Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad AMH2020 Chapter 29 Derek Wingate

The “Bull Moose” Campaign of 1912 Dr. Woodrow Wilson, a once-mild conservative but now militant progressive who had been the president of Princeton University, governor of New Jersey, and had attacked trusts and passed liberal measures. Wilson’s New Freedom favored small enterprise, desired to break up all trusts—not just the bad ones—and basically shunned social-welfare proposals. Woodrow Wilson was a sympathizer with the South, a fine orator, a sincere and morally appealing politician, and a very intelligent man. He was also cold personality-wise, austere, intolerant of stupidity, and very idealistic. 16 th Amendment- Income taxes.

Wilson Battles the Bankers The nation’s financial structure, as created under the Civil War National Banking Act had proven to be glaringly ineffective, as shown by the Panic of In June 1913, Woodrow Wilson appeared before a special joint session of Congress and pleaded for a sweeping reform of the banking system. The result was the epochal 1913 Federal Reserve Act, which created the new Federal Reserve Board, which oversaw a nationwide system of twelve regional reserve districts, each with its own central bank, and had the power to issue paper money In 1914, Congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act, which empowered a president-appointed position to investigate the activities of trusts and stop unfair trade practices such as unlawful competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration, & bribery.

A Precarious Neutrality Wilson, whose wife had recently died, issued a neutrality proclamation and was promptly wooed by both the Allies and the German and Austro-Hungarian powers. The Germans and Austro-Hungarians counted on their relatives in America for support, but the U.S. was mostly anti-German from the outset, as Kaiser Wilhem II made for a perfect autocrat to hate. German and Austro-Hungarian agents in America further tarnished the Central Powers’ image when they resorted to violence in American factories and ports, and when one such agent left his briefcase in a New York elevator, the contents of which were found to contain plans for sabotage.

The War to End War AMH2020 Chapter 30 Derek Wingate

War by Act of Germany On January 22, 1917, Woodrow Wilson made one final, attempt to avert war, delivering a moving address that correctly declared only a “peace without victory”. Germany responded by shocking the world, announcing that it would return to unrestricted submarine warfare, which meant that its U-boats would now be firing on armed and unarmed ships in the war zone. Then, the Zimmerman note was intercepted and published on March 1, Written by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman, it secretly proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico. It proposed that if Mexico fought against the U.S. and the Central Powers won, Mexico could recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona from the U.S. To gain enthusiasm for the war, Wilson came up with the idea of America entering the war to “make the world safe for democracy.”

Wilson’s Fourteen Potent Points The Fourteen Points were a set of idealistic goals for peace. The main points were… No more secret treaties. Freedom of the seas was to be maintained. A removal of economic barriers among nations. Reduction of armament burdens. Adjustment of colonial claims in the interests of natives and colonizers. “Self-determination,” or independence for oppressed minority groups who’d choose their government A League of Nations, an international organization that would keep the peace and settle world disputes.

Making Plowboys into Doughboys European Allies finally confessed to the U.S. that not only were they running out of money to pay for their loans from America, but also that they were running out of men. This could only be solved with a draft, which Wilson opposed but finally supported as a disagreeable but temporary necessity. The draft bill ran into heated opposition in Congress but was grudgingly passed. Unlike earlier wars, there was no way for one to buy one’s way out of being drafted. The draft was fair and provided effective military manpower.

America Helps Hammer the “Hun” In the spring of 1918, one commander, the French Marshal Foch, for the first time, led the Allies and just before the Germans were about to invade Paris and knock out France, American reinforcements arrived and pushed the Germans back. In the Second Battle of the Marne, the Allies pushed Germany back some more, marking a German withdrawal that was never again effectively reversed. The Americans, demanding their own army instead of just supporting the British and French, finally got General John J. Pershing to lead a front. The Meuse-Argonne offensive cut German railroad lines and took 120,000 casualties

An Idealist Battles the Imperialists in Paris The Paris Conference in 1919: all Wilson wanted was a League of nations. Conflicting ambitions ruled the conference. Britain and France wanted to punish Germany, Italy wanted money, the U.S. wanted to heal wounds through Wilson’s League of Nations Wilson’s baby was the League and so he bargained with Britain and France. Britain and France agreed to go along with the League, Wilson reluctantly agreed to go along with punishment. The War Guilt Clause was passed doing two things, (1) it formally placed blame on Germany, a proud and embarrassed people, and (2) it charged Germany for the costs of war, $33 billion.