February 13th Review

We are still in the Gilded Age, but politics and culture are already responding to major shifts in ideology. If you are still confused with the differences between Social Darwinism and Reform Darwinism, go back and review last week's lesson. We aren't done with this. Also, Nativism isn't limited to history.

Here's an article from The New Yorker in 2007 referencing nativism in McCain's campaign, although I'd argue nativism never left. We'll get to the Japanese Internment shortly. Here's a more recent article, appearing in Slate in 2017, discussing President Trump and the "Muslim Ban." I realize both of those articles are coming from a liberal-leaning source, but nativism isn't only a liberal term. Here's another, for balance, from Fox News.  This article discusses two terms we talked about yesterday, nativism and isolationism. Many issues we face today carry similar themes as the ones we are reading about in history. Let's take the time to really understand these terms so that we can be literate and educated participants in our society.

We also discussed Prohibition, which was the criminalization and legislation against alcohol.

Several Factors led up to the Prohibition Act of 1919.

•A new way of looking at religion (social laws can undo evil in the world, rather than God.)•A rise in Anti-Catholic sentiments•The Protestant “Work Ethic”•Women involved in politics•The belief that alcohol was the main culprit behind “poverty, crime, broken families and orphaned children, personal failure, and business collapse” (Levin 1984, 109).

Prohibition led to some more complex problems. 

Illegalizing the production, distribution, and consumption of alcoholic beverages - all of which were corollaries to the amendment - did not curb the desire of Chicagoans for liquor or beer. This great demand for and simultaneous illegalization of alcohol opened up a new illegal market for the gangster to develop and monopolize. As Al Capone put it, "All I do is to supply a public demand … somebody had to throw some liquor on that thirst. Why not me?"And, it didn't last. Both Prohibition and Al Capone's reign came to an end in 1933. 

But corruption was still with us in other manifestations. (imagine that)





We talked about "Party Bosses." 

In cities crowded with new immigrant workers, politics was controlled by “rings,” –small groups who shaped policy and managed the nomination and election of candidates. Each ring typically had a powerful “boss” who used his “machine”-–a network of neighborhood activists and officials—to govern.

We also talked about "Isolationism," which we will continue to build on. 

The desire to stay out of conflicts elsewhere in the world dominated American public opinion. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, people grew increasingly aware that the country was a world power with global responsibilities and imperial ambitions. A growing number of Americans urged officials to acquire additional territory outside North America. Manifest Destiny includes other regions, but instead of admitting them into nationhood, there was no intention of making them states. A major cause for ending isolationism was the growing desire for imperialism, and also this guy:

Finally, we discussed the Spanish-American War. 

Several factors are at play here, too.

USS Maine Explodes.

Protect American business in Cuba.

America supports Cuba’s independence from Spain.

Yellow Journalists call for war.

After the war:

•After the Spanish American  War, America was a world power

•We held territories in Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam

•After McKinley is shot in 1901, Roosevelt becomes president

•The US battleship, the USS Maine, suffered an explosion, killing 260 out of the 400 men aboard. ... a team of American Naval Investigators researched and concluded the explosion was caused by a fire that ignited the ammunition stocks (not by a Spanish mine/act of sabotage).

As far as culture, we have the glorious Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington on the scene, 

revolutionizing our music, and of course, Mickey Mouse has now arrived. 

For your homework this week, you are to read the three Langston Huges poems assigned in your

 OBAP.  “The Weary Blues” OBAP pp.468, “Juke Box Love Song” pp. 469, “Harlem” 472

Also, get your copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. You'll start reading that next week. Your paper on 

WWI is due Tuesday.