President Woodrow Wilson signs the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act after its sponsor Senator Wesley Jones of Washington, mandating that all goods shipped between U.S. ports must be transported on ships that are American-built, American-owned, and American-crewed. The law …
On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” The Senate vote came nearly 18 months …
U.S. SenateU.S. House of RepresentativesWoodrow WilsonNational American Woman Suffrage AssociationNational Woman's Partywomens-suffrageconstitutional-amendmentdemocratic-expansioncongressional-action
On January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support for a women’s suffrage constitutional amendment, reversing years of opposition in the face of mounting public outrage over the treatment of suffragist prisoners. Wilson’s reversal came less than two months after the …
On June 22, 1917, police arrested six suffragists for picketing the White House, initiating a campaign of state repression against the Silent Sentinels that would eventually result in 168 National Woman’s Party members serving time in prison. The arrests came after the United States entered …
Alice PaulLucy BurnsNational Woman's PartyWoodrow WilsonWashington DC Policewomens-suffragestate-repressionpolitical-prisonerscivil-disobedienceselective-prosecution
On January 10, 1917, Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party (NWP) became the first people ever to picket the White House, initiating an 18-month campaign of nonviolent protest that would eventually involve over 2,000 women. The “Silent Sentinels,” as they became known, stood …
Alice PaulLucy BurnsNational Woman's PartyWoodrow Wilsonwomens-suffragecivil-disobediencemilitant-tacticsdemocratic-expansionwilson-administration
D.W. Griffith’s silent film “The Birth of a Nation” premiered in Los Angeles, becoming the longest and most profitable film produced to that date while securing the future of feature-length films and establishing cinema as a serious artistic medium. With assistance from …
D.W. GriffithWoodrow WilsonWilliam J. SimmonsKu Klux Klanracial-politicswhite-supremacykkkmedia-manipulationcultural-capture
President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Trade Commission Act into law, establishing the FTC as an independent federal agency to prevent ‘unfair methods of competition’ and protect consumers from deceptive business practices. The Act fulfilled Wilson’s ‘New Freedom’ …
On March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson’s presidential inauguration, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, newly-appointed chairs of NAWSA’s Congressional Committee, organized the first major civil rights march on Washington, D.C. Lawyer and activist Inez Milholland, riding a white horse …
Alice PaulLucy BurnsInez MilhollandIda B. WellsWoodrow Wilsonwomens-suffragestate-violenceracial-segregationmedia-strategyinstitutional-resistance
Theodore Roosevelt accepted the Progressive Party nomination for president at a convention in Chicago, formally splitting from the Republican Party after losing the nomination to his former friend William Howard Taft despite winning nine of twelve state primaries. Roosevelt’s “Bull …
Theodore RooseveltWilliam Howard TaftWoodrow WilsonProgressive PartyRepublican National Committeeprogressive-erathird-partyrepublican-partypolitical-realignmentcorporate-power