Railroads And The National War Labor Board example essay topic

The Presidency of Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson's presidency was by many accounts one of the most successful in American history. Not only did his domestic affairs and reform policies give birth to the modern age of liberalism but his foreign policies would lead the United States to victory in World War I. This would in turn contribute to the United States involvement in world affairs. President Wilson would expand on government with his many programs that he would establish in his time in office. On the global front he would play a major role in the founding of The League of Nations. In domestic affairs he would push through major programs such as the Federal Reserve Act, The Federal Trade Commission, and The Clayton Antitrust Act, which strengthened laws limiting the power of large corporations. He would later go on to establish an 8-hour workday for railroad workers, and would secure federal loans for farmers.

President Wilson also gave birth to modern liberalism, which was expressed in his appointing of Louis D. Brandeis, a noted reform lawyer and the first Jew to be appointed to the Supreme Court. He would remain heavily involved in domestic and reform affairs until the United States focused its attention to a more global involvement, namely World War I. There are several reasons why the United States got involved in World War I. First, the British imposed a naval blockade, which stopped the U.S. from being able to trade with Germany and its allies. The U.S. then increased trade with the Allies, Britain and France, which gave them closer ties with the Allies forces. Secondly, the German navy launched a U-boat submarine, which torpedoed the British luxury liner Lusitania and killed 128 Americans in the process. Next, the U.S. intercepted a telegram in which Germany's foreign secretary sent to the German minister in Mexico City. The telegram was urging Mexico to join the Central Powers in the war, and Germany promised to help Mexico recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in return.

This threatened the territorial integrity of the U.S. The final reason for U.S. involvement in the war was when U-boats started attacking American ships without warning. This forced President Wilson to ask for a declaration of war before a special session of Congress. Government power expanded during the war by collaborating government and business, which gave corporate leaders more influence in shaping the economy and government policy. For instance, the War Industries Board was created to improve efficiency and productivity, and they wanted to win voluntary cooperation by industry.

The Food Administration was formed to encourage farmers to increase production of wheat, and they sent women volunteers from door to door encouraging people to conserve food resources. Three other agencies were created: the Fuel Administration, which ordered all factories east of the Mississippi River to shut down for four days after a severe winter led to a coal shortage; the Railroad Board, which took over the railroads; and the National War Labor Board, which established an eight-hour day for war workers, gave time and a half for overtime, and endorsed equal pay for women. The nation's participation in war led to the modern bureaucratic state where industries had been organized as never before, and a modern system of income taxation had been established. Several changes came to Europe because of World War I. First of all, Europe had a large number of casualties. Secondly, Europe's diplomatic and economic dominance declined because they suffered severe financial loss and material destruction. Finally, the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman empires ceased to exist.

Not only did new nations emerge but borders also shifted, and ethnic conflicts erupted. President Wilson's goal after the war was "not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized common peace". Wilson would develop his "Fourteen Points" for the basis of peace negotiations that began in January of 1919. The President called for absolute freedom of navigation of the seas, removal of trade barriers, arms reduction, and an international commitment to territory.

The League of Nations would supervise disarmament and curb unilateralism through military action. Why did this policy fail? These ideals for world reformation were too far-reaching to be practical. Freedom of the seas and free trade never appeared because of Allied resistance. Wilson had only partial success in scaling back French and British demands fr reparations from Germany. Many senators felt the peace agreement was too conservative.

That it served to "validate existing empires" of the victorious allies. Many Republicans argued that Article X would restrict Congress's constitutional authority to declare war and would limit freedom of the United States to pursue a unilateral foreign policy. The United States never ratified the Versailles treaty nor joined the League of Nations. Many wartime issues were only partially resolved, notably Germany's future, the fate of the colonial empires, and rising nationalist demands for self-determination.

These unresolved problems played a major role in the coming of World War II; some, like the competing ethnic nationalisms in the Balkans, remain unresolved today.