In addition to having been the Assistant Secretary of the Navy under McKinley, Governor of New York, and then running mate to and Vice President of McKinley, followed shortly after once McKinley was assassinated by becoming President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt was also an historian who posited an interesting and controversial thesis about why America did what it did in the late 1800s and early 20th century. In short, Roosevelt had asserted that America had become too soft, to complacent, to effeminate over the course of the Gilded Age. You have seen now that the time period from 1865 - 1900 was filled with many and diverse competing interests, from Reconstruction and how to faciliate it, to the rise of a Populist Party from the persistent monetary and financial issues that shaped the West and reflected the interests of the East, to the resurgence of Women for their rights and how that would sweep like a backlash from West to East instead of East to West, to the fate of the former slaves, Chinese, Japanese, Eastern Europeans, and Native Americans in all areas of the growing country. On top of all of this was the rise of Billionaires and their massive industrial and financial monopolies which were supported by the Federal Government over the plight and desperation of the labor force. And then there were the financial panics and the deep recession of the 1890s.To what extent do you agree or disagree with Roosevelt's thesis that America had become too "womanly" or soft by the late 1890s and thus the territorial conquests of 1898 and their after effects were necessary to restore American vigor and manliness? Include in your answers such topics as diplomacy, the Panama Canal, the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and such groups as women, blacks, Native Americans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Filipinos, and Hawaiians to contest or support his assertion that such groups were bound to be conquered by WASP America.
Refer to American Pageant pp 646-653.
DUE DATE: Monday, February 11, 2013 by midnight
WORD COUNT: 500 words minimum
47 comments:
In the relatively short time span between 1865 and 1900, the United States underwent drastic changes in both interior practice and foreign policy. Though characterized as the “Era of Forgettable Presidents”, advancements in technology, women’s rights, and diplomatic aggression come together to make the Gilded Age a time of major cultural upheaval. Theodore Roosevelt would later assert that this was a time of American complacency which necessitated the Spanish-American War as a means to regain the country’s former glory. While this may be true to some extent, the view of this age as a distinctive shift into an unprecedented period in American history, rather than a return to past ways, seems far more plausible.
As a product of the singular vision and determination of a few noteworthy men, especially Theodore Roosevelt, the Spanish-American War did not mark the year that America finally regained its virility, but rather it designated a complete transformation from isolationist policy to a bold and imperialistic sensibility as demonstrated by the Platt Amendment of 1901 which established Cuba as a pseudo-territory of the United States. Furthermore, in the aftermath of the war, the US took control of the Philippine Islands, denoting the first time that the country had acquired territory not directly within its sphere of influence. While this completely altered global outlook certainly does come off as far more masculine than its predecessor during the Gilded Age, it was completely unique at the time, making Roosevelt’s assertion of a return to strength slightly illogical. Up until 1898, America had followed in the footsteps of George Washington’s isolationist policies, but with Theodore Roosevelt as president, that epoch of American history was certainly left in the dust.
It can be conceded that America had grown increasingly effeminate in the years following the Civil War, just not in the way that Roosevelt intended. As the nation neared the twentieth century, the fight for women’s rights gained momentum and the work begun by the women at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 was ready to be fulfilled. During this time, suffragettes throughout the country began petitioning for their natural right, explaining that it was an extension of the ideals of Republican Motherhood. Interestingly enough, it was women in the west that first gained suffrage and not the eastern women who pioneered the idea of women in the workplace as factories sprouted up in cities like Boston. In states like Wyoming and Colorado, the people in power recognized that if a woman could be trusted to help run a farm in the harsh and uncompromising prairies, she could be trusted with the right to vote. This surge of advocacy and collective public interest is certainly very powerful and contributed to the altered national attitude as the country entered the twentieth century.
The events of the Gilded Age propelled the country into the new century in a current of fresh and vigorous surge of nationalism. Under Roosevelt’s strong leadership, the United States embarked on a new era of foreign policy epitomized by the construction of the Panama Canal. As the victors of the war, America could now display the Monroe Doctrine as a true threat to any meddling European powers and continued to strengthen this sentiment which originated in 1823 as seen by the Roosevelt Corollary. Now in control of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii, it was undeniable that the United States was the ultimate force in the Western Hemisphere and was beginning to emerge as a world power. This new found strength cannot be compared to anything else in the history of the nation up to this point and must, therefore, be viewed as a completely new incarnation of the once insulated country.
Lena, can I just say, "WOW!" Also, you completely nailed the Wizard of Oz question on the document analysis activity Friday with the sub. Keep up this level of exposition and the work you are doing to pump this high quality writing out and you will be scoring a 5 on both exams!
Olivia Brophy
Per. 3 & 4
Pt. 1
Between 1865 and 1900, the United States underwent many important historical changes. These changes, of many different shapes and sizes, helped the United States in it’s quest to become a world power. Teddy Roosevelt claimed that s changes occurred because the United States was, essentially, trying to reboot itself after years of being “soft” and “effeminate”. However, for social and reasons, it is more likely that the United States was adapting to a more modern, cutthroat world, not counteracting a supposed “softness”.
Radical Reconstruction, which took place from 1865 to 1877 was anything but soft, and the Freedmen’s Bureau, which set up what can be called an early, basic welfare system, providing necessities, excepting shelter, and education for emancipated blacks can hardly be called “womanly”. The government could be viewed as soft for offering so much help to this group of people when it was not legally bound to do so. However, the scandal and risk surrounding developing such an institution certainly does not fit with the supposed nature of the vast majority of women between 1865 and 1872, when the Freedmen’s Bureau ended. Additionally, some of the major labor strikes of the era from 1865 to 1890, such as the 1894 Pullman strike, were greatly affected by federal involvement. The deployment of federal troops caused the failure of that strike and crushed the hopes of workers for higher salaries. The Gilded Age, for the most part, did not contain a huge number of women whose first reaction to something they viewed as unfavorable was the desire to destroy it completely so as to eradicate the annoying reverberations that it may or may not cause. Thus, the federal interference in labor conflicts does not shine a light on a “soft” or womanly” Gilded Age government. There was one way to see the country as becoming more effeminate because of social reasons, but not in the way that Roosevelt asserts. With the invention of the typewriter and the telephone, as well as the new-fangled department store, women became a more common sight in the working world. This emergence of working women encouraged a resurgence of the pre-Civil War women’s rights movement, as kick started by the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Although women would not get the vote for many years to come, the Gilded Age saw their increased involvement in many important issues. This is one of the very few ways through which someone could categorize the United States as becoming increasingly effeminate between 1865 and 1900.
Olivia Brophy
Per. 3 & 4
Pt. 2
Before the “territorial conquests of 1898” (as stated by Teddy Roosevelt), the diplomacy of the United States began to change in regards to relations with Native Americans, specifically the Plains Indians. Although these Native Americans had previously been treated as separate nations within the United States, as early as 1864, when the Sand Creek Massacre between peaceful natives and white troops took place in Sand Creek, Colorado, they were increasingly treated as hindrances to white expansionism on the continent. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 was an extremely harsh piece of legislation that tore the Plains Indians away from the lands that they lived on in order to make room for white businesses and white homesteaders. This treatment of the Native Americans was far removed from the “softness” of the United States before 1900, as described by Teddy Roosevelt. After the Spanish American War, which garnered massive amounts of support from the American public (hinting that they were not becoming “soft”), the United States undeniably saw a major change in foreign policy. In the case of the island of Cuba, the U.S. followed it’s historical path of establishing the island as an independent country, but with a catch. The Platt Amendment of the constitution of Cuba forced the Cuban government to perpetually remain an “independent” country under the heavy scrutiny of the United States. Another drastic change in U.S. foreign policy lies with the annexation of Hawaii. Unlike the previous annexations of Texas and California, Hawaii’s annexation came devoid of reimbursement for the queen of the islands, Liliuokalani. The annexation of Hawaii, as well as the annexation of the Philippine islands, saw yet another change from the previous annexations carried out by the United States - no plans to make these territories states. This is perhaps the most dramatic change in foreign policy, because it directly correlates to the United States becoming not only and imperialistic country, but also a major world power similar to the likes of Britain and France, among others. By keeping these two island chains, as well as the new territory of Puerto Rico, out of becoming states, the United States, with the backing of the Insular Cases, which stated that the Constitution did not always apply to these faraway territories, was able to exploit the people, as well as the lands, without having to answer to constitutional law. Other changes to American diplomacy include the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which essentially allowed the United States the exclusive right to interfere in lands south of its border when deemed appropriate. The issue over territory in regards to the Panama Canal was especially affected by this legislation. By encouraging Panamanian independence from Colombia to protect the American interest in the Panama Canal, the United States showed its ability to dominate countries through its actions, which were backed up by the hard ball Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, again disproving Roosevelt’s assertion.
The above evidence and analysis of social and diplomatic happenings between 1865 and 1900 clearly shows that the United States, contrary Theodore Roosevelt’s thesis, was not using the conflicts of the last decade of the nineteenth century and their consequences to “beef up” its worldwide image, but was instead adapting to the changing, more ruthless world around it.
Beckett Lee
Periods 3 & 4
In the age of post-Civil War unity and the “forgettable presidents,” America struggled to find a new direction in which to seek its destiny. Some Americans believed that the way to the future lay in social reform and progress in rights for women, blacks, laborers, and farmers, all under the watchful eye of a progressive Federal Government that would keep this diverse family together. Others believed that America’s future lay more in the field of internal improvements, with the Federal Government performing the role of a homemaker in the home. It is plain to see, with these analogies alone, that the assertions later made by Theodore Roosevelt that America had become “effeminate” during the Gilded Age were absolutely correct. Roosevelt looked to the times before the Civil War, to the age of Jackson and Washington, where if America wanted something, it bought it or took it by force. Effeminate America and the stagnation of American expansion and global power, caused by social dissatisfaction, internal unrest, and weakness of the government, could only be solved by a return of the aggression and strength of manly men to power.
Where Roosevelt saw social dissatisfaction, he fixed it with strong reform. Over the course of the Gilded Age, many groups of people fought to obtain equality. Women had been particularly active during this time and tried to demonstrate that their voices were just as valuable as any man’s. The women’s movement of the antebellum era after the Seneca Falls Convention was largely ignored because the government had to deal with the issue of slavery. The women’s movement of the Gilded Age was largely ignored because the government did not have the courage or the manliness that it took to take definitive action. But where the others had failed, Roosevelt’s masculine government succeeded. Roosevelt established the Federation of Women’s Clubs and encouraged the women’s suffrage movement. Under his presidency, women made huge progress in their efforts to obtain suffrage and would acquire it soon after WWI once the government was able to focus on the issue. He dealt with the Native Americans, Hawaiians, Cubans, and people of the Philippines with the “Speak softly, but carry a big stick,” motto. Those who would conform to American ways were treated with dignity and respect. Those who opposed would be walloped by the big stick until they fell in line.
Where Roosevelt saw labor injustice, he worked to make things fair for all involved. His methods included using the law to break trusts and using Federal troops to break strikes and injustice on the parts of the company owners. Like a cunning sniper he was able to target bad trusts and kill their attempts at monopolies while allowing good trusts to enjoy capitalism, albeit on a short leash with the threat of Roosevelt’s big stick looming over them to keep them in line.
When America had been passive and focused on homemaking, the Monroe Doctrine was almost completely ignored and Americans allowed European powers to have their way with the other countries in the Americas. As long as America wasn’t involved, it didn’t seem to mind that its neighbors were being occupied by Europeans. Where McKinley and Roosevelt saw weakness, they brought strength, and when they swapped out the skirts for breeches, they went the completely opposite direction and used the Monroe Doctrine to its fullest extent whereby America could do anything necessary and proper to prevent European colonization. As such, America took control of Cuba, and Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, and the Philippines, even though two of those weren’t attached to the American continent by any means. Roosevelt even took control of parts of Panama to build a canal to secure American interests on both sides of the continent. None of the weaker presidents that had come before had ever attempted such feats of grandeur, yet McKinley and Roosevelt did it with ease and grace.
(Continued) Finally, where McKinley and Roosevelt saw stagnation, they brought momentum. American conquests of Cuba, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines were necessary and inevitable during this time. Almost every country in history that experienced rapid growth in a short timespan achieved it through conquest. Be it the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, or any of the Islamic Empires, lightning conquest brought them their power. America was undergoing the same process until the Gilded Age. The surging tide of American expansionism had been halted by the Pacific Ocean and the rushing power was beginning to tear at its foundations. The nearby outlets of Cuba and Puerto Rico were prime targets that McKinley and later Roosevelt exploited. The Spanish-American War also provided the Philippines as an outlet. Hawaii was also absorbed to release the pressure. The natural laws of expanding nations dictated that McKinley and Roosevelt make the territorial seizures that they did. Doing so put the masculine Uncle Sam back at the helm and allowed America to become the growing world power that circumnavigated the globe with the Great White Fleet and ended WWI and WWII. The America of today began when McKinley and Roosevelt put the pants back on the Federal Government and made America the man it is today.
During the period of 1865 to 1900, the United States experienced a drastic change, emerging as an imperialistic nation and establishing a foothold in the world. Though seen as “The Gilded Age” and a time considered unimportant and forgettable as its presidents were, the span of twenty-five years altered American politics, social movements, and the face of the American people as the United States of America included territories in the Philippines and the Gulf of Mexico. Some historians and scholars have recently, like Theodore Roosevelt during his time, asserted that the United States had become too “soft”, feminine, without any manliness during this period. This can be seen to a limited extent, as the world was just starting to recognize the strong and intrepid undertaking of American imperialism without a world war as a result.
With the possession of the western frontier and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, the nation spanned from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the strong influence of Manifest Destiny was still rich in the American people and government, as the only place left to explore and colonize was the world outside North America, just as countries like Spain, Russia, and Japan had already begun. By annexing the islands of Hawaii and Puerto Rico in 1898, then the Philippines following the Spanish-American War in 1901, American imperialism became a reality through Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, while the Panama Canal was constructed after a delicate process of establishing its territory with the Columbian government following a timed revolution and formation of Panama. This is a prime example of a strong expansionist feeling that was still present in the government, and the end to the isolationist policy that had long remained. The effeminate feeling is hard to see here, as the U.S. navy was the important negotiation factor in the annexation of the Philippines and the recognition of America’s stand amongst the other world powers.
America experienced a swift change within its borders will it spread across the globe, with social reform movements on the rise called for change in the growing diversity of its people before the Progressivism movement in the 1900s. Women in the post-Reconstruction were now strongly pursuing their rights that the men of Congress had long ignored for decades, while rights for those from newly acquired territories were also in question. Women’s suffrage was long pursued by many advocates in the formation of the National Women Suffrage Association, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth C. Stanton; women’s suffrage was accepted as early as 1893 by the state of Colorado, while rights of Hawaiians and Puerto Ricans wouldn’t be recognized until later in the 1900s. The constant feeling that existed was not “soft”, but most likely stubborn as it took more than a century for the men of America to recognize the important input of women in the U.S. government. Rights for those from the annexed territories would be a long setback, as the question of citizenship would linger. While some had seen women’s suffrage as a decline in the American feeling, it was the result from zealous advocates chanting for recognition of rights for women or men across the sea.
Strong changes brought new American identity, with the Constitution covering the continent, and islands of both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Roosevelt declared that it was his involvement and decisions in the Executive branch of the U.S. government that elevated the national feeling away from a disfavored feminine side. This can be seen to a limited extent, but for several political and social factors, the real American identity was of maturity in society with the annexation of foreign territories and acceptance of rights for both American women and foreign natives. The United States, now established as an imperial nation, was on the rise of change in its growing maturity.
By the late 1890s, America had made great advances in both technology and economy, further promoting their national status in the world. Yet amidst all this, Theodore Roosevelt believed that the country had grown soft over time, and that the American accomplishments of the nineteenth century’s end were needed to restore America’s “manliness.” First, the high degree of social instability within the United States gave rise to the threat of conflict; second, changes in internal and external relations had lasting effects in both America’s political sphere and in foreign diplomacy; third, corruption within the government prevented the full extent of beneficial measures. Therefore, because of social prejudices, diplomacy, and fraudulence, I disagree with Roosevelt’s thesis to a large extent, because instead of becoming effeminate, it seems more likely that the U.S. was simply developing to the world around them.
Tensions towards such groups as immigrants and Native Americans presented themselves in heated ways during the late 1800s. “New Immigrants” (people from southern and eastern Europe who began arriving in America in the 1880s) stimulated many fears among American nativists, who believed that the rapidly accumulating foreigners would not only outnumber, outvote, and “taint” the original Anglo-Saxon blood, but would also “degrade” the urban government. This prejudice became so blown up in proportion that antiforeign organizations were founded, gaining enough popularity and influence that Congress restricted immigration to America in 1882 for paupers and criminals and even to an entire ethnic group. This harsh treatment of foreign immigrants evident in the actions of the government as well as in the attitudes of “Native” Americans implies no “effeminate” quality. Rather, the U.S. nation was in the process of discovering how to manage itself in the world and how to cope with the circumstances of other nations when they affected America. As for the Native Americans, the technological and economic boom from the establishment of the railroad resulted in white settlers’ desire to expand westward, to which the federal government began devising ways to acquire the vast lands from the “uncivilized savages.” Although the government attempted to appease several native tribes with treaties (in which case Roosevelt’s assertion may hold some weight), the utter disregard for tribal culture remained blatant. Not only was the reservation system established between the years 1865 and 1900, but in the 1860s the federal government waged biological warfare on the indigenous nation through the selling of infected provisions in a purposeful attempt to wipe out the native population so the land could become available to them. Even humanitarians and Christians paid no heed to the crucial importance of tribal culture, as they exacted their own means of teaching to try to assimilate the Native Americans into white society. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 further displayed the tendency of the federal government to side against the natives when they assigned acreage to each individual Indian in order to destroy tribal ties. In a social outlook, “effeminate” would not be a word to describe late nineteenth century America.
During the late 1800s, the push for women’s rights was reinvigorated, and females all over the country began to organize more movements to achieve those rights, as seen in the fight for suffrage. The new urban environment of the cities helped develop women’s increasing independence, which provided them with a desire to take on a larger role in the community, something outside the home and family. In 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was formed as females continued to clamor for the vote by “linking the ballot to a traditional definition of women’s role.” As a result, local elections in many western states were opened up to women, starting with the Wyoming Territory. Black women, left out of the white women’s movement, formed their own organizations calling for reform. Roosevelt’s thesis may gain some ground in the matter of women’s rights, but on the other hand, the female voting movement signified women adapting to increasingly progressive national circumstances. Changes in external relations came with the Spanish-American War of 1898, by which the new “ambitious” foreign policy of the American nation was introduced. This seemingly imperialistic policy brought to life by the U.S.’s rise in national status carried on to later affairs such as the Panama Canal and the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. In the instance of the Panama Canal, Roosevelt longed to bolster the American navy after the war with Spain, and when the Panamanians revolted upon Colombia’s refusal of America’s offer for a portion of Panama to be used for the canal, the U.S. navy played a vital role in the occurrence by stopping Colombian troops from putting down the uprising, signifying the first time that diplomatic relations came after ambition. The Roosevelt Corollary, stating that the U.S. would intervene to pay off any Latin American debts to European creditors, provided a way to keep the Europeans out of the western hemisphere. This clear transition from isolationism to a bolder, “imperialistic” nature continued forth from the internal development of the country.
In the Reconstruction of the 1860s and 1870s, many radical Republicans desired to shut out the Southerners for as long as possible while they planned to utilize federal power to enforce drastic social and economic changes in the South, contrary to the speedy restoration envisioned by Abraham Lincoln. Even after Andrew Johnson’s Military Reconstruction Plan of 1867 that divided the remaining Southern states into five military districts with federal troops, radicals insisted on harsher punishments while pushing for legislations to enhance the still lowly status of blacks. Roosevelt’s thesis may contain some validity here, because the federal government actually began supporting the minority of the country. The thirteenth, fourteenth (originally the Civil Rights Bill of 1866), and fifteenth amendments of the Constitution were passed, along with the creation of the Freedman’s Bureau, all intended to benefit the blacks. The Freedman’s Bureau, while providing tools to help blacks transition into white society (like greatly aiding blacks in their struggle to become literate), was a handhold for schemes, especially in the goal of settling former slaves on confiscated Confederate lands, which was instead taken advantage by local administrators to who expel blacks from towns and trick them into signing labor contracts for their former masters. Based on all this evidence, although Roosevelt’s thesis may be, to a small extent, true, I largely disagree with it.
With the times changing and the world having revolved around industrialization and imperialism, the United States had taken advantage of it's (our) newly developed power. The events occurring during this time, the war in Cuba with Spain and others. The American-Spanish War is a conflict in particular that President Theodore Roosevelt based much of his arguments regarding the feebleness of America and it's weak state of being, according to him.
President Roosevelt stressed the significance of the war in Cuba and how America took advantage of the situation and in a decisive stride, climbed high above the surrounding World Powers and further supplied us with the confidence to take to the earth as a leading power, a mountain, a dark horse of sorts. However, is Roosevelt's argument completely valid or entirely true?(rhetorical) I'd say that the American-Cuban War was more of a re-buffering point in American history and that we had never really become "femenine" per say, The works of our fore-fathers during the Revolutionary period as well as the founding of our country had always secured it as being rather built, yet not wholly mature, rather this conflict was used to boost the national morale; American soil having being made safe after the several wars that kept many in terror of invasion and colonization, or threat of dis-union. This time allowed the American populace to come out from under the shadow of the past and rise into the "light" and "glory" of imperialism.
With the civil rights movements growing and forming in greater numbers, under more efficient and persuasive leaders, the Women's Rights movements became much harder for the Government to neglect like a cat asking for food at 1 AM. The American people became increasingly bold with the change in the political and industrial environments around them.
The weak and frail old woman of an American seen by Roosevelt was more of a personal delusion, or an excuse to build the armed forces and expand and conquest in a most peaceful and humanitarian way possible for that time, as we saw with annexing the Hawaiian Islands to America. I would say that President Roosevelt's assessment that America had become too "feminine" was true only in a population gender percentile.
Between the relatively short time span, 1865-1900, the United States underwent several major changes. This time period was marked by corruption and many forgettable presidents. There are 3 major aspects which characterized America during this time period: first, foreign policies were changing and new ones were created; second, the rich were growing richer and the poor were growing poorer; third, the time was filled with civil unrest and the need for social reform. Therefore, for political, economic, and social reasons, I (to a lesser degree) agree with Theodore Roosevelt, but it is more likely the United States was evolving to a tougher status in order to endure in a competitive world, rather than reclaiming its manliness.
Part 1
From the late 1800’s and into the early twentieth century, President Theodore Roosevelt believed that America had become far too effeminate and lenient during the course of the Gilded Age. The time period following the outcome of the Spanish-American War that left an overwhelming plethora of American command, was also chockfull of numerous events that proved to shape Roosevelt’s assertion, such as the resurgence of Women’s Rights, the fate of the now freed slaves, Japanese, Native Americans, Eastern Europeans, and many other ethnicities. Not only that, but the rise of Billionaires with their colossal industrial and financial monopolies that had been supported up until that point by the Federal Government, eventually resulted in the deep recession of the 1890’s. Roosevelt’s assumption is true, but only to a diplomatic extent. First, the congressional viewpoint of “manliness” as opposed to femininity is predicated solely upon the scope of power America believes it deserves to uphold; second, racial tensions amongst several cultural assemblages was a primary determinant of either the supremacy over one region or the fall of another; and third, the monetary cartels and engineering associations ensued commercial panics and strong recession through the eyes of the both the Federal Government as well as the American people. Thus, for these intellectual, social, and technological reasons, Roosevelt’s proposition is credible chiefly through diplomatic objectives. First, the senate’s perspective of “manliness” in comparison to “womanliness” is established solely upon the scope of influence America believes it has a warrant to distribute. For instance, Republican Motherhood had been thought of as the main source of lady-like tendencies, seeing as they were the ones who educated a majority of the male population in equal portions mannerisms with an emphasis on Republicanism (it was considered their civil duty) (PARENTHESIS-used twice more). And due to that very responsibility, later suffragettes fighting for women’s rights ushered in a feeling of undermining the role of white male dominance which had been highly projected long before the beginning of the 1800’s. This later impacted the role of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (a group of high status Americans that controls disproportionate financial and social power) in their aggressive nature in attempts to control the status of blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Filipinos around the turn of the century. Bringing about an era of stronger racial uprisings to contest these attempts to dominate. Second, ethnic stringencies amid quite a few cultural congregations was a primary determinant of either the supremacy over the failure or authority over another region. For starters the Roosevelt Corollary of 1904 stated that the United States would merely mediate as a preceding remedy for other nations in the west concerning their international crediting obligations. While shortly before this, the Monroe Doctrine asked Europeans not to increase their influence or to recolonize in the west, making it more passive (at this point the United States was still in control of Cuba and had begun military occupation there). However, as exemplified through the Indian Removal Act of 1830 despite those wishes, Native Americans suffered just as much as the previously abundant natural resources of the land did as white settlers completely took over, and began dispersing their technological advancements across the area.
Part 2
Another event reminiscent of Andrew Jackson’s Removal Act was the annexation of Hawaii and the accompanying Hawaiian Islands in 1898. As a result of the McKinley Tariff which raised import rates on foreign sugar, Hawaiian sugar planters attempted to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani in strong hopes of the tariff disappearing altogether. But that was not the case, Puerto Rican and Filipino influence had begun to casually make its way into Hawaii as a consequence of the Treaty of Paris in 1898. This matter was effectively sustained once Cleveland left office, and was not settled until McKinley signed the joint resolution finally annexing the islands as a territory. There is a pattern. Speak to Congress and they will not listen. Determinedly announce your viewpoint and they will deliberate. Threaten war and they will regret. (TRICOLON) And third, the fiscal lobbies and industrial relations ensued viable panics and strong recession through the eyes of the both the Federal Government as well as the American people. As illustrated by the production of new inventions such as the railroad and the steamboat that momentously impacted the construction and use of the Panama Canal during the 1900’s as a new and competent way of transporting goods to greater distances than ever thought possible. Two historians, Richard Hildreth and William Hickling Prescott both delved into the idea of this new powerful American government and rising technology. Although, this led to increasing Chinese labor in particular amongst the transcontinental railroad throughout the mid 1800’s, displaying yet again another progression into foreign reliance and tensions between Americans and Chinese due to the plausible possibility that Chinese immigrants would soon overrun the country, causing the birth of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Not only that, but the Depression of 1893 became one of the worst in American history with a whopping ten percent unemployment rate, and so too dealt with the Populist and free silver issue in addition to the transformation of the nation’s economic policies and latter developments. Exhibiting much anxiety, though not necessarily “softness” when applied to WASP America. Due to these intellectual, collective, and industrial reasons, Roosevelt’s proposition is sound, but predominantly through diplomatic ideals, reigning in a new era of discovery and expansion, which was not always necessary. Few regions are irrevocably “womanly” or “manly”, but many are undoubtedly resolute in their instituted ways (ANTITHESIS).
The United States underwent a rapid culmination of changes in the period of 1865 to 1900, in the so called gilded age. The period was marred with unimportant presidents and was strife with corruption, but began turning the wheel of change in America in many different ways. It marked the creation of major economic, social, and political elements, as well as creating the birth of American imperialism and leading way to the powerhouse that America is today. Although Theodore Roosevelt had called the American people effeminate, and claimed the loss of their masculinity, it was more of a period of showing the rest of the world how much America had grown, and it was claiming its seat amongst the rest of the world.
Due to the civil war the American people had internalized their conflicts, and continued to allow their past to control how they acted amongst each other. In a sense America did need a common goal, with their western expansion acting as a release valve from internalized struggles now shut off by the claiming of the west and California, the pressure was beginning to build up between warring groups. The common goal of the Spanish American war and the imperialism that followed in its footsteps created a common enemy of the American people. One that they could unite around and no longer sees the state boundaries as markers for their antagonism. As such they began to see themselves as Americans, and the honor of the nation was at stake. Now some thirty years after the civil war the young generation were desperate for a war to claim their honor, and to prove themselves, in a sense it wasn’t the nation that was effeminate, as much as the people were desperate to prove that they weren’t.
By claiming Hawaii and Puerto Rico in 1898 and then the Spanish American war in 1901, the American people had proven that they were not the sniveling babies the rest of the world saw them as. America was now a capable force with an extensive navy and an economic goliath that had formed in the industrial revolution of earlier years. However the islands they had claimed were easily claimed with the American navy so widely spread across the continent, there was need for an easier access between the two oceans. And so to prove to the rest of the world the economic force and ability the Americans had, Roosevelt had deemed the creation of the Panama Canal. Such a thing would cost millions of dollars and involve the moving of massive amounts of land, creating one of the largest scale projects in world during that era. Such an action would allow the Americans to continue to allow the Americans to show the world how strong they had become as a nation.
The stubborn mindset of the American people was not a soft or effeminate creation; the American people were dead set in the adaptation of their point of view. The woman’s suffrage movement had snowballed into existence for as long as America had been around. Although heavily ignored for generations the woman’s movement had recently gained credibility with the rise of social labor reforms. Although seen as a weakness in creability from oversea patrons these American revolutions, headed by names such as Susan B Anthony Elizabeth Stanton, created a national unity that would turn America from its weak and agrarian past and into the imperialist and “manly” force that it would be into the 20th century.
Entries are VERY VERY LATE after this point!
Cammie Gelbuda
Period 1 & 4
In the Gilded Age many types of people wanted to be equal. Women, Native Americans, laborers, slaves and farmers all wanted equality. During this Gilded Age Americans were looking at social issues and were not expanding or working at global issues. Theodore Roosevelt thought that America had become “effeminate,” which meant that we had become to womanly, or not manly enough. It used to be that if Americans wanted or needed something, they would take it by war, force or they just bought it. Since America was fighting over social issues and the weakness of the government, they were not concentrating on the expansion or power of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt decided to fix some of these issues with strong reform. Theodore Roosevelt made the Federation of Women’s Clubs and helped the women’s suffrage groups. TR also helped in the equality of Hawaiians, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Native Americans. During the fight to have the Panama Canal built Theodore Roosevelt was known for the motto “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.” This meant to talk quietly while trying to get your point across and then use military services (big stick) when no one would listen. TR thought this was manly government. He helped the people of the Philippines during the talks for the building of the Panama Canal. When Roosevelt saw workers being mistreated he would make things more fair for the laborers. Roosevelt helped and treated with respect anyone who agreed with American ways. Theodore Roosevelt’s masculine government was a big success.
During the negotiating of the rights to the building of the Panama Canal, Theodore Roosevelt felt that if the Germans or the British got there foot in the door trying to collect on unpaid bills from some of the Latin American countries that these countries might stay in Latin America. This would be in violation of the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt declared a “preventive intervention,” which is known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The Doctrine meant that the United States would pay all of the bills for the Latin American nations, which would keep the Germans and Europe away. In other words no outsiders could push around the Latin Nations except for the Untied States, which would be known as the “Policeman of the Caribbean.” Theodore Roosevelt used his big stick again. Theodore Roosevelt’s rewriting of the Monroe Doctrine started the opinion of the Latin countries that was called the “Bad Neighbor” policy, which was that the United States used the new corollary to justify interventions and repeated landings of American forces on Caribbean land, turning it into a “Yankee Lake.” This made Latin Americans feel like the Monroe Doctrine was a cloak behind which the United States sought to strangle them.
Theodore Roosevelt put the pants back on America by swinging a big stick. He also helped women, farmers, laborers, blacks, Native Americans, and others start to get more equality in America. A lot of these policies helped shape the United States today.
Now your submission is not just very very late, it is really very very late.
Krizelle DeGuzman
Period 1 and 4
The time frame between the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s in the United States was filled with many forgettable presidents and corruption but at the same time there was still an abundance of technological and economical advances during the 1890’s. However, President Theodore Roosevelt still came to the conclusion that the United States was becoming feminized. First, internal changes included high social instability that had a threat of conflict; Second, American women were fighting for their voices to be heard and accepted into society; Third, the United States expressed virility versus effeminate actions during/after the Spanish American War. Therefore, the United States was becoming effeminate to a limited extent.
American feelings toward natives and immigrants began to decrease as they began to realize that the foreigners would outnumber them soon if not already, later leading them to outvote them and soon they would be tainting their clean Anglo-Saxon blood! Anti-foreign feelings were so ridiculously blown out of proportion that Congress eventually felt compelled to ban the Chinese from immigrating to the United States in 1882 for 10 years ("You can go to the white man's heaven but not his country"). The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 continued to eliminate other races as it broke the ties of Native American tribes by giving them all a select amount of land. The thoughts and actions of the people don’t show reveal womanly qualities. Instead it’s more brutal, forceful, and therefore more masculine rather than feminine. While also being more manlike, it also exposes the growing power of the nation as they continued to learn how to deal with the problems of the countries around them when foreign problems began to effect American citizens. Besides foreign affairs effecting citizens of the United States, Americans began to have increasing turmoil amongst themselves; more specifically, among the different genders. Although women’s rights suffrage is argued to have started during the late 1700’s when a woman author, Mary Wollstonecraft argued that both sexes are equal, the push for equality was reinvigorated during the late 1800’s. In the 1840’s women began to be hired for paying jobs, seek higher educational opportunities, and were able to grasp a new sense of selfhood. All of this led up to women wanting to take on larger roles in the community so they began organizing themselves to fight for equality. As more and more local elections were opened to women, not including black women, so technically, Roosevelt’s thesis is correct considering what women gained during this period but just to a limited extent. The United States really began to demonstrate virility after the Spanish American war but there were also some signs of masculinity before the war, such as when the war gained massive amount of support from the American public. After the war, Cuba was allowed to stay independent but with the U.S. watching it carefully versus the annexations of Hawaii and the Philippines; the U.S. never had any thoughts of letting these particular territories become states. That proves the country’s imperialism but also as a world power. Asserting their dominance over Hawaii and the Philippines is similar to the history of men asserting dominance over women, proving that Roosevelt’s thesis is only correct to a limited extent.
Annika Newman
Periods 1 & 4
The United States had undergone many historical changes from the conclusion of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th century. These severe changes and historical events, however, enabled the United States to evolve into the world power that it is today. First, the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War was anything but “womanly” as the Federal Government had to take many risks in giving education to emancipated blacks and establishing a welfare system; second, a harsh piece of legislation was passed, known as the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, which separated the Plains Indians from their homeland in order to provide more room for white businessmen and citizens; and thirdly, the annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was rather demanding as Congress essentially told the Queen of Hawaii what the future of her nation was going to be through a letter without any regard to her protests. Thus, the nation was anything but soft and “womanly” by the late 1890s as President Theodore Roosevelt had asserted.
The time period from the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865 to the end of the Reconstruction in 1877 was certainly not what President Roosevelt had described as soft. The government took many risks in providing necessary rights that would ultimately lead to the prosperity of the nation, such as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Created in 1865, the government agency allowed emancipated blacks to receive an education, a novel action at the time. It also set up a basic welfare system, permitting Americans with a blanket to fall back on when times get tough. Though many, including Roosevelt, may see this as a weakness by not compelling people to “toughen it out,” the government had to take many courageous risks in order to provide these helpful policies. Both education for blacks as well as the establishment of a basic welfare system forced the government to make some significant reforms regarding the economical system of the country, as both causes required money. In addition, labor strikes (such as the Pullman Strike of 1894) (PARENTHESIS) occurred during this era, as labor unrest became a mainstream theme. These strikes were not tolerated by the government, however, and the United States military soon became involved in order to ensure order. Therefore, the government’s intolerance to labor conflicts could not be deemed soft nor womanly in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Prior to the territorial conquests of 1898, as President Roosevelt stated, (PARENTHESIS) the diplomacy of American started to evolve regarding relations with the Native Americans. For the most part, Native Americans were seen as separate nations that were within the United States. However, the harsh Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 forced the Plains Indians to move elsewhere while white citizens and businessmen took the land that was previously their home. This stern act of legislation was far from what Teddy Roosevelt had labeled as “soft.” Additionally, the majority of the American populous had support the efforts of the Spanish American War, representing the widespread firm agreement amongst the people, not just the Federal governments impulsive decision to become a world power.
Continued...
The various “firm” actions by the United States after the Civil War led up to the nation becoming a world power, as clearly represented in the territorial conquests of the late 20th century. Following the Spanish-American War, America’s foreign policy changed greatly. The annexation of Hawaii was unlike any other annexation that the United States had been a part of in its history thus far. The annexation of Hawaii was a defining moment for America, as a letter was sent to the Queen of Hawaii declaring their intentions. This letter, written by Congress, described why they were playing to annex the islands to the United States, and what were to happen despite the protests from the Queen. Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii did send a letter of opposition, but the United States finally won this argument due to their superior resources, and further demonstrated itself as a world power. Another drastic event occurred through the ratification of the Platt Amendment after the Spanish-American War. This amendment allowed the government of Cuba to remain an independent country as long as they were under the watchful eye (PERSONIFICATION) and stern scrutiny of the United States government.
The Gilded Age, from 1865 to 1900, was characterized by the era’s “forgettable Presidents” who during their terms accomplished relatively nothing. Roosevelt, who came into the presidency in 1901, claimed that the nation would need to regain its manliness, after the complacency of the past decades. First, the nation had become more “womanly” by losing the “frontier” and needed to seek another one to focus its efforts and will; second, the nation’s feminism was a result of the corruption and inactivity of politicians who sought the vote instead of actual reform and improvement; third, the nation’s system of corruption and interlocking trusts resulted in a static economy which did not encourage the poor to rise to prominence. Therefore, because of the social, political, and economical reasons the nation was stuck in an era of idleness that can be stereotyped as womanly.
The Gilded Age saw for the first time the rise of Millionaires; however, with the emergence of a wealthy few, there was a poorer majority, as the wealthy left less for the others. The nation’s trusts were basically a monarchy in which the wealth was kept with the wealthy and was not distributed among the majority. This system left the economy in a static economy and ruined the dreams of the poor and middle class. This destroyed the visions of Americans who believed they could rise up and be rich, and instilled a mindset of complacency in them in which there was no hope. This crisis demanded the charisma of Roosevelt who spurred the common man on, much like Jackson, and challenged him to man up, and “speak softly and carry a big stick.”
The Gilded Age saw for the first time the absence of the frontier, which left a “hole” in the American people who had always seen the frontier as an outlet. This missing goal resulted in a lack of enthusiasm and future destination for the country. This proves Roosevelt’s thesis; the Spanish American war was necessary to restore American vigor and return its sense of destiny, manifest destiny. This shows Roosevelt’s. America, as a country, needed the sense that it was the “city on the hill” and was actually making a difference, so, the country needed a spark-plug like Roosevelt to restore it to prominence.
The politicians of the Gilded Age, instead of seeking to politically reform and advance the nation, sought votes for the election, and worried about their public image. This inability of the politicians shows the feminism, and complacency that had crept into the country; the nation needed a manly man to take a hold of the nation and decisively choose their course of action for the future. Roosevelt was correct in thinking the nation’s politicians had become “womanly” by being like a woman (in the stereotypical sense-sorry all you women out there!), and worrying more about their outward appearance to the people-“makeup”- instead of worrying about the people and what they demanded. Therefore, Roosevelt was needed in this time period to bring the manliness of someone who had gone to Africa on safaris, and the vigor of a man who would swim in rivers during the winter! In every sense of the word Roosevelt was a man’s man and was the right man at the right time to restore the nation to the vigor of its previous health under Lincoln.
-Christian Filbrun
The time period between 1878 and 1889 was infamously branded “The Gilded Age.” It is filled with a handful of forgettable presidents, who were perfect politicians, or a wizard of oz if you will, pretending to give the American people what they already had. In addition, big business was taking over the country and had more control than the government did. Theodore, “Teddy” Roosevelt was the first memorable president since Lincoln, assuming the presidency after the murder of Mckinley. Not only was he an Assistant secretary of the navy, Governor of New York, and Vice President under Mckinley, Teddy was a historian with strong social, political, and military, views of the gilded age, and how he could go about fixing them. His thesis was that over the course of the Gilded Age, America had become too “womanly” and “soft,” and one of the best ways to acquire manliness and swagger was to go out in the world and start controlling other regions.
Theodore’s plan to start building a manlier America involved the building of a canal, the Panama canal to be exact. Teddy used this canal, later finished in 1914, to have some control over shipping from foreign countries if they wished for faster shipping. Later in his presidency, Theodore added to the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, saying and proving that America could finally protect the Americas from foreign powers. America had also grown some teeth and could bare them, not use them, on some of his neighbors. Russia and Japan were having a war over shipping ports, and neither was going to lose, and neither was going to win once Uncle Sam came in on the scene with his new, intimidating President with big teeth and and even bigger “stick”. In 1905 Teddy acted as peace maker between the waring countries, with a little help of the looming presence of his “Big Stick.” Although both countries held some animosity towards America after the exchange, America showed it could flex its manly muscles in a friendly, peaceful way.
This growing mindset of increasing American aptitude was not only seen abroad, but also at home. A good example is the women’s movement towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the beginning of the twentieth. Women had been petitioning for their inalienable rights since before the civil war. However, the country, and the women themselves sometimes, were distracted with other big events. War being the lead distraction. Now though, the spanish American war was over and women could begin petitioning again. Although it was the women in the east who worked very hard for their vote, it was the western women who stole the show. By working alongside the men on the shadeless great plains, women had gained the respect of their husbands and were trusted with the vote. Showing that even the women were gaining vigor and swagger, the likes of which they had never had before.
To a minimal extent I agree with Teddy’s theory. I would suggest that America never had manliness, vigor, or swagger. America was too young and preoccupied with its own problems before Roosevelt to have any presence on the world stage. Over time, America assumed more and more presence simply by building itself up domestically. Even in the Gilded Age allowed America to seize some power over foreign nations. With big business running rampant during the Gilded Age and producing more and more surpluses, exports and foreign dependency on American products pushed up America another rung on the ladder. Compared to the America 100 plus years ago, Theodore had much more continental presence than any of the presidents before him.
Speakably late, but I don't want to speak about that!
The United States had undergone many historical changes from the wrap up of the Civil War to the launch of the 20th century, rising as an imperialistic nation and establishing traction in the world. These severe changes and historical events, however, enabled the United States to evolve into the world power that it is today. Though known as “The Gilded Age” and a time considered insignificant with presidents that were majorly forgettable, the duration of twenty-five years distorted American politics (like the legislation passé, known as the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) PARENTHESIS, social movements, and the face of the American people as the United States of America included territories in the Philippines, the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaii (Which was a rather difficult one since the Queen had no intention of losing control) PARENTHESIS. Thus, the nation was anything but malleable and “womanly” by the late 1890s as President Theodore Roosevelt had asserted.
With the control of the western frontier and the production of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, the nation spanned from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the strong authority of Manifest Destiny (where many Americans thought that their destiny was to spread to the west) PARENTHESIS was still rich in the American people and government, as the only place left to discover and lay claim to was the world outside North America, just as countries like Spain, Russia, and Japan had already begun. The effeminate feeling is hard to see here, as the U.S. navy was the significant cooperation factor in the annexation of the Philippines and the acknowledgment of America’s stand amongst the other world powers.
America experienced a quick transformation within its borders that will spread across the globe, with social restructuring movements on the rise called for change in the rising diversity of its people before the Progressivism movement in the 1900s. Women in the post-Reconstruction were now strongly pursuing their rights that the men of Congress had long ignored for decades, while rights for those from newly acquired territories were also in question. Women’s suffrage was long pursued by many advocates in the formation of the National Women Suffrage Association, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth C. Stanton. The constant feeling that existed was not “soft”, but most likely stubborn as it took more than a century for the men of America to recognize the significant input of women in the U.S. government. Rights for those from the annexed territories would be a long setback, as the question of citizenship would remain. While some had seen women’s suffrage as a decline in the American feeling, it was the result from enthusiastic advocates calling for the acknowledgment of rights for women or men across the sea.
Well-built changes brought new American individuality, with the Constitution covering the continent, and islands of both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Roosevelt stated that it was his involvement and decisions in the Executive branch of the U.S. government that elevated the national feeling away from an indigent feminine side. This can be seen to a narrow degree, but for quite a few political and social factors, the real American identity was of maturity in society with the annexation of foreign territories and acceptance of rights for both American women and foreign natives.
Tristan Mauricio
Periods 1&6
The following decades after the Civil War up until the beginning of the 20th century would not be all that pleasant but absolutely crucial to the growth of the country. "The Gilded Age" is a metaphor for how rotten the Country really was under the table, it was characterized by corruption, but constructive corruption, an age of major Industrialization and exponential growth. Socially, new laws that the Civil War that would defeat the purpose of the Civil War would take place in the South; politically, the country would face politicians and Presidents that were characterizing forgettable; and economically we would undergo the growth that would put us at the top perhaps one of the most crucial stages of our growth. Therefore socially, politically, and economically the Gilded Age was awkward but essential to us in a weird way.
After the Civil War Abraham Lincoln would assure that there would be a Reconstruction of the South up until he was assassinated at the beginning of his second Presidential term. His plan was meant to reunite the North and South as smoothly as possible with zero conflict, however despite his efforts the North would not be united as he had foreseen and whatever the Civil War had been fought for would have no implication whatsoever. The Reconstruction that had taken place in the South should not have been called a success because in fact it was far from that, to the point where the North had decided to abandon the project. The South could not be repaired over night and the main purpose of the Civil War was not taken seriously and just showed how much the North wanted to keep moving forward. Soon after the War had ended thousands of newly freed began to move North to move into the cities and one would think the North would take them in right away but in fact it was the opposite with laws that would restrict Blacks from moving out of the South. As oddly as it sounds, if Congress had remained in the hands of the Republicans then our industrial and size of the country would have been delayed. By the time the Reconstruction had lingered for about 20 years the South had successfully re-implanted its leaders back into Congress and would control the White House, even the Presidency despite all of the efforts the Republicans had done to prevent that. With Congress back in the control of the Southern Democrats the Reconstruction would end and the Blacks would not be granted the rights that they were promised. With politics and social developments out of the way the largest impact the Gilded Age had and the reason to its name would be from all of the confusion Economics had caused. During this time period many people would invest in their personal lives and devise very cunning and sneaky plans to make it rich and fast. For example the Transcontinental Railroad had begun construction during the Civil War and had to be completed. Two different companies would take up that challenge but both had convinced Congress to fund the construction yet both would simply pocket that money and cheat just about everyone but themselves to gain a quick buck. The Railroad could have been constructed in mere months but the companies had purposely taken years to complete the task. But in the end the major Industrialization of this period would allow us to become a major superpower and prepare for the Wars to come. The "Gilded Age" may have been an age of corrupition but it was one of the most importatant.
Bella Crosson
Period 1 & 4
From the conclusion of the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th century, the United States of America had gone through many significant changes. These new introductions, however, helped establish the United States into what it is in the present day. First, the rather strict piece of regulation known as the Dawes Severalty Act of 187 was passed, separating the Plains Native Americans from their original lands in order to clear room for new white businessmen and families; second, the era of Reconstruction (following the Civil War) PARENTHESIS was a very defining period in American history for in this period the Federal Government was compelled to take a great many chances in giving education rights to emancipated black slaves and also establishing a new welfare system; and third, the annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was a rather challenging situation, for Congress had to tell the Queen of Hawaii what the future of her nation was going to be, with or without her consent. Therefore, in these ways, the nation as a whole was anything but “womanly”, just as President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed.
The era from the end of the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction in 1877 was not what President Roosevelt originally declared as “soft.” The United States government took many chances in what they thought was right in providing the country with all that it needed in order to achieve prosperity. The Freedmen’s Bureau, created in 1865, allowed the emancipated black slaves to become educated. It also set them up with a basic welfare system, permitting Americans a cushion to fall back on in hard times. However, Roosevelt, along with others, thought of tis as a weakness. They thought that it did not encourage the American people to just “tough it out”, and that it instead encouraged laziness. Both the possibility of education for blacks and the formation of the new welfare system required the government to make some immense reforms regarding the country, especially in the realm of these causes needing money. In addition to all this, labor strikes, like the Pullman Strike, were occurring all over, especially in this time period. As the government did not tolerate these strikes, the United States military soon became involved in order to ensure the publics safety.
Before the territorial conquests of 1898, political contacts between the Native Americans and the white settlers were evolving. For the most part, the natives were separate from the white American population, for they were seen as nations inside the United States. Unfortunately, with the institution of the severe Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, which forced the plains Native Americans to move elsewhere in order to make room for the white businessmen and citizens coming to set up their families with new lives of their own. This harsh act was far from what Theodore Roosevelt thought of as kind or soft. Originally, the American people were in support of the efforts of the Spanish American War. They represented the strong agreement of the people, not just the Federal governments desire to become an empirical world power.
The many different actions taken by the United States of America after the Civil War led the nation into the world power status, for the United States clearly represented in the conquests of the late 1900s. The foreign policies of America were greatly changed, especially after the Spanish American War. The annexation of Hawaii played a huge role in the history of the United States, for it was unlike any other annexation before it. A letter was sent to the Queen of the Islands, asserting their intentions. Written by Congress, the letter defined how and why they were planning to insert the islands into the United States. Despite Queen Liliuokalani’s protests and he strong letter of opposition, America won her battle PERSONIFICATION due to her superior resources. In this way, she also improved her status as an even stronger world power than before. Another rather drastic event that played a huge role was the ratification of the Platt Amendment directly after the Spanish American War. This allowed for the government of Cuba to remain an independent country. However, the Cubans were under the stern, watchful eyes and security of the United States of America’s government.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, United States President Theodore Roosevelt had a preoccupation with an earlier era. He embraced America's story--struggling against impossible odds in an uncharted wilderness during the eighteenth century. The men of this period had founded a civilized society unlike any other. He routinely talked about and demonstrated what he believed to be defining traits of the nation’s past: a strong sense of honor and rough-and-tumble individualism. Roosevelt worried that America was losing its anchor to the past. Roosevelt gave voice to his concerns during The Strenuous Life speech. During his speech, Roosevelt invoked the historic frontier struggle to goad the American people into accepting their responsibilities at home and their destiny to explore new frontier abroad. His description of the Civil War was one of a modern example of the frontier experience, lauding the heroism displayed by men in the Civil War, and chastised those who rejected it for comfortable shelter; Roosevelt even tried to encourage American women to continue the strenuous effort by birthing many healthy children, thus keeping a degree of legitimate numerical superiority over the soaring number of foreigners. Finally, he gave voice to the need for America to confront the anarchy of the Filipino rebels following the imperial battle of the Spanish-American War, in similarity to the treatment of Native Americans by the early frontiersmen. Roosevelt’s “strenuous life” set a legacy, with his public recall of the mythic truths about America's past, which would guide future presidential discourse.
In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Americans faced a number of unsettling changes. New economic, social, and global impulses had challenged traditional views of national life, calling into question how products would be made, who would make them, and where those products would be sold. With the U. S. Census Bureau declaring the "closing" of the frontier in 1891, many entrepreneurs and laborers had begun to seek their fortunes in the city instead of living off the land. Advances in technology had changed the manufacturing process from an private endeavor into a united one of mass production. High speed machines produced millions of units, far outpacing the efforts of even the most productive being. As a result, economic growth during the period exploded, and as it reached the brink of the 20th century, America had surprisingly become one of the world's leading industrial nations.
Yet there was a cost to all these technological and economic changes. Medical experts warned that industrialized life caused raising numbers of people to suffer from a mental condition evidenced by headaches, malaise, insomnia, and sexual dysfunction. These maladies had always existed, but now they were connected with the economic and social progress of the era, which proved all the more worrying. These medical assertions also fed cultural fears of a decline in manliness among American men.
During the Gilded Age, many worried about the vitality of American manhood, criticizing the over-civilized man of Gilded Age society. In the traditional American view of society, based on the agricultural past, men led the crusade against nature. This idea, though, had given way to the modern ideals of masculine self-restraint, gentility and "measured deference to female culture at home." Young men saw that they needed demonstrate their worth by amassing capital for their business ventures, and looked to gain the approval of those who controlled this new economic environment by acting more "civilized." Yet as they became more "civilized," many felt less "manly," less in control of one's self and environment.
Once settlers of the wild west, the economic crisis of the 1890's made these men vulnerable to vast industrial and market forces beyond their control.
Middle class men not only had their masculinity threatened by extensive changes in the economic environment, but also by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants that threatened to take power away from the middle classes. America saw unprecedented immigration population growth during the late nineteenth century, drawn by the promise of high paying jobs America held for these new immigrants. Although some native-born Americans argued for restrictions against foreigners, asserting their "unhealthy" influence on American culture, immigrants satiated America's voracious appetite for unskilled labor. However, before long immigrants were labeled as being at fault for it's increasingly assertive labor movement, and many immigrants even found their way into political office, propagating what some native-born Americans viewed as foreign-born ideologies. The immigrant’s increasing economic and political power made the status and masculinity of white men, who had controlled the country for more than a century, tenuous.
Tensions domestically mirrored the anxieties that a large number of Americans felt about foreigners abroad. Business leaders wanted to reach overseas markets, claiming the advanced industrial economy had created more goods than could be sold in the United States. Central powers in Europe had been using their manpower for centuries, controlling economic resources in undeveloped parts of the world. America was largely isolated from world affairs, despite its brief participation in the Spanish American war. Attempting to influence public opinion, some speakers declared that America needed to enlighten the people in backward countries, helping them find a way out of the messes they're in by introducing them to economic civility. By couching the need to help backward people by bringing them civilization and material splendor, the very ideas that had been endangering middle-class notions of masculinity became more and more influential.
American citizens had seemingly ignored deeply held principles of a vigorous and independent life. The dilemma of nervous illness persisted in the middle and upper-middle classes. Immigrants had begun to try to take over the national body. And "overcivilized" men had made it a moral imperative to spread their unseemly money-making mission overseas. Thus, at the end of the nineteenth century, broad concerns about the national state of character had opened a space for an advocate of “manly” virtues. That space would be occupied for many years by Theodore Roosevelt.
The time period of 1865-1900 is quite recognizable, as it was a time of “forgettable presidents”, and social unrest. With more and more people trying only to gain success in the East, less people were populating the West and actually gaining their independence, like most women who lived in the West. To a very small degree, I agree with Roosevelt and his thesis. But to a greater degree, I believe that America was, for example, in its “cocoon” as to change into a more powerful nation both inner wise, and foreign wise. As the U.S. was in its momentarily frozen state, we see the repetition of corrupt and forgettable presidents. First from this time period, the social state of the nation digresses as the rich maintain their wealth if not gain more, and the poor just cannot get back on their feet; Second, all the presidents at this time are mainly the same in their “achievements” and what they did in office; and third, as women in the West realize that they deserve and they do get their rights, such as voting, the women in the East are so different from the West because they are so dependable, unlike the women of the West, who are independent.
In the Wizard of Oz novel by L. Frank Baum, we follow the tale of a young woman from Kansas, a cowardly lion, tin man, and a scarecrow walking on the yellow brick road to meet the great and powerful wizard, whom they find out to be a normal person hiding behind a curtain. This book greatly represents the time period of 1865-1900, otherwise known as the Gilded Age. As the book tells it, all the scarecrow wants is a brain. In reality, this scarecrow represents the farmers of the west who formed the Farmers Alliance, and all they wanted was the gold standard to be changed to a silver standard. This gold standard is represented as the yellow brick road and Dorothy’s silver shoes she got from the Witch of the East. The reason behind the want for the silver standard, was so that the farmers and poor people in general debt would be worth less and easier to pay. As a consequence to this happening, the banker’s worth would also be less and as a result, would produce less money for the bankers. Now as we read in the book, the Wicked Witch of the West represents the West (what a surprise) and the only way to destroy her is with a bucket of water that will release the flying monkeys, and enable the over populated Emerald City to expand and populate the West. In the real world, the East was way to overpopulated, which resulted in quickly expanding poverty, as multiple familys shared a small apartment the social standard of the nation lowered dangerously. As a solution to expel the overpopulated East, the secretary of state sent out the Reclamation Act of 1902 so water can be sent to the West so the dry and rough land will be able to be populated, which will lower the population in the East.
Like the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz, all of the forgettable presidents in the Gilded Age hid behind a “curtain” and use their given and fake power to do what they wanted, whether it be corrupt, or not.
Women in the West, being so independent and needed to work, knew that they deserved rights just as much as the men deserved them. This is because the women in the West did all the same work as the men. As for the women in the East, they hardly worked at all, and for some reason they thought they deserved it as much as the men.
Although the time period 1865 to 1900 is usually categorized as the time of the “Forgettable Presidents”, many drastic and important changes occurred during this time that would launch America into a new era. Many of these changes were not fully recognized until the 20th century. Theodore Roosevelt claimed that America had become too “womanly” by the late 1890s and needed the conquests of 1898 in order to restore its strength. However, it is likelier that America was emerging into a new, competitive world in which it needed to prove itself in order to fully belong in it.
The economic and industrial cutthroat competition in the post Civil War years was anything but soft. The introduction of the railroad created an enormous domestic market for raw materials and manufactured goods. Railroad barons and steel giants employed fierce tactics, like vertical integration and monopolies, to grow their business and make more money. A new aristocracy sprung up in Wall Street and the first billionaires walked the country. With so few raking in all the money, anger and bitterness was bound to emerge. Strikes by resentful workers were anything but effeminate. The Haymarket Riot in 1886 ended with a bomb explosion killing many strikers and policemen alike. The Pullman Strike in 1894 led to the federal government allowing troops to put down the strike. Without the interference of the government, the strike could likely have succeeded. The decline in morality in politics especially is evident by the number of scandals in the government during this time. Women were categorized as moral guides and such graft and deceit was far from “womanly”. The Credit Mobilier Scandal in 1872, Jim Fisk and Jay Gould’s attempted gold corner, and Boss Tweed and the Tweed Ring were only a few of the many corruptions in the country during this time.
Diplomacy started to change with regards to different ethnic groups after the Civil War. Although these policies were not regarded as huge changes, they set America on the path towards its future imperialistic nature, and could also not be regarded as “soft”. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited all further immigrants from China. Although immigration was often viewed with distaste by so called “native” Americans, never before had immigration been completely banned to a specific ethnic group. Whites in America believed themselves to be better and superior to the Chinese immigrants and were angered over their participation in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad and their growing numbers on the west coast. Because of this, the federal government took the first step against its generally accepted “motto” as the safe haven for immigrants worldwide. America’s diplomacy with the Native Americans was similarly harsh. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 dissolved many tribes as legal entities and wiped out tribal ownership of land in favor of individual ownership. Previously, America had been satisfied to shove Native American tribes as far west as possible onto land reservations. However, its new, harsher policy saw a distinct change in its relations with the Native Americans. Likewise, America’s dealings with Hawaii were another show of force by the nation. The annexation of the island came without a second thought for its former queen, Liliuokalani, and without a promise that it would one day become a state. America’s treated Hawaii less as an equal and more like an imperialistic colony. Therefore, the conquests of the Spanish-American war in 1898 should have come to no surprise to anyone as America had slowly becoming less isolationist and more imperialistic throughout the Gilded Age.
After the “forgettable Presidents” and the Civil war, America was struggling to find its true purpose in the world. So America underwent numerous changes, changes in which many people, including Theodore Roosevelt, thought saved the country from going “soft”. This time that Roosevelt was calling “womanly” or “soft” was full of reconstruction and enormous growth that attracted millions from all over the world. It was also a time when the railroad, factory, mining and labor industries all gained very much importance. So was this time really as “womanly” as Theodore Roosevelt was proposing? First, America had just suffered through the bloodiest war in American history, shouldn’t it have a little time to recover?; second, Theodore Roosevelt thought that a war for the authority of the small islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico was a sufficient way for America to gain back its “manhood”, but he would have to create a perversion of Monroe’s Doctrine. So, was this quest for dominance for America beneficial or destructive towards its destiny as a country?
To say that America was becoming less of a dominance in the world is a plausible description, but putting the title “Womanly” on the whole country is a little unorthodox. The time that Roosevelt is mostly referring to is the Gilded Age, which was a time of HUGE success within the country but it wasn’t focused on expanding. Theodore Roosevelt had arguably the largest ego of all time, therefore, his belief was that, after the Civil War, America had lost much of its dominance as a world power and was beyond eager to get it back. The Civil War was devastating to the interior of the United States, so one would figure that it would be natural for the country to lay back on the expanding. Its like one braking their leg and then going out to run 5 miles. America also suffered many years of the infamous “Forgettable Presidents”, who’s names I have forgotten. Many argue for Roosevelt’s assertion of America and many argue against it. It all comes down to America’s readiness to fight for more land. If one were to look at the American Naval Force at the time, it would be quite simply put that their Navy wasn’t prepared for any war. The only reason that they won was Spain (their opponent) was even less ready.
Was war the best Option? Roosevelt was nervous that European creditors would become bill creditors, therefore violating the Monroe Doctrine. So Theodore Roosevelt created the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which pretty much stated the United States would take over and Keep the Europeans on the other side of the Atlantic. In other words, nobody but America could “bully” the Latin American countries of the Carribean. While America saw the Corollary as a huge opportunity, Latin America saw it as America giving themselves the option of strangling them. So, not only did the Spanish American War “free” America from this womanly state of the Gilded Age, but it also required the rewriting of the Monroe Doctrine. I don’t completely agree with Roosevelt’s thesis about America becoming too womanly. I might have been time for America to make a turn from its secluded ways, but war and the altercation of an American foundation weren’t the best means of doing it.
Amanda Jerd
Periods 3 and 6
Former president Theodore Roosevelt claimed that from 1865 to the beginning of the 20th century, America had gradually become too effeminate. He then asserted that the conquests of the Spanish American War were essential in gaining back America’s callous. This view could be true to an arguably limited extent; however, it is more conceivable that this was a new unchartered era in American history that cannot be categorized as womanly for three main reasons. First, the industrial age brought about new competition and dispute; second, the invasion of Hawaii with complete disregard for the queen and the building of the Panama Canal through bullying was anything but soft; and third, the treatment of foreigners throughout Roosevelt’s presidency was neither hospitable nor gentle. All these were very unlike the stereotypical and much sought after republican mother. Therefore, the Gilded Age was not a time of weakness as Roosevelt contested but rather a new era that was characterized by its several forgettable presidents.
Republican motherhood – the ideal that women are supposed to be homemakers who raise patriotic citizens – was an important conviction of the men of this time period. Women were to be soft-spoken, submissive, nurturing, honest, emotional, hardworking, and incorruptible. The industrial age of railroad trusts and steel trusts and billionaires brought the crime and greed that became known as the Gilded Age. While it seemed that America was prospering, it was in fact only a select few that had the majority of the currency. The Tweed Gang and the Credit Mobilier Scandal were just a few of the corruptions of the Age. This dishonesty is quite unlike what was expected of women. President Roosevelt’s foreign policy – the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine – was a highly controversial topic. He used it to “guard” the islands in and around the Caribbean – with or without their consent or the consent of their previous overlords. The monetary “help” he provided to islands like Hawaii and the Philippines ended in what many critics called imperialism. America was too overbearing in its assistance, causing many revolts and military confrontations – very unsubmissive. Roosevelt lived by his motto of “speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far.” He believed that as president, McKinley had been an influence upon America’s complacency and womanliness. Therefore, because Roosevelt was president his very motto makes America soft. He overcompensated however, by his imperialism and building of the Panama Canal. Eventually those weaker nations and nationalities would’ve been conquered, especially after the sickness of Spain, but Roosevelt subjugated the independent countries prematurely, even unnecessarily. He was too exuberant to effectively carry out his “preventative intervention.” Roosevelt was arguably even more patriotic than republican mothers. Throughout his attempts to restore manliness to the United States, Roosevelt and the American people became very anti-foreigner. After winning the Spanish American War, America was the superpower on the planet and felt it could bully anyone it pleased with its big stick. The Filipinos, Hawaiians, African-Americans, Cubans, and more were looked down upon. This WASP tradition – that White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Americans were better than everyone else – continued. Theodore’s fifth cousin FDR would later turn down many Jews in desperate need of a safe haven. Therefore, Theodore Roosevelt’s assertion that America’s roughness in domestic, foreign, and human affairs after the Spanish American war were necessary to redeem America after its effeminacy was incorrect because America truly had not been effeminate and the measures taken to “right” the “wrong” were more imperious than corrective.
Anthony Luna
Period 3&4
Between time periods 1878 and 1889 America had experienced an explosion of western expansion, population, and wealth. Roosevelt theorized that after this time period that America had become to effeminate and soft after these time periods and that American manhood needed to be restored back to the Post- Civil War era manliness. Roosevelt would try to take America back to its former masculinity, but instead would take the country and completely change its governments role and its view on foreign policies. Roosevelt would make the country a world power.
In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt would become president because of the assassination of president William McKinley. He came into the presidency at 42, which is the youngest president to date. Theodore Roosevelt increased the power of the government, on a national level and on a international level, through diplomacy. On a national level Roosevelt would significantly increase the power and influence of the executive branch. He would use all of his powers except those that were specifically denied to him. As President, Roosevelt challenged the ideas of limited government and individualism. In their stead, he advocated government regulation to achieve social and economic justice. He used executive orders to accomplish his goals, especially in conservation. Roosevelt would be the trust buster, for he issued the Sherman Anti- Trust Act. This Act attacked monopolies to try to help small businesses. He would also be an important figure in the conservation movement, for he would convert federal land to national parks and nature preserves. Besides helping nature, Roosevelt would also help the well being of people. He would issue two acts, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that are impure or falsely labelled from being made, sold, and shipped. On a national level Roosevelt was making the people of the country as a whole stronger, physically and economically. In return the people would make the country stronger in the same ways.
On an international level, Roosevelt would make the country more masculine and stronger in many ways. Roosevelt would enforce the Monroe Doctrine, which would be the first time the country would. Roosevelt had an aggressive foreign policy. America would take down Spain (a former world power) and Spain would cede the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the United States. In this war America would show off if its military and navy power. America was showing that it was the new Big Kid on the Playground, and this playground was the world. In addition, the United States established a protectorate over Cuba and annexed Hawaii. For the first time in its history, the United States had acquired an overseas empire. The most important of Roosevelt's foreign policy was the establishment of the Panama Canal. For many years, U.S. naval leaders wanted a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America. During the war with Spain, American ships in the Pacific had to go around the tip of South America in two-month voyages to join the U.S. fleet off the coast of Cuba. This would not only be effective for the navy, but also for merchant ships to increase profits in trade. This was also, during this time, one of the worlds greatest engineering feats. Although Roosevelt's foreign policies were aggressive, he also mediated peaceful relations, such as Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt would make the country into one that would be a huge influence on the world.
Roosevelt would take America from the effeminate and take it, not to its old ways, but instead take its power to a level that America had never been at before. Through foreign policies, and advancements of the governments power and influence on a national and international level.
Between the relatively short time span, 1865-1900, the United States underwent several major changes, all of which were centered on growing the country. This time period was marked by corruption and many forgettable presidents. There are 3 major aspects which characterized America during this time period: first, foreign policies were changing and new ones were created; second, the rich were growing richer, mostly at the expense of the poor; third, the time was filled with civil unrest and the need for social reform. Therefore, for political, economic, and social reasons, I (to a lesser degree) agree with Theodore Roosevelt, but it is more likely the United States was evolving to a tougher status in order to endure in a competitive world, rather than reclaiming its manliness.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries America was growing and was beginning to have the potential of a world power. At the time, Cuba was fighting Spain for its freedom and the US was against Spain’s plans to suppress the Cuban revolution. The sinking of the USS Maine, which was blamed on the Spanish, was the final straw and America was in a war with Spain. This was the first time in world history in which America had played the role of the “global police.” After the Spanish-American War the US would set up territories in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines (all originally under Spanish control) and then the US would go back to isolationism, but for a shorter period.
In this time period, the US economy was booming (the US economy grew by over 400% within the next several decades) and continued to grow due to several key factors. One of these key factors which directly affected the US economy was growing industrialization and technology. The late 19th century was a time of great technological innovations making producing, manufacturing, and distribution simpler and cheaper. During this time labor unions were being created in order to achieve better working conditions and pay for the working class. Achieving better pay would lead to more spending and would later lead to the era of consumerism (a time driven by the needs of the consumer).
This time period was the first step major step the media would take in order to please the masses. For the first time in history a form of journalism known as “yellow journalism” would be presented and would make an effort to entertain Americans all throughout the country. Although yellow journalism was the least accurate form of journalism during this time, it did tell the people what they wanted to hear. Yellow journalism is also responsible for blaming the sinking of the USS Maine on the Spanish.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the United States had reached a level of authority and had accomplished more than it had ever achieved before. For Theodore Roosevelt to believe the country had become effeminate would be inaccurate to a large degree. It would be more accurate to say the United States had not yet reached its full potential, because it never needed to. Prior to westward expansion the United States was not large enough in terms of politics, economy, population, military, etc., but it was adequately powerful for its size.
Theodore Roosevelt, a man with true grit, "carried" a large stick with a sense of masculinity as the President of the United States. The Spanish-American war was one of Roosevelt's proving grounds for becoming a national leader, but it was also a time for the USA to gain some masculinity according to Roosevelt. With the surprise of the presidency falling into his hands (an also a not-so-pleasant surprise to the mob bosses that tried to get rid of him as the VP), Teddy began to "restore" the masculinity of America that it lost when the frontier disappeared. Turning from the land in the USA, Teddy will reach out to Latin America so that the United States may gain more power, with the construction of the Panama Canal, Roosevelt's "different" interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, and made negotiations between major powers in war to show off the newly restored "manliness" of 'Merica.
After the Spanish-American war, the USA realized how long it REALLY takes to get ships from the pacific to the Caribbean and farther when you have to go around South America. In 1904, after renegotiating with Britain and handling local government (and helping the revolts to deal with the local gov.), the US started the creation of the Panama Canal (and fortifying too) with complete US control. Now with complete control of now one of the most important canals in the world, the US can come into the caribbean as they please at the time, and everyone else can be charged money or denied access to the Canal (and it is fortified, so force is required to get through withOUT permission). Teddy and the Masculine US is using imperial tactics in order to make the US a major world power, so that it may not be overtaken by other countries who are taking over other countries to gain more resources. By using the Panama Canal, America could control who gets to pass safely from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans, or vice versa, and no one could do a thing about it, especially since everyone else was distracted by World War I when the canal was completed in 1914.
With his new-founded power of the presidency, President Theodore Roosevelt had his own interpretation of the Monroe doctrine in that if European powers even try to call in debts in latin countries, he would pay them off to even eliminate the possibility of said European country taking over or having any major influence. This move practically made the USA the "police officer" over Latin American countries. Teddy loved using his "big stick" to keep European influence outside of the Americas, especially during those imperialistic times, with Britain and France and others trying to grab lands for more resources. The US appeared to be so masculine that it could take care of nearly a whole hemisphere of the world. Latin America almost became the new "Frontier", which disappeared as people came and settled the entire area, and supposedly the old masculinity of the US went away with the old Frontier too. With this new "frontier", the US now has a sense of masculinity again, with a almost imperialistic twist of its own.
The Japanese and the Russians had gone to war with each other, and Japan wanted the US to start peace negotiations between the tsarist country and Japan since Japan did not have the resources to continue the fight that they had been winning. Teddy Roosevelt himself would negotiate (and receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his accomplishment). With their new found masculinity, the US along with its powerful president now have enough influence to decide and create peace in the world. Japan didn't go to some other country for help, it came to the United States for help, since we have a lot of the power in the world. This masculinity would not had happen if Roosevelt didnt get into presidency, and focused on hardening the country due to the softness that was created when the frontier went away (and the corruption from the last few decades). American was soft a decade ago before his presidency, but it had regained its strength through the bull-mouse that everyone had loved, Theodore Roosevelt.
Edith Chavez
Periods 1&6
In the small time period of 1965-1900, the United States went through huge changes on the inside and how it treated those on the outside. Despite being the “Era of Forgettable Presidents,” the Gilded Age and the decade before are hardly forgettable. Theodore Roosevelt believed that this time period forced the country to go into the Spanish-American War for the sake of regaining its greatness or manliness. The country was hardly effeminate during this time; in the way it was the word feminine could hardly mean “soft”; and instead of a return to the past it was greatly the beginning of a new age. He was right but only to a limited extent in the light of all this.
The Spanish-American War and all of its battles were the children of only a few men- like Theodore Roosevelt- and their ambitions, [METAPHOR] [PARENTHESIS] but was not the return of its “manliness” but rather the beginning of new age that was incredibly different to the past of the United States. The country had gone through a phase of isolationism as it hadn’t gotten involved much with other countries since before the Civil War, more significantly since the Mexican-American War which had come to an end in 1848. The Spanish-American War meant the beginning of the country as a big player on the world stage [METAPHOR] as revealed by the Platt Amendment of 1901 giving the US control over Cuba despite not annexing it. It’s also shown in the US “freeing” the Philippines- a land overseas far from the country- [PARENTHESIS] then later having to put down an uprising on the islands. The US didn’t at all go back to how it was before, despite Roosevelt seeing the time period as a lack of masculinity, the preceding era to the Gilded Age was mostly following George Washington’s wish of the country staying out of foreign affairs- something not returned too after the Spanish-American War.
The corruption and greed following the end of the Civil War and especially at the end of Reconstruction was hardly “womanly” but there was the women’s rights movement regaining momentum lost during the abolitionist movement. The primary argument for equal rights had been that Republican Motherhoood required but this was an idea of the east and it was actually the western women who began to get the rights they deserved. It was also the western woman who told her eastern sister to stand up and get her rights. [SYNECDOCHE] The western frontier was tough and in order to make a living, women had to work alongside their husbands on top of tending the children proving to men that they were just as tough and hardly “soft,” gaining them suffrage before the east would come realize women should have the right to vote. It wouldn’t take long after Roosevelt returned the masculinity to the country for women to vote and become a major force in the economy.
The Gilded Age helped create a sense of nationalism that Roosevelt took advantage of. Under his leadership, the United States took up the construction of the Panama Canal, a canal whose existence was desired since it was known that strip of land between the two oceans was so small. Roosevelt also took advantage of the country’s victories in the War as the Monroe Doctrine from the beginning of the 19th century could finally be taken seriously so he added the Roosevelt Corollary. The Monroe Doctrine (originally a bluff on Monroe’s behalf during the Era of Good Feelings of his presidency) as the country’s strength was shown in its control of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
The country was pushed into a new era and did anything but return to its former ways. Roosevelt was mostly hungry for war to prove his own generation that hadn’t seen combat yet, but besides that fact of being war inexperienced, his argument was far from valid.
The Gilded Age was defined by a weak chain of presidents which are often referred as “forgettable”. These weak and spineless presidents presided over the nation until Teddy Roosevelt ascended to the presidency bringing his big stick with him to smash any reminisce of the pallid politics that was tarnishing the nation. The thesis Roosevelt created asserts that America had become too weak and effeminate and this assertion is accurate, when one looks at the condition of the nation and all of its citizens. Roosevelt’s thesis can be supported; by the fact that America during this time was under the tyranny of the trusts and the government turned a blind eye to it; also the politicians during this were expedient and controlled by political machines; and the U.S’s lack of enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine allowed for foreign powers to dominate the Caribbean. These aspects of American history during the Gilded Age show the underlying weakness and effeminate nature of American Government. The American economy during the Gilded Age was in a state boom but the American work force was paying the price for it. American workers during the Gilded Age were often abused by their employers as management conducted unfair practices that often hurt the workers but helped profits. Monopolies during this time were absorbing all the other competition and increasing the monopolies profits and decreasing the average citizens buying power as there was less price completion. These unfair business practices were a detriment to American people and government did nothing to protect the rights of the people. The true effeminate nature of the government is shown when they passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, a piece of legislation that was supposed to go after monopolies but law had no provisions of enforcing itself. Also the law was then used as a tool by monopolies to crush the labors unions protecting the average citizen. The American government was overpowered by the power corporate wealth as this was a direct effect of passing of Pendleton Civil Service Act. A law that prohibited government jobs being given out on the basis of political loyalty and this led politicians to seek the support of corporations. American politics was so dysfunctional at this time that Congress neutered itself by passing laws that drove politicians towards appeasing the money and power of corporations. This gave corporations unprecedented power over the American people and the politicians did their bidding, while ignoring the abuses labor underwent.Politics during the Gilded Age was anything but revolutionary. American politics during this time was more about spoils than ideas as both Republicans and Democrats held almost identical views on almost every major issue. Despite similar platforms this time period was filled with close elections like the Hayes-Tilden standoff in 1876. These close elections were over who was going to get most
goodies from the government. Politicians during this time were anything but brave as almost all of them had no values that no amount of money could buy. These politicians were afraid to question the corporations lining their pockets with cash why workers and the environment were being abused. They would rather have cooperate executives tell them what to stand for and oppose and all they had to do was look pretty to the American people. Politicians during this time were no different from the women of this era as they both had to listen to the man that provides and cares for them and do what they say. Political machines ruled American politics at this time as party bosses controlled who ran for each office and created mounting political pressure on renegade members of the party. The party bosses made sure that only the weak and malleable politicians won office so that the corporations will have an easier time lobbying their agenda in government. Politicians during this were spineless and expedient only looking to line their own pockets disregarding any respect for public service.Finally the United States disregard for Monroe Doctrine shows the true weakness and effeminateness of America at this time. In the early 1800’s President Monroe made the brave statement to the world that now foreign power shall occupy the Americas. But year’s later America allowed for Spain to maintain Cuba and during the Gilded Age America was exponentially more powerful militarily and economically than the America under Monroe. At this time was America was too afraid to wield their true power and only president like Teddy Roosevelt can eradicate the weak and effeminate influences that made America appear weak. Roosevelt needed to capture Cuba to show the world that United States means what it says and wake the world up to a new reality where America is a major world player. The only way to make this reality come true was to have a once great colonial power be destroyed by one of its colonies. It shows the world that colonizing influences of Europe are not strong enough to keep a grip over the world. Roosevelt’s thesis about America during the Gilded Age gives an accurate depiction of influences that shaped such a corruption and uninspiring period in American History.
All graded up to this point.
Steven Fraser
Period 6
Although the time period 1865 to 1900 is usually categorized as the time of the “Forgettable Presidents”, many drastic and important changes occurred during this time that would launch America into a new era. Many of these changes were not fully recognized until the 20th century. Theodore Roosevelt claimed that America had become too “womanly” by the late 1890s and needed the conquests of 1898 in order to restore its strength. However, it is likelier that America was emerging into a new, competitive world in which it needed to prove itself in order to fully belong in it.
The economic and industrial cutthroat competition in the post Civil War years was anything but soft. The introduction of the railroad created an enormous domestic market for raw materials and manufactured goods. Railroad barons and steel giants employed fierce tactics, like vertical integration and monopolies, to grow their business and make more money. A new aristocracy sprung up in Wall Street and the first billionaires walked the country. With so few raking in all the money, anger and bitterness was bound to emerge. Strikes by resentful workers were anything but effeminate. The Haymarket Riot in 1886 ended with a bomb explosion killing many strikers and policemen alike. The Pullman Strike in 1894 led to the federal government allowing troops to put down the strike. Without the interference of the government, the strike could likely have succeeded. The decline in morality in politics especially is evident by the number of scandals in the government during this time. Women were categorized as moral guides and such graft and deceit was far from “womanly”. The Credit Mobilier Scandal in 1872, Jim Fisk and Jay Gould’s attempted gold corner, and Boss Tweed and the Tweed Ring were only a few of the many corruptions in the country during this time.
Diplomacy started to change with regards to different ethnic groups after the Civil War. Although these policies were not regarded as huge changes, they set America on the path towards its future imperialistic nature, and could also not be regarded as “soft”. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prohibited all further immigrants from China. Although immigration was often viewed with distaste by so called “native” Americans, never before had immigration been completely banned to a specific ethnic group. Whites in America believed themselves to be better and superior to the Chinese immigrants and were angered over their participation in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad and their growing numbers on the west coast. Because of this, the federal government took the first step against its generally accepted “motto” as the safe haven for immigrants worldwide. America’s diplomacy with the Native Americans was similarly harsh. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 dissolved many tribes as legal entities and wiped out tribal ownership of land in favor of individual ownership. Previously, America had been satisfied to shove Native American tribes as far west as possible onto land reservations. However, its new, harsher policy saw a distinct change in its relations with the Native Americans. Likewise, America’s dealings with Hawaii were another show of force by the nation. The annexation of the island came without a second thought for its former queen, Liliuokalani, and without a promise that it would one day become a state. America’s treated Hawaii less as an equal and more like an imperialistic colony. Therefore, the conquests of the Spanish-American war in 1898 should have come to no surprise to anyone as America had slowly becoming less isolationist and more imperialistic throughout the Gilded Age.
Nick Palmares
Per. 4
The 20th century would not be all that pleasant but absolutely crucial to the growth of the country. "The Gilded Age" is a metaphor for how rotten the Country really was under the table, it was characterized by corruption, but constructive corruption, an age of major Industrialization and exponential growth. Socially, new laws that the Civil War that would defeat the purpose of the Civil War would take place in the South; politically, the country would face politicians and Presidents that were characterizing forgettable; and economically we would undergo the growth that would put us at the top perhaps one of the most crucial stages of our growth.
His plan was meant to reunite the North and South as smoothly as possible with zero conflict, however despite his efforts the North would not be united as he had foreseen and whatever the Civil War had been fought for would have no implication whatsoever. The Reconstruction that had taken place in the South should not have been called a success because in fact it was far from that, to the point where the North had decided to abandon the project. The South could not be repaired over night and the main purpose of the Civil War was not taken seriously and just showed how much the North wanted to keep moving forward. Soon after the War had ended thousands of newly freed began to move North to move into the cities and one would think the North would take them in right away but in fact it was the opposite with laws that would restrict Blacks from moving out of the South. As oddly as it sounds, if Congress had remained in the hands of the Republicans then our industrial and size of the country would have been delayed. By the time the Reconstruction had lingered for about 20 years the South had successfully re-implanted its leaders back into Congress and would control the White House, even the Presidency despite all of the efforts the Republicans had done to prevent that. With Congress back in the control of the Southern Democrats the Reconstruction would end and the Blacks would not be granted the rights that they were promised. With politics and social developments out of the way the largest impact the Gilded Age had and the reason to its name would be from all of the confusion Economics had caused. During this time period many people would invest in their personal lives and devise very cunning and sneaky plans to make it rich and fast. For example the Transcontinental Railroad had begun construction during the Civil War and had to be completed. Two different companies would take up that challenge but both had convinced Congress to fund the construction yet both would simply pocket that money and cheat just about everyone but themselves to gain a quick buck. The Railroad could have been constructed in mere months but the companies had purposely taken years to complete the task. But in the end the major Industrialization of this period would allow us to become a major superpower and prepare for the Wars to come.
During the period of 1865 to 1900, the United States experienced a drastic change, which was characterized by the era’s “forgettable Presidents” who during their terms accomplished relatively nothing. Roosevelt, who came into the presidency in 1901, claimed that the nation would need to regain its manliness, after the complacency of the past decades. First, the nation had become more “womanly” by losing the “frontier” and needed to seek another one to focus its efforts and will; second, the nation’s feminism was a result of the corruption and inactivity of politicians who sought the vote instead of actual reform and improvement; third, the nation’s system of corruption and interlocking trusts resulted in a static economy which did not encourage the poor to rise to prominence. Therefore, because of the social, political, and economical reasons the nation was stuck in an era of idleness that can be stereotyped as womanly.
The Gilded Age saw for the first time the rise of Millionaires; however, with the emergence of a wealthy few, there was a poorer majority, as the wealthy left less for the others. The nation’s trusts were basically a monarchy in which the wealth was kept with the wealthy and was not distributed among the majority. This system left the economy in a static economy and ruined the dreams of the poor and middle class. This destroyed the visions of Americans who believed they could rise up and be rich, and instilled a mindset of complacency in them in which there was no hope. This crisis demanded the charisma of Roosevelt who spurred the common man on, much like Jackson, and challenged him to man up, and “speak softly and carry a big stick.”
The Gilded Age saw for the first time the absence of the frontier, which left a “hole” in the American people who had always seen the frontier as an outlet. This missing goal resulted in a lack of enthusiasm and future destination for the country. This proves Roosevelt’s thesis; the Spanish American war was necessary to restore American vigor and return its sense of destiny, manifest destiny. This shows Roosevelt’s. America, as a country, needed the sense that it was the “city on the hill” and was actually making a difference, so, the country needed a spark-plug like Roosevelt to restore it to prominence.
The politicians of the Gilded Age, instead of seeking to politically reform and advance the nation, sought votes for the election, and worried about their public image.
Overall, Roosevelt was the right man to restore the nation out of this gilded age.
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