Progressive Era and World Power (1900–1929)
Progressive Era and World Power (1900–1929)
As the new century opened, Americans set out to tame the excesses of the Gilded Age through reform, while the nation stepped decisively onto the world stage. The Progressive movement reshaped both parties, a global war drew the country into international leadership, and the 1920s roared with prosperity, cultural change, and new anxieties.
9.1The Progressive impulseProgressivism was a broad reform spirit rather than a single program. Its adherents believed that expert knowledge, active government, and…9.2Roosevelt, Taft, and WilsonThree presidents defined the era. Republican Theodore Roosevelt, taking office in 1901, made the presidency a "bully pulpit," busting…9.3Votes for womenThe long campaign for women's suffrage reached its climax in these years. Building on the movement launched at Seneca Falls decades…9.4Becoming a world powerThe United States entered the century as a rising power with a new overseas empire won from Spain, including the Philippines and Puerto…9.5The Great WarWhen World War I erupted in Europe in 1914, the United States tried to stay neutral. But German submarine warfare, which sank ships…9.6The Roaring TwentiesThe 1920s brought prosperity, mass consumption, and cultural upheaval. Automobiles, radio, and movies knit the nation together and created…9.7Meanwhile, elsewhere (1900–1929)World War I devastated Europe, killing millions and toppling four empires—German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian. In 1917…