Every Class APUSH

🌎 Colonial America & Revolution (1607–1783)

• Gentry / Colonial Elites – Wealthy landowners, planters, merchants (e.g., Virginia planters, Boston merchants).

• Yeoman Farmers – Small, independent landowners, especially in the South.

• Artisans – Skilled workers in urban areas.

• Indentured Servants – Poor Europeans working to pay off passage.

• Enslaved People – Forced laborers forming a distinct social and political underclass.

• Native American Tribes – Sovereign groups, often treated as political entities.

• Patriots – Pro-independence colonists.

• Loyalists / Tories – Supported British rule.

• Continental Congress Delegates – Political representatives of the colonies.

🏛 Early Republic (1783–1820s)

• Federalists – Elite-oriented, pro-strong central government.

• Democratic-Republicans – Agrarian-focused, states’ rights advocates.

• Backcountry Farmers – Often opposed elite coastal interests (e.g., Whiskey Rebellion).

• Enslaved People – Denied political participation but heavily impacted policy.

• Women (Republican Motherhood) – Limited rights, but seen as vital to civic virtue.

• Free Black Communities – Small but politically active in the North.

🌾 Jacksonian & Antebellum America (1820s–1860)

• Jacksonian Democrats – "Common man" supporters; anti-elitist.

• Whigs – Pro-bank, pro-internal improvements; often elite-based.

• Southern Planter Aristocracy – Wealthy slaveholders dominating politics.

• Northern Industrialists – Grew political power with economic expansion.

• Free Soil Party – Opposed expansion of slavery for political and economic reasons.

• Know-Nothings (American Party) – Nativist, anti-immigrant.

• Abolitionists – Diverse class background, politically active.

• Women’s Rights Activists – Pushed for suffrage and equality.

⚔ Civil War & Reconstruction (1860–1877)

• Confederate Planter Class – Political leaders of secession.

• Union Republicans – Pro-war, anti-slavery.

• Radical Republicans – Wanted strong Reconstruction reforms.

• Carpetbaggers – Northern Republicans in the South post-war.

• Scalawags – Southern whites cooperating with Reconstruction.

• Freedmen – Former slaves asserting new political rights.

🛠 Gilded Age (1877–1900)

• Robber Barons / Captains of Industry – Railroad tycoons, industrial magnates.

• Political Machines (e.g., Tammany Hall) – Urban political bosses appealing to immigrants.

• Populists / Farmers’ Alliances – Agrarian protest movement.

• Labor Unions (Knights of Labor, AFL) – Working-class political force.

• Immigrant Working Class – Politically influential in cities.

🏙 Progressive Era (1900–1920)

• Progressives – Middle-class reformers.

• Muckrakers – Journalists pushing political reform.

• Women Reformers – Pushed for suffrage (e.g., NAWSA, later NWP).

• Socialists – Working-class leftist movement (e.g., Eugene V. Debs).

• Black Activists – W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington-led movements.

⚔ 1920s–1945 (WWII)

• Harlem Renaissance Intellectuals – Political and cultural voices.

• New Deal Coalition – Included labor unions, Black voters, Southern whites.

• Isolationists / Interventionists – Debated foreign policy before WWII.

• Fascist Sympathizers / Anti-Communists – Political extremes emerged.

❄ Cold War America (1945–1980)

• Liberals – Supported government intervention (Great Society, Civil Rights).

• Conservatives – Favored limited government and traditional values.

• Civil Rights Activists – Black Americans, SNCC, NAACP, etc.

• Chicano / Native American / Asian American Activists – Demanded political equity.

• Counterculture / Hippies – Protested political and social systems.

• Feminists (Second Wave) – Pushed for equality and political rights.

• Anti-Communists / McCarthyists – Pushed political purging of leftists.

• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – Radical youth politics.

🧱 1980s–2000s

• Neoconservatives – Aggressive foreign policy, market-based reforms.

• Religious Right / Evangelicals – Became major conservative political base.

• LGBTQ+ Activists – Pushed for political rights during and after AIDS crisis.

• New Democrats – Centrist political class (e.g., Clinton-era).

• Third-Party Movements – Ross Perot, Green Party, Libertarians.

🌐 2000s–Present

• Tea Party Republicans – Small-government, anti-tax populists.

• Progressive Democrats – Left-leaning faction (e.g., Bernie Sanders, AOC).

• MAGA Movement – Populist-nationalist Trump supporters.

• Black Lives Matter / Modern Civil Rights Groups – Push for racial equity.

• Online Activists / Influencers – New political class via social media.

• Gig Workers / Tech Class – Emerging political force over labor issues.