AP® United States History Speed Review Notes
Period 1: 1491–1607
Percentage of Exam: 4-6%
Topics: Native American societies pre-contact, European exploration, and the colliding of the Old World and New World.
Pre-Contact Native American Cultures
Regions of North America: Varied societies adapted to different geographic regions.
Impact of Geography: Shaped lifestyles, agriculture, and societal structures.
Advanced Societies: Some regions had complex social structures, agriculture.
Aztecs, Incas, Mayans: Highly organized, advanced agricultural practices, complex societies in Central and South America.
Maize Cultivation: Spread throughout North America, supporting population growth and stable societies.
Columbian Exchange
Exchange between Old and New Worlds:
Crops: Maize, tobacco, potatoes from the New World to the Old World.
Animals: Horses, livestock from the Old World to the New World.
Germs/Disease: Devastating impact on Native American populations (smallpox, measles).
Ideas: Catholicism, European culture introduced to the New World.
Effects of Columbian Exchange
For Natives:
Horses: Revolutionized hunting and warfare.
Smallpox and Measles: Led to widespread death and societal collapse (Great Dying).
For Europe:
Population Growth: New crops led to better diets and increased population.
Wealth and Power: Acquisition of resources and territories.
Treaty of Tordesillas
Pope supported exploration of Catholic Nations: Aimed to divide newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.
Spain dominated the New World: Received most of the Americas.
Portugal controlled the African Slave Trade: Focused on Brazil and African territories.
Spanish Conquistadors
Motivations: Gold, God, Glory.
Conquistadors: Spanish conquerors (e.g., Cortés, Pizarro).
Encomiendas: System of forced labor of Native Americans.
Catholic Missions: Conversion of Native Americans to Christianity.
Casta System: Social hierarchy based on race and birth.
Asiento System: Importation of enslaved Africans to the Americas by the Spanish.
Valladolid Debate
Bartolomé de Las Casas vs. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda: Debate over the treatment of Native Americans.
Agreed to Catholic conversion but disagreed on method: Las Casas advocated for humane treatment, Sepúlveda supported the Encomienda System.
Las Casas argued for better treatment: Believed Native Americans should be treated with respect.
Sepúlveda supported Encomienda System: Justified the exploitation and subjugation of Native Americans.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Percentage of Exam: 6-8%
Topics: European competition for colonies in North America and the development of the British colonies.
Comparing Colonizers
Spanish: Focused on extraction of wealth, Catholic conversion, and a rigid social hierarchy.
French: Trade alliances with Native Americans, focused on fur trade.
Dutch: Trade-oriented, New Netherland (New York), diverse population.
English: Establishment of permanent settlements, diverse economies, varying degrees of self-government.
Colonial Regions
Chesapeake: Virginia, Maryland.
New England: Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth.
Middle: Pennsylvania.
Southern: Carolinas, Georgia.
Chesapeake
Virginia: Jamestown (first permanent English settlement), Joint-Stock Companies, Tobacco cultivation, Plantations, Enslaved Labor, House of Burgesses (early form of self-government).
Maryland: Established as a haven for Catholics, Lord Baltimore, Act of Toleration (religious tolerance for Christians).
New England
Massachusetts Bay: Pilgrims, Plymouth, Mayflower Compact (early self-government), John Winthrop, City Upon a Hill (model religious community), Anne Hutchinson (religious dissenter), Salem Witch Trials, Emphasis on Education, Diverse Economy.
Middle
Pennsylvania: William Penn, Quaker principles (religious tolerance, pacifism), Positive Relation with Natives, Bread Basket (grain production), Ethnically Diverse.
Southern
North vs. South Carolina: Rice and Indigo cultivation, Plantations, Planter Class, Enslaved Labor.
Georgia: Buffer colony against Spanish Florida, debtor colony.
Trade
Mercantilism: Economic system where colonies exist to benefit the mother country.
Triangular Trade: Trade routes between Europe, Africa, and the Americas (slaves, raw materials, manufactured goods).
Navigation Acts: Laws restricting colonial trade to England.
Salutary Neglect: British policy of limited intervention in colonial affairs.
Labor
Indentured Servants: Labor system where people worked for a period in exchange for passage to America.
African Enslaved Labor: Replaced indentured servitude, particularly in the Southern colonies.
Bacon’s Rebellion: Revolt of indentured servants and poor farmers against the Virginia government.
Slave Codes: Laws defining the status of enslaved people and the rights of enslavers.
Stono Rebellion: Slave rebellion in South Carolina.
Native Conflicts
Causes: Competition over land and resources.
Powhatan Uprising: Conflict between English settlers and Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia.
King Philip’s War: Armed conflict between Native Americans and English colonists in New England (Metacom).
Pueblo Revolt: Successful revolt of Pueblo Indians against Spanish colonizers in New Mexico.
The Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards: Preacher known for "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon.
George Whitefield: Influential preacher who traveled throughout the colonies.
Old Lights vs. New Lights: Divisions within churches over the new evangelical approaches.
Baptists & Methodists: Growth of these denominations.
Effects: Increased religious fervor, new denominations, challenge to traditional authority.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Percentage of Exam: 10-17%
Topics: The American Revolution, the trials of the young nation, and the first two-party system.
French & Indian War
Ohio River Valley: Disputed territory between British and French.
Albany Plan: Proposed by Benjamin Franklin to unite the colonies (failed).
Treaty of Paris: Ended the war, Britain gained control of North America.
Effects:
Pontiac’s Rebellion: Native American uprising against British control.
Proclamation Line: Forbade colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.
End of Salutary Neglect: Britain began to exert greater control over the colonies.
Causes of Revolution
Stamp Act: Tax on printed materials.
Sons of Liberty: Colonial protest group.
"No Taxation Without Representation": Colonists' belief that they should not be taxed without representation in British Parliament.
Declaratory Act: Asserted Parliament's right to legislate for the colonies.
Townshend Acts: Taxes on goods imported into the colonies.
Boston Massacre: British soldiers killed colonists in Boston.
Boston Tea Party: Protest against the Tea Act.
Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts): Punitive measures against Massachusetts.
Continental Congress: Colonial representatives met to address grievances.
American Revolution
Patriots vs. Loyalists: Colonists who supported independence versus those who remained loyal to Britain.
British Military Strengths: Well-trained army, superior navy.
Reasons for American Victory:
Knowledge of Land
Guerilla Tactics
Washington’s Leadership
French Alliance
Battles: Valley Forge, Saratoga, Yorktown.
Enlightenment
Common Sense: Pamphlet by Thomas Paine advocating for independence.
Declaration of Independence: Declared the colonies' independence from Britain.
Articles of Confederation
Strengths: Northwest Ordinance (established a process for admitting new states).
Weaknesses: Weak central government, lack of power to tax or regulate trade.
Shay’s Rebellion: Uprising of farmers in Massachusetts protesting debt and foreclosure.
The Constitution
Convention: Meeting to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Great Compromise: Established a bicameral legislature (Senate and House of Representatives).
Three-Fifths Compromise: Determined that enslaved people would count as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.
Federalism: Division of power between the federal and state governments.
Checks and Balances: System to prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
Ratification: Process of approving the Constitution.
Federalists vs. anti-Federalists: Supporters of the Constitution versus those who opposed it.
Bill of Rights: First ten amendments to the Constitution, protecting individual rights.
Washington’s Presidency
Cabinet: Group of advisors to the President.
Proclamation of Neutrality: Declared the U.S. neutral in the French Revolution.
Whiskey Rebellion: Uprising against a tax on whiskey.
Two-Term Precedent: Washington's decision to only serve two terms.
Farewell Address: Washington advised against entangling alliances and political factions.
First 2 Party System
Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans
Economics: Federalists favored a national bank and commercial economy; Democratic-Republicans favored agriculture.
National Bank: Federalists supported it, Democratic-Republicans opposed it.
French Revolution: Federalists opposed it, Democratic-Republicans supported it.
John Adams
French Revolution: Continued tensions from Washington's presidency.
Quasi War: Undeclared naval war with France.
XYZ Affair: Diplomatic incident that led to anti-French sentiment in the U.S.
Alien & Sedition Acts: Laws restricting immigration and freedom of speech.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Percentage of Exam: 10-17%
Topics: Development of the new nation, early industrialization, and building America’s national identity.
Jeffersonian Democracy
Revolution of 1800: Peaceful transfer of power from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans.
Louisiana Purchase: Acquisition of territory from France, doubling the size of the U.S.
Barbary Pirates: Conflict with pirates in North Africa.
Embargo Act: Prohibited American ships from trading with foreign ports.
War of 1812
Impressment: British practice of seizing American sailors.
British on the Frontier: British support for Native American resistance.
War Hawks: Congressmen who favored war with Britain.
Hartford Convention: Meeting of New England Federalists who opposed the war.
Treaty of Ghent: Ended the war, no significant territorial changes.
Battle of New Orleans: American victory after the war ended.
Era of Good Feelings
Monroe Doctrine: Declared that the Americas were closed to further European colonization.
Sectionalism: Growing divisions between the North and South.
Missouri Compromise: Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance in the Senate.
Henry Clay’s American System: Plan for economic development, including a national bank, tariffs, and internal improvements.
Jacksonian Democracy
Corrupt Bargain: Alleged deal between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay in the 1824 election.
Common Man: Jackson’s appeal to ordinary citizens.
Tariff: Tax on imported goods.
National Bank War: Jackson’s opposition to the Second Bank of the United States.
Indian Removal: Policy of forcibly relocating Native American tribes west of the Mississippi River.
Whig Party Formed: Political party formed in opposition to Jackson.
Marshall Court
Marbury v. Madison: Established judicial review.
McCulloch v. Maryland: Affirmed the constitutionality of the national bank and the supremacy of federal law.
Gibbons v. Ogden: Established federal control over interstate commerce.
Worcester v. Georgia: Ruled that Georgia law had no force in Cherokee territory (ignored by Jackson).
Market Revolution
Innovations:
Textile: Factories, power looms
Agriculture: Cotton gin
Transportation:
Steam engine: Steamboats, trains
Railway
Steamboat
Telegraph: Communication.
Labor:
Unskilled: Factories
Wage system
Women: Lowell System
Children
Immigrants
Immigration
Irish & German: Large-scale immigration.
Nativism: Anti-immigrant sentiment.
Know-Nothing Party: Political party opposed to immigration.
Antebellum Reforms
Second Great Awakening: Religious revival.
Abolition: Movement to end slavery.
Women’s Rights: Seneca Falls Convention.
Temperance: Movement to reduce alcohol consumption.
Education: Reform efforts to improve public education.
Transcendentalism: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Percentage of Exam: 10-17%
Topics: The acquisition of land leading to sectional tensions over slavery and debates over Reconstruction.
Manifest Destiny
John O’Sullivan: Coined the term.
Election of Polk: Expansionist platform.
54°40° or Fight: Slogan related to the Oregon boundary dispute.
Gold Rush: Led to rapid population growth in California.
Overland Trails: Oregon, Santa Fe, Mormon.
War With Mexico
Texas Annexation: Led to conflict with Mexico.
Rio Grande Border Dispute: Disputed boundary between Texas and Mexico.
Wilmot Proviso: Proposed to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico (failed).
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo: Ended the war, U.S. gained territory.
Gadsden Purchase: Additional land acquired from Mexico.
Compromises
Free-Soilers: Opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories.
Compromise of 1850: Series of measures addressing slavery in the territories.
Popular Sovereignty: Allowing residents of a territory to decide on slavery.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska.
Republican Party: Formed in opposition to the expansion of slavery.
Debates over Slavery
Abolition: Movement to end slavery.
Underground Railroad: Network of secret routes and safe houses to help enslaved people escape to freedom.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
George Fitzhugh: Pro-slavery intellectual.
Dred Scott v. Sandford: Ruled that enslaved people were not citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories.
John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry: Attempt to start a slave rebellion.
Regional Differences
Economic: North (industrial), South (agricultural).
Tariffs: North (supported), South (opposed).
States’ Rights: South emphasized states' rights and the right to secede.
Civil War
Election of 1860: Lincoln’s victory led to secession.
Secession: Southern states seceded from the Union.
Union vs. Confederacy Strength/Weaknesses Differences in resources, population, and industry.
Key Battles: Fort Sumter, Antietam, Gettysburg, Atlanta, Total War, Appomattox.
Lincoln’s Leadership
Draft: Conscription.
Habeas Corpus: Suspended during the war.
Border States: Slave states that remained in the Union.
Emancipation Proclamation: Freed enslaved people in Confederate territories.
Gettysburg Address: Dedication of a national cemetery.
Assassination: Lincoln’s death after the war.
Reconstruction
Plans: Lincoln’s, Johnson’s, Radical Republicans'.
Radical Republicans: Advocated for greater rights for African Americans.
Successes:
Freedmen's Bureau: Provided assistance to formerly enslaved people.
13-15 Amendments: Abolished slavery, granted citizenship, and guaranteed voting rights.
Hiram Revels: First African American senator.
Failures:
Jim Crow Laws: Segregation laws.
Disenfranchisement: Tactics to prevent African Americans from voting.
KKK: Ku Klux Klan.
Compromise of 1877: Ended Reconstruction.
Period 6: 1865–1898
Percentage of Exam: 10-17%
Topics: Westward expansion, nationalization of industry and the growing divide between social classes.
Gilded Age
Robber Barons: Wealthy industrialists.
Vertical & Horizontal Integration: Business strategies for consolidating power.
Trusts: Monopolies.
Social Darwinism: Justification for wealth inequality.
Gospel of Wealth: Carnegie’s belief that the wealthy should use their wealth for the benefit of society.
Politics
Republicans: Dominant political party.
Laissez-Faire: Government non-intervention in the economy.
Political Machines: Corrupt political organizations (Tammany Hall).
Pendleton Civil Service Act: Required government jobs to be awarded based on merit.
Sherman Antitrust: Act Law intended to prevent monopolies.
Labor
Development of Unions: Organizations to protect workers' rights.
Knight of Labor: Early labor union.
Haymarket Square Riot: Labor protest that turned violent.
American Federation of Labor: Samuel Gompers, Skilled workers.
Great Railroad Strike: Nationwide strike in response to wage cuts.
Pullman Strike: Strike against the Pullman Palace Car Company.
Homestead Strike: Strike at Carnegie Steel Company.
Government Response: Often sided with business owners.
Reforms
Social Gospel: Religious movement to address social problems.
Settlement House: Jane Addams' Hull House, community centers in poor urban areas.
Jacob Riis: Photographer documented poverty in How the Other Half Lives.
Middle Class
New Technologies: Improved living standards.
Streetcar Suburbs: Residential areas outside of cities.
White Collar: Administrative and professional jobs.
Leisure Activities: Entertainment and recreation.
Immigration/Migration
Exodusters: African Americans who migrated from the South to Kansas.
Urbanization: Growth of cities.
Old vs. New Immigrants: Differences in origin and culture.
Ellis Island: Immigration processing center.
Chinese Exclusion Act: Prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the U.S.
The New South
Henry Grady: Advocate for economic development in the South.
Economic Diversity: Efforts to industrialize the South.
Jim Crow Laws: Segregation laws.
Plessy v. Ferguson: Established the separate but equal doctrine of segregation.
Ida B. Wells: Anti-lynching activist.
Booker T. Washington: Advocated for vocational training for African Americans.
Westward Expansion
Homestead Act: Provided land to settlers in the West.
Transcontinental Railroad: Facilitated trade and settlement.
Mining: Boomtowns.
Ranching: Cattle industry.
Effects Natives: Displacement, loss of culture.
Populism
Farmer’s Struggles: Economic hardship.
Grange: Organization for farmers.
Populist Party: Political party advocating for farmers and workers.
Omaha Platform: Populist platform.
Bimetallism: Advocacy for using both silver and gold as currency.
William Jennings Bryan: Populist leader.
Cross of Gold: Speech advocating for bimetallism.
Period 7: 1890–1945
Percentage of Exam: 10-17%
Topics: America’s expanding role in the world while America also experiences cultural changes at home.
Imperialism
Closing of Frontier: Led to a desire for new territories.
Raw Materials: Need for natural resources.
New Markets: Desire for overseas markets.
Hawaii: Annexation.
Alfred Mahan: Advocated for naval power.
Josiah Strong: Advocated for spreading American culture and religion.
Spanish-American War
Cuba: Cuban independence.
Yellow Journalism: Sensationalized news.
De Lome Letter: Criticism of President McKinley.
USS Maine: Sinking of the battleship.
Treaty of Paris: Ended the war, U.S. gained territories.
Philippine-American War: Conflict over U.S. control of the Philippines.
Foreign Policy
Open Door Policy: Equal trade opportunities in China.
Roosevelt Corollary: Assertion of U.S. power in Latin America.
Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy: Using economic power to influence other countries.
Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy: Promoting democracy and peace.
Progressives
Muckrakers: Investigative journalists.
Square Deal: Theodore Roosevelt's policies.
Economic Reforms
Clayton Antitrust Act: Strengthened antitrust laws.
Federal Reserve: Regulates the money suply
Political Reform
16th Amendment: Income tax.
17th Amendment: Direct election of senators.
18th Amendment: Prohibition.
19th Amendment: Women’s suffrage.
WWI
Causes: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism.
Homefront: Mobilization, propaganda.
Espionage & Sedition Acts: Suppressed dissent.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points: Plan for peace.
Treaty of Versailles: Ended the war.
Reservationists: Senators opposed to the Treaty of Versailles.
Civil Rights
NAACP: Organization for African American rights.
Marcus Garvey: Black nationalism.
Great Migration: Movement of African Americans to the North.
Harlem Renaissance: Cultural movement.
A. Philip Randolph: Labor leader.
Double V Campaign: Victory against fascism abroad and discrimination at home.
Roaring 20s
Consumerism: Increased spending.
Red Scare: Fear of communism.
Nativism: Anti-immigrant sentiment.
Quota Acts: Restricted immigration.
Prohibition: Ban on alcohol.
Organized Crime: Bootlegging.
Flappers: Modern women.
Scopes Trial: Conflict between science and religion.
Great Depression
Causes:
Buying on a Margin: Speculation.
Excessive Credit: Overspending.
Overproduction: Surplus of goods.
Dust Bowl: Ecological disaster.
Hoover’s Response: Limited government intervention, RFC.
New Deal
Election of FDR: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
3 R’s: Relief, Recovery, Reform.
Fireside Chats: Radio addresses.
Bank Holiday: Closing of banks.
First & Second New Deal: Different phases of programs.
Alphabet Agencies: Government programs.
Opposition: Critics from both the right and left.
WW2
Neutrality: Initial policy.
Pearl Harbor: Attack that brought the U.S. into the war.
Japanese Internment: Forced relocation of Japanese Americans.
Contribution of Women and Minorities: Increased participation in the workforce and military.
Theaters: European and Pacific.
Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Period 8: 1945-1980
Percentage of Exam: 10-17%
Topics: Cold War tensions, social unrest, and a growing movement towards greater equality for all Americans.
1950s
GI Bill: Provided benefits to veterans.
Baby Boom: Increased birth rate.
Sunbelt: Population shift to the South and West.
Interstate Highway Act: Construction of highways.
Levittown: Suburban developments.
TV’s impact: Cultural influence.
Culture of Conformity: Social expectations.
Beats: Counterculture movement.
Rock & Roll: Music genre.
Early Cold War
Long Telegram: Kennan's analysis of Soviet policy.
Containment: Policy to prevent the spread of communism.
Truman Doctrine: Support for countries resisting communism.
Marshall Plan: Economic aid to Europe.
Korean War: Conflict between North and South Korea.
Eisenhower Doctrine: U.S. support for countries in the Middle East resisting communism.
Brinkmanship: Policy of pushing the Soviet Union to the brink of war.
Military-Industrial Complex: Eisenhower’s warning.
Cuba: Cuban Missile Crisis.
2nd Red Scare: Fear of communism in the U.S.
Space Race: Competition with the Soviet Union.
Civil Rights
Brown v. Board: Ended segregation in schools.
Little Rock 9: Integration of Central High School.
Rosa Parks: Montgomery Bus Boycott.
MLK Jr: Martin Luther King Jr.
Greensboro Sit-Ins: Protest against segregation in restaurants.
Malcolm X
Civil Rights Act: Prohibited discrimination.
Voting Rights Act: Protected voting rights.
Vietnam
Domino Theory: Belief that if one country fell to communism, others would follow.
TV War: Impact of television coverage.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution: Gave President Johnson broad war powers.
Draft: Conscription.
Counterculture: Opposition to the war.
Tet Offensive: Turning point in the war.
My Lai Massacre: Atrocity committed by American soldiers.
Pentagon Papers: Revealed government deception about the war.
Vietnamization: Policy of withdrawing American troops and turning the war over to South Vietnam.
Peace with Honor: Nixon’s goal.
Great Society
War on Poverty: Programs to reduce poverty.
Medicare/Medicaid: Healthcare programs.
Nixon
Detente: Policy of easing tensions with the Soviet Union.
SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.
Oil Crisis: Economic crisis due to oil embargo.
Watergate: Scandal that led to Nixon’s resignation.
Ford
Pardon of Nixon: Controversial decision.
Fall of Saigon: End of the Vietnam War.
Whip Inflation Now: Economic policy.
Carter
Camp David Accords: Peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
Iranian Hostage Crisis: Crisis that damaged Carter’s presidency.
Environmentalism
Carson’s Silent Spring: Raised awareness about environmental issues.
Clean Air Act: Regulated air pollution.
Clean Water Act: Regulated water pollution.
Environmental Protection Agency: Federal agency.
Earth Day: Environmental awareness.
Civil Rights Expanded
Women’s Rights: Feminine Mystique, NOW, Equal Rights Amendment.
LGBTQ+ Rights: Stonewall Riot.
Latino Rights: Cesar Chavez, National Farmworkers Association, Chicano Movement.
American Indian Movement: Alcatraz.
Period 9: 1980–Present
Percentage of Exam: 4-6%
Topics: The conservative movement and foreign policy changes after the end of the Cold War.
Ronald Reagan
Conservatism: Political ideology.
Moral Majority: Religious conservatives.
Reaganomics: Supply-side economics.
Iran-Contra: Scandal.
Strategic Defense Initiative: Missile defense system.
Cold War: Reagan’s role in ending it.
George H.W. Bush
No New Taxes: Campaign promise.
Desert Storm: Persian Gulf War.
End of Cold War: Collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bill Clinton
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell: Policy on gays in the military.
NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement.
Budget Reform: Balanced budget.
Impeachment: Charges related to perjury and obstruction of justice.
George W. Bush
Bush v. Gore: Disputed election.
Recession: Economic downturn.
No Child Left Behind: Education policy.
The Rise of Terrorism
9/11: Terrorist attacks.
PATRIOT Act: Increased surveillance.
Homeland Security: Created after 9/11.
Axis of Evil: Countries identified as sponsors of terrorism.
Iraq (Iraqi Freedom): War in Iraq.
Afghanistan (Enduring Freedom): War in Afghanistan.
Barack Obama
Obamacare: Affordable Care Act.
Opposition: Political resistance.
Economic Recovery: Response to the financial crisis.
Death of Bin Laden: Killing of the al-Qaeda leader.
Troops Removal from Middle East: Reduced military presence.
Economics
Globalization: Increased interconnectedness.
Manufacturing Loss: Decline of manufacturing jobs.
Rust Belt/Sun Belt: Regional economic shifts.
Effect on Politics
Technology
Rise of Computers
Internet
Dot Com Boom: Rise and fall of internet companies.
Rise of Cell Phones
Social Media
Immigration
Latinos & Asians: Shift in immigration patterns.
Change in Policies
Immigration Reform and Control Act
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals