American Political And Economic History

Olivia Padilla
American Political and Economic History
Tuesday 3:00

Exam One

For America, the period of time 1900-1945 was a major roll in shaping the America we know today. It was a time of war, prohibition and economic downfall. Although all of those things brought distress to all, it was also a learning process and the events that occurred will leave legacies that will stay with America until the end of time. From about 1900-1930, America went into a “modern period” (Ulloa 1/15). The Spanish/American war was happening and everything from about Mexico down was owned by Spain (Ulloa 1/15). It was often referred to as the “splendid little war” meaning that it was popular, had low causalities, fought abroad and was a quickly fought war that the Americans won. Most of these traits were repeated in WW1/WW2 and also in Vietnam. After winning the Spanish/American war, America gained the Pacific Islands of Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines, plus the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico. Cuba was free, but the U.S. looked after it. Which lead America to approve the Platt Amendment. It was a treaty between the U.S. and Cuba that tried to protect Cuba's independence from foreign interference. It allowed widespread U.S. involvement in Cuban international and domestic affairs for the enforcement of Cuban independence (Ulloa 1/15). From 1915-1919 WW1 took place. It was said to be the “war to end all wars” but that obviously didn’t work out as planned (Ulloa 1/15). It was fought in trench warfare, meaning that the soldiers would dig trenches and hide in them, but if you tried to get out of the trenches you would immediately be shot at (Ulloa 1/15). One of the weapons of choice in WW1 was a trench knife, which is a combat knife designed to kill or gravely injure an enemy soldier at close quarters (Ulloa 1/15). Before World War I, there was a lot of tension in Europe. Nations stockpiled large armies as they formed diplomatic alliances with one another. Nationalism also ran high. The two major alliances were the Triple Entente (France, UK, and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Hungary was assassinated in Serbia (Sarajevo) by Serbian terrorists. For retaliation, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. To defend Serbia, the UK, France, and Russia declared war on Austria Hungary and Germany. The US entered the war in 1917 on the side of the Allies, and in 1918 the Allies defeated the Central Powers. In 1919, the unfair treaty of Versailles was singed. Germany had to pay money to the Allies, and it was stripped of territory. The unfair treaty caused economic problems in Germany, the rise of Hitler, and World War II. After WW1 came the “Roaring 20s” or the “Jazz Age”. In America, the 20s were a clash between values, both old and new (Ulloa 1/15). It was a period of time, which signified the modern woman. Women were starting to rebel by drinking, smoking and dressing provocatively. Even today you see that women are continuing to do those same things. Another huge event in the 20s was prohibition. Prohibition was the illegalization of any alcohol sales. During Prohibition alcohol was secretively brewed, distributed and consumed at much higher prices. A "speakeasy" was a basement bar behind locked doors with peepholes. Bootlegger gangs transported liquor and this made them powerful and rich. One of the best was a person we are all familiar with today, Al Capone. In about 1929, America’s economy really took a downfall. The depression started in and at the time, President Hoover had completely given up with anything that had to do with the depression (Ulloa 1/29). An event that really triggered America’s hatred for Hoover was the Bonus Army incidents. The Bonus Army was a group of WW1 veterans who went to Washington DC with their bonds. The veterans made their largest camp across the river from the Capitol. Approximately 10,000 veterans, women and

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