Handbook

The end of the Civil War in 1865 ushered in an extraordinary period in American history. Over the next century, the United States became the world’s most powerful empire. Presidents such as Franklin Roosevelt and JFK boasted of extending the principles of freedom and democracy at home and abroad. Yet, democracy within America has always sparked bitter conflict. From the fight to extend voting rights to once enslaved African Americans to Ku Klux Klan terror, to the struggle for women’s suffrage, and the civil rights movement of the 1960s, reform and reaction have characterised the nation’s history. The 2024 election and its aftermath demonstrate that the US is more divided now than at any other time since 1865. By looking at major historical events, foreign relations, domestic politics, and issues such as abortion, gun control, media partisanship, and voting rights, students will learn how and why the US became so powerful and why, despite its divisions, it remains a vigorous influence on our world today.