AP US History Periods 7–9: Key Concepts at a Glance

Period 7: New Century, America (1890–1945)\n- The U.S. becomes more pluralistic and confronts urbanization, mass migration, and new economic uncertainties; debate over government's role intensifies.\n- Foreign policy shifts toward imperialism and overseas intervention.\n- Imperial ventures and clashes: Spanish–American War begins with the USS Maine incident (explosion in Havana Harbor) on $1898$; Cuba gains attention; U.S. acquires Philippines after Spanish defeat; Philippine–American War follows; debate over overseas territories intensifies.\n- Canal and regional power projection: Panama Canal Zone established after 1903–1904 actions; Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904) promotes U.S. police power in the hemisphere; Big Stick diplomacy guides interventions in the Caribbean; Dollar Diplomacy (Taft) seeks economic leverage.\n- Domestic reform and reformers (Progressive Era): muckrakers expose corruption and unsafe conditions; Ida Tarbell’s work on Standard Oil (1904) influences antitrust momentum; Pure Food and Drug Act (1906); Meat Packing reforms; Jane Addams and Margaret Sanger advance social work and public health; 19th Amendment grants women’s suffrage (1920).\n- Labor and social regulation: Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) strengthens antitrust regime and unions; early regulation of industry and labor rights; introduction of federal oversight in the economy.\n- Immigration and race: rising nativism leads to the 1924 Immigration Act; Great Migration reshapes African American demographics; Harlem Renaissance and civil rights activism begin to form.\n- World War I and its aftermath: Lusitania sinking ($1915$); Zimmerman Telegram ($1917$); U.S. entry into WWI; Fourteen Points (1918); Treaty of Versailles; U.S. Senate rejects the League of Nations; Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1920) suppress opposition; Red Scare and anti-communist fear (Palmer Raids).\n- Interwar economy and policy: Roaring Twenties; Prohibition (18th Amendment; Volstead Act); stock market crash ($1929$); Great Depression; New Deal begins (early $1930s$) with federal relief and regulation; key agencies: TVA, AAA, NIRA, Wagner Act; social welfare expands (SSA).\n- Civil liberties and executive actions in wartime: Japanese American internment (Exec. Order 9066, $1942$–$1946$).\n- World War II and the path to a new global role: Pearl Harbor ($12/07/1941$) triggers U.S. entry; wartime mobilization on multiple fronts; Yalta and Potsdam shape postwar order; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki usher the nuclear age (end in $1945$).\n\n# Period 7: Emergence of a Global Power (Radical changes from WWI to WWII)\n- U.S. rises as a global power, balancing imperial actions with domestic reform.\n- Wars and diplomacy redefine federal power, civil liberties, and economic regulation.\n\n# Period 8: The Cold War Society and Civil Rights, 1945–1980\n- Positioning for global influence after WWII: Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe; NATO formed; Warsaw Pact counterbalances; Berlin Blockade/Airlift; Berlin Wall symbol of division.\n- Containment and global confrontation: Truman Doctrine and containment policy guide U.S. foreign policy; Eisenhower warns about the military–industrial complex.\n- Contested crises and proxy wars: Korean War (1950–1953) ends in armistice; Cuban revolution (1959) leads to Bay of Pigs (1961) and Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).\n- Domestic liberalism and civil rights: Brown v. Board of Education ($1954$) desegregates schools; Montgomery Bus Boycott ($1955-56$); Little Rock Integration ($1957$); Civil Rights Act ($1964$); Voting Rights Act ($1965$); ongoing activism and leadership by MLK Jr.; rise of Black Power movement and groups like the Black Panthers.\n- Cultural and social shifts: Silent Spring ($1962$) sparks environmental movement; feminist and women’s rights activism grows (Equal Pay Act, Title IX, Roe v. Wade); LGBT rights activism emerges (Stonewall, $1969$).\n- Foreign policy and Vietnam: escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam (mid- to late $1960s$–$1970s$); Nixon opens China (1972) and engages in détente; Watergate leads to Nixon’s resignation ($1974$); Ford and Carter administrations address energy crisis and human rights concerns (Camp David Accords; SALT II).\n- Domestic upheaval and reforms in the 1970s: environmental regulation expands with Clean Air Act ($1970$) and Clean Water Act ($1972$); EPA established; shift toward energy conservation and social policy reform.\n\n# Period 9: The United States in a New Century, 1980–Present\n- Theme 1: A new conservatism in America\n- Reaganomics: tax cuts, deregulation, reduced social spending, increased military spending; growth of the conservative movement (Moral Majority) and cultural conservatism; Bush Sr. emphasizes tax increases and welfare reform; Clinton emphasizes budget surplus, technology expansion (Internet), and NAFTA (American trade expansion) during the 1990s; Bush II emphasizes tax cuts, deregulation, and military interventions (Afghanistan, Iraq). Obama initiates health care reform (Affordable Care Act) and pursues economic recovery from the Great Recession; 2010s see renewed political polarization and a continuing evolution of immigration policy.\n- Theme 2: Playing nice in a slightly warmer world (post–Cold War diplomacy)\n- End of the Cold War, German reunification, and a new global order; Gulf War (1990–1991) to safeguard Gulf oil and regional stability; U.S. responses to human rights crises (Rwanda, Balkans); Clinton’s diplomacy in the Middle East; China’s evolving role; 1990s expansion of globalization and NATO’s post–Cold War role.\n- Theme 3: U.S. foreign policy after 9/11\n- 9/11 attacks ($2001$) trigger the War on Terror; Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security; wars in Afghanistan (starting $2001$) and Iraq (starting $2003$); domestic focus on security, surveillance, and civil liberties debates; Obama era emphasizes drawdown, Guantánamo reforms, and Middle East peace efforts.\n- Theme 4: A changed nation, America in the 21st century\n- Immigration growth and policy shifts (e.g., 1990s expansion and ongoing debates); digital revolution and 24-hour news; rise of the Internet and social media; economic volatility and recovery; Obama’s presidency and health care reform; 2014–present political realignments with shifting party control and policy debates.\n