Chapter 17: Freedom's Boundaries, at Home and Abroad, 1890-1900

Alfred T Mahan argued that no nation could prosper without a large fleet of ships engaged in international trade, protected by a powerful navy operating from overseas.

Evolved from the Farmers Alliance.
*wanted to return to the yeoman farming culture.
Wanted to speak to all "producing classes" not just farmers.
Was popular in cotton and wheat belts of South and West, Colorado and Idaho (industrial workers) and attracted Knights of Labor
Used pamphlets and traveling speakers

Samuel Gompers (the founder) declared that unions should not seek economic independence, rather, the labor movement should devote itself to negotiating with employers for higher wages and better working conditions for its members.

The AFL restricted membership to skilled workers which excluded the vast majority of unskilled workers which were mostly blacks, women and new European immigrants.

AFL had little presence in basic industries or large-scale factories that dominated the economy

A classic document of American reform. Written by Ignatius Donnelly.
It spoke of a nation "brought to verge of moral, political, and material ruin" by political corruption and economic inequality.

Proposals:
1.the direct election of US senators
2. Government of the currency
3..A graduate income tax
4. A system of low-cost public financing to enable farmers to market their crops
5. Recognition of the right of workers to form labor unions
6. Public ownership of the railroads to guarantee farmers inexpensive access to markets for their crops

Perfect example of labor vs government (or labor vs capital). Took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania in Andrew Carnegie Steel Company. In 1892, they decided to operate the plant on a nonunion basis so only workers not in a union can work. Workers blockaded the steelworks and mobilized support from the local community. Battle took place on July 6, 1982 when armed strikers confronted 300 private policemen from Pinkerton Detective Agency. Four days later, the governor of Pennsylvania dispatched 8,000 militiamen to open the complex on management's terms.

Homestead demonstrated that neither a powerful union nor public opinion could influence the conduct of the largest corporations.

Two ideas of freedom:
1. Based on the idea that property rights, unrestrained by union rules or public regulation, sustained the public good
2.economic security and independence from what they considered the "tyranny" of employers.

The Court authorized the federal government to expel Chinese aliens without due process of law. Which affirms the right that Congress can set racial restrictions on immigration and restricting the rights of one group of people can become a precedent for infringing on the rights of others.

Urban workers went against the core issues of us treasury plan and lower mortgage rates. Republicans promised to raise tariff rates which would restore prosperity by protecting manufacturers and industrial workers from the competition of imported goods and cheap foreign labor

Founded by a group of Boston professionals eh wanted to reduce immigration by barring the illiterate. This was adopted by 1897 but vetoed by President Clevland.

Workers in the company-owned town of Pullman, Illinois, where railroad sleeping cars were manufactured, called a strike to protest a reduction of wages. This boycott crippled national railroad service and Olney (president Cleveland's attorney general) obtained a federal injunction orderi g the strikers back to work.

Strike collapsed when Eugene Debs was jailed for violating judicial order. Supreme Court approved the use of injunctions against striking labor unions

Fed government deployed soldiers to disperse Coxey's Army (a band of several hundred unemployed men led by Jacob Coxey, who marched to Washington demanding economic relief)

Many prominent leaders emphasized economic self help and individual advancement into the middle c,ass as an alternative to political agitation.

In his speech at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition he urged blacks to adjust to segregation and abandon agitation for civil and political rights. He emphasized that obtaining far,s and skilled jobs was far more important to African-American emerging from slavery that the rights of citizenship

Frontal assaults on white power were impossible and that blacks should concentrate on building up their segregated communities.

Supreme Court ordered the city to admit Chinese students to public schools. The state legislature passed a law authorizing segregated education and the city established a school for Chinese

Democrats and Populosts joined to support William Jennings Bryan.
He wanted the "free coinage" of silver- the unrestricted minting of silver money. This would create an inflation and help the farmers by raising prices farmers would receive for their crops and make it easier to lay off their debts

Called the first modern day campaign for two reasons:
1. Bryan embarked on a nationwide speaking tour to rally farmers and workers
2. Bankers poured millions of dollars into the republican candidate, McKinley

A nation divided along regional lines as in 1860. Bryan carried the South and West and McKinley swept the industrial Northeast and Midwest
All of Industrial A,Erica voted republican
Last election with extremely high voter turnout.

Dingley Tariff of 1897 which raised the rates to the highest level in history
Gold Standard Act of 1900

Spanish policy rounding up civilians and moving them into detention camps, the Cuban struggle for independent in growing support in the United States.
On Feb 15,1898 an accidental explosion destroyed the American battleship Maine in Havana Harbor killing nearly 270 lives
To underscore the government's humanitarian intentions, Congress adopted the Teller Amendment, stating that the US had no intention of annexing or dominating the island.
The War only lasted 4 months and resulted in less than 400 American deaths.
The most important battle occurred in Manila Bay, a harbor in the Phillipine Is,ands on May 1
The most publicized land battle was the charge up San Juan Hill****

The court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment WRded citizenship to children of Chinese immigrants born on American soil.

Secretary of State John Hay made ODP which demanded that European powers that had recently divided China into commercial spheres of influence grant equal access to America's exports. ODP referred to the free movement of goods and money, not people

Popular children's classic published by L. Frank Baum offered a commentary on the election of 1896 and its aftermath.

The Emerald City (everything is green for money) represents Washington D.C. And the Wizard of Oz who remains invisible in his palace and rules by illusion is President McKinley. The only way to go through the city is on the yellow brick road (the color of gold). The wicked witches of the west and east represent oppressive industrialists and mine owners. In the book Dorothy's shoes are silver, representing the ordinary people