Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bibliographic Details Author: C. Vann WoodwardPublisher: Oxford University PressYear: First published 1955; multiple revised editions, most notably 1974. Thesis Statement C. Vann Woodward argues that the rigid, legally codified system of racial segregation known as “Jim Crow” was not an … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: David M. KennedyPublisher: Oxford University PressYear: 1999 Thesis Statement David M. Kennedy argues that the twin crises of the Great Depression and World War II constituted a transformative “ordeal” that fundamentally reshaped the American state, economy, and … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: Richard White Publisher: Oxford University Press Year: 2017 Thesis Statement Richard White argues that the period from 1865 to 1896 was defined by a profound and ultimately failed struggle to realize the “free labor” vision that emerged … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: William H. Chafe Publisher: Oxford University Press Year: 2021 (9th Edition) Thesis Statement William H. Chafe argues that the central, defining narrative of modern America from the end of World War II through the early 21st century … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: Eric RauchwayPublisher: Oxford University PressYear: 2008 Thesis Statement Eric Rauchway argues that the New Deal was not merely a haphazard series of emergency responses to the Great Depression, but a coherent and transformative project that fundamentally redefined … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: William E. Leuchtenburg Publisher: University of Chicago Press Year: 1958 (Revised 1993) Thesis Statement William E. Leuchtenburg argues that the period between the outbreak of the First World War and the nadir of the Great Depression represents … Continue reading →

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Bibliographic Details Author: Isabel Wilkerson Publisher: Random House Year: 2010 Thesis Statement Wilkerson argues that the Great Migration—the decades-long exodus of six million African Americans from the Jim … Continue reading →

The Clash of Civilizations: America in the First World War Bibliographic Details Author: A. Scott Berg (or alternatively, for a more strictly academic monograph: The First World War and American Democracy by David M. Kennedy, though here we focus on … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: Richard Hofstadter Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Year: 1955 Thesis Statement Hofstadter argues that the Populist and Progressive movements—spanning the period from the 1890s through the 1930s—were not merely rational responses to industrial capitalism, but were deeply rooted … Continue reading →

Bibliographic Details Author: Lizabeth CohenPublisher: Cambridge University PressYear: 1990 Thesis Statement In Making a New Deal, Lizabeth Cohen profoundly reinterprets the origins and nature of the New Deal by demonstrating how its transformative power emerged from the intricate interplay between … Continue reading →