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[[American History Lecture Ten|Lecture]] - [[American_History_Homework_Ten|Questions]] <!-- [[American History Homework Ten Answers|Student Answers]]-->
In the early 1900s, business continued to expand, labor conflicts increased, and there were additional marvelous inventions. In 1903, for example, the Wright brothers had the first airplane flight on the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wilbur and Orville Wright were actually from Dayton, Ohio, where there is a fascinating museum devoted to innovations in air travel.
:In 1896, the newspapers were filled with accounts of flying machines. Wilbur and Orville noticed that all these primitive aircraft lacked suitable controls. They began to wonder how a pilot might balance an aircraft in the air, just as a cyclist balances his bicycle on the road. In 1899, Wilbur devised a simple system that twisted or "warped" the wings of a biplane, causing it to roll right or left. They tested this system in a kite, then a series of gliders. ... [D]uring the winter of 1901-1902 Wilbur and Orville built a wind tunnel and conducted experiments to determine the best wing shape for an airplane. ... Toward the end of the 1902 flying season, their third glider became the first fully controllable aircraft, with roll, pitch, and yaw controls. During the winter of 1902-1903, with the help of their mechanic, Charlie Taylor, the Wrights designed and built a gasoline engine light enough and powerful enough to propel an airplane.
Yankee ingenuity continued. Within five years Henry Ford was producing his first "Model T" automobiles. He developed the assembly line and the use of interchangeable parts to make production more efficient, to reduce costs, and to increase output. Henry Ford also believed in sharing his enormous profits with his workers, increasing their wages to record high levels. He felt they could become his best customers if they were paid more. Ford was an example of a businessman who had almost no original ideas of his own, but ; he improved and used the ideas he learned from others. There is nothing wrong with that, and unfortunately many do not achieve their potential because they are unwilling to use someone else's good idea. "Not invented here" as a reason to reject good ideas is a mistake.
The labor movement grew, while continuing to suffer from infiltration by radicals. "Big" Bill Haywood was a miner and a violent unionist who founded Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 1905. He was involved in many labor disputes, including textile strikes in New Jersey. He was eventually convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 (see its discussion below) and, while he was out of jail pending appeal of his conviction, he fled to the newly communist Russia in 1918.
