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Jump Back in Time Progressive Era (1890-1913)
 
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battlefield image of soldiers in Storming of San Juan Hill
A depiction of the storming of San Juan Hill from the Spanish-American War

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In the 1890s, the belief that Americans should avoid getting involved with other countries was slowly fading. Because of its rapid economic and social growth, the U.S. had become a major world power. So when Cuban rebels began a violent revolution against Spanish rule in 1895, and a mysterious explosion sunk the U.S.S. Maine in the Havana harbor, the U.S. entered into what diplomat John Hay called "a splendid little war" with Spain. Although the Spanish-American War ended relatively soon, issues over ownership of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the Hawaiian islands also had to be resolved.

Farm Boys Eating Ice-Cream Cones, 1941.
Two Scoops, Please
The Mystery of Yellow Fever
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More Stories About The Progressive Era
The Progressive Era
A Boy and His Fawn
"Short-story Writer and Novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Was Born"
A Cyclone of a Pitch!
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A Fair Speech
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America's Librarian
"Archibald MacLeish, Ninth Librarian of Congress, Was Born"
America's Library
"The Library of Congress Opened Its Doors"
Art That Moves
"Alexander Calder Was Born"
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"Composer Aaron Copland Was Born in Brooklyn, New York"
Crossing the East River
"New Yorkers Celebrated the Opening of the Williamsburg Bridge"
Faulkner's South
"Novelist William Faulkner Was Born"
Fly Like an Eagle, Scout!
"The First Eagle Scout, Arthur R. Eldred"
Giving Back a Fortune
"Carnegie Gives Money to Build Libraries"
Going to the movies in 1899
""Billy" Bitzer films Stealing a Dinner"
Gone to the Birds
"The First Bird Day"
Good-Bye Spain, Hello America
"U.S. Raised the Flag in Puerto Rico"
Grandma's Stories Inspired a Writer
"Langston Hughes Was Born"
Her Truth Is Marching On
"Julia Ward Howe Elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters"
Living the Life of The Great Gatsby
"Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald Was Born"
Look Ma, No Hands
"Wilbur and Orville Wright's First Flight"
Monopoly With Real Money
"The Expedition Act Was Passed"
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"New York Subway System Opened for Business"
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"New York City Police Parade"
Put the Ball in the Peach Basket!
"First College Basketball Game"
Rough Riders on the Attack
"Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders"
Ruger's Cartography
"Panoramic Map Artist Albert Ruger Died"
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Separate But Equal
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St. Louis Super Hero
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Start Your Engines!
"The First American Automobile Race"
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The Father of the Blues
"William Christopher Handy's "Memphis Blues" Was Published"
The First Person
"The First Immigrant Landed on Ellis Island"
The Legend of Chop Suey
"Chop Suey Was Invented, Fact or Fiction?"
The Mystery of Yellow Fever
"U.S. Army Physicians Discovered the Cause of Yellow Fever"
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"Ernest Hemingway Was Born"
The Queen of Gospel
"Gospel Singer, Mahalia Jackson Was Born"
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"Mount Rainier in Central Washington Became a National Park"
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Two Scoops, Please
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Who Sunk My Battleship?
"U.S.S. Maine Was Sunk"
With the Fire of Prophecy
"Booker T. Washington Speaks at the Cotton States and International Exposition"


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