United States History and Government Notes

1607-1763: Colonial Foundations

  • Took place through cultural exchanges, resistance efforts, and conflict.

  • Trace specific European interactions (Dutch, English, French, and Spanish).

  • Examine the impacts of European colonization on Native Americans: loss of land, population decline through disease and armed conflict.

  • Economic development, social structures, and labor systems varied by region.

  • Impacts of geographic factors on settlement patterns and colonial economic systems.

  • Variations in colonial social structures and labor systems.

  • Slavery as an established component of the colonial economic system and social structure: indentured servitude vs. slavery, concentration of slaves in the South, development of slavery as a racial institution.

  • Influenced by British political traditions, Enlightenment ideas, and the colonial experience. Self-governing structures were common but varied.

1763-1824: Constitutional Foundations

  • Political and economic tensions led the American colonists to declare independence from Great Britain.

  • The new nation confronted the challenge of creating a stable federal republic.

1800-1865: Expansion, Nationalism, and Sectionalism

  • As the nation expanded, growing sectional tensions, especially over slavery, resulted in political and constitutional crises that culminated in the Civil War.

  • American nationalism was both strengthened and challenged by territorial expansion and economic growth.

  • Different perspectives concerning constitutional, political, economic, and social issues contributed to the growth of sectionalism.

  • Long-standing disputes over States rights and slavery and the secession of Southern states from the Union, sparked by the election of Abraham Lincoln, led to the Civil War.

1865-1900: Post-Civil War Era

  • Reconstruction resulted in political reunion and expanded constitutional rights. However, those rights were undermined, and issues of inequality continued for African Americans, women, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Chinese immigrants.

1870-1920: Industrialization and Urbanization

  • New Technologies and Economic Models Created Rapid Industrial Growth

  • Examine Demographic Trends Associated with Urbanization and Immigration Between 1840 and 1920

  • Goals and Achievements of the Grange Movement and the Populist Party

1882: Chinese Exclusion Act

1883: Civil Rights Cases

1886: Supreme Court's Decision in Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific R.R. v.Illinois

1887: Dawes Act

1890-1920: The Rise of American Power

  • In the late 1800s, various strategic and economic factors led to a greater focus on foreign affairs and debates over the United States' role in the world.

  • While the United States attempted to follow its traditional policy of neutrality at the beginning of World War I, the nation eventually became involved in the war. President Woodrow Wilson led the nation into war with the hope of reforming the international order through his Fourteen Points.

  • World War I had important social, political, and economic effects on American society.

1896: Plessy v. Ferguson

1919: Schenck v. United States

1919-1921: Relationship between postwar recession, fear of radicals, xenophobia, and the Red Scare

1920s

  • Cultural trends associated with the Roaring Twenties, including women's efforts at self-expression and their changing roles.

  • Rise of African American racial pride and Black Nationalism, including the role of Marcus Garvey.

  • Reasons for economic prosperity during the 1920s.

1935-1945: World War II

  • As situations overseas deteriorated, President Roosevelt's leadership helped to move the nation from a policy of neutrality to a pro-Allied position and, ultimately, direct involvement in the war.

  • How technological advancements altered the nature of war and the extent of its devastation, including the use of air power over civilian targets and President Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

  • United States entry into World War II had a significant impact on American society.

  • The United States played a major role in efforts to prevent such human suffering in the future.

1944: Korematsu v. United States

1945-1990: Cold War

  • After World War II, ideological differences led to political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. In an attempt to halt the spread of Soviet influence, the United States pursued a policy of containment.

1961: Mapp v. Ohio

1962: Engel v. Vitale

1962: Silent Spring

1963: Gideon v. Wainwright

1963: The Feminine Mystique

1964: Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States

1965: Voting Rights Act

1965: Immigration Act of 1965

1966: Miranda v. Arizona

1969: Stonewall Inn riots

1969: Tinker v. Des Moines School District

1970: Clean Air Act

1970: Environmental Protection Agency

1972: Clean Water Act

1973: Endangered Species Act

1975: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

1985: New Jersey v. TLO

1986: Immigration Act of 1986

1990: Americans with Disabilities Act

Persian Gulf War

  • decision of President George H. W. Bush to oppose Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Students will evaluate the positive and negative consequences of the Persian Gulf War.