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Alexis de Tocqueville
Published Democracy in America; identified five falues he found critical to America's success:
Egalitarianism (equality)
Individualism
Laissez-faire (hands off)
Liberty
Populism (popular sovereignty) -
Period: to
The Gilded Age – Post Reconstruction [1877] - 1900
A period of expansion, industrialization, immigration and urbanization with significant effects on
Native Americans, workers, immigrants, and the rise of big business in the late 19th century. -
Period: to
Age of Imperialism and Reform – 1898 - 1919
During the early 20th century the U.S. entered a new historical era: an Age of Expansionism
beyond our natural borders as the country moved from isolationism. U.S. imperialism led to
involvement in the Spanish-American War, changing policies in Latin America and Asia and
eventually to World War I. At home, reformers made efforts to correct economic and social
abuses of the Gilded Age. -
Period: to
World War I – 1914 – 1918
This was an era in which the global conflict of World War I and its effects had an impact on all
Americans. -
Period: to
The Roaring 20s
This was also an era of significant prosperity and social change as Americans became more
isolationist and responded to significant change in social norms, consumerism, technological
advances and artistic achievement. -
Warren G. Harding
Called for a "return to normalcy"-less foreign involvment; emphasis on prosperity at home
Appointed friends to positions; Teapot Dome scandal tainted his reputation -
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Rise of Dictators and World War II – 1930s and 1940s
The rise of totalitarian governments in Europe and East Asia led to World War II and
involvement of the United States in that conflict. -
Period: to
Great Depression: 1930s
Beginning with the Stock Market Crash in 1929, this era is marked by severe depression and
the increasing role of the Federal government to improve the economy. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President from 1932-1945
Pulled country out of Great Depression with New Deask
Declared war on Japan after bombing of Pearl Harbor-U.S. entered WWII
Worked closely with Winston Churchill during WWII -
George S. Patton
Commander of U.S. forces in North Africa and Sicily
Led Third Army across Europe -
Harry S. Truman
President from 1945-1953
Used atomic weapons against Japan to bring WWII to an end -
Period: to
Civil Rights – 1950s, 1960s and beyond
This era highlights the issues of emerging rights for minorities and the leaders and critical
events of the modern 20th century civil rights movement. -
Cesar Chavez
Leader of Chicano movement to eliminate racism against Mexican Americans
Organized farm workers in California
Demanded increased wages and better working conditions
Emphasized non-violent methods-boycotts, strikes, hunger fasts -
Richard Nixon
Normalized (reopened) relations with Red China
Resigned office to avoid impeachment after Watergate scandal -
Period: to
Late 20th Contemporary Issues 1980s – 2000
An era of change as the U.S. experienced the end of the Cold War, new conflicts in the Middle
East, the impeachment of a President and a controversial election to begin a new century. -
Period: to
Cold War – Post WWII through the 1980s
This post-war era is marked by issues of communism vs. democracy in Europe and America
after World War II. It includes the United States and the Soviet Union as competing
superpowers in the balance of power. The escalation of the Cold War from containment to the
outbreak of the Korean War and foreign policies of the Kennedy / Johnson years including the
growing conflict in Vietnam as well as the ending of the Cold War in the 1980s. -
Ronald Reagan
Reduced taxes & regulations to encourage business activity-Reaganomics
HIs presidency saw the beginnings of the end of the war -
Hecter P. Garcia
Mexican American physician & surgeon during WWII
Human rights advocate and founder of American G.I. Forum -
Period: to
21st Century
Early in this century America dealt with a new threat of terrorism at home with the attacks on the
World Trade Center on 9/11 and a decade of the “War Against Terror”. This era also marked the
election of the first African-American President of the United States in 2008 -
Barack Obama
1st African American to be elected President
Supported health care reforms & banking reforms -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Clergyman, activist & leader in the Civil Rights Movment
Advanced civil rights using violent civil disobedience (influenced by Gandhi)
Montgomeru Bus Boycott (19550
Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)
March on Washington (19630
