Unit I - Imprortant Events From 1900 - 1914 : Building Of The Panama Canal

The riches of Peru, Ecuador, and Asia were realised. The time it took for the gold to reach to ports of Spain was counted. It was suggested that cutting a chunk of land out of somewhere in Panama would make the trips shorter. The risks of taking the gold other ways to Spain justified such a big project. The wars occurring in Europe, and the battle for the control of kingdoms in the Mediterranean put the project on a permanent hold. This began back around the 16Th century.

Construction of the canal did not start until 1880. The total cost of the project would eventually total $639,000,000,
$352,000,000 of that coming from the United States, making it their most expensive project ever. The project would take 34 years to complete. 80,000 people took place in the building of the canal, and about 30,000 of those people lost their lives.

The Panama Canal officially opened in 1914 with the passing of the SS. Ancon. The Canal would save vessels about 7,000 miles by passing through the canal. At the time, no single effort in American history had cost such a price in dollars or in life.

Overall the building of the Panama Canal was a great achievement, although many lives were lost in the building. 30,000 of the 80,000 is a lot of lives just to build a canal.

Unit I - Modern Times

Modern Times is a satire by Charlie Chaplin in 1936. The movie begins with a ticking clock. The clock most likely represents how everything had to do with time. "Time is Money" A short clip of a herd of sheep is shown, followed by a bunch of men in a group off to work at the factory. This is probably to show the men in a way "being herded into the factory." We see Charlie Chaplin at his station tightening bolts. He is forced to do repetitive tasks very quickly. This would be like a real factory in a way. Workers did the same mindless activity over and over all day, to efficiently achieve an end product. The scenes with Charlie's short break in the bathroom, as well as what we heard about the automatic feeding machine both go back to the "Time is money" Statement. The more time employees took off, the more money the company was loosing. We also see Charlie try and stop tightening the bolts, but he keeps repeating the actions. This is in a way showing how the tasks were almost dehumanizing, making the workers almost robot like, repeating the same task. The last thing I remember seeing is the scene with Charlie holding the flag, getting caught up in the striking workers. This is to show that the workers were not allowed to strike, since there was no union.

Unit I - Important People : Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Henry Ford

Henry Ford is know as the father of Modern Assembly Lines. He was the creator of The Ford Motor Company, and the Model T car. The introduction of this car changed the transportation, as well as the American industry. Henry Ford was one of the Richest, and best-known people in the world at the time. Ford created the idea of mass production of inexpensive automobiles using an assembly line, as well as high wages. This idea was named after him, "fordism". This idea lead to cars at very low and affordable prices.

I think Henry Ford changed everything with his ideas about the assembly line. Things could now be made more efficiently and for a cheaper price. Plus, with Henry Fords high wages, even people who were working in the factories could afford a car in little time.

Unit I - Prohibition And Temperance

Prohibition was a method used to eliminate the businesses that manufactured, distributed, and sold alcoholic beverages of any kind, it began around 1893. This was the Eighteenth amendment of the United States Constitution. It revoked the license of all companies having anything to do with alcoholic beverages. Leaders of the Prohibition movement were concerned with the behavior of Americans when they drank, and this was partly due to the ever growing number of immigrants.

At this time the Brewing industry was one of the most prosperous or the alcoholic industries. The brewers were in competition so many sold in saloons. It was common for there to be 1 saloon for every 150 - 200 Americans, including those who never drank. To have an even great profit, some saloons would even introduce Gambling and Prostitution. Many Americans did not support saloons. Alcohol was to be banned since it was believed to be the cause of most of, if not all, crime. Some communities believed so strongly in this, that they even sold their jails once alcohol had been banned.

Prohibition lead to many things. One of them being Organized smuggling of alcohol from Canada. This was known as "bootlegging" or "rum-running". The term "bootlegging" actually originated from the time during which prohibition was in effect. Originally, much of the imported alcohol was cheap Caribbean rum. Since the rum was cheap, it sold for low prices, giving the "bootleggers" a low profit. That is when the "bootleggers" moved on to Canada. Now Canadian whiskey, French Champagne, and English gin were being sold for higher profits.


December 5, 1933 marked the twenty-first amendment, the end of Prohibition. The coast guard, which was used to stop "bootlegging" rum ships gained them the skills to later defend the U.S. coastline during the war.

I think that Prohibition was not the greatest idea that was ever decided upon. Blaming all the crime in society on alcohol was not entirely fair. I think that enforcing the eighteenth amendment, Prohibition, just caused further problems than everyone had to deal with before. Now they had both the crime from before, plus they had to deal with the smuggling. I really don't think that prohibition solved much. The money used to enforce the prohibition laws could have just as easily been used to stop the crime and leave the alcohol out of it.

Unit I - Inventions: 1900-1914 : Life Savers Candy

1912 marked the birth of the ever popular candy, Life Savers. Life Savers were made by the chocolate manufacturer Clarence Crane. They were invented to be a "Summer Candy" since they had to ability to to withstand heat better than chocolate could. The first flavour ever created was called Pep-O-Mint. The first five flavour roll wasn't made until 1935. They candy was named "Life Savers" since they looked like life preservers.

Life savers were sold at the the cash register of saloons, cigar stores, drug stores, barbers shops and restaurants. The cost of Life Savers at the time was five cents. The owner of Life Savers requested that every time a customer received change, they would receive a nickel. More times than not, the nickel would be used to buy lifesavers. The owner made a large fortune because of the affordable price of Life Savers.

Life savers have come a long way from the original "Pep-O-Mint" flavour. They have grown into a variety of flavours. Today they still taste great! Who doesn't love Life Savers ?? :))

Why is studying the 20th Century important ?

I think that 20th century history is very important to study so we can learn our backgrounds and heritage, and how things came to be today. It is important to know not only for 20th century history, but all history. History can teach us mistakes that we have made in the past, and we can try and avoid making the same mistakes again. Many of the inventions we use today were created in the 20th century.