Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
“A gripping and forceful narrative.”—Nancy F. Cott, author of Public Vows
An “enthralling” (Michael Kazin, Washington Post) account of America’s shift from a rural and agrarian society to an urban and industrial society.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, technological innovation made possible dramatic increases in industrial and agricultural productivity; by 1919, per capita gross national product had soared. But this new wealth and new power were not distributed evenly.
In this landmark work—with continued resonance for our times—acclaimed historian Nell Irvin Painter illuminates the class, economic, and political conflicts that defined the Progressive Era. Demonstrating the ways in which racial and social hierarchies were interwoven with reform movements, she offers a lively and comprehensive view of Americans, rich and working-class, at the precipice of change.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Fear of working-class violence,'' the author comments in the preface, ``explains much of what has been called progressive reform.'' In this excellent illustrated survey of American labor radicalism and political reaction from the end of Reconstruction to the end of World War I, Painter concentrates largely on the struggle between ``partisans of democracy'' and ``protectors of hierarchy'' during a 42-year period when the country was evolving from an agrarian to an urban industrial society. Her major theme is the public's identification of organized labor with incendiary radicalism. She notes that the years of greatest unrest inspired ever more violent ``red scares'' during which the restoration of law and order meant using whoever could be defined as ``reds'' as the scapegoats. The author is a history professor at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill.
