Chapter 9 Notes: America Enters the 20th Century (1900-1917)

America Enters the Twentieth Century, 1900-1917

  • The U.S. underwent significant transformation:

    • Technological innovation accelerated.

    • Progressivism gained momentum.

    • Women's suffrage movement grew, demanding full citizenship.

  • Simultaneously, challenges persisted:

    • Jim Crow laws in the South solidified after Plessy v. Ferguson, reinforcing racial inequality.

    • Immigration peaked, leading to nativist movements and restrictive laws.

  • Deep divisions emerged as the nation grappled with rapid change amidst cherished traditions.

Twin Natural Disasters

  • The early 20th century began with disasters highlighting the limits of American control over nature.

  • These events, in Galveston and San Francisco, demonstrated resilience and optimism.

Galveston Hurricane of 1900

  • September 8, 1900: A Category 4 hurricane struck Galveston, Texas.

    • Winds exceeded 145 mph.

    • Limited meteorological understanding and tracking.

  • Galveston's vulnerability:

    • Thriving seaport and fishing city on a low island.

    • Lack of a seawall due to the U.S. Weather Bureau's assessment.

      • Isaac Cline downplayed hurricane risk in 1891.

    • Developers removed sand dunes for construction, increasing vulnerability.

  • Impact:

    • A 15-foot storm surge destroyed the city.

    • Approximately 12,000 fatalities.

    • Communication disruption delayed help.

    • Crews resorted to burning bodies for disposal due to bodies washing ashore.

  • Rebuilding efforts:

    • The island was raised 17 feet using dredged sand.

    • A 15-foot high, 3-mile long seawall was constructed (completed 1902-1904).

    • Protected the city from a 1915 hurricane.

  • Population rebound:

    • Reached 44,250 by 1920.

    • Peaked at 67,000 in 1960.

San Francisco 1906

  • Devastation on the Pacific coast.

  • April 18, 1906: A major earthquake struck San Francisco.

    • 3,000 deaths.

    • Extensive damage to structures.

    • Fires erupted due to broken gas mains, destroying much of the city.

    • Firefighters used dynamite to create firebreaks.

  • Aftermath:

    • Army provided wooden huts for refugees.

    • Refugee camps persisted for years.

    • Shipping business shifted to Los Angeles.

    • Economic recovery was delayed until the tech boom of the 1990s and 2000s.

  • Reconstruction:

    • San Francisco rebuilt and remained a major West Coast port.

    • Played a key role in Pacific trade and World Wars.

Social Issues and Movements

Conservationist vs. Preservationist Movements

  • Early 20th century: Growing awareness of environmental fragility.

  • Conservationists:

    • Advocated for sustainable use of natural resources for long-term economic benefit.

    • Theodore Roosevelt was a key ally.

    • Focused on protecting game species from extinction.

  • Preservationists:

    • Sought to protect large areas of land from development.

    • John Muir was a leading figure.

    • Advocated for pristine nature reserves for science and appreciation of beauty.

  • Key events and legislation:

    • National Parks Act of 1890: Established Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.

    • Sierra Club founded in 1892 by Muir.

    • Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy: Muir fought against damming.

Hetch Hetchy Valley

  • San Francisco's inadequate water supply after the 1906 earthquake.

  • Proposed damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite (167 miles away).

  • Valley description:

    • Lush meadows, forests, abundant animal life, fed by the Tuolomne River.

    • Engineers saw a 3,000-foot valley with clean water and a narrow opening suitable for a dam.

  • Controversy:

    • Muir and the Sierra Club opposed the project.

    • Woodrow Wilson signed a bill in 1913 allowing the dam.

    • San Francisco has since transported water and power from Hetch Hetchy.

National Reclamation Act of 1902

  • Spurred dam and irrigation system creation in the West.

  • The Bureau of Reclamation oversaw the projects.

  • U.S. Forest Service established in 1905.

  • Impact:

    • 18 major irrigation projects, 600 dams, irrigating 10 million acres.

    • Truckee-Carson Irrigation District: 206,000 acres reclaimed by 1925.

    • Derby Dam (east of Reno) is part of this project.

Fast and Furious: Cars and Planes in the New Era

Automobiles

  • The automobile transformed American society.

  • Created a transportation and social revolution.

  • Early development:

    • Europeans invented the automobile.

    • Americans embraced it with passion.

    • Early cars were handmade, expensive, lacked safety features, and faced poor road conditions.

Airplanes

  • Wright Brothers achieved the first powered flight on December 17, 1903.

    • Wright Flyer: First flight of 120 feet in 12 seconds.

  • Skepticism initially.

  • Rapid development:

    • Within two years, flights exceeded 20 miles.

    • Gasoline-powered airplane spurred research and manufacturing.

    • By 1914, airplanes reached 75 mph and sustained flights of hundreds of miles.

Ford and the Model T

  • Henry Ford aimed to make cars affordable for everyone.

  • Model T production started in 1908.

  • Manufacturing innovations:

    • Reduced manufacturing skills needed to 84 areas.

    • Introduced machines and mechanization.

    • Highland Park, Michigan plant: Opened in 1910, the world's largest factory.

    • Fully automated assembly line in 1913: Production time dropped from 12.5 hours to 93 minutes, one car every 3 minutes.

  • Cost reduction:

    • $700 in 1910.

    • $350 by 1917, with higher wages for workers.

  • Recycling:

    • Ford Charcoal: Utilizing wood scraps from Model T production.

    • Kingsford charcoal: Named after E.G. Kingsford (Ford's cousin).

  • Impact:

    • By 1918, half of U.S. automobiles were Model Ts.

    • Increased travel to National Parks and Forests.

Other Automobile Companies

  • Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, General Motors, and Dodge Motors emerged.

  • Consolidation occurred over time, but initially diverse and dynamic companies thrived.

The Lincoln Highway

  • Need for better roads to support automobile use.

  • Groups advocated for federal highway funding, supported by automakers and motorists.

  • Carl Fisher:

    • Mastermind behind the first Transcontinental Federal Highway.

    • Equivalent to the Transcontinental Railway for the 20th century.

  • Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

    • Invented the modern speedway.

    • Paved, banked, oval tracks for spectator visibility and high-speed testing.

    • First race in 1909, Indianapolis 500 began in 1911.

    • Ray Harroun invented the rear-view mirror during the race in 1911.

      • Won with an average speed of 74.602 mph, driving a Marmon “Wasp” 32.

  • The Lincoln Highway:

    • Proposed in 1912 by Fisher.

    • From Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco: A distance of 3,389 miles through thirteen states, including Nevada.

    • Linked and improved existing roads; dedicated by Halloween 1913.

    • Nevada section: Wendover to Reno, over Donner Pass to Sacramento, with a loop through Carson City and around Lake Tahoe.

    • Improvements and re-routings continued.

    • Became US 40 and 50 in Nevada after the Federal Numbered Highway System in 1926.

The Dixie Highway

  • Proposed by Fisher in 1914.

  • North-South Highway from the Upper Midwest to Florida.

  • Linked Michigan to Florida.

  • Ended in Miami, Florida (population 5,471 in 1910).

  • Impact:

    • Real estate boom in Miami.

    • Miami grew by 400% by 1920.

    • Fisher later opened a fishing resort in Key Largo.

Sports and Entertainment

  • Innovations in entertainment reshaped American desires, foreshadowing West Coast influence.

Rose Bowl

  • First Rose Bowl football game in 1902 in Pasadena, California.

    • Michigan defeated Stanford 49-0.

    • Football games were temporarily discontinued.

  • Resumed in 1916, with Washington State defeating Brown University.

  • Popularized football and exposed the nation to Southern California's climate.

Early Film Industry

  • California became the center of movie production.

  • Key technological developments:

    • Eadweard Muybridge's motion capture experiments in Menlo Park.

    • Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope.

  • Factors attracting movie makers:

    • Mild weather, year-round sunshine, diverse landscapes.

  • Early hubs: Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

    • Flying A Studios in Santa Barbara was the largest film production company.

  • Shift to Hollywood after 1922.

Landmark Films

  • The Great Train Robbery (1903).

  • Birth of a Nation (1915):

    • Produced in Los Angeles.

    • Long running time and high ticket price.

    • Racist portrayal of African Americans and heroic portrayal of Confederates caused controversy.

    • President Woodrow Wilson held a White House screening.

    • Proved the economic and cultural power of the movie business.

    • D.W. Griffith's success led to Hollywood's rise to dominance.

Politics in the New Century

Anarchism and Assassination

  • President McKinley's assassination in 1901:

    • Shot by an anarchist at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

    • Died of gangrene days later.

    • X-ray machine at the Exposition was not used.

  • Impact:

    • Persecution of anarchists.

    • Creation of the Secret Service presidential protection detail.

    • Theodore Roosevelt became President and created the Bureau of Investigation (later FBI).

    • Destruction of anarchism as a national movement.

Teddy Roosevelt’s Presidency

  • Roosevelt challenged the Republican Party's alliance with Big Business.

  • Believed in self-reliance and opposed monopolies.

  • Advocated for income tax on the wealthy and supported labor movements.

  • Focused on

The canal was completed in 1914 and revolutionized global trade and transportation.

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Asserted the right of the U.S. to intervene in Latin American affairs to prevent European intervention.
Used to justify U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Haiti.

William Howard Taft and “Dollar Diplomacy”

Encouraged American investment in Latin America and East Asia.
Believed economic ties would promote stability and U.S. influence.
Replaced European loans with American loans in some countries.

Woodrow Wilson and Moral Diplomacy

Promoted democracy and human rights in foreign policy.
Sought to avoid intervention in Latin America.
Intervened in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution to protect American interests.

World War I

Causes of World War I
Militarism: Buildup of military forces and arms race among European powers.
Alliances: Complex web of alliances that obligated countries to defend each other.
Imperialism: Competition for colonies and resources.
Nationalism: Intense national pride and desire for self-determination.

U.S. Neutrality

President Wilson declared the U.S. neutral at the start of the war in 1914.
Many Americans favored neutrality due to:
- Distance from the conflict.
- Concerns about divided loyalties among immigrant populations.
- Desire to focus on domestic issues.

Challenges to Neutrality

Economic ties: The U.S. traded extensively with both Allied and Central Powers but favored the Allies.
Propaganda: Both sides used propaganda to influence American public opinion.
Submarine warfare: Germany’s use of unrestricted submarine warfare, including the sinking of the Lusitania, angered Americans.

Sinking of the Lusitania

May 7, 1915: German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania.
128 Americans were among the 1,198 people killed.
Increased pressure on the U.S. to enter the war.
Wilson demanded Germany end unrestricted submarine warfare.

Zimmerman Telegram

March 1917: British intelligence intercepted a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to Mexico.
Germany proposed an alliance with Mexico against the U.S.
Promised to help Mexico recover territories lost in the Mexican-American War (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona).
Outrage in the U.S. increased support for war.

U.S. Enters World War I

April 6, 1917: The U.S. declared war on Germany.
Reasons for entering the war:
- German unrestricted submarine warfare.
- Zimmerman Telegram.
- Desire to make the world “safe for democracy.”
- Economic and political ties to the Allies.

American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)

Led by General John J. Pershing.
Arrived in Europe in 1917.
Played a crucial role in the Allied victory.

Selective Service Act of 1917

Established a military draft.
Millions of Americans were conscripted into the armed forces.
Expanded the size of the U.S. Army.

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Espionage Act of 1917: Prohibited interference with military operations or recruitment.
Sedition Act of 1918: Made it illegal to criticize the government or the war effort.
Violations led to imprisonment and deportation.
Raised concerns about freedom of speech and civil liberties.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Supreme Court upheld the Espionage Act.
Ruled that freedom of speech could be limited if it posed a “clear and present danger” to the country.
Established limits on civil liberties during wartime.

War Industries Board (WIB)

Regulated the wartime economy.
Coordinated production and distribution of goods.
Set prices and allocated resources.

Great Migration

Mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North during World War I.
Reasons for migration:
- Job opportunities in war industries.
- Escape from racial discrimination and violence in the South.
- Lured by agents promising steady employment.

Impact

Millions of African Americans migrated to cities like Chicago, New York, and Detroit.
Transformation of urban demographics.
Increased racial tensions and competition for jobs and housing.
Harlem renaissance began.

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

January 1918: President Wilson outlined his vision for a post-war world in a speech to Congress.
Key principles:
- Open diplomacy.
- Freedom of the seas.
- Removal of trade barriers.
- Reduction of armaments.
- Self-determination for nations.
- Establishment of a League of Nations to prevent future wars.

Treaty of Versailles

Signed in 1919 by the Allied Powers and Germany.
Germany was forced to accept blame for the war and pay heavy reparations.
Established new nations and redrew borders in Europe.
Created the League of Nations.