• Imperialism and expansionism
• The Spanish-American War
• Theodore Roosevelt
• The Taft presidency
• US intervention in WWI
• World War I
• The home front
• The Treaty of Versailles
• The aftermath of the war
• Automobiles and consumer culture
• The changing experience of African Americans and women
• The drive for women’s suffrage

Section Summary

European powers went on a colonization craze, and the US began a drive for empire along with them. America acquired an empire in the Spanish-American War, and continued such aggressive policies under President Theodore Roosevelt. President Taft, on the other hand, preferred a forceful economic policy called Dollar Diplomacy.

WWI broke out in Europe, and the US was dragged in through Germany’s submarine warfare, the sinking of the Lusitania, Arabic and Sussex, and the Zimmerman Telegram. Restrictions on freedoms were enacted during the war, and a desire to promote 100% Americanism developed. The Treaty of Versailles set the stage for WWII but did realize President Wilson’s dream of a League of Nations, which the US never joined. After WWI, fears boiled over in the First Red Scare, Immigration Restriction and Prohibition.

The era of consumerism was heralded by Henry Ford’s invention of the mass-produced automobile and General Motors’ adoption of buying on credit. Regardless, the nation was in a time of prosperity. People’s lives were improved by better diets, medical advances and the spread of electricity. In addition, the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement was laid by Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and the NAACP. Many blacks moved north during WWI (as labor shortages forced factory owners to hire them for the first time) in what came to be called the Second Great Migration. Women’s lives also improved a trend that culminated in an Amendment legalizing women’s... Sign up to continue reading The United States as a World Power >

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