Chapter #17 Summary

 “The Crisis of the 1890s”

 

 

The chapter begins with the economic downturn of the early 1890s and concludes with the emergence of the United States as a world power in 1900. Economically, this decade was a very tumultuous one for the country, witnessing personal hardships, business collapses, and serious labor unrest. The Panic of 1893 left virtually no segment of the nation untouched, but despite the profound human suffering it wrought, the federal government remained steadfast in its refusal to provide people with any form of assistance, even in the form of federally provided construction jobs. It even sanctioned the use of federal troops to crush a labor strike in Pullman, Illinois, in 1894. To millions of Americans, it seemed that the Cleveland administration was only concerned about protecting the rich, and that it cared nothing for the poor and downtrodden. This public dissatisfaction played a major role in the presidential election of 1896, which was based almost exclusively on economic and financial questions, and specifically on the question of the free coinage of silver, which rural Americans especially saw as a way out of their misery. The election was one of the most divisive in the nation's history, arousing class antagonisms and generating profound social anxieties. William Jennings Bryan ran as both the Populist and the Democratic nominee, while William McKinley headed the Republican ticket. Bryan supported free silver; McKinley touted the virtues of gold. Although the nation did return to prosperity after McKinley's election, the social problems that convulsed the nation did not disappear. Temperance, crusades for labor reform, anti-lynching campaigns, calls for African-American civil rights, and women's suffrage were just some of the reform efforts that gained momentum during the 1890s. Not much progress in any of these areas was seen during the decade, but these early reformist efforts laid the groundwork for the more successful activism that would come during the early twentieth century. As the United States recovered its economic strength toward the end of the 1890s, it began pursuing a more expansionist foreign policy aimed at securing commercial markets abroad. A four-month war with Spain in 1898, ostensibly to restore order to Cuba, gave the nation control of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. By 1900, the United States was seeking a share of the China market, long the purview of the more established imperial powers of Europe. Given its economic and diplomatic strength by the turn of the century, the nation seemed perched on a period of sustained and perhaps unstoppable progress.

 

 

Questions to consider for the final examination:

 

1) How did US foreign policies change during periods of economic downturn? Compare and contrast Depression-era foreign policy experiences in the 1890s with those of the 1930s?