Historia
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High School Social Studies

U.S. History Since 1877

This course follows the Texas U.S. History pathway from Reconstruction’s aftermath to the present, organizing the story of modern America into clear units built around major turning points, recurring TEKS skills, and strong day-to-day classroom structure.

Course Focus

Students trace how the United States changed politically, economically, socially, and culturally from 1877 to the present while practicing source analysis, historical writing, maps, charts, claims, civic discourse, and long-term chronological thinking.

  • Cover every major era from 1877 to the present
  • Keep the sequence aligned to TEKS and STAR expectations
  • Build recurring practice with primary and secondary sources
  • Embed economics, government, geography, and citizenship throughout
  • Use visual review, timelines, and turning points to strengthen retention
  • Break large historical eras into manageable, teacher-friendly units
Early Modern U.S. Foundations, industrialization, the West, and reform
America Abroad Imperialism, world conflict, and global leadership
Modern America Depression, war, civil rights, Cold War, and beyond
Course pathway

Start Here

Begin with foundational review and historical skills, then move through industrialization, imperialism, progressivism, World War I, the 1920s, the Depression, World War II, the Cold War, civil rights, and the modern United States.

Unit 1

Foundations, Turning Points, and Historical Skills

Students establish the full course timeline, review founding principles during Celebrate Freedom Week, identify the major eras from 1877 to the present, and begin working with claims, evidence, timelines, maps, and source evaluation.

Foundations Skills Turning Points
Unit 2

The Gilded Age and the West, 1877–1898

Covers industrialization, railroads, labor unions, farmers, entrepreneurship, big business, Indian policy, urbanization, immigration, women, minorities, and political machines in the post-Reconstruction era.

1877–1898 Industry Urbanization
Unit 3

Imperialism and the United States as a World Power

Focuses on the Spanish-American War, overseas expansion, yellow journalism, debates over empire, the Open Door Policy, Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy, and the growing role of the United States in world affairs.

1890s–1910s Imperialism Foreign Policy
Unit 4

The Progressive Era

Examines reform movements aimed at government corruption, business regulation, public health, labor conditions, women’s rights, voting reform, and social justice through the work of activists, muckrakers, and national leaders.

Progressivism Reform Citizenship
Unit 5

World War I

Traces the causes of World War I, American neutrality, entry into the war, wartime mobilization, propaganda, civil liberties issues, the experiences of soldiers and civilians, and the debate over Wilson’s peace plan and the Treaty of Versailles.

1914–1919 World War I Mobilization
Unit 6

The 1920s: Conflict, Change, and Modern Culture

Focuses on immigration, nativism, the Red Scare, Prohibition, race relations, eugenics, the changing role of women, the Scopes Trial, and major individuals such as Henry Ford, Marcus Garvey, and Charles Lindbergh.

1920s Culture Modern America
Unit 7

The Great Depression and the New Deal

Students examine the causes of the Depression, its social and economic effects, New Deal programs, New Deal opposition, and the long-term impact of federal agencies and government expansion.

1929–1941 Economics Government
Unit 8

World War II and the Home Front

Covers causes of U.S. entry, wartime leadership, major military events, the Holocaust, Japanese American internment, atomic weapons, the home front, and the contributions of diverse military units and leaders.

1939–1945 World War II Home Front
Unit 9

The Cold War at Home and Abroad

Includes containment, the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, NATO, McCarthyism, HUAC, the arms and space races, Korea, Vietnam, the Domino Theory, and public responses to the Vietnam War.

1945–1991 Cold War Foreign Policy
Unit 10

Civil Rights and Expanding Democracy

Traces the civil rights movement from its earlier roots through the 20th century, including Jim Crow, Brown, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, women’s rights, political organizations, and major legislation.

Civil Rights Citizenship Supreme Court
Unit 11

The United States from the 1970s through 1990

Explores détente, Nixon, Reagan, the conservative resurgence, the Middle East, the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Iran-Contra Affair, the War on Drugs, and the AIDS epidemic.

1970s–1990 Politics Society
Unit 12

The United States from the 1990s into the 21st Century

Covers the end of the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, 9/11, the War on Terror, third parties in modern elections, immigration, health care, education, multinational corporations, and the modern economy.

1990s–Present Modern U.S. World Affairs
Embedded Across Units

Geography, Economics, Government, Culture, and Skills

Rather than isolating these into one small corner, the course repeatedly embeds migration, environment, trade, constitutional issues, citizenship, arts and culture, science and technology, source evaluation, claim-writing, civil discourse, charts, maps, and simulations across the year.

Embedded TEKS STAR Skills Review Spiral