McGraw-Hill SocialStudies 2003 Return to Unit List
Grade 5
Lesson Review Lesson Review
Unit 7: The Nation Changes
Chapter 17: The Nation is Industrialized
Lesson 4: The Rough Rider President
 
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Roosevelt and Reform

President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, and Theodore Roosevelt became President. At the time, many people felt that large were using unfair business practices. Writers, known as , revealed dishonest business practices. wrote about the meat- packing industry, and Ida Tarbell wrote about Standard Oil. Meanwhile, Roosevelt worked to reform large corporations. He believed the government should be able to break up , or businesses that fixed prices to get rid of competition.

The Panama Canal

In 1903, Roosevelt purchased from Panama a ten-mile wide strip of land. Shortly after, Roosevelt began making plans to build the . With a canal, ships would no longer have to travel around South America to reach the Caribbean Sea; it would cut 7,000 miles off such a trip. Building the canal was dangerous work, and many died from and yellow fever.

New Inventions

In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the first with an engine. Orville made the first flight on December 17, 1903. In 1913, Henry Ford invented the and used it and interchangeable parts to mass-produce automobiles. President Roosevelt invented ways to protect our wilderness areas. He set aside about 150 million acres of land for national parks and national monuments, such as the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt also created where animals were safe from hunters.

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