American History by Decade: The 1910s Quiz

Answer: It was the last in which one of the top two finishers was neither a Republican nor Democrat

During the Taft presidency, a rift had developed between fellow Republicans Taft and Roosevelt. Roosevelt broke away to form his Bull Moose party with other progressive Republicans and came in second in the 1912 election to Wilson. American political parties came and went throughout the 19th century, but after the 1912 election, the U.S. settled into the current Republican-Democrat two party system.

Answer: Established popular election of U.S. Senators

Under the original U.S. Constitution, the two senators from each state were appointed by the state legislatures. The problems with this method were that some senators obtained their positions through direct bribes to state legislators, and state legislatures were frequently unable to come to majority agreement about whom they should elect thus delaying the seating of their Senator.

Answer: The Armory Show

The show was held at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue. Prior to the Armory Show, the American public was used to realistic painting. The Armory Show acquainted Americans with avant-garde Europeans like Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, and Duchamp.

Answer: Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa was the leader of the northern forces during the Mexican Revolution and raided Columbus for horses, guns, and ammunition. President Wilson ordered John J. Pershing and 5000 soldiers to go to Mexico and capture Villa. Villa eluded them for nine months when the pursuit was abandoned.

Answer: He kept us out of war

Wilson barely beat Hughes in 1916 (3800 votes in California decided the election). War was raging in Europe, and Wilson positioned himself as the peace candidate who would keep the U.S. neutral. Ironically, less than a month after his inauguration, the U.S. entered World War I.

Answer: The Zimmerman Telegram

The Germans believed the Americans would enter the war in early 1917 and tried to ally with Mexico in order to tie up American resources. The Mexicans declined the alliance, but discovery of the Zimmerman telegram was the last straw that drove America to war with Germany.

Answer: By the time the Americans arrived, the war was more than 2/3rds over

Public opinion was divided on whether America should enter the War. Non-interventionists like Henry Ford, William Jennings Bryan, and William Randolph Hearst wanted to stay out. Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft, and Walter Lippman all wanted America to intervene. Although they were the right age to participate, Al Capone and Jack Dempsey both sat out the War.

Answer: Spanish flu

The first case of Spanish flu in the U.S. was in Haskell County, Kansas from where it spread to nearby Fort Riley where soldiers preparing to ship out for World War I spread it around the world. Among world pandemics, only the Black Death of the 14th century killed more people than the Spanish Flu of 1918.

Answer: The Fourteen Points speech

Wilson's Fourteen Points included returning Alsace-Lorraine to France, restoring the sovereignty of the Belgian government, and free trade among nations. Teddy Roosevelt was not impressed and said that "most of these fourteen points can be interpreted to mean anything or nothing."

Answer: The fixing of the World Series

"Shoeless Joe" Jackson was a star outfielder who, along with other members of the Chicago White Sox, accepted money from gamblers to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series. Major League Baseball hired its first ever commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, after the "Black Sox" scandal to restore integrity to the game.