1910s

Politics and Law
Politics and Law in the 1910s were influential in the modern framework of the country. Beginning with the Progressive Era and ending in World War I, politics established many laws defining what it means to be a American citizen.

1910  1911 1912
 * The Mann Act  prohibited interstate transport of women for immoral purposes. This was a victory for women's sufferage as exploitation of prostitutes was a wide spread business.
 * The law was alternately used to subdue Jack Johnson, the world's first black heavy weight boxing champion. Jack Johnson challenged the role of what was socially acceptable for an African American in America, publicly indulging in alcohol and white women.
 * In  Bailey vs. Alabama, the Supreme Court overturned southern "peonage" laws that made it a crime for sharecroppers to break their labor contracts. This was one of the the few landmark victories of the Progressive Era for racial justice.
 * The Election of 1912 ended with a victory for Democrat Woodrow Wilson over Theodore Roosevelt, who represented different spectrums of Progressivism. The main topic of the election was the problem of corporate corruption in the government.
 * Wilson feared big government as much as he feared the power of corporations, calling his platform The New Freedom. A series of worker's rights acts were passed after his election.
 * Roosevelt countered that the nation must accept the the benefits of big government and corporations, but exercise more forms of government intervention to counter-act abuses of power.

1913  1914 1916
 * The 16th Amendment was ratified giving congress the power to levy a federal income tax without apportioning it among states.
 * The 17th Amendment was ratified establishing direct election of United States Sentors by popular vote.
 * The Clayton Act enumerated workers rights by exepting labor unions from antitrust laws and barring courts from issuing injunctions discouraging the right to strike.
 * Coal_mine.jpg  Keating-Owen Act  was a federal law passed outlawing child labor in manufacture of goods sold in interstate commerce..
 * The  Adamson Act  established a eight-hour work day for railroad workers.
 * The Election of 1916 After making advances in citizen's rights, Wilson was re-elected president.

1917

The United States entering WWI ends the Progressive Era and begins an era of conservative war-time legistlation that compomised the meaning of "freedom". The War seemed to bring an end to Wilson's fear of a "big government". Many citizens were imprisioned for their anti-war centiments under new legistlation. 1918
 * The Selective Service Act  required 24 million men to register for the draft, and the army ranks soon rose from 120,000 to 5 million men.
 * The  Espoinage Act restricted freedom of speech. It prohibited spying and interfering with the draft, but also prohibited "false statements" that might impede military sucess. The postmaster general barred from the mails several newspapers and magazines critical of the administration.
 * The Sedition Act further impeded freedom of speech by making it a crime to make spoken or printed statements that display "contempt, scorn or disrepute" on the "form of government", or that rallied for interference of the war effort.
 * Wilson annouces his war aims in the Fourteen Points, and US forces arrive in Europe in large numbers.

1919



The 18th Amendment was ratified prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor.


 * During the Red Scare and Palmer raids, over 5,000 people were arrested in America without warrants and held without charge, while hundreds of others were deported under the idea that many people were involved in a world wide communist conspiracy.
 * IWW and many moderate unions were destroyed, and the government collected files on suspected radicals.

The Progressive Era
Progressivism is defined as advocating progress towards better conditions, change, improvement or reform. In the early 1900's, Progressivism focused specifically on social control and moral reform. The progressives, who were mainly middle- and upper-class Protestants, believed that immigrants and urbanization threatened the stability of American democracy. They believed that it was their responsibility to create lawas and regulations for the benefit of the immigrants, African-Americans, and lower-class. They did so by supporting regulations on alcohol, prostitution, entertainment, and public education.

Prohibition

 * The Prohibition Movement, which began towards the end of the 19th century, was fueled mainly by two organizations with very different motives: the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. Prohibition.jpg

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

 * Specifically appealed to women who were directly affected by or had concerns about violence caused by drunken men.
 * Their goal was to stop the production, sale, and consumption of liquor.
 * They also had many other local goals, including: homeless shelters, prison reform, sunday schools and nurseries, and women's suffrage.
 * By 1911, the WCTU had over a quarter of a million members including both black and white women.
 * The WCTU was one of the only clubs where black and white women could join together and agree on the same things.

Anti-Saloon League

 * Founded in 1893 with a much narrower focus than the WCTU.


 * Their goal was to ban liquor in its entirety.
 * Supporters were mainly businessmen who thought that without alcohol their workers would be more efficient.

Prostitution

 * A series of exposes written from 1908-1914 about prostitution increased its visibility to the public eye, making it a big focus of the progressive reform.
 * Male business and political leaders joined forces with feminists and social workers to help eliminate what had become known as the "white slave traffic".
 * In 1910 Congress passed legislation that deported foreign-born prostitutes as well as any immigrant found procuring or employing them.
 * That same year 1910, the Mann Act stated that it was a federal offense to transport women across state lines for inappropriate reasons.
 * These new laws caused numerous brothels to close but resulted in streetwalkers and call-girls who were now more vulnerable to the police and pimps
 * Overall, the reform efforts organized the sex trade rather than eliminating it

Entertainment

 * At first, commercial entertainment was considered a grave threat. The progressives were afraid that burlesque theaters, amusement parks, dance halls, and movie theaters were overtaking wholesome entertainment like parks, libraries, museums, and YMCA's.
 * Movies were originally popular entertainment for the working-class due to the inexpensive prices
 * In 1908 movie theaters were averaging nearly 5 million patrons per day
 * It was not long before people began to realize the enormous increase in profits that would come from marketing the films to the middle-class instead.
 * In 1909 movie producers and reformes created the National Board of Censorship (NBC) and by 1914 they were reviewing 95% of films
 * NBC.jpg 1914 Frederick C. Howe, a Senator and progressive, said that "commercialized leisure must be controlled by the community, if it is to become an agency of civilization rather than the reverse."

Public Education

 * The goal of the reform of public education was to assimilate the immigrants and minorites into a part of the American race with a focus on righteousness, law and order, and government.
 * Schools started to begin earlier and end later in the day.
 * By 1918 every school had some form of mandatory attendance.
 * In 1890 there was a 4% enrollment rate and by 1930 it increased significantly to 47%
 * In 1917 the Smith-Hughes Act established federal funding for Vocational programs.
 * Boys studied metal trades, carpentry, and machine tools
 * Girls studied typing, housekeeping, seewing, cooking, and home economics
 * In 1918 the National Education Association defined the Cardinal principles of Secondary education as: health, family life, citizenship, and ethical character.

Inequality

 * Women and African-Americans began their fight for civil rights long befor the turn of the century, but it wasn't until the early 1900's that their movement really gained momentum. This groundwork that was laid in this decade was very crucial to the success of many activists.

Women

 * Reform organizations gave women a place in public life for the first time.


 * They called themselves the "guardian of the home".


 * Many women's groups focused on topics like self-improvement, education, child care, child-labor laws, mother's pension, public morality, and social welfare.


 * They were supported through private charities, churches, and volunteer groups.


 * By 1900 the General Federation of Women's Clubs had 150,000 members and by World War I they had over a million.


 * By 1910, approximately 5% of college-age Americans attended college and of that 5%, 40% of them were women.

Birth Control

 * This name was coined by Margaret Sanger in 1913 


 * She distributed contraceptive information and devices, created the magazine Woman Rebel and a pamphlet called Family Limitation. 


 * Contraceptives were considered to be a way of advancing sexual freedom for the middle- and working-class women


 * Sanger's materials were confiscated and she was facing up to 45 years in prison before she fled to Europe in 1914. She returned in 1915 and went on a speaking tour then proceded to open a birth control clinic in 1916.

Suffrage

 * Women began fighting for their right to vote in the middle of the 19th century but many had different opinions on certain things which resulted in a rivalry between the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association.


 * They united in 1890 which resulted in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).


 * By 1910, Women's Suffrage had become a mass movement supported by socialites, garment workers, black and white women's clubs, conservatives, liberals, and even men. Suffrage.jpg


 * By 1914, women had the right to vote in state, local, and school board elections in 11 states.


 * In 1920 their fight was awarded by the adoption of the 19th amendment which states that no person can be denied the right to vote.

African-Americans

 * Racism was fueled by Darwin's theory-- blacks were a "degenerate" race and were predisposed to vice, crime, and disease.
 * Southern progressives believed that African-American progress was necessary in order to achieve economic and political progress and shouldn't be terrorized
 * Booker T. Washington was born a slave in 1856 and is now considered to be one of the most influential African-American leaders
 * He founded the National Negro Business League
 * He put a lot of funds into black schools in the South and believed in economic self-help and ending segregation.
 * W.E.B DuBois was born into a middle-class African-American family and was the first African-American to receive a PhD
 * He wanted to embrace the African culture and wrote about black history, culture, education, and politics
 * He criticized Booker T. Washington for his acceptance of racial inferiority
 * Organized a group of educated black men to oppose Washington's views and protest segregation, exclusion from labor unions, and the denial of voting and other rights
 * This meeting, known as the Niagra Movement, was not successful but led to a meeting in New York called the National Negro Conference which led to the founding of the NAACP in 1909/1910.
 * Naacp_logo.jpg first, W.E.B DuBois was the only African American officer of the NAACP
 * In 1900, the Women's Convention of the National Baptist Convention was founded and was the largest African-American denomination
 * They offered racial uplift while organizing playgorunds, daycare facilities and Kindergartens, helped campaign for women's suffrage and advances in public health
 * In 1914 the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs boasted 50,000 members throughout 1000 clubs in the nation.

U.S. Relations with Latin America

 * In 1910, President William Howard Taft wanted to protect American investments though “dollar diplomacy”. He planned to increase the political authority of the U.S. by the power of money. Whtaft-port.jpg''
 * In 1911, civil war broke out in Mexico. In 1914, President Wilson orders U.S. troops to take the city of Veracruz in an intervention of the Mexican revolution. ''
 * In 1914, President Wilson convinced Nicaragua (already occupied by U.S. troops) to give control of a naval base and grant the U.S. an alternate canal route. ''


 * Upheavals in Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua required U.S. marine intervention. The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua were all economically dependent on the U.S. and were “protectorates” by the end of the Wilson administration. ''

World War One

 * One June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Prinčip.
 * Austria-Hungary declared was on Serbia about 3 weeks after the assassination.
 * Alliances formed by European nations and military buildup led other nations to join the war. Russia joined Serbia. Germany tried to defend Austria-Hungary by attacking France (who was allied with Russia). Then Great Britain stepped in to help France and neutral Belgium who had been attacked by German troops.
 * The Allies were France, Great Britain, and Russia. The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. 35.jpg
 * Old was strategies did not work because of new technology so trench warfare took place.
 * European citizens were affected by the war as the Allies and Central Powers tried to wear each other down. Cities were bombed because people on the “home front” made material crucial to the war effort. Blockades caused starvation and sickness.

America in World War One

 * When World War One began in Europe, America claimed to be neutral, but there were many supporters for both sides of the war and America sold goods to both sides. thumb|284px|right
 * Germany used submarines (U-boats) against American ships trading with the Allies.
 * In May 1915, 128 Americans died when the Germans had one of their U-boats torpedo the British passenger ship Lusitania.
 * From August 1914 to March 1917, the Allies bought around 2.2 billion dollars worth of weaponry from the U.S.
 * In 1917, Arthur Zimmerman, German foreign secretary, sent a telegram to Mexican leaders suggesting that they should ally with the Germans when the U.S. entered the war so they could gain land they had lost to the U.S. Zimmerman_Note.jpg
 * America declared war in 1917.
 * Congress imposed the draft in May 1917. The U.S. army grew from 122,000 at the beginning of the was to 3,623,000 by the end of the war.
 * The fresh troops from the United States were enough to push the Germans back and help the Allies win the war.
 * President Wilson announced his Fourteen Point Plan in January 1918 which included reducing military buildup and establishing the League of Nations.
 * At the Paris Peace Conference I December 1918, the Allies wanted the Germans to face severe punishment. The Fourteen Point Plan was not used.
 * By the end negociations of the Peace Conference, the Allies agreed to form the League of nations, Germany was forced in admit guilt for the war and paying for destruction of land and economies. New nations were formed from the old Austria-Hungary empire, some of Germany's territory, and some part of the Russian empire.

Commerce and the Economy
The decade of 1910 was one of business and economical reform. Roosevelt was in the full swing of trust-busting, using law to break up big companies that were becoming monopolies. Woodrow Wilson was elected President in 1912 and he continued to shape the way businesses were conducted In 1916 the government took a big grasp of commerce and passed 4 different acts to better the economy. The beginning of World War One also was the beginning of an upward turn in the economy of the United States. Because the U.S. was supplying the Allies with goods, production in the U.S. soared. The war also increased wages of both skilled and unskilled workers.
 * Roosevelt filed 43 different antitrust lawsuits
 * In 1911 Roosevelt successfully broke-up Standard Oil Company Federal_Reserve_Act_-_Logo.png
 * He also made the American Tobacco Company reorganize so that it wasn't as monopolistic
 * In 1913 Woodrow Wilson successfully passed the Underwood-Simmons Tariff, which reduced tariff rates by an average of 15%
 * The 16th Amendment was also created in 1916, which gave Congress the power to impose an income tax
 * In December of the same year he enacted the Federal Reserve Act
 * The FDA put 12 regional banks governed by the Federal Reserve Board in place
 * The purpose was to give the powers of setting interest rates, adopting fiscal policies, promoting economic growth, and dampening inflationary pressures
 * Furthering the work of Roosevelt against monopolies, the government FTC_-_Logo.pnged the Federal Trade Commission Act in 1914. The FTC was made to oversee corporations to watch them carefully for signs of monopolies.
 * The FTC also could investigate violations of federal regulations, require regular reports from corporations, and issue cease-and-desist orders.
 * The Clayton Antitrust Act was passed as a measure to further the working of the Sherman Antitrust Act. It specifically layed out what was and was not an illegal practice for businesses.
 * The Federal Farm Loan Act was passed to let farmers get low-interest federal loans to ease the expenses farmers incurred.
 * The Keating-Owen Act made any products made by child labor illegal to sell over state borders
 * 1910- the labor force (excluding farmers) included 1.6 million kids at the ages of 10-15
 * Factories, mills, and sweatshops employed the children
 * The Adamson Act enacted an 8-hour workday for all interstate railway workers
 * The last act put in 1916 was the Workmen's Compensation Act which provided accident/injury protection to federal workers
 * From 1914 to 1918 factory output increased by more than 1/3.
 * From 1916 to 1918 the civilian workforce increased by 1.3 million civilians.
 * There was a wage increase of an average of 20%
 * Cigarette sales tripled from 1914 to 1918.
 * Automoible production increased from 460,000 in 1914 to 1.8 million in 1917.
 * Agriculture proces doubled between 1913 and 1918.
 * The War Labor Board encouraged workers to join unions and union membership doubled.
 * The government also sold $23 billion in "liberty bonds."
 * Unskilled workers were paid $10/week
 * Skilled workers lived comfortably at $20/week

Science and Technology

 * In 1913, electric-powered Victrolas (phonographs) were introduced. However, most people used hand-crank Victrolas to play their patriotic music during the war.
 * A moving assembly line was introduced in Henry Ford’s factory in Highland Park, Michigan in 1913. This assembly line allowed him to increase production therefore lowering costs of his Model T Ford. Ford.jpg
 * In 1914, medical research on sexually transmitted diseases was done by the American Social Hygiene Association.
 * In 1914, the Panama Canal was completed, allowing a safe passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Before the Panama Canal, ships were forced to go around South America which proved to be a dangerous journey.
 * A new science, called eugenics, is based on the manipulation of reproduction in order to change plant or animal species. Some eugenicists believed that the same ideas could be applied to humans.
 * Recently improved machine guns and higher-powered artillery introduced in World War 1 drastically changed the type of fighting that had to be utilized by the troops.
 * Machines new to warfare, such as machine guns and flamethrowers required more supplies on the battlefields.
 * In 1915, the Germans used chemical weaponry for the first time in history, causing horrible deaths to the soldiers who could not put their gas masks on in time. Gas_Mask.jpg
 * Airplanes played their first major role in battle with new advancements that allowed them to be bomber and fighter planes.
 * The most advanced technology came from the navy as they added electricity as a source for power and light, used wireless telegraphy, and had advancements in navigation.
 * Submarine warfare contributed to the war effort through technological upgrade with new diesel engines that allowed submarines to travel farther.
 * The British introduced tanks in November 1917, but they were ineffective at breaking the stalemate at that time.
 * Starting in December 1917, psychologists began to give recruits IQ tests. The results promised to be useful when assigning duties and would show leadership potential. However, the tests were not designed well because the answers to the questions were not purely intelligence based. The results were partial to those who were not immigrants or African Americans.
 * After confusion which slowed transportation of supplies, the Railroad Administration combined thousands of miles of track owned by many companies to allow more effective transportation of goods across the U.S.
 * The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 spread quickly in places with a high concentration of people, like cities. With no treatments to stop the disease, professional medical groups started demanding government action to find a cure. Influenza1918b.jpg