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In 1915, fifty years after the end of the Civil War, D. W. Griffith released his epic film Birth of a Nation . The greatest blockbuster of the silent era, Birth of a Nation was seen by an estimated 200 million Americans by 1946. Based on a novel by a Baptist preacher named Thomas Dixon, the film painted Reconstruction, the period following the Civil War, as a time when vengeful former enslaved people, opportunistic White scalawags, and corrupt Yankee carpetbaggers plundered and oppressed the former Confederacy until respectable White southerners rose up and restored order. A ...

The end of World War I was accompanied by a panic over political radicalism. Fear of bombs, Communism, and labor unrest produced a “Red Scare.” In Hammond, Indiana, a jury took two minutes to acquit the killer of an immigrant who had yelled “To Hell with the United States.” At a victory pageant in Washington, DC, a sailor shot a man who refused to stand during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” while the crowd clapped and cheered. A clerk in a Waterbury, Connecticut, clothing store was sentenced to jail for six months for remarking to a customer that the Russian...

Checks and Balances Executive Branch carries out the laws can veto laws can call special sessions of Congress controls enforcement of laws nominates judges can pardon people convicted of federal crimes commander in chief develops foreign policy Legislative Branch makes the laws declares war can impeach president and other high officials Senate approves presidential appointments Senate approves treaties can override presidential vetoes exercises power of the purse Judicial Branch interprets the law can declare laws or presidential actions unconstitutional lifetime appointments...

The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt suspended naturalization proceedings for Italian, German, and Japanese immigrants, required them to register, restricted their mobility, and prohibited them from owning items that might be used for sabotage, such as cameras and shortwave radios. The curfews on Italian immigrants were lifted in October 1942, on Columbus Day. Approximately 600,000 Italian aliens lived in the United States in 1940. About 1,600 Italian citizens were interned, and about 10,000 Italian-Americans were forced to move from their houses in...

Percentage of Labor Force in Agriculture 1860 53% 1870 52% 1880 51% 1890 43% 1900 40% 1910 31% 1920 26% 1930 21% Farming Profession Number of Farms (in thousands) Proportion of Total Population 1940 6,350 23.1% 1950 5,648 15.2% 1960 3,963 8.7% 1970 2,949 4.7% 1980 2,428 2.7% US Population Year Total Population (in millions) Rural Urban 1870 40 74% 26% 1880 50 72% 28% 1890 63 65% 35% 1900 76 60% 40% Questions for discussion When did the steepest decline take place in the proportion of American workers earning their livelihood in agriculture? How did rural growth compare with...