As America moved out of the War Between the States, and through the end of the Nineteenth Century into the Progressive Era, the principles of Free Market Economics and Laissez-Faire began to become challenged. Fabianism and a flirtation with socialism gave way to the Progressive Era and a new mercantilism that led to collusion between big business and the federal government. Communism took over Russia, and America welcomed progressive changes to our banking system, U.S. Senate election method, and introduced a new income tax.  Woodrow Wilson became President, ready to wield the presidency in a fashion the progressives demanded. World War I, however, loomed on the horizon.

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