Curated Guides > Thematic Series > Seeing America

Seeing America

Created with more than 30 leading museums and cultural organizations, this series examines the long history of the United States from before European settlers to the modern era.

Thematic Series created by Smarthistory 07/15/24

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Constitution of the United States, 1787 (National Archives, Washington, D.C.)

Learn about Clovis culture, the beginnings of agriculture, large urban centers, and the arrival of Europeans.

Gorget, c. 1250–1350 (probably Middle Mississippian Tradition), whelk shell, 10 x 2 cm (National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)

Migration within North America and competition over resources, boundaries, and trade intensified conflicts among peoples and nations.

Covered sugar bowl, c. 1745, silver, 11.5 x 9.1 cm (Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art)

The American Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, and the birth of the two-party system — this is a pivotal period in American history.

Allan Ramsay and studio, <em>King George III in Coronation Robes</em>, c.1765, oil on canvas, 236.2 x 158.7 cm (Art Gallery of South Australia)

Allan Ramsay and studio, King George III in Coronation Robes, c.1765, oil on canvas, 236.2 x 158.7 cm (Art Gallery of South Australia)

The new republic struggled to define and extend democratic ideals in the face of rapid economic, territorial, and demographic changes.

Albro Lyons, Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyons (detail of Mary Joseph Lyons), c. 1860, ambrotype (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library)

The United States extended its territories, fought a civil war, and violently persecuted African and Native Americans.

Andrew J. Russell, Joining of the rails at Promontory Point, May 10, 1869

A period of technological progress, growing wealth, and social activism, the Gilded Age was also an era of widespread inequality and injustice.

Detail, Henry Ossawa Tanner, <em>The Banjo Lesson</em>, 1893, oil on canvas, 49 × 35.5 inches / 124.5 × 90.2 cm (Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA)

Detail, Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, 1893, oil on canvas, 49 × 35.5 inches / 124.5 × 90.2 cm (Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA)

Technological advances, large-scale production methods, and the opening of new markets encouraged the rise of industrial capitalism in the United States.

Jacob Lawrence, <em>The Migration Series</em>, 1940–41, 60 panels, tempera on hardboard (even numbers at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, odd numbers at the Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.)

Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series, 1940–41, 60 panels, tempera on hardboard (even numbers at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, odd numbers at the Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.)

The era of Disneyland and the Moon landing was also a time of war, social activism, and the making of the American Dream.

Anti-war protestors, 1967 (Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum)

Revolutionary technologies hasten a new era of interconnectivity, mass culture, and globalization, while new wars and concerns about the climate, the environment, and rights to privacy emerge.

MTV's moonman, first broadcast 1981

Seeing America

Themes

Before 1607

1607–1754

1754–1800

1800–48

1848–77

1877–98

1898–1945

1945–80

1980–now