United States History Since 1877
Students study the history of the United States from 1877 to the present. The course content is based on the founding documents of the U.S. government, which provides a framework for its heritage. Historical content focuses on the political, economic, and social events and issues related to industrialization and urbanization, major wars, domestic and foreign policies, reform movements, including civil rights.
Students examine the impact of constitutional issues on American society, evaluate the dynamic relationship of the three branches of the federal government, and analyze the efforts to expand the democratic process. Students use critical-thinking skills and a variety of primary and secondary source material to explain and apply different methods that historians use to understand and interpret the past, including multiple points of view and historical context.
Units and Themes:
Unit One: Foundations and Background to American History (Constitution)
Unit Two: Industrialization and the Gilded Age
Unit Three: American Society in Transition
Unit Four: The Progressive Era
Unit Five: America builds an Empire
Unit Six: America in WW1
Unit Seven: The Jazz Age/Roaring 20’s
Unit Eight: The Great Depression and the New Deal
Unit Nine: America in WW2
Unit Ten: America in the Cold War and the Civil Rights
Unit Eleven: Decade of the 1960 - Protest, Reform, and Change
Unit Twelve: Crisis and Resurgence - 70’s-2000
Unit Thirteen: America in the New Millennium
