Period 7: 1890-1945
An increasingly pluralistic United States faced profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper degree of government activism, and sought to define its international role. Topics may include
- Debates over Imperialism
- The Progressive Movement
- World War I
- Innovations in Communications and Technology in the 1920s
- The Great Depression and the New Deal
- World War II
- Postwar Diplomacy
Image Source: Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age thirty-two. Nipomo, California, a photograph by Dorothea Lange taken in 1936 when she was working for the Resettlement Administration. (Library of Congress)
![Period 7: 1890-1945 (AP US History) (1) Period 7: 1890-1945 (AP US History) (1)](https://i0.wp.com/ap.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/styles/hero_banner_redesign/public/2024-01/DorotheaLangePhotographDestitutePeaPickersCaliforniaMotherChildren.png?h=fe7fc3ca&itok=gNlnrnbi)
10-17% Exam Weighting
Resources by Period:
- Period 1: 1491–1607
- Period 2: 1607–1754
- Period 3: 1754–1800
- Period 4: 1800–1848
- Period 5: 1844–1877
- Period 6: 1865–1898
- Period 7: 1890–1945
- Period 8: 1945–1980
- Period 9: 1980–Present
Period 7: 1890–1945
Key Concepts
7.1: Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.
7.2: Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
7.3: Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.
Debates over Imperialism
Empire Builders
by Robert W. Cherny
Learn about the reactions to the growth of an American overseas empire.
- Essay
Our Victorious Fleet in Cuban Waters
1898
Print depicting American naval forces off Cuba during the Spanish-American War
- Primary Source
The War against Spain in the Philippines in 1898
by Richard Meixel
Learn about US naval actions in Southeast Asia during the Spanish-American War.
- Essay
The US in China
by Warren Cohen
Learn about the US support of the Open Door Policy and reaction to the Boxer Rebellion.
- Essay
The Open Door Policy and the Boxer War
by Warren Cohen
Learn about how the Open Door Policy served US economic, cultural, and strategic interests in China.
- Essay
The Progressive Movement
The Politics of Reform
by Julie Des Jardins
Learn about the politics of reform during the Progressive era.
- Essay
Women in American Politics in the Twentieth Century
by Sara Evans
Learn about women who advocated full participation in American public and political life during the suffrage movement.
- Essay
The Square Deal
by Kirsten Swinth
Learn about themes of Progressive reform and Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal.
- Essay
The Progressive Era to the New Era, 1900-1929
by Daniel Rodgers
The Progressive Era to the New Era (1900-1929) Timeline and essay explaining the domestic and global challenges facing the US.
- Essay
Disfranchisem*nt of African American voters
1901
Negro Business League response to legal bars to voting in Virginia
- Primary Source
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
1911
Sheet music in Yiddish lamenting the deaths in Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
- Primary Source
Women and the Progressive Movement
by Miriam Cohen
Learn about the women who sought to address a variety of social problems associated with industrialization
- Essay
The Supreme Court upholds national prohibition
1920
The Supreme Court upholds Prohibition and the Volstead Act
- Primary Source
Modern Women Persuading Modern Men
by Jonathan Soffer
Learn about the women's struggle for suffrage.
- Essay
Lynching in America
ca. 1926
NAACP broadside presenting the shocking statistics regarding lynching in America
- Primary Source
The Quest for Equality: European Immigration
by Matthew Jacobson
Learn about the arrival of immigrants from Europe in the context of the Progressive era.
- Video
World War I
1918
Nurse's diary containing McCrae’s poem reflecting upon the horrors of WWI
- Primary Source
World War I
by Jennifer D. Keene
Learn about America's role in WWI.
- Essay
Recruiting posters for African American soldiers
1918
Military recruitment of Black troops during World War I
- Primary Source
Theodore Roosevelt on the sinking of the Lusitania
1915
Former president urges US involvement in WWI
- Primary Source
America's role in the world
by Michael Neiberg
Read about American foreign policy between the world wars.
- Essay
Treaty of Versailles and President Wilson
1919 and 1921
Former Cabinet secretary's statement that "Woodrow Wilson did not fail"
- Primary Source
Deportation: Its Meaning and Menace
1919
Pamphlet criticizing the US government for its use of the Espionage and Sedition Acts
- Primary Source
The Dillingham Commission
by Robert Zeidel
Learn about the background to the 1917 Literacy Test Act and the 1921 Quota Act.
- Essay
Innovations in Communications and Technology in the 1920s
The Rise of Consumerism in the 1920s
by Michael Flamm
Listen to a discussion about purchasing power, occupation, and identity
- Video
Motor City: The Story of Detroit
by Thomas Sugrue
Read about the origins of Henry Ford's factory system in Detroit and its legacy.
- Essay
The Roaring Twenties
by Joshua Zeitz
Examine why the 1920s heralded a dramatic break in American social, economic, and political policies.
- Essay
Birth of a Nation
1915
"Advice Sheet" for theaters restricting access to Birth of a Nation for African Americans
- Primary Source
The Great Depression and the New Deal
The Great Depression
by David Kennedy
Learn about some of the causes and consequences of the Great Depression.
- Essay
The New Deal
by Thomas Kessner
Learn about FDR's New Deal.
- Essay
Jim Crow and the Great Migration
by Jonathan Scott Holloway
Learn about the reasons behind the Great Migration.
- Essay
The Hundred Days and Beyond
by Anthony J. Badger
Understand how the New Deal functioned as a "laboratory for economic learning."
- Essay
Civilian Conservation Corps poster
1938
Enlistment poster for the CCC, which put young men to work improving parks and creating infrastructure
- Primary Source
Why the New Deal Matters
by Eric Rauchway
Watch a discussion of FDR's New Deal.
- Video
Photograph of an abandoned farm in the Dust Bowl
1938
Dorothea Lange photograph depicting the devastation caused by the Dust Bowl
- Primary Source
The US Banking System
by Richard Sylla
Read about the emergence of the banking industry in the United States.
- Essay
World War II
World War II
by Kenneth T. Jackson
Learn about US involvement in WWII.
- Essay
Civilian defense on the home front
1942
Excerpt from The US Citizens Defense Corp handbook explaining the duties and responsibilities of home-front volunteers
- Primary Source
The World War II Home Front
by Allan M. Winkler
Learn how activities on the home front supported US efforts during WWII.
- Essay
Japan declares war
1941
Japan's Declaration of War coinciding with the attach on Pearl Harbor
- Primary Source
From Citizen to Enemy
by Julie Des Jardins
Learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.
- Essay
Japanese internment
1942
Broadside instructing the Japanese "to assemble for transport to detention camps"
- Primary Source
An Introduction to the History of the Zoot Suit Riots
by Elizabeth Escobedo
Learn about the intersection of World War II, Pachuco/a youth culture, fashion, and music in the City of Angels.
- Video
Postwar Diplomacy
Physicists predict a nuclear arms race
1945
"Preliminary Statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists" emphasizing the need to control atomic weaponry
- Primary Source
Truman and His Doctrine
by Elizabeth Edwards Spalding
Read about how and why Truman devised a strategy of containment
- Essay
Harry S. Truman responds to McCarthy
1950
Truman response to McCarthy, characterizing him as "the best asset that the Kremlin can have"
- Primary Source
The Origins of the Cold War
by John Lewis Gaddis
Learn about U.S.-Soviet relations from the nineteenth century through the end of World War II.
- Video
American History Timeline: 1890-1945
Image Citations
Listed in order of appearance in the sections above
Debates over Imperialism
Debates over Imperialism
- Keppler, Udo J. "His 128th birthday. 'Gee, But This Is an Awful Stretch!'" Puck, June 29, 1904. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Currier & Ives. Our Victorious Fleets in Cuban Waters. New York, 1898. Chromolithograph. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03534.
- Ehrhart, Samuel D. "If They'll Only Be Good." Puck, January 31, 1900. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Ricalton, James. West from Ha-ta-men Gate along Huge Ancient Wall between Tartar and Chinese Peking, Scene of a Desperate Charge during Siege - China. New York: Underwood & Underwood, 1901. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Keppler, Udo J. "The Tug of War in the Far East." Puck, September 14, 1898. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
The Progressive Movement
The Progressive Movement
- Riis, Jacob A. Street Arabs in "sleeping quarters." New York, ca. 1888. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Woman Suffrage Procession, Washington, DC. Official Program. March 3, 1913. Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
- Underwood & Underwood. "Good Government Is Practically Applying the Principles Which Make a Man a Good Citizen" - President [Theodore] Roosevelt, Waterville, Maine. 1902. Stereoview. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06449.22.
- Harris & Ewing. Woman Suffrage Pickets at White House. Washington, DC, 1917. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Jackson, Giles B. Letter to R. C. Burrow, June 22, 1901. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08907.
- Rumshisky, Joseph, and Anshel Schorr. "'Mamenu' or The Triangle Victims" (in Yiddish). New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1911. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06225.
- National Association of Colored Women’s Club. "Lifting As We Climb." Banner, ca. 1924. silk (fiber), wood, paint.
- Currier & Ives. Woman's Holy War :Grand Charge on the Enemy's Works. New York, 1874. Lithograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- N. Y. State Woman Suffrage Party. How to Vote for Woman Suffrage Amendment, Election Day, November 6th, 1917. Albany, NY, 1917. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08961.
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. For the Good of America. New York, ca. 1926. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06197.
- Keppler, J. "Welcome to All," Puck, April 28, 1880. Color lithograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
World War I
World War I
- Chandler, Howard John. The Spirit of America -- Join. American Red Cross, 1919. Color lithograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Come Out! [Volume 1, No. 2 (January 10, 1970)] Newspaper, GLC09872.02
- Renesch, Edward George. Colored Man Is No Slacker. Chicago, 1918. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06134.
- Roosevelt, Theodore. Letter to Oscar King Davis, June 23, 1915. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08003.
- Berryman, Clifford Kennedy. 15 Nations Sign Anti-war Treaty. August 27, 1928. Berryman Political Cartoon Collection, 1896-1949; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46. National Archives.
- McAdoo, William G. Statement given out by Ex-Secreatry of the Treasury on Woodrow Wilson, March 4, 1921. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03967.
- Berkman, Alexander, and Emma Goldman. Deportation, Its Meaning and Menace. New York, 1918. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06222.
- Evans, Raymond Oscar. “The Americanese Wall, as Congressman Burnett Would Build It .” Puck, March 25, 1916. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Innovations in Communications and Technology in the 1920s
Innovations in Communications and Technology in the 1920s
- Unknown photographer. The First Model T Ford. New York, 1908. Photograph. New York Public Library Digital Collections.
- Ford Touring Car advertisem*nt. Alma (Mich.) Record, October 1, 1908, p. 4. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
- "Big Business Banishes the Flapper." Morning Tulsa Daily World, July 16, 1922. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
- Edwards, Jack. "Advice Sheet. D. W. Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation.'" ca. 1915. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC05091.
The Great Depression and the New Deal
The Great Depression and the New Deal
- Hoover, Herbert. Letter to Louis L. Emmerson, July 10, 1931. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03146.
- Harris & Ewing. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Washington DC, ca. 1941. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Underwood & Underwood. Silent Protest Parade in New York City against the East St. Louis Riots. New York, 1917. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. Letter to Henry T. Rainey, June 10, 1933. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC07468.
- Arizona Civilian Conservation Corps. "Great Oaks from Little Acorns." 1938. Recruitment poster. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06196.262.
- Unknown photographer. Photograph of Works Progress Administration Worker Receiving Paycheck. January 1939. Photograph. Record Group 594956. WPA Information Division Photographic Index. National Archives.
- Lange, Dorothea. Dust Bowl Farmers of West Texas in Town. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, June 1937. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Pennsylvania. Two shilling and Six-pence note, No. 4665. April 3, 1772. Printed by Hall and Sellers. Signed by Cadwalader Morris, Joseph Swift, and Samuel Hudson. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC01450.226.01.
World War II
World War II
- United States. War Division. 7th war loan/now all together. Poster. 1945. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC09520.34.
- US Office of Civilian Defense. Special Civilian Defense Insignia. 1942. Poster. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC09520.36.
- Treidler, Adolph, and US Army. Soldiers Without Guns. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1944. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- Hirohito, Emperor of Japan. Declaration of War against the United States and Britain [in Japanese]. December 8, 1941. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC01415.
- Albers, Clem. Los Angeles, Calif. Apr. 1942. A store for rent in “Little Tokyo” after residents of Japanese ancestry were assigned to War Relocation Authority centers for the duration. Washington DC: War Relocation Authority, April 11, 1942. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
- DeWitt, J. L. US Army. Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry. May 3, 1942. Broadside. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06360.
- Acme Newspictures. Zoot suiters lined up outside Los Angeles jail en route to court after feud with sailors. Los Angeles, CA, June 9, 1943. Photograph. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Postwar Diplomacy
Postwar Diplomacy
- Kaplan, Irving. "Preliminary Statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists." ca. August 1945. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03152.02.
- United States. Army. Signal Corps. Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin at Potsdam. ca. July-August 1945. Photograph. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04457.
- Truman, Harry S. Letter to Dean Acheson, March 31, 1950. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC00782.22.
- Clement Attlee, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin, seated outdoors at Berlin conference. Germany Potsdam, 1945. Aug. 1. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/96522042/.
- Period 6: 1865–1898
- Period 8: 1945–1980