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Theodore Roosevelt wins his first election for President on November 8, 1904 after serving 3 years in office after William McKinley's assassination. He came up with the "Square Deals of America" which consisted of the 3 C's: to conserve natural resources, get rid of corporate trusts, and help consumerism. He supported small businesses and as president he busted over 40 trusts; He also passed numerous conservation acts like the Desert Land Act and the Forest Reserve Act. Roosevelt, a strong believer in the two term precedent, chose not to run for re-election in 1908, despite being the popular choice. He gave his nomination to Taft instead, and after a very un-Roosevelt like term, ran for re-election under the Bull Moose party, under the new nationalism platform. Today, Roosevelt is best known for his conservation, consumerism, and corporate trust busting. Roosevelt is highly regarded by the public and is even one of four presidents on Mount Rushmore.
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The Meat Inspection Act was passed in 1906 after Upton Sinclair's The Jungle which was originally supposed to be about the situations of workers in factories but was changed to describe the unsanitary food products being made. One major cause leading to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act was the ban put on American meats in foreign markets. Canned meat was a big export to Europe, which due to a shortage of arable land, struggled to feed its population. Thus, the canned meat business became very large, and when Europe declared it would stop importing American meat unless it was cleaned up and purified, the industry risked collapse. The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed as well to prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and medications. This was part of Roosevelt's consumerism plan, one of the Big C's.
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In 1913 both the 16th and 17th amendments were ratified to the US Constitution. The 16th amendment stated that the federal government had power to collect income taxes and was passed because tariffs weren't enough to pay for things like roads, schools, the military, and paying off the debt. The 16th amendment was also an attack on monopolies. It was a very high (abut 75%) tax on income for those who make over $2,000 dollars, only the top 1% at the time. This tax drastically reduced the spending money of the big business owners, reducing their ability to corrupt senators, or higher gangs to stop strikes. The tax also required that the big business owners report their earnings to the federal government. The 17th amendment stated that the Senate should have two Senators from each state, elected by the people for 6 years, and each Senator should have one vote each. It was passed due to the corruption in the government shown by the scandals with monopolies as well as other events. Both the 16th and 17th amendments were pushed primarily by the middle class, which sought to gain protection from and power over the top 1%.
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On April 6, 1917 America declares war on Germany and joins the allies in World War I due to the unrestricted submarine warfare of the Germans, which sank the Lusitania as well as the British Arabic and French Sussex. All were innocent (more or less) passenger ships which were attacked without warning or inspection. At the time, it was customary for the vessel of war to warn the other ship, climb aboard, and inspect the ship for arms, before attacking the vessel. This procedure, however, was ignored by German U-boats, since they would lose their advantage once their position was given away. The U-boats, once surfaced, could also be easily rammed and sunk. The stories of the sinking of the Lusitania, Arabic, and Sussex, were also exaggerated and biased. All three passenger ships were in fact smuggling armistice through the restricted waters, however, these operations were supposed to be secretive. The unrestricted submarine warfare, and the anger it created in the public, were the forces which forced Wilson to declare war on Germany in 1917.
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The first US troops arrive in Europe to help the allies in WWI in June 1917. The Conscription Act was passed to supply the manpower for the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. At first America only intended to help the Allied forces through means of material goods. That is clothes, food, arms, etc. After all, America's Navy was only 15th in the world, but its industries were 1st. However, it soon became clear that material objects would not be enough, as the Germans made substantial gains on Paris. America, with a severely limited military passed the Conscription Act, which allowed the government to raise a draft. The draft was expected to be a miserable failure, but to the surprise of the government was quite the success. The U.S. in a rush to support Europe, sent many of its troops with little or no training (about a week, instead of the typical six months.) In 1917 the first troops arrived, turning the tides of war.