20th Century American History: On-Demand Online Course

The first tutorial explores the notion of immigration, a concept at the heart of American identity as embodied by the Statue of Liberty.

The second looks at the period between 1920 and 1933 when it was illegal to sell alcohol in the United States, discussing the rise and motivations of the movement that fought for this bold act of legislation, the effect that Prohibition had on the social and cultural life of America, and the reasons behind the legislation’s eventual repeal. We will also discuss one of the unintended consequences of Prohibition: the rise of American gangster culture.

The Great Depression was one of America’s lowest points in the 20th Century – widespread poverty, homelessness, and despair blighted the nation. Tutorial 3 looks at the effects of the Great Depression and the measures that Franklin D. Roosevelt employed in an attempt to end it. Tutorial 4 moves on to the period of WWII and America’s involvement in this conflict, exploring in particular how women and African-Americans experienced the war and how the global conflict shaped post-war America.

The years following WWII saw huge changes in the American social and cultural landscape. Tutorial 5 discusses the armed stand-off between the US and USSR that embodied the post-war era, whilst tutorial 6 explores the great social upheavals of the 1960s, including the struggle for gay rights, women’s rights, and African-American civil rights. We will consider whether 20th-century America succeeded in achieving the promise of “liberty and justice for all.”

Tutorial 7 will discuss the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) in the wider context of the resurgence of American conservatism and the rise of the religious right. Tutorial 8 concludes the course by exploring how the world – with America at its heart – entered a new era with the fall of the Soviet Union, considering the varied reasons for which the 20th century has often been called ‘the American century’.