U.S. History 2: Vol 1

U.S. History Volume 1: 1877-1900 features a series of seven lessons covering the industrialization of America.  These lessons provide you with different perspectives from many historians surrounding the question of how we got from there to here. This highly interactive learning enhancement tool integrates video, text, interactive activities, and self-assessments to offer a visually engaging representation of this time in American history.  

Titles include:



The Gilded Age establishes the course themes of American identity, freedom, and equality at the end of Reconstruction, then examines the reasons behind the large-scale industrialization in the late 19th century.  In addition, how the culture of the era reflected the emerging dominance of business in America is analyzed.


The American West covers an integral part of the changing American landscape in the late 19th century was the transformation of the West.  The causes of the changes occurring in the West are explored, and the consequences for people living and moving there, including American Indians, Mexican Americans, and those newly arriving are assessed.  



Moving to the City recognizes millions of immigrants, as well as thousands already in America who moved to the city in the decades following Reconstruction.  The living and social conditions of the huddled masses during this era are examined, using the cities of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.


A Dream Deferred examines that while millions pursued the American Dream in the late 19th century, African Americans and women of all ethnicities encountered special obstacles in their paths.  Why did this happen?  How did they respond?  What did it mean?



Labor’s Struggle focuses on how industrialization changed the nature of work, working conditions, and the composition of America’s workforce. Labor’s struggle to organize, management’s fierce resistance to their efforts, and the status of the American worker at this time are analyzed.  



The Populist Challenge concentrates on why Farmers became more productive and more marginalized in American economic and political life. How they responded by organizing a significant challenge to the established political powers of the era. The meaning and the legacy of the Populists is assessed.



The Question of Empire examines how and why by the end of the 19th century, the internal transformations of the United States propelled the nation to look outward. The causes and consequences of the Spanish American War, the decision for empire, the resulting war in the Philippines, and the use of the Big Stick in Latin America are discussed and analyzed.