United States History: 1900-1939 World War I and the Great Depression
Synopsis
In 1900 it had been three and a half decades since the end of the American Civil War. The United States had made a robust economic recovery. Manufacturing, mining and the petroleum industry boomed and the U.S. cities bustled with an expanding population. New technologies and inventions were everywhere. Thomas Edison developed numerous inventions including the electric light bulb and the gramophone. Orville and Wilbur Wright experimented with gliders and motor-driven aircraft. Hearing that President Teddy Roosevelt wanted a motor-powered aircraft for military use, they stepped up their research. The first flight of their motor-driven plane took place in December of 1903. Millions of European immigrants arrived on the nation’s shores. New York City and other urban centers swelled and grew in all directions. A new term, “skyscraper”, was added to the language to describe the tall buildings now dotting the cities’ landscapes. America became more involved in world affairs. However, in 1914 when the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria brought World War I to Europe,
the U.S. became isolationists. The people wanted no part of a European war. Although outraged at Germany’s sinking of the British ship Lusitania in 1915, the U.S. did not enter World War I until 1917 when Germany sank five American cargo ships. President Woodrow Wilson then asked Congress to issue a declaration of war. Once involved, America went all out to win. The U.S. infantry, naval warships and pilots all fought against the forces of Germany and Austria. In November of 1918 the fighting stopped. President Wilson took part in the Versailles peace conference and the League of Nations was founded to promote lasting peace. The year 1920 marked substantial social and political th changes in the U.S. The 19 amendment to the constitution granted woman’s suffrage—women now th had the right to vote. The 18 amendment made the production and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal and ushered in the era known as Prohibition. The decade of the ‘20s was a period of dynamic growth. Commercial air travel grew faster than the road system they needed to use. Sales on the American stock market spiraled upward, with many people making small down payments of stocks that they expected to rise in value. In the autumn of 1929 the booming stock market suddenly crashed. Stocks fell in value and investors lost everything. People panicked, businesses collapsed, banks closed and the country began the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unemployment rose as high as fifty percent in some cities. Desperation and unrest were everywhere. President Herbert Hoover tried unsuccessfully to turn the economy around and small towns of makeshift shelters built by homeless people became known as Hoovervilles. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt placed the nation’s banking system under federal control and convinced many people to redeposit their money. Roosevelt began many government projects to put people back to work. The economy started to grow again.
Questions to ask before viewing
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Thomas Edison created many inventions that have shaped the way we live today. Which of his inventions do you think caused the greatest changes in people’s lives? When did World War I begin? Do you know what events led to its outbreak? Which countries fought in World War I? On which side did the U.S. enter the war? What happened to the U.S. economy in the early ‘20s following the end of the war? The decade of the 1930s became known as the Great Depression. What were the conditions during the ‘30s that earned that name for the decade, and what were the events that caused the Depression?
Questions to ask after viewing
1. In the first ten years of this century, U.S. cities recorded large increases in population. What were some of the reasons for this increase? (Between 1900 and 1910 over four million European immigrants arrived in the U.S., mainly settling in urban areas. Many farm laborers moved from the countryside into the cities in search of jobs because the increasing use of machines such as harvesters meant farmers were hiring fewer manual workers.) When World War I broke out in 1914, most Americans were isolationists. What does that term mean? (“Isolationist” is a term used to describe a country or group of people who wish to separate themselves—isolate themselves—from other countries, which are in disagreement or at war with one another. Isolationists may choose to provide aid to one side in the combat, but do not wish to engage in the conflict themselves.)
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When did the U.S. enter World War I and when did the war end? (The U.S. joined the conflict on the side of the Allies in the spring of 1917. The war ended in November of 1918.) What were two of the larger political changes to affect American society in the 1920s? (The passage of two new amendments to the th Constitution—the 18 amendment which established Prohibition in the country, making th alcohol illegal, and the 19 amendment, which granted women to right to vote.) During the post-war years of the early ‘20s people were encouraged to “buy now and pay later.” How did buying on credit influence events leading to the Great Depression? (People were spending beyond their means and in particular they were buying stocks with a small down payment and expecting them to rise in value. When the stock market unexpectedly crashed in 1929, people lost everything. Banks and businesses failed and unemployment skyrocketed.) How did President Franklin Roosevelt help the country recover from the poor economic conditions of the Depression? (He regulated the banking industry, encouraged people to redeposit their money, provided emergency financial relief to people in need and began numerous government work projects to provide jobs.)
Length
¾ ¾ ¾ ¾
AIMS Discussion Guide
18 minutes
Subject areas
American History, Social Studies
Audience Levels
Junior-Senior High
United States History: 1900-1939 World War I and the Great Depression
Objectives
• To examine the United States’ rapid industrial growth in the first decades of the twentieth century, including technological advances such as the invention of the electric light bulb, gramophone and the airplane. To show how industrialization together with a huge wave of immigration changed the face of the nation, swelling its cities and instigating social changes. To analyze America’s initial choice of isolationism when World War I began in Europe and to trace events which eventually led to U.S. involvement in the war. To illustrate how the economic boom following World War I finally burst, leading to the Great Depression and the country’s struggle to recovery.
Catalog number
8971
Annotation
Using motion picture footage and photographs of the period together with colorful graphics, this program illustrates the country’s technological, social and th economic progress in the early decades of the 20 century, the events leading to World War I, the postwar boom years, the lapse into the Great Depression, subsequent economic recovery and social change.
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