The Emergence of Modern America, 1877-1914.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Examines the distinct characteristics of American modernity as they emerge between the end of Reconstruction and WWI. Explores the opportunities and challenges of the shift from a rural agricultural economy to an urban industrial one brought on by Westward expansion, technological innovation and immigration. Themes include changes in American work and family life; encounters of class, ethnicity, race and gender; growth in consumer culture; and developments in government and grassroots activism culminating in the Progressive reform movement.