By 1900, the United States had emerged as the world's leading industrial power and leading destination for millions of immigrants and had begun to become a major player in world affairs. Americans enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and became eager consumers of new inventions and popular culture: cars, radios, jazz records, and the "motion pictures." But they also experienced the worst depression the country had ever known and struggled to make sense of a world that went to war twice within a generation. Women, African Americans, immigrants - all struggled to carve out their place in the new political order. By World War II, the United States assumed many of its "modern" characteristics. Using novels, movies, photographs, sporting events, political speeches and political debates, we will explore both the domestic and the international aspects of the development of modern U.S.