United States History since 1877

Course Description

AMH2020 – United States History since 1877 is a 3-credit lecture course in the History: American taxonomy of Florida's Statewide Course Numbering System (SCNS). The course surveys United States history from the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877 through the present. Topics include the Gilded Age and the Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, U.S. emergence as a world power, World War I, the 1920s and the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the social and political upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, the Reagan era, the end of the Cold War, and contemporary America in a globalized world. Students develop skills in historical analysis, critical reading of primary and secondary sources, evidence-based writing, and the application of historical thinking to contemporary issues.

AMH2020 is part of Florida's state-mandated General Education Core in Social and Behavioral Sciences and contributes to Civic Literacy requirements (Florida Statute 1007.25, 1007.55). The course is offered at 44 Florida public institutions and transfers as equivalent across the state. Students must earn a grade of C or better for the course to satisfy Gen-Ed and Gordon Rule requirements. Per Florida Statute 1007.25, course content is taught objectively as objects of analysis, observed from multiple perspectives, without endorsement of particular viewpoints.

Learning Outcomes

The required outcomes below align with the Florida General Education Social and Behavioral Sciences area objectives codified in Florida Statute 1007.25.

Required Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the factual details of substantive historical episodes from the end of Reconstruction through the contemporary period.
• Identify, analyze, and explain foundational developments that shaped American history from 1877 to the present using critical thinking skills.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the primary ideas, values, and perceptions that have shaped modern United States history.
• Demonstrate competency in civic literacy, including familiarity with the development of American political institutions, constitutional amendments since 1877, and major federal legislation that shaped modern America.
• Identify, describe, and explain social institutions, structures, and processes, including how social roles and status (race, class, gender, ethnicity, region) affected different groups in modern American history.
• Apply historical methodology to analyze primary and secondary sources, evaluating evidence and constructing interpretations.
• Apply qualitative analysis to examine the processes by which individuals and groups made personal, political, and societal decisions in modern historical contexts.
• Assess and analyze ethical perspectives in individual and societal decisions throughout modern U.S. history.
• Communicate historical understanding clearly and effectively in written form, with appropriate citation of evidence.

Optional Outcomes

Depending on institutional emphasis, students may also:

• Examine specific aspects of Florida history within the broader U.S. context (Florida's Gilded Age, Henry Flagler and the railroads, the 1920s land boom, Florida in the Civil Rights Movement, the rise of Cuban Miami, the Space Coast).
• Conduct independent research using historical newspapers, government documents, and other primary sources.
• Analyze historiographical debates about the meaning and interpretation of major events.
• Examine the history of underrepresented groups — African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, women, immigrants, working classes, LGBTQ+ Americans — in modern American history.
• Engage with oral history projects, family history research, or community-based historical investigations.
• Apply historical reasoning to contemporary debates about civic participation, foreign policy, and historical memory.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• The Gilded Age (1877-1900): Industrialization and the rise of big business; railroads; immigration and the urban experience; the labor movement (Knights of Labor, AFL, Haymarket, Pullman Strike); Populism and the agrarian revolt; the Compromise of 1877 and the rise of Jim Crow; the Spanish-American War (1898).
• The Progressive Era (1900-1917): Progressive reform at municipal, state, and federal levels; muckrakers; Theodore Roosevelt and the Square Deal; Woodrow Wilson and the New Freedom; women's suffrage (19th Amendment, 1920); Prohibition (18th Amendment, 1919).
• America Becomes a World Power and World War I: Imperialism; the Open Door policy; the Panama Canal; U.S. intervention in Latin America; entry into World War I (1917); the home front; the Treaty of Versailles; the Senate's rejection of the League of Nations.
• The 1920s and Great Depression: The Roaring Twenties; new mass culture (radio, film, automobiles); the Harlem Renaissance; the Red Scare; immigration restriction; the Stock Market Crash (1929); Hoover's response.
• The New Deal (1933-1939): Franklin D. Roosevelt; the First and Second New Deals; major programs (CCC, AAA, NRA, TVA, Social Security, Wagner Act); the limits of the New Deal; political realignment.
• World War II (1939-1945): American neutrality; Pearl Harbor (1941); home front (war production, women workers, internment of Japanese Americans); major military campaigns (Europe and Pacific); the atomic bomb.
• The Early Cold War (1945-1960): Origins of the Cold War; containment policy; Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO; the Korean War; McCarthyism; the rise of suburbia; civil rights beginnings (Brown v. Board, Montgomery Bus Boycott).
• The Civil Rights Movement and the 1960s: Major civil rights events (sit-ins, Freedom Rides, March on Washington, Selma); Civil Rights Act of 1964; Voting Rights Act of 1965; Black Power; Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers; the women's movement (NOW, Roe v. Wade); the LBJ administration and the Great Society; Vietnam War; the counterculture; Stonewall (1969) and the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
• The 1970s and Conservative Resurgence: Watergate and the Nixon administration; détente; the Carter administration; the Iran hostage crisis; the rise of the New Right and the Religious Right; deindustrialization and economic transformation.
• The Reagan Era and End of the Cold War (1981-1991): Reaganomics; the conservative revolution; the AIDS crisis; the end of the Cold War; the Persian Gulf War.
• Contemporary America (1992-Present): Globalization and economic transformation; the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations; September 11, 2001 and the War on Terror; the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; the Great Recession (2008); demographic and political polarization; the COVID-19 pandemic; ongoing debates about race, immigration, healthcare, and democracy.

Optional Topics

• Florida History since 1877: Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway; the 1920s Florida land boom; Florida in the New Deal era (CCC camps, mural projects); Florida in WWII; the rise of Miami and the Cuban exile community; the Space Coast and NASA; Florida's role in modern presidential politics; Hurricane Andrew (1992).
• African American History since 1877: Reconstruction's collapse; the Great Migration; Harlem Renaissance; the Civil Rights Movement; the Black Power movement; mass incarceration; Black Lives Matter.
• Women's History since 1877: Women in the workforce; suffrage and beyond; the second wave of feminism; ongoing debates about gender equality.
• Latino/a History: Mexican American experience; Puerto Rican migration; Cuban exile community; contemporary Latino political mobilization.
• Immigration History: Old immigration vs. new immigration; restriction (1924); refugee policy; contemporary debates.
• U.S. Foreign Relations: Diplomatic and military history beyond the major topics — the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America.

Resources & Tools

• Primary Textbooks: The American Yawp (free, open-access, americanyawp.com) — increasingly the default text for Florida college U.S. history courses; America: A Narrative History by Tindall and Shi (Norton); Give Me Liberty! by Eric Foner (Norton); The American Promise by Roark, Johnson, Cohen, et al. (Macmillan).
• Document Readers: Going to the Source, Volume 2 by Brown and Shannon (Bedford/St. Martin's); The American Yawp Reader (free, primary-source companion to American Yawp).
• Course Platforms: Canvas LMS (most institutions); Perusall (collaborative annotation platform); Turnitin or SafeAssign for academic integrity.
• Primary Source Archives: Library of Congress (loc.gov); National Archives (archives.gov); Avalon Project at Yale Law School; Documenting the American South (docsouth.unc.edu); Smithsonian Institution; Florida Memory (floridamemory.com); Chronicling America (newspaper archive at loc.gov/chroniclingamerica); Internet Archive; FBI Vault; presidential libraries online.
• Academic Resources: JSTOR; Project MUSE; History News Network; H-Net (humanities and social sciences online); Florida college LibGuides for AMH2020.
• Florida-Specific Resources: Florida Historical Society (myfloridahistory.org); Florida Public Archaeology Network; State Library and Archives of Florida; HistoryMiami Museum; Tampa Bay History Center; Orange County Regional History Center.

Career Pathways

AMH2020 develops historical literacy and civic competency that supports a wide range of academic and professional pathways:

• Associate in Arts (A.A.) Transfer Pathway – Required Gen-Ed Social Sciences course satisfying the social-science core for transfer to all Florida public universities; contributes to Florida Civic Literacy graduation requirement.
• History Major – Foundation for the history B.A. major; required at all Florida public universities.
• Pre-Law and Legal Studies – Critical reading, evidence analysis, and constitutional historical context are foundational for law school preparation.
• Education Pathways – Required for K-12 social studies teacher preparation.
• Public History and Cultural Heritage – Foundation for careers with museums (HistoryMiami, Tampa Bay History Center), historical societies, the National Park Service, archives, and historic preservation organizations.
• Government and Public Administration – Foundation for careers in federal, state, and local government; foreign service; political analysis; public policy.
• Journalism and Media – Foundation for journalism, documentary production, and editorial work where historical context informs reporting.
• Business and Industry – Foundation for understanding the historical context of contemporary business — labor relations, government regulation, globalization, technology change.

Special Information

Gen-Ed Core, Civic Literacy, and Gordon Rule

AMH2020 satisfies Florida's General Education Core Social and Behavioral Sciences requirement (Florida Statute 1007.25) and contributes to the Civic Literacy graduation requirement (Florida Statute 1007.55). It also fulfills the Gordon Rule writing requirement (Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.030). Students must earn a grade of C or better for the course to satisfy these requirements.

Florida Civic Literacy Exam

Per Florida Statute 1007.55, students entering Florida public colleges and universities for the first time in Fall 2021 or later must both complete a course covering U.S. government and constitutional history (such as POS2041, AMH2010, or AMH2020 with civic literacy designation) and pass the Florida Civic Literacy Exam (FCLE) before graduation.

Relationship to AMH2010

AMH2020 is the second half of the standard two-course U.S. history survey, paired with AMH2010 (US History to 1877). Either course satisfies the Gen-Ed Social Sciences requirement; many programs require or recommend both for a complete grounding in American history.

Florida Statutory Content Considerations

Florida law (Florida Statute 1007.25) requires that all topics in this course be taught objectively as objects of analysis, observed from multiple perspectives, without endorsement of particular viewpoints. No lesson is intended to espouse, promote, advance, inculcate, or compel a particular feeling, perception, or belief. Students are encouraged to employ critical thinking and to rely on data and verifiable sources.

Honors Sections

Many Florida institutions offer Honors sections of AMH2020 with smaller class sizes, more rigorous primary-source analysis, additional research papers, and broader engagement with historiography.

Workload and Time Expectations

Students should expect 6-9 hours of weekly out-of-class work, including textbook reading (typically 30 pages per week from American Yawp or equivalent), primary-source analysis, online quizzes, 2-3 short essays or analytical papers, and 2-3 mid-term examinations plus a final examination.