Unit 7 Overview: The Early 20th Century (1890-1945)

Economy

First, the US economy grew into a major world importer and exporter, eventually becoming the world’s biggest economy (as measured by Gross Domestic Product, or GDP) by the 1920s. US economic dominance would be near its height at the end of the period in 1945 with the end of World War Two (WWII) thanks partly to US war material production. This transition included smaller trends like increased urbanization, increased industrialization.

This growth was not without problems and hiccups. Progressives tried to make the bad parts of industrial society better. The Great Depression also challenged US politicians to come up with new solutions to increasing economic instability. 

Technology & Migration

Thanks to new technologies that spread faster than ever, the US changed into a consumer culture, with fewer goods being made inside the home and more and more goods being “imported” from stores. Thanks to technologies like automobiles and radios, the US culture became more national in its scope. 

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People migrated westward and southward within the US due to suburbanization. Immigrants also came from other countries like China, Japan, and Eastern Europe. 

Foreign Policy Changes

The US grew into a dominant position militarily and politically through this time period. At the start of the period, the US was generally uninvolved in overseas events other than through trade. The US then began to get more involved in colonialism beyond its own continental borders in places like the Pacific Ocean and Latin America. Many Americans also feared socialism and communism, which resulted in distrust of foreigners. 

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Participation in both World War One (WWI) and World War Two (WWII) raised questions about the US role in world affairs and how to keep the US safe. By 1945, the US was heavily involved all over the world and saw military and diplomatic engagement as necessary for its national security and for the good of the rest of the world.

Social Movements

Women increasingly agigated for the right to vote.  Many feminists were also involved in reform movements for the poor and underpriviledged, as well as the temperance movements. 

African-Americans, especially those who contributed to the war effort, wanted to live in a society with equal opportunity and access. They started mobilizing their communities in order to fight for equal rights. 

Timeline

1898 – Spanish American War / the beginning of American imperialism

1917 – U.S. enters World War One (WWI); Wilson’s Fourteen Points 

1918 – WWI ends

1919 – First Red Scare; Red Summer; Prohibition is passed

1920 – 19th Amendment; Treaty of Versailles not ratified

1929 – Stock Market Crash; the beginning of the Great Depression

1933 – FDR inaugurated & the New Deal begins

1941 – Pearl Harbor, U.S. enters WWII; Great Depression ends

Major Trends Between 1890-1945

• The United States becomes more urban than rural in the 1920s
• The US economy continued its transition from a mostly agricultural base to a more industrialized base, thanks in part to WWI & WWII
• The US moves from isolationism and unilateralism—acting mostly on our own to accomplish foreign policy goals—to multilateralism, that is, acting together with other (mostly European) countries and getting heavily involved in world affairs on a more permanent basis
• The Spanish-American War marked the beginning of American imperialism, as the US gained control over territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
• The period saw the rise of progressive reform movements aimed at addressing social and political issues such as temperance, women's suffrage, and workplace conditions.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs aimed to address the effects of the Great Depression and improve the economy through increased government intervention.
• Americans continued to move westward, particularly into west coast places like California and Seattle, mostly thanks to WWII and the military production facilities on the west coast.
• US women and people of color continued to fight discrimination, but they made huge gains during this period, particularly through service in WWII.

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