Epochs of American History: Expansion and Reform 1889-1926

This is the story of America remaking itself. The decades between 1889 and 1926 saw the nation transform from a rough-hewn continental power into a global force, all while its own citizens fought bitter battles over what kind of country they wanted to live in. John Spencer Bassett traces the presidencies from Benjamin Harrison through William Howard Taft, a period that witnessed the Spanish-American War, the roaring ambition of Theodore Roosevelt, the deadly serious business of trust-busting, and the grinding work of progressive reform. But this is not mere political chronicle. Bassett captures the fundamental tension of the age: Could a democratic nation industrialize at breakneck speed without sacrificing its soul? Could it project power abroad without compromising the ideals it proclaimed at home? The book examines the era's defining struggles, from labor unrest to suffrage, from imperial ambition to the fight for honest government. For readers who want to understand how modern America was forged in the crucible of progress and contradiction, this volume remains essential. It was controversial in its own time, challenging comfortable narratives, and it still rewards those willing to engage with a nation in the painful process of becoming something new.