National Center for History in the Schools

Periodization for U.S. History
Approaching World History
Periodization for World History
Historical Understanding
Historical Thinking
Integrating Standards in Historical Understanding and Thinking

• Ensuring Equity for All Students 
• Providing Adequate Instructional Time for History 
• Accomodating Variability in State and Local Curriculum Plans

Era 1: Three Worlds Meet (Beginnings to 1620)
Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
Era 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Era 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
Era 7 : The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
Era 8 : The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Era 9 : Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
Era 10 : Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

Era 1: The Beginnings of Human Society
Era 2: Early Civilizations & the Emergence of Pastoral Peoples, 4000-1000 BCE
Era 3: Classical Traditions, Major Religions, & Giant Empires, 1000 BCE-300 CE
Era 4: Expanding Zones of Exchange and Encounter, 300-1000 CE
Era 5: Intensified Hemispheric Interactions 1000-1500 CE
Era 6: The Emergence of the First Global Age, 1450-1770
Era 7: An Age of Revolutions, 1750-1914
Era 8: A Half-Century of Crisis and Achievement 1900-1945
Era 9: The 20th Century Since 1945: Promises and Paradoxes
Across Eras: World History Across Eras