Southwestern Louisiana Institute - Lacadien Yearbook (Lafayette, LA)

Page 18 text:

WORLD WAR I A DRASTIC CHANGE Thus, as the 20th century rolled around, the United States was a little over one hundred years old and the pains of age were showing in the prob- lems that were starting to arise. The Progressives, a political party during the ye ars before World War I, advocated that if people were shown what was right that they would act in the general interest. This was a very optimistic point of view. The Progressive Party sought to make government more responsive to the desire of the majority of the people. When World War I started, the Progressive point of view was severely shaken. They realized that the world would not be safe for the prog- ressive government. This progressive attitude was restored during the 1930 ' s, the Great Depression years, when Franklin Roosevelt ' s New Deal wa in operation trying to restore the nation to its former condition. The faith in the democratic form of government also was restored. u

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For seven decades the political institution worked well. It was doing the job that the forefa- thers had planned — that is, to maintain a delicate balance between individual liberty and social order. In 1861 eleven southern states separated from the rest of the country to form their own union. The nation was at near collapse, and it was plunged into a civil war which lasted for four long years. In the decades after the war, an economical social and demographic order was transforming the country. The American way of life was pro- foundly altered. The railroads were grouping together to insure better and faster services and uniting the country from the eastern shore to the western plains. Also, at this time the Industrial Revolution was taking place. Some American businessmen, known as entrepreneurs, changed to a great extent, the business structure of the country. Businesses went from small shops and home businesses to a vast economic empire. This change-over of industrial and economic power brought on a huge migration of people from Southern and Eastern Europe. These people made up the labor force which was necessary to run the business establishments that were springing up. 13

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SONG BOOK. Robert Fulton per- ected the steamboat in 1811. It made its first ippearance in New Or- eans the following year. The first thought to be transmitted via telegraph from one community to another was: What hath God wrought? The mes- sage was flashed over the wire between Bal- timore and Washing- ton, D.C., in 1844. Communist threat, the Cold War Fascism, atomic and nuclear power were all present during the first part of the 20th Century. The United States tried to demonstrate to the rest of the world the virtues of freedom. One way to accomplish this goal was to eliminate the wrong at home and then proceed to help the other nations of the world eliminate their own problems through a series of military and economic programs. TTiese programs further accomplished the aim of America which was to make the world a better place to live. 15