America In The 1900s

Explores cultural, economic, and political events of the first two decades of the twentieth century.

With the social change brought on by the Great Migration of African Americans into the urban northeast after the Great War came the surge of a biracial sensibility that made America different from other Western nations. How white and black people thought about race and how both groups understood and attempted to define and control the demographic transformation are the subjects of this new book by a rising star in American history. An elegant account of the roiling environment that witnessed the shift from the multiplicity of white races to the arrival of biracialism, this book focuses on four representative spokesmen for the transforming age: Daniel Cohalan, the Irish-American nationalist, Tammany Hall man, and ruthless politician; Madison Grant, the patrician eugenicist and noisy white supremacist; W. E. B. Du Bois, the African-American social scientist and advocate of social justice; and Jean Toomer, the American pluralist and novelist of the interior life. Race, politics, and classification were their intense and troubling preoccupations in a world they did not create, would not accept, and tried to change.

The iconic images of Uncle Sam and Marilyn Monroe, or the "fireside chats" of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the oratory of Martin Luther King, Jr.: these are the words, images, and sounds that populate American cultural history. From the Boston Tea Party to the Dodgers, from the blues to Andy Warhol, dime novels to Disneyland, the history of American culture tells us how previous generations of Americans have imagined themselves, their nation, and their relationship to the world and its peoples. This Very Short Introduction recounts the history of American culture and its creation by diverse social and ethnic groups. In doing so, it emphasizes the historic role of culture in relation to broader social, political, and economic developments. Across the lines of race, class, gender, and sexuality, as well as language, region, and religion, diverse Americans have forged a national culture with a global reach, inventing stories that have shaped a national identity and an American way of life. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This sweeping narrative filled with humor and compassion opens New Year's Day 1900 and follows an eclectic group of men and women over the course of one remarkable year.

This volume in Oxford's A Very Short Introduction series offers a concise, readable narrative of the vast span of American history, from the earliest human migrations to the early twenty-first century when the United States loomed as a global power and comprised a complex multi-cultural society of more than 300 million people. The narrative is organized around major interpretive themes, with facts and dates introduced as needed to illustrate these themes. The emphasis throughout is on clarity and accessibility to the interested non-specialist.

Outlines the important social, political, economic, cultural, and technological events that happened in the United States from 1900 to 1909.

A ten volume set explores one hundred years of American history, from the birth of the Model T to the exploration of Jupiter.

Many of the key issues concerning the United States as we enter the 21st century were already taking shape as we entered the 20th century. Business mergers, U.S. military intervention (in the Philippines), trade disputes with China and Europe, racial violence, high levels of crime, rising income gaps between rich and poor, volatile stock market prices, homelessness in the cities, the dangers of immigration, and the domination of money in elections -- all these major national issues in 1900 are familiar in some form to Americans today. The nation grappled for the first time with a series of complex new challenges: distribution of wealth and economic opportunity; the form race and ethnic relations should take in a country of increasing diversity; the relationship between big business and government; how the United States, as a new world power, should act overseas; and a host of others. Written in a fluid and highly readable style, Kent's ten chapters comprise a colorful narrative history of the major events of this pivotal year that continues to resonate a century later.