MAKING MODERN AMERICA 1877-1920

This course explores a period in American history characterized by massive and, often times, disruptive, economic, political and social changes and looks at the diverse efforts Americans made to adapt to these changes. In the four decades following Reconstruction the United States saw the rise of modern industrial capitalism. It was also a period marked by unprecedented rates of immigration, rapid urbanization, and growing economic, racial and gender inequalities. Responding to increasing tensions a reform impulse swept the nation as Americans attempted to come to terms with modernity. By the early 20th century, so many reform movements were at play that Americans began to speak of a Progressive Era, an age marked by nascent idealism, and beneficial economic, political and social changes. In all, America by the end of World War I in many ways barely resembled the nation of the Reconstruction Era.