Sarah's APUSH Blog

The speech was given in the closing debate on the party platform at the Democratic National Convention. He gave the speech on July 9th 1896. He uses this speech to attack the fact that gold was the only sound backing of currency. On the issue of free coinage, the ratio of silver to gold was 16 to 1. He was only 36 but still aspired to be president. The way that he got everyone in a room to listen and engage resulted from his dramatic speaking. He states that those who run in an election are human and have principle. He also speaks out against the dominating businesses and encourages people to fight in defense of family. There is much debate in the U.S. about what the minimum wage should be which was similar to the time when they debated over "free silver".

The Dawes Act was a U.S. law that provided for the distribution of Indian reservation land among tribal men, in the hopes of them assimilating into a white man. Was enacted in 1877. The law stated that the president determined who received between 80 to 160 acres of land for 25 years. It also stated that the Indians who received land were U.S. citizens in the eyes of the law. The Act hurt the lives of Indians who had trouble transitioning from nomadic to agricultural life. Others lost their property and life on the reservation was no worse for the weary. This was the opposite of the original sponsors goals. Also much of the land ended up in the hands of white people. Like the Dawes Act the Homestead Act offered land to those who met certain requirements, but the Homestead Act was aimed at migration while the Dawes Act purpose was assimilation.

The populist party was formed to represent the common man, specifically farmers, against the interests of corporations and politicians. In the preamble they talk about all of the corrupt practices that they see throughout the government.They continue by saying how the people have lost hope and how people are silenced or not given rights. They say how only a select few steal from others to build up their own wealth and then threaten the liberty of everyone else. They also talk about how the value of silver has decreased which led to decreased property value and human labor. They also talk about how political parties have failed at helping those who have truly suffered from the consequences. They say that now the parties have agreed to further suppress those of the populist party by ruining all aspects of their lives so that they, the millionaires, may insure their own wealth. They state that they want to return to the original ideas that the nation was built on, to restore the governme...

After the USS Maine explodes, the U.S. public became extremely anti-Spanish. McKinley was not a fan of war  but the press kept feeding the public's anti-Spanish ideals. The public pressure and pressure from Congress influenced McKinley. Eventually McKinley gave in to Congress's wishes to go to war and the public pressure as a result of the press. He gave his war message on April 11, 1898. McKinley viewed Cuba as a lost cause and that it should be ignored. Following Grant's lead, McKinley did not want to go down a path with Cuba. Although, circumstances have changed and McKinley offer his approval for a military intervention, simply and with four main reasons. First was to end the war in Cuba for humanitarian reasons, because they are so close to the U.S. Second, because Cuba has no government capable of protecting itself, the U.S. is obligated to do so. Third, commerce was injured and property damaged. Finally, it threatened American peace and was expensive. The Spanish-Ame...

Carnegie believes that a capitalist society needs economic development and growth with a distinct line dividing the rich and poor. He says that people become employed as a result of business opportunities created by industry leaders, such as himself. He believes that the working class can't have luxuries, only industry leaders. He believes that in a capitalist society there are better quality of goods at affordable prices for everyone. The law of competition creates conflict between the employee and the employer. He says that this can lead to the growth of a business and that competition is key. The competition law can benefit leaders such as Carnegie because of the environment it creates and of the possibility of much profit. It can also benefit people that are motivated and don't put limits on themselves which allows for personal economic growth. Although their are of course negatives to this system, the rewards go to the ones that work for it. Carnegie says that when distrib...