1. Section 3 – The U.S. on the Brink of Change

2.  In the late 1800’s there were a few people who had made it rich in industry, but most of the people who were their workforce were struggling to get by  Many of these people were immigrants who didn’t speak English  They lived in slums of the cities in awful conditions and were paid very little  Children often worked around dangerous conditions because families needed the money  Reformers: Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, and Mary Harris “Mother” Jones tried to help make life better for these people FROM 1865 - 1914 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Childlabourcoal.jpg http://dustirandall.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/apartments3.j pg

3.  Many people left the cities and headed west with the offer of “free- land” from the government in the Homestead Act of 1862  Many also went west for opportunities created by railroad expansion  The country grew further when we bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 and took control of Hawaii in 1898  We fought the Spanish-American War in 1898 and gained the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines making the U.S. a growing empire MOVING TO THE MIDWEST

4.  World War I began in Europe in 1914 and President Wilson tried to keep us out of it as long as he could  The Germans kept sinking American ships and we were forced to defend ourselves in 1917  We fought on the Allied side with Great Britain & France  We fought against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Turkey  The Allied Forces won in 1918, but Europe punished Germany severely and this leads to another war 20 years later THE WORLD AT WAR

5.  After WWI the economy of the 1920’s boomed as more people had the ability to buy cars, refrigerators, and radios  Women won the right to vote  1929 the economy of the world crashed  People lost their jobs, farms, and all their money when banks failed  1933 F.D.R. becomes president and creates the New Deal  His ideas did not fix the problem, but did provide help to many struggling Americans  Social Security on example that still exists 1920’S & 1930’S

6.  We finally came out of the Great Depression because of World War II  Began in Europe in 1939  U.S. entered the day after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941  U.S. fought on Allied side again with France, Great Britain, and many others  Germany, Japan, and Italy were the main powers of the Axis Powers and they finally lost in 1945  At the end of this war people all over the world were sickened by the learning of the Holocaust (6 million Jews, and 5 million others) WORLD WAR II http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Pearl_harbour.png http://www.holocaust-education.dk/images/billeder/forside.jpg

7.  The term Cold War refers to a period of history from 1945-1989  The United States and the Soviet Union, the worlds two “superpowers”, were at odds with one another but really never faced off against each other in an actual war  Democracy vs. Communism  The Korean & Vietnam Wars were fought mostly over the fear that Communism would take over the world COLD WAR

8.  The economy boomed in the 1950’s  However, in the South blacks were still under Jim Crow Laws  Through peaceful means Martin Luther King Jr. along with others fought long and hard in the 1950’s & 60’s for Civil Rights  Many victories were won and this gave hope to other minority groups for the future against discrimination, like women and Mexican Americans CIVIL RIGHTS

9.  America still has its problems such as homelessness, hunger, & pollution  The economy set record highs in the 1990’s partly because of the Internet  The economy cooled off in the early 2000’s and is still trying to recover  September 11, 2001 is a day Americans will always remember  Terrorists attacked the World Trade Centers in New York City, the Pentagon, and one final target was thought to be The White House  The United States responded by dealing with countries who were known to harbor, or encourage terrorism, such as Iraq and Afghanistan AMERICA IN THE WORLD TODAY http://truther.com/images/911-conspiracy.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/President_George_W._Bush_discussi ng_Social_Security.jpg