The 1890s in America: Documenting the Maturation of a Nation

Description

One of the most significant decades in United States history, the 1890s represented a transitional time of political, economic, social, diplomatic, and cultural change. It was both the conclusion of the Gilded Age as well as the beginning of modern America and progressive reform. The twin forces of change and continuity came into play. An agricultural, rural, largely homogeneous society was shifting into a more industrial, urban, and heterogeneous republic marked by increasing presidential prerogative in domestic affairs and international relations. How Americans reacted to these growing pains presents historians with a wealth of information with which to dissect the times and better understand the momentous events that occurred between 1890 and 1899. This book is an edited compilation of first-person accounts consisting of over four hundred pages of valuable primary source material. Each entry is accompanied by an introduction. Easier to use in one format than having tediously to track down forty-nine separate entities, the book analyzes important roles played that decade by social reformers, economic theorists, religious leaders, political figures, literary achievers, educational innovators, medical doctors, protesting labor strikers, judicial decisions, dedicated conservationists, avowed agitators, diplomatic initiators, philosophers, prohibitionists, sectionalists, librarians, and agriculturists who discussed a number of issues, such as civil rights, crime, anti-imperialism, and the growth of monopolies.