PERIOD 6:  1865–1900

Key Concept 6.1 — Technological advances, large-scale production
methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of
industrial capitalism in the United States.

WXT-1.0: Explain how different labor systems developed in North America and the United
States, and explain their effects on workers’ lives and U.S. society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze ways that governments have responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how technological innovation has affected economic development
and society.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons for, and results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and
military initiatives in North America and overseas.

I. Large-scale industrial production—accompanied by massive
technological change, expanding international communication networks,
and pro-growth government policies—generated rapid economic
development and business consolidation.
A. Following the Civil War, government subsidies for transportation and
communication systems helped open new markets in North America.
B. Businesses made use of technological innovations, greater access to natural
resources, redesigned financial and management structures, advances in
marketing, and a growing labor force to dramatically increase the production of goods.
C. As the price of many goods decreased, workers’ real wages increased, providing
new access to a variety of goods and services; many Americans’ standards of
living improved, while the gap between rich and poor grew.
D. Many business leaders sought increased profits by consolidating corporations into large trusts and holding companies, which further concentrated wealth.
E. Businesses and foreign policymakers increasingly looked outside U.S. borders
in an effort to gain greater influence and control over markets and natural resources
in the Pacific Rim, Asia, and Latin America.

II. A variety of perspectives on the economy and labor developed during a time of financial panics and downturns.

WXT-1.0: Explain how different labor systems developed in North America and the United
States, and explain their effects on workers’ lives and U.S. society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and private enterprise have
developed, and analyze ways that governments have responded to economic issues.
CUL-4.0: Explain how different group identities, including racial, ethnic, class, and
regional identities, have emerged and changed over time.

A. Some argued that laissez-faire policies and competition promoted economic growth
in the long run, and they opposed government intervention during economic downturns.
B. The industrial workforce expanded and became more diverse through internal and
international migration; child labor also increased.
C. Labor and management battled over wages and working conditions, with workers organizing local and national unions and/or directly confronting business leaders.
D. Despite the industrialization of some segments of the Southern economy—a change
promoted by Southern leaders who called for a New South”—agriculture based on sharecropping and tenant farming continued to be the primary economic activity in the South.

III. New systems of production and transportation enabled consolidation within agriculture, which, along with periods of instability, spurred a variety of responses from farmers.

POL-2.0: Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to
change American society and institutions.
POL-3.0: Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have affected political debates and policies.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how technological innovation has affected economic development
and society.

A. Improvements in mechanization helped agricultural production increase substantially and
contributed to declines in food prices.
B. Many farmers responded to the increasing consolidation in agricultural markets and
their dependence on the evolving railroad system by creating local and regional cooperative organizations.
C. Economic instability inspired agrarian activists to create the People’s (Populist)
Party, which called for a stronger governmental role in regulating the American economic system.

Key Concept 6.2 — The migrations that accompanied
industrialization transformed both urban and rural areas of the
United States and caused dramatic social and cultural change.

NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships among different regional, social, ethnic, and racial groups, and explain how these groups’ experiences have related to U.S. national identity.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes of migration to colonial North America and, later, the
United States, and analyze immigration’s effects on U.S. society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of internal migration and patterns of settlement in what would
become the United States, and explain how migration has affected American life.

I. International and internal migration increased urban populations and fostered the growth of a new urban culture.
A. As cities became areas of economic growth featuring new factories and businesses, they
attracted immigrants from Asia and from southern and eastern Europe, as well as African American migrants within and out of the South. Many migrants moved to escape poverty, religious persecution, and limited opportunities for social mobility in their home countries or regions.
B. Urban neighborhoods based on particular ethnicities, races, and classes provided new cultural opportunities for city dwellers.
C. Increasing public debates over assimilation and Americanization accompanied
the growth of international migration. Many immigrants negotiated compromises
between the cultures they brought and the culture they found in the United States.
D. In an urban atmosphere where the access to power was unequally distributed, political machines thrived, in part by providing immigrants and the poor with social services.
E. Corporations’ need for managers and for male and female clerical workers as well as increased access to educational institutions, fostered the growth of a distinctive middle class. A growing amount of leisure time also helped expand consumer culture.

II. Larger numbers of migrants moved to the West in search of land
and economic opportunity, frequently provoking competition and
violent conflict.
NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and individualism found expression
in the development of cultural values, political institutions, and American identity.
POL-3.0: Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social
and economic life have affected political debates and policies.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of internal migration and patterns of settlement in what would become the United States, and explain how migration has affected American life.
GEO-1.0: Explain how geographic and environmental factors shaped the development
of various communities, and analyze how competition for and debates over natural
resources have affected both interactions among different groups and the development of
government policies.
WOR-1.0: Explain how cultural interaction, cooperation, competition, and conflict
between empires, nations, and peoples have influenced political, economic, and social developments in North America.
A. The building of transcontinental railroads, the discovery of mineral resources, and government policies promoted economic growth and created new communities and centers of
commercial activity.
B. In hopes of achieving ideals of self-sufficiency and independence, migrants
moved to both rural and boomtown areas of the West for opportunities, such as
building the railroads, mining, farming, and ranching.
C. As migrant populations increased in number and the American bison population
was decimated, competition for land and resources in the West among white settlers,
American Indians, and Mexican Americans led to an increase in violent conflict.
D. The U.S. government violated treaties with American Indians and responded to resistance with military force, eventually confining American Indians to reservations and denying
tribal sovereignty.
E. Many American Indians preserved their cultures and tribal identities despite government policies promoting assimilation, and they attempted to develop self-sustaining economic
practices.

Key Concept 6.3 — The Gilded Age produced new cultural and
intellectual movements, public reform efforts, and political debates
over economic and social policies.

CUL-1.0: Explain how religious groups and ideas have affected American society and
political life.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic, philosophical, and scientific ideas have developed and
shaped society and institutions.

I. New cultural and intellectual movements both buttressed and challenged the social order of the Gilded Age.
A. Social commentators advocated theories later described as Social Darwinism to justify the
success of those at the top of the socioeconomic structure as both appropriate and inevitable.
B. Some business leaders argued that the wealthy had a moral obligation to help the less fortunate and improve society, as articulated in the idea known as the Gospel of Wealth, and they made philanthropic contributions that enhanced educational opportunities and urban
environments.
C. A number of artists and critics, including agrarians, utopians, socialists, and advocates of the Social Gospel, championed alternative visions for the economy and U.S. society.

II. Dramatic social changes in the period inspired political debates over citizenship, corruption, and the proper relationship between business and government.

NAT-2.0: Explain how interpretations of the Constitution and debates over rights, liberties, and definitions of citizenship have affected American values, politics, and society.
POL-1.0: Explain how and why political ideas, beliefs, institutions, party systems, and
alignments have developed and changed.
POL-2.0: Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to
change American society and institutions.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected society and politics.

A. The major political parties appealed to lingering divisions from the Civil War
and contended over tariffs and currency issues, even as reformers argued that economic greed and self-interest had corrupted all levels of government.
B. Many women sought greater equality with men, often joining voluntary organizations, going to college, promoting social and political reform, and, like Jane Addams, working in settlement houses to help immigrants adapt to U.S. language and customs.
C. The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson that upheld racial segregation helped to mark the end of most of the political gains African Americans made during Reconstruction.
Facing increased violence, discrimination, and scientific theories of race, African American reformers continued to fight for political and social equality.

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PERIOD 7: 1890–1945 (-)

Key Concept 7.1 — Growth expanded opportunity, while economic
instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic
system.
WXT-2.0: Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and private enterprise have developed, and analyze ways that governments have responded to economic issues.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how technological innovation has affected economic development
and society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of internal migration and patterns of settlement in what would become the United States, and explain how migration has affected American life.

I. The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.
A. New technologies and manufacturing techniques helped focus the U.S. economy on the production of consumer goods, contributing to improved standards of living, greater personal mobility, and better communications systems.
B. By 1920, a majority of the U.S. population lived in urban centers, which offered new economic opportunities for women, international migrants, and internal migrants.
C. Episodes of credit and market instability in the early 20th century, in particular the Great Depression, led to calls for a stronger financial regulatory system.

II. In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling for greater government action and other political and social measures.

POL-2.0: Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to change American society and institutions.
POL-3.0: Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have affected political debates and policies.
GEO-1.0: Explain how geographic and environmental factors shaped the development of various communities, and analyze how competition for and debates over natural resources have affected both
interactions among different groups and the development of government policies.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected
society and politics.

A. Some Progressive Era journalists attacked what they saw as political corruption, social injustice, and economic inequality, while reformers, often from the middle and upper classes and including many women, worked to effect social changes in cities and among immigrant populations.
B. On the national level, Progressives sought federal legislation that they believed would effectively regulate the economy, expand democracy, and generate moral reform. Progressive amendments to the Constitution dealt with issues such as prohibition and woman suffrage.
C. Preservationists and conservationists both supported the establishment of national parks while
advocating different government responses to the overuse of natural resources.
D. The Progressives were divided over many issues. Some Progressives supported Southern segregation,
while others ignored its presence. Some Progressives advocated expanding popular participation in government, while others called for greater reliance on professional and technical experts to make
government more efficient. Progressives also disagreed about immigration restriction.

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Key Concept 7.1 — Growth expanded opportunity, while economic
instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic
system.

III. During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism.
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POL-1.0: Explain how and why political ideas, beliefs, institutions, party systems, and alignments have developed and changed.
POL-3.0: Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have affected political debates and policies.
WXT-1.0: Explain how different labor systems developed in North America and the United States, and explain their effects on workers’ lives and U.S. society.
WXT-2.0: Explain how patterns of exchange, markets, and private enterprise have developed, and analyze ways that governments have responded to economic issues.

A. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to provide relief to the poor, stimulate recovery, and reform the American economy.
B. Radical, union, and populist movements pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive efforts to change
the American economic system, while conservatives in Congress and the Supreme Court sought to limit the New Deal’s scope.
C. Although the New Deal did not end the Depression, it left a legacy of reforms and regulatory agencies and fostered a long-term political realignment in which many ethnic groups, African Americans, and working class communities identified with the Democratic Party.

Key Concept 7.2 — Innovations in communications and technology
contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes
occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
​
NAT-2.0: Explain how interpretations of the Constitution and debates over rights, liberties, and definitions of citizenship have affected American values, politics, and society.
WXT-3.0: Analyze how technological innovation has affected economic development and society.
CUL-1.0: Explain how religious groups and ideas have affected American society and political life.
CUL-2.0: Explain how artistic, philosophical, and scientific ideas have developed and shaped society and institutions.
CUL-4.0: Explain how different group identities, including racial, ethnic, class, and regional identities, have emerged and changed over time.

I. Popular culture grew in influence in U.S. society, even as debates increased over the effects of culture on public values, morals, and American national identity.
A. New forms of mass media, such as radio and cinema, contributed to the spread of national culture as well as greater awareness of regional cultures. 
B. Migration gave rise to new forms of art and literature that expressed ethnic and regional identities, such the Harlem Renaissance movement.
C. Official restrictions on freedom of speech grew during World War I, as increased anxiety about
radicalism led to a Red Scare and attacks on labor activism and immigrant culture.
D. In the 1920s, cultural and political controversies emerged as Americans debated gender roles, modernism, science, religion, and issues related to race and immigration.

II. Economic pressures, global events, and political developments caused sharp variations in the numbers, sources, and experiences of both international and internal migrants.

CUL-4.0: Explain how different group identities, including racial, ethnic, class, and regional identities, have emerged and changed over time.
MIG-1.0: Explain the causes of migration to colonial North America and, later, the United States, and analyze immigration’s effects on U.S. society.
MIG-2.0: Analyze causes of internal migration and patterns of settlement in what would become the United States, and explain how migration has affected American life.

A. Immigration from Europe reached its peak in the years before World War I. During and after World War I, nativist campaigns against some ethnic groups led to the passage of quotas that
restricted immigration, particularly from southern and eastern Europe, and increased barriers to Asian immigration.
B. The increased demand for war production and labor during World War I and World War II and the economic difficulties of the 1930s led many Americans to migrate to urban centers in search of
economic opportunities.
C. In a Great Migration during and after World War I, African Americans escaping segregation, racial violence, and limited economic opportunity in the South moved to the North and West, where they found new opportunities but still encountered discrimination.
D. Migration to the United States from Mexico and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere increased, in spite of contradictory government policies toward Mexican immigration.
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Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conflicts
propelled the United States into a position of international power while
renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.

I. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, new U.S. territorial ambitions and acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific accompanied heightened public debates over America’s role in the world.

NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas about national identity changed in response to U.S. involvement in international conflicts and the growth of the United States.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons for, and results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military initiatives in North America and overseas.

A. Imperialists cited economic opportunities, racial theories, competition with European empires, and the perception in the 1890s that the western frontier was “closed” to argue that Americans were destined to expand their culture and institutions to peoples aroundthe globe.
B. Anti-imperialists cited principles of self-determination and invoked both racial theories and the
U.S. foreign policy tradition of isolationism to argue that the U.S. should not extend its territory overseas.
C. The American victory in the Spanish–American War led to the U.S. acquisition of island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific, an increase in involvement in Asia, and the
suppression of a nationalist movement in the Philippines.
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NAT-1.0: Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and individualism found expression in the development of cultural values, political institutions, and American identity.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas about national identity changed in response to U.S. involvement in international conflicts and the growth of the United States.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons for, and results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military initiatives in North America and overseas.

II. World War I and its aftermath intensified ongoing debates about the nation’s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests.

AT-1.0: Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and individualism found expression in the development of cultural values, political institutions, and American identity.
NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas about national identity changed in response to U.S. involvement in international conflicts and the growth of the United States.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons for, and results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military initiatives in North America and overseas.

A. After initial neutrality in World War I, the nation entered the conflict, departing from the U.S. foreign policy tradition of noninvolvement in European affairs, in response to Woodrow Wilson’s call for the defense of humanitarian and democratic principles.
B. Although the American Expeditionary Forces played a relatively limited role in combat, the U.S.’s entry helped to tip the balance of the conflict in favor of the Allies.
C. Despite Wilson’s deep involvement in postwar negotiations, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations.
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D. In the years following World War I, the United States pursued a unilateral foreign policy that used international investment, peace treaties, and select military intervention to promote a vision of international order, even while maintaining U.S. isolationism.
E. In the 1930s, while many Americans were concerned about the rise of fascism and totalitarianism, most opposed taking military action against the aggression of Nazi Germany and Japan until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II.

III. U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership.

NAT-3.0: Analyze how ideas about national identity changed in response to U.S. involvement
in international conflicts and the growth of the United States. 
NAT-4.0: Analyze relationships among different regional, social, ethnic, and racial groups, and explain how these groups’ experiences have related to U.S. national identity.
CUL-3.0: Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected society and politics.
WOR-2.0: Analyze the reasons for, and results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military initiatives in North America and overseas.

A. Americans viewed the war as a fight for the survival of freedom and democracy against fascist
and militarist ideologies. This perspective was later reinforced by revelations about Japanese wartime atrocities, Nazi concentration camps, and the Holocaust.
B. The mass mobilization of American society helped end the Great Depression, and the country’s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war by equipping and provisioning allies and millions of U.S. troops.
C. Mobilization and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties, such as the internment
of Japanese Americans.
D. The United States and its allies achieved military victory through Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific “island-hopping” and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons.
E. The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on earth.
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