Key Idea: How the Americas modernised from 1865 to 1929 through railroads, migration and new ideas, which leaders drove it, and how African Americans lived under segregation.
Railroads, migration and ideas
- Railroads built US industry but made countries such as Argentina depend on exports.
- Raw materials went out and manufactured goods came in.
- Immigration and internal migration grew while indigenous peoples were pushed off their land.
- Progressivism, Manifest Destiny, positivism and indigenismo justified the changes.
Leaders and African American life
| Person or event | Key point |
|---|---|
| Theodore Roosevelt | Trust-busting, conservation, the Square Deal; segregation left alone |
| Wilfrid Laurier | Grew Canada with immigrants and railways |
| Porfirio Díaz | Foreign investment and force; inequality led to 1910 |
| Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) | Made 'separate but equal' legal |
| Washington, Du Bois, Garvey | Self-help; civil rights and the NAACP (1909); Black pride |
Tracks, migrants and ideas built the modern Americas, and dependency for some.
What was the Great Migration? From about 1916 to 1930, over a million African Americans moved to northern cities.
How did Washington and Du Bois disagree? Washington put economic self-help first; Du Bois wanted civil rights at once.
What was the Harlem Renaissance? A flowering of Black writing, jazz and art.
Why did Laurier lose power? Over trade ties with the US.