High

Industrialization changed the nature of work, working conditions and the composition of the American workforce. Labor's struggle to organize, management's fierce resistance to their efforts, and the status of the American worker at this time are analyzed.

Farmers became more productive and marginalized in economic and political life, responding by organizing significant challenges to the established political powers of the era. The meaning and legacy of the Populists is assessed.

The 19th century ends with the internal transformations of the U.S. propelling the nation to look outward. Causes and consequences of the Spanish American War, the decision for empire, the resulting war in the Philippines, and the use of the Big Stick in Latin America are discussed and analyzed.

After examining how and why American identity, freedom, and equality had changed since 1876, the Progressives and the causes they pursued are profiled. The meaning of progressive reform and the paradox of segregation is assessed.

Although the United States tried to stay out, America entered World War I on the side of the Allies in 1917. Why this happened and the effects of the war on the home and military fronts is analyzed. President Wilson's plans for a peaceful world and the Senates refusal to go along with his vision is examined.

By the early 1920s, America was changing into a society that begins to look quite familiar to us. Radios, automobiles, sports, and consumerism often overshadowed the cultural tensions surrounding race, religion, and immigration. This new era is examined and its meaning is assessed.

Roosevelt's new deal to Americans delivered some of the most important political and economic reforms in the 20th century. How America was transformed in the 1930s is examined and the legacy of these changes is assessed.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into the most devastating war of the 20th century. America's diplomatic road to war and the wartime mobilization, including the internment of Japanese Americans is analyzed.

Turning to diplomacy and military operations, the reasons for Allied success are assessed. The holocaust, use of atomic bombs, and how the war transformed the world and the place of the United States in it are examined.

After considering the status of American identity, freedom, and equality in 1945, we turn our attention to the emerging cold war. The development and application of the containment policy in Europe and Asia is assessed, and the fear of communism at home is examined.

Although the cold war tensions persisted, most Americans were pursuing their vision of happiness in the late 1940's and 1950's. The expanding economy, the changing nature of work, suburban life, and the important strides toward ending segregation in America are explored.

Dreams of freedom and equality for all Americans moved toward a greater degree of reality during the dynamic civil rights movement of the 1960s. The leadership and tactics of the movement, how it changed America, and why the movement eventually stalled is analyzed.

The winds of change sweeping across America in the 1960s and early 1970s seemed to be blowing everywhere. The counterculture, American Indian protest movements, Latino movements, and the second wave of feminism are examined. What did it all mean?

Amidst the excitement swirling within America in sixties, the United States continued to grapple with dangerous issues in the world arena. After reflecting upon the Cuban Missile Crisis, the complex story of American involvement in Vietnam and how that affected the American people is examined.

Liberal policies brought great change in America from FDR's New Deal to LBJ's Great Society. This lesson examines why liberalism came under attack from all sides in the late 1960s and early 1970s and how the Watergate Affair, coming on the heels of the Vietnam War, confirmed public mistrust of politicians and government.