United States 1916

Synopsis

In 1916 Congress passed the Keating-Owen Act, which regulated the hours and wages of child labor and prohibited interstate transportation of products made in violation of the act. Although reformers hailed the bill as a major step toward alleviating the evils of child labor, manufacturers maintained that in passing the bill Congress had exceed its powers under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. In 1918 the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, holding in Hammer v. Dagenhart that the federal act was unconstitutional.

Timeline

• 1898: United States defeats Spain in the three-month Spanish-American War. As a result, Cuba gains it independence, and the United States purchases Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spain for $20 million.
• 1903: Russia's Social Democratic Party splits into two factions: the moderate Mensheviks and the hard-line Bolsheviks. Despite their names, which in Russian mean "minority" and "majority," respectively, Mensheviks actually outnumber Bolsheviks...