American History II (H6) covers the period from 1890 to the present. Topics to be covered include:

Reform in America/ Progressive Era

• Pressure for Reform
  • Jacob Riis's New York (slideshow)
  • Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
  • Article from New York Times Upfront on The Jungle
  • Article on the Muckrakers and John D. Rockefeller from New York Times Upfront 
• Progress: Social and Economic Reform and Consumer Protection
  • 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act
• Progressivism and Government Action

The Rise of American Power

• An Emerging Global Involvement
• Restraint and Involvement: 1914-1920
• Wartime Constitutional Issues
• War and Prosperity: 1917-1929
• Impact of War
• The Twenties Business Boom or False Prosperity?
• Mass Consumption and The Clash Of Cultural Values
  • Scopes Trial
  • New York Times Upfront Article on Scopes Trial
  • Prohibition
  • The Rise of the KKK, 1915-1925
  • New York Times Upfront Article on Restrictions on Southern and Eastern European Immigration

The Great Depression

• Onset of the Depression
  • When Confidence Failed: The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929 (New York Times Upfront Article)
  • Film: The Grapes of Wrath
• Franklin D. Roosevelt and The New Deal: Relief, Recovery and Reform Programs

Peace In Peril: 1933-1950

• Isolation and Neutrality
• Failure Of Peace: Triumph Of Aggression
  • Video: The War in Europe
• The United States In World War II
  • The Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor
  • New York Times Upfront Article: Septemebr 11 and the Parallels to Pearl Harbor

    • Pearl Harbor Video #1

    • Pearl Harbor Video#2

      • World War II Propaganda Video
  • The Internment of Japanese-Americans after the Attack on Pearl Harbor
    • New York Times Upfront Article: "A grave wrong": during World War II, more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans lost their freedom...
  • Primary Source Document: New York Times, The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

Peace With Problems: 1945 – 1960

·        International Peace Efforts

·        Expansion and Containment: Europe

·        Containment in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

·        The Cold War at Home

 Toward a Postindustrial World: Living in a Global Age

·        Changes Within the United States

Containment and Consensus

·        Eisenhower Foreign Policies

·        Domestic Politics and Constitutional Issues

Decade OF Change: 1960s

·        The Kennedy Years

·        Johnson and the Great Society

The Limits Of Power: Turmoil At Home And Abroad, 1965-1972

·        Vietnam: Sacrifice and Turmoil

The Trend Toward Conservatism, 1972- 1985

·        Nixon as President, 1969-1974

·        The Ford and Carter Presidencies

·        Reagan and Bush, The “New” Federalism and Growth of Conservatism

Approaching the Next Century 1986-1999

·        The Bush Presidency

·        The Clinton Presidency

(Adapted from New York City Department of Education guidelines)