FDR and the New Deal

1. What plans did Roosevelt make in the four months while he waited to take office?        
Roosevelt worked on plans later called the New Deal in the four months while he waited to take office.  The purpose of these plans were to provide relief for the needy, financial reform and an economic recovery.  The New Deal was what Roosevelt worked on.



2. How successful were FDR's fireside chats?       
FDR's fireside chats were very successful.  This was shown by the fact that the first fireside chat was about the banks.  Roosevelt urged people to put their money into banks because the banks had only failed because people took their money out and that the government needed people to put their money into banks.  Without money in the banks, the welfare system would not work.  It was clear that fireside chats were successful when many Americans put their money back into banks in the next few weeks.  Therefore, the fireside chats were successful.



3. How did New Deal programs affect various regions of the United States?       
The New Deal programs affected various regions of the United States differently.  In rural areas, the New Deal affected agriculture through the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA).  The government had farmers not use all of their land for growing crops.  Many animals were also killed.  This was too decrease the supply because the demand was not there for the amount the farmers had been producing.  In the Great Plains, there was the  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  This was a group made up of unemployed young men who would be put on work on conservation projects and many of these took place in the Great Plains.  All over the country, schools were built by similar groups of men through the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). Industry was also restructured by new policies, like set prices of products and no child labor, from the National Recovery Act (NRA).  Homeowners all over the country were also helped by the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), which provided loans to help people keep their houses.  Clearly the New Deal Programs affect various regions of the United States.

4. How did liberal and conservative critics differ in their opposition to the New Deal?            

  Liberal and conservative critics differ in their opposition to the New Deal.  The liberals did not think that Roosevelt was being involved enough and needed to do more to directly help those who were suffering. For example, Dr. Francis Townsend thought that Roosevelt needed to give a pension plan to the elderly.  Also, Huey Long believed in a program that would "Share-the Wealth", so that everyone would be rich.  Conservatives, however, thought Roosevelt was doing too much and needed to stay out of directly helping people and business.  The American Liberty League thought that the New Deal was a violation of individuals' rights and rights to their property. So, while liberals thought Roosevelt was doing too little, conservatives thought he was doing too much.

5. Do you think Roosevelt was wrong to try to "pack" the Supreme Court with those in favor of the New Deal? Explain your answer.      

Roosevelt was wrong and right to try to "pack" the Supreme Court.  Legally, there was nothing stopping Roosevelt from asking congress to make a law that would allow him to pack the Supreme Court.  So, legally, he was right.  Morally, however, Roosevelt was wrong.  There was supposed to be a separation of power so that one person or section of government could not have too much power.  If Roosevelt was to put his people in the Supreme Court, he would have control of two sections of government.  Anything Roosevelt would do or have the Congress do could never be questioned because he had control of the Supreme Court.  This would basically create a dictatorship.  By Roosevelt asking the Congress to allow him to pack the Supreme Court, he was asking them if he could have control of two sections of the government.  Whether of not the ideas he would carry out would be good or not, he would be asking for a dictatorship.  That would be against what America was founded on.  Therefore, Roosevelt trying to pack the Supreme Court was morally wrong.




6. Of the New Deal programs discussed in this section, which do you consider the most important?

Explain your choice. Think About:
• the type of assistance offered by each program
• the scope of each program
• the impact of each program       
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was the most important program of the New Deal. The CWA put millions back to work during some of the worst parts of the depression, 1933 to 1934.  This allowed men to support their families and kept people from starving.  It even affected many more than the men who worked on such projects. The CWA helped those in rural areas stay in school, where it was difficult to go to school due to many schools closing, by paying around fifty thousand teachers' salaries.  The CWA also built forty thousand schools. This helped people feed their families in rural areas, where there were not many jobs, and made sure that the future after the depression would be set.  If the schools had not been kept open or built, the generation coming out of the depression would not be educated enough to build the country up again after the depression.  Clearly, the CWA was the most important program of the New deal because of its long term impact on the future, how large the scope of people it was keeping from starving or educating, and how those aspects of life helped people.

Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

1. What were some of Hoover's key convictions about government?        
Hoover's key convictions about government were that the government had an almost mediating function.  The government were supposed to help establish cooperation between groups who were competing and the different interests in society.  He also believed that the government could not force cooperation.  He also believed that people did not need money from the government, like direct relief or welfare, to succeed and that if they tried they could succeed on their own ("rugged individualism").  He thought the government could help if there was a serious problem, however it would hurt the motivation of people.  Those were Hoover's convictions.



2. What did President Herbert Hoover say and do in response to the Great Depression?       
President Herbert Hoover responded to the Great Depression slowly.  After the market crashed, he urged a group key leaders in business, labor, and banking to make solutions.  These solutions would be like not laying people off or going on strikes.  Another action was to form a organization to help private charities help the poor.  He also had entities negotiate with each other and large banks loaned money to smaller banks, the Nation Credit Corporation.  He also helped create the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, which allowed farmers and homeowners to keep their property by letting farmers refinance and lowering mortgage rates.  The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was also backed by Hoover and this allowed two billion dollars to be dispersed between banks, railroads, life insurance companies, and other large companies.  This money was supposed to "trickle down" to the poor.  Hoover also did not support the Patman Bill, which would give money to veterans of WWI immediately, and disbanded the group of veterans behind it, the Bonus Army.   Those were the actions of Herbert Hoover.


3. Why do you think people blamed Hoover for the nation's difficulties?       
People blamed Hoover for the nation's difficulties. One reason was because he was in office when the whole thing happened, so he was the one who was to blame because he did fix the problem, even if he had really just walked in on it.  Also, people blamed Hoover for not helping the poor directly.  Many thought his trickle down approach just left people starving and that they needed to be taken care of more quickly.  Helping the rich made it look as if Hoover did not care about the poor.  Another reason is that many of Hoovers efforts to try and have groups cooperate did work and neither did his group of leaders. Since he did not act quickly, was the one in charge when the economy crashed, he did not help the poor, and many of his policies, Americans blamed Hoover.

4. How did Hoover's belief in "rugged individualism" shape his policies during the Great Depression.

Think About:

• what his belief implies about his view of people

• how that translates into the role of government

• Hoover’s policies (How effective were they?)       
Hoover's belief about rugged individualism shaped his policies during the Great Depression.  He thought that rugged individualism meant that people could succeed by themselves.  Handouts would weaken their "moral fiber", so the people would not be able to succeed by themselves anymore if the government just gave out money to individuals.  So rugged individualism made Hoover oppose direct relief.  This shaped his policies and actions because he would not give money directly to the poor, but tried to find other ways to help.  He had the government help private charities who would help the poor.  Having Hoover's rugged individualism against direct relief, he also helped create the Reconstruction Finance Cooperation, which gave money to large businesses, railroads, and banks in hopes that it would trickle down to the poor.  Since this did not work very well, Hoover's policies were clearly affected by his belief about rugged individualism.  His trickle down policy did not allow him to help the poor because he beliefs did not allow him to actually give the poor money.  Clearly Hoover's belief about rugged individualism shaped his policies.



5. What did the Bonus Army want and how did Hoover respond?      
The Bonus Army was a group of veterans from World War I who were promised life insurance and money in 1945.  They wanted these in 1932, when they needed them.  Although Hoover allowed them to protest peacefully and helped set up a shantytown for them, he thought they were"communists and persons with criminal records" and did not support the Patman Bill they were behind.  Hoover disbanded the Bonus Army by using soldiers and gas in June.

6. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt heard about the attack on the Bonus Army, why was he so certain that he would defeat Hoover?

Think About:

• the American public’s impression of Hoover (See your answer to No. 3)

• Hoover’s actions to alleviate the Great Depression (see your answer to No. 4)

• how people judged Hoover after the attack.       

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt heard about the attack on the Bonus Army, he was he would defeat Hoover because the American public viewed Hoover very negatively.  Before the attack, the people did not feel that Hoover was acting quickly enough.  They also believed that he did not care about the poor because he did not offer them direct relief.  Hoover's beliefs about rugged individualism did not allow him to give the poor direct relief because he thought that would wreck the motivations of Americans.  When there were people starving, this did not seem like a valid argument to the American people.  So these actions led people to believe that Hoover did not care about Americans and the attack on the Bonus Army strengthened these feelings.

The attack on the Bonus Army looked awful to Americans.  Hoover was attacking poor, starving Americans who had just fought for America.  Sending soldiers after them seemed like an attack on Americans as a whole.  With this strengthening the negative feelings of Americans toward Hoover, Roosevelt was sure that he defeat Hoover after the attack on the Bonus Army.

Hardship and Suffering During the Depression

As you read about how people coped with hard times, use the headings below to summarize the Great Depression’s effects on various aspects of American life.

Employment
The unemployment rate increased during the Great Depression.  Many banks and business closed and those that were still open had to fire many of their workers.  So the unemployment rate in the country was twenty five percent and it was worse among minorities, like it was over fifty percent for African Americans.

Housing
Housing was affected by the Great Depression.  Many people were evicted from their homes and had to live on the streets, in parks, or sewer pipes.  Some also lived in little towns of shacks made out of junk such as old cars or boxes called shantytowns.

Farming
Farming, overall, was hurt by the Great Depression.  Although farmers were able to grow crops to feed their families, the prices of crops were very low so farmers went into debt and lost their land.  Also, the Dust Bowl was a drought that killed the crops in many areas, so farmers were hurt even more.  Many started tenant farming, but farming overall was still hurt.


Race relations
The race relations were awful during the Great Depression.  With whites out of work, they now were trying to get any job they could, even is it was a lower position like one usually held by an African American. Then half of the African American population being out of work, they also wanted these jobs.  This competition resulted in an increase in violence towards the African Americans from whites.  Also, the whites in America were so desperate for jobs that they went after other groups that were "taking up jobs".  So many Americans called for people of Mexican descent, even if they were born in America,  to be deported and, after a while, many Mexicans were sent back to Mexico.  The government even played a part in this.  Clearly, race relations were awful partially because of the Great Depression.

Family life
Family life was hurt and helped by the Great Depression.  Not having extra or enough money put a strain and stress on families.  Then some fathers who had been out of work and frustrated with their situations left their families.  Also, some teenagers left their families in order to find work or take the burden of feeding them from their parents.  However, many Americans found strength in the unity of their families.  How the families stuck together helped them survive the miserable time.


Physical health
Physical health declined during the Great Depression.  Many people were starving.  The children often suffered from malnutrition, which led to diseases such as rickets.  There were also those riding the railroads. Many were beaten for trespassing by guards and other were shut in ice cars.  Then some had to sleep standing up or suffered injuries just from being around the trains.  Around 51,818 were either killed or injured from riding the rails.  Clearly, physical health suffered during the great Depression.

Emotional health

The emotional health of people during the Great Depression was hit very hard.  Men out of work of months and years lost hope while women were ashamed of the poverty they lived in.  There was also a great stress on families due to money issues.  These times also demoralized people and more people were depressed, which added to a higher suicide rate and more people being taken to mental hospitals. People also had to give up on their dreams, like college families, because they could not afford such things.

As much as the emotional health of everyone suffered, it also was helped.  People were kinder to others and more helpful to the poor.  They were also more sympathetic.  So emotional health was almost helped as well.

Explain or define each of the following:

 Dust bowl
The Dust Bowl was the drought that went on for many years and took place mostly in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado.  This, combined, with strong winds, led to dust being blown around and covering everything.  This killed many and made it difficult for farmers to grow crops.  Therefore, it became known as the Dust Bowl.

Shantytown
Shantytowns were made up of shacks grouped together and built out of junk, such as old cars or boxes.  People who had been evicted built and lived in these shacks.

Direct Relief

Direct relief is given to the poor by the government and consists of food or money.

Causes of the Great Depression

1. What industrial weakness signaled a declining economy in the 1920s?    
The industrial weakness that signaled a declining economy in the 1920s was that not many houses were being built.  This added to the decline in the lumber industry, which was already declining along with the mining industry because of the war being over and new forms of energy being introduced.  Also, the decrease in houses being built led to furniture not being made, so that industry suffered as well as the automobile, textile, and rail road industries.  However, the decrease in the building of houses was the indicator of the declining economy.

2. What did the experience of farmers and consumers at this time suggest about the health of the economy?    
The experiences of farmers and consumers at this time suggest that the economy was not doing well.  For the farmers, the annual income dropped by 60% because the war had ended, so there was less of a demand.  However, the farmers will still producing the same amount, so the high supply and low demand led to a huge drop in prices.  Therefore, farmers were making less and could not pay back the money they had borrowed so that they could produce more during the war.  There suffering shows that the economy was not doing well.
The experiences of consumers also shows that economy was not doing well.  Consumers were not able to buy as much because salaries were not increasing, so they did not have very much money to spend, but prices were.  The consumers not buying items is an indication of this as well as an indication that teh economy was snot doing well.


3. How did speculation and margin buying cause stock prices to rise?    
Speculation and margin buying caused stock prices to rise by not giving an accurate estimate of a company's worth.  This is because buying stocks was very easy because, with speculation, one could just buy bonds and stocks while hoping for an easy and quick profit.  Then when this speculation was done by margin buying, so only a small amount of money used to pay for the stock was their own and the rest was borrowed.  This led to increases in amount of stocks bought, so companies appeared to be worth more than they actually were, so stocks cost more.

4. What happened to ordinary workers during the Great Depression?    
Ordinary workers during the Great Depression suffered.  It is clear that many people lost their jobs when many businesses failed because the unemployment increased by 11 million people.  Even those who were able to keep their jobs suffered because there wages and hours were cut.  Also, everyone suffered when the banks closed because many were not able to ever get their money out of the banks again.  Clearly ordinary workers suffered during the Great Depression.

5. How did the Great Depression affect the world economy?    
The Great Depression affected the world economy. This is because the countries of Europe were already having issues while they tried to recover from World War I.  Then, when the Great Depression hit America, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff was put in place and this was meant to make foreign good expensive so Americans would buy American goods.  This hurt Europe because European goods were not being bought by Americans and also because Europe's ability to purchase American goods.  So the introduction of this tariff, brought on by the Great Depression, affected other countries.

Define: 

a. Price-Supports:   
Price-supports are when the government promises to by extra items, crops under the McNary-Haugen bill, at a set price.  The government then sells them on the level of the world market.

b. Credit:   
When an item is not paid for immediately, but a promise is made by the buyer to pay for it slowly, like in the form of money every month.

c. Dow Jones Industrial Average:    
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is found when there are thirty large companies that represent the stock market and the average that they make or lose is derived.  This is the Dow Jones Industrial Average and it is used by many to find out how the stock market and economy are doing.

d. Speculation:   
Speculation is when people just try and make money quickly by taking a risk and buying a bond or stock.  This is quick, but a risk.

e. Buying on Margin:    
Buying on Margin is when one buys stock, but only pays for it with a small amount of their own money and borrows the rest of the money needed to pay for it.

f. Black Tuesday:    
On Black Tuesday the market was starting to crash, so people sold their stocks before their prices could go any lower.  This led to a larger crash and 16.4 million stocks being dumped that day.

g. Hawley-Smoot Tariff:   
This was a very high tariff, tax on imported goods, put in place in 1930 that was supposed to increase the consumption of American goods. However, this also ended up not letting Europeans buy American goods and not letting America export goods.  Therefore, the companies that exported goods either failed or had to fire many employees.

Schenck v US (Free Speech)

1. What was Justice Holmes’ main argument  in the Court’s opinion in Schenck? Do you agree with the Court’s opinion?   
   Justice Holmes' main argument in the Court's opinion in Schenck was based around the ideas that there were different laws in wartime and when there was peace.  The idea of protecting freedom of speech was made during a time of peace, but some speech could be quite dangerous.  He gives the example of a person in a theatre calling "Fire" and, since that causes panic, it is dangerous and not protected by the law.  Justice Holmes' states that Schenck's leaflets were just as dangerous during wartime, so they were not protected as they might be during times of peace.

   The Court was only slightly wrong in this ruling.  The Court is right that there are certain actions relating to speech that are dangerous, like yelling "Fire" in a theatre.  In a time of war, certain actions would be more dangerous than they would be during times of peace.  However, to arrest people because they were expressing their beliefs is harsh, especially if there is no provable incidents where the leaflets actually hurt someone. So the Court was right in its beliefs that such expressions could be dangerous, but wrong to believe that they could actually punish a person for expressing there beliefs in a country where freedom of speech is an amendment.

2. Do you think some limits on the freedom of speech are necessary? Explain. (Use your own opinion and support it using information from the reading.)     

   Limits on freedom of speech could be beneficial, but trying to limit a right of citizens that is protected by an amendment would be impossible.  Saying that someone who yells out "Fire" in a theatre and causing a panic that put people in danger is protected by the First Amendment sounds ridiculous.  The could be carried over to more serious situations.  If one person said something in a time of war that caused a panic that then hurt people it would nice to be able to say that they would not be protected.  However, to punish one for something that they had "the freedom of speech" to say would be difficult.  Measuring how influential one person's words are is very difficult.  What would probably end up happening is that the party in charge would punish anyone who stated an opposing opinion to there own.  Such a situation was reflected when many members of the Socialist Party in America were arrested as well as others who supported communism during World War II.  In this case 2,000 people were arrested.  If carried out for a longer period of time, there would only be one opinion left and a dictatorship could begin.  Clearly, as beneficial as a limit of free speech might be and how it might protect people, it is too probable that the entire thing would just lead to one party controlling everything and persecuting other opinions.

3. List three examples of the "historical impact" of the Schenck decision. 
  The Schenck decision had many historical impacts and many of them were questions about free speech in the future.

• Freedom of speech of children in school was questioned (like during the Vietnam War)
• Questions about whether or not destroying the American flag should be legal
• It created questions about whether symbols were covered by freedom of speech (like armbands against the Vietnam War)

Imperialism's Bitter Fruit

1.   1. What made the Filipino insurrection "far different than any conflict in which Americans had previously fought"?
The type of warfare during the Filipino insurrection made it “far different than any conflict in which Americans had previously fought”.  Usually, there were rules of war that were in place during battles with Western countries. Both sides cast these rules aside during the Filipino insurrection.  Filipinos acted with guerrilla warfare and struck quickly.  They were also a difficult army for the United States to fight because they were not an organized army and America was more accustomed to fighting organized armies.  Prisoners were tortured and some were executed during the insurrection, while prisoners were usually not harmed in such ways.  Sometimes, Filipino prisoners were killed randomly when there were guerrilla strikes.  Also, around two hundred fifty thousand civilians were killed.  Many Filipino insurgents blended into the civilian population, which might have contributed to this problem.  The U.S. also ended up having to resort to the tactics that Spain had used on the Cubans.  They would punish civilians for the actions of Filipino guerrillas.  On the island of Samar, the inhabitants were more or less imprisoned and there were orders for the execution of any male over age ten who had not surrendered.  None of these actions were very familiar to the U.S. army, making the Filipino insurrection “far different than any conflict in which Americans had previously fought”.



2. Why were African-Americans among the strongest critics of the war against the Filipino nationalists?
African-Americans were among the strongest critics of the war against the Filipino nationalists.  This contributed to their being fewer honors in fighting the Philippines then there was in the Cuban conflicts.  One of the reasons African-Americans were against the war with Filipino nationalists was that many in the American army had views about the Filipinos that were based on race.  They referred to the Filipinos as “niggers” and made many other offensive comments based on race.  Since African-Americans were victims of this type of racism, they could not support a war partially based on racism. Another reason was that the same racism that existed in the United States existed in the Philippines.  Many places were “white only”, such as restaurants and barbershops.  African-American soldiers were reminded of this quite often because Filipinos were able to irritate the soldiers by emphasizing the situation.  They did this by doing things such as creating and distributing posters to the “Colored American Soldier” that described the injustices that they were already aware of.  These reasons were why African Americans were among the strongest critics of the war against the Filipino nationalists. They might have also been reason why there was an increased rate of desertion among African-American soldiers, which lead to an increase on the number of African Americans living in the Philippines after the war.



3. Why did the United States lose its appetite for imperialism in the early 1900s?
The United States lost its appetite for the imperialism in the early 1900s for many reasons.  Americans were no longer as enthusiastic about being an empire.  The issue was just not as important as it had been for most Americans.  Roosevelt had always been trying to promote the colonies and Mark Twain’s writing was supporting the anti-imperialists, but the Americans were not as railed up as they once were.  Having the government very upset and worried about an issue that did not matter to the American people must have worn on them.  Another reason was that Theodore Roosevelt was beginning to doubt the empire.  He was beginning to see how difficult occupying an empire was how poorly prepared the country was to occupy another country.  This led him to go as far as to call the islands “America’s Achilles heel” in 1907.  Clearly, America lost its appetite for imperialism because Americans were apathetic about the issue of imperialism, occupying another area was difficult, and America was not prepared to occupy another country.


4. How did the United States contribute to the development of Cuba and Puerto Rico?
The United States contributed to the development of Cuba and Puerto Rico. America wanted to keep their trading in the Caribbean strong and safe.  These interests led to technology and administrative expertise from America being introduced to more and more areas in the Caribbean.  With the new technology and help with establishing administrations from America, Cuba and Puerto Rico were developing at even faster rates.



5. Why did many Cubans come to resent the U.S. presence on their island?
Many Cubans came to resent the U.S. presence on their island.  The resentment toward the U.S. first started in Cuba when nationalists asked for their immediate independence from Spain around 1900.  When the U.S. tried to slow down the nationalists and their want for independence, the Cubans were not pleased.  Then, America created a formula so Cuba would gain independence as long as they agreed to limitations such as the U.S. overseeing Cuba’s trade and foreign policies.  They also had the right to intervene with these issues.  There were also many struggling Cubans because there were so many Americans taking and making money off of their crops.  Also, Americans built a naval base in Cuba, which irritated the Cubans.  All of those reasons caused Cubans to come to resent the U.S. presence on their island.

  

6. Do you believe the United States was imperialist? why or why not?  The United States was imperialist.  This is clearly true because the United States took over and oppressed countries in order to gain power.  The United States limited the freedom of Cuban trade and how they could conduct themselves as a country.  There was constant conflict in the Philippines and many Filipinos were killed.  Puerto Rico and Hawaii were also taken over.  Imperialists take over other countries for power and sometimes even because they believe that God wants the country to take over another country.  One reason the United States took over Cuba was to take away the power from Spain and some even believed that the Cubans were of a lesser race and that God wanted them to take over the Cubans.  The United States took the Philippines because they wanted access to China and Hawaii because it would be good from trade.  Both of those are power reasons and typical of imperialist countries.  They also thought that God wanted them to help the people and expand, which is another typical imperialist thought.  Clearly, the United States of America were imperialist.

The Spanish-American War

1. How was the United States connected to Cuba in the 1890s?
  The United States was connected to Cuba in the 1890s in many ways, but it started with sugar.  America had investments worth about fifty million dollars in Cuba.  Most of this was in the industry around sugar.  Once America had taken tariff off Cuban sugar in 1890, this sugar was much less expensive because tariffs are taxes put on imports.  So many Americans bought this sugar, which benefited both American investors and the economy of Cuba.  The trade between the companies eventually reached around one hundred million dollars a year, which is certainly a connection between two companies.  How the depression in 1893 is proof of this connection.  The US government wanted to ensure that those producing sugar in America were protected, so they cut down on the amount of sugar that was imported.  They did this by putting a 40 percent tax on sugar from Cuba in 1894.  It was no longer cheaper to buy Cuban sugar and Cuba's economy suffered greatly, which shows the connection between America and Cuba and the effects they had on one another.  This also caused many Cubans to rebel and America played a large part in that.  Even though US ports tried to stop this, many weapons were smuggled from the US to Cuba, which shows another connection.  Those were two of the biggest ways the US was connected to Cuba.



2. What were the main reasons the United States intervened in Cuba? (i.e. went to war) Which reason do you believe was most important? Explain your answer. 
The main reasons the United States went to war with Spain in Cuba were the "atrocities" committed by the Spanish, sympathy with the Cubans, insults, the U.S.S. Maine, power, and economic strength.  The Spanish atrocities that were reported to the public were mainly through newspapers who were gathering their stories from Cuban rebels in New York.  Some were true, like of the Spanish "re concentrating" Cubans into areas without necessities, but some were not.  The newspapers knew that these stories sold and they also made people sympathetic, yet there were other issues that made people sympathize.  The oppressed Cubans made Americans think back to when they were oppressed by England.  Also, many African-Americans were sympathetic because the Cubans were mainly black and also oppressed.  One insult that irritated some was the one made by Enrique Dupuy, who was the Spanish ambassador to the United States.  He made many insulting comments about President McKinley, which did not help how the United States felt about Spain and only increased the tension.  Another reason was that the U.S.S. Maine was blown up in a Cuban Harbor.  Two hundred and sixty Americans were killed and many in the press blamed the Spanish, even though this was not proven.  This made many call for war with Spain over Cuba.  Also, many in the government thought that power and stability on a global level would be gained if Cuba was taken over.  Many of these people also believed that a stable economy would be created if Cuba was taken over my the United States.  Others believed that the United States should interfere because, according to the Monroe Doctrine, European powers were not supposed to be in the Western Hemisphere.
  In my opinion,  following the Monroe Doctrine was the best reason to become involved with Cuba.  The United States had made a statement that the Americas were not to be interfered with.  In the late 1800s America was still a new nation.  If they wanted any credibility, they would have to stand by their beliefs. America would not be taken seriously if they never followed through with what they said they were going to do.  If the Monroe Doctrine stated that Europe should not be in Cuba, America needed to force the Spanish out of Cuba.  This act alone would have gained more power, respect, and stability on the global level and taking over Cuba would not have even been needed.



3. Why were many African-Americans eager to serve in the Spanish-American War?
Many African-Americans were eager to serve in the Spanish-American War.  To begin with,  many African-Americans sympathized with the Cubans because most of them were struggling and black, like they had been and still were in some cases (especially with discrimination).  The major reasons African-Americans wished to serve in the war was for their advancement. In the United States at the time, there were great amounts of racism and discrimination and one of the only ways to advance themselves personally and advance the race was in the army.  Many in the African-American community believed that fighting would gain them respect, as a race, and started dissolve the discrimination.  Many African-Americans wished to join when the country called for volunteers, but only three states allowed them to join and then five more states during the next call.  Despite their eagerness, African-Americans did not advance easily, even if their regiments were the best.  Although, in the war some were allowed to control regiments and the black regiments were used quite often because the government believed that African-Americans could deal with the climate and were more immune to the diseases than whites.  Despite some being advanced and being used often in battles, African Americans still faced discrimination and they were not advanced on a whole, even if they were eager.


4. How did racial attitudes at the turn of the century shape American peceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines?
The racial attitudes at the turn of the century shaped American perceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  The racial attitudes at the time were that certain personality traits and mental abilities were attributed to certain races.  Basically, whites, especially Americans and Western Europeans, came out on top while blacks were the farthest down one could be.  Asians were also not doing well and Americans were nervous about them invading America.  In political cartoons, many who were more Asian were depicted with features of blacks, which would have been lowering their status even more.  Since the majority of the populations in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines were black or Asian, this led to America not wanting to deal with them.  Americans did not think that they were stable enough to run their own governments and have democracies because they were below whites so they could obviously not manage complex things like whites could.  This, believing that blacks were inferior intellectually, and just believing that they were below them left the natives of these islands out of the negotiations.  The Spanish and Americans met about who should have which areas, but those who were natives were not invited.  The natives did play into how America made the negotiations.  The United States did not want these inferior and ignorant people in the country and could not imagine having to include them in the government.  Americans did not want all of those inferior races in Congress.  Clearly, the racial attitudes at the time about other races being inferior in many ways shaped American perceptions of those from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines as well as how they dealt with them.


5. Why did Emilio Aguinaldo feel that the United States supported his campaign for Filipino independence? 
Emilio Aguinaldo felt that the United States supported his campaign for Filipino independence.  Aguinaldo had declared himself leader of the new government and wanted elections and thought that America would help him gain the freedom to do this.  He believed this because he though that "The great North American nation" was "the cradle of genuine liberty".  In his mind, this meant that they would want to help the people in his country who were "oppressed and enslaved by the tyranny and despotism of its rulers" because he believed that that was like what American's had gone through when they there colonists.  Aguinaldo thought that Spain was oppressing the Filippino like England had oppressed the colonists, so America would have to want to free the Philippines because they were so like themselves.  Aguinaldo would have to have been surprised when America decided to take over the Philippines themselves and not give them the real freedom they desired.  However, Emilio Aguinaldo had originally felt that the United States supported his campaign because they loved freedom and had been in the same situation as the Filipinos.


6. Why do you think the Spanish-American War was called "a splendid little war" by an American diplomat at the time? Do you think we could have a "splendid little war" today? Explain your answer.
  The Spanish-American War was called "a splendid little war" by an American diplomat at the time because it was over quickly, not many were killed in battle, and there were many benefits.  The Spanish-American War started on April 19, 1898 when President McKinley was given the authority to go to war by Congress.  Within that year, on July 17th, Spain surrendered Santiago and taking Santiago was one of the main goals of America, making the war a quick and little one.  Another great part about the war is that only 345 Americans were killed in battle, although around 2,500 were killed by accidents, disease, and food poisoning.  The reason this was was a splendid one was all the benefits.  America was meeting many of their goals by taking Santiago. They wanted to force the Spanish out of Cuba and they thought that that was the first step, while also putting themselves in Cuba.  They also did not have to let Cuba be free if they were in control because of the war amendment.  Another benefit was the patriotism that was created.  Many were proud of the country and its victories.  Some also believed that America had gained respect globally and had actually made a name for itself.  However, this type of war would not be possible today.
  This type of war would not be possible because two of the deciding issues in the war were race and the advancement of America.  Without these issues, there would not have been enough support for the war.  It is not as though there is not any racism in America today, but a smaller percentage actually believe that whites are scientifically superior to other races.  Since one reason the United States had no issue going into Cuba and taking over Cuba was because they did not believe blacks were capable of running those sorts of things, it would extremely difficult to recreate that today.  Also, race and African-Americans trying to advance themselves was where many of the soldiers for the war came from, but many today do not view the military as the one place one can advance themselves.  This is not to say that there is not discrimination today, but there were such large amounts of discrimination at the time  Another reason is that many people in America really wanted America to become a global power and earn the respect of other nations.  They thought that fighting off Spain could help to gain this. Today, some are ashamed of America and there are many leader apologizing to other countries for America's action.  That want for advancement is just not there.  Without that an the special situation regarding racism, there would not be enough support for a "splendid little war" to even start. Clearly, such a war could not take place today.