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Period 7: 1890–1945

AP United States History · Topic 7

Train
7.1 7.2 7.3

Imperialism and the Spanish-American War

Syllabus

7.1 Contextualizing Period 7

Learning ObjectivePreview: Unit 7 Key Concepts

Unit 7.A
Explain the context in which America grew into its role as a world power.

  • KC-7.1 Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.
    • KC-7.1.I The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.
    • KC-7.1.II In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling for greater government action and other political and social measures.
    • KC-7.1.III During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism.
  • KC-7.2 Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
    • KC-7.2.I Popular culture grew in influence in U.S. society, even as debates increased over the effects of culture on public values, morals, and American national identity.
    • KC-7.2.II Economic pressures, global events, and political developments caused sharp variations in the numbers, sources, and experiences of both international and internal migrants.
  • KC-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.
    • KC-7.3.I In the late 19th century and early 20th century, new U.S. territorial ambitions and acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific accompanied heightened public debates over America’s role in the world.
    • KC-7.3.II World War I and its aftermath intensified ongoing debates about the nation’s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests.
    • KC-7.3.III U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership.

7.2 Imperialism: Debates

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WOR
America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

Unit 7.B
Explain the similarities and differences in attitudes about the nation’s proper role in the world.

  • KC-7.3.I.A Imperialists cited economic opportunities, racial theories, competition with European empires, and the perception in the 1890s that the western frontier was “closed” to argue that Americans were destined to expand their culture and institutions to peoples around the globe.
  • KC-7.3.I.B Anti-imperialists cited principles of self-determination and invoked both racial theories and the U.S. foreign policy tradition of isolationism to argue that the United States should not extend its territory overseas.

7.3 The Spanish–American War

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WOR
America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

Unit 7.C
Explain the effects of the Spanish–American War.

  • KC-7.3.I.C The American victory in the Spanish–American War led to the U.S. acquisition of island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific, an increase in involvement in Asia, and the suppression of a nationalist movement in the Philippines.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Period 7 runs from 1890 to 1945 - the longest and densest period. Three storylines run through it: the growth of federal power in the economy, the rise of mass culture and the arguments it provoked, and the country's move to global power.

New territorial ambitions 领土野心 grew from a search for markets, naval strategy, and beliefs about national mission. Victory in the Spanish-American War 美西战争 gave the United States overseas possessions and forced a genuine argument.

The imperialism debate 帝国主义之争 is the examinable point: supporters argued for markets, strategic bases, and a civilising mission; opponents argued that ruling people without their consent contradicted the country's founding principles, and some argued on racial or economic grounds. Both positions must appear in a strong answer.

Vocabulary Train
English Chinese Pinyin
territorial ambitions 领土野心 lǐng tǔ yě xīn
Spanish-American War 美西战争 měi xī zhàn zhēng
imperialism debate 帝国主义之争 dì guó zhǔ yì zhī zhēng
7.4

The Progressive Era

Syllabus

7.4 The Progressives

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

GEO
Geography and the Environment — Geographic and environmental factors, including competition over and debates about natural resources, shape the development of America and foster regional diversity. The development of America impacts the environment and reshapes geography, which leads to debates about environmental and geographic issues.

Unit 7.D
Compare the goals and effects of the Progressive reform movement.

  • KC-7.1.II.A Some Progressive Era journalists attacked what they saw as political corruption, social injustice, and economic inequality, while reformers, often from the middle and upper classes and including many women, worked to effect social changes in cities and among immigrant populations.
  • KC-7.1.II.D The Progressives were divided over many issues. Some Progressives supported Southern segregation, while others ignored its presence. Some Progressives advocated expanding popular participation in government, while others called for greater reliance on professional and technical experts to make government more efficient. Progressives also disagreed about immigration restriction.
  • KC-7.1.II.B On the national level, Progressives sought federal legislation that they believed would effectively regulate the economy, expand democracy, and generate moral reform. Progressive amendments to the Constitution dealt with issues such as prohibition and women’s suffrage.

Unit 7.E
Compare attitudes toward the use of natural resources from 1890 to 1945.

  • KC-7.1.II.C Preservationists and conservationists both supported the establishment of national parks while advocating different government responses to the overuse of natural resources.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial 城市工业化 one, and Progressives 进步主义者 responded to the problems that came with it.

Progressivism was a broad reform impulse, not a single programme, but its methods are consistent:

  • Use expertise and evidence 专业知识与证据 to diagnose social problems - the work of muckraking journalists and social surveys.
  • Use government to fix them: regulation of food, drugs, working conditions, and monopolies.
  • Reform politics itself 政治改革 through the direct primary, the initiative and referendum, and direct election of senators.

Its limits are examinable too. Progressive reform largely excluded African Americans, and some Progressives supported segregation and immigration restriction.

Vocabulary Train
English Chinese Pinyin
urban, industrial 城市工业化 chéng shì gōng yè huà
Progressives 进步主义者 jìn bù zhǔ yì zhě
expertise and evidence 专业知识与证据 zhuān yè zhī shí yǔ zhèng jù
politics itself 政治改革 zhèng zhì gǎi gé
7.5 7.6

World War I and Its Aftermath

Syllabus

7.5 World War I: Military and Diplomacy

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WOR
America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

Unit 7.F
Explain the causes and consequences of U.S. involvement in World War I.

  • KC-7.3.II.A After initial neutrality in World War I, the nation entered the conflict, departing from the U.S. foreign policy tradition of noninvolvement in European affairs, in response to Woodrow Wilson’s call for the defense of humanitarian and democratic principles.
  • KC-7.3.II.B Although the American Expeditionary Forces played a relatively limited role in combat, the United States’ entry helped to tip the balance of the conflict in favor of the Allies.
  • KC-7.3.II.C Despite Wilson’s deep involvement in postwar negotiations, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations.

7.6 World War I: Home Front

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

MIG
Migration and Settlement — Push and pull factors shape immigration to and migration within America, and the demographic change as a result of these moves shapes the migrants, society, and the environment.

Unit 7.G
Explain the causes and effects of international and internal migration patterns over time.

  • KC-7.2.I.C Official restrictions on freedom of speech grew during World War I, as increased anxiety about radicalism led to a Red Scare and attacks on labor activism and immigrant culture.
  • KC-7.2.II.A.i Immigration from Europe reached its peak in the years before World War I. During World War I, nativist campaigns against some ethnic groups led to the passage of quotas that restricted immigration, particularly from southern and eastern Europe, and increased barriers to Asian immigration.
  • KC-7.2.II.B.i The increased demand for war production and labor during World War I led many Americans to migrate to urban centers in search of economic opportunities.
  • KC-7.2.II.C In the Great Migration during and after World War I, African Americans escaping segregation, racial violence, and limited economic opportunity in the South moved to the North and West, where they found new opportunities but still encountered discrimination.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Entry into the First World War 第一次世界大战 mobilised the economy and expanded federal power, but it also intensified debates about the nation's role in the world and about civil liberties at home, where dissent was prosecuted.

The war triggered the Great Migration 大迁徙, as African Americans moved north for wartime industrial jobs, reshaping northern cities and politics.

Afterwards the United States pursued a unilateral foreign policy 单边外交政策 - rejecting the League of Nations while remaining economically engaged abroad.

Vocabulary Train
English Chinese Pinyin
First World War 第一次世界大战 dì yí cì shì jiè dà zhàn
Great Migration 大迁徙 dà qiān xǐ
unilateral foreign policy 单边外交政策 dān biān wài jiāo zhèng cè
7.7 7.8

The 1920s: Mass Culture and Backlash

Syllabus

7.7 1920s: Innovations in Communication and Technology

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WXT
Work, Exchange, and Technology — The interplay between markets, private enterprise, labor, technology, and government policy shape the American economy. In turn, economic activity shapes society and government policy and drives technological innovation.

Unit 7.H
Explain the causes and effects of the innovations in communication and technology in the United States over time.

  • KC-7.1.I.A New technologies and manufacturing techniques helped focus the U.S. economy on the production of consumer goods, contributing to improved standards of living, greater personal mobility, and better communications systems.
  • KC-7.2.I.A New forms of mass media, such as radio and cinema, contributed to the spread of national culture as well as greater awareness of regional cultures.

7.8 1920s: Cultural and Political Controversies

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

ARC
American and Regional Culture — Creative expression, demographic change, philosophy, religious beliefs, scientific ideas, social mores, and technology shape national, regional, and group cultures in America, and these varying cultures often play a role in shaping government policy and developing economic systems.

Unit 7.G
Explain the causes and effects of international and internal migration patterns over time.

  • KC-7.1.I.B By 1920, a majority of the U.S. population lived in urban centers, which offered new economic opportunities for women, international migrants, and internal migrants.
  • KC-7.2.II.A.ii After World War I, nativist campaigns against some ethnic groups led to the passage of quotas that restricted immigration, particularly from southern and eastern Europe, and increased barriers to Asian immigration.

Unit 7.I
Explain the causes and effects of developments in popular culture in the United States over time.

  • KC-7.2.I.B Migration gave rise to new forms of art and literature that expressed ethnic and regional identities, such as the Harlem Renaissance movement.
  • KC-7.2.I.D In the 1920s, cultural and political controversies emerged as Americans debated gender roles, modernism, science, religion, and issues related to race and immigration.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Innovations in communication and technology - radio, film, mass-circulation magazines, and the automobile - contributed to the growth of mass culture 大众文化, which increasingly set national tastes.

The same decade produced sharp divisions 尖锐分歧 over what the country should be:

  • Immigration restriction 移民限制 through national-origins quotas.
  • Conflict over religion and science, and over prohibition 禁酒令.
  • A revived Ku Klux KlanK and organised nativism.
  • The Harlem Renaissance 哈莱姆文艺复兴 and the "New Woman" as assertions of new cultural identities.
Vocabulary Train
English Chinese Pinyin
mass culture 大众文化 dà zhòng wén huà
sharp divisions 尖锐分歧 jiān ruì fēn qí
Immigration restriction 移民限制 yí mín xiàn zhì
prohibition 禁酒令 jìn jiǔ lìng
Ku Klux Klan 三K党 sān K dǎng
Harlem Renaissance 哈莱姆文艺复兴 hā lái mǔ wén yì fù xīng
7.9 7.10

Depression and the New Deal

Syllabus

7.9 The Great Depression

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WXT
Work, Exchange, and Technology — The interplay between markets, private enterprise, labor, technology, and government policy shape the American economy. In turn, economic activity shapes society and government policy and drives technological innovation.

Unit 7.J
Explain the causes of the Great Depression and its effects on the economy.

  • KC-7.1.I The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.
  • KC-7.1.I.C Episodes of credit and market instability in the early 20th century, in particular the Great Depression, led to calls for a stronger financial regulatory system.
  • KC-7.1.III During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism.

7.10 The New Deal

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

PCE
Politics and Power — Debates fostered by social and political groups about the role of government in American social, political, and economic life shape government policy, institutions, political parties, and the rights of citizens.

Unit 7.K
Explain how the Great Depression and the New Deal impacted American political, social, and economic life over time.

  • KC-7.1.III.A Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to provide relief to the poor, stimulate recovery, and reform the American economy.
  • KC-7.1.III.B Radical, union, and populist movements pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive efforts to change the American economic system, while conservatives in Congress and the Supreme Court sought to limit the New Deal’s scope.
  • KC-7.1.III.C Although the New Deal did not end the Depression, it left a legacy of reforms and regulatory agencies and fostered a long-term political realignment in which many ethnic groups, African Americans, and working-class communities identified with the Democratic Party.
  • KC-7.2.II.B.ii The increased demand for war production and labor during World War II and the economic difficulties of the 1930s led many Americans to migrate to urban centers in search of economic opportunities.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

The New Deal grouped by purpose: relief now, recovery for the economy, reform so it cannot happen again
Sorting New Deal programmes by purpose - relief, recovery, reform - is what turns a list into an argument

The Great Depression 大萧条 brought mass unemployment and social dislocation, and policymakers responded by expanding the federal role in the economy.

Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal 罗斯福新政 attempted to end the Depression through relief 救济, recovery 复苏, and reform 改革. Radical, union, and populist movements 激进派工会与民粹运动 pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive measures - which is why the "Second New Deal" is more ambitious than the first.

The verdict the CED states plainly: the New Deal did not end the Depression, but it left a lasting legacy of reform - Social Security, federal deposit insurance, labour rights, and the expectation that government is responsible for economic security.

Vocabulary Train
English Chinese Pinyin
Great Depression 大萧条 dà xiāo tiáo
Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal 罗斯福新政 luó sī fú xīn zhèng
relief 救济 jiù jì
recovery 复苏 fù sū
reform 改革 gǎi gé
Radical, union, and populist movements 激进派、工会与民粹运动 jī jìn pài 、 gōng huì yǔ mín cuì yùn dòng
7.11 7.12 7.13

The Second World War

Syllabus

7.11 Interwar Foreign Policy

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WOR
America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

Unit 7.B
Explain the similarities and differences in attitudes about the nation’s proper role in the world.

  • KC-7.3.II.D In the years following World War I, the United States pursued a unilateral foreign policy that used international investment, peace treaties, and select military intervention to promote a vision of international order, even while maintaining U.S. isolationism.
  • KC-7.3.II.E In the 1930s, while many Americans were concerned about the rise of fascism and totalitarianism, most opposed taking military action against the aggression of Nazi Germany and Japan until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II.

7.12 World War II: Mobilization

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

SOC
Social Structures — Social categories, roles, and practices are created, maintained, challenged, and transformed throughout American history, shaping government policy, economic systems, culture, and the lives of citizens.

Unit 7.L
Explain how and why U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society.

  • KC-7.3.III.B The mass mobilization of American society helped end the Great Depression, and the country’s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war by equipping and provisioning allies and millions of U.S. troops.
  • KC-7.3.III.C.i Mobilization provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties, such as the internment of Japanese Americans.
  • KC-7.2.II.D Migration to the United States from Mexico and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere increased, in spite of contradictory government policies toward Mexican immigration.

7.13 World War II: Military

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WOR
America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

Unit 7.M
Explain the causes and effects of the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers.

  • KC-7.3.III.A Americans viewed the war as a fight for the survival of freedom and democracy against fascist and militarist ideologies. This perspective was later reinforced by revelations about Japanese wartime atrocities, Nazi concentration camps, and the Holocaust.
  • KC-7.3.III.C.ii Military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation.
  • KC-7.3.III.D The United States and its allies achieved military victory through Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific “island-hopping” and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Americans viewed the war as a fight for the survival of freedom and democracy 自由与民主的存续 against fascist aggression.

Mass mobilization 全面动员 helped end the Great Depression, and it changed society:

  • Mobilisation and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities 妇女与少数族裔 to improve their status, though within continued segregation and discrimination.
  • Migration from Mexico and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere increased to meet labour demand.
  • Japanese Americans were forcibly interned 拘禁, the period's clearest case of wartime rights denied.

Victory came through Allied cooperation 盟国合作, industrial capacity, and technological advantage, ending with the use of atomic weapons against Japan.

Vocabulary Train
English Chinese Pinyin
survival of freedom and democracy 自由与民主的存续 zì yóu yǔ mín zhǔ de cún xù
Mass mobilization 全面动员 quán miàn dòng yuán
women and minorities 妇女与少数族裔 fù nǚ yǔ shǎo shù zú yì
interned 拘禁 jū jìn
Allied cooperation 盟国合作 méng guó hé zuò
7.14

Postwar Diplomacy

Syllabus

7.14 Postwar Diplomacy

Thematic FocusLearning ObjectiveHistorical Developments

WOR
America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.

Unit 7.N
Explain the consequences of U.S. involvement in World War II.

  • KC-7.3.III.E The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on Earth.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and in the occupations that followed, left the United States as the strongest power in the world - and set up the confrontation with the Soviet Union that Period 8 begins with.

7.15

Comparison in Period 7

Syllabus

7.15 Comparison in Period 7

Learning ObjectiveReview: Unit 7 Key Concepts

Unit 7.O
Compare the relative significance of the major events of the first half of the 20th century in shaping American identity.

  • KC-7.1 Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.
    • KC-7.1.I The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies.
    • KC-7.1.II In the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Progressives responded to political corruption, economic instability, and social concerns by calling for greater government action and other political and social measures.
    • KC-7.1.III During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism.
  • KC-7.2 Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns.
    • KC-7.2.I Popular culture grew in influence in U.S. society, even as debates increased over the effects of culture on public values, morals, and American national identity.
    • KC-7.2.II Economic pressures, global events, and political developments caused sharp variations in the numbers, sources, and experiences of both international and internal migrants.
  • KC-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.
    • KC-7.3.I In the late 19th century and early 20th century, new U.S. territorial ambitions and acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific accompanied heightened public debates over America’s role in the world.
    • KC-7.3.II World War I and its aftermath intensified ongoing debates about the nation’s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests.
    • KC-7.3.III U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

The period's reasoning skill is comparison. The most useful pairing is Progressive-era reform against the New Deal: both expanded federal power, but the New Deal did so on a far larger scale and in response to collapse rather than to growth.

Worked example (a real AP exam question). The 2024 exam set the long essay "Evaluate the extent to which beliefs about threats to the United States shaped society from 1917 to 1945." A strong thesis names the beliefs and what they produced: "Beliefs about internal and external threats shaped American society to a great extent between 1917 and 1945, producing wartime restrictions on dissent, immigration quotas in the 1920s, and the internment of Japanese Americans, even as the same fears mobilised broad support for federal power." Notice the shape: the prompt is about beliefs, so the evidence must be things beliefs caused - policies and social changes - not simply a narrative of the wars.

7.15

Exam tips

  • Give both sides of the imperialism debate; a one-sided answer misses the point of the question.
  • Progressivism is a method - expertise, then government action, then political reform. Its exclusion of African Americans is examinable.
  • Sort New Deal programmes by relief, recovery, reform. That structure converts a list into an argument.
  • State the CED's verdict directly: the New Deal did not end the Depression but left a permanent legacy.
  • Wartime opportunity for women and minorities was real and limited. Saying both is what earns complexity.
  • For 1917-1945 prompts about fear or threat, use civil liberties, immigration quotas, and internment as your evidence.

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