Overview
My favorite American history focus is the period of time form the end of the Civil War to the start of World War I. Covering the era often referred to as "The Gilded Age" and the early parts of the "Progressive Era," this was a slice of time when Americans believed they each had an opportunity to achieve unimaginable success and that technology was the solution for all the problems of society.

In many ways, the cruise of the Great White Fleet epitomized this faith in technology and its success was compounded by the opening of the Panama Canal just a few years later; however, this faith was about to be shaken. The sinking of the HMS "Titanic" on her maiden voyage and the subsequent carnage wrought by the World War, due to the very technology that was indented to improve society, shook the faith to its very core.

text on this page is a work in progress ... 05-20-2006