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American History

Historical Thinking and Skills

1. Historical events provide opportunities to examine alternative courses of action.
2. The use of primary and secondary sources of information includes an examination of the credibility of each source.
3. Historians develop theses and use evidence to support or refute positions.
4. Historians analyze cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including multiple causation and long- and short-term causal relations.

Historic Documents

5. The Declaration of Independence reflects an application of Enlightenment ideas to the grievances of British subjects in the American colonies.
6. The Northwest Ordinance addressed a need for government in the Northwest Territory and established precedents for the future governing of the United States.
7. Problems facing the national government under the Articles of Confederation led to the drafting of the Constitution of the United States. The framers of the Constitution applied ideas of Enlightenment in conceiving the new government.
8. The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers structured the national debate over the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
9. The Bill of Rights is derived from English law, ideas of the Enlightenment, the experiences of the American colonists, early experiences of self-government and the national debate over the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

Industrialization and Progressivism (1877-1920)

10. The rise of corporations, heavy industry, mechanized farming and technological innovations transformed the American economy from an agrarian to an increasingly urban industrial society.
11. The rise of industrialization led to a rapidly expanding workforce. Labor organizations grew amidst unregulated working conditions and violence toward supporters of organized labor.
12. Immigration, internal migration and urbanization transformed American life.
13. Following Reconstruction, old political and social structures reemerged and racial discrimination was institutionalized.
14. The Progressive era was an effort to address the ills of American society stemming from industrial capitalism, urbanization and political corruption.

Foreign Affairs from Imperialism to Post-World War I (1898-1930)

15. As a result of overseas expansion, the Spanish-American War and World War I, the United States emerged as a world power.
16. After WWI, the United States pursued efforts to maintain peace in the world. However, as a result of the national debate over the Versailles Treaty ratification and the League of Nations, the United States moved away from the role of world peacekeeper and limited its involvement in international affairs.

Prosperity, Depression and the New Deal (1919-1941)

17. Racial intolerance, anti-immigrant attitudes and the Red Scare contributed to social unrest after World War I.
18. An improved standard of living for many, combined with technological innovations in communication, transportation and industry, resulted in social and cultural changes and tensions.
19. Movements such as the Harlem Renaissance, African-American migration, women’s suffrage and Prohibition all contributed to social change.
20. The Great Depression was caused, in part, by the federal government’s monetary policies, stock market speculation, and increasing consumer debt. The role of the federal government expanded as a result of the Great Depression.

From Isolation to World War (1930-1945)

21. During the 1930s, the U.S. government attempted to distance the country from earlier interventionist policies in the Western Hemisphere as well as retain an isolationist approach to events in Europe and Asia until the beginning of WWII.
22. The United States mobilization of its economic and military resources during World War II brought significant changes to American society.
23. Use of atomic weapons changed the nature of war, altered the balance of power and began the nuclear age.

The Cold War (1945-1991)

24. The United States followed a policy of containment during the Cold War in response to the spread of communism.
25. The Second Red Scare and McCarthyism reflected Cold War fears in American society.
26. The Cold War and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam influenced domestic and international politics.
27. The collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. brought an end to the Cold War.

Social Transformations in the United States (1945-1994)

28. Following World War II, the United States experienced a struggle for racial and gender equality and the extension of civil rights.
29. The postwar economic boom, greatly affected by advances in science, produced epic changes in American life.
30. The continuing population flow from cities to suburbs, the internal migrations from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt, and the increase in immigration resulting from passage of the 1965 Immigration Act have had social and political effects.
31. Political debates focused on the extent of the role of government in the economy, environmental protection, social welfare and national security.

United States and the Post-Cold War World (1991 to Present)

32. Improved global communications, international trade, transnational business organizations, overseas competition and the shift from manufacturing to service industries have impacted the American economy.
33. The United States faced new political, national security and economic challenges in the post-Cold War world and following the attacks on September 11, 2001.