The Progressive Era, World Wars, and the New Deal (1890-1945)

Intermediate

Explore the transformative era from 1890 to 1945, covering American imperialism, Progressive Era reforms, World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II.

This topic aligns with AP US History Period 7 and examines how the United States became a global power while grappling with economic upheaval, social reform movements, and two world wars.

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Part of:AP US History

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Key Concepts

The expansion of U.S. political, economic, and military influence beyond the continental borders beginning in the 1890s, driven by economic interests, strategic concerns, and beliefs in racial and cultural superiority.

Example

The Spanish-American War (1898) resulted in the U.S. acquiring the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico, transforming the nation into a colonial power with overseas territories.

A broad reform movement from roughly 1900 to 1920 that sought to address the social, political, and economic problems created by industrialization and urbanization through government action, investigative journalism, and grassroots organizing.

Example

Muckraking journalists like Upton Sinclair exposed unsafe conditions in the meatpacking industry, leading to the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

President Franklin Roosevelt's series of federal programs, public works projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted between 1933 and 1939 in response to the Great Depression, fundamentally expanding the role of the federal government in American economic life.

Example

The Social Security Act (1935) created a federal safety net for the elderly, unemployed, and disabled that remains a cornerstone of American social policy.

The forced relocation and incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans -- two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens -- into detention camps during World War II under Executive Order 9066, justified by unfounded claims of espionage and sabotage.

Example

The Supreme Court upheld internment in Korematsu v. United States (1944), a decision widely regarded as one of the Court's worst rulings and formally repudiated in 2018.

A cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement centered in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s and 1930s, in which African American writers, musicians, and artists produced works that celebrated Black identity and challenged racial stereotypes.

Example

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Duke Ellington created works that shaped American literature, anthropology, and music while asserting the dignity and creativity of African American culture.

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Curriculum alignment— Standards-aligned

Grade level

Grades 9-12College+

Learning objectives

•Analyze the causes and consequences of American imperialism from 1890 to 1920
•Evaluate the goals, methods, and achievements of Progressive Era reformers
•Assess the causes of U.S. entry into World War I and the war's impact on the home front
•Explain how the cultural and social tensions of the 1920s reflected deeper divisions in American society
•Identify the causes of the Great Depression and evaluate its impact on American life
•Compare the first and second New Deal programs and assess their long-term legacy
•Analyze the causes, major events, and consequences of World War II, including the home front experience and the decision to use atomic weapons