th
20
Century
Chapter 20
United States
Adventures in Time and Place
World War I
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In August 1914 WWI
began.
Allied Powers – Britain,
France, Italy, Belgium,
and Russia
Central Powers –
Germany, AustriaHungary, and Turkey
Few Americans were
eager to involve the U.S.
in a distant conflict.
Woodrow Wilson was
president at this time. He
won reelection with the
slogan, “He kept us out of
war.”
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Britain and Germany were
fighting over control of the sea.
Both wanted to keep the other
side from receiving the
supplies it needed.
Germans used U-boats, or
submarines.
Germany sunk the Lusitania
which contained weapons and
people – 1,198 people died.
128 of them were Americans.
People in the U.S. were angry!
The U.S. bought the Virgin
Islands from Denmark for $25
million to protect American
shipping and the Panama
Canal. The U.S. built a naval
http://www.eagleton.rutgers.edu/ebase on these islands.
gov/archive/lusitania2.jpg
From Jan. to March of 1917,
Germans sank 8 U.S. ships.
President Wilson asked
Congress to declare war on
the Central Powers. On April
16, 1917, they did.
Dangers at Sea
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Uncle Sam
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Uncle Sam is a symbol of the
United States, with the first
usage of the term dating from
the War of 1812 and the first
illustration dating from 1852.
During WWI a very famous
poster showed Uncle Sam
pointing at the people with the
words, “I WANT YOU FOR
U.S. ARMY.” The artist James
Montgomery Flagg painted the
poster in 1917.
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The War Front
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The war in Europe was a
new kind of war.
 Technology made combat
more destructive –
machine guns, airplanes,
tanks, poison gas.
 About 30,000 American
soldiers lost their lives at
the battle of MeuseArgonne.
 By the end of the war,
about 2 million Americans
had served in the military,
but blacks and whites still
couldn’t fight along side
each other. The military
was still segregated.
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The army needed weapons,
food, clothing, and fuel.
The government took over the
railroads and telegraphs to
speed production.
Many factories worked
overtime.
With men fighting overseas,
many jobs became available to
African Americans and
women.
People helped the war effort by
saving scarce products or
doing without them. The
government asked for
“Wheatless Mondays” and
“Meatless Tuesdays” so more
food would be available for
troops.
In 1918 Congress adopted
daylight savings time. By
setting their clocks an hour
earlier, Americans gained an
extra hr. of daylight and saved
fuel needed for war.
The Home Front
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Making Peace
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The continuing arrival of American
troops, money, and supplies
weakened the Central Powers.
On Nov. 11, 1918, they
surrendered. This is now a
holiday called Veteran’s Day.
10 million soldiers were killed.
Over 100,000 Americans.
In 1919 representatives of the
Allied Powers met in Versailles,
France. They created a peace
agreement that blamed the war on
Germany. It was called the Treaty
of Versailles.
The treaty took away Germany’s
colonies, redrew its national
borders, and demanded that
Germany pay heavy fines.
President Wilson persuaded the
Allied Powers to create a League
of Nations, the 1st organization of
countries designed to prevent
future wars.
Many Americans were afraid the
League of Nations would drag the
U.S. into more wars. Congress
rejected Wilson’s plans to join the
League.
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In the 1890s many
African Americans moved
from rural areas to more
urban areas in the
Northeast and Middle
West.
Most moved north to
escape discrimination
and poverty.
Factory jobs were a great
improvement over farm
work.
The Chicago Defender
was a popular African
American newspaper that
encouraged the
migration.
The Great
Migration
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Struggles for
Justice
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In 1881, a former slave,
named Booker T.
Washington founded the
Tuskegee Institute in
Alabama. At Tuskegee,
African Americans were
taught skills such as
printing, bricklaying, and
teaching, which would
help them out of poverty.
To fight discrimination,
the National Association
for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP)
was founded in 1909 by
both blacks and whites.
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About 10 years after World
War I the U.S. enjoyed a
time of prosperity.
Income was rising, people
were making money buying
stocks, and living
conditions improved for
many.
More free time – start of
the 8 hour work day.
New appliances – washing
machines, irons, and
vacuums.
The Roaring
Twenties
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Culture
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People started listening to
jazz music. Rooted in
African American culture,
jazz is full of striking
rhythms and sounds.
Duke Ellington helped to
give the decade another
nickname, “The Jazz
Age.”
Many writers tried to
capture the special
feeling of the Roaring 20s
– Francis Scott Key
Fitzgerald, Ernest
Hemmingway, William
Faulkner, Dorothy Parker,
Langston Hughes,
Countee Cullen, and Zora
Neale Hurston.
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By the end of the 20s, there
was one car on the road for
every 5 people. The
automobile linked the city and
country more closely - school,
market, and shopping was
easier.
Tourism boomed, and motels
(hotel for motorists) started
showing up in 1925.
The first radio station started
broadcasting in 1920. People
gathered around radios to hear
music, news, sporting events,
comedy shows, and the 1st
“soap operas.”
People had been enjoying
silent films since the early
1900s, but now people were
able to enjoy talking pictures
(talkies) thanks to Edison.
Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer
appeared in 1927.
Technology
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Technology
Continued
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Media – types of
communication that
reaches large numbers of
people. For example,
radio, newspapers, and
magazines.
 No TV yet.
 Reader’s Digest and
Time started during this
period.
 So begins advertising.
 Celebrity fame begins.
 Charles Lindberg was the
1st to fly nonstop and solo
across the Atlantic Ocean
(NY to Paris). “Lucky
Lindy”
 Amelia Earhart was the
1st woman to cross the
Atlantic.
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The fight for suffrage is the right
to vote.
In 1870 the 15th amendment
gave African American men the
right to vote.
In 1872 Susan B. Anthony and
a group of women marched into
a polling place in Rochester,
NY, and cast their vote for
president. They were arrested.
A women’s suffrage
amendment was introduced to
congress in 1878, but it did not
pass.
Women did not give up. It was
reintroduced in every session of
Congress for the next 40 years.
In 1920 women were given the
right to vote with the 19th
amendment.
During WWI women worked in
businesses and factories.
Once the soldiers returned the
women returned to being
homemakers.
Women Fight
For Suffrage
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The Great
Depression
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Prosperity ended in 1929 with the
crash of the stock exchange,
called Black Tuesday.
A stock exchange is a special
market where shares of stock are
bought and sold.
The prices of stocks began to drop
early that fall. This scared
investors, so they started selling
their stocks. The sudden sales
caused prices to fall even more.
Investors panicked, and everyone
wanted to sell. No one wanted to
buy. As a result, stocks became
worthless, and many people lost
lots of money.
Many banks and businesses
failed. Thousands of Americans
lost their savings and jobs.
Some people lost all their money,
so they couldn’t buy goods or
services.
Companies and factories had to
shut down.
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Many families lost their
homes because of the
shortage of jobs.
People were unable to
pay taxes, so some
schools had to close.
Dust Bowl – 150,000
square miles of the Great
Plains turned to dust
because of a drought.
Crops died, and farmers
went broke. Black
Blizzards (giant dust
storms) blew across the
plains.
Hard Times
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Franklin D.
Roosevelt
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Known as FDR and
cousin of Theodore
Roosevelt.
 In 1921 polio took away
the use of his legs.
 Married to Eleanor.
 Elected president in
1932.
 In his Inaugural Address
he promised to fight the
Depression with all the
power of the federal
government.
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The New Deal was a program
Roosevelt developed to bring
about a change in the way the
economy worked.
Banks were closed and reopened
under government supervision.
Loans were given to farmers and
business in danger of closing. A
system was developed to control
the sale of stocks.
Social Security Act – gave
financial help to retired Americans
and the disabled.
Congress passed a law that gave
workers the right to form labor
unions.
Minimum wage and standard work
weeks of 40 hrs. were established
by law.
Fact: The FLSA will increase the
federal minimum wage in three
steps: to $5.85 per hour effective
July 24, 2007; to $6.55 per hour
effective July 24, 2008; and to
$7.25 per hour effective July 24,
2009.
The New Deal
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Putting People
to Work
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Roosevelt created various
programs funded by taxes paid to
the government to put people
back to work.
The Works Progress
Administration (WPA) put jobless
people to work building schools,
libraries, playgrounds, and
hospitals. They also employed
artists, teachers, and musicians.
The Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) hired more than 250,000
young men to maintain the forests.
The Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) built bridges, roads, and
dams.
The Hoover Dam, named after
Herbert Hoover, on the Colorado
River was completed in 1936 and
helped irrigate soil. It prevented
flooding and generated
hydroelectricity.
Hydroelectricity is electricity
generated by the force of running
water.
Eleanor, Everywhere
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Eleanor Roosevelt
traveled throughout the
country as an extra set of
eyes for FDR.
She wrote a newspaper
column called “My Day.”
She also fought hard for
civil rights and equality for
women.
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World War II
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Power-hungry dictators were
taking control.
Dictator – a leader with
complete authority over the
government.
Benito Mussolini - Italy.
Adolf Hitler and his Nazi –
Germany
A group of military officers –
Japan
In 1936 they signed a treaty of
friendship and called
themselves Axis countries.
They expanded their power by
invading neighboring
countries.
Most Americans hoped we
wouldn't get involved.
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After the damage of WWI,
many countries were
afraid of starting another
conflict.
 September 1, 1939, Hitler
invaded Poland.
 Great Britain and France
(Allies) declared war on
the Axis.
 In 1940 Hitler controlled
all of western Europe
except Great Britain.
Threats to Peace
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Pearl Harbor
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A surprise attack by Japan. It
drew the U.S. into the war.
Japan was taking over islands
in the Pacific Ocean. Part of
their plan was to force the U.S.
out of this region.
Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese
struck the American base in
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Japanese bombs destroyed
ships, planes, and military
supplies.
2,403 Americans were killed.
The next day President
Roosevelt asked Congress to
declare war on Japan.
Three days later Germany and
Italy declared war on the U.S.
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The U.S. joined the Allies.
Communism is an
economic and political
system in which all
property is owned by the
government.
Josef Stalin dictated the
Soviet Union.
In 1939 he made a deal
with Hitler to keep the 2
countries from fighting.
Hitler double-crossed him
and attacked in June
1941.
From that point on the
Soviet Union fought with
the Allies.
Joining the Allies
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War
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On the Pacific the Allies fought
the Japanese.
In Africa and Europe they
fought Germany and Italy.
Over the next 4 yrs. 15 million
Americans served in the
military.
For the first time women were
allowed to join the military.
Factories worked overtime to
produce goods for war.
By 1944 American factories
produced an average of 263
planes a day.
The employment of women
nearly doubled during WWII.
Americans were asked to
conserve metal, gasoline, foil,
meat, and other items.
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After Pearl Harbor many
Americans worried about the
Japanese Americans living on
the west coast – were they
loyal?
In 1942, the government made
over 100,000 Japanese
Americans leave their homes.
Their right to speech and their
right to vote were taken away.
They were moved quickly to
relocation camps farther
inland.
In 1988 the U.S. government
issued an official apology for
its actions.
Relocation
Camps
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Battles Around
the World
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The Allies pushed back their
enemies from 1943 to 1944.
The Axis had stopped
expanding and was on
defense.
Dwight D. Eisenhower planned
a massive invasion on June 6,
1944 (D-Day).
The term D-Day is used for the
day and hour on which a
combat attack or operation is
to be initiated.
Thousands of troops landed at
Normandy, France.
Fighting was fierce – many
died.
The Allies pushed east toward
Germany while the Soviet
Union pushed west.
Berlin, Germany, fell on April
16, 1945. Germany
surrendered on May 7. The
war in Europe was over.
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In concentration camps
Germans enslaved and
murdered those people
they considered their
enemies.
12 million men, women,
and children died.
½ of the victims were
Jews.
The attempt to destroy
the Jewish people is
known as the Holocaust.
Holocaust
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Japan
Surrenders
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In 1945 Americans struck
against Japan and captured
two of Japan’s islands, Iwo
Jima and Okinawa.
President Roosevelt died in
1945.
Harry S. Truman became
president and had to decide –
invasion or atomic bomb?
He decided to drop the bomb
to spare lives of those who
would die in battle.
Hiroshima – at least 100,000
Nagasaki – 70,000
World War II was over.
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After the war the U.S. was very
successful.
President Truman had lot’s of
ideas like raising minimum
wage, creating housing for
poor people, helping veterans,
and ending segregation.
BUT, Truman was worried
about the Cold War with the
Soviet Union.
Cold War – a war fought with
ideas, words, money, and
sometimes force.
The U.S. and the Soviet Union
were the 2 most powerful
countries – “superpowers.”
They became enemies after
WWII.
Cold War
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The “Iron
Curtain”
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Soviet Union sent troops
into Eastern Europe and
put these countries under
their rule – communism.
In 1949 the U.S. and the
countries of Western
Europe formed the North
Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) to
fight the spread of
communism.
President Truman sent
$13 billion in food and
goods to help Western
Europe after WWII. This
was called the Marshall
Plan.
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North Korea led a surprise
attack on South Korea to unite
the 2 countries by force.
On July 5 U.S. troops rushed
to help South Korea.
16 countries sent soldiers to
South Korea under the
leadership of the United Nation
(UN).
The UN was formed after
WWII.`
The UN was an organization
created to keep world peace,
promote justice, and protect
human rights.
Forces kept North Korea from
overpowering South Korea.
North Korea was mainly
helped by China and the
Soviet Union while South
Korea had help from the UN
and mainly America.
Korean War
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The Arms Race
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In early 1950s the U.S. and
Soviet Union were in a costly
race to build the world’s most
powerful weapons.
Many people feared that a war
involving nuclear weapons
might end all life on the earth.
Some families built bomb
shelters.
People were afraid of the
Soviet Union.
Senator Joseph McCarthy tried
to rid the country of people
whether they were communists
or not.
The word McCarthyism is used
today to describe false
accusations made to damage
people because of the political
beliefs.