I have drawn heavily on others who have written in this field--Andrews, Beard, Paxson and Peck, and especially on the volumes written for the American Nation series by Professors Dunning, Sparks, Dewey, Latane and Ogg. Haworth's _United States in Our Own Time, 1865-1920_, was unfortunately printed too late to give me the benefit of the author's well-known scholarship. Many friends have generously assisted me. My colleagues, Professors F.A. Updyke, C.A. Phillips, G.R. Wicker, H.D. Dozier, and Malcolm Keir have read the manuscript of individual chapters. Professor E.E. Day of Harvard University gave me his counsel on several economic topics. Professor George H. Haynes of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Professor B.B. Kendrick of Columbia University, Professor W.T. Root of the University of Wisconsin, and Professors L.B. Richardson and F.M. Anderson of Dartmouth College have read the entire manuscript. Officials at the Dartmouth College Library, the Columbia University Library, and the Library of Congress gave me especial facilities for work. Two college generations of students at Dartmouth have suffered me to try out on them the arrangement of the chapters as well as the contents of the text. Harper and Bros. allowed me to use a map appearing in Ogg, _National Progress_, and D. Appleton and Co. have permitted the use of maps appearing in Johnson and Van Metre, _Principles of Railroad Transportation_; A.J. Nystrom and Co. and the McKinley Publishing Co. have allowed me to draw new maps on outlines copyrighted by them. At all points I have had the counsel of my wife and of Professor Max Farrand of Yale University. CHARLES R. LINGLEY. Dartmouth College, June 14, 1920. CONTENTS CHAPTER I RECONSTRUCTION AND ITS AFTERMATH II IN PRESIDENT GRANT'S TIME III ECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW ERA IV POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL BACKGROUND OF THE NEW ISSUES V THE NEW ISSUES VI THE ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES VII THE POLITICS OF THE EARLY EIGHTIES VIII THE OVERTURN OF 1884 IX TRANSPORTATION AND ITS CONTROL X EXTREME REPUBLICANISM XI INDUSTRY AND _LAISSEZ FAIRE_ XII DEMOCRATIC DEMORALIZATION XIII THE TREND OF DIPLOMACY XIV THE RISE OF THE WAGE EARNER XV MONETARY AND FINANCIAL PROBLEMS XVI 1896 XVII REPUBLICAN DOMINATION AND WAR WITH SPAIN XVIII IMPERIALISM XIX THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CENTURY XX THEODORE ROOSEVELT XXI POLITICS, 1908-1912 XXII ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TENDENCIES SINCE 1896 XXIII LATER INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS XXIV WOODROW WILSON XXV THE UNITED STATES AND THE WORLD WAR INDEX MAPS AND DIAGRAMS The growth of the United States from 1776 to 1867 Popular vote in presidential elections, 1868 to 1896 Economic interests, 1890 Relative prices, 1865 to 1890 The New West Railroad mileage, 1860 to 1910, in thousands of miles Map of the United States showing railroads in 1870