Ameri

Course 5 of 8 · 1869 to 1914

A Rising Power

In about forty years, America became the biggest economy on Earth.

5 modules · 21 lessons

  • Download on theApp StoreComing soon
  • Get it onGoogle PlayComing soon

The story in brief

The transcontinental railroad opened the West, and homesteaders, cowboys and miners followed it. Carnegie, Rockefeller and Morgan built giant companies, while Edison and Bell changed everyday life.

Not everyone shared in the boom. Farmers, workers and reformers pushed for change, and abroad the nation took on its first real role in the world, from the Spanish-American War to the Panama Canal.

Three moments to know

  1. 1869

    The transcontinental railroad

    The last spike joins the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines at Promontory Summit, Utah.

  2. 1892

    Ellis Island opens

    The new immigration station in New York Harbor becomes the entry point for millions of newcomers.

  3. 1903

    The first airplane flight

    Orville and Wilbur Wright fly at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a symbol of the age of invention.

What you will learn

In about forty years the United States became the largest economy in the world. This course follows that rise, from the transcontinental railroad to Theodore Roosevelt.

  • Ride the railroads west and see how homesteaders, cattle drives and mining towns settled the Great Plains.
  • Meet Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Morgan and see how steel, oil and big business built American industry.
  • Discover the inventions of Edison, Bell and the Wright brothers and how they changed daily life.
  • Follow millions of immigrants through Ellis Island and into the growing cities and factories.
  • See farmers, unions and reformers push for change and America step onto the world stage in the Spanish-American War and the Panama Canal.

Inside the course

5 modules and 21 short lessons, in the order the app teaches them.

Module 1 · 5 lessonsRailroads and the Settling of the West
  1. 1The Transcontinental Railroad
  2. 2Homesteaders and the Great Plains
  3. 3Cowboys and Boomtowns
  4. 4The Plains Wars: Sitting Bull and Little Bighorn
  5. 5Let's Review
Module 2 · 4 lessonsSteel, Oil and the Age of Invention
  1. 1Carnegie and the Age of Steel
  2. 2Rockefeller, Vanderbilt and Morgan
  3. 3Edison, Bell and the Age of Invention
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 3 · 4 lessonsImmigrants and the Growing Cities
  1. 1Ellis Island: Arriving in America
  2. 2Life in the Growing Cities
  3. 3Neighborhoods, Jobs and New Businesses
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 4 · 4 lessonsFarmers, Workers and Reformers
  1. 1Farmers and the Populists
  2. 2Labor Unions and Strikes
  3. 3The Progressive Reformers
  4. 4Let's Review
Module 5 · 4 lessonsOverseas Growth: Spanish-American War and TR
  1. 1The Spanish-American War
  2. 2America Becomes a World Power
  3. 3Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal
  4. 4Let's Review

Finish all 5 modules to earn the A Rising Power certificate of completion, part of Premium.

Start A Rising Power in the app.

Short lessons, questions along the way and a certificate when you finish.

All eight courses