READING GUIDES & LESSON LINKS
Semester Two
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Reading Guide VI
Periods 6 (1865-1898) & Period 7 (1890-1945) (-)
With the Civil War a recent memory, the United States concentrates on the rapid industrialization of the Country. The West, South, and North all experience a new era that includes the growth of urbanization, massive immigration, and the consolidation of "big business" power.
Chapter 23. Politics and Paralysis in the Gilded Age, 1869-1896
Chapter24. Industry Comes of Age, 1865-1900
Chapter25. America Moves to the City, 1865-1900
Chapter26. The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution, 1865-1896
With the Civil War a recent memory, the United States concentrates on the rapid industrialization of the Country. The West, South, and North all experience a new era that includes the growth of urbanization, massive immigration, and the consolidation of "big business" power.
Chapter 23. Politics and Paralysis in the Gilded Age, 1869-1896
Chapter24. Industry Comes of Age, 1865-1900
Chapter25. America Moves to the City, 1865-1900
Chapter26. The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution, 1865-1896
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
Actively Learn: Politics of the Gilded Age
Why are the presidents of the era, 1877-1901, so forgettable?
Rating the Gilded Age Presidents
We will rate the presidents of this era based on the issues of the day that went, for the most part, ignored. Find out how they stack up against the rest of our presidents below.
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Who are the Richest People in the World?
Click the button below.
Click the button below.
Who Were The Wealthiest Americans of the Industrial Age?
Click the button below.
Click the button below.
Factors of Industrialization
A number of factors contributed to the rapid Industrialization of the United States, transforming the country into a machine civilization. Here we will look up the factors listed and organize them into 3 or 4 groups according to their similarities (your opinion). Then, describe how each of your groupings is similar.
Exam Skills: SAQ (Short Answer Question)-Industrialization
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-"The Industrialization: Boom or Blight?" (pp. 537) Click the document below.
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-"The Industrialization: Boom or Blight?" (pp. 537) Click the document below.

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Lecture: Urbanization
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Doing The DBQ (1979)
How committed was America, politically, to adhere to a philosophy of Laissez-Faire? Click the document below to determine, using the documents provided, your answer. Coming Soon.
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Immigration
The Late 19th and early 2oth centuries saw the largest number of Immigrants enter the United States in its history. What did this massive migration look like? Click the animated map link below to find out. Also, we will take a look at the timeline patterns of US Immigration to determine causes and consequences. Lastly, we take an interactive journey through Ellis Island.
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Actively Learn: A Rush of Immigrants
Learn about immigration in this era. Click below.
Learn about immigration in this era. Click below.
How dangerous is the American workplace today? Click below to find out!
Industrialization and African-Americans
Faced with being left behind in an industrializing America, African-Americans debated how best to work toward prosperity and equal rights. Use the links below to learn about the philosophies of two famous Americans.
Faced with being left behind in an industrializing America, African-Americans debated how best to work toward prosperity and equal rights. Use the links below to learn about the philosophies of two famous Americans.
Exam Skills: SAQ (Short Answer Question)-Populists
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-"The Populists: Radicals or Reactionaries?" (pp. 509-510) Click the documents below.

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Exam Skills: SAQ (Short Answer Question)-The West
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-"The Industrialization: Was the West Really 'Won'?" (pp. 604) Click the document below.
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-"The Industrialization: Was the West Really 'Won'?" (pp. 604) Click the document below.

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Native-Americans in the Era of Industrialization
Click below to see the course of Native-American events in American history.
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Frederic Remington's Indians as Buffalo
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Actively Learn: The Dawes Act
How did humanitarians hope to assimilate Native-Americans into American society? Click below.
How did humanitarians hope to assimilate Native-Americans into American society? Click below.
Wild West Gambling
Click below to play some Faro! |
1900 House

Could your family live without electricity, electronics, privacy, and all the trappings of their modern life? Watch the episodes from the BBC's "1900 House" to see what happens to a modern family living as if it were 1900.
Episodes:
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One
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Two
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Three
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Four
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The Problems of Urbanization
As American moved to the city for new opportunities, urbanization brought many changes and challenges. Americans faced the problem of living together in larger numbers than ever before, leading to many great problems. As always, Americans responded to these problems with creativity, energy, and determination. "America, the Story of Us" highlights the story.
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Exam Skills: SAQ (Short Answer Question)-Women & African-Americans
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-Cultural and Intellectual Movements. Click the document below.
From the Cengage Learning Teacher's Resource Guide, 2016
"Expanding Varying Viewpoints"-Cultural and Intellectual Movements. Click the document below.

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Reading Guide VII
Periods 6 (1865-1898) and 7 (1890-1945) (-)
In this next phase of American history, "economic and political forces spark a spectacular burst of imperialistic expansion for the United States that culminates in the Spanish-American War-a war that began over freeing Cuba and ended with the highly controversial acquisition of the Philippines." The United Stets achieves major world power status, but must confront new responsibilities.
Chapter 27. Empire and Expansion
Chapter 28. Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt
Chapter 29. Wilsonian Progressivism at home and Abroad
Chapter 30. The War To End War
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
In this next phase of American history, "economic and political forces spark a spectacular burst of imperialistic expansion for the United States that culminates in the Spanish-American War-a war that began over freeing Cuba and ended with the highly controversial acquisition of the Philippines." The United Stets achieves major world power status, but must confront new responsibilities.
Chapter 27. Empire and Expansion
Chapter 28. Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt
Chapter 29. Wilsonian Progressivism at home and Abroad
Chapter 30. The War To End War
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
Actively Learn: The Spanish American War
The United States became a full-fledged Empire because of the consequences of of the Spanish-American war of 1898. What caused the war, and what were its results?
Jingoism
As Urbanization stimulated the growth of news publications, competition drove this growing media to go extremes to sell copy. The resulting sensationalism had many
names--"Yellow Journalism," Jingoism, and the tabloids for example. Many cite this type of news for helping to create an aggressive American mood toward Spain. But was this a cause of the war with Spain? Click below to find out. |
The American Empire at the turn of the last century (c. 1900)
The Central Intelligence Agency has one of the most comprehensive sites covering the World's countries and their territorial possessions. CIA staff refer to this site for basic information. We will use the site to uncover the current status of the once vast American Empire. Click below to begin your research.
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The Jungle
In 1906 Theodore Roosevelt used Upton Sinclair's The Jungle to move the House of Representatives to pass legislation to regulate food processing in America. Sinclair's novel about the Rudkus family was meant to draw attention to the plight of poor immigrants. Instead, Americans were most interested in the horrid conditions descibing the meat-packing plant where the Jurgis Rudkus worked. Here, we will read a few excerpts from the book to help us understand the conditions needing to be addressed by Progressive legislation.
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Learning Center Excerpts:
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Upton Sinclair
Questions. How does Upton Sinclair describe the following:
1) Graft & Corruption? 2) Political Machine? 3) Scams on Immigrants? 4) The Meat-Packing Industry? 5) Child Labor? 6) Layoffs? |
The Progressive Era Chart
The chart below will help us create organizational themes to quantify Progressivism in all its forms, helping us to construct an essay on the topic.
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Interactive Timeline of Events Leading to US Entry into the Great War
THE SPANISH FLU
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What killed more Americans than all the wars fought in the 20th century, and nearly brought our country to the breaking point? An H1N1 Influenza A Virus. Watch this video from American Experience to learn more. How has the COVID experience been different?
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Our Colored Heroes
The Case:
Host Tukufu Zuberi switched roles for this story and brought a question of his own to History Detectives. Tukufu collects posters featuring African Americans in combat. One in particular intrigues him. Titled Our Colored Heroes, the poster tells an incredible World War I story. A raiding party of more than 20 Germans attacked two African American doughboys on sentry duty. The poster quotes General Pershing who praises the two colored sentries who ‘continued fighting after receiving wounds and despite the use of grenades by a superior force.’ Did all of this actually happen? And why was this poster made? Tukufu, along with fellow History Detectives host Elyse Luray track down the truth, and call on the insight of U.S. Senator Charles Schumer to answer Tukufu’s question. |
Click Below to Watch the episode.
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The Treaty of Versailles and the United States
What did President Woodrow Wilson hope to achieve by being the first sitting president to visit Europe, attending the Paris Peace Conference? Why did the U.S. Senate refuse to ratify the Conference's Versailles Treaty? Find out all this and more by clicking below and completing the Actively Learn assignment. Use the code: FONUX
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Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes was shaped by the single most important event of his life--The Civil War. He spent 30 years on the Supreme Court shaping American understanding of the Constitution. Read the document below to learn his views on the Great War and civil rights.
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Reading Guide VIII
Period 7 (1890-1945)
In this next phase of American history, America is on the move--technologically, as the internal combustion engine revolutionizes travel, and geographically, as Americans continue to move to cities for opportunity. All this as the United States faces the great challenges of depression and war.
Chapter 30. American Life in the "Roaring Twenties," 1920-1929.
Chapter 31. The Politics of Boom and Bust, 1920-1932.
Chapter 32. The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1933-1939.
Chapter 33. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War, 1933-1941.
Chapter 34. America in World War II, 1941-1945.
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
In this next phase of American history, America is on the move--technologically, as the internal combustion engine revolutionizes travel, and geographically, as Americans continue to move to cities for opportunity. All this as the United States faces the great challenges of depression and war.
Chapter 30. American Life in the "Roaring Twenties," 1920-1929.
Chapter 31. The Politics of Boom and Bust, 1920-1932.
Chapter 32. The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1933-1939.
Chapter 33. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War, 1933-1941.
Chapter 34. America in World War II, 1941-1945.
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
When the Negro was en Vogue
Langston Hughes was probably the most famous artist to be associated with the Harlem Renaissance. In his autobiography, The Big Sea, he is also the period's most important critic. Click below to discover his criticism.
Excerpt below from The Big Sea: An Autbiography (Langston Hughes).
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Dust Tracks on a Road
Click below to read the autobiography of Zora Neale Hurston.
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Influencial members of the Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes, Charles S. Johnson, E. Franklin Frazier, Rudolph Fisher and Hubert Delany overlooking St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem in the 1920s.
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Slang of the 1920s
Click below to learn some of the new words that emerged from a new and urbanizing America.
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Charles Lindbergh's Journey
"In the United States, the 1920s were characterized by powerful tensions that pitted the entrenched forces of tradition against the dynamic energy of modernity. This film seeks to understand that conflict through the story of celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh. Belonging in spirit to a rapidly disappearing small-town America yet a strong believer in progress, 'Lucky Lindy' captured the imagination of the country as he helped to move the world into a new era." (ABC News)
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The Stock Market
Click on the stock index below to look up how much one share of Google will set you back!
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Hoover Struggles with the Great Depression
Discover what President Herbert Hoover did to fight the Great Depression. Click the document below to complete the worksheet.
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The Works Progress Administration in San Diego
Click below to discover what other buildings around SanDiego were built or remodeled beside Grossmont's.
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Entertainment in the 1930s
Radio and Movies
Cheap forms of entertainment abounded in the 1930s. At 25 cents for a feature movie, and free shows on Radio, the Depression Era was a golden age for entertainment--Nearly 70% of Americans saw movies on a regular basis, while most American households owned at least one radio. Click the links below to discover this lost world of entertainment art. |
Bob Hope
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Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind
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Totalitarianism Timeline, 1920s to 1940s
What events brought the world to the reality of war. Click Below.
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The Four Freedoms
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 1941 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS “THE FOUR FREEDOMS," JANUARY 6 1941 (77th Congress)
In an effort to prepare Americans and Congress for increased involvement in the Second World War, President Roosevelt describes the purpose of increased American involvement in the support of friendly countries and people's endangered by Totalitarianism. |
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Cartoons go to War
It was a testament to the size and scope of the war effort in World War Two that even cartoons played a role in achieving victory. The images and messages in this Bugs Bunny cartoon say as much about the enemy as they do about our Country in 1944.
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World War II "by the Numbers"
This will surprise you! Click below.
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How the US helped win World War Two.
Watch the video at right to see what special attributes allowed the United States to supply her allies and herself with the tools of victory, becoming the "arsenal of democracy." The video is part of History Channel's great series, America: The Story of Us.
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Bella's Famous People of WWII
Click below to find a great list from the TruePeopleSearch engine, thanks to an inquisitive student--thank you, Bella!
Reading Guide IX
Period 8 (1945-1980)
America emerges from World War II as the most powerful nation in human history. With this power comes new world-wide responsibilities, many of which challenge the the Nation in ways never expected, forever altering society, politics, and the economy.
Chapter 35. The Cold War Begins, 1945-1953
Chapter 36. American Zenith, 1952-1963
Chapter 37. The Stormy Sixties, 1963-1973
Chapter 38. Challenges to the Postwar Order, 1973-1980
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
America emerges from World War II as the most powerful nation in human history. With this power comes new world-wide responsibilities, many of which challenge the the Nation in ways never expected, forever altering society, politics, and the economy.
Chapter 35. The Cold War Begins, 1945-1953
Chapter 36. American Zenith, 1952-1963
Chapter 37. The Stormy Sixties, 1963-1973
Chapter 38. Challenges to the Postwar Order, 1973-1980
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
Nuclear Devistation
What would the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki have done to El Cajon? San Diego? What would the much larger Hydrogen, Fusion bombs of the 1950s and beyond have done? Click below and find out.
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The Atomic Bomb and the Cold War
America's atomic bomb helped win World War Two. As other countries developed their own atomic weapons, and the Cold War began, the testig of ever more powerful nuclear bombs increased at a pace that may seem incredible.
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Elvis!
The forces that transformed the 1960s into a time of massive social change can all be traced back to the 1950s. The biggest evidence of a changing America was manifest in a young man from Memphis playing a new style of music--Rock and Roll/Bop. The results of this man and his music helped create a widening generation gap, and further integration of society. Click on the right to watch The ABC News Special hosted by the late Peter Jennings, "Innocence in Rebellion."
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The Other America
Activist and writer Michael Harrington (1928–1989) published The Other America: Poverty in the United States in 1962. Read by President Kennedy and many others, this highly influential book argued that despite America’s apparent postwar prosperity, tens of millions of Americans were stuck in desperate poverty. The Other America spurred many of the domestic policy initiatives undertaken by the federal government in the 1960s, known collectively as “the war on poverty.” Click below to read Harrington's main points.
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The Election of 1964 on Television
By 1964 Television (T.V) was having a major impact on Presidential Elections, as almost all Americans now had T.V. From the 1952 Eisenhower campaign commercials excliaming "I like Ike" to the first televised debates in the close 1960 Election, which many believe helped John Kennedy beat Richard Nixon, the new media had changed politics. 1964 saw a full commercial campaign battle for a new and numerous T.V. audience. Click below to see the results.
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The New Frontier and the Great Society
Find below documents that will allow you to analyze both the New Frontier and the Great Society.
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America's Civil Rights Movement: A Time For Justice
"America's Civil Rights Movement depicts the battle for civil rights as told by its foot soldiers. They rode where they weren't supposed to ride, walked where they weren't supposed to walk, and sat where they weren't supposed to sit--They stood their ground until they won their freedom." Click to the right to watch a video from the Southern Poverty Law Center, "A Time for Justice." Below see charts covering African-American organizations of this era (I got this great information from a friend at an AP grading years ago.)
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War on T.V.
Some of the most famous videos and photographs of the Vietnam War. Never before had a war been covered in such an thorough way. On television every night, the images of the war helped turn many Americans against America's efforts to save South Vietnam from communism. Warning. These are disturbing images.
The Women's Rights Movement
Use the link below to create a timeline that includes the First, Second, and Third Waves of Feminism.
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The Kennedy Assassination
Watergate
After the Vietnam experience, the Pentagon Papers' release, and the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination, the Watergate scandal becomes the last nail in the coffin of inherent trust in the American government. It also destroys a presidency. Watch the video to learn about the break in.
Reading Guide X
Period 9 (1980-Present)
In the long twilight of the Cold War, Americans recover from the economic malaise of the 1970s, see the collapse of the Soviet Union, and face the new international threat of Mideast cultivated terrorism. As new millennium dawns, American society faces challenges to cultural social norms, as a variety of civil rights and social movements achieve greater acceptance and voice.
Chapter 39. The Resurgence of Conservatism, 1980-1992
Chapter 40. America Confronts the Post-Cold War Era, 1992-2000
Chapter 41. The American People Face the New Century, 2001-2014
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
In the long twilight of the Cold War, Americans recover from the economic malaise of the 1970s, see the collapse of the Soviet Union, and face the new international threat of Mideast cultivated terrorism. As new millennium dawns, American society faces challenges to cultural social norms, as a variety of civil rights and social movements achieve greater acceptance and voice.
Chapter 39. The Resurgence of Conservatism, 1980-1992
Chapter 40. America Confronts the Post-Cold War Era, 1992-2000
Chapter 41. The American People Face the New Century, 2001-2014
Themes:
Geography and the Environment (GEO)
Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
American and National Identity (NAT)
Politics and Power (POL)
America in the World (WOR)
Migration and Settlement (MIG)
Culture and Society (CUL)
Actively Learn: The Cold War Ends
Click below.
Click below.
Reagan Era Conservatism
The Clinton Era