America+at+1900


 * AMERICA AT 1900**

We will make use of this wonderful video and accompanying website. America at 1900 (PBS) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/

America 1900 presents a comprehensive picture of what life was like in the United States at the turn of the century.

The program also explores key themes such as the impact of technology, the rise of racism, immigration and the search for a national identity, and the rise of America as a world power.

Program Description A synopsis of the film, and film credits

Enhanced Transcript The broadcast program transcript with additional information

Reference

Extended interviews with program participants
 * Interview Transcripts**

1. **Walter LaFeber** is Noll Professor of History at Cornell University and a leading expert on United States foreign policy.

America as a World Power America's Economic and Industrial Expansion The China Market The Importance of San Francisco President William McKinley McKinley's Manipulative Power The First White House Press Room The Importance of the Philippines The Fight for the Philippines The Decision to Annex the Philippines "Civilizing" the Filipinos Anti-Imperialism in the United States The Open-Door Policy American Missionaries in China Revolution in China The Boxer Rebellion William Jennings Bryan's Campaign Strategy Vice Presidential Nominee: Theodore Roosevelt The "Hidden Hand" Presidency The Pacific Century


 * 2. David Levering Lewis** holds the Martin Luther King, Jr., University Professorship at Rutgers University.

America at the Turn of the Century Immigration The Plight of the African American W.E.B. Du Bois The Importance of Education An "Aristocracy of Color" Paul Lawrence Dunbar George White Lynching of African Americans The Imperial Experiment Minstrelsy

3. **Donald Miller** is the John Henry McCracken Professor of History at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

America at the Turn of the Century Change in America Bituminous and Anthracite Coal Mining The Men Who Mined the Coal The Breaker Boys The Dangers of Mining Living in a Company Town Organizing a Miner's Union John Mitchell-The Union Organizer The Need for a Strike The Strike The Layers of Control The Results

4. **Max Morath** is an entertainer and writer whose specialty is American life and music at the turn of the century.

The Year in Music Sheet Music Popular Music The Piano Lyrics at the Turn of the Century Urbanization Ragtime Music Ragtime Composer-Scott Joplin Racism in Vaudville The Advent of the Phonograph The "Descriptive Piece" of Piano Music The American Renaissance

5. **Margaret Washington** is an Associate Professor of History at Cornell University.

The Feeling of Optimism in America The Aspirations of African Americans Obstacles Faced by African Americans Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois African American Congressman-George White Paul Lawrence Dunbar-The People's Poet "Lift Every Voice and Sing" The New York City Riot The Portrayal of African Americans in Song

6. **Laura Wexler** is Associate Professor of American Studies and Women's and Gender Studies at Yale University.

Frances Benjamin Johnston The Photographer of America's Court The Gender Rebellion The Paris Exposition Johnston's Photographs of Women Johnston's Photographs of African Americans Johnston's Photographs of American Life The Spirit of the Age

Further Reading

A list of books, articles, and Web sites relating to the program topic

Primary Sources

Documents, speeches and political cartoons from the year 1900.


 * People:**

• Elijah McCoy • Emiliano Aguinaldo • Susan B. Anthony • Clara Barton • W.E.B Du Bois • Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) • William Jennings Bryan • Nannie Helen Burroughs • J. Francisco Chaves • Fanny Jackson Coppin • Leon Czolgosz • Admiral George Dewey • Paul Laurence Dunbar • Charles Alexander Eastman • President McKinley and American Expansion • Charles Dana Gibson and "The Gibson Girl" • Mark Hanna • John Hay • Frances Benjamin Johnson • John Mitchell • J.P. Morgan • John Muir • Carrie Nation • Jacob Riis • Theodore Roosevelt • John Philip Sousa • Mary Church Terrell • Maggie Lena Walker • Booker T. Washington • Andrew Carnegie Preaches the Gospel of Wealth • Congressman George White • Scott Joplin and Ragtime


 * Events:**

• The African American Press • African American Higher Education • African American Military Service • The Boxer Rebellion • The Fight for Women's Suffrage • The Galveston Hurricane • The General Allotment Act • The Idle Rich • Mexican Railroad Labor • Mining Disaster in Scofield • The Paris Exposition • Rise of Anarchism • The Sapho Affair • Summing Up, Looking Forward • War in the Philippines


 * Primary Sources**

1. Speeches

"Cross of Gold", William Jennings Bryan, campaign speech, 1896 First Inaugural Address, William McKinley, 1897 First Annual Address of the National Negro Business League, Booker T. Washington, 1900 Second Inaugural Address, William McKinley, 1901 The Last Speech of William McKinley, Buffalo, NY, 1901 Eulogy in Memory of William McKinley, by Hon. John W. Griggs, 1901

2. Documents

1898 Treaty of Paris Political Cartoons (Cartoons courtesy of The Ohio State University Department of History) Advance of Imperialism Aguinaldo Anti-trust/Anti-imperialism The Imperialism Stunt The Manila Correspondent and the McKinley Censorship McKinley and the Philippines The Republican Circus The Republican Pig Pens The Trust Giant's Point of View

3. Song Lyrics

"Lift Every Voice and Sing", James Weldon Johnson, 1900

Using the Web Site (Teachers' Guide section)


 * The Film | Film Index | Wayback

Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3

In this section you'll find lessons which use the special features of the America 1900 Web site.