GENERAL CURRICULUM TEST OBJECTIVE : 0006 Understand major developments in the history of the United States from precolonial times to the present.
The election of 1900 brought a Progressive candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, to the office of President. His work aimed at restraining corporate monopolies (or trusts) and promoting competition among businesses. Politics also had become corrupt, and the Progressives began to address the corrupt practices. Journalists that exposed much of the corruption and greed were called "muckrakers". An income gap had grown between the wealthy elite and the common people. A public outcry and demand for reform that would control the power of big corporations and end political corruption and elitism was desired. The Progressives supported populist causes and this period of time became known as the Progressive Era. These reformers came from many backgrounds and ideologies, yet they shared the belief that government should irradicate social ills and promote the common good and equality guaranteed by the Constitution. The 17th Amendment was ratified which required that all U.S. Senators be chosen by popular election, and the 19th Amendment granted women citizens the right to vote. Income laws were passed and restrictions on the sale of alcohol (prohibition) were established. Other economic reforms provided for railroad regulation, purity of food and drugs, inspection of food, child labor laws, and compensation for workers. The Departments of Commerce and Labor were created withn the federal goverment.
Response to the environmental concerns due to the effects of industry resulted in Roosevelt establishing the protection of 238 million acres of federal lands and the expansion of the National Parks System. The next President, Woodrow Wilson, continued the reform movement establishing the Federal Reserve Act which created a national banking system and provided a stable money supply. The 16th Amendment was ratified establishing an income tax.
At the same time, war was raging in Europe (World War I 1914-1918). Many Americans favored U.S. neutrality. However, the U.S. entered the war late and 3 million U.S. troops were drafted and deployed to European battlefields. More about WWI can be found in the next section.
The period right after the war continued to be prosperous with growing suburbs, new technologies like the streetcar, commuter trains and automoblies. Large numbers of southern and rural Blacks migrated to northern cities to find jobs. This period is known as the Roaring Twenties. Unfortunately the boom years of the twenties ended abruptly with the stock market crash of Oct. 29, 1929 (Black Tuesday) which is generally interpreted as the beginning of the period known as the Great Depression. Other causes of the Great Depression were an uneven distribution of income, stock market speculation, excessive use of credit, overproduction of consumer goods, a weak farm economy, government policies, and global economic wars (e.g., recovery from WWI).
The effects of the Great Depression (1929-1932) extend to the current time as economic monitoring occurs even today. During the Great Depression, twenty percent of all U.S. banks closed and ten million savings accounts were wiped out. By 1933, twenty-five percentage of the workforce was unemployed (excluding farmers). The social effects of Depression were felt by all classes, particularly by those who had not been prosperous during the twenties such as farmers and African Americans. Homelessness, stress, poverty, and evictions were common. The worst of the Depression was during the presidency of Herbert Hoover who did not move for federal legislative action, instead waiting and encouraging state and local governments to act. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 brought a period of huge reforms and the implementation of innovative and experimental programs collectively known as the New Deal. There were three goals: relief (to relieve suffering), recovery (to stimulate the economy), and reform (to bring about change through legislation). Roosevelt worked on the New Deal for the next eight years. The New Deal put millions of Americans back to work and helped stimulate the economy. However, the U.S. entrance and involvement in World War II also supported this economic turnaround. You can read more about World War II in the next section.
Resources:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/great-depression/
http://resources.primarysource.org/content.php?pid=299147&sid=2453405
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