The Early 1900's: An Interactive Story

[[Return to Start->Start]] Your gender is currently set to $gender. Your race is currently set to $race. Change Gender (link: 'Male')[(set: $gender to 'Male')(goto: "Options")] (link: 'Female')[(set: $gender to 'Female')(goto: "Options")] Change Race (link: 'White')[(set: $race to 'White')(goto: "Options")] (link: 'African American')[(set: $race to 'African American')(goto: "Options")] Randomize (link: 'Randomize both Gender and Race')[(set: $gender to (either: "Male", "Female"))(set: $race to (either: "White", "African American"))(goto: "Options")] (link: 'Randomize Gender')[(set: $gender to (either: "Male", "Female"))(goto: "Options")] (link: 'Randomize Race')[(set: $race to (either: "White", "African American"))(goto: "Options")]

You have died. Thank you for playing my game. [[Restart the Game->Initializing]] Credits Author - Jeremy Wright

Welcome to my U.S. history project! This interactive story tells the life of someone born in the year 1900. Your gender is currently $gender. Your race is currently $race. (if: $gender is "None")[Please select an option for your gender and race before you begin.](else-if: $race is "None")[Please select an option for your gender and race before you begin.](else: )[[[Begin Story->Birth]]] (link: "Options")[(goto: 'Options')] (if: $gender is "Male")[(set: $male to true)(set: $female to false)] (if: $gender is "Female")[(set: $female to true)(set: $male to false)] (if: $race is "White")[(set: $white to true)(set: $black to false)] (if: $race is "African American")[(set: $black to true)(set: $white to false)]

You are born early in the year of 1900 into a large $white[white] $black[black] family. Your father works at a [[factory->Factory 1]] in a nearby city. Your mother and most of your siblings work the $black[small] [[farm->Farm 1]]. One of your siblings attends a nearby [[school->School]].

It is 1924 and time for a Presidential election. The incumbent is Calvin Coolidge and he is running again with the Republican party. John W. Davis is the candidate from the Democratic party. Robert M. La Follete is the candidate from the Progressive party. [[Vote for Coolidge]<Vote| [Vote for Davis]<Vote| [Vote for Follete]<Vote| [Abstain]<Vote|]<Votes| |Result)[Calvin Coolidge wins the Presidency again. (display: "1928 Election") ](click: ?Vote)[(replace: ?Votes)[(show: ?Result )]]

The year is 1928 and Calvin Coolidge is the sitting President. The Republican candidate is Herbert Hoover The Democratic candidate is Al Smith. [[Vote for Hoover]<Vote2| [Vote for Smith]<Vote2| [Abstain]<Vote2|]<Votes2| |Result2)[Herbert Hoover won the presidency.] (click: ?Vote2)[(replace: ?Votes2)[(show: ?Result2)]]

(set: $gender to "None")[] (set: $race to "None")[] (set: $farming to false)[] (set: $school to false)[] (goto: "Start")[] [[Start]]

At the age of 12, you go to work with your father in the factory. The work-days are long and tiring. (set: _FactoryDead to (random: 1, 10)) (if: _FactoryDead is 1)[One day, the exhaustion sets in and your sleeve gets caught in the heavy machinery. The rolling metal components slowly pull you in. Your fellow workers and father barely have time to mourn your [[death->Death 1]] before the supervisor tells them to get back to work.](else:)[ You continue to work in the factory until the start of the Great War. As a young teenager, you are not old enough to enlist. The factory you currently work at is converting to [[war production->WarFactory 1]]. The government is also encouraging citizens to become [[farmers->WarFarming 1]] and produce for the war effort.] <! This variable here just gives a 10% chance of death.(This value is temporary and only exists inside this passage.)>

$white[You gain a rural education in a medium-sized schoolhouse. You take an active role in your studies and excel to become prepared for [[college->College]]. However, as the Great War ramps up in Europe, [[farmers->WarFarming 1]] are desperately needed.] $black[You gain a decent rural education in a small schoolhouse. You take an active role in your studies and prepare for [[college->College]]. However, as the Great War ramps up in Europe, [[farmers->WarFarming 1]] are desperately needed.] (set: $school to true)

Starting from a young age, you help your family on the farm. You learn of useful farming techniques, including crop rotation, irrigation, and using manure as fertilizer. You can use this knowledge to [[start your own farm->WarFarming 1]] to produce food for the Great War or become a [[factory worker->WarFactory 1]] to produce ammunition for the Great War. (set: $Farming to true)

The factory closes down for a short time to convert to ammunition production. Everything goes well for the first several years, but on October 4th, 1918, tragedy struck. (set: _FactoryDead to (random: 1, 4)) (if: _FactoryDead is 1)[An explosion occurs inside the building you work in. The explosion sets off several of the shells that were being made. You get caught in the explosion and die. You are one of the about 100 people that [[died->Death 1]] during the Morgan Munition Depot Explosion.](else:)[An explosion occurs in building 6-1-1 of the factory that you work at. A chain reaction sets off several of the shells that were being made. Luckily, you did not suffer any injuries. However, around 100 of your coworkers died during the Morgan Munition Depot Explosion. You continue to work at the ammunition plant until the end of the Great War. You begin to search for employment after the plant closes at the end of the War. There is an opening at a [[car factory->Model T 1]]. There is a also a high demand for [[alcohol->Bootlegging 1]] with a prohibition amendment having been proposed to Congress in late 1917. $black(display: "African American") $female(display: "Woman")]

(if: $Farming is true)[You use your knowledge of farming to increase your yield of wheat, corn, and rice. The Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover, purchased some of your surplus crops.] (if: $Farming is not true)[You learn some basic farming techniques to grow wheat, corn, and rice.] After the Great War ends, your crops begin to sell less and less. You can decide to keep [[farming->MoreFarming 1]] or you can become a [[bootlegger->Bootlegging 1]] to provide newly-formed speakeasies with alcohol. $black(display: "African American") $female[(display: "Woman")]

After the Great War ended, you found a job in a factory making cars. Your job was very simple. You stood behind a conveyor belt and put the back left wheel on every car that was on the assembly line. There were 3 other workers at your station. Each one of them was also assigned to put a single wheel on every Model T. (display: "1924 Election") Between 1913 and 1927, workers such as yourself had helped to make more than 15 million Model T's. When the Model T plant shut down in 1927, you worked in another car factory. After the stock market crashed on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, you were laid off and could not find another job. You descend into [[poverty->Poor 1]].

(set: _Prison to (random: 1,4)) (if: _Prison is 1)[Within your first few years boot legging, you are caught and sentenced to several years in [[prison->Prison 1]].] (else: )[You become very successful as a bootlegger. There were a few close calls, but you elude the police until 1933, when the 21st Amendment is ratified and Prohibition ends. (display: "1924 Election") You head into the Great Depression with a great deal of [[wealth->Wealthy 1]].]

With the return of many soldiers from Europe and your coming of age, it would be very possible to settle into a serious relationship. [[Search for Relationships]<Date| [Don't Get Involved]<No|]<All| (click: ?Date)[(goto: "Date")] (click: ?No)[(replace: ?All)[You decide to stay single for the time being.]] [``[[Date]]``](Link|

It is the beginnning of the 1920's and women such as yourself are starting to reshape cultural norms. The Bob is making waves in society and women are more open with their sexuality. While at a local club one night, a young man sits next to you and whispers something to the bartender. The bartender reaches below the counter to his secret stash and the young man begins to strike a conversation with you. As the weeks go by, your relationship develops. The time comes and you are faced with a decision. He supports your decision about whether you want to [[raise a child->Child]] or use a form of [[contraceptive->NoKid]].

$white[You attend a good college while the Great War rages on in Europe.]$black[You attend the Tuskegee Institute while the Great War rages on in Europe.(display: "African American")]$female[Because you a are woman, it was significantly harder to be accepted into college. (display: "Woman")] With your college education, you have the ability to begin your own [[business->Business 1]]. Alternatively, you can become a [[bootlegger->Bootlegging 1]] to provide newly-formed speakeasies with alcohol.

(set: _ChildBirth to (random: 1, 3))(if: _ChildBirth is 1)[While giving birth to your (either: "son", "daughter"), a complication occurs. You die in child birth, but your child lives. [[Death 1]] ](else-if: _ChildBirth is 2)[While giving birth to your (either:"son","daughter"), a complication occurs and your child dies. Consumed by depression, you commit [[suicide->Death 1]] ](else: )[ (display: "1924 Election") The birth of your child goes without a hitch. You give birth to a (either:"boy", "girl"). You stay at home to raise your child while your husband works to support your family. You can try to have another [[child->Kid2]], or begin to [[use contraception->Only1Kid]].]

You and your partner use various kinds of contraception, including condoms and "outercourse". Your husband even plans to get a vasectomy. Your husband supports you throught the 1920's. Your family heads into the 1930's with a [[modest->Modest 1]] amount of money. (display: "1924 Election")

(set: _ChildBirth to (random: 1, 3)) (if: _ChildBirth is 1)[While giving birth to your (either: "son", "daughter"), a complication occurs. You [[die->Death 1]] in child birth, but your second child lives.] (else-if: _ChildBirth is 2)[While giving birth to your second child, a complication occurs and your child dies. Consumed by depression, you commit [[suicide->Death 1]].] (else: )[Your second pregnancy is successful and you give birth to a healthy baby (either: "boy", "girl"). With the modest earnings from your husband's growing business, you have built up a decent retirement fund and can live a comfortable [[life->Death 1]].]

(display: "1924 Election") Your small business is very popular in your town and you continue into the 1930's with a [[modest->Modest 1]] amount of money.

(display: "1924 Election") After the Great War ended, you continue to farm. You even save enough money to buy a cow for milk. However, tragedy strikes as dust storms plague your farm. You are forced to sell your farm and move to a city outskirt [[Poor 1<-looking for work]].

You are sentenced to several years in prison for illegally making and transporting alcohol. While in jail, you lose your right to vote. Rather than suffer in jail and be released into the poor economy of the 1930's, you go on a hunger strike and starve to [[death->Death 1]].

Double-click this passage to edit it.

For several years, you experienced extreme poverty. You moved outside of the city and lived in a Hooverville on the outskirts of town. These small towns was named such because President Herbert Hoover did little to combat the Great Depression. He thought that the economy would recover by itself. You stood in bread lines for hours to get food. You resorted to searching trash for food and warm clothes. Eventually, you [[die->Death 1]] of hypothermia during one particularly cold winter.

With some of your excess money, you have the ability to go see a popular African American musician or poet. [[Louis Armstrong]<1| [Langston Hughes]<2|]<Musicians| (click: ?1)[(display: "Louis Armstrong")(replace: ?Musicians)[]] (click: ?2)[(display: "Langston Hughes")(replace: ?Musicians)[]] [``[[Louis Armstrong]][[Langston Hughes]]``](Arrows|

With your modest earnings from your growing business, you have built up a decent retirement fund and can live a comfortable [[life->Death 1]].

With your great deal of wealth, you are able to afford a car and largely ignore the economic problems plaguing the rest of the United States. (set: _CarDeath to (random: 1, 5)) (if: _CarDeath is 1)[One day while driving in your car, an elderly man crashes his car into yours. Your car flips on its side from the impact and you [[die->Death 1]] from the injuries you recieve.] (else:)[You wealth sustains you until your [[Death 1<-death]] in 1942.]