1. Students will understand the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the United States.
After the Civil War, the economy of the United States was still mainly focused on agriculture, yet by the 1920's became a leader in industry. A lot of things helped with this, such as large amounts of natural resources. A few other things were our government beginning to support businesses, more people moving to the city, and the amount of workers the people moving to the city created. Soon, steel could be made a lot faster, leading to creations like railroads and skyscrapers, the plow, electricity, a ton of others. Industrialization also created many jobs in factories and gave workers a much needed, better lifestyle.
2. Students will understand the impact immigration and urbanization had on the United States.
Immigrants came to the United States to escape their problems in home countries and to start a new life. Others came to take our money and leave. Between 1870 and 1920 about 20 million Europeans came to the United States, mainly for religious or occupational reasons. Many Chinese came and worked on the railroads for small wages. Most immigrants traveled by a ship that ran on steam. The ships were so crowded people diead from disease. Laws were made to prevent problems like this and stop immigration. The Anti-Asian Sentiment, Chinese Exclusion Act, and Gentlemen’s Agreement were all for this purpose.
Immigrants usually settled in cities because it was practical, cheap, and there were jobs. The Americanization Movement was made to teach immigrants to read and fit in. Soon parts of the city were very overpopulated. Blacks often moved to urban areas to escape rural racism, but often still encountered it in cities like Chicago. Jobs were given to whites over blacks, creating a bit of tension. Housing became a problem as cities got overcrowded. Tenements were built for one family but often houses two or three. Street cars and electric subways were used for mass transportation. The cities were very unsanitary. Settlement houses were eventually built to provide housing for those who really needed it.
Political Machines were created by corrupt people to control cities. They acted as a government where politics and finances were concerned, but only in the way they favored, not the people. The city bosses would help out the people, of course, so there were no uprisings. Boss Tweed was the boss of New York's powerful political machine. Patronage began to become a problem, which was giving jobs and money to those who would vote for the boss. The Pendleton Service Act was needed to see if the people who the bosses employed were competent for the job.
3. Students will understand the impact of the Progressive Era on the United States.
The progressive movement tried to put more power in the hands of the people. Many people helped in strikes and other helpful acts. Some others wanted moral improvement, thinking it would improve many peoples' lives. Prohibition started to help this along. They thought it was the root of all evil. Big businesses were like by the government, some people wanted to fix this. Henry Ford owned at making the assembly line, and giving good working conditions. Some people worked for the safety and conditions of child laborers. They took down child labor. Hours were reduced to 8 to 10 a day.
Roosevelt was born into a rich family with a great personality. He was all about a "square deal". He took down a lot of trusts, earning the name The Trustbuster. He read "The Jungle" and passed the Meat Inspection Act and others to help regulate food. Roosevelt set aside land for national parks, and conserved a lot.
Taft was not liked as much as Roosevelt, and the Republicans split for them, creating the Bull Moose party for Roosevelt.
The Clayton Antitrust act was passed by President Wilson, building up the Sherman Antitrust Act. A few things it did were legalizing strikes and ended unfair businesses. Mr. President also passed the Underwood Act, lowering tariffs. He started a federal income tax. The Federal Reserve Act was passed to split the country into 12 sections, each section getting a federal bank for emergencies. Women finally got the Nineteenth Amendment, amusingly in 1919, and they got the right to vote. Wilson disappointed the Blacks by making promises he didn't keep.
4. Students will understand the impact imperialism had on the United States and world.
In the late 1800s imperialism began with either the economy or military, buying out a countries economy or just invading them. The United States began taking over colonies because the Europeans were and we thought it would be a good idea to follow suite.
Alaska was one of the greatest land grabs we had, because it was really really cheap, and ended up having a TON of resources like timber, gold, oil, and coal.
We wanted them because of the white sugarcane farmers, and we were getting ready to have them take a vote on indictment or not and then we switched presidents and just kinda annexed them on the spot.
The Spanish American War was caused a lot by exaggerating journalists, and the Main which we sent down to Cuba got sunk. We liked Cuba and could really pick up what they were putting down cause we wanted independence once, and they did too. Jose Marti tried to get us to hate Spain by saying that Spain was destroying our property, and we found out too late. We went to war with the Spanish and eventually won, the Treaty of Paris ending the war.
Newer diplomacy included our New Diplomacy, such as nationalism, intervening with other countries' business, and building our military up. The Big Stick diplomacy was Roosevelt's "Speak softly but carry a big stick." The stick was our military. Taft's Dollar Diplomacy was investing money in countries to take over their economy, helping them out of debt and giving us control.
6. Students will understand the political, social and economic changes that occurred in the 1920’s in the United States.
In the 1920's the whole country was paranoid about a communist takeover, which turned into things like the Red Scare and the Palmer raids. The red scare was such a great fear of communism, communists were beaten up and jailed for almost no reason. In this period the Republicans took control of the country and we starting falling into a depression. We ended up trying to outlaw war and warlike actions. Planes and cars were being used a lot, and mass produced, so everyone could afford them. Prohibition was repealed, cause it was an impossible idea to begin with. The only things prohibition did were starting up organized crime and just putting a lot more people in jail for a bad reason.
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