What is your favorite era in American history?

[UrbScotty]

I'm particularly interested in the early days of America: the Revolution, the origins of government, and how events of that time relate to today.

I'm also interested in the early 20th Century and the 1950's and 1960's - the Presidencies of FDR's distant cousin, John Eisenhower's father, and Ted Kennedy's brother.

[RoyGBiv]

1. Favorite isn't the right word ...

I find the post-CW era up to WWI particularly fascinating.

I think it was a dispicable time in US history that is in danger of being repeated, only worse, in the near future. So, it's not my favorite time, but I do think there are some very important lessons, and dire warnings, to be had by studying this era.

[strategery blunder]

2. I can't decide between the Great Depression and the Cold War

[Piperay]

3. Hmmmmm, I guess around the turn of the last century

WWI and the time between uptil and including WWII. I'm not so much interested in the wars themselves as the social history and movements.

[American Tragedy]

4. 1914-1974; but particularly presidencies of Ike, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon

Unfortunately I didn't live during any of the years in which I am currently specializing, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage! I think one often finds his or her own period of history far less interesting than the past.

[WoodrowFan]

5. 1890-1920 (NT)

[Lithos]

31. We overlap quite a bit

I rather like this period as well... Extremely interesting and lacks much of the sensationalistic pulp written about other periods.

L-

[WoodrowFan]

49. I'd love to visit that period

wouldn't LIVE in that period on a bet, but it'd be great to go visit, maybe see the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, see some lost silent films, etc.

[ashling]

74. You need to read "The Devil in the White City"

before you go to Chicago for the Fair.
:rofl:

Great book

[NYC Liberal]

58. About the same here.

From around Reconstruction to about 1910.

[DemFromMem]

70. me too

I've always been fascinated by the great migration (given that this is when my family came to America from eastern Europe).

[Tangledog]

6. I gravitate toward the early days

I'm a New Englander (a Nutmegger, to be precise) and one of my recent quests is to find vestiges of that early Puritan-pioneer culture in today's vastly different New England states: how we got from there to here. I'm not there yet, but it's an interesting byway.

[politicat]

7. 1900-1939

So much change... women got the vote, unions really came into their own, we finally got some consumer protections, we lost corsets.... The Depression was horrible, but it's fascinating from a historical POV and we learned a lot about real world economics... (Like Adam Smith was smoking pigweed...)

Even with a world war, we were so on the right track.

Pcat

[HarrietBrown]

8. I work mostly in the Revolutionary period, but love any period really.

I like studying a period from different angles, getting to know the players, their words, and how ideas and personalities interconnected. I like focusing on one event, for example, and unraveling it.

ie, I recently had an opportunity to really explore the Emancipation Proclamation. It lead me to Douglass's speech at the start of the war about how the Union could not win without African American forces, and to a frank and fascinating exchange between Lincoln and a group of African American men about colonization. These documents added rich dimensions to the proclamation and drew out nuances in Lincoln's wording that might other wise be skimmed over.

I like taking the nuggets, connecting them, and enabling people to learn about and start to understand things they hadn't known or thought about before. I particularly like "unpacking" primaries, images, and objects to help people learn in new ways--while honing their critical thinking skills (which they will HOPEFULLY use when assessing candidates and the media in the NEXT election.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I tend to like 1930-1960 diplomatic history

but these days I have been reading the founding fathers and civil rights, as well as 1800

It seems we are relieving all of that with a vengeance, and maybe a dash of the civil war (in fact quite a dash of it)

[Mojambo]

10. Constitutional history. n/t

[JDPriestly]

11. My favorite period

Approximately 1750-1812. I'm not a historian, but I am interested in the history and interpretation of the Constitution.

I'm especially curious about the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment and English Common Law on the "Founding Fathers." Justice Scalia and his ilk seem to focus primarily on the influence of Common Law in interpreting the Constitution. In part, they are, no doubt, right. However, I strongly believe that the writers of the Constitution (including the Bill of Rights) consciously tried to exceed the limits of Common Law and incorporated many free-thinking concepts into the Constitution drawn from sources such as Enlightenment literature, the Free Mason movement to which many of them belonged and other revolutionary ideologies.

It has been a long time, but I studied French Enlightenment literature, and I still love it. I can't claim to be an expert, but I am familiar with the basics. I also love to read bits and pieces of Thomas Jefferson's writings, especially his correspondence with John Adams. I don't know much about Free Masonry at the relevant time. I believe based on reading the letters between Adams and Jefferson that the most influential of the "Founding Fathers" were progressive thinkers excited by new scientific discoveries, liberal theology and revolutionary social theories. I think they would have resoundingly rejected the ideas of today's religious right.

I tend to also browse in Abraham Lincoln's speeches and writings. I just read these things for inspiration. I'm no expert. I hope to learn a lot from this forum group.

[othermeans]

28. I had a World History class where the professor said there is a school of

historical thought that says that the Enlightment didn't end until the end of the First World War.

[JDPriestly]

12. Sorry. Dup.

[rockymountaindem]

13. The bad old days of FDR's time...

when things looked bleakest with depression and war, our country did not fragment, turn on itself, or sell out it's principals for promises of instant gratification. We pulled together and got the job of recovery and victory done. *That* is what makes me proud to be an American.

[othermeans]

27. Me too! The era of the Great Depression looked what it created.

The WPA, Steinbeck, the strong labor movement, man it was a time.

[Reverend_Smitty]

14. I enjoy learning about...

the Revolutionary War era and the 1960's. What can I say, I enjoy turmoil.

[Kire]

16. me too, exactly

Revolutionary War and the 1960's (especially MLK, Jr.)

[Reverend_Smitty]

18. You can guess who my favorite 60's figures were...

by my sig line alone :)

[cruadin]

15. My short answer to that question is the Civil War,

but only because I believe that it is the fulcrum of all of American History. Somebody (I wish I could remember who) once said that, "everything in American history that happened before the Civil War was, in one way or another, a cause of it, and everything that has happened since is, in one way or another, a result of it."
I'm not sure that proposition is entirely true, but a very strong case can be made in its defense.

[Cybergata]

17. My favorite Era in U.S. History...hum...

how could I ever come up with one favorite era, especially since they are all linked together! You might as well ask me who is my favorite guitarist, color, or movie.

I must admit that during the 1980s I read everything I could get my hands on that deal with the 1960s. There were people, events & happenings that had to do with change, and they influenced the life of this child of the 60s.

I also teach 8th grade history, and the more I teach about the Revolutionary War and the beginnings of the U.S. government, the more I learn about and love that period. Some of those Revolutionists would be in jail today for terrorism. Anyway, who can not love (except the Republicans) draft protests where boats are burned in the governors front yard. We sure can't get close to Bush to show him how we feel about a possible draft today. Then there are those wonderful, smart 13 year old minds that see parallels between our struggle in the 1770s with the struggles of other countries today.

My father told me about his life during the 30s and 40s, so I find this period of time fascinating. The Great Depression and WWII played a dominate role in the lives of people from my father's generation. Their life was more about survival....well except for the very rich who holed themselves up behind hired thugs to keep the ever increasing poor from their sight.

For me, knowing so much about the depression made me really nervous during the Reagan years, and even more so under Bush. All my history professors seem so cynical, and now that I'm older, I understand why. How would Bush respond to a modern Bonus March? I suspect he'd react much like Hoover did so the question is will the present day army turning on the veterans be televised?

My mother got me interested in the 1920. She was a kid during the 1920s, and I think she always was sad she wasn't an adult woman during the 1920s.

I also teach New Mexican history, and the 1920s were exciting times in New Mexico. Suddenly all these amazing artists and writers came to Santa Fe and Taos. I grew up in Santa Fe and these artists and writers were an inspiration to me.

The funny thing is that during the 60s people thought they were so revolutionary only because they didn't know about the 1920s. Where did they think the idea of "free sex" and rejecting the status quo came from?;-)

I'm not fond of the 50s, but not because I am not fascinated with them. I'm not fond of the society and the government of the 50s. To bad for us all that our present commander and thief hasn't studied what the narrow mindedness of the 50s caused. AND I wish someone would give him a lesson on what caused the Great Depression. Then follow this by a good old American Impeachment.

I must admit I simply love all History!

[TaleWgnDg]

64. Cybergata, I loved reading your post . . . for you, too, are a history

.
Cybergata, I loved reading your post . . . for you, too, are a history buff as am I. However, my added note may raise an eyebrow or two: are you aware that GWBush was a history major while at Yale? Yup. Note, too, that he graduated Yale w/ a low C average! I wonder . . . would Harvard Business School accept you or me for admission if we had a low C average and just scored crappy on the LSATs (rejected by TX School of Law)? I've often wondered, too, what his GMAT score was!

Yup, I love history too, almost as much as I love law. From my sig line you'll probably guess who my favorite colonial lawyer was and who my favorite American historical figure was too.

.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

19. The depression era.

I find the individual stories of hardship inspiring and extrememly interesting.
I love to how hardship the moved masses to action; on any level of life.
I also appreciate the art and graphics that were produced during that time.

[bleedingheart]

20. The early colonial period is fascinating to me..

I just finished reading American Jezebel about Anne Hutchinson. So many parallels that could be drawn to the current puritanical movement that we have going today.

[tishaLA]

39. Anne Hutchinson is the coolest

but I think the whole Antinomian controversy is widely misunderstood. I have read David Hall's documentary study of it too many times to count and I pickup Winthrop's diary every now and then to relive his somewhat amiable tyranny.

[deadparrot]

21. I love the period leading up to the American Revolution.

1776 has been my favorite musical since...forever.

I own the History Channel's "Founding Fathers" and "Founding Brothers."

I don't know why, I just love it.

I'm also enjoying reading about the 1960's: Civil Rights, the Kennedy's, Viet Nam.

[leftofthedial]

22. older history

colonial and shortly post-Revolution

and the 1840's through the Civil War

[DemBones DemBones]

23. I'm interested in the side alleys of history,

what ordinary people were doing when Washington was crossing the Delaware or Sherman was marching through Georgia. I don't mean by that that I'm only interested in American's lives during wartimes, though of course those are dramatic times in our history. I'm interested in learning how people coped with changes they faced throughout our history and how we all became who we are today.

I've also always had a great interest in the original American people and their history.

[NoPasaran]

33. Have you read any of David Hackett Fischer's books?

I think he does an excellent job of explaining the context in which things like Paul Revere's ride or Washington crossing the Delaware took place.

[doni_georgia]

24. Colonial History through the Constitutional Convention

I also love studying the Depression through WWII

[Zynx]

25. 1932-1968

That's an incredibly interesting time.

[auburngrad82]

26. Definitely Revolutionary/Colonial period

I love Williamsburg, Va. When I win the lottery I'm going to move there. There's a lot of great places in VA related to the colonial and revolutionary periods. Montecello (home of T Jefferson), Mount Vernon (G Washington), Ash Lawn (James Monroe), and Montpelier (James Madison. I've been to all of these. Montecello and Montpelier are really the two places that stoked my interest in American History.

[One_Life_To_Give]

29. WW2

I am a Naval History buff. Although I also enjoy the 17th century as well.

[JohnLocke]

30. Early 1800s military history (especially the War of 1812).

[sandnsea]

32. pre-revolution

The contribution settlers made to regions of the country before the Revolution. I've only done some study of the French along the Mississippi, would like to do more on the Gulf States and the influence of the Spanish. The country didn't really develop from New England out. There were Europeans in the wilderness before the settlers went there.

[proud patriot]

34. My main era of study has been the 50s thru the 90s

However every era has been very interesting and
has it's lessons .

[VIVIsectVI]

35. I like some of the pre british-colonial history.

I have an big interest in New Sweden established in the Delaware region in the mid 1600's.

[orpupilofnature57]

36. 1757 through the American revolution,the first one. eom

[Lizzie Borden]

37. The philosophies that were the backdrop for the Constitution

the Civil War,and the 60's which I was lucky enough to live through. you almost had to be alive then to get a sense of the turbulence.

[David Zephyr]

38. Like WoodrowFan, Lately I've Been Captivated by the Years 1890-1920

But I am hopelessly an American history nut and like all periods.

[Rhiannon12866]

40. I find the days leading up to the Civil War fascinating

There was a lot of intrigue. I'm also interested in the early days of our country. Our founding fathers were obviously brilliant and prescient men.

[coloradodem2005]

41. The Civil War was always kind of interesting to me.

When I was in Boy Scouts, we did some campouts that involved Civil War re-enactments. I also went and saw Ft. Sumter one time when I was in South Carolina. It was awesome.

[Rochambeau]

42. As a French I'm very interested in the early years of the Révolution

since some French were involved. I don't speak about the official french intervention but about the french volunteers who tried to help. They are unfortunately not known enough, either in France or in USA. Everybody is talking about Yorktown but to me it's not the most interesting and finaly the most decisive part of the french involvement and far from it.

Here's an interesting link providing informations about the most famous of them. http://xenophongroup.com/mcjoynt/volunt.htm

I'm also very interested in the pre-civil war period, during the political, moral fight against Slavery. Today it's obvious, slavery is Barbary and so on but at the time, the faith and the strength of the men alongside A.Lincoln was really incredible. Their every day combat is a great piece of american history to me and a model to all of us and to read Lincoln political prose even translated in French is an always renewed enlightenment.

To finish with, as a French again I'm interested in the political legacy of Theodore Roosevelt since he's the president of the upcoming of the USA on the international theater. But many other things he did are very interesting too (preservation of nature, involvement in the workers difficulties etc....).
To be honest I thought for a long time he was a Democrat (and same with Abe)....
If those men could see what the Republican Party has become.....

[orpupilofnature57]

44. PROUD TO BE FRENCH-CANADIAN thank you for pro-French info

Shrubies eat my french fry!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

43. Civil War and Colonial times

especially in New England. I've done genealogical research for over a quarter century and find the interlocking of national/family history fascinating. One of my favorite trips was to follow the route my great great grandfather took while commesary sergeant for the 13th Illinois Cavalry during the Civil War. Some day I hope to visit Salem MA and Plymouth to see where my ancestors lived in the 1600s.

[troubleinwinter]

45. The West: Gold Rush, Westward expansion, pioneers, Native Americans

[Menshevik]

46. Definitely the Civil War

I've been fascinated with it ever since I was a little kid (my parents probably thought I was crazy)...finally had the chance to visit Gettysburg when I was in high school and loved it.

I'm also really interested in the Cold War era, though...

Kinda off topic, but if anyoen is interested in worlod history, I'm trying to start a DU World History group in this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2080112

We just need a few more starred members to join up :)

[Yupster]

60. Agree the Civil War

and agree that Gettysburg was so very interesting.

It's hard to think along with General Lee and try to figure out what he was thinking. The campaign had been so brilliantly managed, and then he so badly mismanged that battle. It's hard to understand what he was thinking.

[malmapus]

66. Civil War here too

Funny you mention Lee and Gettysburg, I always felt for Longstreet. Seeing how things were going to play out and trying to convey them to a man who thought he could do no wrong.

[hasbro]

47. Anythig around the Great War

I'm also into the 70's for some reason.

[Historic NY]

48. Revolutionary War period.

I personally own an extensive library that revolves around the 18th century. Over the years I've assisted in several projects either on film or PBS pertaining to the Revolution. My second job is a challenge as it covers a wide range of history, from community to national government. Sometimes I actually get the opportunity to actually get some articles published. Mostly I like researching, it is a challenge but rewarding to find out something you never knew.

[Rhiannon12866]

50. Wow! I guess so and I love your avatar. It reflects your interest.

I have lived in Saratoga and Ticonderoga, so couldn't help taking an interest in this period of our history.:-)

[orpupilofnature57]

54. I live in BALLSTON SPA,We had our share of battles and Washington

slept here, we're also mentioned in "Last of the Mohican's"

[Historic NY]

55. Know your area well.........including the Saratoga Battlefield.....

Schuylers house etc.

[Rhiannon12866]

56. This is really interesting to me, since I live here

And my great-grandparents, apparently, owned a farm, located on the Battlefield. Not at the time, LOL, but it was purchased by NY State, since a part of the building was Revolutionary War vintage. And my great-grandfather was a good negotiator, trading this for a larger home, with more land, and had the road named after him. Unfortunately, my crazy relatives keep stealing the street signs.:eyes:

[Lefty48197]

51. 17th century

A family member found a genealogy connection to colonial New Hampshire, and I've been hooked on the history of the region ever since.

[DebJ]

52. Revolutionary War Period. Especially now...seems to me

this country needs to redebate some of the issues from the Constitutional Convention. And realize that the Articles of Confederation and the southern Confederacy were failures for a reason: BLATANT SELF-INTEREST versus BEST INTERESTS OF THE MAJORITY
just doesn't work. Adam Smith is a crock in today's greedy society.

[Rhiannon12866]

53. This works for me, as well

Those who wrote our Constitution were brilliant, since it takes into account events that they couldn't have possibly dreamed of, more than two centuries later, but it's been, repeatedly, trampled, just now, by those who are attempting to craft government for their own means. We need to return to our roots, which are solid, and have worked so well for all these years. And I'm a liberal, but I really believe this.:shrug:

[suigeneris]

63. Constitutional period, from twenty years before to twenty

years after. This period is so formative for the nation and the old arguments are so misunderstood and are still being debated, that I find it both the explanation for today's disputes and the antidote.

Plus, I hate conservatives claiming the Constitution for their side. The more I study it the more I see it - in toto - as a blueprint for today's liberalism.

[Shredr]

57. I go through phases

RIght now I'm obsessed with TR (hence the avatar). Late 19th/ Early 20th Century.

Also fascinated right now by 1676, Bacon's Rebellion.

[lapopessa]

59. 1870-1930

Reconstruction to the stock market crash is my particular favorite. I am drawn to so many things - the labor movement, Reconstruction and backlash, progressive movement, advances in science, invention and transportation, fight for women's rights, the Harlem Renaissance, World War I, there's just so much drama, exciting personalities. In my book it's hands down the most fascinating time of American history.

[Rhiannon12866]

62. I go through phases, as well. Depends on what I'm reading.

I got really interested in pre-Civil War days, because of a really good historical mystery series I was reading, but I now know that Jimmy Carter has written a novel about the American Revolution, which I did not realize took place in the South, since I live close to Saratoga Springs, NY, which we're always told was the "turning point" of the Revolution. But President Carter's book sounds fascinating.:shrug:

[redirish28]

61. 1756-1814

[TaleWgnDg]

65. Hhhmmmm. What is my favorite era in American history?

.
Hhhmmmm. What is my favorite era in American history?

1.) For those I witnessed myself, first-hand, I'd have to say the civil rights era beginning in the 1950s and into the 1960s, anti-war movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the rise of the second feminist movement in the late 1960s into the 1970s, the recognition of homosexuals as human beings with morals and rights in the late 1960s to today. And, overall, during that time in American history, a feeling of bonding with one's fellow (sisterly?) mankind, something that's dreadfully missing in the aftermath of Reagan's neo-conservatism to today.

2.) Other than that? Hhhmmmmm, I'd have to say the historical timeframe of transition from Britain to the colonies, e.g., the causes, the effects, and the everyday life.

3.) Then, of course, there's the rest of the colonial era u/ the monarchy.

4.) And, the subsequent aftermath until today . . . geez, I just love all of American history! We are "history" every day.

.

[Sequoia]

67. Revolutionary Days and the GAY 90s.

Homer: You stole our word.

[NJ Democrats]

68. Mine is FDR's presidency and WWII

1932-1945

[Popol Vuh]

69. My favorite era in American history?

The time when over 500 Nations thrived and respected the land. The time before Europeans came and took advantage of their hospitality, then committed genocide and robbed them of their land, their culture and even their language. The time before christianity came with its perverted ideas of "civilized". (sorry no offense intended).

Early American history is truly rich with great nations that marveled the first so-called European explorers. This is my favorite era of American History.

[Adsos Letter]

71. I would say that it is hard to say...

being a history freak myself :D I enjoy "Revolutionary and Republican America (ca. 1750-1815), and the Progressive Era.

[Sequoia]

72. Revolutionary War era

Mostly before. I have a little pic of Thomas Paine on my computer and this guy asked me about him. "Was he the president." Duh....then he proceeds to tell he how he hates American history. See, it's not the people over there who "hate our freedoms", it's the citizens who hate themselves. Worm.

Also the labor movement, and the Civil War. Actually I like all American history. Maybe the one I really like the best is the American Indians, the Plains Tribes and how they battled to keep their lifestlye. So sad. I'd take their religion 100 times over our Crusader type crap.

[ashling]

73. I'd have to narrow mine to between

1607 and 2008
:shrug:

It really depends on what I am reading or studying at the time. I think I am going to do my Masters Thesis on Populism in Texas and the Alliance movement, but then there is the New Deal ... and Colonial History keeps calling...