioncampaigns of 1994 were underway. Although the administrationalready had made numerous foreignpolicy decisions, issues at home wereclearly most important to the voters.The Republicans depicted Clintonand the Democrats as unreformedtax and spenders. Clinton himselfwas already beleaguered with chargesof past financial impropriety inan Arkansas real estate project andnew claims of sexual impropriety. InNovember, the voters gave the Republicanscontrol of both houses ofCongress for the first time since theelection of 1952. Many observers believedthat Bill Clinton would likelybe a one-term president. Apparentlymaking a decision to conform tonew political realities, Clinton insteadmoderated his political course.Policy initiatives for the remainderof his presidency were few. Contraryto Republican predictions of doom,the tax increases of 1993 did not getin the way of a steadily improvingeconomy.The new Republican leadershipin the House of Representatives, bycontrast, pressed hard to achieveits policy objectives, a sharp contrastwith the administration’s newmoderate tone. When right-wingextremists bombed an OklahomaCity federal building in April 1995,Clinton responded with a tone ofmoderation and healing that heightenedhis stature and implicitly leftsome doubts about his conservativeopponents. At the end of the year,he vetoed a Republican budget bill,shutting down the government forweeks. Most of the public seemed toblame the Republicans.The president also co-opted partof the Republican program. In hisState of the Union address of January1996, he ostentatiously declared,“The era of big government is over.”That summer, on the eve of thepresidential campaign, he signed amajor welfare reform bill that wasessentially a Republican product.Designed to end permanent supportfor most welfare recipients andmove them to work, it was opposedby many in his own party. By andlarge, it would prove successful inoperation over the next decade.THE AMERICAN ECONOMYIN THE 1990SBy the mid-1990s, the countryhad not simply recovered from thebrief, but sharp, recession of theBush presidency. It was entering anera of booming prosperity, and doingso despite the decline of its traditionalindustrial base. Probably themajor force behind this new growthwas the blossoming of the personalcomputer (PC).Less than 20 years after its introduction,the PC had become afamiliar item, not simply in businessoffices of all types, but in homesthroughout America. Vastly morepowerful than anyone could haveimagined two decades earlier, ableto store enormous amounts of data,available at the cost of a good refrigerator,it became a common appliancein American homes.Employing prepackaged software,people used it for bookkeeping,word processing, or as a depositoryfor music, photos, and video.The rise of the Internet, which grewout of a previously closed defensedata network, provided access toinformation of all sorts, created newshopping opportunities, and establishede-mail as a common modeof communication. The popularityof the mobile phone created a hugenew industry that cross-fertilizedwith the PC.Instant communication andlightning-fast data manipulationspeeded up the tempo of many businesses,greatly enhancing productivityand creating new opportunitiesfor profit. Fledgling industries thatfed demand for the new equipmentbecame multi-billion-dollar companiesalmost overnight, creatingan enormous new middle class ofsoftware technicians, managers, andpublicists.A final impetus was the turn ofthe millennium. A huge push to upgradeoutdated computing equipmentthat might not recognize theyear 2000 brought data technologyspending to a peak.These developments began totake shape during Clinton’s firstterm. By the end of his second onethey were fueling a surging economy.When he had been electedpresident, unemployment was at 7.4percent. When he stood for re-electionin 1996, it was at 5.4 percent.When voters went to the polls tochoose his successor in November2000, it was 3.9 percent. In manyplaces, the issue was less one of takingcare of the jobless than of findingemployable workers.No less a figure than FederalReserve Chairman Alan Greenspanviewed a rapidly escalating stockmarket with concern and warnedof “irrational exuberance.” Investorexuberance, at its greatest since the1920s, continued in the convictionthat ordinary standards of valuationhad been rendered obsoleteby a “new economy” with unlimitedpotential. The good times wererolling dangerously fast, but most326327

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYAmericans were more inclined toenjoy the ride while it lasted than toplan for a coming bust.THE ELECTION OF 1996 ANDTHE POLITICAL AFTERMATHPresident Clinton undertook hiscampaign for re-election in 1996under the most favorable of circumstances.If not an imposing personalityin the manner of a Roosevelt,he was a natural campaigner, whommany felt had an infectious charm.He presided over a growing economicrecovery. He had positionedhimself on the political spectrum ina way that made him appear a manof the center leaning left. His Republicanopponent, Senator Robert Doleof Kansas, Republican leader in theupper house, was a formidable legislatorbut less successful as a presidentialcandidate.Clinton, promising to “build abridge to the 21st century,” easilydefeated Dole in a three-party race,49.2 percent to 40.7 percent, with8.4 percent to Ross Perot. He thusbecame the second American presidentto win two consecutive electionswith less than a majority of thetotal vote. (The other was WoodrowWilson in 1912 and 1916.) The Republicans,however, retained controlof both the House of Representativesand the Senate.Clinton never stated much ofa domestic program for his secondterm. The highlight of its firstyear was an accord with Congressdesigned to balance the budget,further reinforcing the president’sstanding as a fiscally responsiblemoderate liberal.In 1998, American politics entereda period of turmoil with therevelation that Clinton had carriedon an affair inside the WhiteHouse with a young intern. At firstthe president denied this, telling theAmerican people: “I did not havesexual relations with that woman.”The president had faced similarcharges in the past. In a sexual harassmentlawsuit filed by a womanhe had known in Arkansas, Clintondenied under oath the White Houseaffair. This fit most Americans’ definitionof perjury. In October 1998,the House of Representatives beganimpeachment hearings, focusing oncharges of perjury and obstructionof justice.Whatever the merits of that approach,a majority of Americansseemed to view the matter as a privateone to be sorted out with one’sfamily, a significant shift in publicattitude. Also significantly, HillaryClinton continued to support herhusband. It surely helped also thatthe times were good. In the midstof the House impeachment debate,the president announced the largestbudget surplus in 30 years. Publicopinion polls showed Clinton’s approvalrating to be the highest of hissix years in office.That November, the Republicanstook further losses in the midtermcongressional elections, cuttingtheir majorities to razor-thin margins.House Speaker Newt Gingrichresigned, and the party attemptedto develop a less strident image.Nevertheless, in December theHouse voted the first impeachmentresolution against a sitting presidentsince Andrew Johnson (1868),thereby handing the case to theSenate for a trial.Clinton’s impeachment trial,presided over by the Chief Justiceof the United States, held littlesuspense. In the midst of it, thepresident delivered his annual Stateof the Union address to Congress.He never testified, and no seriousobserver expected that any of theseveral charges against him wouldwin the two-thirds vote requiredfor removal from office. In the end,none got even a simple majority. OnFebruary 12, 1999, Clinton was acquittedof all charges.AMERICAN FOREIGNRELATIONS IN THECLINTON YEARSBill Clinton did not expect to bea president who emphasized foreignpolicy. However, like his immediatepredecessors, he quickly discoveredthat all international crises seemedto take a road that led throughWashington.He had to deal with the messyaftermath of the 1991 Gulf War.Having failed to depose SaddamHussein, the United States, backedby Britain, attempted to containhim. A United Nations-administeredeconomic sanctions regime,designed to allow Iraq to sell enoughoil to meet humanitarian needs,proved relatively ineffective. Saddamfunneled much of the proceedsto himself, leaving large masses ofhis people in misery. Military “noflyzones,” imposed to prevent theIraqi government from deploying itsair power against rebellious Kurds inthe north and Shiites in the south,required constant U.S. and Britishair patrols, which regularly fendedoff anti-aircraft missiles.The United States also providedthe main backing for U.N. weaponsinspection teams, whose missionwas to ferret out Iraq’s chemical,biological, and nuclear programs,verify the destruction of existingweapons of mass destruction,and suppress ongoing programs tomanufacture them. Increasinglyobstructed, the U.N. inspectorswere finally expelled in 1998. Onthis, as well as earlier occasionsof provocation, the United Statesresponded with limited missilestrikes. Saddam, Secretary of StateMadeline Albright declared, wasstill “in his box.”The seemingly endless Israeli-Palestinian dispute inevitably engagedthe administration, althoughneither President Clinton nor formerPresident Bush had much to do withthe Oslo agreement of 1993, whichestablished a Palestinian “authority”to govern the Palestinian populationwithin the West Bank and the GazaStrip and obtained Palestinian recognitionof Israel’s right to exist.As with so many past MiddleEastern agreements in principle,328329

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYhowever, Oslo eventually fell apartwhen details were discussed. Palestinianleader Yasser Arafat rejectedfinal offers from peace-minded Israelileader Ehud Barak in 2000 andJanuary 2001. A full-scale Palestinianinsurgency, marked by the useof suicide bombers, erupted. Barakfell from power, to be replaced bythe far tougher Ariel Sharon. U.S.identification with Israel was consideredby some a major problemin dealing with other issues in theregion, but American diplomatscould do little more than hope tocontain the violence. After Arafat’sdeath in late 2004, new Palestinianleadership appeared more receptiveto a peace agreement, and Americanpolicy makers resumed effortsto promote a settlement.President Clinton also becameclosely engaged with “the troubles”in Northern Ireland. On one sidewas the violent Irish RepublicanArmy, supported primarily by thoseCatholic Irish who wanted to incorporatethese British counties into theRepublic of Ireland. On the otherside were Unionists, with equally violentparamilitary forces, supportedby most of the Protestant Scots-Irishpopulation, who wanted to remainin the United Kingdom.Clinton gave the separatistsgreater recognition than they everhad obtained in the United States,but also worked closely with theBritish governments of John Majorand Tony Blair. The ultimate result,the Good Friday peace accords of1998, established a political processbut left many details to beworked out. Over the next severalyears, peace and order held betterin Northern Ireland than in theMiddle East, but remained precarious.The final accord continued toelude negotiators.The post-Cold War disintegrationof Yugoslavia — a state ethnicallyand religiously divided amongSerbs, Croats, Slovenes, BosnianMuslims, and Albanian Kosovars— also made its way to Washingtonafter European governmentsfailed to impose order. The Bushadministration had refused to getinvolved in the initial violence;the Clinton administration finallydid so with great reluctance afterbeing urged to do so by the Europeanallies. In 1995, it negotiatedan accord in Dayton, Ohio, to establisha semblance of peace inBosnia. In 1999, faced with Serbianmassacres of Kosovars, it led athree-month NATO bombing campaignagainst Serbia, which finallyforced a settlement.In 1994, the administration restoredousted President Jean-BertrandAristide to power in Haiti,where he would rule for nine yearsbefore being ousted again. The interventionwas largely a result ofAristide’s carefully cultivated supportin the United States and Americanfears of waves of Haitian illegalimmigrants.In sum, the Clinton administrationremained primarily inwardlooking, willing to tackle internationalproblems that could not beavoided, and, in other instances,forced by the rest of the worldto do so.INTIMATIONS OF TERRORISMNear the close of his administration,George H. W. Bush sentAmerican troops to the chaotic EastAfrican nation of Somalia. Theirmission was to spearhead a U.N.force that would allow the regularmovement of food to a starvingpopulation.Somalia became yet anotherlegacy for the Clinton administration.Efforts to establish a representativegovernment there becamea “nation-building” enterprise. InOctober 1993, American troopssent to arrest a recalcitrant warlordran into unexpectedly strong resistance,losing an attack helicopterand suffering 18 deaths. The warlordwas never arrested. Over thenext several months, all Americancombat units were withdrawn.From the standpoint of the administration,it seemed prudentenough simply to end a marginal,ill-advised commitment and concentrateon other priorities. It onlybecame clear later that the Somalianwarlord had been aided by a shadowyand emerging organization thatwould become known as al-Qaida,headed by a fundamentalist Muslimnamed Osama bin Laden. A fanaticalenemy of Western civilization,bin Laden reportedly felt confirmedin his belief that Americans wouldnot fight when attacked.By then the United States hadalready experienced an attack byMuslim extremists. In February1993, a huge car bomb was explodedin an underground parking garagebeneath one of the twin towers ofthe World Trade Center in lowerManhattan. The blast killed sevenpeople and injured nearly a thousand,but it failed to bring down thehuge building with its thousands ofworkers. New York and federal authoritiestreated it as a criminal act,apprehended four of the plotters,and obtained life prison sentencesfor them. Subsequent plots to blowup traffic tunnels, public buildings,and even the United Nations wereall discovered and dealt with in asimilar fashion.Possible foreign terrorism wasnonetheless overshadowed by domesticterrorism, primarily theOklahoma City bombing. The workof right-wing extremists TimothyMcVeigh and Terry Nichols,it killed 166 and injured hundreds,a far greater toll than the 1993Trade Center attack. But on June 25,1996, another huge bomb explodedat the Khobar Towers U.S. militaryhousing complex in Saudi Arabia,killing 19 and wounding 515. A federalgrand jury indicted 13 Saudisand one Lebanese man for the attack,but Saudi Arabia ruled out anyextraditions.Two years later, on August 7,1998, powerful bombs explodingsimultaneously destroyed U.S. embassiesin Kenya and Tanzania, killing301 people and injuring more330331

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYthan 5,000. In retaliation Clintonordered missile attacks on terroristtraining camps run by bin Ladenin Afghanistan, but they appear tohave been deserted. He also ordereda missile strike to destroy a suspectchemical factory in Sudan, a countrywhich earlier had given sanctuaryto bin Laden.On October 12, 2000, suicidebombers rammed a speedboat intothe U.S. Navy destroyer Cole, on acourtesy visit to Yemen. Heroic actionby the crew kept the ship afloat,but 17 sailors were killed. Bin Ladenhad pretty clearly been behind theattacks in Saudi Arabia, Africa, andYemen, but he was beyond reachunless the administration was preparedto invade Afghanistan tosearch for him.The Clinton administration wasnever willing to take such a step. Iteven shrank from the possibility ofassassinating him if others might bekilled in the process. The attacks hadbeen remote and widely separated. Itwas easy to accept them as unwelcomebut inevitable costs associatedwith superpower status. Bin Ladenremained a serious nuisance, but nota top priority for an administrationthat was nearing its end.THE PRESIDENTIALELECTION OF 2000 ANDTHE WAR ON TERRORThe Democratic Party nominatedVice President Al Gore to head theirticket in 2000. To oppose him theRepublicans chose George W. Bush,the governor of Texas and son of formerPresident George H. W. Bush.Gore ran as a dedicated liberal,intensely concerned with damageto the environment and determinedto seek more assistance for theless privileged sectors of society. Heseemed to place himself somewhatto the left of President Clinton.Bush established a position closerto the heritage of Ronald Reaganthan to that of his father. He displayeda special interest in educationand called himself a “compassionateconservative.” His embrace ofevangelical Christianity, which hedeclared had changed his life aftera misspent youth, was of particularnote. It underscored an attachmentto traditional cultural values thatcontrasted sharply with Gore’s technocraticmodernism. The old corporategadfly Ralph Nader ran wellto Gore’s left as the candidate of theGreen Party. Conservative RepublicanPatrick Buchanan mounted anindependent candidacy.The final vote was nearly evenlydivided nationally; so were the electoralvotes. The pivotal state wasFlorida; there, only a razor-thinmargin separated the candidatesand thousands of ballots weredisputed. After a series of stateand federal court challenges overthe laws and procedures governingrecounts, the U.S. Supreme Courthanded down a narrow decisionthat effectively gave the electionto Bush. The Republicans maintainedcontrol of both houses ofCongress by a small margin.The final totals underscored thetightness of the election: Bush won271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266, butGore led him in the national popularvote 48.4 percent to 47.9 percent.Nader polled 2.7 percent and Buchanan.4 percent. Gore, his statescolored blue in media graphics,swept the Northeast and the WestCoast; he also ran well in the Midwesternindustrial heartland. Bush,whose states were colored red, rolledover his opponent in the South, therest of the Midwest, and the mountainstates. Commentators everywheredwelled on the vast gap between“red” and “blue” America, adivide they characterized by culturaland social rather than economic differences,and all the more emotionalfor that reason. George Bush tookoffice in a climate of extreme partisanbitterness.Bush expected to be a presidentprimarily concerned with domesticpolicy. He wanted to reform education.He had talked during his campaignabout an overhaul of the socialsecurity system. He wanted to followReagan’s example as a tax cutter.The president quickly discoveredthat he had to deal with an economythat was beginning to slip back fromits lofty peak of the late 1990s. Thishelped him secure passage of a taxcut in May 2001. At the end of theyear, he also obtained the “No ChildLeft Behind” Act, which requiredpublic schools to test reading andmathematical proficiency on an annualbasis; it prescribed penalties forthose institutions unable to achievea specified standard. Projected deficitsin the social security trust fundremained unaddressed.The Bush presidency changedirrevocably on September 11, 2001,when the United States sufferedthe most devastating foreign attackever against its mainland. Thatmorning, Middle Eastern terroristssimultaneously hijacked four passengerairplanes and used two ofthem as suicide vehicles to destroythe twin towers of the World TradeCenter. A third crashed into thePentagon building, the Defense Departmentheadquarters just outsideof Washington, D.C. The fourth,probably meant for the U.S. Capitol,crashed into the Pennsylvaniacountryside as passengers foughtthe hijackers.The death toll, most of it consistingof civilians at the World TradeCenter, was approximately 3,000,exceeding that of the Japanese attackon Pearl Harbor in 1941. Theeconomic costs were also heavy.The destruction of the trade centertook several other buildings with itand shut down the financial marketsfor several days. The effect wasto prolong the already developingrecession.As the nation began to recoverfrom the 9/11 attack, an unknownperson or group sent out letterscontaining small amounts ofanthrax bacteria. Some went tomembers of Congress and administrationofficials, others to obscureindividuals. No notable person wasinfected. Five victims died, how-332333

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYever, and several others suffered seriousillness. The mailings touchedoff a wave of national hysteria, thenstopped as suddenly as they had begun,and remained a mystery.It was in this setting that theadministration obtained passage ofthe USA Patriot Act on October 26,2001. Designed to fight domesticterrorism, the new law considerablybroadened the search, seizure, anddetention powers of the federal government.Its opponents argued thatit amounted to a serious violationof constitutionally protected individualrights. Its backers respondedthat a country at war needed to protectitself.After initial hesitation, the Bushadministration also decided to supportthe establishment of a giganticnew Department of HomelandSecurity. Authorized in November2002, and designed to coordinatethe fight against domestic terroristattack, the new department consolidated22 federal agencies.Overseas, the administration retaliatedquickly against the perpetratorsof the September 11 attacks.Determining that the attack had beenan al-Qaida operation, it launcheda military offensive against Osamabin Laden and the fundamentalistMuslim Taliban governmentof Afghanistan. The United Statessecured the passive cooperation ofthe Russian Federation, establishedrelationships with the former Sovietrepublics that bordered Afghanistan,and, above all, resumed a longneglectedalliance with Pakistan,which provided political supportand access to air bases.Utilizing U.S. Army special forcesand Central Intelligence Agencyparamilitary operatives, the administrationallied with long-marginalizedAfghan rebels. Given effectiveair support, the coalition ousted theAfghan government in two months.Bin Laden, Taliban leaders, andmany of their fighters were believedto have escaped into remote, semiautonomousareas of northeasternPakistan. From there they would tryto regroup and attack the shaky newAfghan government.In the meantime, the Bushadministration identified othersources of enemy terrorism. In his2002 State of the Union address,the president named an “axis ofevil” that he thought threatenedthe nation: Iraq, Iran, and NorthKorea. Of these three, Iraq seemedto him and his advisers the mostimmediately troublesome. SaddamHussein had successfully ejectedU.N. weapons inspectors. The economicsanctions against Iraq werebreaking down, and, althoughthe regime was not believed to beinvolved in the 9/11 attacks, it hadengaged in some contacts withal-Qaida. It was widely believed,not just in the United States butthroughout the world, that Iraqhad large stockpiles of chemicaland biological weapons and mightbe working to acquire a nuclearcapability. Why else throw out theinspection teams and endure continuingsanctions?Throughout the year, the administrationpressed for a U.N.resolution demanding resumptionof weapons inspection with full andfree access. In October 2002, Bushsecured congressional authorizationfor the use of military force by a voteof 296-133 in the House and 77-23in the Senate. The U.S. military begana buildup of personnel and materielin Kuwait.In November 2002, the U.N. SecurityCouncil unanimously adoptedResolution 1441 requiring Iraq toafford U.N. inspectors the unconditionalright to search anywhere inIraq for banned weapons. Five dayslater, Iraq declared it would comply.Nonetheless, the new inspectionsteams complained of bad faith. InJanuary 2003, chief inspector HansBlix presented a report to the UnitedNations declaring that Iraq hadfailed to account for its weaponsof mass destruction, although herecommended more efforts beforewithdrawing.Despite Saddam’s unsatisfactorycooperation with the weaponsinspectors, the American plans toremove him from power encounteredunusually strong oppositionin much of Europe. France, Russia,and Germany all opposed theuse of force, making impossible thepassage of a new Security Councilresolution authorizing the use offorce against Iraq. Even in thosenations whose governments supportedthe United States, there wasstrong popular hostility to cooperation.Britain became the majorU.S. ally in the war that followed;Australia and most of the newlyindependent Eastern European nationscontributed assistance. Thegovernments of Italy and Spainalso lent their backing. Turkey, longa reliable American ally, declinedto do so.On March 19, 2003, Americanand British troops, supported bysmall contingents from several othercountries, began an invasion of Iraqfrom the south. Small groups airliftedinto the north coordinated withKurdish militia. On both fronts, resistancewas occasionally fierce butusually melted away. Baghdad fellon April 9. On April 14, Pentagonofficials announced that the militarycampaign was over.Taking Iraq turned out to be fareasier than administering it. In thefirst days after the end of majorcombat, the country experiencedpervasive looting. Hit-and-run attackson allied troops followed andbecame increasingly organized, despitethe capture of Saddam Husseinand the deaths of his two sonsand heirs. Different Iraqi factionsat times seemed on the verge of warwith each other.New weapons inspection teamswere unable to find the expectedstockpiles of chemical and biologicalweaponry. Although neitherexplanation made much sense, itincreasingly seemed that SaddamHussein had either engaged in agigantic and puzzling bluff, or possiblythat the weapons had beenmoved to another country.334335

CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYAfter the fall of Baghdad, theUnited States and Britain, withincreasing cooperation from theUnited Nations, moved ahead withestablishment of a provisional governmentthat would assume sovereigntyover Iraq. The effort occurredamidst increasing violence that includedattacks not simply on alliedtroops but also Iraqis connected inany way with the new government.Most of the insurgents appeared tobe Saddam loyalists; some were indigenousMuslim sectarians; a fairnumber likely were foreign fighters.It was not clear whether a liberaldemocratic nation could be createdout of such chaos, but certain thatthe United States could not imposeone if Iraqis did not want it.THE 2004 PRESIDENTIALELECTIONBy mid-2004, with the UnitedStates facing a violent insurgency inIraq and considerable foreign oppositionto the war there, the countryappeared as sharply divided as it hadbeen four years earlier. To challengePresident Bush, the Democratsnominated Senator John F. Kerryof Massachusetts. Kerry’s recordas a decorated Vietnam veteran, hislong experience in Washington, hisdignified demeanor, and his skillsas a speaker all appeared to makehim the ideal candidate to unite hisparty. His initial campaign strategywas to avoid deep Democratic divisionsover the war by emphasizinghis personal record as a Vietnamcombatant who presumably couldmanage the Iraq conflict betterthan Bush. The Republicans, however,highlighted his apparentlycontradictory votes of first authorizingthe president to invade Iraq,then voting against an importantappropriation for the war. A groupof Vietnam veterans, moreover, attackedKerry’s military record andsubsequent anti-war activism.Bush, by contrast, portrayedhimself as frank and consistent inspeech and deed, a man of actionwilling to take all necessary stepsto protect the country. He stressedhis record of tax cuts and educationreform and appealed stronglyto supporters of traditional valuesand morality. Public opinion pollssuggested that Kerry gained someground following the first of threedebates, but the challenger failed toerode the incumbent’s core support.As in 2000, Bush registered strongmajorities among Americans whoattended religious services at leastonce a week and increased from2000 his majority among Christianevangelical voters.The organizational tempo of thecampaign was as frenetic as its rhetoricalpace. Both sides excelled atgetting out their supporters; the totalpopular vote was approximately20 percent higher than it had beenin 2000. Bush won by 51 percent to48 percent, with the remaining 1percent going to Ralph Nader and anumber of other independent candidates.Kerry seems to have been unsuccessfulin convincing a majoritythat he possessed a satisfactory strategyto end the war. The Republicansalso scored small, but importantgains in Congress.As George W. Bush began hissecond term, the United States facedchallenges aplenty: the situation inIraq, stresses within the Atlantic alliance,in part over Iraq, increasingbudget deficits, the escalating costof social entitlements, and a shakycurrency. The electorate remaineddeeply divided. The United States inthe past had thrived on such crises.Whether it would in the future remainedto be seen.AFTERWORDFrom its origins as a set of obscurecolonies hugging the Atlantic coast,the United States has undergonea remarkable transformation intowhat political analyst Ben Wattenberghas called “the first universalnation,” a population of almost300 million people representingvirtually every nationality and ethnicgroup on the globe. It is also anation where the pace and extentof change — economic, technological,cultural, demographic, andsocial — is unceasing. The UnitedStates is often the harbinger of themodernization and change that inevitablysweep up other nations andsocieties in an increasingly interdependent,interconnected world.Yet the United States also maintainsa sense of continuity, a set ofcore values that can be traced to itsfounding. They include a faith inindividual freedom and democraticgovernment, and a commitment toeconomic opportunity and progressfor all. The continuing task of theUnited States will be to ensure thatits values of freedom, democracy,and opportunity — the legacy ofa rich and turbulent history — areprotected and flourish as the nation,and the world, move throughthe 21st century. 9336337

OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYRECENT PRIZE-WINNINGBOOKSThe Bancroft Prize forAmerican History(Awarded by the Trustees ofColumbia University)2005Israel on the Appomattox:A Southern Experiment in BlackFreedom From the 1790s Through theCivil WarBy Melvin Patrick ElyAlfred A. KnopfFrom Jim Crow to Civil Rights:The Supreme Court and the Strugglefor Racial EqualityBy Michael J. KlarmanOxford University PressConjectures of Order: Intellectual Lifeand the American South, 1810-1860By Michael O’BrienThe University ofNorth Carolina Press2004In the Presence of Mine Enemies:War in the Heart of America,1859-1863By Edward L. AyersW.W. Norton and CompanyB I B L I O G R A P H Y 2001Roaring Camp: The Social World ofthe California Gold RushA Nation Under Our Feet: BlackPolitical Struggles in the Rural SouthFrom Slavery to the Great MigrationBy Steven HahnThe Belknap Press ofHarvard University PressJonathan Edwards: A LifeBy George M. MarsdenYale University Press2003Captives and Cousins: Slavery,Kinship, and Community in theSouthwest BorderlandsBy James F. BrooksUniversity of North CarolinaPress for the Omohundro Instituteof Early American History andCultureThe Indian Slave Trade: The Rise ofthe English Empire in the AmericanSouth, 1670-1717By Alan GallayYale University Press2002Race and Reunion: The Civil War inAmerican MemoryBy David W. BlightThe Belknap Press ofHarvard University PressIn Pursuit of Equity: Women,Men, and the Quest for EconomicCitizenship in 20th-Century AmericaBy Alice Kessler-HarrisOxford University PressBy Susan Lee JohnsonW. W. Norton and CompanyThe Chief: The Life ofWilliam Randolph HearstBy David NasawHoughton Mifflin CompanyPulitzer Prize for a distinguishedbook upon the history of theUnited States(Awarded by Columbia UniversityGraduate School of Journalism)2005Washington’s CrossingBy David Hackett FischerOxford University Press2004A Nation Under Our Feet:Black Political Struggles in the RuralSouth From Slavery to the GreatMigrationBy Steven HahnThe Belknap Press ofHarvard University Press2003An Army at Dawn: The War inNorth Africa, 1942-1943By Rick AtkinsonHenry Holt and Company2002The Metaphysical Club: A Story ofIdeas in AmericaBy Louis MenandFarrar, Strauss, and Giroux2001Founding Brothers: TheRevolutionary GenerationBy Joseph EllisAlfred A. KnopfSELECTED INTERNETRESOURCESAmerican Historical Association(AHA)http://www.historians.org/index.cfmAmerican History: A DocumentaryRecord1492 - Presenthttp://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/chrono.htmThe Avalon Project at the Yale LawSchool: Major Collectionshttp://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/major.htmBiography of Americahttp://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/Digital Historyhttp://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/Documents for the Study ofAmerican Historyhttp://www.ku.edu/carrie/docs/amdocs_index.htmlGilder Lehrman Institute ofAmerican Historyhttp://www.gilderlehrman.org/338339

BIBLIOGRAPHYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYHistory Mattershttp://historymatters.gmu.edu/The Library of CongressAmerican Memory: HistoricalCollections for the National DigitalLibraryhttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/The Library of CongressAmerican Memory: Timelinehttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/timeline/index.htmlNational Archives and RecordsAdministrationhttp://www.nara.govNational Archives and RecordsAdministration: Digital Classroomhttp://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/National Archives and RecordsAdministration: Our Documents:A National Initiative on AmericanHistory, Civics, and Servicehttp://www.ourdocuments.gov/index.php?flash=true&National Park Service: Links tothe Pasthttp://www.cr.nps.gov/National Park Service: History inthe Parkshttp://www.cr.nps.gov/catsig.htmOrganization of AmericanHistorians (OAH)http://www.oah.org/Smithsonianhttp://www.si.edu/The Historical Societyhttp://www.bu.edu/historic/WWW Virtual Library: History:United Stateshttp://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/We the Peoplehttp://www.wethepeople.govThe U.S. Department of State assumesno responsibility for the content andavailability of the resources from otheragencies and organizations listed above.All Internet links were active as ofFall 2005.Page references in boldface type referto illustrations.AAbolition of slaveryBrown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry(1859), 139constitutional amendment (13th),148Democratic Party and, 152Douglass as abolitionist leader, 91Emancipation Proclamation, 144-145Freedmen’s Bureau, 148, 151Garrison and The Liberator on, 91,122, 133-134Missouri Compromise (1820), 80,114, 132, 135, 137Northwest Ordinance slavery ban,71, 73, 113, 135religious social activism and, 87as a sectional conflict/dividednation, 128-139southern statesmen on, 113Underground Railroad, 91, 134, 136See also SlaveryAdams, John, 52, 64, 72, 82-83Adams, John Quincy, 115, 116, 134Adams, Samuel, 56-57Adamson Act, 199Addams, Jane, 196Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(Twain), 97Afghanistan, U.S. relations, 294, 334AFL. See American Federation ofLabor (AFL)African Americansbus boycott (Montgomery,Alabama), 240I N D E Xcivil rights movement, 240, 258,271-272color barrier broken in sports, 237,271Colored Farmers National Alliance,191culture, 210-211Freedmen’s Bureau and, 148, 151“Harlem Renaissance,” 211jazz musicians, 211labor unions and, 193lynchings and violence against, 150,178, 271members of Congress, 96as sharecroppers and tenantfarmers, 190-191U.S. Colored Troops in UnionArmy, 145See also Abolition of slavery; Civilrights; Racial discrimination;SlaveryAgnew, Spiro, 290Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA),216Agriculturefarm-relief act, 216Farmers’ Alliances, 191Grange movement, 191land grant and technical colleges,152, 177New Deal programs, 216-217Patrons of Husbandry (Grange),191plantation settlements, 26, 28, 113-114, 128-129post-Revolutionary period, 70Republican policy, 79, 208scientific research, 177sharecroppers and tenant farmers,190-191340341

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYsmall farmers and agriculturalconsolidation, 267technological revolution, 110-111,160, 177westward expansion and, 125AIDS (Acquired Immune DeficiencySyndrome)epidemic, 307quilt (Wash., D.C.), 299AIM. See American Indian Movement(AIM)Alaskagold rush, 192purchase, known as “Seward’sFolly,” 182Albany Plan of Union, 33, 69Albright, Madeline, 329Alien Act, 82, 117Amalgamated Association of Iron,Steel, and Tin Workers, 194American Bible Society, 87American Civil Liberties Union, 209American Federation of Labor (AFL),194, 209, 227American Independent Party, 319American Indian Movement (AIM),281American Philosophical Society, 28American Railway Union, 194American Revolution, 50-65Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57British move through the South,63-64colonial declaration of war, 60Concord and Lexington battles(1775), 59-60economic aftermath, 70factors leading to, 50-59first shots fired at Lexington, 44-45,59Franco-American alliance, 62-63Long Island, battle of (1776), 61Loyalists and, 60, 65Olive Branch Petition, 60significance of, 65Treaty of Paris (1783), 47, 64Yorktown, British surrender at, 47-48, 64American Sugar Refining Company,197American Telephone and Telegraph(AT&T), 158American Temperance Union, 121Amity and Commerce, Treaty of(France-American colonies), 63Amnesty Act (1872), 150Anasazi, 8, 20Andros, Sir Edmund, 31Anthony, Susan B., 90, 122Antifederalists, 76Antitrust legislation, 160, 187, 196-197,199Apache Indians, 180, 181Aquino, Corazon, 312Arafat, Yasser, 330Aristide, Jean-Bertrand, 330Arlington Cemetery (Virginia), 174Armour, Philip, 158Arms control. See Nuclear weaponsArmstrong, Louis, 211Armstrong, Neil, 285Arnaz, Desi, 239Arnold, Benedict, 62Articles of the Confederation, 69-70Asia, Cold War, 263-264Atlantic Charter (U.S.-Britain), 220Automobile industryauto worker strikes, 228, 230automobile safety crusade, 287environmental issues/trafficcongestion, 282, 300-301unemployment, 227BBabcock, Stephen, 177Ball, Lucille, 239Banking Act, 218Banking and financecurrency question and goldstandard, 192Federal Reserve Board, 199, 218Federal Reserve System, 119, 187,198-199financial panic (1893), 192First Bank of the United States, 79insured savings (FDIC), 215national bank, 79-80New Deal program reforms, 214-215regional and local bank charters,119Second Bank of the United States,118-119state banking system, 119stock market crash (1929), 211Baptists, 87, 88Barak, Ehud, 330Beard, Charles, 75“Beat Generation” (1950s), 270Begin, Menachim, 292Bell, Alexander Graham, 107, 156Bell, John C., 139Bell Telephone System, 158Bellamy, Edward, 160Biddle, Nicholas, 119Bill of Rights, 77bin Laden, Osama, 331, 332, 334Blaine, James G., 185Blair, Tony, 294-295, 330Blix, Hans, 335Bolívar, Simon, 114Booth, John Wilkes, 147Borglum, Gutzon, 171Bosnia, 330Boston Massacre (1770), 56Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57Breckenridge, John C., 139Brezhnev, Leonid, 289British colonization. See EnglishcolonizationBrooks, David, 322Brown, John, 139Brown v. Board of Education (1954),240, 244, 272Bryan, William Jennings, 192, 195, 198,209-210Buchanan, Pat, 332Buckley, William F., 308Bull Moose Party, 318Burbank, Luther, 177Burgoyne, John, 62Bush, George Herbert Walkerbudgets and deficits, 315domestic policy, 314-315end of Cold War, 315-316foreign policy, 312, 316-317photo of, 255presidential election (1998), 314;(1992), 322, 324“war on drugs,” 317Bush, George W.as a “compassionate conservative,”332Afghanistan invasion, 334with African leaders, 295domestic and foreign policy, 332-336on freedom, 322Iraq War, 334-336presidential elections (2000), 333;(2004), 336-337with Tony Blair, 294-295CCable News Network, 297Cabot, John, 9Cady Stanton, Elizabeth, 90, 122-123Calhoun, John C., 112, 116, 117, 125Californiaas a free state, 136gold rush, 131, 136, 179342343

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYmigrant farm workers’ unions,279-280territory, 135Calvinism, 13, 29, 34, 65Campbell, Ben Nighthorse, 281Capitalism, 187, 193, 214Carleton, Mark, 177Carmichael, Stokely, 278Carnegie, Andrew, 97, 156-157, 187,194Carson, Rachel, 282Carter, Jimmy, 291-292Cartier, Jacques, 10Carver, George Washington, 177Cattle ranching, 179-180Central Pacific Railroad, 179A Century of Dishonor (Jackson), 181Chambers, Whittaker, 266Charles I (British king), 12, 13, 15Charles II (British king), 17, 18, 31Chase, Salmon P., 138Chávez, César, 250, 280Cherokee Indians, 125Chiang Kai-shek, 224, 263, 264Chicanos. See Latino movementChild labor, 102-103, 177, 193, 196China, People’s Republic ofBoxer Rebellion (1900), 186Taiwan relations, 263, 265, 289U.S. diplomatic relations, 186, 289,292Christian Coalition, 308Churchill, Winstonon the “iron curtain,” 260-261U.S. support for war effort, 220at Yalta, 224, 234CIO. See Committee for IndustrialOrganization (CIO); Congress ofIndustrial Organizations (CIO)Citizenship, 82, 148-149, 178Civil rightsbus boycott (Montgomery,Alabama), 240, 273desegregation, 272-273desegregation of schools, 240, 241,244, 272-273, 277desegregation of the military, 269,272Jesse Jackson’s “Rainbow Coalition,”253Truman 10-point civil rightsprogram, 271-272See also Civil rights movement;Individual rights; RacialdiscriminationCivil Rights Act (1957), 273Civil Rights Act (1960), 273Civil Rights Act (1964), 277, 286Civil rights movement (1960-80), 276-278“black power” activists, 277-278“freedom rides,” 277“March on Washington” (1963),277origins of the, 271-272riots (1960s), 278sit-ins, 277Civil Service Commission, 307Civil War (1861-65)African Americans in U.S. ColoredTroops in Union Army, 145Alexandria, Union troopencampment, 94Antietam campaign (1862), 141,144Bull Run (First Manassas), 143Bull Run (Second Manassas), 144casualties, 92, 144, 145Chancellorsville campaign (1863),92-93, 145Chattanooga and LookoutMountain campaigns (1863), 146Gettysburg address, by Lincoln,142, 145Gettysburg campaign (1863), 92,145, 146Petersburg campaign (1865), 146postwar politics, 152-153secession from the Union, 142-143Sherman’s march through theSouth, 146Shiloh campaign, 144Spotsylvania (Battle of theWilderness, 1864), 146surrender at AppomattoxCourthouse, 146Vicksburg campaign (1863), 145,146See also Reconstruction EraCivil Works Administration (CWA),215-216Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),215Clark, William, 47Clay, Henrycompromise agreements, 114, 136portrait of, 90presidential elections, 116, 119protective tariffs, 112, 117, 118Whig Party statesman, 120, 152Clayton Antitrust Act, 199Clean Air Act (1967), 282Clemenceau, Georges, 108Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 97, 196Cleveland, Grover, 159, 182, 183, 192,194Clinton, Hillary Rodham, 324, 325, 328Clinton, William “Bill”Cabinet appointments, 280domestic policy, 324-326foreign policy, 329-331impeachment hearings/trial, 328,329presidential election (1992), 322-324; (1996), 328presidential inaugural address(1993), 255sexual impropriety/intern scandal,326, 328Arkansas real estate investigation,326Coercive or Intolerable Acts (England),57-59Cold War, 258-267in Asia, 263-264Eisenhower Administration, 264-265end of, 255, 315-316, 324Kennedy Administration, 284-285in the Middle East, 264origins of, 260-261Truman Administration, 261, 265College of William and Mary, 27Colonial periodcultural developments, 27-29Dutch colonies, 14, 15, 17, 24early settlements, 10-12, 24English settlers, 10-12, 13-15, 17, 24French and Indian Wars, 32-33German settlers, 24, 25, 26government of the colonies, 29-32Jamestown colony (Virginia), 10,12-13, 16Massachusetts colonies, 13-14,24-25middle colonies, 25-26Native American relations, 15-17,18, 39New Amsterdam, 14, 15, 26New England colonies, 24-25New England Confederation, 17Pennsylvania colony, 18, 25, 27-28,30, 39, 69rural country daily life, 26-27Scots and Scots-Irish settlers, 24,25, 26southern colonies, 26-27Swedish colonies, 15, 24Virginia colonies, 10, 12-13, 16, 26,28-30, 68-69Colored-Farmers National Alliance,191Columbus, Christopher, 9Commission on Civil Rights, 280344345

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYCommittee for Industrial Organization(CIO), 228Committees of Correspondence, 56-57Commodity Credit Corporation, 216Common Sense (Paine), 60Communism, 206-207Cold War and, 258-267, 315-316Eisenhower containment policy,264-265Federal Employee Loyalty Program,266House Committee on Un-American Activities, 266McCarthy Senate hearings on, 236,266Red Scare (1919-20), 207, 265spread of, 263Truman Doctrine of containment,261-263Communist Party, 206, 263, 265, 266Compromise of 1850, 90, 135-136Confederation Congress, 71Congress of Industrial Organizations(CIO), 228Congress, U.S.African-American members, 96first Native American member, 281Hispanic members, 280power to make Laws, 75representation in House andSenate, 73Conservatism, 307-309Constitution, state constitutions, 68-69Constitution, U.S.amendments1st thru 12th, 7713th (abolishing slavery), 14814th (citizenship rights), 148-149, 17815th (voting rights), 149, 27316th (federal income tax), 19817th (direct election ofsenators), 19818th (prohibition), 21019th (voting rights for women),207amendments process, 74Bill of Rights, 77Congressional powers, 75debate and compromise, 73-75declaration of war powers, 316-317on display at National Archives, 174motivations of Founding Fathers,75ratification, 75-76separation of powers principle, 74signing of, at Constitution Hall(Philadelphia), 164Constitutional Convention(Philadelphia, 1787), 66-67, 71-77Constitutional Union Party, 139Continental Association, 58-59Continental Congress, First (1774), 58Continental Congress, Second (1775),60, 61, 69, 71Coolidge, Calvin, 204, 207Cornwallis, Lord Charles, 46-47, 64Coronado, Francisco Vázquez de, 9Corporations, 158-159Coughlin, Charles, 217Counterculture (1960s), 281-282New Leftists, 281-282Vietnam War demonstrations, 281“Woodstock Generation,” 249, 281Cox, James M., 207Crawford, William, 116Crazy Horse (Sioux chief), 180Creek Indians, 125Cromwell, Oliver, 12, 17, 31Cuba, Spanish-American War and,182-183Cuban missile crisis (1962), 284Cullen, Countee, 211Cultureof the 1950s, 270-271in the colonies, 27-29counterculture of the 1960s, 281-282See also Libraries; Literary works;Music, AmericanCurrency Act (England, 1764), 53Custer, George, 98-99, 180DDakota Sioux, 98, 180, 281Darrow, Clarence, 209-210Darwinian theoryScopes trial, 209-210“survival of the fittest,” 193Davis, Jefferson, 142Dawes (General Allotment) Act(1887), 181De Soto, Hernando, 9Declaration of Independence, 61, 68burial site for three signers of, 162-163Declaratory Act (England), 55Delaware Indians, 18, 39Democracy in America (Tocqueville),130Democratic Party, 116, 137, 152, 153,192, 218-219Depression. See Great DepressionDewey, George, 183Dewey, Thomas, 235, 269Dickens, Charles, 130-131Dickinson, Emily, 96Dickinson, John, 55, 69Digital revolution, 293, 296e-mail communication, 327mobile phones, 327personal computer (PC) growth,306, 327Dix, Dorothea, 121Dixiecrats, 319Dole, Robert, 328Doolittle, James “Jimmy,” 223Dorset, Marion, 177Douglas, Stephen A., 136, 137, 138-139Douglass, Frederick, 91, 122, 134, 145Drake, Francis, 10Dred Scott decision, 138, 149Dreiser, Theodore, 196Du Bois, W.E.B., 178, 211Dukakis, Michael, 314Dulles, John Foster, 265Dunmore, Lord, 60Dutch colonization, 14, 15, 17patroon system, 14-15Dutch East India Company, 14Dylan, Bob, 281EEast India Company, 57Eastman, George, 106, 157Edison, Thomas, 106, 157Educationin the colonies, 27-29computer technology and, 303day care centers, 303No Child Left Behind Act, 333private schools, 27private tutors, 28public school systems, 121school desegregation, 240, 244, 272-273, 277Edwards, Jonathan, 29Eisenhower, Dwight Davidcivil rights supporter, 272, 273Cold War and foreign policy, 264-265domestic policy of “dynamicconservatism,” 269-270portrait of, 236as president of U.S., 264-265, 269-270as Supreme Commander of AlliedForces, 223, 232, 264Electoral College, 116, 117Elkins Act (1903), 196Ellington, Duke, 211Ellis Island Monument, 102, 103, 200Emancipation Proclamation, 144-145Embargo Act (1807), 84Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 59346347

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYEnforcement Acts (1870 and 1871),150English Civil War (1642-49), 31English colonizationearly settlements, 10-12French and Indian War and, 32-33map of, 36-37in Maryland, 15in Massachusetts, 13-14New England Confederation, 17English common law, 30Enola Gay (U.S. bomber), attacks onHiroshima nd Nagasaki, 226Environmental movement, 282, 298Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), 282Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), 279Erik the Red, 9FFalwell, Jerry, 308Farragut, David, 143Faubus, Orval, 272Federal Aid Road Act (1916), 113Federal Artists Project, 218Federal Deposit and InsuranceCorporation (FDIC), 215Federal Emergency ReliefAdministration (FERA), 215Federal Employee Loyalty Program,266Federal Reserve Act (1913), 198Federal Reserve Board, 199, 218, 291,310Federal Reserve System, 119, 187, 198-199Federal Theatre Project, 218Federal Trade Commission, 199Federal Workingman’s CompensationAct (1916), 199Federal Writers Project, 218The Federalist Papers, 43, 76Federalists, 76, 78, 81, 82, 86, 116The Feminine Mystique (Friedan), 278The Financier (Dreiser), 196Finney, Charles, Grandison, 87Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 210Force Act, 118Ford, Gerald, 290-291Ford, Henry, 109Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922), 207Foreign policy. See U.S. foreign policyFranceLouisiana Territory sold to U.S.,83-84New World exploration, 9-10U.S. diplomatic relations, 82-83XYZ Affair, 82Franco-American Treaty of Alliance(1778), 62-63, 80, 82Franklin, Benjamin, 28, 33, 43, 63, 64,72, 75Free Soil Party, 136, 137, 138Freedmen’s Bureau, 148, 151Fremont, John, 138French and Indian War, 32-33French exploration, 10French Huguenots, 24French Revolution, 34, 79, 80, 81Friedan, Betty, 278, 279Friedman, Milton, 308Fugitive Slave Act, 136, 137Fundamentalism, religious, 209, 210,308GGage, Thomas, 59Gallatin, Albert, 83Garrison, William Lloyd, 91, 122, 133-134Garza, Eligio “Kika” de la, 280Gates, Bill, 296Gates, Horatio, 62, 63-64Gay rights, 307, 324-325Genet, Edmond Charles, 80-81George, Henry, 160George III (British king), 55, 59Georgiacolonial royal government, 31early settlement, 18Native American tribes relocated,118German unification, 316GermanyBerlin Airlift, 262Kennedy speech in West Berlin,242-243postwar period, 262reparations, World War I, 224Germany in World War IIHolocaust (Jewish genocide), 226Nazism, 219, 224, 226North African campaign, 222Nuremberg war crime trials, 226reparations, 206submarine warfare, 204-205Geronimo (Apache chief), 181Gerry, Elbridge, 72, 73Ghent, Treaty of (1814), 85Gilbert, Humphrey, 10The Gilded Age (Twain), 196Ginsberg, Allen, 271Glenn, John, 285Glorious Revolution (1688-89), 31, 32Goethals, George W., 185Goldwater, Barry, 286, 308, 309Gompers, Samuel, 194González, Henry B., 280Gorbachev, Mikhail, 304-305, 314, 315,316Gore, Al, 323, 332, 333Gould, Jay, 194Grange movement, 191Grant, Ulysses S.portrait of, 95as president of U.S., 150, 153as Union Army general, 144, 145Great Depression (1929-40)decline in immigration, 201“Dust Bowl” migration, 216New Deal programs, 214-218soup lines, 202-203stock market crash (1929), 211“Great Society,” 286-287Greeley, Horace, 112, 124Green Party, 332Greenspan, Alan, 327Grey, Zane, 180Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, 135Guam, U.S. relations, 184HHaiti, political situation, 330Hamilton, Alexanderand Bank of the United States, 79,118Constitutional Conventiondelegate, 71, 72Federalist Papers and, 43, 76as first Treasury Departmentsecretary, 77portrait of, 48and Republican Party, 152vs. Jefferson, 48, 78-80Hamilton, Andrew, 28Harding, Warren G., 207Harrison, Benjamin, 160Harrison, William Henry, 85, 120Hartford Convention (1814), 117Harvard College, 27Hawaii, statehood (1959), 184Hawaiian Islands, U.S. policy ofannexation, 183-184Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act (1930), 207Hay, John, 184, 186Hayes, Rutherford B., 150-151, 153Haymarket Square incident, 194Helsinki Accords (1975), 291Hemingway, Ernest, 109, 210Henry, Patrick, 42, 54, 76, 77Hepburn Act (1906), 197Hidalgo, Miguel de, 114Highway Act (1956), 268348349

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYHispanicsin politics, 280See also Latino movementHiss, Alger, 266Hitler, Adolf, 201, 219Ho Chi Minh, 284Hohokam settlements, 7Holy Alliance, 115Homeland Security Department, 334Homestead Act (1862), 124, 152, 179,180Hoover, Herbert, 185, 211Hopewellians, 7Hopi Indians, 8Housing and Urban DevelopmentDepartment, 287Houston, Sam, 134Howe, William, 61-62Hudson, Henry, 14Hughes, Langston, 211Hull, Cordell, 221Humphrey, Hubert, 288Hungary, rebellion (1956), 265Hutchinson, Anne, 14IImmigrants and immigrationdiversity of immigrants, 200-201Ellis Island Monument, 102, 103,200illegal immigrants, 201immigration quotas, 201, 209“Little Italy” in New York City, 104-105Nativists and, 209policy reform, 307restrictions on immigration, 208-209Immigration Restriction League, 201Imperialism, 181-182Indentured servants, 18-19Indian Removal Act (1830), 125Indian Reorganization Act (1934), 181Indian WarsApache wars, 180, 181Custer’s Last Stand at LittleBighorn, 98-99, 180French and Indian War, 32-33Pequot War (1637), 16and westward expansion, 124, 180-181Indians of North America. See NativeAmericansIndividual rights, 34, 65, 76-77See also Civil rightsIndustrial development. See undernames of industryIndustrial Workers of the World(IWW), 194Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC), 159, 197, 198Inventionsadding machine, 157airplane, 107cash register, 157cotton gin, 114, 133light bulb/incandescent lamp, 106,157linotype machine, 157motion picture projector, 106, 157reaper (farm machine), 131, 158,160telegraph, 156telephone, 107, 156television, 268typewriter, 157Iran, U.S. relations, 292Axis of evil, 334Iraqelections (2005), 302provisional government, 335U.N. weapons inspections, 329,334-335U.S.-led invasion, 335Iron and steel industry, 157, 187strikes, 194, 228Iroquois Indians, 14, 16-17, 33Isolationism, 78, 206, 220IsraelEgypt invasion, 265Palestinian relations, 330U.S. policy, 264JJacinto, Battle of, 134Jackson, Andrewconflicts with Indians, 125as general in War of 1812, 86portrait of, 89as president of U.S., 89, 117-118presidential election (1824), 116presidential election (1828), 117Jackson, Helen Hunt, 181Jackson, Jesse, 253Jackson, Thomas J. (“Stonewall”), 144,145James I (British king), 12James II (British king), 31Jamestown colony (Virginia), 10, 12-13, 16Japanattack on Pearl Harbor, 212-213,221, 222Kamikaze suicide missions, 225surrender (1945), 226U.S. attacks on Hiroshima andNagasaki, 226U.S. relations, 186Japanese-Americans, internmentcamps, 222, 233Jay, John, 43, 64, 76, 81, 82Jay Treaty (Britain-U.S.), 81, 82Jazz Age, 210Jefferson Memorial (Wash., D.C.), 161Jefferson, Thomason abolition of slavery, 113as drafter of Declaration ofIndependence, 61face of (Mount Rushmore), 170-171as first State Department secretary,77portrait of, 46as president of U.S., 83on right of self-government, 68on slavery, 114as U.S. minister to France, 72, 79-80vs. Adams, 82vs. Hamilton, 48, 78-80“Jim Crow” laws (separate but equalsegregation), 151, 240, 272, 319Jobs, Steve, 296Johnson, Andrewimpeachment trial, 149-150as president of U.S., 147-149, 153Johnson, Lyndon B.civil rights supporter, 273, 277Great Society programs, 286-287portrait of, 245space program, 285Vietnam War policy, 287-288“War on Poverty,” 286Johnson-Reed National Origins Act(1924), 201, 209The Jungle (Sinclair), 196KKansasslavery issue and, 138territory (“bleeding Kansas”), 137,138Kansas-Nebraska Act, 137Kennan, George, 261Kennedy, John F.assassination of, 277, 286Bay of Pigs invasion, 284civil rights policy, 277, 283Cold War and, 284-285Cuban missile crisis, 284as president of U.S., 282-285space program, 285-286Vietnam War policy, 284-285West Berlin speech during ColdWar, 242-243350351

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYKennedy, Robert, assassination of, 278,288KentuckyResolutions (1798), 117statehood (1792), 7-8Kerouac, Jack, 270Kerry, John F., 336-337Khomeini, Ayatollah, 292Khrushchev, Nikita, 284Kim Il-sung, 263King, Martin Luther, Jr.assassination of, 278, 288civil rights movement and, 240,241, 273, 283“I have a dream” speech, 276, 277King, Rufus, 72Kissinger, Henry, 289Know-Nothing Party, 120Korean War, 235, 263, 264Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 65Ku Klux Klan, 150, 201, 209LLabor unions, 121, 193-195air controllers strike, 309auto workers strikes, 228collective bargaining, 217Haymarket Square incident, 194membership in U.S., 227-228migrant farm workers, 250, 279-280mine workers membership/strikes,194-195, 227-228New Deal programs, 217post-World War I strikes, 206post-World War II strikes, 269railway worker strikes, 193, 194steel worker strikes, 194, 228textile worker strikes, 195“Wobblies,” 194-195See also under names of specificunionsLafayette, Marquis de, 65LaFollette, Robert, 196, 318-319Landon, Alf, 218Latin America, U.S. intervention, 184-185Latin American Revolution, 114-116Latino movement, 279-280League of Nations, 205-206, 226Lee, Richard Henry, 61, 64Lee, Robert E.capture of John Brown at Harper’sFerry, 139commander of Confederate Army,144declines command of Union Army,143portrait of, 95surrender at AppomattoxCourthouse, 146Leif (son of Erik the Red), 9Lenin, V.I., 259Levitt, William J., 268Lewis and Clark expedition,bicentennial commemorative stamp,46Lewis, John L., 227-228Lewis, Meriwether, 47Lewis, Sinclair, 210The Liberator, 91, 133LibrariesAmerican Philosophical Society(Philadelphia), 28in the colonies, 27, 28public libraries endowed byCarnegie, 97subscription, 28Lincoln, Abrahamassassination of, 147, 153at Civil War Union encampment,140-141Emancipation Proclamation, 144-145face of (Mount Rushmore), 170-171Free-Soil Party and, 138Gettysburg address, 142, 145on Grant, 95as president during Civil War, 142-147presidential election (1860), 139presidential election (1864), 147,153presidential inaugural address, 142senatorial campaign (1858), 138-139on slavery and the Union, 130, 138Lincoln, Benjamin, 63, 70Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858), 138-139Literary works“Beat Generation” (1950s), 270-271colonial period, 28-29“Harlem Renaissance,” 211“Lost Generation” (1920s), 109, 211New Deal programs and, 218See also names of individual authorsor worksLloyd George, David, 108Locke, John, 17, 32, 34, 61, 65, 73Lodge, Henry Cabot, 181, 184Logan, James, 28The Lonely Crowd (Riesman), 270Long, Huey P., assassination of, 217“Lost Generation” (1920s), 109, 211Louis XVI (French king), 64, 80Louisiana Purchase, 83-84Lovejoy, Elijah P., 134Lowell, James Russell, 147Luce, Henry, 258Lundestad, Geir, 262MMacArthur, Douglas, 225, 232, 263Macdonough, Thomas, 85Madison, James, 43, 72, 75, 76, 84-86,113as “Father of the Constitution,” 72Mahan, Alfred Thayer, 184Maine (U.S. warship) incident, 182Major, John, 330Malcolm X, 277Manhattan. See New YorkManhattan project (atomic bombdevelopment), 225Mann, Horace, 121Mao Zedong, 263, 289Marbury v. Madison (1803), 113Marcos, Ferdinand, 312Marshall, George C., 262Marshall, Johnas chief justice of the SupremeCourt, 49, 113funeral of, 168portrait of, 49Marshall Plan, 262Marshall, Thurgood, 244Martin, Josiah, 60MarylandCalvert family charter, 15, 30Catholic settlements, 15St. Mary’s, first town in, 15Toleration Act and religiousfreedom, 17Mason, George, 76MassachusettsBoston Massacre (1770), 56Boston Port Bill, 57Boston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57colonial government charter, 30-31early settlements, 13-14Old Granary Cemetery (Boston),162-163Salem witch trials, 35schools and education, 27Shays Rebellion, 70trade and economic development,24-25Massachusetts Bay Colony, 25, 31Massachusetts Bay Company, 18Mather, Cotton, 28, 40Mayflower Compact, 13, 22-23, 30Mayflower (ship), 13Mbeki, Thabo, 295McCarran-Walter Act (1952), 201McCarthy, Joseph R., 236, 266352353

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYMcClellan, George, 144, 147McCormick, Cyrus, 131, 158, 160McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), 113McGovern, George, 290McGrath, J. Howard, 266McKinley, Williamassassination of, 195Hawaii annexation treaty, 184Maine (U.S. warship) incident, 182Open Door foreign policy, 195as president of U.S., 182, 184, 192,195McVeigh, Timothy, 331Meat Inspection Act, 197Meat-packing industry, 158, 196, 197Mellon, Andrew, 207Mencken, H. L., 210Menéndez, Pedro, 10Merchant Marine, 208Meredith, James, 277Methodists, 87, 88Mexican-Americans. See LatinomovementMexican War, 134-135Mexicoconquest of, 9revolution, 185Spanish colonization, 11Middle colonies, 25-26Middle EastPalestinians, 329-330peace negotiations, 329-330Persian Gulf War, 316-317U.S. policy, 264, 292, 313, 329-330Millet, Kate, 248Mining industry strikes, 194-195Miranda, Francisco, 114Missouri Compromise (1820), 90, 114,132, 135, 137Mohler, George, 177Molasses Act (England, 1733), 53Molotov, Vyacheslav, 260Mondale, Walter, 311Monetary policy. See U.S. monetarypolicyMonroe Doctrine, 114-116Monroe, James, 113, 115, 116Montgomery, Bernard, 222Montoya, Joseph, 280Monuments and memorials, 161-176See also under names of individualmemorialsMoral Majority, 308Morgan, John Pierpoint (J.P.), 187Morrill Land Grant College Act (1862),152, 177Morris, Gouverneur, 72Morse, Samuel F. B., 156Mott, Lucretia, 122Mound builders, 7Mount Rushmore Monument (SouthDakota), 170-171Mount Vernon (Virginia),Washington’s plantation home, 170-171Ms. (feminist magazine), 279MTV, 297Murray-Philip, 228Music, AmericanBeatles, 281“hard rock,” 281Jazz Age (1920s), 210Jazz musicians, 211rock and roll (1950s), 271, 281Rolling Stones, 271, 281Woodstock (outdoor rock concert,1969), 249, 281Mussolini, Benito, 219, 223Mutual Board of Defense (U.S.-Canada), 220NNAACP. See National Association forthe Advancement of Colored People(NAACP)Nader, Ralph, 287, 332, 336NAFTA. See North American FreeTrade Agreement (NAFTA)Napoleon, 82, 83, 84National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People(NAACP), 211, 244, 272, 273National Industrial Recovery Act(NIRA), 217, 227National Labor Relations Act (NLRA),217, 218, 228, 280National Labor Relations Board(NLRB), 217National Organization for Women(NOW), 279National Recovery Administration(NRA), 217National Security Council (NSC),NSC-68 security report on SovietUnion, 262-263, 265National Woman Suffrage Association(NWSA), 123National Youth Administration, 218Native-American movement, 280-281American Indian Movement(AIM), 281Wounded Knee (South Dakota)incident, 180, 281Native Americanscultural groups, map of, 21demonstration in Washington(1978), 252effect of European disease on, 8European contact, 9-10Great Serpent Mound, Ohio, 168Indian uprisings, 16-17, 180-181Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, 4-5, 8migration across Beringia landbridge, 6mound builders of Ohio, 7Northwest Passage and, 9, 10oral tradition, 8Pacific Northwest potlatches, 8population, 8Pueblo Indians, 8, 20relations with European settlers,15-17, 18, 39religious beliefs, 8slave trade, 18Trail of Tears (Cherokee forcedrelocation), 125U.S. policy, 181Westward expansion and, 178See also Indian Wars; and See undernames of individual tribesNativists, 209Naturalization Act, 82Nebraska, territory, 137New Amsterdam. See under New YorkNew Deal programs, 214-218New England colonies, 17, 24-25, 30-31New England Confederation, 17New Mexico territory, 136New World exploration, 9-11New World settlements. See ColonialperiodNew Yorkcolonial royal government, 31Dutch settlers, 14, 15, 25-26Manhattan, early settlement, 14, 15,25-26New Amsterdam/New Netherlandsettlement, 14, 15, 26polyglot of early settlers, 25-26New York Weekly Journal, 28Ngo Dien Nu, 285Ngo Dinh Diem, 285Nichols, Terry, 331NIRA. See National IndustrialRecovery Act (NIRA)Nixon, Richard M.China-U.S. diplomatic relations,289at Great Wall of China, 250-251impeachment and resignation, 290as president of U.S., 288-290presidential elections (1960, 1968,1972), 283, 288, 290354355

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYSoviet Union détente policy, 289Watergate affair, 290NLRA. See National Labor RelationsAct (NLRA)No Child Left Behind Act, 333Noble Order of the Knights of Labor(1869), 193Non-Intercourse Act (1809), 84Noriega, Manuel Antonio, 317Norris, Frank, 196North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA), 317, 325North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), 262North Carolina colony, 17, 30Northern Securities Company, 187Northwest Ordinance (1787), 71, 73,113, 135Northwest Passage, 9, 10Northwest Territory, 71, 113NOW. See National Organization forWomen (NOW)Nuclear weaponsIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces(INF) Treaty, 304-305, 314Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty(1963), 243, 284Manhattan Project (atomic bombdevelopment), 225SALT I (Strategic Arms LimitationTalks), 289SALT II agreement, 292Soviet atomic bomb testing, 266Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI),313-314test bans, 284U.S. attacks on Hiroshima andNagasaki, 226U.S. defense buildup, 314U.S. military defense buildup, 314U.S. nuclear testing, 234U.S. policy during Cold War, 265Nullification doctrine, 83, 117-118OOath of office, presidential, 77Obasanjo, Olusegun, 295The Octopus (Norris), 196Office of Economic Opportunity, 286Oglethorpe, James, 18Oklahoma Territory, City, homesteadclaims, 101Oliver, King, 211Olney, Richard, 194On the Road (Kerouac), 270Organization of American States(formerly Pan American Union), 185Organization of the PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC), 290Organized labor. See Labor unionsOrlando, Vittorio, 108PPacific Railway Acts (1862-64), 152Paine, Thomas, 60Palmer, A. Mitchell, 206-207Panama, U.S. invasion, 317Panama CanalGatun locks, 100-101treaties, 101, 184-185, 292Paris Peace Conference (1919), 108Paris, Treaty of (1783), 47, 64Parker, John, 59Parks, Rosa, 240, 273Patroon system, 14-15Peace Democrats or “Copperheads,”152Peace of Paris (1763), 33Penn, William, 18, 25, 30, 39Pennsylvania colonycolonial government, 30cultural developments, 27-28German settlers, 25population, 25Quakers as early setters, 18, 25, 27relations with Native Americans,18, 39schools and education, 27-28state constitution, 69See also PhiladelphiaPequot Indian War (1637), 16Perkins, Frances, 227Perot, H. Ross, 319, 323, 328Perry, Oliver Hazard, 85Pershing, John J., 205Persian Gulf War, 316-317Desert Storm campaign, 252-253PhiladelphiaAmerican Philosophical Society, 28as “City of Brotherly Love,” 18colonial period in, 18, 25Friends Public School, 27Independence Hall, 164-165Liberty Bell, 168private schools, 27subscription libraries, 28Philippine Islandselections, 312MacArthur’s return, 232U.S. relations, 183, 184World War II battles, 224-225, 232Pierce, Franklin, 137Pilgrims, 13, 22-23, 30, 65Pinckney, Charles, 81The Pit (Norris), 196Pitcairn, John, 59Pizarro, Francisco, 9Plains Indians, 10, 98, 180-181Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), 178, 272Political partiesAmerican Independent, 319Bull Moose Party, 318Constitutional Union Party, 139Democrats, 116, 137, 152, 153, 192,218-219Dixiecrats, 319Federalists, 76, 78, 81, 82, 86, 116Free Soil Party, 136, 137, 138Green Party, 332Know-Nothings, 120Populists, 191-192Progressive, 318-319Radical Republicans, 148-151Reform Party, 319Republicans (or Democratic-Republicans), 78, 81, 138, 139, 152,153, 218Socialists, 206, 318Southern Democrats, 139States Rights, 272third party and independentcandidates, 318-319Whigs, 119-121, 137-138, 152, 153Polk, James K., 134, 135Ponce de Léon, Juan, 9Population growthin cities and towns, 159household composition, 307postwar migrations, 267-268Population, U.S.in 1690, 24in 1775, 241790 census, 2001812 to 1852, 1241860 census, 132Populist Party, 191-192Powell, Colin, 294-295Presidency, U.S.Cabinet, 77-78, 280impeachment, 149-150, 290, 328,329oath of office, 77role of first lady, 324See also names of individualpresidentsPresidential elections1789 (Washington, first), 771797 (Adams), 821800 (Jefferson), 831824 (Jackson), 1161828 (Jackson), 1171860 (Lincoln), 1391864 (Lincoln), 147, 1531868 (Grant), 1501884 (Cleveland), 1591892 (Cleveland), 160356357

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY1896 (McKinley), 1921900 (McKinley), 1951904 (Roosevelt), 1971908 (Taft), 197-1981912 (Wilson), 318, 3281916 (Wilson), 205, 3281920 (Harding), 2071924 (Coolidge), 318-3191932 (Roosevelt), 2111936 (Roosevelt), 2181940 (Roosevelt), 2201948 (Truman), 235, 269, 3191960 (Kennedy), 2831964 (Johnson), 286, 308, 3091968 (Nixon), 288, 3191972 (Nixon), 2901976 (Carter), 2911980 (Reagan), 3091984 (Reagan), 310-3111988 (Bush), 3141992 (Clinton), 319, 322-3241996 (Clinton), 328-3292000 (Bush), 332-3332004 (Bush), 336-337Presley, Elvis, 238, 271PressCable News Network (CNN), 297first newspaper, 28first printing press in colonies, 27freedom of the, 28-29Progressive Party, 318-319Progressivism, 195, 196Prohibition, 121, 210Protestant religionBaptists, 87, 88Great Awakening, 29Methodists, 87, 88revivals in “Burned-Over District,”87Second Great Awakening and, 87-88See also Pilgrims; PuritansPublic Utility Holding Company Act,218Public Works Administration (PWA),215Pueblo Indians, 8, 20Puerto Ricoceded to U.S., 182-183as U.S. commonwealth, 184Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), 197Puritans, 13-14, 40, 40, 65QQuakersabolition movement and, 133and British government relations,59Pennsylvania settlements, 18, 25schools and education, 27Quartering Act (England, 1765), 53-54, 58Quayle, Dan, 323Quebec Act (England), 58Quotations, notable“Ask not what your country can dofor youÑask what you can do foryour country” (Kennedy), 283“axis of evil” (Bush), 334“The Buck Stops Here,” 260“city upon a hill” (Winthrop), 13,309“Damn the torpedoes! Full speedahead” (Farragut), 143“a day that will live in infamy”(Roosevelt), 221“Give me liberty, or give me death”(Henry), 42“Go west, young man” (Greeley),112, 124“A house divided against itselfcannot stand” (Lincoln), 130, 138“I have a dream...” (King, Jr.), 276“I shall return” (MacArthur), 232“Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am aBerliner) (Kennedy), 242“iron curtain” (Churchill), 260-261“shot heard round the world”(Emerson), 59“thousand points of light” (Bush),315“tyranny over the mind of man”(Jefferson), 161“With malice towards none”(Lincoln), 147RRace riots, 152, 206Racial discriminationbus segregation, 240, 273color barrier broken by JackieRobinson, 237, 271in federal government employment,269, 272“Jim Crow” laws (segregation), 151,272, 319lynchings and violence againstAfrican Americans, 150, 178, 271military segregation, 269, 272school segregation, 240, 244separate but equalaccommodations, 178, 240, 272South African apartheid, 312white supremacy and belief in blackinferiority, 178Radical Republicans, 148-151Railroad industry, 131-132Great Rail Strike (1877), 194nationalization of, 192Pullman Company, 194regulation, 159, 197transcontinental link atPromontory Point (1869), 179transcontinental railroad, 154-155westward expansion and, 179workers’ hours, 199workers’ strikes, 193, 194Raleigh, Walter, 10Reagan, Ronaldconservatism and, 307-309economic policy, 309-311foreign policy, 311-313as “Great Communicator,” 309Grenada invasion, 312-313Iran-Contra affair, 312-313with Mikhail Gorbachev, 304-305Reconstruction Act (1867), 148Reconstruction Era, 148-151African-American members inCongress during, 96Lincoln’s program, 147-148Reconstruction Finance Corporation,211Red Cloud (Sioux chief), 180Reform Party, 319Refugee Act (1980), 201Religioncamp meetings and revivals, 87-88Christian Coalition, 308Christian evangelicals, 332, 336circuit riders, 88fundamentalism, 209, 210, 308Great Awakening, 29Moral Majority, 308Salem witch trials, 35Second Great Awakening, 87-88Religious freedomCoercive or Intolerable Acts and, 58freedom of worship, 32and tolerance, 17, 29, 32Republicanism, 65, 68Republicans (or Democratic-Republicans), 78, 81, 138, 139, 152,153, 218Reuther, Walter, 228Revels, H.R., 96Revolution. See American Revolution;French Revolution; Latin AmericanRevolutionRevolutionary War. See AmericanRevolutionRhode Island colony, 14, 31, 41Rice, Condoleeza, 295Ridgway, Matthew B., 264Riesman, David, 270“Roaring Twenties,” 109, 210358359

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYRobertson, Pat, 308Robinson, Jackie, 237, 271Rochambeau, Comte Jean de, 64Rockefeller, John D., 158Roe v. Wade (1973), 279, 308, 324Rogers, William, 251Rolfe, John, 12Rommel, Erwin, 222Roosevelt, Eleanor, 324Roosevelt, Franklin D.death of, 224on democracy, 214, 219foreign policy, 185Good Neighbor Policy, 185labor unions and, 227New Deal programs, 214-218presidential elections (1932, 1936,1940), 207, 211, 218, 220Social Security Act, signing of, 230Social Security program, 218, 230World War II and, 219-220World War II peace negotiations,224at Yalta (1945), 224, 234Roosevelt, Theodoreaccession to the presidency, 195on democracy, 190face of (Mount Rushmore), 170-171foreign policy, 181, 184, 186Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1906),186Panama Canal treaty, 184-185presidential election (1912), 318“Rough Riders” in the Spanish-American War, 183“Square Deal,” 196as “trust-buster” and antitrust laws,160, 187, 196-197Root, Elihu, 181Rose, Ernestine, 122Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, 266“Rosie the Riveter,” 222Royal Proclamation (England, 1763),53Rural Electrification Administration,218Russian Revolution (1917), 206, 259Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), 186SSadat, Anwar al-, 292Saddam Hussein, 316, 317, 329, 334-335San Martin, José de, 114Santa Anna, Antonio López de, 134Scopes, John, 209Scopes trial, 209-210Scott, Dred, 138Scott, Winfield, 135Seamen’s Act (1915), 199Second Treatise on Government(Locke), 32, 61Sectionalism, and slavery issue, 128-139Sedition Act, 82, 117Seminole Indians, 125Separation of church and state, 14Separation of powers principle, 74Separatists, 13Seven Years’ War, 33, 63, 83Seventh Day Adventists, 87Seward, William, 138, 182Seymour, Horatio, 152The Shame of the Cities (Steffens), 196Sharon, Ariel, 330Shays, Daniel, 70Shays’s Rebellion (1787), 70, 73Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), 160,187Sherman, Roger, 72, 73Sherman, William T., 146Silent Spring (Carson), 282Sinclair, Upton, 196Sioux Indians, 98, 180, 281Sitting Bull (Sioux chief), 98Slave family, 128-129Slave owners, 132Slave population, 132Slave trade, 19, 25, 133, 136SlaveryAfrican slaves, 19, 24constitutional amendment (13th)abolishing, 148Dred Scott decision, 138, 149Emancipation Proclamation, 144-145equal rights and, 69extension of, 113-114free vs. slave states, 114, 123Fugitive Slave Laws, 136, 137Indian slaves, 17-18Missouri Compromise (1820), 90,114, 132, 135, 137Northwest Ordinance ban on, 71,73, 113, 135as the “peculiar institution,” 132plantations in the south and, 113-114, 128-129revolt in Haiti, 83as a sectional conflict/dividednation, 128-139in the territories, 71, 73, 113, 135,136-138See also Abolition of slaverySmith, Capt. John, 6, 12, 36Smith-Lever Act (1914), 199Social activism, 87Social-contract (theory ofgovernment), 61Social liberalism, 34Social reforms, 121-122, 195-196Great Society programs, 286-287Medicaid program, 287Medicare program, 286mental health care, 121-122New Deal programs, 214-218prison reform, 121progressivism, 195prohibition and the temperancemovement, 121, 210Social Security, 218Truman Fair Deal programs, 268-269War on Poverty, 286welfare state and, 219Social Security Act (1935), 218, 230Socialist Party, 206, 318Society for the Promotion ofTemperance, 87, 121Soil Conservation Service, 216Somalia, 331Sons of Liberty, 54Soule, John, 124South Africa, racial apartheid, 312South Carolinacolonial government, 30during American Revolution, 63-64early settlements, 17, 26French Huguenots, 24nullification crisis, 117-118protective tariffs, 117secession from the Union, 142Southern Christian LeadershipConference (SCLC), 276Southern colonies, 26-27Southern Democrats, 139Soviet UnionCold War, 258-265Sputnik and the space program, 285U.S. containment doctrine, 261-263U.S. détente policy, 289, 291, 292U.S. relations, 284, 313-314Space program, 254, 274-275, 285Spain, and American Revolution, 63Spanish-American War (1898), 182,183Spanish explorationmissions in California, 169Seven Cities of Cibola and, 9St. Augustine (Florida), firstEuropean settlement, 9, 11, 169St. John de Crèvecoeur, J. Hector, 24St. Mary’s (Maryland), 15Stalin, Joseph, at Yalta, 224, 234360361

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYStamp Act (England), 54, 55Standard Oil Company, 158, 196, 197Stanton, Edwin, 153State constitutions, 68-69Statehood, 78States’ rights, 79, 80nullification doctrine, 83, 117-118States Rights Party, 272Statue of Liberty (New York City), 167,201Steel industry. See Iron and steelindustrySteel Workers Organizing Committee(SWOC), 228Steffens, Lincoln, 196Steinem, Gloria, 248, 279Steuben, Friedrich von, 65Stevens, Thaddeus, 148Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 137Student Nonviolent CoordinatingCommittee (SNCC), 276Sugar Act (England, 1764), 53, 55Sunday, Billy, 209Supreme Court Building (Wash.,D.C.), 166Supreme Court, U.S.casesBrown v. Board of Education,241, 244, 272Marbury v. Madison, 113McCulloch v. Maryland, 113Plessy v. Ferguson, 178, 272Roe v. Wade, 279, 308, 324decisions, 113Court’s right of judicial review,49Dred Scott, 138, 149enlargement proposal, 218-219See also Marshall, John; Marshall,ThurgoodSwedish colonization, 15, 200Swift, Gustavus, 158TTaft, William Howard, 197-198, 318Taiwan, 263, 265, 289Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, 82Tarbell, Ida M., 196TaxationBoston Tea Party (1773), 50-51, 57British right to tax colonies(Declaratory Act), 55colonial period, 33, 53-59Committees of Correspondence,56-57“without representation,” 53, 54-55See also names of individual actsTaylor, Zachary, 135Technology. See InventionsTelevisionCable News Network (CNN), 297growth of, 268impact of, 268, 297MTV, 297programming, 239, 268Temperance movement, 87, 121Tennessee, statehood (1796), 78Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 215Tenure of Office Act, 149Terrorismanthrax poisoning scare, 333-334Cole (U.S. Navy destroyer) bombing(Yemen), 332Khobar Towers U.S. militaryhousing (Saudi Arabia, 1996), 331Oklahoma City bombing (1995),326, 331Palestinian suicide bombings, 330September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S.,320-321, 333U.S. embassies (Kenya andTanzania, 1998), 331-332World Trade Center bombings(1993), 331TexasAlamo, battle of, 134Battle of San Jacinto, 134territory of, 134and War with Mexico, 134-135Textile industry strikes, 195Thorpe, Jim, 181Thurmond, Strom, 272, 319The Titan (Dreiser), 196To Secure These Rights, 271-272Tocqueville, Alexis de, 126, 130Tojo, Hideki, 221, 225Toleration Act (England, 1689), 31Toleration Act (Maryland), 17Townsend, Francis E., 217Townshend Acts (England), 55-56Townshend, Charles, 55Trade policy. See U.S. trade policyTransportation Act (1920), 208Treaties. See under name of individualtreatyTruman Doctrine, 261Truman, Harry Saccession to the presidency, 224civil rights program, 271-272Fair Deal domestic program, 268-269Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomicbomb attacks, 226labor unions and, 269NSC-68 defense policy, 262, 265as president of U.S., 258, 260presidential election (1948), 235,269Trusts, 158Tubman, Harriet, 91Turner, Frederick Jackson, 126Twain, Mark. See Clemens, SamuelLanghorneTyler, John, 120UUncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 137Underground Railroad, 91, 134, 136Union Army of the Potomac, 145Union Pacific Railroad, 179United Auto Workers, 228United Mine Workers (UMW), 227-228United Nations, 224, 226United States Steel Corporation, 157-158, 187U.S. economyin the 1980s, 309-311in the 1990s, 327-328“Black Monday” (stock marketcrash, 1987), 311federal budget deficits, 310-311, 315migration patterns in U.S., 267post-World War II period, 267-268stock market crash (1929), 211suburban development and, 268“supply side” economics, 309unemployment, 215-216, 227, 327See also Banking and finance; GreatDepressionU.S. foreign policy, 80-82, 181-186in Asia, 185-186Bush (George W.) Administration,332-337Clinton Administration, 328-331Cold War and, 258-267imperialism and “ManifestDestiny,” 181-182Iran-Contra affair, 312-313isolationism, 78, 206, 220Jay Treaty with Britain, 81in Latin America, 185Monroe Doctrine, 115-116Open Door policy, 186, 195in the Pacific area, 183-184Panama Canal treaty, 184-185Reagan Administration, 313-314Truman Doctrine of containment,261-263362363

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYXYZ Affair with France, 82U.S. monetary policy, 79-80currency question, 192gold standard, 192See also Banking and finance;Federal Reserve BoardU.S. trade policyeconomic impact of War of 1812,86Embargo Act (1807), 84Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922),207Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930), 207Massachusetts Bay Company“triangular U.S. trade policy,” 25McKinley tariff, 160, 191Native Americans with Europeansettlers, 15-16Non-Intercourse Act (1809), 84North American Free TradeAgreement, 317, 325protective tariffs, 112, 117, 152, 159slave trade, 19, 25, 133Underwood Tariff (1913), 198World Trade Organization (WTO),325USA Patriot Act, 334Utah territory, 136VVan Buren, Martin, 120Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 158Vermont, statehood (1791), 78Verrazano, Giovanni da, 10Versailles, Treaty of, 206Vespucci, Amerigo, 9VietnamFrench involvement, 284-285U.S. involvement, 285Viet Minh movement, 284Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Wash.,D.C.), 172-173Vietnam Warantiwar demonstrations, 248, 258,281, 288-289Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 287Kent State (Ohio) studentdemonstration, 288military draft, 288U.S. forces in, 246-247Villa, Francisco “Pancho,” 185VirginiaAntifederalists, 76colonial government, 29-30Declaration of Rights, 77education by private tutors, 28Jamestown colony, 10, 12-13, 16Resolutions (1798), 117secession from the Union, 142-143state constitution, 68-69Tidewater region plantationsettlements, 26, 28Virginia Company, 12, 18, 29-30Volcker, Paul, 291, 310Voting rightsfor African Americans, 273, 277church membership requirement,14Pennsylvania constitution, 69for women, 122Voting Rights Act (1965), 277WWade, Abdoulaye, 295Wallace, George, 288, 319Wallace, Henry, 319Wampanoag Indians, 13War of 1812, 85-86, 112Warren, Earl, 272Washington, Booker T., 178Washington, Georgeon abolition of slavery, 113as commander in AmericanRevolution, 60-62Constitutional Conventionpresiding officer (1787), 66-67, 71crossing the Delaware (1776), 62face of (Mount Rushmore), 170-171as first U.S. president, 77-78Long Island, battle of (1776), 61Mount Vernon plantation, home of,170-171presidential oath of office, 77retirement from presidency, 82at Valley Forge (Pennsylvania), 62as Virginia militia commander, 33Yorktown, British surrender, 46-47Washington Monument (Wash., D.C.),175Water Quality Improvement Act, 282Wattenberg, Ben, 337Webster, Daniel, 120, 136Welch, Joseph, 236Weld, Theodore Dwight, 134Welfare state. See Social reformsWelles, Gideon, 143“The West.” See Westward expansionWest, Benjamin, 39Western Union, 158Westward expansioncowboy life and “The Wild West,”180frontier settlers’ life, 123-124Homestead Act (1862), 124, 152,179, 180homesteading in the last frontier/”The West,” 126, 179-180Louisiana Purchase and, 83-84map of, 127Northwest Ordinance (1787), 71,73, 135in Oklahoma Territory, 101problems of, 53, 70-71Whig Party, 119-121, 137-138, 152, 153Whitefield, George, 29Whitney, Eli, 114Wigglesworth, Rev. Michael, 28Will, George, 308Williams, Roger, 14, 41Wilson, James, 72Wilson, WoodrowFourteen Points for WWI armistice,205League of Nations and, 205-206portrait of, 108as president of U.S., 198-199, 204-206presidential elections (1912 and1916), 205, 328relations with Mexico, 185U.S. neutrality policy, 204-205Winthrop, John, 13, 309“Witch hunt,” origin of the term, 35Womenconstitutional council(Afghanistan) delegates, 294education in the home arts, 27, 122labor unions and, 193no political rights, 69role of first lady, 324role of Native American, 8workers in war production (“Rosiethe Riveter”), 222working conditions, 193Women’s rights, 122-123abortion issue, 308Equal Rights Amendment (ERA),279feminism and, 278-279Married Women’s Property Act, 122in Pennsylvania colony, 18state constitutions and, 69Women’s rights movement, 90, 248,278-279Women’s suffrage, 90, 122march on Washington (1913), 188-189“Woodstock Generation” (1960s), 249,281364365

INDEXOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYWorks Progress Administration(WPA), 218World Trade Center Memorial (NewYork City), 176World Trade Organization (WTO),325World War IAmerican infantry forces, 108“Big Four” at Paris PeaceConference (1919), 108German submarine warfare, 204-205postwar unrest, 206-207U.S. involvement, 205U.S. neutrality policy, 204-205Wilson’s Fourteen Points forarmistice, 205World War IIAtlantic Charter, 220Coral Sea, Battle of the (1942), 223Doolittle’s Tokyo bombing raid, 223Eastern Front, 222G.I. Bill (veterans benefits), 268-269Guadalcanal, Battle of, 223, 231Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomicbomb attacks, 225, 226Holocaust (Jewish genocide), 226Iwo Jima campaign, 225Japanese-American internmentcamps, 222, 233Japanese Kamikaze suicidemissions, 225Lend-Lease Program, 220Leyte Gulf, Battle of, 225Manhattan Project, 225Midway, Battle of, 223Normandy allied invasion, 223, 232North African campaign, 222-223Nuremberg war crime trials, 226Okinawa campaign, 225in the Pacific arena, 223-224, 224-225, 231peace-time conscription bill, 220Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on(1941), 212-213, 221politics of, 224postwar economy, 267-268postwar period, 258Potsdam Declaration, 225Roosevelt call for “unconditionalsurrender,” 224Russian defense of Leningrad andMoscow, 222U.S. mobilization, 221-222U.S. neutrality policy, 219-220World War II Memorial (Wash., D.C.),176Wright, Frances, 122Wright, Orville (and Wilbur), 107XXYZ Affair, 82YYale University (formerly CollegiateSchool of Connecticut), 27Yalta Conference (1945), 224, 234, 260Yeltsin, Boris, 315-316Yorktown, British surrender at, 46-47,64Yugoslavia, post-Cold War, 330ZZenger, John Peter, 28ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSOutline of U.S. History is a publication of the U.S.Department of State. The first edition (1949-50) wasproduced under the editorship of Francis Whitney,first of the State Department Office of InternationalInformation and later of the U.S. Information Agency.Richard Hofstadter, professor of history at ColumbiaUniversity, and Wood Gray, professor of Americanhistory at The George Washington University, servedas academic consultants. D. Steven Endsley ofBerkeley, California, prepared additional material.It has been updated and revised extensively over theyears by, among others, Keith W. Olsen, professor ofAmerican history at the University of Maryland, andNathan Glick, writer and former editor of the USIAjournal, Dialogue. Alan Winkler, professor of historyat Miami University (Ohio), wrote the post-WorldWar II chapters for previous editions.This new edition has been completely revised andupdated by Alonzo L. Hamby, DistinguishedProfessor of History at Ohio University. ProfessorHamby has written extensively on American politicsand society. Among his books are Man of the People:A Life of Harry S. Truman and For the Survival ofDemocracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis ofthe 1930s. He lives and works in Athens, Ohio.Executive Editor: George ClackManaging Editor: Mildred Solá NeelyArt Director/Design: Min-Chih YaoCover Illustration: Tom WhitePhoto Research: Maggie Johnson Sliker366367

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