The American Century

American Century is a characterization of the 20th century as being largely dominated by the United
States in political, economic, and cultural terms. It is comparable to the description of the 19th Century
as Britain's Imperial Century.
The term was coined by Time publisher Henry Luce to describe what he thought the role of the United
States would be and should be during the 20th century. Luce, the son of a missionary, in a February 17,
1941 Life magazine editorial urged the United States to forsake isolationism for a missionary's role,
acting as the world's Good Samaritan and spreading democracy. He called upon the US to enter World
War II to defend democratic values.
Native American Influences:
In music: Rock, which began as rock and-roll, a music that was first played in the 1950s. It came from
the American South, and combined black blues with the country music of working class whites to
produce a heavily rhythmic rocking sound that appealed especially to young people. First most known
performers: Chuck Berry, Little Richard (both black) and the unchallenged King of rock-and-roll, a
young southern white named Elvis Presley who became an international superstar.

In broadcasting: Television - as early as 1947, around 170 000 American families had television sets
flickering in their living rooms. Soon millions of people were organizing their activities around the
programs on television that evening. Most early American television programs were concerned with
entertainment ( comedies, game shows, stories about policemen and detectives, adventures of fictional
western heroes like the Lone Ranger- very popular at that time). First advertisements shown on
NBC(National Broadcasting Company) and CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System). By the 1960s filmed
television programs had become an important American export. Other countries found it cheaper to buy
American programs than to make their own ( Ex. I love Lucy a 1950s comedy series)

In food habits: The growing popularity of hamburgers, fried chicken and other easily prepared fast
food spread American eating habits all over the world. Furthermore, the convenience of buying food
from supermarkets also spread to other prosperous countries, first in Europe and then in other parts of
the world.

In infrastructure: Tall buildings called skyscrapers became one of the principal visual symbols of the
modern United States. Skyscrapers were the result of a need for more working and living space in places
where the cost of land was very high. Instead of using a lot of expensive space on the ground their
builders used the free space of the sky. New industrial techniques, and the availability of plenty of cheap
steel, made it possible for them to do this.