As the United States entered the 20th century, it stood at a critical juncture in its history. The country was moving away from the agrarian ideals that had dominated much of its past and embracing the modern world of industrial capitalism, urbanization, and technological innovation. By 1900, the U.S. had emerged from a Civil War, transformed through Reconstruction, and now, with its economy expanding rapidly, was increasingly poised to play a major role on the world stage. Yet, beneath this sweeping progress, deep tensions?social, economic, and political?continued to simmer. The dawn of the American Century would be an era defined as much by its contradictions as by its triumphs.