Brown/APUSH

American History

Chapter 19 p. 514-549

From Crisis to Empire

Chapter Summary

Close elections and shifting control of the White House and Congress characterized the politics of the period from 1876 to 1900. Regional, ethno-cultural, and economic factors helped determine party affiliation and elections often turned on consideration of personality. But there were real issues too. Tariff, currency, and civil-service questions arose in almost every election. Discontented farmers in the People's party briefly challenged the Republicans and Democrats, but the two-party system remained intact. The election of 1896, the great battle between the gold standard and the silver standard, firmly established the Republican Party as the majority party in the United States. Agrarian and mining interests were unable to convince voters that currency inflation through the free coinage of silver would lead the nation out of the depression of the 1890s. By fusing with the Democrats, the Populists ended any chance they might have had to become a major force in American politics. By the end of the nineteenth century, business forces had triumphed. They had secured a gold-based currency and a rigorously protective tariff. Efforts to regulate railroads and trusts were half-hearted to begin with and were weakened even further by court decisions.

Turning its interest from the continental United States to the world at large, America in the years after the Civil War fought a war with Spain and acquired a far-flung empire. By 1900, American possessions included Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and a string of Pacific islands. In addition, Cuba was essentially an American protectorate. The United States suddenly found itself a world power, with worldwide responsibilities and burdens. The empire had been acquired for economic and philosophical reasons including expansionism, which could provide an outlet for a perceived glut of American goods and an arena in which to demonstrate the superiority of Western civilization. To accommodate its new role, the nation had to devise ways to improve its military establishment and govern its overseas territories.

Chapter Nineteen Main Themes

The effects of the political equilibrium of the Democratic and Republican parties during the late nineteenth century, and the origins of this equilibrium in differing regional and socio-cultural bases.

The inability of the political system and a limited national government to respond effectively to the nation's rapid social and economic changes, particularly the advent of large corporations and industrial capitalism.

The powerful but unsuccessful challenge mounted by the troubled agrarian sector to the new directions of American industrial capitalism, and how this confrontation came to a head during the crises of the 1890s and the election of 1896.

The evolution of the old continental concept of Manifest Destiny to justify a new expansion of America across the seas.

The initial forays of American imperial power into places such as Hawaii and Samoa.

The role of the Spanish-American War in catalyzing these imperialist stirrings into a full-fledged American empire.

The attitudinal, political, and military adjustments forced on the nation in its new role as a major world power.

The American imperial experience in the Philippines and China, and what lessons American leaders took from both.

Analytical Journal

Boxer RebellionEmilio AguinaldoFarmers' Alliances

Foraker Act“Free silver” Half-Breeds

Interstate Commerce ActJacob CoxeyMary E. Lease

“Open Door” Panic of 1893 Pendleton Act

Platt AmendmentPopulismSherman Antitrust Act

StalwartsThe GrangeWilliam Jennings Bryan

William McKinleyYellow journalism

Defining the chapter terms in your journals will help you better understand the following about late-19th century America.

  • The nature of American party politics.
  • The problems of political patronage in the various presidential administrations that led to the passage of the Pendleton Act.
  • The origins, purposes, and effectiveness of the Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Antitrust Act.
  • The rise of agrarian discontent  especially the Granger movement, the Farmers' Alliances, and the populist movement  and the decline of agrarian discontent after 1898.
  • The rise of the silver question from the "Crime of '73" through the Gold Standard Act of 1900.
  • The significance of the presidential campaign and election of 1896.
  • The new Manifest Destiny, and how it differed from the old Manifest Destiny.
  • The objectives of American foreign policy at the turn of the century with respect to Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
  • The variety of factors that motivated the United States to become imperialistic.
  • The relationship between American economic interests (especially tariff policy) and developments in Hawaii, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
  • The causes of the Spanish-American War.
  • The motives behind the Open Door notes and the Boxer intervention.

Each of the terms above contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the way in which party politics influenced the American political system, the inability of the political system to respond effectively to the nation's rapid social and economic changes, and the agrarian sector’s powerful but unsuccessful challenge to industrial capitalism. The terms below also contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the age of imperialism. As you define these terms, demonstrate why each person, event, concept, or issue is important to a thorough understanding of this chapter.

Long Essay Exam Tips

Questions covering this period often look at the role of the federal government and the growing challenges to the belief that the government should not play an active role in American society. The issue of whether or not the government in fact pursued a laissez-faire approach is a significant theme, while self-help, individualistic American ideology meant that government provided no direct assistance to the poor and dispossessed, American business could not have succeeded to the degree that they did without significant help from the federal government. The degree to which economic issues motivate political participation is another theme to consider. Despite relatively weak federal government and uninspiring presidential candidates in the late nineteenth century, Americans divided over what historians call “ethno-cultural” issues (Sabbath observance, temperance, English-only education) participated actively in elections at both the local and national levels.

Free-response questions from this period could also address the extent to which American foreign policy in the 1890s represented a break from earlier United States expansion. The influence of and balance between economic, strategic, and ideological factors in support for the Spanish-American War and the territorial gains that followed is another central theme.

DBQ Exam Tips

Debates over American foreign policy at key junctures have brought about key questions about America’s fundamental national mission and goals. Key questions include variations on the following themes: To what degree should the United States seek to spread its institutions abroad? Should the United States concentrate its resources at home or abroad? Many of the questions that emerge during the debate over imperialism in the 1890s reemerge during and after WWI and WWII and during the cold war.