These United States : a nation in the making, 1890 to the present

**A powerful history of the making and unmaking of American democracy and global power, told in sweeping scope and intimate detail.** In the winter of 1936, Franklin Roosevelt remarked in a fireside chat, “I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making.” Certainly apt in the midst of the Depression, the idea of a nation in the making still resonates today as we measure the achievements and shortcomings of our democracy. Over the long twentieth century, Americans have worked, organized, marched, and fought to make the nation’s ideals a reality for all. This shared commitment to achieving an American democracy is the inspiring theme of __These United States__. Acclaimed historians Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore and Thomas J. Sugrue forge the panoramic and the personal into an authoritative narrative. They give us insightful accounts of the century’s large events―war, prosperity, and depression, astute leadership and arrogant power, the rise and decline of a broad middle class. And they ground the history in the stories of everyday Americans such as William Hushka, a Lithuanian immigrant who makes and loses an American life; Stan Igawa, a Japanese-American who never doubts his citizenship despite internment during World War II; and Betty Dukes, a Wal-Mart cashier who takes on America’s largest corporation over wage discrimination. The history begins and ends in periods of concentrated wealth, with immigration roiling politics and racial divisions flaring. Its arc over those hundred-plus years raises key questions: how far has our democracy come? Were the postwar decades of middle-class prosperity and global power a culmination of the American Century or the exception in a long history of economic and political division? Gilmore and Sugrue frame these questions by drawing the illuminating connections characteristic of the best historical writing. 16 pages of illustrations; 10 maps pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index Preface: "We are still in the making" -- Origins of the American century -- "To start to make this world over": imperialism and Progressivism, 1898-1912 -- Refining and exporting Progressivism: Wilson's New Freedom and the Great War, 1913-1919 -- Prosperity's precipice: the paradoxes of the 1920s -- A twentieth-century president: Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term, 1932-1936 -- A rendezvous with destiny, 1936-1941 -- The watershed of war: at home and abroad, 1942-1945 -- A rising superpower, 1944-1954 -- In at least modest comfort: postwar prosperity and its discontents -- A season of change: liberals and the limits of reform, 1960-1966 -- May day: Vietnam and the crisis of the 1960s -- What side are you on?: the battle for middle America, 1968-1974 -- "A season of darkness": the troubled 1970s -- The new Gilded Age, 1980-2000 -- United we stand, divided we fall, since 2000 "We are still in the making" Origins of the American century "To start to make this world over" : imperialism and Progressivism, 1898-1912 Refining and exporting Progressivism : Wilson's New Freedom and the Great War, 1913-1919 Prosperity's precipice : the paradoxes of the 1920s A twentieth-century president : Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term, 1932-1936 A rendezvous with destiny, 1936-1941 The watershed of war : at home and abroad, 1942-1945 A rising superpower, 1944-1954 In at least modest comfort : postwar prosperity and its discontents A season of change : liberals and the limits of reform, 1960-1966 May day : Vietnam and the crisis of the 1960s Which side are you on? : the battle for middle America, 1968-1974 "A season of darkness" : the troubled 1970s The new Gilded Age, 1980-2000 United we stand, divided we fall, since 2000. President Franklin Roosevelt told Americans in a 1936 fireside chat, 'I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making'. 'These United States' builds on this foundation to present a readable, accessible history of the United States throughout the 20th century - an ongoing and inspiring story of great leaders and everyday citizens marching, fighting, voting and legislating to make the nation's promise of democracy a reality for all Americans Blends personal narratives and accounts of the century's largest events to create a panoramic view of the making and unmaking of American democracy and global power United States -- History -- 20th century; United States -- History -- 1865-1898,https://archive.org/details/theseunitedstate0000gilm