UNIT 52: HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE USA: FROM LINCOLN TO

ROOSEVELT
1. INTRODUCTION
American historians agree that the period between 1865 to the beginning of the
1920s can be called The Gilded age. It was an expanding period for the USA
not only economically speaking but also from a political point of view.
Americans started the TAKE OFF period that would lead the USA to the
leadership of the Allies during the Second World War and the period that
followed. The USA in only two centuries built twice its country and became an
Empire and the most outstanding country in Foreign Policy. However they had
to face some problems from the beginning.
2. THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
In 1856 a new political party appeared in the Union: The Republican Party. It
was formed by e-Whigs whose main goals were the abolition of slavery and the
defence of individuals. In 1860 the Republican Abraham Lincoln became the
President of the Union meeting several problems that led to the Civil War. North
and South were divided due to 2 main reasons: slavery and the different
economic growth. The States of the North were against slavery and the South
states were in favour of it, mainly because slavery was fundamental for their
economy. On the other hand, the economic development of the South was
inferior to the North so, the interests were different. These factors led the South
to break up with the North. The North had developed a drop nationalistic sense
and need for unity so rooted that its arrived up today.
In his investment speech, Lincoln proclaimed his intention for defending the
Union at any cost, though didnt want to fight against the South states. The
South States left the Union. They attacked Fort Sumter as they considered the
northern troops as invading their territories. Lincoln had to declare the war on
the South to preserve the Union.
The North States were superior to the South. They had more population, better
bank resources and a better railroad and roads network. The North economy was
self sufficient, whereas the South depended on the exportation of their raw
material to Europe. However, psychological factor was very important. The
South fought for their freedom to create a new country, but the North didnt
have things so clear. Even they would have left the South free to chose to
continue with the Union or not, and they would carried out their ideas as well.
From the summer of 1863 the superiority of the North was a fact and the
Confederate States had some inner problems that led them to their defeat. One of
the problems was the Confederation itself: The relation between the Government
and the states that formed the Confederation was based on the STATES RIGHT
THEORY, which meant that the States could deny help to another states. And so
they did. Other problem was the rise of the inflation. Theirs ships couldnt leave
the ports due to the Blockade from the Union. On 9
th
April 1865 Lee
(Confederate) surrended to Grant (Union) at Appomattox. The war was over.
3. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOUTH
Lincoln decided to reincorporate the rebel states to the Union under some
concealing conditions, although the Republican Party didnt like the Presidents
purpose very much. However, Lincoln was murdered and his purposes would be
carried out. His successor, A. JOHNSON, had the same conciliating mentality
but the Congress didnt allow him to carry out Lincolns plans for the peace. He
was accused of impeachment and forced to resign. A new phase in the
Reconstruction of the South appeared and it can be considered as the darkest
episode in the history of the USA.
The congress distrusted the South and sent troops there. Free Negroes,
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags, sustained by the troops, practiced a dictatorial
policy on the former rebels. From 1869, under GRANTs government up to
1877 the Union attended an impudent economic exploitation of the southern
states. Thus the relationships between the North and the South got worse and
even during the period when the northern troops were in the South secret
associations appeared to frighten Blacks: the Ku-Klux-Klan created in 1867.
When the troops abandoned the South some states created their own government
ruled by the BOURBONS, the former aristocracy, who denied the rights that
Negroes had had. In 1877 under the government of R: HAYES the last northern
troops abandoned the South as a result of the AGRREMENT of 1877.
Little by little the south attended an economic improvement due to the
development of networks, the rebirth of cotton and manufacturing and the
exploitation of iron, coal, and steel with northern capital.
The last decades of the 19
th
century were Republican Both partied
Republicans and Democrats fought for the vote of the mass, but they had
different platforms. The Republicans was the party for individuals whereas the
Democrats were the party for the minorities. From 1877 to 1889 4 republican
governments succeeded Lincolns: HAYES, GARFIELD and ARTHUR.
Among the betterments we have the suppression of the Spoils system and the
creation of a competitive exam for civil servant in order to void misuse of the
position (CIVIL SERVANT ACT 1883)
The Democrats reached the Presidency in 1892 with G. CLEVELAND as
President of the country. However, under his government great amounts of gold
abandoned the country. This led to an inner division of the party and a revolt in
the political life of the country. After that, the Democrats presented W.J.
BRYAN, for the Presidency. However he was beaten by the Republican
MCKINLEY, who became President of the USA in 1896.
4. THE BEGINNING OF AMERICAN IMPERIALISM
In 1898 the USA stated their first offensive operation and it was against Spain.
As a result the USA expanded their power through the continent by the
occupation of Cuba. The main reason for the taking off o fthe Amrican
Imperialism was due to 2 reasons: the end of the frontier and the beginning of
the expansion; and the belief that they were political and racial superior. So the
expansion of the USA, according to A.MAHAN (official of the Navy) was not
only natural but necessary. They expansion should be a naval one by means of
the settlement of naval bases along the commercial routes: development of the
Navy.
These factors convinced them of the occupation of Cuba and help the Cuban
rebels to fight against the Spanish rulers. As a result of this Spain ceased Puerto
Rico, The Philippines and Cuba to the USA. This meant the decay of Spain in
the International Field and the beginning of the USA as a world power.
5. THE USA: A NEW WORLD POWER
2 main periods can be distinguished during the 1
st
40 years of the history of the
USA:
- From 1898 to 1918 (the First World War)
- The period between wars
A) The Beginnings of the 20
th
Century
The beginning of the 20
th
century meant a period of great expansion for the
USA both economically and politically speaking.
From an economic point of view their basis for development was a great
increase in population, both due to the natural growth and the immigration
from Europe, which was restricted in 1917 when the Immigration Laws were
passed. During the first decade we found a modernised agriculture and a
rapid growth of international trade and industry. We also have to speak about
ban consolidation.
Politically speaking, the elections of 1896 meant a very deep transformation
in the USA policy, emphasizing new interest for welfare and foreboding a
full of changes era.
Americans historians refer to this decade as progressist since the
community realised the plan for reformations was necessary: it was not only
a political group or a given State ideology, but the whole community who
searched for all kinds of transformations. MCKINLEY was President from
1897 to 1901, when he was killed by an anarchist. He took some economic
measures which led to a reinforcement of protectionism. T. ROOSEVELT
(Republican), was President of the USA from 1901 to 1909. In this period,
the USA took part in International Affairs, as the Construction of the
Panama Channel (1903). T. R. Adopted economic and social measures as
the Anti- Trust Act and a Reformist Legislation. W. TAFT (Republican)
was President in 1909. Under his rule, the last continental states were
incorporated to the Union. W. WILSON (Democrat), became President
mainly due to the unpopularity of the Republicans. He enacted a reform
legislation regarding economic and social aspects. On foreign policy he
developed a great activity mainly due to the IWW and the creation of a
project for peace and participation in the creation of the Societ de Nations,
confirming the States as centre of World Power.
Imperialism in the 10s and the 20s
Their international expansion began in 1898 and continued
throughout the 20
th
c. In their previous expansion the USA moved for
economic reasons. But from 1898 onwards other reasons lead the
USA to their expansion: the frontier was reached and they had settled
bases in other countries as far as the development of the Monroes
Doctrine.
It appeared a nationalistic exaltation, a rise of capitalism and
imperialism at 3 levels: Overseas, demographic and biological
(superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race). The most outstanding figure
was T. ROOSEVELT, under whose rule the USA expands in 2
closely related areas: the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific.
He justified their presence in those areas appealing to the idea of
Pan-Americanism, whose roots are found in Monroes Doctrine:
AMERICA FOR THE AMERICANS (1823). According to his ideas
it was forbidden to the European States to establish colonies in the
New World or take part in American maters. In 1889 the 1
st

International North-American Conference was held to encourage the
continental union and promote the neutrality in events regarding
European States. But the USA was really looking for their supremacy
on Central America and in 1915 it was a fact.
B) The USA between Wars
During the IWW W. WILSON (Democrat) was the President of the Nation.
At first they decide to be neutral but they entered the conflict and declared
war on Germany in 1917. The conference for Peace was dominated by
Wilsons principles and as a matter of fact, in 1918 he proclaimed the
Fourteen Points for the peace, which were widely accepted. However,
things at home didnt go so well for Wilson. People preferred a President
concerned in domestic affairs. Cox (Democrat) was defeated by HARDING
(Republican) who declared himself in favour of isolationism under the
slogan America First. From 1929 to 1921, America lived a period of
prosperity with 3 different republican Presidents: HARDING,
COOLIFDGE & HOOVER. The country underwent an increase in
industrial production, organization of work (Taylorism). From a social point
of view, the new acts of immigration were passes, prohibition of selling
alcoholic drinks and the KU-KLUX-KLAN reappeared in scene almost at
the same time as a reaction against Bolshevism growth in favour of an
Americanism based on the most puritan tradition.
The Crisis of 1929
The Crisis of 1929 is a cyclic phenomenon of capitalism for ones and
an isolated event for others. It started as an American crisis, although
Hoover made the Americans belied that it was a European crisis that
expanded to America. FD ROOSEVELT claimed that is was the
result of wrong economic policy. It began as a stock-exchange crisis.
During the 20s many factors directly originated the crisis: financial
unbalance brought about the war, the breaking of the Monetary
System...The Crack of the Stock Exchange provoked a chain
reaction, mainly due to psychological factors which led to worldwide
crisis: close factories---unemployment----delinquency. Hoover trued
to solve the crisis: he asked the employers to keep salaries to stabilise
employment and to increase their production. He create the Federal
farm Board for the development of agriculture and the
Reconstruction Finance. The result was that he had spent the national
Funds and led the country to a deeper crisis.
The NEW DEAL
F.D. ROOSEVELT became the President of the USA in 1932 and
with his programme The New Deal promised measures to take the
country out of the crisis. The first one was that each country should
tackle the problems on its own (new period of isolationism began).
The First New Deal included a reduction in imports and the
withdrawal of American capital from Europe (crisis in European
countries). He proposed a number of economic measures: Banking
Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the National Industry
Recovery Act, as well as social measures as regards unemployment.
The Second New Deal (1935) looked for the recovery of the nation
and it was concerned mainly with social aspects. He created the
Work Progress Administration and the Wagner Act, both concerning
to work conflicts and the Social Security Act. The crisis finally ended
in 1939 and the USA started selling arms to Europe.
With the beginning of the IIWW, the USA posed from isolation to a
period of interventionism: neutrality is progressively abandoned
mainly due to 2 reasons: the benefits they got from selling arms to
the Allies and the rejection of fascists and Nazi ideologies. In 1941
the USA declared the war on Germany.
6. IMMIGRATION
FROM 1907 THE American Government started to passed immigration Laws
and in 1908 the Gentlemens Agreement restrained the entrance of Asiatic
immigrants. Between 1921 and 1924 the free entrance of European immigrants
ended. In 1920 the Congress prepared a number of Acts to retrain immigration
from South and Eastern Europe. In 1921 the Congress passed an Act by which
only the 3% of the total population of that nationality (according to the census of
1910) would be admitted. In 1924, that 3% was reduced to the 2%. This quite
excluded the immigrants from Canada and South America. In 1929 Japanese
immigration was totally forbidden. There were other laws to diminish
immigration: to pass writing and reading test to enter the USA (South and
Central Americans had to smuggle)