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A History of the American People
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
- GenresHistory
First published January 1, 1901
About the author
Woodrow Wilson
1,033 books60 followersThomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. A devout Presbyterian and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University and then became the Governor of New Jersey in 1910. With Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft dividing the Republican Party vote, Wilson was elected President as a Democrat in 1912. He proved highly successful in leading a Democratic Congress to pass major legislation that included the Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act, the Underwood Tariff, the Federal Farm Loan Act and most notably the Federal Reserve System. Wilson was a proponent of segregation during his presidency.
Narrowly re-elected in 1916, his second term centered on World War I. He tried to maintain U.S. neutrality, but when the German Empire began unrestricted submarine warfare he wrote several admonishing notes to Germany, and eventually asked Congress to declare war on the Central Powers. He focused on diplomacy and financial considerations, leaving the waging of the war primarily in the hands of the military establishment. On the home front he began the first effective draft in 1917, raised billions through Liberty loans, imposed an income tax, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, and suppressed anti-war movements. He paid surprisingly little attention to military affairs, but provided the funding and food supplies that helped the Americans in the war and hastened Allied victory in 1918.
In the late stages of the war he took personal control of negotiations with Germany, especially with the Fourteen Points and the armistice. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. Wilson collapsed with a debilitating stroke in 1919, as the home front saw massive strikes and race riots, and wartime prosperity turn into postwar depression. He refused to compromise with the Republicans who controlled Congress after 1918, effectively destroying any chance for ratification of the Versailles Treaty. The League of Nations was established anyway, but the U.S. never joined. Wilson's idealistic internationalism, calling for the U.S. to enter the world arena to fight for democracy, progressiveness, and liberalism, has been a highly controversial position in American foreign policy, serving as a model for "idealists" to emulate or "realists" to reject for the following century.
Narrowly re-elected in 1916, his second term centered on World War I. He tried to maintain U.S. neutrality, but when the German Empire began unrestricted submarine warfare he wrote several admonishing notes to Germany, and eventually asked Congress to declare war on the Central Powers. He focused on diplomacy and financial considerations, leaving the waging of the war primarily in the hands of the military establishment. On the home front he began the first effective draft in 1917, raised billions through Liberty loans, imposed an income tax, set up the War Industries Board, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the Lever Act, took over control of the railroads, and suppressed anti-war movements. He paid surprisingly little attention to military affairs, but provided the funding and food supplies that helped the Americans in the war and hastened Allied victory in 1918.
In the late stages of the war he took personal control of negotiations with Germany, especially with the Fourteen Points and the armistice. He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles, with special attention on creating new nations out of defunct empires. Largely for his efforts to form the League, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. Wilson collapsed with a debilitating stroke in 1919, as the home front saw massive strikes and race riots, and wartime prosperity turn into postwar depression. He refused to compromise with the Republicans who controlled Congress after 1918, effectively destroying any chance for ratification of the Versailles Treaty. The League of Nations was established anyway, but the U.S. never joined. Wilson's idealistic internationalism, calling for the U.S. to enter the world arena to fight for democracy, progressiveness, and liberalism, has been a highly controversial position in American foreign policy, serving as a model for "idealists" to emulate or "realists" to reject for the following century.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 5, 2008
A must read for historical interest.
I just read volume V (of 5)--Reconstruction to the present (the present being 1901). This is the book that is quoted in Birth of a Nation ("The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation . . . until at last there had spring into existence a geat Ku Klux Klan, a veritable empire of the South, to protet the Southern counrty.") I got it for my students to read a Southern history of reconstruction. Very dry and scholarly. Interesting criticism of presidents, especially when he will fail so miserablly with the Treaty of Versailles.
I just read volume V (of 5)--Reconstruction to the present (the present being 1901). This is the book that is quoted in Birth of a Nation ("The white men were roused by a mere instinct of self-preservation . . . until at last there had spring into existence a geat Ku Klux Klan, a veritable empire of the South, to protet the Southern counrty.") I got it for my students to read a Southern history of reconstruction. Very dry and scholarly. Interesting criticism of presidents, especially when he will fail so miserablly with the Treaty of Versailles.
August 18, 2024
Read volume one, and found it quite interesting!
October 18, 2018
Finished Vol 1, covering colonization through the War of Independence. Had a junky kindle edition with poor conversion from text to image. What I could read flowed freely and was enjoyable. I had not thought much about partisanship on the part of colonials (support for England as well as the rebels), so this opened my eyes a bit.
January 22, 2011
Reading volume 7 of 10, Critical Changes and Civil War. Provides an observer's perspective on the events and pressures that would set the stage for the Civil War. He's very specific about the actual issues at hand for both the public and the government, and paints a clear picture of cause and effect to show actually HOW and possibly give insight as to WHY things happened as they did. Sometimes this places responsibility for events on individuals, but often shows how the dynamic oppostion of opinion in our country actually shapes the policy and direction of a nation. Old Woodrow gets downright poetic about his heroes and favorite issues and events, and he's even polite and astute about everyone else. It's too much to take in all at once like a novel and yet I have a hard time putting it down. Please message me if you can get me access to any of the other volumes!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews