US History II

This week, we’re looking at three big themes in America at the turn of the last century: imperialism, progressivism, and conflicts over suffrage. Read and study Chapters 23 and 24 in the “blue book,” and the documents between pp. 104 and 152 in the “red book.” We will have our first exam on Monday the 27th, covering chapters 19-24. As you study for your exam, focus especially on the review questions, terms, and concepts that are highlighted at the end of each chapter; and don’t forget you have free access to all of the study resources on the textbook’s Norton Study Space also (that link is in the left sidebar).

On Monday 9/20, we will discuss the expansion of American territory and military power in the last years of the 19th century, including the Spanish-American War and other “police actions” overseas (ANH, Ch 23 and FTR 104-121). As we will see, not everyone agreed that this was a good idea – but often for quite different reasons. Think about how public opinion lines up now for & against overseas military intervention. How was it the same or different in the 1890s?

For Wednesday 9/22, we see the legacy of the Populist movement and cultural responses to urban growth and political stalemate in the rise of Progressivism (ANH, Ch 24 122-132 and 136-152). What does the term “Progressive” mean today? Is it a positive or negative word? What did it mean in the 1880s-1920s? Who were Progressives, and would they even have agreed that they were all part of one movement?
Links for today’s discussion: Bell CA, Progressivism Concept Map

On Friday 9/24, there’s no particular reading assigned from the ANH chapter, but it will help if you go back and review the sections in our previous chapters that have dealt with voting rights – for African-Americans and for women. The reading is just FTR, pp. 133-135. In class we will look at campaigns for/against the expansion of suffrage in the late 19th century and up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. What’s happening with the right to vote in this time period; is it expanding, or contracting? How can we explain high voter turnout even though not all Americans were permitted to vote? Who do you think should be allowed to vote? Do we have too many or too few today? And have you registered to vote yet, and are you planning to participate in the midterm elections in a few weeks? If you are eligible to vote but you are not planning to, does that mean that the people who fought for your right to vote did so in vain?