Showing papers in "Pacific Historical Review in 1981"
37 citations
TL;DR: The anti-communist hysteria of the 1940s and 1950s through political manipulation, myth, and stereotype was intensified by U.S. politicians and government officials as discussed by the authors, and many liberal Democrats adopted similar, stridently anticommunist and anti-subversive rhetoric to silence critics of the New Deal.
Abstract: As SEVERAL HISTORIANS have observed, U.S. politicians and government officials intensified the anti-communist hysteria of the 1940s and 1950s through political manipulation, myth, and stereotype. Since the 1930s, Republican and Democratic conservatives had attacked the New Deal "as the forerunner of an American bolshevism"; bi-partisan congressional leaders had investigated "un-American" activities; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation-under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover-had conducted studies of left-wing groups and performed illegal searches and seizures. By the mid-1940s, the Truman administration and many liberal Democrats adopted similar, stridently anticommunist and anti-subversive rhetoric to silence critics of the New Deal and internationalism. In 1947 President Truman established a
23 citations
TL;DR: In the early thirteenth century, when paper was winning a measure of grudging acceptance, the otherwise innovative stupor mundi, Emperor Frederick II, forbade its use for serious governmental documentation, while Alfonso the Wise or Learned limited it to lesser categories of record as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: M ODERN SOCIETY RESTS UPON paper and words on paper; even in transition to electronic memory we depend upon paper printouts. Things were not always so. For centuries European governments misprized paper as a vehicle for permanent official records. In the thirteenth century, when this material was winning a measure of grudging acceptance, the otherwise innovative stupor mundi, Emperor Frederick II, forbade its use for serious governmental documentation, while Alfonso the Wise or Learned limited it to lesser categories of record. As the century wore on, paper found its way increasingly into ecclesiastical and public offices around the Mediterranean littoral, including Catalonia where law obliged notaries to keep their records in paper codices. Minutes of deliberations, tax and judicial notes, copies of letters sent, and rolls or registers of various kinds used the new "parchment of rags." A geography of acceptance has been traced by Antoni Arag6 Cabafias and Jose Trenchs. The Mediterranean
19 citations
TL;DR: The partition of Korea in 1945 was among the most unfortunate outgrowths of World War II as mentioned in this paper, and both American and Soviet leaders wanted Korea to emulate its model for national de-partitioning.
Abstract: SOVIET-AMERICAN partition of Korea in 1945 was among the most unfortunate outgrowths of World War II. After dividing the Korean peninsula at the 38th parallel, Washington and Moscow implemented unilateral policies of zonal reconstruction that totally disregarded the interests of the other major power. Each nation's approach was a reflection of its own political, economic, and social system; both American and Soviet leaders wanted Korea to emulate its model for national de-
18 citations
TL;DR: The consensus seems to be that the Spanish-American War was mainly responsible for annexation as mentioned in this paper, and trade with the Orient and racial strife with Japan have, for the most part, been treated as background or secondary reasons for America's acquisition of Hawaii.
Abstract: ALTHOUGH MOST historians of United States-Hawaiian diplomacy recognize that trade and war were important in bringing Hawaii into the Union, the consensus seems to be that the Spanish-American War was mainly responsible for annexation.' Trade with the Orient and racial strife with Japan have, for the most part, been treated as background or secondary reasons for America's acquisition of Hawaii. This writer agrees with Thomas A. Bailey's intimation that the protest of
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TL;DR: The history of the United States and Canada can be traced back to the early 19th century, when the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) was used to enforce the peaceful settlement of the Canadian prairies as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER'S long-standing injunction to compare frontier experiences' has been heeded only to a limited extent by historians of the Canadian and American West, and even less attention has been paid to the nature of IndianEuropean relations in both countries. Comparative generalizations, with few exceptions, have been based on the history of the prairie west rather than on the sometimes quite different example of the Pacific slope. Thus the traditional outline is of an orderly Canadian policy formulated by honorable federal politicians and executed by incorruptible officials who, with the resolute North West Mounted Police, directed the peaceful settlement of the prairies; and of a disorderly United States policy devised by unconcerned politicians, and implemented by venal Indian agents whose actions, along with those of rash army
9 citations
TL;DR: The literature on high plains history can be divided into two general categories: regional studies focusing on geographical or topical, and narrower, more localized studies that concentrate on developments within established political boundaries as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: COLORADO, MONTANA, and Wyoming form a compelling historical unit. Characterized by parallels in terrain and resources, demography and politics, they share a common identity within the greater American West. Each in turn has known a series of frontiers-fur trading, mining, cattle ranching, and farming for the nineteenth century-and in the modern day urban growth and industrial diversification. Together and singly they have produced a mass of material recording their past. With little organized settlement in the region before the mid-nineteenth century, the area has a recent history. Yet it has been dramatic and a continuing source of challenge to scholars: too often historical accounts for the region have been subject to myth, inaccuracy, and prejudice which tend to falter when placed under careful scrutiny. Historical commentary on these plains-mountain states falls roughly into two general categories-regional studies whose focus is geographical or topical, and narrower, more localized studies that concentrate on developments within established political boundaries. Ranging from articles to book-length and multivolume studies, the literature offers information and interpretation on high plains history, and pursues differing viewpoints on matters of historical controversy. Because they cover a broader area, regional studies tend to examine the forces which
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TL;DR: The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 as discussed by the authors encourages the use of reservations as homelands where tribes could engage in self-government and cooperative economic activity, which is the basis for the Indian New Deal.
Abstract: ON APRIL 21, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed John Collier as commissioner of Indian affairs. During the previous decade Collier had been executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association, an organization that opposed the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887.' This legislation had destroyed much of the reservation system in the United States by abolishing tribal governments and providing the Indians with 160-acre, or smaller, homesteads. The Dawes Act was part of a broader effort by nineteenth-century Indian reformers to promote the objective of assimilation. Collier believed that the Dawes Act and similar efforts had led to poverty, landlessness, and the general social disorientation of native Americans. Shortly after taking office, he met with officials in the Department of the Interior and formulated a new federal Indian policy based on the concept of cultural pluralism. The centerpiece of this policy-the Indian New Deal-was the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which encouraged the use of reservations as homelands where tribes could engage in self-government and cooperative economic activity.2 Historians have recently provided new insights concerning the Indian New Deal, but they have neglected to analyze carefully how it effected the Eskimos, Aleuts, and Indians who resided in the territory
TL;DR: For years, politicians and historians have believed that Japan's knowledge of this crypto-analytic breakthrough proved inconsequential, but recently declassified documents suggest otherwise as mentioned in this paper, and that this knowledge contributed to a worsening of relations with Japan and to Washington's unpreparedness for war in Asia in 1941.
Abstract: EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE THE ATTACK on Pearl Harbor, Japan learned that its coded diplomatic messages were being read by the United States. For years politicians and historians have believed that Japan's knowledge of this cryptoanalytic breakthrough proved inconsequential, but recently declassified documents suggest otherwise. Japan's knowledge of "Magic," the American codebreaking operation, seems to have contributed to a worsening of relations with Japan and to Washington's unpreparedness for war in Asia in 1941.1 One year after World War II had begun in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was already conducting what historians have termed an "undeclared war" against the Axis. That unde-
TL;DR: The history of the Pacific Coast and the West during the twentieth century has been studied extensively as mentioned in this paper. But many gaps still remain, and some of these can be filled only by more intensive analysis of individual states.
Abstract: DURING THE last decade historians have evinced an increasing interest in the history of the Pacific Coast and the West during the twentieth century. Reflecting a belief that the history of these regions before 1900 has been overemphasized, an increasing flow of specialized studies has subjected the last eighty years to closer scrutiny.' Nevertheless, many gaps still remain, and some of these can be filled only by more intensive analysis of individual states. The time may thus be ripe for appraisals of the available historical literature for western states, if only to determine what research needs are still unmet.
TL;DR: The so-called progressiveness of the Progressive Era was many things to many people as mentioned in this paper, and the pressures of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration during the first two decades of the twentieth century produced reformers who crusaded zealously for their assorted conceptions of the "good society."
Abstract: THE SO-CALLED PROGRESSIVE ERA was many things to many people. The pressures of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration during the first two decades of the twentieth century produced reformers who crusaded zealously for their assorted conceptions of the "good society." Some wanted an active federal government that would purify America through moral reforms like prohibition of liquor. Others sought to make government more responsive to voters through woman suffrage, the initiative and referendum, the direct primary, and the popular election of senators. This whirlwind of change perplexed contemporaries and dumfounded historians, whose varied interpretations of these years reflect the diversity that was America at the turn of the century.' This essay seeks to tie together some of these varied strands of reform by focusing on the social issues of prohibition and direct
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the proper conceptual framework for the analysis of Los Angeles's past has not yet been developed, which is somewhat surprising, given the growth in the past decade and one half of a whole new field of historical scholarship called the "new urban history."
Abstract: H OW ARE WE TO understand Los Angeles? While studies documenting particular aspects of the city's past exist in an adequate number, if not profusion, most urban historians would agree that the proper conceptual framework for the analysis of Los Angeles's past has not yet been developed. This is somewhat surprising, given the growth in the past decade and one half of a whole new field of historical scholarship called the "new urban history." Some of the methodological tools of the "new urban history" have been applied to the study of Los Angeles-to the study of social mobility, for instance-but these studies have not contributed to a broader conceptual scheme for understanding the city and its development.'
TL;DR: For several days in the summer of 1941, 11,000 production workers at the North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, California, conducted a strike despite strong opposition from the President of the United States, the national leadership of their union, Los Angeles Police Department, and the Fifteenth Infantry Division of United States Army.
Abstract: FOR SEVERAL DAYS in the summer of 1941, the 11,000 production workers at the North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, California, conducted a strike despite strong opposition from the President of the United States, the national leadership of their union, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Fifteenth Infantry Division of the United States Army. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to send federal troops into Inglewood marked the first use of the U.S. Army to break up picket lines of striking workers since the Pullman strike of 1894.
TL;DR: The history of Idaho and Utah has been studied extensively in the literature as discussed by the authors, particularly focusing on early settlements, conflict, and the unique, which have dominated the literature of the two states.
Abstract: UTAH AND IDAHO have much in common. Both share a land-locked and arid-mountain environment, and both were creatures of American westward expansion in the late nineteenth century. Occupied by many Indian tribes, the largest group of which spoke Shoshonean languages, both territories were invaded by traders and trappers, colonized by Mormons, subjected to the vicissitudes of the mining frontier, and crossed by transcontinental railroads. Both states were hit harder than the national average during the Great Depression, and the Second World War had a drastic impact on their economic and social development. Moreover, both states, like their neighbors, are sharply influenced by decisions in Washington, D.C., since nearly two-thirds of the land in both is owned and managed by the federal government. The historiography of the two states is also similar. Books dealing with the nineteenth century, particularly on early settlements, conflict, and the unique, have dominated the literature. Authors writing on Idaho have concentrated on Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, and on the Coeur d'Alene and labor conflict. Some of the labor disputes-for example, the controversy over the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)-have carried over into the twentieth century, but they generally do not touch themes with significant contemporary impact. For
TL;DR: Wyman as mentioned in this paper discusses the impact of industrial change on metal mining in the American West and concludes that the worst conditions for miners, and the most bitter hostility between workers and employers, were in the larger mining companies; but small mines continued to be a major factor in the industry into the early twentieth century.
Abstract: Most books on the metal-mining industry in the American West have stressed labor-management relations with emphasis on the bitter and violent struggles that flared up at several points between the early 1890s and 1914. Mark Wyman chooses a quite different approach in this volume. He devotes about 60 percent of the text to a study of the impact of industrial change upon metal mining in the American West. The discussion stresses technological changes and their results, but includes valuable material on new developments in the ownership and management of the mines and on the character and behavior of the work force. The remainder of the book presents the response to these changes by the miners. Here the account covers more familiar ground with chapters on unionism, attempts to secure effective safety legislation, campaigns for the eight-hour day, and the impact of radicalism upon the miners. Although Wyman discusses the violent strikes, he concludes they were exceptions. The worst conditions for miners, and the most bitter hostility between workers and employers, were in the larger mining companies; but small mines continued to be a major factor in the industry into the early twentieth century. Here workers were much less exploited. Even when the Western Federation of Miners suffered defeats in several major, violent strikes, the bulk of its members maintained their unions and continued to exert considerable influence over working conditions. Wyman also believes that this situation, plus the propensity of miners to move frequently in search of the best wages, significantly reduced the appeal of radicalism to the miners. Wyman's discussion of immigrants in the western metal mines is valuable. He ascribes the fuller integration of immigrants into the unions to the newcomers' presence in the industry when workers first organized, to the shift to industrial unionism later in the nineteenth century, and to the fact that newer immigrants, such as the Italians, worked for the existing wage scale and were not strikebreakers. Employers recruited strikebreakers among native Americans from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or the area of Joplin, Missouri. Wyman also comments that Chinese workers received a different reception from European immigrants. He relates this, in part, to racial and cultural differences between the Chinese and Europeans. More important though was the willingness of the Chinese workers to accept lower wages and the belief held by American workers that the newcomers were contract labor under the control of the employers. In a fascinating chapter on the effects of technological advances in the mines, Wyman concludes that safety became even more of a problem as innovation proceeded; but he does not discuss the implications of this relationship. Were the new processes and devices premature and inherently unsafe or were they unsafe as used? Was the problem basically one of unregulated technological innovation as a product of a search for maximum profit? On this point, Wyman would have benefitted from using William Graebner' s Coal Mining Safety in the Progressive Period (1976), which strangely is not found in his excellent bibliography. Elsewhere in the nation, technological change provoked fears among workers about loss of skill and ultimate displacement. Wyman describes little of this among western metal miners. Similarly, he views the integration of immigrants into unions as clearly more complete in the metal mines than elsewhere. These are examples of differences in conditions between western metal miners and workers further east. Wyman's claim that the subject of liability for work accidents also shows a distinctive development in the western metal-mining industry is unconvincing, however. Changes there were paralleled or exceeded by those in the transMississippi East as the employers' common law defenses weakened and a state-operated system of workmen's compensation became widespread. Wyman's overall discussion suggests many common threads to the rest of the nation even though he notes only some of them. Clearly regionalism and distinctive conditions in the metal-mining industry bred some differences, but common features of America's industrial development created important similarities as well. Wyman's conclusions illustrate the importance of viewing labor developments in terms of an entire industry. Technological innovations were generally introduced within an industry on a piecemeal basis elsewhere in the nation, as well, thus allowing a diversity of conditions. This cushioned the effects of technological changes upon the existing work force. Wyman's linkage of big firms and opposition to unionism is also suggestive. Clearly the policies toward unionism Sage Publications, Inc.
TL;DR: The authors examines how members of the organized American peace movement-the main clearinghouse in the formulation of leftist international views-responded to this opportunity and how they pressed U.S. policymakers to lead Asia actively but peaceably beyond the Age of Empire and into an era of political self-determination and economic modernization.
Abstract: SINCE 1898 WORLD-MINDED AMERICANS have puzzled over the problem of how the United States could play a superintending but nonmilitary role in shaping Asia's future. In practice, the official U.S. response to this problem was to participate in the working out of the nineteenth-century imperialist system and, when that system collapsed during World War I, to cooperate with Britain and Japan at the 19211922 Washington Conference in patching together a new imperial order. The Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor destroyed the Washington treaty system, however, and opened the way for the creation of a postimperial era in Asia.' Japan's decision for war ignited a challenge that flamed with difficulty and excitement, and nowhere was the excitement greater than on the American political left. Heir to a mixed tradition of anti-imperialism and economic uplift, the whole range of American liberals and radicals leapt at the opportunity to re-make Asia. This article examines how members of the organized American peace movementthe main clearinghouse in the formulation of leftist international views-responded to this opportunity and how they pressed U.S. policymakers to lead Asia actively but peaceably beyond the Age of Empire and into an era of political self-determination and economic modernization.