Thematic Timeline
The following list of major themes offers several different lenses through which to view the events and voices of the American past. Each theme suggests central issues, tensions, or trends that have shaped the history of the United States. Each contains chronologically arranged lists of key events and dates as well as relevant primary source documents and visual images.
Click on a theme of interest to you, and browse the materials included there. How is the theme you select relevant to America today? How is it relevant to your experiences and life?
1. Native Americans from the Pre-Columbian Era to the Present
2. Slavery and the Slave Trade, 1619-1865
3. American Immigration and Nativism
5. The American Land--Ecology and Cultural Geography
6. Party Politics and Government in America
8. Struggles for Civil Rights and Equality
10. The United States Constitution
11. Labor and Capitalism in America
13. Popular Culture and the Arts in America
14. American Military and Diplomatic History to 1865
15. American Military and Diplomatic History from 1865 to the Present