Government Intervention During the 20th Century : 3D Gallery

The Rise of Oil Monopolies

This painting beautifully illustrates the
dangerous properties of monopolies in America. This particular one shows how
the Standard Oil Company dominated the oil industry and created trusts between
other companies that monopolized oil. At its highest, the Standard Oil Company
controlled over ninety percent of the oil market. The US government responded
with anti-trust laws to help combat this dangerous growth.

This is an excellent argument for
the need to combat economic crisis with laws that target the problem. Not many
realize how dangerous a monopolized oil industry could have become if the
government had not interrupted the growth of the Standard Oil Company.

Carnegie Steel Monopoly

Carnegie Steel started off as a small company.
They had then merged with U.S. Steel. Under the joint-ownership, the company
was able to successfully battle the Sherman Act in court. After the fact, the
company began to lobby in the government for international tariffs so that
their profits could grow. At their peak, U.S. Steel controlled 70% percent of
the steel market. They did so by maintaining control of the entire process that
was involved in creating steel.

Although the anti-trust laws were
not completely effective, they did help to hinder the monopolization of U.S.
Steel. The company did not reach the dangerous levels that Standard Oil
did.

History of Social Security.

Social Security is a concept that is not
unfamiliar to America. It became an organized government agency as a New Deal
policy. Social Security provided aid to unemployed, unable to work, elderly,
and injured. As one of a few New Deal exhibits here, Social Security is one of
the most wide-known agencies and is still in place today.

After
the stock market crash in 1929, the government needed a safety net for those
affected by the economic crisis. By creating Social Security, the government
intervened during a time of terror for many and helped those who needed
financial assistance.

The WPA

The WPA was a New Deal effort to combat
unemployment. At the agency's peak, they employed over three million workers.
The WPA was not able to work for the private industry as a federal entity.
Therefore, the agency worked primarily on building schools, hospitals, bridges,
airfields, pipelines, roads, and they planted over 24 million trees.

The WPA is an excellent example of
how the government can be helpful during times of crisis. While nearly a
quarter of the population was unemployed during the great depression, the WPA
created a massive outlet to not only employ people; but to start and finish
many public works projects.

Federal Agricultural Subsidies

As part of the New Deal, FDR made it a priority
to keep the agricultural sector of the economy booming. He set in place a
policy that paid farmers of commodities, such as corn and wheat, to slow
production in order to increase the price of goods. This would improve the
profits that farmers and markets would make due to the rapidly declining price
of crops. This is very important, because many farmers would barely make a
profit each year and needed to borrow money to stay in business. By creating a way for farmers to
stay in business and earn more money for their crops, the government programs
helped usher America back into economic success. Without the intervention of
the federal government, society would have continued to fall to pieces.

Japanese Internment During WWII

Giving government too much power is never a
proper way to run a country. The federal government responded to WWII
suspicions after the attacks on Pearl Harbor by sending many Japanese-Americans
to internment camps. This was and ill-founded act based solely on prejudice and
racism. There was a possibility that a few Japanese-Americans could have been
spies, but the very vast majority were not. Intervention in times of crisis can
be helpful or disastrous.

Recruit Through Film

A young man and
his partner go to see a feature film in October of 1942. Before the movie, they
and the guests are greeted with a ten minute war film intended to persuade
young men and women to join the effort in World War II. Many films like this
were displayed in the early years of the 1940's. Most of them were
government-sponsored with propaganda that would create a motivation for
citizens to join the militant effort against the Axis Powers.

This is an example of a method that
the government used to promote serving one's country during war. Without the
use of propaganda and war films, quite a few servants in WWII would not have
been involved in the effort.

Free Speech Action During WWII

During World War I, the government became
suspicious of spying and sabotage to our war effort. So, the federal government
passed the Espionage Act, later amended with the Sedition Act. Virtually any
kind of dissent towards the government was outlawed. Actions such as abusive,
profane, vulgar, or disloyal language to the government was treated as a crime
under the Espionage Act. The passing of this was intended to suppress civil
liberties in effort to minimize the amount of spies and dissenters that could
hinder the ability for the government to participate in WWI. Many still debate whether or not
the Espionage Act was justified or not, but this is an example of what American
Government does in times of militant crisis.

Vietnam-Era Intervention

The Vietnam War was a very dark time for free
speech in America. The federal government was not too keen on the dissension
that was occurring within the civilian population. Many citizens were
vehemently against the war in Vietnam. In 1968, a group of protesters were met
with violent police resistance outside of the Democratic National Convention.
Even members of the government itself were victims of free speech suppression. A
Georgia legislative member was forced to fight the Supreme Court to maintain
his position due to his position on the Vietnam War. The government suffered a serious
loss of capability in maintaining peace among the civilians in time of crisis
since the very early 1900's. As mentioned in the Japanese-Internment Camp
exhibit, not all government intervention is positive for the civilian
population. This is part of our museum to educate with intent to prevent this
in the future. Those who do not know about history are doomed to repeat
it.

The Patriot Act

After the events that occurred on 9/11, the government needed
to make serious measures to ensure that a massive terrorist attack never
happened again. The collection of policies that allowed the government to view
private information in aims to prevent terrorism is known as the Patriot Act.
This act allowed the government to view hospital records, internet service
records, business logs, and even phone call history. Many criticized this
movement, but the Patriot Act has prevented major terrorist attacks since its
founding. There is room for corruption, and that should be taken care of. But
the intervention of a few liberties is a fair cost to pay for protection from
terrorism. The federal government was not ill-conceived to pass the patriot
act. Along with many other measures, such as the war on terror and the TSA, the
act of government action has prevented another catastrophic terror attack from
occurring against America.

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Government Intervention During the 20th Century