Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Paola Torres

 

  Franz Ferdinand was born in 1863 and was in Graz, Austria. He was the person that was next in line to inherit the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ferdinand was not very popular among the people because of the policies he wanted to put into practice once he ascended to the throne. When Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were on a trip to Sarajevo, a Serb nationalist by the name of Gavrilo Princip shot them while they were on their way from a town hall reception. Archduke Franz Ferdinand died on June 28, 1914.

The Germans Attack on the Lusitania

 

The Germans Attack on the Lusitania

Paola Torres

 

Up until this time, the United States had remained neutral in the war. People still had their own opinion on which side the U.S should support, but, nevertheless, the country remained in a state of neutrality. Germany had already warned that they would fire upon any ship that was near Britain. This was the result of Britain forcing ships to stop in British ports to check for contraband being sent to Germany and its allies. The declaration from Germany angered Americans.

On May 1st, 1915, the Lusitania left New York to make its way to Liverpool. There were 1,959 total people on board, and 159 of those people were Americans. The Germans had spies all over and were tipped off about the ship. On May 7th, 1915 when a German Submarine spotted the ship, it attacked. Many people died in this attacked, including 128 Americans. The U.S. was outraged, and this event eventually led to the U.S. joining the war.

John J. Pershing

 

 

John J. Pershing

Blake Mullet

 

  John Joseph Pershing was born September 13, 1860 in Laclede, Missouri. Pershing was sworn in as a West Point cadet in the fall of 1882. He was the promoted to the highest rank in the army. Nobody in his lifetime had ever done that. Pershing was the General of the Armies. He led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. He also got the nick name Black Jack. Perishing go that nickname because he commanded an all-black troop in the 10th U.S Calvary. John Pershing died July 15, 1948. He died because he had coronary artery diseas and he also had congestive heart failure.

America Enters the War

America Enters the War

Karissa Troyer

 

  On April 6,1917 America entered World War 1. Up until then America had stayed out of the war and was even trading with some of the countries involved in the war. May 7, 1915 was a major turning point for American involvement in the war. On that day the Lusitania was sunk. On board the ship were 1,959 people, 159 of them were Americans.The Germans were the ones responsible for sinking the ship. Their story is that there were explosives on board the ship and they were trying to get rid of them.

  One other reason for The U.S. to join the war was because of the Zimmerman note. The note was sent from the German foreign secretary to the German ambassador to Mexico. The note was intercepted by British intelligence and was sent to the Americans. The note said that if Mexico was to ally with Germany then after the war was over Mexico would get back control of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. This made most Americans angry, and on the 6th of April America was involved with World War 1.

Red Scare

Red Scare

Blake Mullet

   The Red Scare was a time period where nationwide they were scared that the communists (reds) would seize power. People that expressed their views were being put in jail. There were over 150,000 anarchists and communists in the U.S., which is why the U.S. was very afraid. Some of the communist and other union members started to protest against the jailing of the American Socialist Party. The protest started turning into parades, which eventually started riots. During the parade, two people died and forty were injured. A few months later, eight bombs in eight different cities exploded. People were led to believe it was the radicals destroying the American way of life.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Madison Norment
 

   Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856 in Staunton, Virginia. FHe spent his education years at many different schools. One year at Davidson College in North Carolina, three at Princeton University where he received a baccalaureate degree in 1879. He graduated from Law School at the University of Virginia. Then later he went on and practiced for a few years in Atlanta, Georgia but it was a feeble practice. A while longer he entered graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University in 1883 and three years later he received the doctorate.

   In 1885 he published the Congressional Government. It analyzed the difficulties arising from the separation of the legislative and executive powers in the American Constitution.
He entered politics as a governor of the State of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. In 1912 Wilson won the presidential election. Thomas was set on instituting the reforms he had out line which included: changing the tariff, revising of the banking system, checking monopolies, fraudulent advertising, and prohibiting of unfair business practices.

   When WWI had started he wanted to remain neutral. He protested British as well as German acts but he offered both sides mediation but was rebuffed. In 1917 issues with the freedom of the seas began and a change was needed. On January 31 Germany announced that unrestricted submarine warfare was already started. Then on March 27 after four American ships had been sunk Wilson decided to ask for a declaration of war. April 2 he made formal requests to congress then four days later on April 6 congress granted it.

   January 8, 1918 he gave congress a speech on his fourteen points. It was a decisive stroke in winning that war for the people everywhere, for in his peace was the vision of a world in which freedom, justice, and peace can flourish. In 1919 Peace Conference assembled in Versailles. Wilson had failed to carry his total conception of peace. He did secure the adoption of the League of Nations.

   Woodrow Wilson’s major failure was when the senate declined to approve American acceptance of the League of Nations. This happened because he lost his long ruling control over congress after he made the congressional election of 1918, from his failure to appoint to the American peace delegation, for his unwillingness to compromise when some minor compromises might well have carried the day, from his physical incapacity in the days just prior to the vote. That was from strain of massive effort he made to obtain the support of the American people for the ratification of the Covenant of the League of Nations.

   After a speech in Pueblo Colorado on September 25, 1919 he collapsed and a week later suffered a cerebral hemorrhage from the effects of which he never fully recovered.

The Open Dorr Policy

The Open Door Policy
Blake Mullet

   In 1894 there was a war between china and Japan over Korea. The Japanese won the war. China gave Korea independence and gave Japan some territory. The land that was given to Japan was close to Russia. Russians started to get concerned about how much power the Japanese were getting. In 1898 Russia demanded that the China lease the land to Russia instead. That meant that the land would still belong to China but was ruled by Russia. Politicians started to worry about these events, so they made a policy called the open door policy. This just meant all countries were allowed to trade with China.

The Panama Canal

 

The Panama Canal

Karissa Troyer

   The Panama Canal was made by people and not Mother Nature. The president at the time, Theodore Roosevelt, thought that it would be a good idea to make a canal through Central America. Roosevelt thought that having a strong military base was important, and building the canal was vital to America’s power in the world. The canal purpose was for military and commercial shipping. In 1901 Great Britain and America signed the Harry-Pauncefote Treaty. The treaty allowed the United States to build the canal through Central America.

   The U.S. had two places in mind of where they wanted to build the canal. One was through Nicaragua and the other was through Panama. When America started to build the canal many Panamanians revolted. The French were afraid that the U.S. would start to build the canal through Nicaragua so they made their own deal with them. To make sure that the Colombians wouldn’t interfere he had 10 U.S. warships off the coast. The canal was finished in 1913 and opened in 1914.

The Boxer Rebellion

 

The Boxer Rebellion

Paola Torres

 

  After Japanese victory in the war between China and Japan over Korea, Chinese were forced to give Korea independence and give Japan territory in Manchuria. Russians were not very happy with this and with the support of France and Germany, forced the Japanese to return the territory, then demanded that China give them “leasehold” (China would keep ownership of territory but hand control to foreign country) over the territory. Soon after that, different countries such as Germany, France, and Britain also started demanding “leaseholds” over other Chinese territories that would give them control of the economic development of that specific territory.

 

  Nearing the end of the 1800’s, there was a lot of western influence in China because of the territories other foreign countries had a lease on. Some of the Chinese called the westerners “foreign devils”. There was one group in particular called “The Harmonious Fists”, also known as, The Boxers; they wanted to get rid of foreigners and western influence more than anybody. In 1899, they began attacking foreigners, and either killing them or taking them hostage. By 1900, the boxer’s momentum had escalated and the situation reached its breaking point when the German ambassador to China was killed. The nations of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States decided that enough was enough and an intervention was greatly needed. They gathered an army of about 50,000 and were successful in subduing the Boxers. Secretary of State John Hay convinced British diplomats to have China pay $450 million for damages instead of dividing it.

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

Paola Torres

  William Howard Taft was the 27th president of the United States. He served his 4-year term from 1909 to 1913. He was never much of a politician and he preferred law to politics. Theodore Roosevelt made him the Secretary of War and then after that, in 1907, decided that Taft should be his successor. During his term, Taft worked to increase trade and influence in Latin America. The Latin American Nations weren’t too happy about the American influence entering their countries. Even though Taft was aware of this, he decided to continue his policies and focused on helping industry in Latin America grow; he thought that in doing this, nothing less of beneficial would come for both sides. Taft’s policy to help grow American trade and profits and help Latin America out of poverty became known as the “Dollar Diplomacy”.

T. Roosevelt

T. Roosevelt

Blake Mullet

 

  Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president. He was born in New York. Roosevelt only lived to be sixty years old. He was married to Edith and together they have six children. Since he took many trips to the Amazon, he died from having Cardiovascular disease.

 

  Roosevelt became president because the president before him got assassinated. He was known for his range of interests, goals and leadership of the progressive movement. At the age of 42, he became president and was the youngest person to become president. Theodore was the leader of the Republican party. He wanted to use the federal government to solve the economic and social problems. The power of the executive branch of government dramatically increased. William Taft worked closely with Theodore. Roosevelt believed that William would be the one to continue with his thoughts and beliefs.

Annexing Hawaii

Annexing Hawaii
Madison Normnent

   As the trade with Asia grew in the 1800’s Americans were seeking ports to refuel and resupply while going over the Pacific. Pago Pago, Samoan Islands had one of the best Harbors in the South Pacific.

   In 1819 American Missionaries went to Hawaii where they found sugarcane. Sugarcane grew very well in Hawaii’s climate and many of the Americans began to make plantations. 1878 the United States had negotiated permission to open a base their. During 1872 a recession struck Hawaii, Hawaiians worried about the economic crisis. The United States signed a treaty exempting Hawaiian sugar from tariffs. A few years later their treaty was due for renewal. Senate insisted that Hawaii allow United States exclusive rights to naval base at Pearl Harbor. The renewed treaty led to great wealth with sugar plantation owners. In 1887 planters began to pressure the Hawaiian king into accepting constitution that limited his authority. Then in 1890 congress passed a new tariff. This new tariff gave subsidies to sugar producers in the U.S.. It made Hawaiian sugar more expensive than American.

   In 1891 Queen Liliuokalani left the Hawaiian throne. She didn’t like the influence that the American settlers had gained in Hawaii. January, 1893, Liliuokalani made a new constitution remaking her authority as ruler. A group of planters didn’t agree and in turn tried to overthrow monarchy. They were supported by marines from USS Boston who forced the Queen to step down. Then they set up a provisional government and asked the United States to annex Hawaii. President Cleveland opposed imperialism and withdrew the annexation treaty and tried to restore power to the queen. Hawaii’s new leader refused to do so and chose to wait for Cleveland to leave office. Five years later the United State annexed Hawaii.

Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair
Paola Torres
 

   Upton Sinclair was a writer that was born on September 20, 1978. He started writing to make a living at the young age of 15. His writing career consisted of works that talked about poor economic and social conditions, as well as injustices against the work force. When he was in his mid- to late 20’s, he started working undercover in the meatpacking industry in Chicago. After, he wrote a fictional book about his the observations he made while he was there called “The Jungle”. When he was finally done with his book he went to a publishing house, but his book was rejected; they thought it was too shocking for the public. He went to total of 5 different publishers before he gave up and decided to publish the book on his own. The people had a very strong reaction to Sinclair’s book; they were shocked and infuriated. Many people were disgusted with the news and even became vegetarians after that. After reading it, Roosevelt, along with congress, decided the Meat Inspection Act (1906). This act meant that federal inspection of meat sold through interstate commerce would be required and that the Agriculture department had to set cleanliness standards for meat packing companies. It also led to the Pure Food and Drug act which outlawed the sale, shipment, or production of any food or drugs that were contaminated or falsely labeled.

Child Labor

Child Labor

Madison Normenet

   Children had always worked on their family farms. But then they were moved in to mines, factories, textile mills, and department stores which presented more dangerous and unhealthy working conditions.

   In 1906 John Spargo wrote a book The Bitter Cry of the Children which gave evidence of child labor conditions. It told of coal mines that hired many nine or ten year old “breaker boys” to pick slag out of coal who only got paid sixty cents for a ten hour day. Work bent their backs permanently. Their hands were crushed, cut and bruised, and most often became crippled. Harsh fumes would be breathed in and some boys got caught in the machinery.

  There were boys from the ages of fourteen and fifteen who were taking risks as men.By 1910 two million children were working in these places.
Reports convinced states to pass laws that set a limit on the age for employment. It also established maximum hours that those children could work.

Carrie Chapman Catt

 

Carrie Chapman Catt

Karissa Troyer
 

   Carrie Chapman Catt was born on January 9, 1859 in Ripon, Wisconsin, and died March 9, 1947. Catt grew up in Charles City, Iowa. She graduated from Iowa State College and was the valedictorian of her class. Carrie became a teacher and then the superintendent of the schools In Mason City Iowa. In 1885 Catt married Leo Chapman,who died shortly after thei marriage. In 1890 she married her second husband George Catt. In 1915 Catt became the president for the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

The Pure Food and Drug Act

The Pure Food and Drug Act

Blake Mullet

 

  The Pure Food and Drug Act was made on June 30, 1906. This act was made because the food was starting to become rotten. All of the food was becoming rotten from the filthy conditions in the slaughterhouses and packing houses. The act made it so that every drug that was sold had to be accurately labeled with all the contents listed. This act was made to protect the people from dangerous and poisonous foods or drugs.

The 19th Amendment

19th Amendment
Karissa Troyer

   The nineteenth amendment gave women the right to vote. Most of the women started to protest. There were some women that started protesting but decided to stop because they thought that it would start a war with the men. They knew the men would win since they are more experienced and are stronger. The ones that stayed never gave up. Some of the leaders that were protesting even got arrested, but they never gave up.

   The first and second president of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association never gave up on fighting for their rights. Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony were the names of the two presidents. Neither of the two women gave up through the protesting. Both women were stubborn and worked really hard for what they wanted. From all the hard work of all the women, the nineteenth amendment was passed on June 4, 1919.

William Mckinley

 

William McKinley
Madison Norment
 

  William Mckinley was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio. He attended Allegheny College for a short time before he became a school teacher.

  In 1861 McKinley listed into the Union Army and later earned the rank of brevet major of volunteers. After the war he came back to Ohio and studied law where he opened up his own practice in Canton, Ohio.

  Mckinley ended up marrying Ida Saxton who was the daughter of a banker. They had two daughters who died young and soon after Ida’s health shot through the floor quickly. She spent the rest of her life as a chronic invalid.

  During 1869 William entered Ohio politics. As a republican he rose through the ranks. He won the election to congress in 1876 and served nearly 14 years in congress as chair House Ways and Means Committee. He became well known as a proponent of economic protectionism which was in the form of high tariffs on imported supplies. In 1890 voters rejected McKinley and the other republicans due to the rising prices. The next year William McKinley ran for governor. After the Panic in 1893 when the U.S. had a bad economic depression McKinley and all fellow republicans regained their political advantage over democrats. So for the presidential nomination in 1896 William won.

  William believed that a special session with the congress for raising customs duties , would reduce other taxes and encourage growth with the domestic industry and employment for American workers. After the destruction of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana’s harbor on February 1898, the external explosion was presumed to be linked to the Spanish mine. McKinley wanted to intervene in the conflict. On April 25 a formal declaration of war came. The war lasted for early May to mid August. U.S. forces defeated Spain near Santiago harbor in Cube. The Treaty of Paris was signed on December 1998.
 
   In 1900 Mckinley won his second election. Then in 1901 after the second inauguration he embarked on a tour of the western states. The next day McKinley was standing in receiving line at a exposition where the unemployed Detroit mill worker, Leon Czolgosz, shot him twice in the chest at point-blank range.

J.P. Morgan

John Pierpont Morgan
Madison Norment
 

  John Morgan was the most powerful and influential financier. One of the things he was known for was building a financial empire everyone called the “House of Morgan”. John began his career working with his father in New York City at his father's bank. There he learned how to develope his reputation of having a shrewd business sense.
Morgan helped many companies issue or make stock with a discount. And he bought railways only if they met his conditions:
    1. The railroad companies had to become more efficient.
    2. They had to make smaller railway lines to create a larger network.
    3. And they also had to have a representative from his firm future choices.

   During the depression of the 1890’s, Morgan used his fortune to make a bond to rescue the federal governments failed gold reserve. Then in 1901 he made history while organizing the first billion dollar corporation, U.S. Steel. John merged Andrew Carnegie’s Steel with other big companies and made the United States Steel Company that was worth 1.4 million dollars. By 1904 there were 318 holding companies and 5,300 factories that were all worth more than 7 billion dollars.

Steel Industry

Steel Industry

Karissa Troyer

 

   The mass production of steel was a major turning point in industrialization. Andrew Carnegie was an important person in the manufacturing steel. Carnegie was a supervisor for a railroad, he had also invested in many companies like; Iron mills, factories that made sleeping cars and locomotives. During his early 30’s he was earning $50,000 a year so he decided to quit his job and concentrate on his own business.

   Carnegie was on a trip to Europe when he met Sir Henry Bessemer who had invented a new way to produce steel. So he took the idea back to America and started a steel mill in Pittsburg. To make his company better he started smaller businesses. At that time he was paying other companies for the products that he needed. He decided that buying his own coal mines, limestone quarries, and iron ore fields to save money.

   In 1901 J.P. Morgan and Elbert H. Gary founded U.S. Steel by combining Carnegie's Carnegie Steel Company with Gary's Federal Steel Company and William Henry "Judge" Moore's National Steel Company. This cost them $492 million. At one point in time, U.S. Steel was the largest steel producer and largest corporation in the world.

The Pullman Strike

Pullman Strike

Paola Torres

 

   The Pullman strike occurred in 1894 after the Pullman Palace Car Company laid off workers and cut their wages. The owner of the company was George Pullman. To work in the company it was required to live in Pullman City, which was 3000 acres in size and was located just outside of Chicago. It wasn’t just housing either; workers also bought their goods from company stores. In Pullman City, people were charged to use the library and Clergy had to pay to be able to use the church.

   In 1893, company profits went down by 25%, causing the company to lay off workers and cut wages. Many of the workers were upset because their paychecks amounts had considerably lowered but their rent and the prices of the company goods were not. Eugene V. Debs was the leader of the ARU, short for the American Railroad Union. He was definitely not happy with how his fellow workers were being treated. He then convinced the workers to go on strike by refusing to handle any cars from the Pullman Company. The whole incident ended up interfering with U.S
mail, which is a federal crime and requires U.S. federal troops to intervene. Finally, on July 2nd 1894, an injunction saying that the strike was illegal was filed and obtained and led to the end of the strike. On July 10 1894, Debs and 3 other Union leaders were arrested for interfering with U.S. mail; Debs served a sentence of 6 months and the ARU was disbanded.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Karissa Troyer

 

  Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan Ohio. He died October 18, 1913. Edison was an American inventor and businessman. On December 25, 1871 he married Mary Stilwell. Together they had 3 children; Marion Estelle Edison, Thomas Alva Edison Jr., and William Leslie Edison. A few years later Mary died of unknown causes, so in 1886 at the age of 39 he married Mina Miller. They also had 3 children together; Madeleine Edison, Charles Edison, and Theodore Edison.

   Thomas had many inventions like the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, movie camera, electricity distribution, quadruplex telegraph, stencil duplicator, carbon microphone, and phonograph cylinder. Edison most famous invention was the light bulb, which is now used in homes everywhere in America.

The First Telephone

The First Telephone

Blake Mullet

 

  The first telephone was invented in 1876. During this time period there were two men that were trying to invent a telephone. The guy’s names were Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray. Both men were trying to see who could come up with an idea that worked first. Alexander was the first to invent a telephone that worked and he was assisted by Thomas Watson. When the telephone was first created, it became a company called Bell Telephone Company. He named his company after himself. That company that used to be the Bell Telephone Company is now known as AT&T.

The Transcontinental Railroad

The Transcontinental Railroad
Madison Norment

   In 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. It was made up of two corporations who were offered land for their businesses by the government. They were the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific.

   The Union Pacific pushed westward from the Omaha, Nebraska in 1865. Laborers went through blizzards in the mountains, bad heat in the deserts, and they ran into angry Native’s. Civil War veterans, Irish immigrants, miner, farmers, cooks, adventurers, and some ex-convicts were the people that worked. With the 10,000 workers who endured hard camp life they had laid 1,086 miles of railway.

   The Central Pacific started in California in 1863 and continued into Nevada and Utah. They had to make a tunnel that went through the Sierra Mountains and a little bit of the Rocky Mountains. 10,000 people from China had been hired to do this work. They had all the equipment they used shipped from the eastern part of the United States. All together they laid down 688 miles.

   All the railroads had been finished in just four years. Each mile of track had need 400 nails, and each rail took 10 spikes. Many people came to watch the final spikes being put in where the corporations had chosen to meet at Promontory Summit. A telegram had been sent telling people the great new. Many of the people celebrated the finishing of the railway that day.