Eras in America

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I was reading a thread about when the modern era started, and that got me thinking: what are the eras in America?  I'd say something like this:

1492-1763: Colonial Era
1763-1825: Founding Era
1825-1877: Division and Restoration
1877-1901: Gilded Age
1901-1921: Progressive Era
1921-1933: Business Era
1933-1969: Age of Roosevelt
1969-2001: Transition
2001-Present: Modern Era

[Joe Republic]

10,000 BC - 1607 AD:  Red Man
1607 AD - 2009 AD:  White Man

2009 AD - Present:  Black Man

[JohnFKennedy]

2001-Present: Modern Era

Why is it that everyone always thinks that they live in the 'modern era'? How are you defining 'moderen' here? I'm assuming this periodization begins with 9/11 but what marks the years since then as being 'modern' while the years prior to that are not? Have we not yet reached the postmodern era?

[Tetro Kornbluth]

2001-Present: Modern Era

Why is it that everyone always thinks that they live in the 'modern era'? How are you defining 'moderen' here? I'm assuming this periodization begins with 9/11 but what marks the years since then as being 'modern' while the years prior to that are not? Have we not yet reached the postmodern era?

Because there is no confusingly applied term than the phrase "postmodern" and is associated with a somewhat silly yuppie pretentiousness... yet I don't disagree with the phrasing of it, for the post-1945 era (or post-1968 era especially).

[k-onmmunist]

1492-1776: Colonial Era
1776-1836: Nascent Era
1836-1865: Instable Era
1865-1917: Era of Growth
1917-1929: Boom Era
1929-1954: Depression Era
1954-1973: Second Boom Era
1973-1991: Era of Tension
1991-2001: Peace Era
2001-present: Modern

[JohnFKennedy]

2001-present: Modern

Same questions apply.

[k-onmmunist]

2001-present: Modern

Same questions apply.

Because its the era we're in.

[JohnFKennedy]

2001-present: Modern

Same questions apply.

Because its the era we're in.

What makes this era so much more modern than previous ones? Surely when the next era begins, this will no longer be the present era so it can no longer be the 'modern era'; in which case, what does it become?

Also, don't you think taking modern to mean the years since 2001 makes the whole canon of modernist art, literature etc slightly problematic?

[Psychic Octopus]

1492-1776: Colonial Era
1776-1829: Liberty's Birth
1829-1849: Age of Jackson
1849-1861: Age of Instabilty
1861-1877: Reconstruction Era
1877-1901: The Glided Age
1901-1921: Progressive Era
1921-1929: Prosperous Era
1929-1941: Age of Depression
1941-1953: Age of Warfare
1953-1991: Era of Tension
1991-        : Era of Dominance

[Stranger in a strange land]

1492-1776: Colonial Era
1776-1787: Revolutionary Era
1787-1836: [Can't think of a good name, insert something having to do with expansion]
1836-1861: Antebellum Period
1861-1877: Civil War and Reconstruction
1877-1929: Long Gilded Age
1929-1941: The Great Depression
1941-1945: World War II
1945-1991: The Cold War
1991-Present: the post-Cold War Era

Also, note that the Industrial Revolution covers the period from roughly 1815 to 1920.

[k-onmmunist]

2001-present: Modern

Same questions apply.

Because its the era we're in.

What makes this era so much more modern than previous ones? Surely when the next era begins, this will no longer be the present era so it can no longer be the 'modern era'; in which case, what does it become?

Also, don't you think taking modern to mean the years since 2001 makes the whole canon of modernist art, literature etc slightly problematic?

It can be assigned a new name in the future.

[Mint]

1492-1776: Colonial Era
1776-1787: Revolutionary Era
1787-1836: Manifest Destiny Era
1836-1861: Antebellum Period
1861-1877: Civil War and Reconstruction
1877-1929: Long Gilded Age
1929-1941: The Great Depression
1941-1945: World War II
1945-1963: Post War Era
1963-1991: The Frigid Era
1991-2001: Pax Americana Era
2001-2009: The Broken Years
2009-2021: The Repo Era

Last one is conjecture on my part.

[JohnFKennedy]

2001-present: Modern

Same questions apply.

Because its the era we're in.

What makes this era so much more modern than previous ones? Surely when the next era begins, this will no longer be the present era so it can no longer be the 'modern era'; in which case, what does it become?

Also, don't you think taking modern to mean the years since 2001 makes the whole canon of modernist art, literature etc slightly problematic?

It can be assigned a new name in the future.

Is that not somewhat farcical/confusing?

[Verily]

pre-1607: Pre-Colonial
1607-1689: Early Colonial
1689-1763: Late Colonial
1763-1787: Revolutionary War
1787-1803: Federalization
1803-1848: [First] Westward Expansion
1848-1865: Civil War
1865-1876: Reconstruction
1876-1900: Industrialization (also Gilded Age and Second Westward Expansion)
1900-1918: Progressive Era (could maybe combine with Industrialization if desired)
1918-1929: Roaring Twenties
1929-1939: Great Depression (could combine with Roaring Twenties if desired)
1939-1946: Second World War
1946-1991: Cold War (may be divided into the Early Cold War and Late Cold War by 1963 if desired)
1991-2003: Computerization (also International Dominance)
2003-Present (?): No good name since it's not clear whether the period beginning in 2003 has even ended or not. "The Decline" is probably too much in reference to the period preceding it and may not properly characterize the current period when analyzed in the future.

Note on Civil War and Revolutionary War: They include periods before the war started because those periods are essential to understanding the wars themselves. Since the other wars which give their names to eras on this chart were not of domestic origin, the lead-up to them is of much lesser significance in American history and therefore not included with them.

Second World War contains two years before the United States' entrance into the war and one year following its conclusion because the events of the war nonetheless dominated domestic and international affairs despite no American involvement in conflict (and no conflict at all in 1946).

[DownWithTheLeft]

1492-1607 Pre-Colonial
1607-1776 Colonial
1776-1787 Revolutionary
1787-1812 Experimentary
1812-1820 Establishment
1820-1860 Unstable
1860-1865 Civil War
1865-1876 Reconstruction
1876-1898 Industrial
1898-1918 Imperalist
1918-1928 Roaring Twenties
1928-1941 Great Depression
1941-1945 World War II
1945-1991 Cold War
1991-1993 No good name
1993-present War on Terror

[Lunar]

Was 1491 Pre-Pre-Colonial?

1492-1607 Pre-Colonial
1607-1776 Colonial
1776-1787 Revolutionary
1787-1812 Experimentary
1812-1820 Establishment
1820-1860 Unstable
1860-1865 Civil War
1865-1876 Reconstruction
1876-1898 Industrial
1898-1918 Imperalist
1918-1928 Roaring Twenties
1928-1941 Great Depression
1941-1945 World War II
1945-1991 Cold War
1991-1993 No good name
1993-present War on Terror

poor 1991-3.  Maybe you could title it "Stable First Gulf War Era"

[Beet]

The 'modern era' as a distinct cultural period was probably circa 1900- circa 1955, but historians count everything since 1500 as 'modern'

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The 'modern era' as a distinct cultural period was probably circa 1900- circa 1955, but historians count everything since 1500 as 'modern'

I'm sure that some do, but... lol...

[Tetro Kornbluth]

The 'modern era' as a distinct cultural period was probably circa 1900- circa 1955, but historians count everything since 1500 as 'modern'

..."Modern (or rather Modernist) era as cultural period is generally reckoned to be about 1914-1960 or so; of course that is for Europe not for North America.

As for the general term "modern era" historians increasingly find themselves dividing it up into "Early Modern" (c1450-1789), "Later Modern" (1789-1945) and "Postmodern" (1945-) as a somewhat general guide. Of course all periodizations are silly anyway.

[Scam of God]

I'm going to carry this with just the history of the United States in particular:

1781-1787: Era of Confederation
1788-1791: Constitutional Era
1792-1799: Presidential Era
1800-1819: Jeffersonian Era
1820-1843: Jacksonian Era
1844-1859: Era of Expansionism
1860-1877: Era of Strife
1878-1895: Populist Era
1896-1919: Era of Interventionism
1920-1931: Era of Isolation
1932-1967: New Deal Era
1968-1979: Era of Unrest
1980-?: Reaganist Era

Obvious there is some overlap in each era's descriptors, but these are as best I can manage.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

1492-1775 Colonial
1775-1789 Revolutionary
1789-1801 Federalist
1801-1825 Democratic Republican
1825-1861 Growing
1861-1877 Civil War and Reconstruction
1877-1897 Industrialism
1901-1921 Imperialism
1921-1933 Lazaire faire
1933-1969 New Deal & Great society
1969-1981 Inflation
1981-? Crazy right-wingers

[pbrower2a]

Neil Howe and the late William Strauss established a theory of history as a series of cycles encompassing culture, war, economics, fecundity, politics, institutions, human behavior, and childcare in a four-stroke pattern. Four sorts of time are possible in a roughly 80-year cycle:

an apocalyptic era of economic collapse and major wars, (Crisis Era)

then a comparatively placid time of rebuilding and rigid conformity (Outer-Directed Era or High)

then a time of challenges to political and religious institutions from the young (an Awakening)

then an anything-goes time of weak institutions and rampant greed (Inner-directed era or Unraveling).

For America, the Crisis Eras are associated with the Armada Crisis in Britain (which, had it gone differently, would have prevented any English settlements in North America during the 17th Century), the Glorious Revolution in Britain (which would determine whether England would have despotism or some modicum of freedom as a norm), The American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Great Depression/World War II. In such times, things seem to get extremely dangerous fast. People accept rapid changes of political norms, and mindless hedonism is cast under the  train of purposeful regimentation. Collectivism flourishes, and Enemies of the People are demonized. Such a time ends in a swift consolidation of reality.

It's a scary time in which to be a child, but children learn to trust powerful people older and wiser than themselves -- and they despise apocalyptic thought and persecutions of any kind.  Such children are known in Howe and Strauss' parlance as an Artist or Adaptive (A/A) generation.

We are likely entering such a time.

Outer-directed eras have society rebuilding the wreckage or establishing big projects... canals in the early 1800s, railroads and power lines in the 1870s and 1880s of the Gilded Age, expressways and mainframe computers in the 1940s and 1950s. Technology is a godsend -- a solution to seemingly every problem. Culture is unusually bland, and such controversies as exist are on alternative forms of collectivism. Society is friendly, optimistic, and collegial -- at least toward those who fit the norm. Jobs are easy to find at almost any level of skill, and rewards for work draw unusually close to the mean. Institutions increasingly operate on autopilot.  Dissidents and non-conformists pay a price: they are treated at best as freaks and pariahs. Young adults know well their subordinate roles but do well in economic life.

 It's a great time to be a child who is pampered and indulged in a safe time -- but the children eventually do their own thinking as they enter adulthood. Such a generation is known as an Idealist or Prophetic (I/P) generation.

Some of us will know such a time in around 2030 -- if we don't remember it from the 1950s.



Awakening eras are times of cultural ferment,  of challenges to religious and political dogma.  Young adults who never knew a truly dangerous time take chances with the fundamental assumptions of society. They find new music and art that violate the complacent values of their elders -- and favored drugs are opiates and hallucinogens. They challenge the hypocrisy of political leaders and begin to challenge that technology devoid of spirituality can answer all questions, and radical causes appear from seemingly nowhere. No matter what goes on, people seem to feel good about themselves irrespective of whether they have legitimate cause for feeling good about themselves.


It's a dreadful time in which to be a child: people involve themselves in anything but taking care of children. Children then born tend to become materialistic, hedonistic, cynical -- and politically conservative and become a Reactive or Nomad generation (R/N).

If one has a normal lifespan and missed the last such time between 1965 and 1980, there will be a chance to experience it around 2050.

The Awakening fades out as its detritus engulfs normal life, and an Inner-Directed Era (noteworthy because attention to the outer world is weak) or Unraveling.


 People grow out of their extended childhoods and the youth who fail to understand the cultural ferment have no use for more of the same. People want to make money fast and sacrifice great causes so that they can keep more of what they make. Tax revolts begin. Religion formalizes.  People seek bliss more through consumerism than through self-discovery. The drugs become stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines. Crime that began to flourish as radical causes attacked "pigs" is done for selfish reasons, including survival. People tolerate anything that purports to create wealth. Bureaucratic power trumps technology, and people adept at manipulating bureaucracies fare unusually well; others don't do so well. Inequality intensifies, debt expands, and libertarian ideologies peak in appeal. Speculative bubbles flourish -- and then burst. Mindless hedonism becomes the opiate of the people, and at the end of the age (at least in America) people seem to want and get weak leadership such as Pierce/Fillmore/Buchanan, Harding/Coolidge, or George W. Bush -- only to turn on it when it achieves more harm than good.

Children of the time cherish what they missed in such a time: social organization, widespread prosperity, and community as a norm -- and usually become a Civic or Hero generation (C/H).

That time in the end can be called "decadent" or "degenerate"... and it ends as economic collapse ensues and political change reflects a shift from libertinism to collectivism.

You just saw such a time, and you probably won't see something like it again, because you are unlikely to live into the 2070s if you are reading this post when it was written. If you think that the first decade of the 21st Century closely resembles the Roaring Twenties -- then you are right.


The generations are in place at the different eras as they go from childhood (until about 22) to rising adulthood (22 to 44) to midlife (44 to 66) to elderhood (66 to 88). As children they form; in rising adulthood they toil; in midlife they manage; in elderhood they either retire, die, or hold the apex of power.   

[Tetro Kornbluth]

^^^^

Cyclic theories of history should be banned.

[JohnFKennedy]

Inner-directed and outer-directed? Sounds a bit like somebody has bastardised David Riesman.

[pbrower2a]

Inner-directed and outer-directed? Sounds a bit like somebody has bastardised David Riesman.

It reads as if "inner-directed" could mean "outer-deficient" and "outer-directed" means "inner-deficient".