Study Guides

UNIT 5 SUMMARY

1. The Gilded Age brought a great transformation to the American economy, society, and way of life—a transformation that included unparalleled benefits to the lives of millions of Americans, along with unprecedented challenges. 

2. The closing of the frontier in the West, according to the 1890 Census, marked the end of an era in American history; the pioneering character of American society began to diminish, or shift its focus, as American energies became redirected from conquering the West to expanding overseas. First with business then with government. 

3. A group of reformers and political thinkers known as the Progressives sought to answer challenges associated with the Gilded Age through new ideas about the purpose and structure of government— ideas they themselves considered to be a departure from the American Founding. 

4. The Great War was one of the greatest disasters in the history of mankind, and it forever changed America’s place on the world stage.