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American Foreign Policy: 1900-1941 In the time between the start of the 20th century and the beginnings of the Second World War, America experienced numerous alterations in foreign policy. Not until late in the 19th century did Americans really push for involvement in affairs outside the country’s borders. Still recovering from the effects of the Civil War, the United States was busy reconstructing the southern states and re-establishing a stable unionized government. Americans still had the frontier to conquer and expand westward within its own continental borders. With a sense of invulnerability to external threat due to the geographic location between two large bodies of water, Americans felt secure and believed they didn’t need to look outward until the rise of the progressive movement and imperialistic views began to change that notion of isolationism. American society in the early 20th century began what is known as the Progressive Era. A new attitude of national improvement emerged with the aid of more sophisticated technologies, a rise in intellectual inquisitions, and artistic experimentation. A period of reformist impulse grew along with an overall sense that great things were to come in all levels of U.S. gove