One way to compare America in 1900 to America today is to look at the presidents. In 1900, the president was William McKinley. McKinley was a soft-spoken man, much like our president George Bush is today. On New Years Day, McKinley held the traditional open house reception. Today, having the White House open like that would be unthinkable. Another major difference is the security at the White House. During the night in 1900 there was only one guard on duty who often retired early. Guards are on alert around the

Immigration was huge in 1900. Five hundred thousand immigrants from around the world came to America in hopes of making it big like so many stories they had heard. When they arrived they found the very same hardships they had left. So much hardship was in America that one third of all immigrants who came to the U.S. went back to their home country. Immigrants were willing to work for less than native born citizens were, so they became fodder for the industrial engine that was America. The typical workday was twelve to sixteen hours and paid no more than $1.35 a day. Immigrants usually worked six days a week. Even with these horrible conditions workers were still optimistic. Conditions did not improve until disaster struck. A mine in Schofield, Utah was the site of the worst mining disaster in America's history. Over 200 workers were killed when coal dust in the mine was ignited and exploded causing a cave-in. This horrid disaster could have been avoided if there were some federal regulations in place. Finally, one man rose to unite the divided mine workers. This man, John Mitchell, attempted to do what other men had failed to do before him. Since mine workers were so diverse and easily replaceable, most often people of different races hated each other. The task facing John Mitchell was one of massive proportions. His motto was, "The coal you mine isn't Irish, The coal you mine isn't Finnish, The coal you mine has no race, it's just coal." On the day he ordered the strike he only had nine thousand miners behind him. Amazingly, however, on the morning of the strike day 90,000 people showed up to strike and by week's end 120,000 miners were all on strike. These miners were not radicals; all they wanted was a decent wage. After months on strike, it finally ended when J.P. Morgan, on special request from President McKinley, intervened and told the mine owners to give in. It was the first of many successful strikes later to come.

Over the last 100 years America has become a different nation. We are more technologically, scientifically, and socially advanced. Some of the problems we faced in the past are still present today. Racial and gender discrimination are no longer as big as they were in 1900 but they exist nonetheless. We once again are facing conflict halfway around the globe. Immigration is up again in the 90's. Despite economic downturn, Americans are still optimistic and expect everything to get better. Our country has shifted from being a rural nation in 1900 to being a firm urban country. The population has exploded in the last 100 years from 76 million to 281 million. We lead the world in every category. It seems America is here to stay.

Racial discrimination was an even bigger problem in 1900 than was gender discrimination. Perhaps, the biggest display of this was at the world's fair in France. The world's fair showcased technological and scientific achievements by the white man. It was almost as if they

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Approximate Word count = 1983
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)