David Traxel 1898 May 19, 2000 Listen Real :: MP3 :: au format :: wav format Read Transcript of Online Session

1898. America was getting wired. Not for computers of course, but for electricity to power the relatively new invention of the light bulb. From Edison, to Ford, to Westinghouse, Americans were tinkering in garages. The inventions that came out of them - phonographs, automobiles, movies -- would change the country and made Americans feel confident that for the first time they were major players on the world stage.

So many things that we think of as quintessentially American came to light in 1898 - even slick political campaigning. William McKinley was being marketed like a consumer product. And why not? Americans were buying more products than ever. They were going to movies, eating Uneeda biscuits, and dancing their feet off. Entertainment was becoming an industry.

Internationally the U.S. was showing off its new brawn during the Spanish-American War. The world watched as the Great White Fleet sailed America onto the world stage. The sinking of the Maine and the Rough Riders' charge up San Juan Hill are just a sampling of the stories that make Traxel's retelling of the "splendid little war" riveting. He demonstrates how a path and mindset was being forged to bring the U.S. to superpower status.

1898 is a true-to-life image not only of an enthusiastic America, but one that drank too much, had a troubling suicide-rate, and an abysmal record in addressing women's and labor rights. In Plessy v Ferguson, the Supreme Court promulgated the notion of separate but equal rights for blacks and whites. Meanwhile, lynching of African Americans was not uncommon. According to Traxel, this year was one of "victory, invention, internal strife and industrial expansion;" one that defined the century.

1898 is when the modern American identity was created. Although the 20^th century began in the year 1901, the "American Century" actually began three years earlier according to Traxel. Traxel gives the reader a taste of American life on the eve of the "American Century." The riotous celebration sets the stage for what would be an unforgettable year.

Hailing from California, Traxel received his B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is currently an associate professor of History at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Professor Traxel's latest endeavor will take him back to 1914. Also a time of great change and expansion, he plans to conduct an in-depth study into the United States before, during and after involvement in the First World War. Included in this history will be a look into the newly emerging industries that changed the American culture, namely the automobile and film making industries.