The American Pageant Chapter 27 Empire and Expansion, 1890-1909 Cover Slide The American Pageant Chapter 27 Empire and Expansion, 1890-1909 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Bandana celebrating Theodore Roosevelt's Nobel Prize This souvenir bandana commemorated Theodore Roosevelt's mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906. The heart-shaped ribbon around Roosevelt's portrait contains the legend, "First in War, First in Peace, First in the Hearts of His Countrymen," a tribute first applied to George Washington. That statement explains why Roosevelt's war exploits (at the top) were linked with his peacemaking. (Collection of Janice L. and David J. Frent) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Children in textile mill Factories employed children from the early nineteenth century well into the twentieth. In textile mills like this one, photographed by Lewis Hines in 1908, girls operated machines, and boys ran messages and carried materials back and forth. Mill girls had to tie up their hair to keep it from getting caught in the machines. The girl posing here with a shawl over her head would not have worn that garment while she was working. (National Archives) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Frank Merriwell's Chums Frank Merriwell, the fictional hero of hundreds of stories written by Burt Standish (the pen name used by Gilbert Patten), was a popular character in the early 1900s. In a series of adventures, most involving sports, Frank used his physical skills, valor, and moral virtue to lead by example, accomplish the impossible, and influence others to behave in an upstanding way. (Collection of Picture Research Consultants, Inc.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Lower East Side Lower East Side In the era before automobiles, the streets pulsed with life as shops, vendors, and shoppers spilled out on the streets. (Library of Congress) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

New York Illustrated magazine cover This illustration from around 1900 evokes the magnetic attraction of America's expanding cities at the turn of the last century. (Picture Research Consultants & Archives) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map: Imperialism in Asia China and the Pacific region had become imperialist hunting grounds by the turn of the century. The European powers and Japan controlled more areas than the United States, which nonetheless participated in the imperial race by annexing the Philippines, Wake, Guam, Hawai'i, and Samoa, announcing the Open Door policy, and expanding trade. As the spheres of influence in China demonstrate, that besieged nation succumbed to outsiders despite the Open Door policy. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Video: The Great Train Robbery Click on image to launch video. Apple QuickTime® required for viewing The Great Train Robbery (Library of Congress.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Video: Wreck of the Battleship “Maine” Click on image to launch video. Apple QuickTime® required for viewing Wreck of the Battleship “Maine” (Courtesy of the Library of Congress.) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.