President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Fords Theatre in Washington D.C. on April 14, 1865just five days after the end of the American Civil War when Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, VA. President Lincoln died the following morning at 7:22 AM on April 15th. A recently discovered memo indicates that Lincolns last dying wish was to understand the ideas, events and policies that would shape the development of the United States in the century ahead. Your assignment is to fulfill Lincolns last request by drafting a report that identifies and analyzes what you regard as the most significant social, political, and economic changes and continuities in U.S. history between 1865 and 1945.

Your response should be specific and supported by precise evidence/examples drawn from course sources that demonstrate when, how and why changes took place and continuities persisted according. Your response should include examples/evidence of both change and continuity. It should address three of the following categories of analysis:

o The role of government in American life
o Civil rights (legal rights that protect individuals from discrimination)
o Civil liberties (legal rights guaranteed by the Constitution to protect against abuses of power by government)
o Income inequality /distribution of wealth
o Foreign policy/ the role of the United States in international affairs