Start of XX century – to Cold War

With excepts of history that is taught to American kids. Enjoy …

Inventions

In 1903 the Wright brothers had the first airplane flight on the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina;

Henry Ford was producing his first "Model T" automobile (interchangeable parts to reduce costs, to increase output; sharing profits with workers)

Teddy Roosevelt

the youngest President in American history – at 42;

a "trust buster" ;

"Square Deal" advocate;

"speak softly and carry a big stick“;

won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating an end to the Russo- Japanese War

"Gentleman's Agreement" with Japan in 1907

is the only modern figure to have his face carved in Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, due to his support for the national park system

Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903, a treaty with Panama which granted to the United States a five-mile wide tract of land to build the Panama Canal, for a fee of $10 million plus $250,000 per year;

"muckrakers’“ support;

Simplified Spelling Board

Social trends and Court decisions

Between 1870 and 1920, the population of Americans living in cities increased over five- fold, from 10 million in 1870 to 54 million in 1920;

"New Immigration" - Catholic and Jewish;

The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913 authorized a national income tax

Federal Trade Commission Act in 1914 (tying agreements)

World War I

1915, German submarine sunk the Lusitania

1916, it passed the National Defense Act ;

"ROTC" programs for college students to earn tuition in return for military service

President Wilson ran for and was reelected based on a pledge of not injecting America into the war ;

Espionage Act in 1917 ; the Sedition Act (war bonds); the Lever Act (wheat)

Hoarding was a crime during the war (no extra food at home!)

From a History lesson to American kids

In October 1917, near the end of World War I, there was the communist (Bolshevik) revolution in Russia. This would cause the United States and the world many problems later in the 20th century, and is still a problem today in some countries like Venezuela, Cuba, China and North Korea.

Post-War Settlement and Home

Situation

Wilson's "Fourteen Points" : freedom on the high seas, facilitation of international trade with few or no tariffs, a reduction in military arms, an end to colonialism, a ban on secret treaties, restoration to Russia of territory taken during the war, a return to France of the Alsace-Lorraine territory taken by Germany

"League of Nations"

Volstead Act in 1919 to enforce Prohibition; several "dry" counties do not allow the sale of alcohol

Social Darwinism

Herbert Spencer in England and William Graham Sumner in the United States;

"survival of the fittest" theory ;

the "eugenics" movement, IQ ;those with low IQ or undesirable traits should be prevented from having children, or eliminated; "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." (Virginia 1927)

Planned Parenthood (government approval required before a married couple can have a child )

Monkey Trial 1925

Tennessee had a law banning the teaching of the theory of human evolution in public school (schoolteacher John Scopes);

Tennessee voted against its own liberal resident Al Gore for President in 2000, giving George W. Bush the national election, and in 2008 presidential candidate John McCain defeated Barack Obama by 15 percentage points there, despite Obama winning by 7 points nationwide.

Spanish American War

annexed the Philippine Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico. (Spain had previously held the Philippines ever since the explorer Ferdinand Magellan discovered it in 1521.)

a bloody rebellion by natives; 70,000 soldiers sent to suppress;

opposed : Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie: "You seem to have about finished your work of civilizing the Filipinos. About 8000 of them have been completely civilized and sent to Heaven. I hope you like it."