0:00:04.737,0:00:06.306 (off screen voice) I am the Edison Phonograph. 0:00:06.306,0:00:09.303 (newscaster) the Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor by air. 0:00:09.303,0:00:10.977 [crowd chanting in German] 0:00:10.977,0:00:14.116 (President Kennedy) Ask not what your[br]country can do for you... 0:00:14.116,0:00:15.715 (newscaster) President Kennedy[br]has been shot. 0:00:15.715,0:00:17.655 (Neil Armstrong) One small step for man... 0:00:17.655,0:00:22.625 (Martin Luther King Jr.) These truths to be self-evident[br]that all men are created equal. 0:00:22.625,0:00:25.523 [cheering] 0:00:25.523,0:00:29.329 (off screen voice) Mr. Gorbachev, [br]tear down this wall! 0:00:43.495,0:00:51.543 [drumming] 0:00:51.543,0:00:55.647 (off screen voice) Left, left. [br]Left, right, left. 0:01:00.954,0:01:07.529 [band music] 0:01:07.529,0:01:10.346 (narrator) The transforming events[br]of the 20th century touched 0:01:10.346,0:01:13.599 every city and small[br]town in America. 0:01:22.260,0:01:23.084 Annual celebrations, 0:01:23.084,0:01:26.215 which children thrill to but[br]can never fully understand, 0:01:26.215,0:01:30.310 mark for another generation[br]the historical reminders. 0:01:31.370,0:01:33.393 How the town survived[br]the depression. 0:01:36.746,0:01:38.855 How older people who walk[br]among us unnoticed every 0:01:38.855,0:01:41.877 day saved democracy[br]in the world. 0:01:41.877,0:02:00.028 [soft music] 0:02:00.028,0:02:02.353 In every town there are[br]buildings which stand like 0:02:02.353,0:02:05.144 silent witnesses to the[br]enormous changes over 0:02:05.144,0:02:06.781 these hundred years. 0:02:11.364,0:02:14.450 A garage, which started[br]the century as a stable. 0:02:16.137,0:02:19.222 (William Goehner) When the[br]Model Ts became available, 0:02:19.222,0:02:22.509 we could scratch together a[br]hundred bucks and 0:02:22.509,0:02:25.379 get a second-hand Model T. 0:02:26.179,0:02:27.180 (narrator) Schools, 0:02:27.180,0:02:29.983 which today teach computer[br]skills to every student, 0:02:29.983,0:02:34.380 used to teach shop to the[br]boys and typing to the girls. 0:02:36.164,0:02:38.625 (Lillian Hall) Your schoolteacher[br]said just learn all you can 0:02:38.625,0:02:40.531 about secretarial work. 0:02:40.531,0:02:43.796 We can't expect women to[br]get ahead in business. 0:02:45.932,0:02:49.569 (narrator) In some places, [br]hometown coffee shops for more than half 0:02:49.569,0:02:52.605 the century served whites only. 0:02:52.605,0:02:56.303 (Don Newcombe) People's attitudes[br]had to be changed. 0:02:56.303,0:02:58.167 All it was was the[br]color of your skin, 0:02:58.167,0:02:58.683 for Christ's sakes. 0:02:58.683,0:03:02.781 It was the color of your skin[br]that made the difference. 0:03:05.888,0:03:09.155 (narrator) Memorials along American[br]main streets commemorate 0:03:09.155,0:03:13.206 those who died on the European[br]battlefields of World War I. 0:03:16.205,0:03:19.361 (Henry Villard) Such terrible scenes. 0:03:19.361,0:03:26.490 You grew up very quickly[br]in surroundings like that. 0:03:26.490,0:03:30.577 It is no longer[br]freshman studies. 0:03:30.577,0:03:33.415 It was the real world. 0:03:35.615,0:03:38.117 (narrator) From almost every [br]hometown train station, 0:03:38.117,0:03:41.220 men left for World War II. 0:03:42.004,0:03:44.490 (Julia Glut) When your husband[br]becomes an officer, 0:03:44.490,0:03:46.326 you're an officer's wife. 0:03:46.326,0:03:49.495 You do not show any emotions[br]when they go overseas. 0:03:49.495,0:03:51.631 You hold it back,[br]no matter what. 0:03:51.631,0:03:53.566 No crying. 0:03:53.566,0:03:55.203 And we did that. 0:03:56.235,0:03:58.446 It was tough,[br]but we did it. 0:03:59.939,0:04:03.076 (narrator) Korea and Vietnam[br]veterans returned to towns 0:04:03.076,0:04:04.644 which looked the same, 0:04:04.644,0:04:07.947 but they came back to a country [br]which had changed. 0:04:07.947,0:04:08.763 (Bob Jones) When I left, 0:04:08.763,0:04:11.517 the only people that had long[br]hair lived in San Francisco, 0:04:11.517,0:04:13.553 you know, [br]and when I came home, 0:04:13.553,0:04:14.754 my banker had long hair. 0:04:18.788,0:04:23.367 (narrator) When one New Jersey town[br]held an old class reunion in 1997, 0:04:23.367,0:04:26.933 you could see in the attendees the[br]sweep of the entire century. 0:04:30.562,0:04:32.585 There were those who remember[br]when the electric light 0:04:32.585,0:04:37.863 was new and those who were born[br]after man walked on the moon. 0:04:48.876,0:04:51.827 Old and young, they had been[br]together on a journey through 0:04:51.827,0:04:55.161 the most common and yet[br]mysterious of passageways 0:04:58.053,0:04:58.737 - time. 0:05:34.518,0:05:36.969 Unlike previous centuries where[br]leadership was defined 0:05:36.969,0:05:39.372 by royalty and other rulers, 0:05:39.372,0:05:41.050 the 20th century,[br]more than any other, 0:05:41.050,0:05:44.444 was shaped by the will and the[br]actions of the common man. 0:05:44.444,0:05:45.912 In the episodes of this series, 0:05:45.912,0:05:49.182 we'll examine some of the[br]defining events in 0:05:49.182,0:05:51.951 each of 15 different periods. 0:05:51.951,0:05:54.654 Our aim is to experience[br]what it was like for the 0:05:54.654,0:05:57.390 common man to be alive then. 0:05:57.390,0:06:00.827 Politics and technology made[br]this the killing century, 0:06:00.827,0:06:04.630 but they also provided[br]extended life and hope. 0:06:04.630,0:06:07.867 In this first episode we'll see [br]that as the century began, 0:06:07.867,0:06:11.637 there was no place on earth [br]where hope flourished more 0:06:11.637,0:06:14.373 than in the United States [br]of America. 0:06:22.315,0:06:25.818 (narrator) In 1900 in the countries of[br]central and southern Europe, 0:06:25.818,0:06:30.351 tens of millions of people were[br]trapped in miserable lives. 0:06:31.290,0:06:34.845 (Andrew Jakomas) They were starving,[br]and things were real tough, 0:06:34.845,0:06:40.666 because when my father was a[br]young boy of 12 or 13 years old, 0:06:42.486,0:06:48.130 he was sent to a family[br]in Cairo, Egypt 0:06:48.130,0:06:49.500 to become a vassel. 0:06:49.500,0:06:50.780 That's what they did with[br]their sons. 0:06:54.228,0:06:55.214 (Mary Gale) Peasants. 0:06:55.214,0:06:57.283 They never got paid. 0:06:57.283,0:06:58.684 They never made a living. 0:06:58.684,0:07:00.846 They lived in huts. 0:07:02.355,0:07:05.391 The Jewish people certainly[br]were poverty stricken. 0:07:05.391,0:07:06.908 They didn't have a job. 0:07:10.877,0:07:13.677 (Martin Scorsese) My people came from peasants. 0:07:13.677,0:07:17.119 My grandparents on both sides of[br]the family came from Sicily. 0:07:17.804,0:07:19.333 My mother's side of the[br]family came from 0:07:19.333,0:07:20.958 a town called Chianina. 0:07:24.296,0:07:26.258 In the small villages,[br]what was there? 0:07:27.858,0:07:30.240 Oppression and no food. 0:07:31.117,0:07:34.053 (narrator) One place held the[br]promise of a better future. 0:07:36.452,0:07:40.326 (Clara Hancox) My mother and father - [br]they heard about America from others, 0:07:40.326,0:07:43.652 and they knew that[br]America was heaven. 0:07:44.730,0:07:46.065 It was... 0:07:46.065,0:07:48.968 Once in America, [br]all problems would be solved. 0:07:50.059,0:07:51.273 There would be food. 0:07:51.858,0:07:53.506 There would be freedom. 0:07:53.506,0:07:55.372 There would be[br]no persecution. 0:07:55.741,0:07:56.466 Freedom! 0:07:56.803,0:07:57.682 Freedom! 0:07:58.067,0:08:00.546 An incredible word[br]for those people. 0:08:05.790,0:08:09.761 (Pres. William McKinley) This country [br]is in a state of unexampled prosperity. 0:08:10.961,0:08:13.620 We are furnishing profitable employment 0:08:13.620,0:08:18.038 to the millions of working men[br]throughout the United States. 0:08:18.713,0:08:23.369 (John Milton Cooper) By 1900, [br]the United States leads in every 0:08:23.369,0:08:25.371 major industrial product. 0:08:25.371,0:08:27.373 I mean we're producing[br]more steel. 0:08:27.373,0:08:30.826 We're producing more machined[br]goods, textiles. 0:08:30.826,0:08:34.233 The United States has[br]one third of all the 0:08:34.233,0:08:36.215 railroad trackage in the world. 0:08:36.215,0:08:38.131 For the first time in[br]human history, 0:08:38.131,0:08:41.836 people can move over land[br]swiftly, easily, reliably. 0:08:43.481,0:08:45.825 (narrator) The average [br]American lived longer, 0:08:45.825,0:08:49.128 was better fed and better paid[br]and had greater access to 0:08:49.128,0:08:52.865 education than the average[br]citizen anywhere else on earth. 0:08:54.172,0:08:56.335 (John Milton Cooper) This is [br]the great land of opportunity. 0:08:57.842,0:09:00.273 No matter how low[br]you may be born, 0:09:00.273,0:09:05.188 no matter how humble you may be,[br]you can rise to the top. 0:09:05.188,0:09:06.827 The sky is the limit. 0:09:10.811,0:09:12.451 (narrator) On the eve of [br]the new century, 0:09:12.451,0:09:15.354 the sense of boundless [br]possibilities also ignited 0:09:15.354,0:09:18.691 an explosion of technological[br]innovations that would 0:09:18.691,0:09:21.360 have profound impact[br]on 20th century life. 0:09:21.360,0:09:25.151 Thomas Edison's electric[br]light bulb and phonograph, 0:09:25.151,0:09:27.839 Alexander Graham[br]Bell's telephone. 0:09:28.915,0:09:32.071 Tens of thousands of tinkerers[br]across America were trying 0:09:32.071,0:09:33.906 to invent the future. 0:09:33.906,0:09:38.044 Among them were two bicycle[br]mechanics in Dayton, Ohio. 0:09:38.044,0:09:39.445 (Mabel Griep) Orville and Wilbur, 0:09:39.445,0:09:43.249 they as young boys were [br]interested in flying. 0:09:43.249,0:09:45.584 They would sit on a porch[br]and watch the birds. 0:09:46.491,0:09:49.608 And the neighbors all[br]around us say, 0:09:49.608,0:09:51.764 "Well, I don't know they think[br]they're going to do. 0:09:51.764,0:09:54.863 "Why they will never[br]make an airplane." 0:09:55.939,0:09:58.602 Mabel Griep and her sister [br]Lorene lived next door 0:09:58.602,0:10:00.833 to the Wright brothers. 0:10:00.833,0:10:03.869 (Lorine Hyer) Well, my father found[br]out some way that they were 0:10:03.869,0:10:07.440 going to try to have[br]a trial flight. 0:10:07.440,0:10:09.342 So we got in the surrey, 0:10:09.342,0:10:12.111 and we drove out to[br]Huffman Prairie. 0:10:13.587,0:10:16.743 (Mabel Griep) I can hear dad[br]turn more than once and say, 0:10:16.743,0:10:19.385 "Look, are you all paying[br]attention to this? 0:10:19.385,0:10:20.455 "Now listen to me. 0:10:20.455,0:10:24.056 "You're going to remember[br]this 'til your last day." 0:10:29.208,0:10:31.901 When that plane took[br]off the ground, 0:10:33.377,0:10:35.304 people were speechless. 0:10:40.026,0:10:42.165 It was spectacular. 0:10:42.165,0:10:43.589 It was unbelievable. 0:10:45.281,0:10:49.248 (narrator) One of the oldest dreams in[br]human imagination had come true. 0:10:49.248,0:10:52.518 Sustained flight in[br]a powered airplane. 0:10:53.964,0:10:57.356 (Thomas P. Hughes) The United States [br]was without any question the most 0:10:57.356,0:11:01.365 inventive nation in the[br]world in that period. 0:11:02.857,0:11:05.777 It is comparable in its[br]creativity to the 0:11:05.777,0:11:08.801 Renaissance in Italy,[br]for example, 0:11:08.801,0:11:11.504 to the period of Elizabeth in[br]English history, 0:11:11.504,0:11:13.439 the Shakespearian period. 0:11:14.377,0:11:17.436 Americans appreciated the new. 0:11:17.436,0:11:23.529 They assumed that change was[br]the natural course of history. 0:11:26.359,0:11:29.368 (narrator) And on America's roads [br]the European novelty was 0:11:29.368,0:11:31.218 about to be reinvented. 0:11:34.248,0:11:37.955 (Eileen Burns) The first time we [br]saw a car when I was a kid - 0:11:38.164,0:11:41.979 well, they have this for people[br]out of this world. 0:11:46.087,0:11:49.782 (narrator) In 1900 there was only [br]8,000 cars and less than ten miles 0:11:49.782,0:11:52.063 of concrete road in the[br]entire country. 0:11:54.339,0:11:57.139 The car was fast seducing[br]Americans. 0:11:59.892,0:12:03.774 (Thomas P. Hughes) The automobile [br]gave people a sense of 0:12:03.774,0:12:06.738 the control of their own destiny. 0:12:07.568,0:12:09.337 That is,[br]the behind the wheel, 0:12:09.337,0:12:10.634 out on the road, 0:12:10.634,0:12:12.106 you decided where[br]you were going, 0:12:12.106,0:12:13.668 what you were doing. 0:12:13.668,0:12:15.865 You had a machine[br]at your control. 0:12:17.687,0:12:20.506 But early cars were fantastically[br]expensive. 0:12:22.213,0:12:23.285 The Artzberger, 0:12:23.285,0:12:26.115 made in Pittsburgh and the [br]Pierce-Arrow were really toys 0:12:26.115,0:12:30.561 for the rich people until[br]one manufacturer 0:12:30.561,0:12:32.986 in Detroit saw it differently - 0:12:34.386,0:12:35.521 Henry Ford. 0:12:35.521,0:12:42.328 He saw the automobile as a way[br]to alieve one of the burden 0:12:42.328,0:12:46.031 of working in nature at[br]the sweat of one's brow. 0:12:46.031,0:12:51.804 He was motivated by the desire to [br]put the automobile into the hands, 0:12:51.804,0:12:53.128 first farmers, 0:12:54.451,0:12:56.342 and then generally[br]into the hands of 0:12:56.342,0:12:59.452 the ordinary people in[br]the population. 0:12:59.452,0:13:05.519 He wanted to produce many, many, many [br]automobiles in a short, short time. 0:13:07.691,0:13:13.592 Ford has this vision of smooth[br]flow using an assembly line. 0:13:13.592,0:13:16.081 These components were[br]coming from up here. 0:13:16.774,0:13:19.665 These components were[br]on an endless lift. 0:13:19.665,0:13:22.501 These components were[br]coming on a belt, 0:13:22.501,0:13:27.973 and everything is in motion,[br]and I think the image of 0:13:27.973,0:13:31.885 a number of streams flowing[br]into a river captures 0:13:31.885,0:13:34.313 the assembly line concept. 0:13:34.313,0:13:37.850 (narrator) Henry Ford's model T [br]was introduced in 1908 0:13:37.850,0:13:41.137 at the price of $825. 0:13:41.921,0:13:44.456 (Thomas P. Hughes) I think it would have [br]been considered un-American in 0:13:44.456,0:13:48.104 his eyes to produce an[br]automobile for rich people. 0:13:48.104,0:13:49.757 That's what foreigners do. 0:13:49.757,0:13:52.088 Americans generally[br]were committed to the 0:13:52.088,0:13:56.017 proposition that every man [br]and every woman should 0:13:56.017,0:13:58.467 enjoy material abundance. 0:13:59.528,0:14:00.940 That was the American spirit. 0:14:00.940,0:14:02.222 That's America. 0:14:10.127,0:14:12.585 (narrator) It was the promise of[br]material abundance and 0:14:12.585,0:14:14.887 freedom which drew[br]more than 13 million 0:14:14.887,0:14:20.013 impoverished Europeans to[br]America between 1900 and 1914. 0:14:21.060,0:14:23.162 They came from the[br]Austro-Hungarian empire, 0:14:23.162,0:14:25.397 from Russia,[br]and from Italy. 0:14:25.397,0:14:30.369 It was the greatest free migration[br]in all of human history. 0:14:32.260,0:14:33.880 My mother's mother Dominica, 0:14:33.880,0:14:35.511 who's afraid to travel on boat, 0:14:35.511,0:14:39.011 and the only way they got her on a [br]boat was her brother tricked her. 0:14:39.011,0:14:41.013 He went on the boat with her[br]and said he was going with her, 0:14:41.013,0:14:42.830 and at the last minute[br]she turned away, 0:14:42.830,0:14:44.165 and he left. 0:14:45.150,0:14:47.820 (Clara Hancox) My mother came [br]by herself through Siberia. 0:14:48.973,0:14:51.968 She got to the coast[br]and got on a boat. 0:14:59.011,0:15:01.781 They were just sitting[br]on the deck. 0:15:01.781,0:15:05.366 Hoards of people huddled[br]over their possessions, 0:15:05.366,0:15:09.808 which consisted of old[br]pillows with feathers and 0:15:09.808,0:15:13.078 a few pieces of silverware tucked [br]in there and stuff like that, 0:15:13.078,0:15:14.280 like candlesticks, 0:15:14.280,0:15:18.341 and sleeping on the deck[br]with one another, 0:15:18.341,0:15:20.930 next to one another to[br]keep oneself warm. 0:15:20.930,0:15:22.724 It took weeks and[br]weeks and weeks. 0:15:22.724,0:15:24.150 It took ages. 0:15:26.673,0:15:28.967 (Alfred Levitt) When I [br]crossed the ocean, 0:15:28.967,0:15:31.666 I never saw such[br]waves in my life. 0:15:31.666,0:15:34.428 I never knew an ocean existed. 0:15:41.257,0:15:44.513 Approaching the New York harbor, 0:15:44.513,0:15:49.100 the Statue of Liberty was there,[br]and it gave me a free feeling, 0:15:51.861,0:15:55.243 a feeling of liberty,[br]a feeling of a new nation, 0:15:55.243,0:15:59.427 a feeling of a new hope[br]for a beautiful life. 0:16:17.656,0:16:19.827 (Clara Hancox) There's something [br]wonderful about being an immigrant. 0:16:19.827,0:16:24.778 There's something so deliciously[br]naïve and happy about 0:16:24.778,0:16:27.631 being an immigrant who has[br]escaped from something. 0:16:29.214,0:16:30.927 My father would say from[br]time to time, 0:16:30.927,0:16:34.519 no matter how bad things were,[br]at least we're free. 0:16:51.502,0:16:53.746 (narrator) In Pittsburgh,[br]Pennsylvania it was said 0:16:53.746,0:16:56.215 prosperity was measured[br]by the thickness of 0:16:56.215,0:16:58.174 the soot in the air. 0:17:03.095,0:17:04.048 (Stanley Brozek) Oh, man. 0:17:04.048,0:17:05.515 One of them furnaces[br]let loose, 0:17:05.515,0:17:09.882 the whole sky was full[br]of red dust. 0:17:09.882,0:17:11.183 Full of red dust. 0:17:11.183,0:17:14.199 If you had your wash out,[br]you had your laundry out, 0:17:14.199,0:17:15.200 it was too bad. 0:17:15.200,0:17:17.638 You had to run outside[br]and pull that laundry in. 0:17:17.638,0:17:20.010 It would be covered[br]in red dust. 0:17:20.855,0:17:23.075 You would see them coal mines [br]lit up from Greensburg 0:17:23.075,0:17:24.242 all the way to Uniontown. 0:17:24.242,0:17:26.811 It was wonderful to see it. 0:17:27.595,0:17:30.134 (narrator) Relentless production [br]in Pittsburgh steel mills, 0:17:30.134,0:17:33.474 foundries, and coal mines[br]attracted an enormous 0:17:33.489,0:17:36.988 number of immigrants and[br]poor whites and blacks 0:17:36.988,0:17:38.397 from the rural south. 0:17:38.397,0:17:42.961 It was their labor which fed the[br]furnace of industrial America. 0:17:42.961,0:17:44.530 (Andy Jakomas) You had to pick [br]everything up. 0:17:44.530,0:17:46.698 You had to move everything[br]by hand. 0:17:46.698,0:17:48.901 No lunch breaks of any kind. 0:17:48.901,0:17:50.903 You worked, and you had[br]a sandwich in your hand. 0:17:50.903,0:17:52.428 If you had to go[br]to the restroom, 0:17:52.428,0:17:53.906 boom,[br]back right away. 0:17:53.906,0:17:54.959 The timed you. 0:17:56.175,0:17:58.243 When you get home at night,[br]you couldn't lift your arms up. 0:17:58.243,0:17:59.344 I remember this. 0:17:59.344,0:18:00.512 Oh, I remember this distinctly. 0:18:00.512,0:18:04.082 My father would come home,[br]and he's say to my mother, 0:18:04.082,0:18:07.953 "Rub my arms a little bit"[br]because they were picking up... 0:18:07.953,0:18:09.092 There was no... 0:18:09.675,0:18:12.491 Huh, it was all mule work. 0:18:16.798,0:18:18.998 (Frank Bolden) I had two uncles [br]that worked in the mill. 0:18:20.332,0:18:21.333 It was dangerous. 0:18:21.333,0:18:23.642 No safety precautions [br]were in the mills. 0:18:25.349,0:18:28.210 You could walk in the mill and[br]see people with one arm, 0:18:28.210,0:18:30.008 one leg. 0:18:30.008,0:18:33.645 You had an accident in the[br]mills almost every two days, 0:18:33.645,0:18:35.614 but nobody did anything[br]about it. 0:18:37.398,0:18:38.740 (narrator) There was no compensation[br] 0:18:38.740,0:18:40.554 for the injuries and [br]death on the job, 0:18:40.554,0:18:43.689 and it was almost impossible[br]for workers in the early 0:18:43.689,0:18:45.691 part of the century to organize. 0:18:46.798,0:18:48.760 They'd try to start a union,[br]and, of course, 0:18:48.760,0:18:50.762 they had the coal and[br]iron police they 0:18:50.762,0:18:52.331 were called in those days. 0:18:52.331,0:18:55.234 And they would bust a lot of[br]heads and a lot of murders 0:18:55.234,0:18:57.236 were committed,[br]and a lot of, oh, 0:18:57.236,0:19:00.706 a lot of things that you[br]dare didn't say too much. 0:19:00.706,0:19:02.107 If you worked in a mill, 0:19:02.107,0:19:04.309 if your boss said[br]something to you, 0:19:04.309,0:19:05.862 that was it.[br]That was the law. 0:19:07.647,0:19:09.962 (narrator) Industrial work[br]involves six days a week, 0:19:09.962,0:19:12.150 12-16 hours a day. 0:19:12.150,0:19:14.987 The daily wage -[br]barely two dollars. 0:19:14.987,0:19:17.422 Children, too,[br]were made to work, 0:19:17.422,0:19:19.858 two million of them[br]across America, 0:19:19.858,0:19:21.894 some as young as four. 0:19:22.801,0:19:25.531 (E.L. Doctorow) "They did not complain [br]as adults tended to do. 0:19:25.531,0:19:29.201 "Employers liked to think[br]of them as happy ills." 0:19:29.771,0:19:33.605 (narrator) E. L. Doctorow wrote about [br]child labor in his novel of life 0:19:33.605,0:19:35.374 in the early century,[br]Ragtime. 0:19:36.266,0:19:37.776 "There were more agile[br]than adults, 0:19:37.776,0:19:40.232 "but they tended in the latter[br]hours of the day 0:19:40.232,0:19:42.160 "to lose a degree of efficiency. 0:19:42.160,0:19:44.878 "In the canneries and the mills[br]- these were the hours they 0:19:44.878,0:19:48.713 "were most likely to lose their[br]fingers or have their 0:19:48.713,0:19:51.119 "hands mangled or their[br]legs crushed. 0:19:53.659,0:19:56.061 "In the mines, they worked as[br]sorters of coal and 0:19:56.061,0:19:58.740 sometimes were smothered[br]in the coal chutes." 0:20:01.233,0:20:04.069 (narrator) As a child in the [br]early part of the century, 0:20:04.069,0:20:08.006 Polly Newman worked 13-hour days[br]in a New York garment sweatshop, 0:20:08.006,0:20:11.240 the Triangle Shirtwaist[br]Factory. 0:20:11.810,0:20:15.113 (off screen voice) We had a corner on the[br]floor that resembled a kindergarten. 0:20:15.113,0:20:16.882 You were not allowed to sing. 0:20:16.882,0:20:19.618 We weren't allowed to[br]talk to each other. 0:20:19.618,0:20:21.929 The door was locked[br]to keep us in. 0:20:23.422,0:20:26.458 (narrator) The locked doors [br]would prove to be fatal. 0:20:26.458,0:20:29.728 On March 25, 1911,[br]fire broke out in the factory. 0:20:29.728,0:20:33.031 With an exit door locked[br]on the ninth floor, 0:20:33.031,0:20:35.033 many workers jumped[br]to their death. 0:20:40.062,0:20:40.944 (Mary Gale) I was 11, 0:20:42.143,0:20:46.108 and I remember all of a sudden[br]all of this New York 0:20:46.108,0:20:49.481 went crazy because the kids[br]were running around with 0:20:49.481,0:20:52.551 the newspapers,[br]hollering extra, 0:20:52.551,0:20:55.253 that all these people [br]had died in that fire. 0:21:00.681,0:21:02.224 (narrator) 146 workers died. 0:21:06.131,0:21:08.143 There were no sprinklers[br]inside the factory then. 0:21:08.143,0:21:11.269 There had never been[br]a fire drill. 0:21:11.269,0:21:14.873 The tragedy outraged a[br]public that had become 0:21:14.873,0:21:18.176 increasingly aware of[br]both the underside of a 0:21:18.176,0:21:21.613 prosperous nation and[br]the need for reform. 0:21:22.643,0:21:25.751 (John Milton Cooper) The great reform[br]movement of this period was 0:21:25.751,0:21:27.954 called progressivism. 0:21:28.584,0:21:30.181 It's a belief in progress. 0:21:30.181,0:21:34.868 It's a belief that we can[br]make things better, 0:21:34.868,0:21:39.131 that you can have a more just,[br]more democratic society. 0:21:40.961,0:21:43.769 (narrator) At the vanguard of social [br]reform in this particular 0:21:43.769,0:21:46.514 period were progressive[br]women concerned about 0:21:46.514,0:21:48.907 their own inferior status. 0:21:50.183,0:21:51.810 (Lucy Haessler) When I was a girl, 0:21:51.810,0:21:55.447 a woman didn't have rights to[br]custody of their children. 0:21:55.447,0:21:58.417 They didn't have the[br]right to own property. 0:21:58.417,0:22:01.920 A woman teacher didn't[br]have the right to marry. 0:22:01.920,0:22:04.022 She didn't have the[br]right to live alone. 0:22:04.022,0:22:06.858 She had to board with a family. 0:22:06.858,0:22:10.196 And if she started dating[br]or she went out at night, 0:22:10.257,0:22:12.197 she was fired. 0:22:12.197,0:22:15.600 (narrator) For progressives such [br]as Frances Garrison Villard, 0:22:15.600,0:22:17.936 suffrage,[br]the vote for women, 0:22:17.936,0:22:20.038 was the key to[br]emancipation. 0:22:20.038,0:22:24.109 (Henry Villard) Grandmother was a [br]very strong militant suffragette. 0:22:26.411,0:22:32.476 As a boy, I was more inclined to[br]laugh at them and dismiss them. 0:22:33.485,0:22:37.289 I didn't see any reason why[br]they should have a vote. 0:22:37.289,0:22:41.126 I would say I believe it's[br]still a man's world. 0:22:41.126,0:22:44.247 I would continue so for[br]some time to come. 0:22:46.264,0:22:49.067 (narrator) Some suffragettes were [br]mounting a violent campaign. 0:22:49.067,0:22:53.045 In Britain, one of them was[br]willing to die for the cause. 0:22:54.429,0:22:55.607 In June of 1913, 0:22:55.607,0:22:59.410 Emily Davison threw herself[br]in front of the king's horse 0:22:59.410,0:23:00.917 at the popular Epsom Derby. 0:23:06.976,0:23:08.386 She died with the inscription, 0:23:08.386,0:23:11.280 "Votes for Women"[br]sewn into her coat. 0:23:13.387,0:23:16.428 That kind of sacrifice inspired[br]American suffragettes 0:23:16.428,0:23:18.430 to intensify their campaign. 0:23:22.000,0:23:24.002 The right to vote would also[br]prove elusive for 0:23:24.002,0:23:26.138 America's nine million blacks. 0:23:26.138,0:23:29.074 Black men could vote in theory, 0:23:29.074,0:23:31.943 but in fact most were barred[br]by white intimidation, 0:23:31.943,0:23:34.946 poll taxes,[br]and literacy tests. 0:23:38.284,0:23:41.067 85% of black Americans[br]lived in poverty in 0:23:41.067,0:23:42.988 the southern United States, 0:23:42.988,0:23:46.758 segregated from whites by[br]so-called Jim Crow laws, 0:23:46.758,0:23:50.228 laws upheld by the Supreme[br]Court that all but 0:23:50.228,0:23:52.764 wiped out the freedom[br]and equality 0:23:52.764,0:23:55.000 once promised by emancipation. 0:23:55.000,0:23:59.130 (John Milton Cooper) It is the complete [br]denial of the American dream. 0:24:00.438,0:24:03.175 They cannot go to the same[br]schools with whites. 0:24:03.175,0:24:05.811 They can't drink from the[br]same drinking fountains. 0:24:05.811,0:24:08.246 They cannot sit in the same[br]part of a street car 0:24:08.246,0:24:12.450 or in the same cars[br]on a railroad. 0:24:12.450,0:24:13.785 It's a horrible time. 0:24:13.785,0:24:15.854 White politicians compete[br]with each other in the 0:24:15.854,0:24:18.824 south for being more,[br]at least verbally, 0:24:18.824,0:24:23.895 violent toward African-Americans[br]and in many cases are 0:24:23.895,0:24:26.743 encouraging or at least[br]abetting actual violence. 0:24:34.506,0:24:35.607 (George Kimbley) They were [br]lynching blacks. 0:24:35.607,0:24:38.776 There was hardly a week that two or[br]three blacks didn't get lynched 0:24:40.750,0:24:42.519 or burned at the stake. 0:24:43.381,0:24:45.383 I don't know whether you[br]heard that or not. 0:24:45.383,0:24:48.384 You ever hear of any black people[br]getting burned at the stake. 0:24:49.154,0:24:50.290 Well, that's what happened. 0:24:50.290,0:24:52.424 I lived in those days. 0:24:55.727,0:24:58.196 (narrator) The most prominent black [br]leader with the turn of the century, 0:24:58.196,0:24:59.998 Booker T. Washington, 0:24:59.998,0:25:02.868 accepted the notion of[br]separateness. 0:25:02.868,0:25:05.070 He asked blacks to better[br]themselves through work 0:25:05.070,0:25:07.038 and vocational training. 0:25:07.038,0:25:11.233 From whites he asked for help,[br]not equality. 0:25:11.233,0:25:13.778 (John Milton Cooper) Booker T. Washington[br]was born a slave. 0:25:13.778,0:25:16.948 Called his autobiography,[br]"Up from Slavery." 0:25:16.948,0:25:19.980 This is a man who has[br]pulled himself up 0:25:20.887,0:25:22.754 by his own bootstraps. 0:25:22.754,0:25:27.726 And he takes the perspective[br]that it would be foolish 0:25:27.726,0:25:34.361 to challenge what's being done[br]to them too soon and too openly. 0:25:35.066,0:25:37.602 (narrator) But there would[br]be a challenge. 0:25:37.602,0:25:39.871 In 1905,[br]the black intellectual, 0:25:39.871,0:25:43.675 W. E. B. Du Bois urged a new [br]struggle for full political 0:25:43.675,0:25:45.677 and social equality. 0:25:48.613,0:25:52.550 Entrenched resistance to such[br]change would make civil rights, 0:25:52.550,0:25:53.985 as Du Bois predicted, 0:25:53.985,0:25:57.522 the major social issue[br]in American life for 0:25:57.522,0:25:59.456 the rest of the century. 0:26:06.209,0:26:07.280 At the turn of the century, 0:26:07.280,0:26:10.101 there were 76 million[br]people in America. 0:26:10.101,0:26:14.205 The majority of them lived on[br]farms or in small towns 0:26:14.205,0:26:17.075 where they relied on gaslight[br]and horsepower. 0:26:18.967,0:26:21.400 (Lorine Hyer) Every morning,[br]the milkman came, 0:26:21.400,0:26:23.459 and the cream at the[br]top would rise, 0:26:23.459,0:26:25.895 and if you got there early, 0:26:25.895,0:26:28.954 you could take a lick of the[br]cream before your mother 0:26:28.954,0:26:31.289 found out what you were doing. 0:26:31.919,0:26:37.028 (Frank Truxall) It was a great [br]period of the front porch. 0:26:37.028,0:26:39.698 In the evenings after dinner, 0:26:39.698,0:26:46.263 the family would assemble[br]on the front streets. 0:26:47.324,0:26:51.843 Some of the times the[br]neighbors would pass, 0:26:51.843,0:26:54.596 and we exchanged bows. 0:26:56.333,0:26:57.590 We played games: 0:26:57.590,0:27:05.894 I Spy and Run Sheep Run and[br]Lemonade What Was Your Trade. 0:27:08.693,0:27:12.274 (E.L. Doctorow) "Tennis rackets were[br]hefty and the racket face elliptical. 0:27:13.766,0:27:15.934 "Women were stouter then. 0:27:17.318,0:27:20.605 "They visited the fleet[br]carrying white parasols. 0:27:20.605,0:27:22.890 "Everyone wore white in summer. 0:27:22.890,0:27:24.042 "That was the style. 0:27:24.042,0:27:26.074 That was the way people lived." 0:27:28.413,0:27:30.615 (narrator) But the rhythm of American [br]life was quickening in the 0:27:30.615,0:27:32.851 early years of the century[br]as more and more people 0:27:32.851,0:27:35.412 headed for the cities [br]with the bright lights 0:27:35.412,0:27:37.953 and the myriad of opportunities. 0:27:38.923,0:27:43.175 (Albert Glotzer) I was four years [br]old when I came to Chicago. 0:27:44.005,0:27:49.808 It was a real magical thing to[br]see the streetcars 0:27:49.808,0:27:51.937 moving up and down 0:27:51.937,0:27:55.608 and the street filled with[br]people all the time, 0:27:55.608,0:27:59.072 and great activities going on. 0:27:59.072,0:28:02.184 I recall looking at[br]it with wonder. 0:28:03.815,0:28:06.284 (narrator) The cities, [br]New York City more than most, 0:28:06.284,0:28:08.286 were centers for the[br]latest engineering 0:28:08.286,0:28:10.158 and technological marvels. 0:28:13.082,0:28:15.741 (David McCullough) The skyscraper [br]is born in that time, 0:28:15.741,0:28:21.066 completely new building form and[br]completely new idea that 0:28:21.066,0:28:23.068 a city could grow up[br]instead of out. 0:28:24.668,0:28:26.771 (Alfred Levitt) It's an amazing [br]sight to me. 0:28:26.771,0:28:29.002 I saw the Flat Iron Building. 0:28:29.740,0:28:31.958 I saw the Woolworth Tower. 0:28:32.420,0:28:39.900 It is a very stunning view how[br]a building can pierce the sky. 0:28:41.886,0:28:44.255 (narrator) And underground [br]there was a new way to travel. 0:28:44.255,0:28:45.256 In New York City, 0:28:45.256,0:28:48.015 the subway was inaugurated[br]in 1904. 0:28:51.963,0:28:54.667 One could ride the subway[br]to the outskirts of the city 0:28:54.667,0:28:57.402 where the power of science [br]and technology was 0:28:57.402,0:29:00.134 harnessed for pursuit[br]of a good time. 0:29:02.458,0:29:06.186 Tens of thousands of New Yorkers [br]went every day and night 0:29:06.698,0:29:08.071 to Coney Island. 0:29:16.748,0:29:17.524 When I came there, 0:29:17.524,0:29:22.227 my brothers immediately[br]treated me to a hot dog. 0:29:22.227,0:29:23.228 Nathan's. 0:29:26.320,0:29:28.532 I done run into the water. 0:29:29.499,0:29:32.537 I tasted all over me[br]the salt of the sea. 0:29:33.108,0:29:35.713 I was baptized by nature. 0:29:37.696,0:29:42.772 There was a kind of freedom[br]that I never dreamt. 0:29:42.772,0:29:45.356 That I could have. 0:29:47.156,0:29:49.187 (narrator) That sense of freedom [br]was also spread by the 0:29:49.187,0:29:51.356 availability of ideas. 0:29:51.356,0:29:53.358 In the early part of the[br]century, 0:29:53.358,0:29:56.427 some 9,000 public libraries in[br]the country dispensed 0:29:56.427,0:29:59.464 information freely and democratically. 0:29:59.464,0:30:03.868 One man said to me,[br]"Alfred, do you know that 0:30:03.868,0:30:07.372 there's a library[br]on 42nd Street?" 0:30:07.372,0:30:10.576 I says, "I do, but I know[br]was never there." 0:30:10.576,0:30:13.745 He says, "That's where[br]you belong. 0:30:13.745,0:30:15.880 You'll get all the literature[br]in the world," 0:30:15.880,0:30:18.139 and it doesn't cost[br]you a dime." 0:30:19.031,0:30:22.253 I read an immense[br]number of books, 0:30:22.253,0:30:27.258 because I wanted to understand[br]the American people's minds. 0:30:27.258,0:30:33.064 I wanted to be completely American [br]and forget all of my past. 0:30:38.245,0:30:40.846 Immigrants themselves bringing[br]new languages and 0:30:40.846,0:30:43.185 customs were making the[br]culture of the city just 0:30:43.185,0:30:45.038 that much more diverse. 0:30:45.038,0:30:50.200 The immigrant nourishment[br]this nation has always had, 0:30:50.200,0:30:54.845 the incoming people has[br]been an extremely important 0:30:54.845,0:30:58.483 part of our vitality,[br]our ingenuity. 0:30:59.144,0:31:04.329 It's like aerating the[br]stream of life here. 0:31:04.329,0:31:07.098 (narrator) Early in this century,[br]one in three residents of 0:31:07.098,0:31:10.401 major American cites had[br]been born somewhere else. 0:31:10.401,0:31:12.704 New York had twice as[br]many Irish as Dublin, 0:31:12.704,0:31:15.773 and Chicago had more[br]Poles than Warsaw. 0:31:16.880,0:31:18.697 We had Polish people. 0:31:18.697,0:31:20.850 We had Irish people. 0:31:20.850,0:31:24.321 We had Jewish people,[br]and we had Italian people. 0:31:24.321,0:31:27.846 And they were all friendly, 0:31:27.846,0:31:30.412 and we were all in[br]the same boat. 0:31:30.412,0:31:32.756 None of us had any money. 0:31:34.109,0:31:36.665 (Martin Scorsese) My grandparents - [br]the only place they could get rooms 0:31:37.003,0:31:38.575 literally was on[br]Elizabeth Street, 0:31:38.575,0:31:40.846 which is where my[br]mother was born. 0:31:40.846,0:31:42.944 The apartment was[br]two-and-a-half room, 0:31:42.944,0:31:45.970 three rooms, and maybe 14[br]people were living in it. 0:31:45.970,0:31:48.139 And at night it'd look like,[br]you know, 0:31:48.139,0:31:50.560 a hospital ward with all these[br]beds and all these 0:31:50.560,0:31:52.323 people sleeping in these[br]different beds. 0:31:55.030,0:31:56.342 (Clara Hancox) There were no bathrooms. 0:31:56.342,0:31:57.658 There were toilets. 0:31:57.674,0:32:00.118 They were in the hallway. 0:32:00.118,0:32:04.389 But my mother and father thought[br]that this was wonderful 0:32:04.389,0:32:08.593 because in the old country the[br]toilets were in the backyard, 0:32:08.593,0:32:13.631 and the fact that in the kitchen we [br]had not only running water 0:32:13.631,0:32:17.107 so that you didn't have to go[br]to the well for water 0:32:17.107,0:32:19.976 but we had hot water... 0:32:19.976,0:32:22.578 My mother, every week that[br]she did the wash, 0:32:22.578,0:32:25.636 she said how wonderful,[br]how wonderful, 0:32:25.636,0:32:27.645 we have hot water. 0:32:29.060,0:32:31.963 (narrator) Steadily rising income and[br]declining work hours meant 0:32:31.963,0:32:34.252 that for the first time,[br]even working class people 0:32:34.252,0:32:36.521 could go out in search of[br]entertainment. 0:32:39.782,0:32:41.526 Five cents bought a[br]ticket to the 0:32:41.526,0:32:45.096 newest entertainment phenomenon,[br]moving pictures. 0:32:51.249,0:32:54.294 (off screen voice) We were so taken [br]with the nickel shows. 0:32:54.294,0:33:00.309 Two of us would beg to be[br]admitted by sitting on one seat. 0:33:00.309,0:33:03.348 (narrator) The earliest movies introduced[br]simultaneously in France 0:33:03.348,0:33:06.584 and the United States in the[br]1890s were simple tableau 0:33:06.584,0:33:08.252 of anything that moved, 0:33:08.252,0:33:11.957 either make believe or[br]what was called actuality. 0:33:14.157,0:33:17.941 In 1903 came the first American[br]film that actually told a story, 0:33:17.956,0:33:22.367 "The Great Train Robbery",[br]a western filmed in New Jersey. 0:33:22.367,0:33:25.650 Its huge success made it[br]clear that fiction was 0:33:25.650,0:33:27.063 what the audience[br]wanted most. 0:33:29.139,0:33:31.275 There was comedy, 0:33:32.751,0:33:35.480 and then there was the[br]Perils of Pauline, 0:33:35.480,0:33:38.883 which was a serial that went on 0:33:38.883,0:33:42.304 every Saturday afternoon. 0:33:42.934,0:33:46.661 Every week she was[br]in a situation.. 0:33:46.661,0:33:48.593 A lot of kids. 0:33:48.593,0:33:53.064 It wasn't the movie to them. 0:33:53.064,0:33:54.732 It was actuality. 0:33:58.792,0:34:01.434 (narrator) Beginning in 1910,[br]Americans were also seeing 0:34:01.434,0:34:03.195 newsreels from around the world. 0:34:05.733,0:34:09.562 It's coming as a great force [br]for mass entertainment 0:34:09.562,0:34:11.278 and for mass culture. 0:34:11.278,0:34:13.533 There is this sense of[br]possibility, 0:34:13.533,0:34:14.472 the sense of openness, 0:34:14.472,0:34:16.442 the sense of widening[br]the horizons. 0:34:17.718,0:34:20.860 What it does is it[br]opens the world. 0:34:36.514,0:34:39.930 (narrator) In Havana harbor [br]on February 15, 1898, 0:34:39.930,0:34:42.880 a mysterious explosion sank[br]an American cruiser, 0:34:42.880,0:34:44.948 the USS Maine. 0:34:44.948,0:34:47.752 266 officers and sailors[br]were killed. 0:34:50.054,0:34:53.491 Cuba was a Spanish colony[br]90 miles from Florida. 0:34:53.491,0:34:56.581 Although there was no evidence[br]of Spanish involvement, 0:34:56.581,0:35:01.313 cries of revenge against[br]Spain swept across America. 0:35:02.667,0:35:04.135 But President William McKinley, 0:35:04.135,0:35:06.337 who would lead American[br]into the 20th century, 0:35:06.337,0:35:08.406 was reluctant to go to war. 0:35:09.283,0:35:12.537 (Stanley Karnow) President McKinley[br]is a silver-tongued orator, 0:35:13.537,0:35:14.735 a very popular, 0:35:14.735,0:35:18.349 sweet man but a very[br]indecisive man. 0:35:18.349,0:35:21.586 They used to say that McKinley's[br]mind is like an unmade bed. 0:35:21.586,0:35:24.388 You have to make it up for[br]him before he can use it. 0:35:24.388,0:35:27.592 (narrator) Much more eager for[br]war and foreign adventure in 0:35:27.592,0:35:31.329 general was McKinley's young[br]Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 0:35:31.329,0:35:32.930 Theodore Roosevelt. 0:35:32.930,0:35:35.700 (Stanley Karnow) Theodore Roosevelt[br]was a great believer in outdoorism, 0:35:35.700,0:35:37.702 a great believer in activity. 0:35:37.702,0:35:39.403 He was vigorous,[br]you know. 0:35:39.403,0:35:42.573 You could imagine him sort of taking [br]cold showers all the time. 0:35:43.896,0:35:48.079 He carried all of this in[br]character into his politics. 0:35:49.524,0:35:54.260 He was a great believer[br]in American power, 0:35:54.260,0:35:57.544 in American imperialism,[br]a great believer in war. 0:35:58.435,0:36:02.463 War is one of the highest forms[br]of human endeavor, he wrote. 0:36:03.294,0:36:06.297 (narrator) With Roosevelt and[br]others lobbying intensely for it, 0:36:06.297,0:36:10.988 Congress declared war on[br]Spain in April of 1898. 0:36:11.541,0:36:14.472 Roosevelt left his job[br]in Washington to 0:36:14.472,0:36:17.141 join the campaign in Cuba. 0:36:17.141,0:36:20.311 Theodore Roosevelt organizes[br]his own cowboy buddies from 0:36:20.311,0:36:25.116 the west into the Rough Riders[br]and goes to Brooks Brothers 0:36:25.116,0:36:29.887 and gets a uniform made and[br]gets out a big saber and 0:36:29.887,0:36:33.090 goes down there and[br]storms San Juan Hill. 0:36:34.459,0:36:37.316 (narrator) It took the United States [br]less than three months to defeat 0:36:37.316,0:36:40.644 Spain in what one American[br]official called 0:36:40.644,0:36:42.521 a splendid little war. 0:36:44.736,0:36:47.104 The spoils of war for the[br]United States were the 0:36:47.104,0:36:51.261 Spanish colonies of Cuba,[br]Puerto Rico, Guam, 0:36:51.261,0:36:53.227 and the Philippines. 0:36:53.227,0:36:55.313 The United States[br]was now an empire. 0:36:59.865,0:37:02.360 At the Pan-American[br]exposition in Buffalo, 0:37:02.360,0:37:04.938 New York in September 1901,[br]President McKinley was 0:37:04.938,0:37:08.893 killed by an assassin with[br]no particular cause beyond 0:37:08.893,0:37:10.328 his own dissatisfaction. 0:37:13.804,0:37:16.701 Theodore Roosevelt,[br]by then Vice President, 0:37:16.701,0:37:18.884 became America's leader. 0:37:20.606,0:37:25.401 He's really the first President who sees[br]the United States as a global power. 0:37:25.401,0:37:30.147 America's century begins[br]really with Roosevelt. 0:37:31.393,0:37:34.956 Theodore Roosevelt was[br]an imperialist. 0:37:34.956,0:37:38.122 He actually gloried in the term, 0:37:38.122,0:37:42.994 and he wanted the United States[br]to be a real empire, 0:37:42.994,0:37:46.468 exercising great power[br]in the same ways that 0:37:46.468,0:37:49.239 the great European empires did. 0:37:50.901,0:37:53.604 (narrator) Roosevelt's design included[br]linking the Pacific and 0:37:53.604,0:37:56.674 Atlantic Oceans by building a[br]canal through the Isthmus 0:37:56.674,0:37:59.552 of Panama in northern Colombia. 0:37:59.552,0:38:02.246 Such a canal would greatly[br]facilitate shipping and 0:38:02.246,0:38:05.616 ensure America's strategic[br]hold on the region. 0:38:05.616,0:38:08.386 But when the Colombians[br]refused to cooperate, 0:38:08.386,0:38:11.088 Roosevelt encouraged the[br]Panamanians to revolt 0:38:11.088,0:38:13.090 against their Colombian rulers. 0:38:14.305,0:38:17.362 Within a couple of days, [br]we recognized the new 0:38:17.362,0:38:21.765 independent Republic of Panama,[br]and within another few days, 0:38:21.765,0:38:23.630 we had concluded a[br]treaty with them. 0:38:23.630,0:38:27.178 Roosevelt said when other[br]people dithered and 0:38:27.178,0:38:30.724 when other people debated,[br]I acted. 0:38:30.724,0:38:31.928 I took action. 0:38:35.173,0:38:37.114 (narrator) Construction of the[br]era's engineering 0:38:37.114,0:38:39.417 wonder began in 1904. 0:38:39.417,0:38:43.954 Alfred Bingham visited the [br]canal site as a child. 0:38:43.954,0:38:47.925 I can remember riding [br]along in this car on 0:38:47.925,0:38:50.428 the bottom of the canal. 0:38:50.428,0:38:57.034 A lot of big machinery and a[br]lot of trains going up and down, 0:38:57.034,0:38:59.270 taking the diggings out. 0:38:59.270,0:39:02.606 And there were marvelous[br]bit structures 0:39:02.606,0:39:07.044 such as that were[br]to be the locks. 0:39:09.012,0:39:11.248 The building of the canal itself[br]was the greatest 0:39:11.248,0:39:15.319 engineering feat that had ever[br]been done up to that time, 0:39:15.319,0:39:19.190 and it's all of the great[br]power and technology and 0:39:19.190,0:39:21.192 energy of this age[br]harnessed there. 0:39:23.376,0:39:26.163 There's a wonderful photo of[br]Theodore Roosevelt at one 0:39:26.163,0:39:28.966 of the controls of one of these[br]gigantic steam shovels 0:39:28.966,0:39:31.902 that they used to dig[br]out the ditch. 0:39:31.902,0:39:36.821 The Panama Canal is a wonderful[br]expression not only of him 0:39:36.821,0:39:39.157 but in many ways of[br]America of that time. 0:39:44.954,0:39:48.200 (narrator) In mid-August of 1914,[br]Americans celebrated the 0:39:48.200,0:39:50.256 opening of the Panama Canal, 0:39:50.256,0:39:55.000 a triumph of both technology[br]and man's will over nature. 0:39:57.369,0:39:59.830 An engineering feat as[br]impressive as the pyramids, 0:39:59.830,0:40:03.134 the canal would also become[br]the symbol of America's entrance 0:40:03.134,0:40:07.204 into the international arena[br]at a time when 0:40:07.204,0:40:10.355 the world was becoming[br]more dangerous. 0:40:11.509,0:40:12.510 That same week, 0:40:12.510,0:40:15.613 the great powers of Europe were[br]headed for a violent encounter 0:40:15.613,0:40:18.582 that none of them could[br]even imagine, 0:40:18.582,0:40:21.285 promoted by German ambition. 0:40:21.285,0:40:22.353 Early in the century, 0:40:22.353,0:40:25.689 Germany had emerged as the [br]industrial power in Europe, 0:40:25.689,0:40:28.359 rivaling Britain and already[br]mightier than France, 0:40:28.359,0:40:31.562 the Austro-Hungarian[br]empire and Russia. 0:40:31.562,0:40:33.564 But as Europe's youngest empire, 0:40:33.564,0:40:36.000 Germany wielded little political 0:40:36.000,0:40:42.608 (Joachin Von Elbe) Germany is really a [br]great power and a leader of nations and 0:40:42.608,0:40:46.938 wanted at least to be equal to others, 0:40:46.938,0:40:49.896 not to be considered less[br]important than 0:40:49.896,0:40:52.123 other powers like England. 0:40:53.615,0:40:56.799 (narrator) Under Kaiser Wilhelm,[br]Germany was training the 0:40:56.799,0:40:59.658 best land army in the world,[br]five million men, 0:40:59.658,0:41:02.526 and had begun building[br]a powerful navy. 0:41:06.309,0:41:09.679 (Jay Winter) To build that navy [br]required nerve because 0:41:09.679,0:41:11.692 it was a direct challenge[br]to Britain, 0:41:11.692,0:41:14.985 and that conflict between[br]Britain and Germany is 0:41:14.985,0:41:18.709 at the heart of international[br]affairs before 1914. 0:41:20.616,0:41:22.513 (narrator) Britain responded [br]by launching the most 0:41:22.513,0:41:25.753 powerful warship on earth,[br]the Dreadnought. 0:41:27.399,0:41:31.021 It was a revolution[br]in naval warfare. 0:41:31.021,0:41:36.245 It was an all-big gunship,[br]big 12-inch guns. 0:41:38.337,0:41:41.626 Also, the Dreadnought[br]had the latest 0:41:41.626,0:41:43.900 technological equipment on it. 0:41:43.900,0:41:45.703 It had electrical equipment,[br]for example. 0:41:45.703,0:41:48.272 Once the British had a[br]Dreadnought, 0:41:48.272,0:41:51.432 the Germans had to have a[br]Dreadnought, etc., etc. 0:41:52.109,0:41:55.179 (narrator) The tensions fed by an[br]arms race and rivalry among 0:41:55.179,0:41:57.689 the major European powers[br]finally came to a head 0:41:57.689,0:42:01.585 in June of 1914 when[br]Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 0:42:01.585,0:42:04.421 the heir to the Austro-Hungarian[br]empire, 0:42:04.421,0:42:09.419 was assassinated by a Serbian[br]nationalist in Sarajevo. 0:42:10.361,0:42:13.392 There was no reason why the[br]assassination of Franz Ferdinand, 0:42:13.392,0:42:17.334 who signaled the collision of [br]fundamental interests. 0:42:17.334,0:42:20.437 It was a matter of choice. 0:42:20.437,0:42:24.975 And that choice was made in[br]Vienna and in Berlin to 0:42:24.975,0:42:28.212 make it more than an[br]assassination. 0:42:28.212,0:42:30.347 (narrator) In late July with[br]German's support, 0:42:30.347,0:42:33.384 the Austro-Hungarian empire[br]declared war on Serbia, 0:42:33.384,0:42:37.254 and within days all the great[br]powers of Europe bound 0:42:37.254,0:42:40.357 by their various alliances were[br]at war with each other. 0:42:43.433,0:42:44.644 (Henry Villard) I was at a camp, 0:42:44.644,0:42:48.832 a boys camp in New Hampshire[br]in 1914 when war was declared, 0:42:48.832,0:42:53.804 and it was a shock to[br]a very peaceful world. 0:42:53.804,0:42:56.941 But nobody took[br]it too seriously. 0:42:56.941,0:42:59.209 War was bad,[br]of course, 0:42:59.209,0:43:03.681 but it was also something that[br]would be temporary and 0:43:03.681,0:43:05.683 would not have a far-reaching[br]effect. 0:43:12.189,0:43:14.925 (narrator) But this war would be [br]more catastrophic than any 0:43:14.925,0:43:17.695 which had gone before,[br]one in which technology, 0:43:17.695,0:43:19.029 engine of progress, 0:43:19.029,0:43:22.633 would be used in the slaughter[br]of millions, 0:43:22.633,0:43:25.536 a war that would sow[br]greater hatred and 0:43:25.536,0:43:28.485 result in far greater[br]consequences than anyone 0:43:28.485,0:43:32.781 could imagine in that[br]summer of 1914. 0:43:35.012,0:43:38.916 What was optimistically called[br]the war to end all wars 0:43:38.916,0:43:41.885 would draw America into an[br]increasingly complex 0:43:41.885,0:43:43.654 and dangerous world. 0:43:43.654,0:43:46.023 That's on the next episode[br]of The Century, 0:43:46.023,0:43:48.425 America's Time. 0:43:48.425,0:43:49.994 I'm Peter Jennings. 0:43:49.994,0:43:50.995 Thank you for joining us.