1910-1920 Between the years of 1910 and 1920, the Silver Era, the United States experienced many firsts. For the first time in history, women were becoming more politically powerful. In 1916, Jeanette Rankin held a seat in the U.S. Congress, making her the first woman ever to do so (Sheet Music...). Four years later in 1920, the nineteenth amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote in political elections. The eighteenth amendment was passed as well, beginning the short-lived prohibition of alcohol. In 1917, the United States became involved in the First World War by declaring war on Germany, three years after its commencement in 1914 by. Also in this decade, the first Trans-Atlantic ocean liner, the Titanic, sunk in 1912, causing over 1, 500 people to die. The United States was also in the process of industrialization. Industries were built and electricity was the new form of power. Electric lights became available and the first movies were made. "By 1916, 21,000 movie houses were testimony of a new industry" (Hacker and Zahler 99). Automobiles became prevalent and that caused the need for roads to be built: "The early growth of the automobile industry wakened a new and much stronger demand for surfaced roads" (Hacker and Zahler 101). Henry Ford was a major contributor in propelling the automobile industry. He improved the assembly line and mass production of parts. "By 1914, the automobile industry had developed such characteristic features as standardization of parts, minute subdivision and mechanization of labor, and even the assembly line in manufacturing" (Hacker and Zahler 100). The United States experienced great social and industrial change on a national scale as well as international scale. One of the primary major world events that took place in this decade was World War I. This began in 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated. The U.S. didn’t get involved with this war, however, until 1917 and stayed involved until it’s ending in 1918. Increasing technology contributed heavily to the fatalities of this war with the inventions of deadly explosives, steel tanks, and poisonous gas (SF Timeline). This double front war for Germany was finally held at a standstill in November of 1918. A peace treaty was signed on June 28, 1919 at Versailles, France, ending the devastating four- year war in Europe. Another important world event that heavily affected the future of the world was The Bolshevik Revolution.
After the election of 1920 America would return to its isolationism roots and watch as the nations of Europe headed down a path for another world war. As Americans watched Communism rise in Russia they questioned for the first time the patronage of their fellow Americans. Economic and social reforms that started up during the war were set to a status-quo mentality. The actions set forward from the Treaty of Versailles and stance the U.S. Congress took on the League of Nations would eventually lead the world in the worst depression ever and ultimately to a second world war in a mere twenty years.
Most of WWII took place half way through the 1940s, which had a reflective result on the majority of countries and citizens in Europe and Asia. The penalty of warfare lingered into the next part of the decade. Europe separated among the spheres of influence of the Soviet Union and the west foremost to the start of the Cold War. The 1940s also witnessed the premature early stages of new technologies including computers, nuclear power and jet propulsion, often first developed in tandem with the war effort, and later adapted and improved upon in the post-war era. The 1940s connects to the influence of contemporary America because it was the decade that changed so many things in life not only the government. In general our world as we knew it changed for the better and worse. The 1940s did the most to influence contemporary America because the U.S culture and society had changed a lot especially the role of women, many families were greatly impacted. The aspect of technology was completely revolutionized. During the decade the wealth rebounded from despair; big business improved its flawed public status; income and wages reached new heights; and dominant original sectors of the economy urbanized, particularly in the fabrication of buyer goods and armed forces hardware.
In this year Henry Ford created the first affordable, combustion engine car called the Model-T. The creation of the Model-T changed the lives of every American. Vehicles were looked at as a way of freedom and excitement. Soon after, every household in America had a car. The demand for vehicles sparked a whole new industry, creating jobs, more revenues and improving the American economy in every way. With so many vehicles on the roads, roads needed to become bigger and better which spawned a nation wide road construction. This also created more jobs and strengthened the economy even further. (Inventions: Car)
At the beginning of the 20th century a New York editorialist wrote that the 20th century began in the United States with "a sense of euphoria and self-satisfaction, a sure feeling that America is the envy of the world"(World History Timeline "1900-1901"). The president was Teddy Roosevelt, who enjoyed enormous popularity due to the general happiness of the American people. A thriving industry created many jobs for immigrants and others. A monumental event took place in 1901 when the New York Stock Exchange exceeded 2 million shares for the first time ever (World History Timeline "1900-1901"). The tycoon J.P. Morgan created the U.S. Steel Co. in 1901, which became the first billion-dollar corporation in the world (Historical Daily Almanac). The Ford Motor Co. was established in 1903, and Henry Ford developed the first Model T automobile that sold for $850. All of this led to an extremely low unemployment rate of 4%(Historical Daily Almanac "1904").
Some of these inventions such as the refrigerated railroad cars and the cigarette-rolling machine, formed a basis for new industries and fortunes. As the country expanded and industrialized, increasing emphasis was placed upon mass production and mass distribution. By speeding up production and increased the output of goods, and an industry could lower costs and maximize profits. As a result of mass production, factory owners often found themselves able to produce more goods than the market would absorb, therefore they needed to increase consumer
The world was hectic in the 20th century. The first plane was flown, World War I took place (1914-1918), communists took over Russia and China (1917), penicillin was discovered (1928), the U.S. stock market crashed (1929), and the DNA’s structure was discovered (. However, on the eastern side of the world, the most notable occurrences were probably Hitler’s rise as chancellor and his launching of the Kristallnacht, the German invasion of Poland, Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Holocaust. Further east, specifically Japan, its 124th Emperor had just inherited his father’s place, right before entering World War II.
On a National scale this decade saw various events being played out across the world. For instance in Germany advancements were being made in science and social reform. An example of this would be, Pasteur’s first use of the vaccination principal and the Germany’s establishment of the first known health insurance (Goff). The French in the 1880’s were developing new techniques in architecture and waging wars. That is, towards the end of this decade the Eiffel Tower was just being completed and the French were waging a war with the Chinese (Sino-Chinese War) over trading rights (History). The British were busy responding to anti-foreign riots in Egypt, eventually leading to their invasion and capturing of Cairo (History). Neighboring Belgium was concerned with more peaceful, recreational matters, such as their hosting of the first beauty contest in 1888 (Time).
Transportation advances began a unification process across the country, both economically and culturally (Roark, 262). The United States finally started to take advantage of the natural resources of the land to benefit the economy. By having water powered equipment, the growth of factories mushroomed, but at the same time, caused a great issue with working conditions and the employment of women. Financing new ventures became an important facet during the market revolution. America’s money supply grew considerably, which led to increased investment opportunities.
The book The 1910s is a summary of events that occured during this decade. It goes into detail about specific events and brings many different points of view. This is due to the fact that the book itself is not written by one author, but a coalition of pieces pertaining to one subject. An example would be the first chapter, “Reform and Reaction”; this chapter tackles all the issues of reform and the reactions to said actions during the 1910s. It is broken down into 5 chapters, and each part within each chapter has a different author. This form of literature can make it more difficult to understand the writing because every author’s style and language is diverse and unique.
The solution is the assembly line. With the assembly line, the time to create one car dropped from 12 hours to 90 minutes. The price of the automobile also fell greatly, which further increased the demand. The automobile industry inspired other industries to form, such as the steel, rubber, petroleum, machine tools, and road building industries. But life wasn't just peaches and cream in the 1920's.
The 1940s changed through just about everything: war, technology, and presidents. After the great depression in the 1920s the American Dream went in a new direction and began the postmodernist era. The American Dream in the 1950s was different from the American Dream in the 1940s because of the culture and by many factors throughout the twenty year span like government, technology, war, and women's rights.
The United States affected the first major catastrophe of the twentieth century tremendously. The First World War, otherwise known as the “Great War,” was truly a world-wide event that was started in August of 1914 due to a single assassination of the heir to the Austria-Hungarian Empire. All but two of the world’s major powers at the time were in Europe, and all of those powers were in entangling alliances that propelled the continent into war. The United States joined the war as a latecomer in 1917 due mostly to a combination of unrestricted submarine warfare and antagonism from Germany over U.S. borders. The involvement of the United States in the Great War was overall beneficial to the development of itself due to a combination of domestic and international factors that cemented the United States as a major “Great Power.”
Model T’s were everywhere in America, even long after Ford stopped production in 1927. (Henry) While Ford was the number one brand, selling the most cars throughout the early 1900’s, the Model T created a new industry that is distinctly American; the auto industry. Three manufacturers, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler dominated the American auto industry, and all three companies still produce cars today. The Model T gave birth to the competitive auto market. To this day, car companies in America are constantly racing to innovate, improve, and outsell their competitors. Manufacturing of cars “became the backbone of a new consumer goods-oriented society. By the mid-1920s it ranked first in value of product, and in 1982 it provided one out of every six jobs in the United States.” (history –idk yet) The demand for cars also resulted in a booming petroleum industry, and a high demand for metals, like steel. ( History idk yet) Furthermore, with so many people driving cars, construction of roads was necessary. The popularity of automobiles set off a chain reaction that created new opportunities all across the country. All sections of the modern automotive industry, from marketing to manufacturing, as well industries like petroleum refining, steel production, and road construction, can trace their beginnings to the Ford Model
disappointment. It was a decade classified as the "roaring twenties." Men returning from World War I had to deal with unemployment, wheat farmers and oil companies were striking it rich, new modern conveniences were being thought up, and fashion was a major issue among the rich.
...aid attention to it. Liquor was sold behind closed doors, and speak easys became very common. The 19th Amendment was also ratified during the twenties. After 81 years of campaigning, woman had the right to vote. During this time the Klu Klux Klan, which gained popularity, seized political control of seven states. A very famous case during the 1920’s was the Scopes Monkey Trial. In 1925 teacher John Scopes went on trial for teaching evolution. This raised a countrywide debate on whether people believed in evolution or creationism. Overall there were a couple important Amendments passed during the 1920’s and few political arguments.