Chapter 19 A Troubled Nation Expands Outward 1893

Chapter 19 A Troubled Nation Expands Outward 1893 – 1901 “We are only just beginning to realize that the great heroes who have advanced human destiny are not its politicians, generals, and diplomatists, but the scientific discoverers and inventors who have put into man’s hands the instrumentalities of an expanding and controlled experience, and the artists and poets who have celebrated his struggles, triumphs, and defeats in such language, pictorial, plastic, or written, that their meaning is rendered universally accessible to others. ” – John Dewey, on the study of history and geography

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle-be Thou near them! With them-in spirit-we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring. Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him who is the Source of Love, and who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen. " Mark Twain [Spanish American War]

Howard Zinn: "One of the things that I got out of reading history was to begin to be disabused of a notion of what democracy is all about. The more history I read, the more it seemed very clear to me that whatever progress has been made in this country on various issues, whatever things have been done for people, whatever human rights have been gained, have not been gained through the calm deliberations of Congress or the wisdom of presidents or the ingenious decisions of the Supreme Court. Whatever progress has been made in this country has come because of the actions of ordinary people, of citizens, of social movements. Not from the Constitution. " "The Bill of Rights says nothing about the right to work, to a decent wage, to housing, to health care, to the rights of women, to the right of privacy in sexual preference, to the rights of peoples with disabilities. . We should look beyond the Bill of Rights to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that all people, everywhere in the world, are entitled to work and decent wages, to holidays and vacations, to food and clothing and housing and medical care, to education, to child care and maternal care. "

"[Marx's] critique of capitalism in those Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts did not need any mathematical proofs of ‘surplus value. ’ It simply stated (but did not state it simply) that the capitalist system violates whatever it means to be human. The industrial system Marx saw developing in Europe not only robbed them of the product of their work, it estranged working people from their own creative possibilities, from one another as human beings, from the beauties of nature, from their own true selves. They lived out their lives not according to their own inner needs, but according to the necessities of survival. This estrangement from self and others, this alienation from all that was human, could not be overcome by an intellectual effort, by something in the mind. What was needed was a fundamental, revolutionary change in society, to create the conditions -- a short workday, a rational use of the earth's natural wealth and people's natural talents, a just distribution of the fruits of human labor, a new social consciousness -- for the flowering of human potential, for a leap into freedom as it had never been experienced in history. " Howard Zinn [Failure to Quit, pg. 147]

Howard Zinn on Karl Marx “Perhaps the most precious heritage of Marx’s thought is his internationalism, his hostility to the national state, his insistence that ordinary people have no nation that they must obey and give their lives for in war, that we are all linked to one another across the glove as human beings. This is not only a direct challenge to modern capitalist nationalism, with its ugly evocations of hatred for “the enemy” abroad, and its false creation of a common interest for all within certain artificial borders. It is also a rejection of the narrow nationalism of contemporary ‘Marxist’ states, whether the Soviet Union, or China, or any of the others. ”

"Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all. . . " Jane Addams "We are living in a dangerous world. Our state of civilization is such that mankind already is capable of becoming enormously wealthy but as a whole is still poverty-ridden. Great wars have been suffered. Greater wars are imminent, we are told. Do you not think that in such a predicament every new idea should be examined carefully and freely? " Bertolt Brecht [What he was prevented from saying to the House Committee on Un-American Activities] His plays include: Galileo, The Good Woman, Mother Courage] "Liberties are not given; they are taken. " Aldous Huxley One day in London Marx refused to a "Marx Club" organized by Pieper saying: "Thanks for inviting me to speak to your Karl Marx Club. But I can't. I'm not a Marxist. " ["Je ne suis pas un Marxiste. " Karl Marx]

"The People's Party is the protest of the plundered against the plunderers -- of the victim against the robbers. Tom Watson [1892] ". . . if the great industrial combinations do not deal with us they will have somebody to deal with who will not have the American idea. " Samuel Gompers [c. 1916] "No concession can be made to the minority in this country without a surrender of the fundamental principle of popular government. The people have a right to have what they want, and they want prohibition. " William Jennings Bryan [1923] "I hold that if the Almighty had ever made a set of men that should do all the eating and none of the work, He would have made them with mouths only and no hands; and if He had ever made another class that He intended should do all the work and no eating, He would have made them with hands only and no mouths. " Abraham Lincoln [1859]

". . . Hofstadter did not share the view of more recent scholars that progressivism was an impulse fundamentally different from, indeed antithetical to, populism. Instead, he portrayed the two movements as part of the same broad current of reform. " Alan Brinkley, American Retrospectives page 52 "wie es eigenlich gewesen ist" – “as it actually/truly is” [Historian Von Rankin] "[Hofstadter's] treatment, which embraced his deep suspicion of agrarianism, hypothesized that the angry farmers in the South and Middle West were hard-pressed Protestants and petty capitalists unable to come to terms with the realities of a worldwide market economy and turned -- as did other groups with declining status -- to xenophobia and anti. Semitism. . Populism had a dark side that could be seen as contributing to America's authoritarian and xenophobic tradition. " Martin Ridge, American Retrospectives

Bibliography n Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward: 2000 - 1887 n n [1887] n http: //eserver. org/fiction/bellamy/intro. html free version James Chace, 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft, and Debs – The Election That Changed The Century [2004] Walter La. Feber, The American Age [1989] Upton Sinclair, The Jungle William Appleman Williams, The Tragedy of American Foreign Policy [1988]

Concepts n Open door [Hay] v. Closed Door Policy, 1899 n William Appleman Williams – “open” v. “closed” n n n door US policy John Hay “a splendid little war” – [The Platt Amendment] [Link to today’s Cuba] Charles M. Sheldon urged readers to rethink their actions by asking: “What would Jesus do? ” [WWJD] Mark Hannah’s campaign techniques “White Man’s Burden. ” -- clergymen like Josiah Strong urged that Americans help Christianize and civilize the world Most Americans put aside their doubts and welcomed the new era of aggressive nationalism Australian ballot

1894, Coxey’s Army Farmers’ Alliance Free Silver – Wm Jennings Bryan in 1896 v. Mc. Kinley Granger laws Greenback party – inflation, [Gerardo’s house in Mexico 1980 s] Interstate Commerce Act – interstate v. intrastate commerce National American Woman Suffrage Association Pendleton Civil Service Act Prohibition Party Sherman Antitrust Act Sound money, standards, specie, “constant dollar” Jack London’s The Iron Heel

The Cooperative Commonwealth n Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward described a utopian society in which the economy was under the collective ownership of the people. n His people enjoyed short workdays, long vacations, and retired at age 45. n The Point Loma community, established near San Diego in 1897: n was a communal society that provided both private and shared housing n no one earned wages n sought self-sufficiency through agriculture n received donations from admirers and wealthy members.

Chapter Objectives n Identify some of the ways workers responded to economic n n n hard times in 1894. Identify some of the various responses by the courts and by women to economic difficulties of the 1890 s. Explain the significance of Plessy v. Ferguson. Explain American foreign policy in Hawaii, the Pacific, and Latin America. Explain the reasons the United States became involved in the Spanish-American War. Explain America’s prosecution of the Spanish American War and its outcome. Explain the significance of the 1896 and 1900 presidential elections.

I. The Panic of 1893 and Its Consequences n Depression hits average working families hardest, but n n repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act fails to help Wilson-Gorman Tariff also fails to help Coxey’s Army invades Washington but is repulsed Court injunction halts Pullman Strike Republicans prevail in 1894 elections

Great Railway Strikes sketch

Understanding the Crisis of the 1890 s n Agricultural Protest n Farmers’ Alliance n The People’s Party n Omaha Platform, 1892 n The Challenge of the Depression n Coxey’s Army, 1894 n The Battle of the Standards & the Election of 1896 n William Jennings Bryan, Cross of Gold speech

The Limits of Government n The Weak Presidency n The Inefficient Congress n The Federal Bureaucracy and the Spoils System n Inconsistent State Government n California – 80 Assembly members, 40 St. Senators

n Hard times bring economic and social unrest n Business tycoons take over failing companies, n n n n concentrating wealth even further Women’s clubs, suffrage societies, and prohibition supporters increase Experiments alter city and state governments Courts continue to protect big business Pragmatism grows in popularity Realism evolves as literary form, often blaming technology for society’s ills Supreme Court upholds segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson White attempts at “Americanizing” Indians almost wipes out Native American culture

II. Foreign Policy and National Politics n Conditions in Hawaii, Venezuela, and Cuba bring suitability of Monroe Doctrine into question n Election of 1896 enlivened by campaigns of Bryan and Mc. Kinley n Opponents shaken up by Mc. Kinley’s easy victory, and Republicans dominate

Election of 1896 © 2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™

The Election of 1896 William Jennings Bryan carried most of the rural South and West, but his free silver campaign had little appeal to more urban and industrial regions, which swung strongly to Republican candidate William Mc. Kinley.

III. The Mc. Kinley Presidency: Achieving World Power n Spanish-American War most significant event of Mc. Kinley’s presidency Causes include sinking of Maine, yellow journalism, and Delôme letter n Americans appear eager for war and are gratified by its brevity n Peace treaty gives America territories: Guam, Puerto Rico, and Philippines n

™ Spanish American War

n Four-year rebellion in Philippines ensues n Imperialism re-emerges as national issue [Carnegie, Addams, Ford, Twain] n Open Door policy in China leads to failed Boxer Rebellion there n America looks again to building canal in Central America n Mc. Kinley begins second administration amid great hopes for future

IV. The United States on the Eve of the 21 st Century n Nation debates proper direction for new century n Organization of unions appears to be on horizon

Some Thoughts on National and International Foreign Policy September 13, 2006

“Two major questions of ethics in international relations are the question of who the subject of morality is – individuals, groups or states – and the question of what duties such subjects have beyond borders. Accordingly, writers on the ethics of international relations tend to fall into three categories. At one extreme are the realists who, while not completely rejecting morality, believe that states are the dominant actors in world affairs and that the only appropriate behaviour in international affairs is the pursuit of national interest, and the balance of power. In this view, one’s responsibility to fellow citizens far outweighs the obligation to human beings in general. At the other extreme are the cosmopolitans, who assert that individuals, not states, are the ultimate subjects of morality and that values and responsibilities transcend borders. Cosmopolitans also believe that moral principles are authoritative; where demands of morality conflict with those of sovereignty, the former take precedence over the latter. In between the realists and the cosmopolitans are the internationalists for whom states have a privileged moral status but who claim that states are bound by the principle of respect for the sovereignty of other states. ” Patrick Hayden

“We must love one another or die. ” Poet W. H. Auden [September 1, 1939] "If I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal. " US WWII General Curtis Le. May “Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in a government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. ” Henry David Thoreau

"Remember Smedley Butler? He was perhaps the most decorated Major General in Marine Corps history. In the early part of this century, he fought and killed for the United States around the world. Butler was awarded two Congressional Medals of Honor. Then, when he returned to the United States he wrote a book titled "War is a Racket" which opens with the memorable lines: 'War is a racket. It always has been. . I was a high class muscleman for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers, ' Butler said. 'In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. ’ In a speech in 1933, Butler said the following: 'I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909 -1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested'. " Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

". . . We have about 50% of the world's wealth, but only 6. 3% of its population. . . In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming, and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objective. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction. . . We should cease to talk about vague and -- for the Far East -- unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. " George Kennan, Head of the State Dept planning staff in the early post. World War II period (This was a top secret internal document written in 1948. )

"All of us have heard this term 'preventive war' since the earliest days of Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day and time. . . I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing. " President Dwight Eisenhower, 1953, upon being presented with plans to wage a preventive war to disarm Stalin's Soviet Union "Our position is that whatever grievances a nation may have, however objectionable it finds the status quo, aggressive warfare is an illegal means for settling those grievances or for altering those conditions. " Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the American prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, in his opening statement to the tribunal“ "Truth never damages a cause that is just. " Mohandas K. Gandhi

Be Angry at the Sun [1941] "That public men publish falsehoods Is nothing new. That America must accept Like the historical republics corruption and empire Has been known for years. . Be angry at the sun for setting If these things anger you. Watch the wheel slope and turn, They are all bound on the wheel, these people, those warriors. This republic, Europe, Asia. Let boys want pleasure, and men Struggle for power, and women perhaps for fame, And the servile to serve a Leader and the dupes to be duped. Yours is not theirs. " Robinson Jeffers “In war, truth is the first casualty. ” Aeschylus

"On a visit to Europe a few days before he was assassinated by elite government forces in Salvador in November 1989, Father Ignacio Ellacuria, rector of the University of Central America, addressed the West on the underlying issues. You 'have organized' your lives around inhuman values, he said. These values 'are inhuman because they cannot be universalized. The system rests on a few using the majority of the resources, while the majority can't even cover their basic necessities. It is crucial to define a system of values and a norm of living that takes into account every human being. " Noam Chomsky "Our political culture has a conception of democracy that differs from that of the Brazilian bishops. For them, democracy means that citizens would have the opportunity to inform themselves, to take part in inquiry and discussion and policy formation, and to advance their programs through political action. For us, democracy is more narrowly conceived: the citizen is a consumer and observer but not a participant. The public has the right to ratify policies that originate elsewhere, but if these limits are exceeded, we have not democracy, but a 'crisis of democracy, ' which must somehow be resolved. " Noam Chomsky

”I know if I don’t write about something within a couple of years it will be lost in these piles. The trouble is, all of us feel like this. You’re so far out of the mainstream that the few people who follow these issues closely and who write about them know that if they don’t deal with something, it’s out of history. ” Noam Chomsky "Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results. "—Machiavelli

"[W]hen a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental--men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost. . . [A]ll the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre--the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. " - H. L. Mencken, in the Baltimore Sun, July 26, 1920. Asked whether America is bound by any international system, legal framework or code of conduct, the US defense secretary [Donald Rumsfeld] replied: 'I honestly believe that every country ought to do what it wants to do. . . It either is proud of itself afterwards, or it is less proud of itself. '

“I think that in the long run, our non-violent approach and the moral supremacy of the Czechoslovak people over the aggressor had, and still has moral significance. In retrospect it could be said that the peaceful approach may have contributed to the breakup of the ‘aggressive’ bloc. . My conviction that moral considerations have their place in politics does not follow simply from the fact that small countries must be moral because they do not have the ability to strike aback at bigger powers. Without morality it is not possible to speak of international law. To disregard moral principles in the realm of politics would be a return to the law of the jungle. ” Alexander Dubček, August 1990 "When you look at a corporation, just like when you look at a slave owner, you want to distinguish between the institution and the individual. So slavery, for example, or other forms of tyranny, are inherently monstrous. But the individuals participating in them may be the nicest guys you can imagine - benevolent, friendly, nice to their children, even nice to their slaves, caring about other people. I mean as individuals they may be anything. In their institutional role, they're monsters, because the institution's monstrous. And the same is true here. " Noam Chomsky

“The majority rules and law rests on numbers, not on intellect or virtue. . . while theoretically holding that no vote of the majority can authorize injustice, we practically consider public opinion the real test of what is true and false; and hence, as a result, the fact which Tocqueville has noticed, that practically our institutions protect, not the interest of the whole community but the interests of the majority. ” Abolitionist Wendell Phillips "Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it. " Albert Einstein "It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth to justice and to expose lies. " Noam Chomsky

". . . refuse to settle for simple explanations for complex problems. . Honest history answers our questions only by asking something of us in return. " Text author Edward L. Ayers "And in the general hardening of outlook that set in. . . practices which had been long abandoned - imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions. . . and the deportation of whole populations - not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive. " George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Justice, justice. . . both for the ends and the means. " Ron Suskind "It is uncertain if we have the national leadership and the collective intelligence and will to confront issues that can't simply be solved by avoidance or the 'invisible hand' of the free market. " Dr. Randal Beeman [2005]