America in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Begin to investigate the key historical forces that characterized the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, and the competing ideals that defined these eras. As a starting point, take account of the U.S. in 1865, and the extraordinary social, political, and economic changes unleashed by the devastation of the Civil War.

The era of Reconstruction following the Civil War was a turbulent and divisive period in American life. Learn about governmental policies and legislation that were enacted to safeguard the welfare of former slaves and average citizens, and how these policies were then progressively dismantled, ultimately returning the South to white-dominated rule.

Examine the complex and fascinating story of the conquest of the American West. First, assess key myths surrounding the West and how it was settled. Explore the motives and realities of westward migration, the components of the western economy, and the conflicts with Native Americans that led to violence and tragedy.

Trace the process by which the U.S. rose from developing nation status in 1865 to become the world's greatest industrial power by 1900. Study the unfolding of the American industrial revolution; the advent of big business in the railroad, steel, and oil industries; and the concurrent explosion of consumerism and advertising.

Examine the notion of the "self-made man" as it pervaded Gilded Age America. Investigate why this idea took on unprecedented popularity in the 19th century, how it was strongly promoted by figures from Horatio Alger to Andrew Carnegie, and explore how the ideal became entwined with social Darwinism.

In the late Gilded Age there was wide agreement that troubling trends threatened the young republic. Explore rising public anxiety over the power of big business and the era's economic inequality, governmental corruption, and violent conflict between labor and capital. Take account of how business leaders responded to critics and reformers.

Here, learn how widespread immigration during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era transformed U.S. society. Delve into the diverse factors underlying immigration, and the perceived threats and social problems posed by immigrants. Observe how society at large reacted to the influx, and grasp the ways in which immigrants fundamentally changed the nation.

The huge growth of cities was a hallmark of the Gilded Age. Study the forces leading to massive urbanization, such as industrialization, migration and immigration, and revolutionary technologies. Then track the serious social problems that resulted, from crime and disease to political corruption, which spurred intense scrutiny from reformers.

Take a wide-ranging look at the transformation of American art and entertainment during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Chart the accomplishments of the Ashcan School of painting and realist fiction. Witness the birth of ragtime, blues, and jazz, and the rise of spectator sports, stage entertainment, and the new medium of film.

Technological changes in late 19th-century America radically changed the country and the world. Track the evolution of electrical power, and the impact of both electric lighting and electrified machinery. Grasp the economic and social changes brought about by the automobile and the cultural effects of recorded music as big business.

Travel into the world of American workers, and view the poignant social problems that accompanied industrialization. Learn how technological changes in industry affected living conditions for workers, and follow the rise of labor movements, violent strikes, and intense conflict between labor unions and management.

Discover how the American middle class was a direct product of industrialization and the new employment it created. Investigate the key features of the new middle class lifestyle, encompassing suburban living, consumption, and leisure. Also identify defining middle-class values, from respectability and manners to personal hygiene and the "cult of domesticity."

Take the measure of the new breed of multimillionaire industrialists that emerged in the Gilded Age as a visible public presence. Contrast the earlier American mindset of republican simplicity with the new rich who displayed and flaunted their wealth through vast estates and European-style aristocratic living.

Follow the dramatic rise of the Populist movement, which aimed to address broad economic suffering. In particular, study the phenomenon of the People's Party, a political party that demanded major governmental changes to curb injustice and oppression, lighting a fire that lived on in the reforms of the Progressive Era.

Delve into the complex process by which the U.S. reversed its longstanding policy of isolationism to become actively involved in global affairs. Investigate the core ideas that built a case for American internationalism, as they manifested in the events of the Spanish-American War and the building of the Panama Canal.

The lives of American women changed in far-reaching ways during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Trace late-19th-century social trends that led to more public roles for women and emerging ideas of women's rights. Learn about the women's suffrage movement and its embattled crusade to gain voting rights for women.

Witness how the Progressive movement took shape in the late 19th century, fueled by alarm over the unbridled power of large corporations. Grasp the era's new definition of American economic freedom, and examine actions taken under presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson to dismantle railroad, meatpacking, and oil trusts, and to reform banking and taxation.

Learn about reformers' efforts to address the miserable living and working conditions of industrial workers, and new labor laws that followed the galvanizing events of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the Bread and Roses Strike. Also study the movements to eradicate child labor and to federally regulate food and medicines.

Trace the origins of the conservation movement in the 19th century, and its early initiatives to establish federal protection of wilderness in the face of opposition from commercial interests. Grasp the astonishing conservation record of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose efforts created a wide spectrum of national parks, wildlife preserves, and national forests.

Study how reformers responded to the troubles of big cities through urban planning, new thinking about poverty, and the establishment of "settlement houses" and social work to aid the urban poor. Also learn about activism to address alcohol abuse and prostitution, as well as governmental actions to reform housing, urban sanitation, and public health.

Sweeping progressive reforms changed the face of American politics. Observe how initiatives at the city level began the transformation of urban political machines into players in political reform. Examine major political reforms at the state and federal levels, culminating in the civil service system, popularly elected senators, and voting rights for women.

Discover how African Americans fought racism and violence in the early 20th century. Study the system of white supremacy called Jim Crow, and its economic, social, and political oppression. Review significant civil rights activism and legal victories that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.

As the Progressive Era ends, follow the complex events that led the United States into World War I. Learn how an initial federal policy of neutrality changed to one of "preparedness" and then intervention, amid conflicting public sentiments and government pro-war propaganda. Also trace the after-effects of the war on U.S. foreign policy.

Finally, take account of the period of national turmoil that followed World War I. Study the wave of labor strikes, anti-radical hysteria, and race riots of the early post-war years. Grasp the economic, political, and social factors that gave way to a climate of renewed isolationism and conservatism during the Roaring 20s.