1912-1920 was one of the defining moments in American history. It was the period of World War I, which an African American scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois stated “Let us while this war last, forget our special grievances and close our ranks with our own whit fellow citizens and allied nations that are fighting for democracy.” (History of the United States-Created Equal, Jones and Others.)
Imperialism is a policy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition or maintaining of empire through direct control of a country. In December of 1898, the U.S. government established the Division of Custom and Insular Affairs as the first step in administering its new empire, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines. (The Lost Promise of Patriotism, Debating American Identity 1890-1920, Jonathan M. Hense.)
The United States came out of the war with great prestige and power, but the treaty of 1919 failed to create a lasting structure for world peace. In the period of 1912-1920 will not be complete without mentioning The Great Migration of more than half a million African American out of Dixie during the war years and also women of all colors lived under particular burdens of discrimination –their inability to vote.
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