250+ American History Topics for Academic Writing

Would you have to submit a history research paper? If yes, then you can consider American history topics for writing your academic paper. Basically, American history is one of the most valuable histories in the world that has a wide scope of discussion, plenty of controversies, and amazing facts. So, without any hesitation, choose any US history event and prepare a detailed academic paper for your historical studies assignment by sharing your viewpoints on that specific event.

In case, you have no idea about what US history topic to choose for your academic writing, check this blog post. Here, we have presented some captivating American history topic ideas and also have shared some key tips on how to select a good American history topic for writing your research paper or thesis.

American History Academic Paper Topic Selection

Basically, to write a top-notch American history research paper or essay, a perfect topic is necessary. However, selecting interesting US history research topics is not an easy task to complete. As said earlier, American history is wide and packed with an abundance of information and events. Therefore, it is really challenging to identify a single topic out of them all.

If you need to pick a great American history topic for preparing your academic paper, then first, note down your answers to the following questions.

1. What time period excites you the most?
2. What historical event appeals to you in that time period?
3. What historical figure impresses you?

By finding the answers to the above-mentioned questions, you can narrow down your search and get a clear idea of what to choose.

Also, remember the following tips when choosing a topic for an American History paper:

• Pick a topic that piques your interest.
• Select a particular verifiable occasion or issue from your favorite time period in US History.
• Choose an idea that attracts your readers.
• Take a look at a historical subject that allows you to conduct in-depth research.
• Give importance to the US history topic that contains plenty of information for discussion.
• Pick an idea that contains numerous solid references and legitimate proof.

Besides all these tips, before you finalize your topic, check whether your selected topic satisfies your instructor’s academic paper writing guidelines. Remember, you can score an A+ grade, only if you select the right history topic for academic writing. Hence, during the academic paper writing process, stay alert and give high significance to the research paper topic selection step.

List of American History Topics and Ideas

Are you confused about what topic to choose for your history research paper? Cool! To make your topic selection process easier, here, we have organized the American history topics according to various time periods. Navigate the entire list structured below and pick any US history topic that is comfortable for you to write about.

American History Topics Before 1865

1. The history of African American culture.
2. Discuss the legacy of joint-stock companies.
3. How did the American Revolution influence society?
4. Explore the origin of Thanksgiving.
5. How did Americans justify their belief in Manifest Destiny?
6. How did Texas become a sovereign republic?
7. Discuss the consequences of the Royal Proclamation of 1783.
8. Describe the changes the American Revolution brought to the states.
9. What events led to the War of 1812?
10. What problems arose with the Missouri Compromise?
11. The Declaration of Independence and its Legacy.
12. Why was the right to bear arms included in the Bill of Rights?
13. What are the consequences of the Mexican-American war?
14. How did Washington, DC become the national capital?
15. How did the French Revolution affect America?

Also read: Amazing World History Topics to Consider For Academic Writing

Unique American History Topics

1. Discuss the emergence of the “Old American West.”
2. Why did the settlers import slaves?
3. Trace the Lewis and Clark expedition.
4. Investigate the origins of the two-party system.
5. How did the mass immigration of Germans and Irish people affect the US?
6. How did the relations between the settlers and Native Americans develop over time?
7. What was the Compromise of 1850?
8. Abigail Adams and the fight for women’s rights in the new republic.
9. How did the South and the North respectively argue for and against slavery?
10. The revival of religion in the US after achieving independence.
11. Critical analysis of the connection existed between the ideas of the Enlightenment and the protest movement in the Colonies against British imperial policy
12. What rights, claimed by the Declaration of Independence to be the inalienable rights of all men, were denied to those held in slavery, and how was that justified?
13. How did scandals such as Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, Alexander Hamilton and Maria Reynolds, Andrew Jackson, and Peggy Eaton impact the political environment of America?
14. Discuss the reasons that made the Federalists so successful in directing the formation of the U.S. government
15. Why were the members of government during the Antebellum period known as the “bungling generation” as related to the problem of slavery?

History Essay Topics on the Civil War

1. Compare and contrast the early English colonies of Jamestown, Massachusetts Bay, and Plymouth
2. Discuss the cooperation between early colonists and Native Americans between 1830 and 1865
3. Analyze the effects of European colonization of the North American continent
4. Describe the major accomplishments of Native Americans in America before 1865
5. Describe the reasons behind the Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
6. Analysis and interpretation of the Constitution of the United States developed in 1789
7. How trade played an important role in foreign policy decisions from 1789 to 1815
8. Describe Manifest Destiny
9. Discuss the economic results of the War of 1812
10. What are the political reasons for the Civil War?
11. Which of the innovations of Eli Whitney had a greater impact on American history, the cotton gin or interchangeable parts?
12. Describe the way the Federalist Papers, the Anti-federalists, and the compromise on the Bill of Rights impacted the ratification of the Constitution of the United States
13. Has there been a guiding architectural philosophy in the government buildings and monuments in Washington, D.C.? If so, what has it been?
14. Compare and contrast the personal qualities of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington which made them the two most valuable and powerful presidents of the United States
15. Describe the extent to the “early part of the 19th century marked by strong pressures to force Native Americans from their lands”

Civil War Research Topics

1. Was the Civil War unavoidable?
2. Foreign US policy during the 1860s.
3. Compare the economic situation of the South and North on the eve of the Civil War.
4. Discuss the general public’s position on the Civil War.
5. The impact of industrialization on the battlefield.
6. Analyze the contribution of Clara Barton in the War.
7. How did the Civil War affect the immigrants who entered the United States?
8. Describe the consequences of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
9. How did the Civil War impact the American social sphere?
10. Discuss European reactions to the American Civil War.
11. Investigate the events that led to the Union victory in 1864-65.
12. Discuss the societal effects of war photography.
13. Art and theater in 1860s America.
14. How did the Border States perceive the battles of the Civil War?
15. The importance of the US Navy in leading the Union to victory.

US History Topics on Industrialization

1. Newspaper coverage of the Civil War in the South versus the North.
2. Did the American Civil War impact the rest of the globe?
3. How did the war affect life in the South vs. the North?
4. How did the Native American religion influence the environment?
5. What is the probable cause for the Salem Witch Trials?
6. Why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
7. What were the key issues that caused conflict between North and South?
8. What were the causes of the New York draft Riots during the Civil War?
9. Describe the role played by women and African Americans in the Civil War
10. Evaluation of the Gettysburg Address and Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
11. Compare the phases of Reconstruction.
12. How did industrialization affect African Americans?
13. Explore the invention of electricity.
14. How did urbanization affect American life?
15. What was the primary goal of Reconstruction?

US History Topics on Reconstruction

1. Discuss the working of an assembly line.
2. The combined rise of populism and imperialism in the 1800s.
3. What was the Panic of 1873?
4. Discuss what consequences the Compromise of 1877 had.
5. The Effects of the Print Revolution on American Society.
6. Shifting gender roles in times of urbanization.
7. Discuss the change in the American landscape during industrialization.
8. The role of transportation during industrialization.
9. What caused the formation of Radical Republicans?
10. Discuss the significance of regional differences during industrialization.
11. The Role of Oil in Industrializing America.
12. The impact of sensationalism on the American public.
13. Examine the significance of the Slaughterhouse Cases.
14. The impact of labor unions on the American work environment.
15. Discuss the end of the Reconstruction Era.

20th-Century American History Topics

1. Discuss significant natural disasters in the course of US history
2. The Origins of a Nation 1300-1776
3. What were the reasons for the Eighteenth Amendment—Prohibition?
4. Despite the challenges, how did the Jamestown colony survive?
5. What were the goals of Reconstruction, how were they implemented, and why was it
   given up in 1877?
6. What caused the Great Depression?
7. How did the eugenics movement affect American society?
8. Consequences of the Spanish-American War.
9. The impact of the Cold War on the American economy.
10. The transformation of the American school system in the 1920s.
11. Analyze the role of John Dewey in advancing education.
12. Discuss the significance of the Berlin Airlift.
13. Compare McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials.
14. Discuss the main concepts of pop art.
15. The Origins of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

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 Captivating American History Research Topics

1. How did MTV revolutionize the music industry?
2. How did President Woodrow Wilson reform businesses?
3. Explore the funding of the UN.
4. Analyze the political consequences of the Watergate scandal.
5. How did the sexual revolution redefine American social life?
6. The development of Hippie culture in the 1960s.
7. What caused the US to slide into inflation in the 1970s?
8. Discuss American environmental reform policies from 1960 to 1980.
9. Explore the rise of American feminism in the late 20th century.
10. The aftermath of the Vietnam War.
11. American society and the impact of the American Civil War.
12. Analyze the aftershock of the Cold War.
13. American and Russian outcomes- Analyze the conquering of space.
14. The Declaration of Independence- United States.
15. How did the early Americans justify slavery?

Essay Topics about America in World War I and II

1. The impact of WWI on domestic American politics.
2. How did WWII affect the American economy?
3. How did American civilians contribute to World War?
4. Analyze the American army recruitment in WWII.
5. The Manhattan Project: Trace the making of the atomic bomb.
6. The role of women in the US military.
7. Discuss Joseph Heller’s depiction of World War II in the novel Catch-22.
8. The role of submarines in WWI.
9. How did the world war affect employment in the US?
10. Discuss the significance of D-Day.
11. The effects of National Socialism in America.
12. Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?
13. What happened to prisoner-of-war camps in the US after the fighting was over?
14. Was the dropping of the atomic bomb necessary?
15. Canadian-American relations during WWII.

History Topics about the Civil Rights Movement

1. What did the Civil Rights Act of 1957 change?
2. Consequences of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
3. Compare the effects of various marches for freedom.
4. Compare and contrast Gandhi’s methods and those of Martin Luther King Jr.
5. Examine the creation of the Kerner Commission.
6. What rights did black Americans gain through the Civil Rights Movement?
7. The importance of the church for the Civil Rights Movement.
8. How did the press support or hinder the Civil Rights Movement?
9. The role of students in advancing civil rights for African Americans.
10. Describe the goals and achievements of Operation Breadbasket.
11. Discuss the success of the Baton Rouge bus boycott.
12. How did John F. Kennedy’s death impact the Civil Rights Movement?
13. What made Martin Luther King Jr. a great leader of the movement?
14. Compare the modern Black Lives Matter movement with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
15. Is studying the Civil Rights Movement still relevant today?

US History Research Topics

1. During World War I, manliness, femininity, and body ideas/representation were all prevalent.
2. What is the relationship between World War 1 and World War 2?
3. World War 1 and Political World Domination
4. The outbreak of World War 1
5. World War 1: Nationalism and US Impact
6. The legacy of the Centralia massacre in 1919.
7. What did the US gain from the Iraq War?
8. Trace the history of LGBT rights.
9. Was the government’s response to 9/11 justified?
10. The history of prostitution laws in the US.
11. The Role of Faith in American History Before and After 1877.
12. HIV/AIDS in America in the 1990s.
13. Has technological innovation always been beneficial for the American public?
14. Psychiatric methods in early 1900s America.
15. Did American feminism become too radical by the late 19th century?

Black History Topics

1. Black Lives Matter Trap
2. #Me_Too Movement
3. ObamaCare: Best Intention, Worst Execution
4. Why does Racism Still Exist?
5. Is Class War Over in the USA?
6. What caused the Red Summer of 1919?
7. Key activists of the abolitionist movement.
8. How did sports help promote equality for African Americans in the 1900s?
9. How did the GI Bill affect African American veterans?
10. How did the Watts Riots affect African American communities in California?
11. How did white capping inhibit the development of black communities?
12. African American women in the beauty business.
13. Black Americans in education.
14. Why do we celebrate Black History Month?
15. Explore the origins of Kwanzaa.

Native American History Topics

1. What motivated many black Americans to fight in WWI voluntarily?
2. What were the goals of the Che Lumumba Club?
3. Explore the connection between black history in the US and cotton.
4. The Effect of New Deals on African Americans.
5. How did African Americans contribute to NASA’s success?
6. Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy
7. Discuss the history of Native Americans in law and politics.
8. Native American participation in American wars.
9. What happened at the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
10. Explore the naming customs of various Native American tribals.
11. What did the American-Indian Movement achieve?
12. Ancient Indian burial rituals and modern myths.
13. Native Americans and religion.
14. Analyze the life of Native Americans after the Proclamation of 1763.
15. The development of Native American music.

Unique History Topics on Native Americans

1. Analyze the economic development of Native American tribals in the 20th century.
2. America’s first native newspaper.
3. What events led to the breakout of King Philip’s War?
4. How did native spiritualism relate to the environment?
5. Traditional Cherokee farming tools and techniques.
6. Discuss the myths and speculations on the ancient origins of Indigenous Americans.
7. Will America Trigger WW3?
8. American-Iranian Tough Relations
9. Afghanistan War and the US
10. America before Columbus.
11. Puritans in Great Britain.
12. History of American Transcendentalism.
13. The impact of railroads in America.
14. Was the American Revolution really revolutionary?
15. The influence of European Colonization on the Native American population.

Also read: Best Art History Thesis Topics for Students updated

Interesting American History Topics

1. Describe the role of cotton in the American economy.
2. Social reforms during the Progressive Era.
3. What was discussed at the Constitutional Convention?
4. Japanese Americans Immigration in the 19th Century.
5. The History of the Fifth Amendment
6. Discuss the Presidential assassinations in the United States.
7. The rise of capitalism.
8. The history of the Statue of Liberty.
9. The War on Drugs in US History.
10. The history of gangs in the US.
11. Write about the Immigrants who do not have proper papers in the USA.
12. Women’s suffrage movement in America.
13. The history of the Fifth Amendment.
14. The Influence of Cold War on American Society.
15. Improvement in Immigrants in the US

Outstanding US History Topics

1. History of the American Constitution.
2. The Relationships between Federal and State Governments.
3. The Turning Points of the American Revolution.
4. Discuss the executive Orders and Presidential Power in the United States.
5. The Causes of the Vietnam War
6. The History of American Flag.
7. American Moon Landing.
8. African American Religion and Spirituality in the United States.
9. History of Sports in the United States.
10. Has Obama’s Presidency changed America?
11. The Significance of the Harlem Renaissance.
12. Slavery and racism in the United States.
13. What were the blood quantum laws?
14. Discuss the end of Liberalism.
15. What are the effects of Nixon’s administration?

Best American History Research Ideas

1. The impact of the National Labor Relations Board.
2. The Hams and Eggs movement.
3. The US census of 1930.
4. The recession of 1937-1938.
5. What are the consequences of the Hoover policy?
6. The impact of the stock market crash during the great depression era.
7. Explain the Pacific War.
8. Explain the Quasi-war with France.
9. The aftermath of the Battle of Chattanooga.
10. The Whiskey Rebellion.
11. The Jay treaty.
12. Describe the rise of political parties during the federal era.
13. The enactment of Black Codes.
14. Analyze the Quarantine Speech of 1937.
15. Explore the Battle of Chancellorsville.
16. Did the founders want the United States to follow international law?
17. Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution
18. Grass-Roots Constitutionalism: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Campaign for Woman Suffrage
19. James Madison and the Constitution of the United States: Is it a case of reluctant paternity? Justify your answer
20. Polygamy at the Supreme Court: Analyze the legal history of the case of Reynolds v. United States

Informative American History Topics for Essay Writing

1. Explain the role of the abolition movement in shaping American values.
2. Discuss the impact of the Great Awakening on American Religious Practices.
3. Analyze the impact of the Populist Movement on American Politics.
4. Discuss the implications of the Monroe Doctrine on American Foreign Policy.
5. Examine the impact of the GI Bill on Post-War America.
6. Discuss the role of New Deal Programs in America’s Economic Recovery.
7. Investigate the Rise of American Suburbia in the Post-WWII Era.
8. Explain the influence of the Watergate Scandal on American Politics.
9. Discuss the Rise and Fall of the American Temperance Movement.
10. Discuss the impact of the Dred Scott Case on African Americans’ Rights.

Latest American History Research Paper Topics

1. Write about the Lend-Lease Act of 1941.
2. Why did the Crittenden Compromise fail?
3. How did migration shape American society in the 1930s and ‘40s?
4. What was unique about the Higgins boats?
5. How do US historians influence public opinion?
6. What was the influence of the French Revolution on America?
7. Describe the modifications that the American Revolution made to the states.
8. Examine the impact of cotton on the economy of the South in the 1800s.
9. How did settlers’ and Native Americans’ interactions change throughout time?
10. The abolitionist movement was founded by whom and why?
11. How did Kansas come to be a site of conflict between those who supported and opposed slavery?
12. In the 18th century, what did the term “American” mean?
13. The Sons and Daughters of Liberty’s function in establishing unity.
14. Why did the Bill of Rights include the right to keep and bear arms?
15. the country’s very first head of state.
16. Explore African American history and its impact on the current relationships between Africa and America
17. Shutting the Gates on an Open World: The Very Modern History of Immigration Restriction
18. Explore the relationship between slavery, freedom, and the American Constitution
19. Civil Rights Activist: Fred W. Phelps Sr. and Race Relations in Topeka, 1964-1989
20. “Brown is a Black Cultural Product”: Describe the history and legacy of Brown v. Board

Wrapping Up

Out of the numerous American history topics suggested above, choose any topic of your preference and compose your academic paper. In case, you are still confused about what American History topic to choose for your academic writing or if you are unsure how to write an American History research paper, contact us immediately. On our platform, we have numerous talented academic writers to offer history research paper writing help for all American history research topics and dissertation ideas.

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