APUSH Exam Review: Periods 6-9

Overview

• Covers periods 6-9: 1865 to the present.
• Emphasis on significant events, policies, and social changes.

Period 6: 1865-1898

• Federal Government and Western Expansion
  • Active role in Native American policy.
  • Notable conflicts: Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Little Bighorn, Battle of Wounded Knee.
  • Assimilation policies such as the Dawes Severalty Act.
• Economics
  • Land grants and subsidies to railroads.
  • Homestead Act for land distribution.
  • Laissez-faire policies leading to monopolies and trusts.
• Social Issues
  • Urban slums, poverty, justified by Social Darwinism.
  • Rise of political machines and environmental destruction.
  • Labor unions and farmer challenges: Knights of Labor, AFL, and the Populist Party.
• Discrimination
  • Jim Crow Laws, Plessy v. Ferguson.
  • Chinese Exclusion Act and nativism.

Period 7: 1890-1945

• US Overseas Expansion
  • Economic, political, ideological motives.
  • Spanish-American War, Open Door Policy, annexation of Hawaii.
• Progressive Movement
  • Trustbusting, food, and drug regulations.
  • Political and social reforms: 17th and 19th Amendments.
• World War I
  • US neutrality to involvement: Lusitania, Zimmerman Telegram.
  • Impact: Sedition Act, Great Migration, societal tensions.
• Roaring 20s and Great Depression
  • Economic prosperity, cultural tensions, rise of nativism.
  • New Deal: relief, recovery, reform.
• World War II
  • Neutrality to involvement: Pearl Harbor.
  • Impact on homefront: civil rights, internment of Japanese Americans.

Period 8: 1945-1980

• Cold War
  • Containment policies: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan.
  • Fluctuating US-Soviet relations: Berlin Airlift, Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Civil Rights Movement
  • Legal challenges, non-violence, direct action: Brown v. Board, bus boycott.
  • Government role: Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act.
• Social Movements
  • Black power, feminism, Mexican-American activism.
  • Cultural shifts leading to conservative resurgence.

Period 9: 1980-Present

• Conservative Movement
  • Reaganomics, religious fundamentalism, deregulation.
• Foreign Policy
  • Anti-communism, arms control, post-Cold War challenges.
• Social and Economic Changes
  • Immigration, income inequality, climate change.
  • Ongoing debates over federal government's role.

Conclusion

• These periods highlight significant transformations in American politics, society, and foreign policy. They provide a framework for understanding current events and issues.