10 Most Interesting U.S. History Topics For Your Term Paper
Writing a term paper for your U.S History class can be a pretty difficult task if you don’t have a clue about what you want to write about. Before you start any of your planning, research or writing, you want to choose a term paper topic that gets you as excited as you want your reader to be.
We’ve come up with a list of the 10 most interesting U.S. History topics for your term paper. We hope these will inspire you to write something great!
- Dropping the Atomic Bomb
- FDR and the New Deal
- Hurricane Katrina
- Prohibition
- Ronald Reagan’s “War on Drugs”
- The Civil Rights Movement
- The Attacks on September 11, 2001
- The Creation of the Bill of Rights and US Constitution
- The Great Depression
- The American Civil War
– On August 6 and 9, 1945, the U.S. became the first and only country to use nuclear weapons in war. Was the use of the atomic bomb necessary or was it a justified pre-emptive strike?
– Between 1933 and 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduces a series of domestic programs to counter the Great Depression. Was the New Deal a success or failure?
– In 2005, this Atlantic tropical cyclone was costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Despite lessons learned from past floods, what reasons did the U.S. government have to curb development in flood plains and marshlands before Katrina?
– From 1920 to 1933, the 18th Amendment prohibited all manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol. Why did amendment’s intended goal of reducing the consumption of alcohol in the U.S. fail?
– In 1986, President Reagan signed a bill that set-aside $1.7 billion to fund the “War on Drugs” following concerns about the increasing crack epidemic. Is the U.S. making progress on the War on Drugs, or has it failed?
– Between the mid-1950s and late 1960s, there was a series of social movements throughout the U.S., and particularly in the South, whose main goal was to end racial discrimination and segregation against black Americans. In what ways did goals change between the beginning and end of the Civil Rights Movement?
– A series of terrorist attacks, using four hijacked passenger airlines, occurred upon the U.S. in New York City and Washington, D.C. What effects did the 9/11 attacks have on high school seniors considering enlisting in the military?
– The Bill of Rights refers to the first 10 amendments to accompany the U.S. Constitution, a document laying the foundation for self-government. Are the powers of the federal government, as framed in the Constitution, adequately limited?
– Between the late 1920s and mid-1940s the world suffered a severe economic depression after a fall in the stock prices originating in the U.S. set off a chain reaction affecting many countries. Did the economic prosperity of the 1920s disguise more serious economic problems in the U.S?
– Between 1861 and 1865, a war between the Northern and Southern states in the U.S. was fought after Southern state seceded from the Union over the fractious issue of slavery. With the issue of slavery so rooted in their differing economic and social ideologies, was the Civil War inevitable?
Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list. But it does make for a good starting point, and the questions are designed to help you get your creative juices flowing. Now it’s time to choose a topic and start your research!