The 1900s began a century of advancement, invention, and progress in the United States. The automobile was just beginning to make what would become an indelible mark on the U.S. economy and way of life, and the Wright brothers made their first air flight. From federal regulations of the food industry to the advent of the first cartoon, the United States saw a wide spectrum of events and issues during the first decade of the twentieth century. The following documents are just a sampling of the offerings available in this volume: < ul> < li>Diary entry of December 17, 1903, by Orville...

The United States in the 1910s grappled with war "over there," women's suffrage, and the Great Migration of African Americans. The first world war, called "the war to end all wars," ushered the United States onto the international stage and made the country a reluctant leader. Domestically, African Americans left the strongly segregated and racially divided South in search of more opportunities in the North, though not necessarily more acceptance. While industry was booming in the North, working conditions were unregulated and unsafe, a point brought home by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory...

The Roaring Twenties was a roaring decade indeed. The passage of the Volstead Act prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol and spawned a black market network of smuggling and speakeasies. Gangsters like Al Capone captured the public's imagination. Fashionable, fun-loving women wore short skirts and even shorter hair. They, and a growing number of the public, danced to jazz music, and the popular Cotton Club in Chicago was open to both African Americans and whites. Business was booming in many industries and, for the first time, people were buying on credit. Speculation in the stock...

The United States in the 1930s was dominated by the economic difficulties of the Great Depression, which impacted life on all levels for much of the population. The Depression spurred federal programs in business and industry and investment in the arts and humanities, generating a heretofore unparalleled support for and public interest in literature, architecture, photography, and other ventures. At the same time, the country's economic woes did not discourage crime or social debate. The 1930s was a decade rich in new cultural and social programs, as well as political debate and legal...

The United States of the 1940s marked the beginnings of significant social and political change. Men were shipped off to fight in World War II, and women entered the workforce in larger numbers than ever before to hold down the homefront, earning a taste of what it meant to be independent. African Americans fought beside their white counterparts in the war and returned home unwilling to accept the inequality under which they'd lived for so long. The United States ushered in the nuclear age with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also solidified its role as an international...

The Red Scare, the Rosenbergs, and Rosa Parks all made their mark on the United States of the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy waged a domestic war against communists with his hearings and had everyone looking suspiciously for communists in their communities. At the same time, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tried and convicted of espionage, under evidence that they had passed secrets from the U.S. nuclear facility in Los Alamos to the Soviet Union; they were subsequently executed. Segregation was ruled by the Supreme Court to be illegal, and while African American children began integrating...

The 1960s was an active decade in the United States -- politically, militarily, socially, and popularly. The 1960s saw the world come to the brink of nuclear war as the United States and Soviet Union faced off in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and U.S. advisors and troops were sent to Vietnam to combat communist forces wanting to take over that country. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he campaigned in Texas for reelection, plunging the nation into stunned mourning. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his inspiring I Have a Dream speech at the March on Washington, and the Civil Rights Act...

The 1970s continued the tumult of the previous decade with new political and social conflicts. While the country remained embroiled in the Vietnam War for the first half of the decade, the Nixon administration found itself sinking under the weight of the Watergate scandal. President Richard Nixon ultimately resigned before he could be impeached for his infractions, but not before he pulled U.S. troops out of Vietnam. The U.S. Supreme Court both pleased and appalled the public, depending on one's opinion of the matter, when it ruled that abortion was legal. A medical, social, and moral...

of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti banning Pete Rose from baseball

Closing out the twentieth century, the 1990s showed no signs that the United States would enter quietly into the next millennium. Under the George H.W. Bush administration, U.S. troops fought in the first Gulf War, liberating Kuwait from Iraq. David Koresh's cult compound in Waco, Texas, was raided by federal agents. President Bill Clinton was impeached by Congress, but remained in office to complete his second term. NASA's Pathfinder sent images of Mars back to Earth. The curious could view the images on the rapidly expanding and increasingly accessible Internet. While new technology...