Charles Darwin’s ideas of natural selection were applied by some to society, culture, and economics. This was often used to explain and justify economic and political inequalities.
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Tag Archives: citizenship
The Populist Movement
By the 1890s, a new political force emerged which attempted to combine the interests of rural, western farmers and the industrial laborers of the cities.
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Labor Unrest
During the 1890s, an unprecedented number of strikes and labor actions shook the United States. Few were bigger than the Pullman Strike of 1893. Below are two points of view from both George Pullman and the striking workers.
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America Eyes Asia
This letter from former President Theodore Roosevelt to Senator Philander C. Knox of Pennsylvania outlines Roosevelt’s view of the role Japan would play in world politics.
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Justifying Overseas Expansion
Albert Beveridge was US Senator from Indiana (1899-1911), and, as is evident here, a fervent supporter of American imperialism. He gave this speech as a campaign speech on September 16, 1898.
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The Triangle Fire
On March 25, 1911, a fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City killed 146 workers, mostly young women. The accounts of the survivors and witnesses, along with the unsafe conditions which prevented more of the workers from escaping the blaze helped fuel industrial safety regulations during the Progressive era.
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Perfecting Humanity
One aspect of the Progressive Era was the popularity of eugenics—selective reproduction to improve humanity. Indiana was the first state in the United States (and one of the first places in the world) to establish laws to determine whether or not the physically and mentally ill or disabled should be allowed to reproduce. This law was controversial from its inception. Signed into law by Indiana Governor J. Frank Hanly, its enforcement was blocked by the subsequent governor, Thomas R. Marshall. The law was found unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1921.
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A Call for War
The First World War was a conflict which the United States remained out of until April 1917. Throughout the years leading up to American entry, debate took place over the war’s justness and whether or not there was a concrete reason for the United States to declare war on Germany.
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The Immigration Debate
Immigration of various peoples to the United States had been a subject of fierce debate since the earliest days of the nation. In the 1920s, the United States enacted the most sweeping immigration restrictions in its history. Since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the sentiment had been to regulate not only how many immigrants came to the United States but where they came from as well. The immigration legislation of the 1920s–chiefly the Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924, aimed to limit immigration from “undesirable” areas, such as southern and eastern Europe.
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The Greek City States: Democracy in Athens
Following the collapse of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, the Greek-speaking peoples of the Aegean formed small city states which had a variety of styles of government including monarchies, oligarchies, and…
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