The Modernization of America The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869. The telephone was invented in 1876. The first practical system for a radio was developed in 1895. The Wright brothers created a flying machine in 1903. The first gas powered automobile, the assembly line and the refrigerator were produced in the early 20th century. These are all very important steps in laying the foundation for the modernization of America, but I would argue that the first truly modern …showed first 75 words of 715 total…

…showed last 75 words of 715 total…transformations marked the end of progressivism and though there were attempts to salvage it, America never saw it in the same form again. Without a doubt the inventions and ideas that were the very beginning of the modernization of America started decades before the 1920s but the population adopted the ideas and they became available and widespread in the 20s. Therefore I would consider the 1920s as the first truly modern era in American history.