Contextualizing Period 7 in two minutes
- The 1890 census found no continuous frontier line, and Frederick Jackson Turner wrote in 1896 that calls for a canal, a stronger navy and island territory showed expansion would continue.
- Farms and factories produced more than Americans could buy, business wanted overseas customers, and the Panic of 1893 began a depression that lasted almost four years.
- European empires carved up Africa and much of Asia, Japan took Taiwan from China in 1895, and American residents overthrew Hawaiʻi's monarchy in 1893 with U.S. troops ashore.
- The economy shifted from rural and agricultural to urban and industrial: about one American in three lived in a town or city in 1890, and most did by 1920.
- Reformers asked government to do more, first the Progressives (about 1900–1920) and then the New Deal of the 1930s, which created a limited welfare state.
- Three wars widened America's reach: the Spanish–American War (1898), World War I (1917–1918) and World War II (1941–1945), and each renewed the debate over the nation's proper role abroad.
- On the exam: Topic 7.1 tests contextualization, placing an event such as Hawaiʻi's annexation inside broader patterns of industrialization, reform, migration and war, many of them rooted in the Gilded Age.
Topic 7.1 key terms
- Kingdom of Hawaiʻi
An independent monarchy with its own constitution, legislature, courts and flag, recognized by the United States and the European powers. Liliʻuokalani had been queen since January 1891.
- Committee of Safety
In January 1893, thirteen businessmen and lawyers, many of them Americans or sons of American missionaries, organized to overthrow Queen Liliʻuokalani. They wanted Hawaiʻi annexed to the United States.
- Provisional Government (1893)
The government the Committee of Safety proclaimed on January 17, 1893, headed by Sanford B. Dole. It was meant to rule only until Hawaiʻi could be annexed to the United States.
- Yielding under protest
Giving way to force while stating formally that you do not accept the result as legitimate. Liliʻuokalani used it to keep her claim alive and to ask Washington to reverse what its minister had done.
- Contextualization
Placing a specific event or trend inside the broader events and processes around it.
- Panic of 1893
A financial collapse that began with railroad failures and bank runs and set off a depression lasting until 1897.
- Frontier thesis
Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 argument that the frontier shaped American democracy and the American character.
- New Imperialism
The late-1800s push by industrial powers, mostly in Europe, to take colonies and markets in Africa and Asia.
Transcript
Quotes are from the historical record and name their source. Lines marked Dramatized are reconstructions.
Under Protest
January 16–17, 1893
Key terms: Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, Committee of Safety, Provisional Government (1893), Yielding under protest
Honolulu, capital of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, January 1893. An American cruiser, the Boston, lies at anchor.
Late in the afternoon, 162 sailors and marines came ashore with rifles, a Gatling gun and a small cannon.
The American minister said they were there to protect American lives and property. That night they settled in behind Arion Hall, in full view of the queen's palace.
The next afternoon, an American citizen began reading a proclamation on the steps of the Government Building. Almost no one was listening.
It declared the monarchy over. Within an hour, the American minister recognized the new government.
Queen Liliʻuokalani
That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America…
Queen Liliʻuokalani
…until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representative and reinstate me…
She yielded to avoid bloodshed. She was betting on American fairness.
Five years later, the United States went to war to free Cuba, and came out of it with an empire.
Can a republic born in a revolt against an empire rule colonies of its own?
Can a republic born in a revolt against an empire rule colonies of its own?
A Wider Field
1890–1945; 1890–1896
Key terms: Contextualization, Panic of 1893, Frontier thesis, New Imperialism
Start in 1890.
Most Americans lived in the country, and many city streetcars still ran on horsepower.
In fifty-five years America fought a small war and two huge ones, and became the strongest power on Earth.
Twice, reformers asked the government to do more: the Progressives, then the New Deal.
Immigrants crossed the Atlantic. Black families left the South. Farm families fled the Dust Bowl.
War, reform, migration: three stories that run under this whole unit. Placing an event inside them is called contextualization.
Back to the 1890s, when American factories passed Britain's.
Farms and factories made more than Americans could buy. Business wanted customers overseas.
In 1893 railroads and banks began to fail, and the worst depression yet lasted almost four years.
The 1890 census said the frontier was gone. Frederick Jackson Turner saw where that energy was heading.
Frederick Jackson Turner
The demands for a vigorous foreign policy, for an interoceanic canal, for a revival of our power upon the seas,
Frederick Jackson Turner
and for the extension of American influence to outlying islands and adjoining countries, are indications that the movement will continue.
Meanwhile Europe's empires carved up Africa and much of Asia, and Japan took Taiwan from China.
Where would Americans go next? The answer was the ocean.