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Theodore Roosevelt becomes President
Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States when President McKinley was assassinated. When he was sworn into office he was only 42 years old which made him the youngest President in our nations history. This was a very important part of American history because he established the United States Forest Service which then established 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game preserves, and 5 national parks. (Davidson, Pg 607) -
President McKinley Assassinated
While President William McKinley was at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York a man approached him and shot the President twice in the chest before he was taken down by bodyguards. He was rushed to a hospital for surgery but died from gangrene that had gotten into one of his wounds. His attacked was executed by electric chair. This was a very important event in American History because he is one of four Presidents assassinated. (Davidson,607) -
Henry Ford introduces the moving assembly line
He invented this for the mass production of automobiles. With this assembly line it now took 30 minutes to build a car instead of 12 hours. Henry Ford wanted to make sure that every American could own one of his cars. Henry Ford's invention was very important because we still use the assemble line today and it helps a lot because it cuts down on the time it takes to build things. (Davidson, Pg 651) -
World War 1 begins
World War 1 started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated. The Great War killed around 20 million people making it one of the most deadly conflicts in human history. This war was devastating but it resulted in many new inventions such as the tank, used the machine gun more than any previous war, and chemical warfare. This was a very important event in American History because it resulted in new American inventions and helped gain power for our military. (Davidson, Pg 627) -
The United States enters World War 1
The United States entered World War 1 after repeated incidences where Germany had torpedoed unarmed ships killing Americans. On April 2nd President Wilson asked congress for a declaration of war and it was granted four days later. The first American troops landed in France on June 26. More than two million American troops would serve in World War 1 and over fifty thousand troops had lost their lives. A reason that this was so important was so many Americans lost their lives. (Davidson, Pg 631) -
Eighteenth Amendment Ratified
The Eighteenth Amendment outlawed alchohol. This amendment was a huge failure. Many people found ways around this law and still drank alchohol. In addition many criminals made a lot of money by selling alchohol during this time period. While this amendment was a huge failure it was not always unpopular, in fact before the Eighteenth Amendment some states had already outlawed alchohol. This was an important time in American History because it was right after World War 1. (Davidson, Pg 664) -
Nineteenth Amendment grants women the right to vote
This amendment made it so that no person could be denied the right to vote based on sex. Women fought for a very long time to earn this right(70 years). This event was a huge part in American History because women had been battling for voting rights for a very long time. Many of the women who started to get women organized to made this amendment happen did not live to see it happen. (Davidson, 601) -
Stock Market Crashes
When the stock market crashed billions of dollars were lost. After this America was thrust into the Great Depression. By 1932 stocks were worth around 20 percent of what they were in 1929. By 1933 around half of the nations banks were closed. Also around 15 million people were unemployed which was around 30 percent of the workforce. The Great Depression was a very important part of American History because without it FDR would not have came up with the legislation that he did. (Davidson, Pg 672)