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Period: to
1900-1920
As America entered into the new century, new forms of doing business arose, manufacturing speed increased, and new affordable forms of transportation became common. Political disputes overseas also escalated and America was eventually forced to join the proceeding war that spanned much of the world, and deal with the aftermath. -
The Rise of Socialism
Socialism is the idea that the government should control everything and the people should control the government. Everyone has equal amounts of things and everything is free. Eugene Debs, who was in the forefront of American Socialism popularized these ideas, as did many others. In 1901 the Socialists created a new political party called the Socialist Party of America. Socialism was intended to make things more equal for everyone but always ultimately leads to tyranny rather than equality. -
The Beginning of Monopoly
J.P. Morgan heads the combining of eight different major steel companies to create one giant company called United States Steel. Large corporations became more and more common, with only a select few companies being able to profit in the market of whatever they were manufacturing. All others smaller companies went out of business or sold to the larger companies because they couldn't keep up with the manufacturing speed or low prices of the huge corporations known as monopolies. -
The Ford Model T
Henry Ford invents the first mass produced and affordable car called the Model T. Up until that point, cars had been a very expensive luxury that only the rich could afford, but due to Fords focus on making his car fairly cheap but constantly innovating to make production go faster, thus being able to sell more cars for cheaper prices while still making a profit, automobiles because much more common, and travel was changed forever. -
The Beginning of World War 1
After the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serb, Austria sent a list of demands to Serbia. When Serbia didn't meet those demands, Austria declared war, backed up by their German allies. Russia stepped in to defend Serbia and declared war on Austria. Germany declared war on Russia because of this, and so began the greatest war the world had ever seen up to that point. -
America Enters the War
President Woodrow Wilson was wary to enter the war, keeping in mind the advice George Washington gave at the end of his Presidency to stay out of foreign affairs. However, when it was found out that Germany had sent a telegram called the Zimmerman Telegram to Mexico asking for help to fight America, coupled with the fact that Germany had used submarines to attack American ships numerous times, Woodrow Wilson and Congress declared war on Germany, and America entered the battle. -
The Selective Service Act
The Selective Service Act was an act issued by the U.S. government requiring all males between 21 and 30 to register for the military. This way, even though it was technically a forced draft, people were still making the decision to obey the draft, and thus making the decision to fight in the war by their choice. -
The League of Nations and the 14 Points
In 1918 President Woodrow Wilson presented 14 points for how he thought postwar affairs should be handled. Wilson wanted peace quickly, so he suggested the forming of the League of Nations, a gathering together of world leaders of different countries, so that disputes could be settled in a more civilized way. The League of Nations was formed, but America never joined it because some Americans disliked the idea and because Wilson had a stroke while campaigning for joining. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the document that officially ended the war. Allied world leaders from all around met in Versailles, France to discuss what to do after the war. It was decided that Germany needed to pay for the war. Meanwhile Woodrow Wilson wanted peace. However, the Treaty of Versailles ended up putting much of the blame for the war on Germany and forced them to sign the document. For this reason Woodrow Wilson and therefore America did not sign the Treaty of Versailles. -
The Red Scare
Postwar, the fear of Communism quickly spread across America after communist Italian anarchists who were executed for murder and robbery. This started what would be known as the Red Scare, because Communism was typically identified with the color red.