Domestic Politics  In the period from the end of Reconstruction
to the beginning of the twentieth century, there was little
difference between the agendas of Republicans and Democrats.
Both parties were generally pro‐business, despite the fact that
steps were taken to regulate the railroads and the trusts, and
neither was concerned with the economic and social dislocations
brought about by industrialization and urbanization. The
questions that dominated domestic politics in the late
nineteenth century appear rather mundane — monetary policy,
civil service reform, and the tariff. The failure of the federal
government to seriously address the problems facing agriculture
forced farmers to organize and pursue political action on their
own. Although domestic issues occupied the nation for most of
the period, foreign policy questions dominated the last years of
the century. In a remarkably short time, the United States
acquired an overseas empire in the Pacific and the Caribbean and
became a major force in world af