T. Roosevelt to Hoover

Bolstered by waves of immigrants and capital wealth from post–Civil War industrialism, by the 1890s, the United States rivaled the great European powers. The rapid development from an agrarian, rural society to an industrialized, urban one, however, created problems that threatened to tear apart the country’s social order. The growth of working-class areas in the cities led to overcrowded slums as well as an underclass. The unsightly consequences of expansion seemed to betray the very promise of the American dream.

Industrialists, frequently through violence, beat back attempts by laborers to organize for workers’ rights. The Panic of 1893 caused devastating hardship across all levels of society, and groups of reform-minded citizens began lobbying for the welfare of the underclass. Theodore Roosevelt, who took office at the turn of the century, used his executive power to instigate social and economic progress. He was a pioneer of modern government whose legacy transcended his years in office. After the United States’ entrance into the First World War in 1917, the economy prospered, and the country experienced lasting social changes—such as those prompted by the nineteenth amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

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And Teddy (Roosevelt) Comes Marching Home

Artist: Eugene Zimmerman

1898

Chromolithograph on paper