1900’sNicole McCloskey

Bob WeaverKevin Weaver

1900-1910 Trends

• More transparency to society, industry, and government

• Improvements to working & living conditions • Desire for information but also some escapism

in literature• Advances and Improvements in technology• Expansion in the scope of their lives e.g.,

travel and adventure

The Age of the 1900’s

The Age of the 1900’s

• June 4, 1903 • Teddy Roosevelt, in

response to “colored people” serving in the military:

• "A man who is good enough to shed his blood for the country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards."

The Age of the 1900’s

Mark Twain• "But here--well, of

course--our--friends--are anxious to see--us, and they--come--whenever--they think they can--find us. And--the--trouble with us in America is we haven't learned how to--speak the--truth--yet.

United States Politics/Military

Roosevelt Corollary• United States could

protected American territories and aggressively expand commercial interests.

• Regulated Latin America in cases of “flagrant and chronic wrongdoing by a Latin American Nation.”

President T Roosevelt

United States Politics/Military

Dollar Diplomacy• Create stability and

order abroad best promoting American commercial interests. Used private capital to further U.S. interests overseas.

President William H Taft

United States Politics/Military

1899-1902• Philippine/American

War• America gained

colonial control over the Philippine islands (from Spain)

United States Politics/Military

1903• Platt Amendment: end

of U.S. military occupation of Cuba.

• U.S. to “leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its people.”

United States Politics/Military

1904• President Roosevelt:

oversaw the construction of the Panama Canal.

• US became protectorate (from Colombia) of Panama

Business & Industry

1908• “There is one rule for

the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.”

– Henry Ford

Model T

Business & Industry

• 1906: Pure Food and Drug Act became federal law and provided for the federal inspection of meat products.– First consumer

protection agency

Business & Industry

• 1908: Federal Bureau of Investigation established

• Pres. Roosevelt & AG Robert Bonaparte established to conduct investigations for the Department of Justice

Business & Industry

• 1900: work on the New York subway began. Opened for business 1904

Advances in Mass Communication

Radio signal crossed theAtlantic Ocean in 1901

1899 New York Times headline:

Future of Wireless Telegraphy"All the nations of the earth would be put upon terms of intimacy and men would be stunned by the tremendous volume of news and information that would ceaselessly pour in upon them."

Advances in Mass Communication

• Alexander Graham Bell first patented the telephone in 1876

• AT&T/Bell was parent company with lines in major cities until 1890’s

• 1902 - First conversation by long distance underground cable, 10 miles - New York to Newark.

Advances in Mass Communication

Response to Bell’s Monopoly:• Between 1894 and 1904, over six thousand independent

telephone companies went into business in the US, and the number of telephones boomed from 285,000 to 3,317,000

• States began regulating telecommunications in 1907

Advances in Mass Communication

Muckraking:• Investigative journalism

exposed where reforms were needed to improve conditions

• “mere mention in one of these magazines was usually sufficient to bring about at least an ostensible reformation.”– Charles Edward Russell

Books

Written by: Jack London

• The Call of the Wild– Shows the life of a

dog during the California Gold Rush

• White Fang– Survival in harsh

environments with man and dog

Books

• The Jungle• Written by: Upton

Sinclair– Exposed the lack of

regulation in the food industry, poverty, and corruption. Spurred the creation of the Federal Drug& Medicine Administration

Books

• Anne of Green Gables

• Written by: L.M. Mongtomery– Orphaned girl and

her life in the country

Popular Entertainment

People enjoyed circuses, silent films, baseball games, and social gatherings at barber shops, saloons and other public venues.

Scientists and Inventors

• The Wright Brothers invented first gas powered airplane.

• Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity.

• Mary Anderson invented windshield wipers.

PaintingAmerican Realism depicts the average American at home doing ordinary things. Below is George B. Luks’ Allen Street. A positive depiction of scenes on Allen Street on the lower east side of Manhattan.

Significant advance during this time in science or in the humanities

Ransom Olds patented the assembly line to produce Oldsmobiles. However, Henry Ford later perfected and used the concept to mass produce his Model-T.

McKinley, Teddy, Dubois• President

McKinley was assassinated in 1901

• Teddy Roosevelt has a strong foreign policy.

• W.E.B. Dubois helped to form the Niagara Movement.

Men: Hats and Canes, Women: Restrictive Underwear

• The fads of the decade had people dressing very formally.

• Women wore restrictive underwear and shaped dresses.

• The men also dressed very formally with their boiler hats and walking canes.

“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

• Teddy’s foreign policy demanded that the U.S. would expand and be strong.

• Expanding imperialistic powers.

• Strong arming unions and governments that stood in his way.

• Roosevelt Corollary• Monroe Doctrine

Victorian and Frock• The fashion of

this decade was a fad.

• The women wore Victorian dresses.

• The men wore boiler hats and Frock jackets.