s most marked. The
industrial system, which had risen and flourished before the Civil War,
grew into immense proportions and the industrial area was extended from
the Northeast into all parts of the country. Small business concerns
were transformed into huge corporations. Individual plants were merged
under the management of gigantic trusts. Short railway lines were
consolidated into national systems. The industrial population of
wage-earners rose into the tens of millions. The immigration of aliens
increased by leaps and bounds. The cities overshadowed the country. The
nation that had once depended upon Europe for most of its manufactured
goods became a competitor of Europe in the markets of the earth.

In the sphere of politics, the period witnessed the recovery of white
supremacy in the South; the continued discussion of the old questions,
such as the currency, the tariff, and national banking; and the
injection of new issues like the trusts and labor problems. As of old,
foreign affairs were kept well at the front. Alaska was purchased from
Russia; attempts were made to extend American influence in the Caribbean
region; a Samoan island was brought under the flag; and the Hawaiian
islands were annexed. The Monroe Doctrine was applied with vigor in the
dispute between Venezuela and Great Britain.

Assistance was given to the Cubans in their revolutionary struggle
against Spain and thus there was precipitated a war which ended in the
annexation of Porto Rico and the Philippines. American influence in the
Pacific and the Orient was so enlarged as to be a factor of great weight
in world affairs. Thus questions connected with foreign and "imperial"
policies were united with domestic issues to make up the warp and woof
of politics. In the direction of affairs, the Republicans took the
leadership, for they held the presidency during all the years, except
eight, between 1865 and 1900.

=References=

J.W. Foster, _A Century of American Diplomacy_; _American Diplomacy in
the Orient_.

W.F. Reddaway, _The Monroe Doctrine_.

J.H. Latane, _The United States and Spanish America_.

A.C. Coolidge, _United States as a World Power_.

A.T. Mahan, _Interest of the United States in the Sea Power_.

F.E. Chadwick, _Spanish-American War_.

D.C. Worcester, _The Philippine Islands and Their People_.

M.M. Kalaw, _Self-Government in the Philippines_.

L.S. Rowe, _The United States and Porto Rico_.

F.E. Chadwick, _The Relati