Themes of each period Flashcards
Period 1
1492-1607
Culture and society:
-Blending of indigenous and European cultures
-Exploration driven in part by religion
Migration and settlement:
-Humans came to America on Bering Land Bridge
-Europeans came to extract resources
Geography/environment:
-Gold in Latin America drove exploration
-Disease from Europeans killed 95% of Native people
America in the world:
-Competition between European powers as well as Native American groups led to alliances, conflict
American/national identity:
-No cohesion among Native American groups
-Europeans did not intend to stay
Politics and power:
-Spanish dominated
-French/Dutch: trade-based
-Treaties/conflict w. Native Americans
Work, tech, exchange:
-New crops and goods into Europe, new tech into America
-Mostly slave labor (Native, African)
Period 2
1607-1754
Culture and society:
-New England life based around Puritan religion
-Racial caste system solidified in the South
-First Great Awakening
Migration and settlement:
-Religious dissidents from Europe came to North
-In South, adventurers looking for wealth
-700k+ enslaved people
Geography/environment:
-Climate/soil differences led to family farming in
North, plantations in South
-Illness in marshy South killed indentured servants
America in the world:
-Continued competition with Native Americans
over land, scrabble between European powers to
get territory and goods
American/national identity:
-English settlers considered “British” not American,
largely identity based on colony, class
Politics and power:
-Development of local power generally democratic
in North, town meetings
-In South, aristocracy by landowners
Work, tech, exchange:
-Trade in New England, fishing and farming, timber,
furs
-In South: slavery, indenture, cash crops (tobacco,
cotton)
Period 3
1754-1800
Culture and society:
-Influence of Enlightenment thought on Revolution
-Women played role in Rev but not considered
citizens
Migration and settlement:
-Continued push against western frontier for land
-Continued importation of Africans
Geography/environment:
-End of freely available land in East => push west,
conflict b/w coastal elites and backwoods farmers
America in the world:
-Emergence of USA as independent power
-Alliance with France helps win Rev, but worries
many
American/national identity:
-Development of independent national identity
leading to Revolution
-“American citizen” still white wealthy male despite
Dol
Politics and power:
-Conflict over direct vs. virtual representation,
taxes led to war
-Articles of Confed (weak)
-Constitution (strong central gov)
-1st Party Syst: Hamilton v. Jefferson
Work, tech, exchange:
-End of “salutary neglect” as English crown takes
more control over American goods, shipping + war
-Slavery continues to grow in South, helped by
invention of cotton gin
Period 4
1800-1848
Culture and society:
-Second Great Awakening
-Reform movements (abolition, temperance,
woman suffrage, prison)
“Cult of domesticity” for women
Migration and settlement:
-White Americans push west
-Native Americans forced west Trail of Tears
-End of int’l slave trade, internal slave trade
continues
Geography/environment:
-Expansion of cotton in the South* expands slavery
-Continued westward push, Manifest Destiny
-Texas annexation
America in the world:
-War of 1812 ends British presence in North
America, ends hopes for Native Americans to
prevail
-Mexican War => territory addition
American/national identity:
-Growing American identity, fractured by sectional
identity
-Exclusion of Native Americans despite
cooperation
Politics and power:
-Expansion of suffrage to all white men in
Jacksonian Democracy
-Conflict b/w North and South over slavery in new
territories
-Democrats vs. Whigs (2nd Party)
Work, tech, exchange:
-Expansion of infrastructure, markets,
railroads/canals, telegraph, cities
-Conflict over National Bank
-Factories emerge (Lowell Mills)
-Slavery continues to grow in South
Period 5
1844-1877
Culture and society:
-Emergence of ideological defenses of slavery and
militant abolitionism
-Millennial religious mov’ts
-Nativists hate immigrants
Migration and settlement:
-New immigrants coming from Ireland, Germany
-Move westward continuest esp. after gold
discovered in CA
-Indian Wars / Reservations
Geography/environment:
-Discovery of gold in CA leads to gold rush
-Large population in North, “breadbasket” states
help win Civil War
America in the world:
-US is largely isolationist in this period
-Fears that Great Britain will intercede on behalf of South
during Civil War are not realized
American/national identity:
-Increasing fracture along sectional lines Civil War
-North’s victory led to THE United States not THESE United States
-During Reconstruction, black men in South were citizens
Politics and power:
-Ineffective presidents, Compr. of 1850, Fugitive
Slave Act, pop. sovereignty
-Republican party emerges, wins election of 1860
(Lincoln)
-14th Amend: citizenship
-15th Amend: black men vote, not women
Work, tech, exchange:
-End of slavery in 1865, move toward system of
sharecropping in South
-North continuing to industrialize, wins Civil War
based on factory power
-Railroads cross the country
Period 6
1865-1898
Culture and society:
-“Social Darwinism” - belief that some people were
inherently better than others due to evolution
Migration and settlement:
-Many new immigrants from S & E Europe
-Manifest Destiny complete, “frontier closed”
Geography/environment:
-Cities are polluted, bad working conditions => illness
-West “conquered” with barbed wire, buffalo dead
America in the world:
-Indian Wars, Native Americans nearly gone
-Last era of American isolationism
American/national identity:
-Increasing American national identity as USA
becomes major industrial power
-Spanish-Am war reunites N & S
Politics and power:
-Brief period of citizenship for black men in South ends with Reconstruction
-Jim Crow segregation
-Republicans in power
Work, tech, exchange:
-USA becomes world’s leading industrial power
thanks to steel, rail
-Harsh labor conditions in factories for immigrants
-“Robber barons” and Gilded Age
Period 7
1890-1945
Culture and society:
-Backlash to minorities immigrants -KKK
-Flowering of American culture in Lost Generation, Jazz
Migration and settlement:
-1 million plus immigrants coming to USA each year
until 1924 when first quotas passed
-Great Migration of black Southerners to cities in
North
Geography/environment:
-New tech makes world a smaller place
-Conservation mov’t begins
-Ocean shields from war
-Dev’t of atom bomb
America in the world:
-Spanish-Am War
-WWI
-Isolationism in 20s, 30s
-WWII - aftermath leads US to commit to intervention
American/national identity:
-New European immigrants at first considered not
American, by end of WWII are considered “white”
-New World Power status
-New era of federal government intervention in
economyj life
Politics and power:
-Wilson becomes first Democrat to win power in
1912, then FDR from ‘32-‘45
-Woman suffrage 1920
-Segregation, disenfranchisement continues for
African Americans who return from WWII ready for
civil rights
Work, tech, exchange:
-Major era of production and innovation, incl.
phone, electricity, radio, car, flight
-Laissez-faire economics => Stock Market Crash and
Great Depression
-New Deal, WWII end Depression
-Industrialization => postwar boom
Period 8
1945-1980
Culture and society:
-Religious era of 1950s
-Social movements (Civil Rights, Women’s rights)
-Emergence of protest against US gov’t by
students
Migration and settlement:
-Move from cities to suburbs, era of cars
-Very little immigration until 1965, when policy
changed to attract skilled labor
-Boat people from Vietnam
Geography/environment:
-Serious industrial pollution from 1945-1970
-Begin to address serious pollution in 1970s EPA
-Dependence on oil fuels international conflict
America in the world:
-Cold War directs most US foreign policy,
commitment to containment leads to Korean War,
Vietnam
-Slowly replaced by conflict in the Middle East in
70s
American/national identity:
-Period of expanding federal power and expanding
power of citizens thru civil rights
-Era of pro USA culture vs. USSR
Politics and power:
-Democrats in power until late 1960s, when Nixon
takes charge
-Civil Rights Movement in 50s, 60s
-Women’s rights movement in 60s 70s
Work, tech, exchange:
-Major economic boom as USA is only country
unscathed from WWII - babies!
-Invention of computer
-1970s economic recession
Period 9
1980-present
Culture and society:
-Period of Syndrome”
-“Culture Wars” over changing gender, structure
-Increasing diversity
Migration and settlement:
-Increased immigration of people from Latin
America and Asia
-Movement to South and West for jobs
Geography/environment:
-Wars in Middle East led to efforts to reduce
dependence on oil
-Growing movement of eco-consciousness in
energy, food
America in the world:
-USSR collapses, ending Cold War
-USA involved in conflict in Middle East over
culture, oil (Gulfl Sept 11, War on Terror)
-Era of globalization
American/national identity:
-Period of increasing conservatism in government,
with a movement to reduce size of federal
government
-Continuation of USA as world’s leading
superpower
Politics and power:
-Period of return to prominence of the Republican
Party and conservatism
-Shift in political power to South and West following
population shift
Work, tech, exchange:
-Era of globalism has connected markets and
people all over the world
-Prominence of the internet and mobile phones
has changed information consumption and
distribution
-Decline of unions, stagnation of wages
