Introduction for Students

Talk to your parents and grandparents, and you’ll find out life hasn’t always been as it is today. Between their childhood and yours, a technological revolution radically changed how we live, work and play. When we old folks were growing up, we had to carry dimes to use pay phones, write letters to far-away friends and relatives and send them through the mail, play boardgames like Monopoly, listen to music on record albums, and watch movies at the movie theater. We typed papers and letters on typewriters; when we made a mistake, we had to start all over again! Imagine: no cell phones, caller ID, instant messaging, ATMs, Game Boys, microwaves, DVDs or CDs or even VCRs! Are you glad you’re on this side of this technological revolution?

New York skyline. Created/Published c1908. From Taking the Long View:
Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991 from American Memory:
Historical Collections for the National Digitized Library.

A similar revolution changed the way Americans lived, worked and played between about 1880 and 1920. Travel back in time to 1840, and you’d have a hard time getting along; you would not recognize many of the objects and patterns of daily life. Yet, travel back in time to about 1900, and things will seem somewhat familiar. Telephones, cars, and Jello were all a part of life. It was during this time that the United States was transformed — by immigration, improvements in technology and transportation, and business innovations — from a rural, agricultural nation to an urban, industrialized one.

What exactly changed during this time period? And, were these changes good for the average American, or did they create problems and conflicts?

Mississippi River, Keokuk, IA. Created/Published c1907. From Taking the Long View:
Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991 from American Memory:
Historical Collections for the National Digitized Library.