Wheels of Progress (1865-1920)

Concurrently with the domestic issues of Reconstruction and the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were instrumental in solidifying America as a major world power abroad and was the height of U.S. Imperialism. In 1898, the Spanish American War occurred from April 21-August 13. The conflict began when the USS Maine sank in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, which was then owned by Spain. Though president William McKinley didn’t state that Spain caused the explosion, propaganda by newspaper publishers such as Hearst and Pulitzer placed blame on the Spanish for the sinking of the USS Maine, coining the slogan, “Remember the Maine, To Hell with Spain!” The war waged in both the Pacific and Caribbean and showcased the strength of the American navy, ending with the 1898 Treaty of Paris the signing of which gave ownership of Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico to the United States. Additionally, during 1898-99, the United States annexed Samoa and Hawaii after involvement in the 1893 Hawaiian revolt in which Queen Lili’uokalani was overthrown, and the Republic of Hawaii was established to protect American naval and economic interests. In 1900, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was elected president of the United States and further championed the American age of Imperialism, coining his own phrase: “Speak softly and carry a big stick!” Essentially, Roosevelt advocated for approaching a foreign conflict calmly yet with the (military) power to assert dominance if deemed necessary. This policy proved successful in the American support of Panama’s secession from Columbian control in 1903, becoming a protectorate until 1939 and achieving the nation’s goal: the construction of the Panama Canal. Later that decade, in 1907, Roosevelt rejected America becoming a protectorate of another nation, Cuba, in a letter to American diplomat and lawyer, Charles Magoon. In it, he wrote “Our business is to establish peace and order on a satisfactory basis, start the new government, and then leave the Island.”[2] Rather than establish a protectorate, Roosevelt felt a need to remain strictly within bounds of the 1903 Treaty of Relations which gave the United States authority to oversee and interfere in Cuban affairs. Staying true to his foreign policy, Roosevelt utilized military force when he deemed necessary but did not feel the need to make Cuba an American territory.

Hand in hand with the era of Imperialism, the United States also underwent an Industrial Revolution at the turn of the twentieth century. Technological advances made mass production of goods faster though often included child labor and up to sixteen-hour days spent in a factory. The Industrial Revolution also allowed upper class families to expand their business ventures and accumulate more wealth, such as John D. Rockefeller. The American businessman created Standard Oil which controlled nearly all oil in the United States. Coupled with the increasing popularity of automobiles, the Rockefeller family estimated net worth in 1913 was about $900 million. Understandably, such a significant proportion of the American economy in the hands of a few selection individuals made the general populace nervous. To assuage and combat these fears, newly elected president Woodrow Wilson stated his plans for breaking up monopolies and decreasing corporations’ power in American politics, saying “Our thought has been “Let every man look out for himself, let every generation look out for itself,” while we reared giant machinery which made it impossible that any but those who stood at the levers of control should have a chance to look out for themselves.”[3] Wilson further emphasized the importance of the common man in a nation that began to pander more to the 1%.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement intensified in the early twentieth century. Suffragettes participated in marches and protests across the country including a 1913 march in Washington D.C. with over 5,000 women in attendance. Those arrested were jailed and often went on hunger strikes. Though, the Women’s Suffrage Movement was not all for naught as seventy-one years after the Seneca Falls Convention, (predominately white) women received the right to vote with the nineteenth amendment in 1920 which stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”[4]