America 250 · Semiquincentennial
Read Every Era
The books, films, and series that define each era of U.S. history — from the Revolution to the War on Terror. Sixteen eras, hand-curated.
1763–1789
Founding & Revolution
The argument, the war, and the constitution that came out of both.
1789–1815
Early Republic
The fragile decades when the Constitution had to be made to work.
1815–1860
Antebellum & Westward Expansion
The country doubled in size and tore itself apart over what to do with it.
1860–1865
Civil War
The four years that decided whether the United States would survive.
1865–1877
Reconstruction
The unfinished revolution — the twelve years America tried to make freedom real and walked away.
1877–1900
Gilded Age
Industrial capitalism builds the modern country; the country mostly hates it.
1900–1920
Progressive Era
Reformers try to fix what the Gilded Age built — sometimes successfully.
1914–1929
WWI & The Twenties
America wins a war it stayed out of for three years, then spends a decade trying to forget.
1929–1939
Great Depression & New Deal
The decade the federal government became the thing it is.
1939–1945
World War II
The war that made America the world's central power and started the Cold War the same week it ended.
1945–1960
Cold War & Postwar America
The fifteen years America was richer, freer, and more anxious than anyone could remember.
1960–1968
The Sixties & Civil Rights
Eight years that broke the postwar consensus and remade American culture.
1968–1980
Vietnam & the Seventies
The decade that lost a war, drove out a president, and broke the postwar bargain.
1980–1992
The Reagan Era
The conservative turn that defined American politics for forty years.
1992–2001
The Nineties
The decade between the Soviet collapse and 9/11 — peace, prosperity, and the internet showed up.
2001–2020
9/11 & War on Terror
The two decades the country spent fighting wars it can't quite explain.
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