The United States in the Early 20th Century

The United States entered the 20th century with an optimistic outlook prompted by positive social and government changes in the "Gilded Age" of the late 19th century. The idealism and positive domestic reforms met world events and international changes that influenced and redirected American thought, American society, and American government. At first influenced by world events, the United States in its turn influenced others; the US moved from a nation reveling in isolation to a nation helping shape international affairs. The Gilded Age, the decades after the Civil War, changed the American character. Next, both the positive and terrible events of the first half of the 20th century caused further changes to America and accelerated the pace of its change. The student will consider how and why change occurred in the United States, how America reacts to change, and seek an understanding of how this led to the America of today.