2021 AP US History Prep with Tom Richey #6 | The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era (1860-1920)

How did Americans at the turn of the 20th century address the rapid technological, demographic, and economic changes around them? Provide students an in-depth look at this formative period in United States history. Through primary-source-based activities and engaging narratives, students will be exposed to this fascinating period and analyze its numerous parallels to today.

May 6, 2020, marked 138 years since the signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Passed by Congress and signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the act banned Chinese immigration into the United States for ten years. Many in the U.S. despised Chinese immigrants, a group they believed did not integrate well into American culture and took jobs from Americans.

What do students need to understand about the history of immigration to be informed for it's modern debates? Examine the important story of immigration in the United States by reviewing the nature of immigration and giving students tools to analyze the history of immigration both through the social history and the legal and policy debates from the Founding until the present. With this context in mind, students are better able to engage in the modern debates regarding immigration. Students will understand the factors that led early immigrants to the United States and the challenges they faced upon arrival. They will analyze how American lawmakers viewed immigrants and the evolving nature of immigration policy. Finally, students will use this knowledge to prepare and present their own plan for immigration policies.