How did globalization, technology, and demographic change transform the United States economy and society after 1980?
Topics 9.4 and 9.5 A Changing Economy, Migration, and Settlement: the forces of globalization, the digital revolution, and the new immigration that reshaped the United States since 1980.
A focused answer to AP US History Topics 9.4 and 9.5, covering a changing economy and globalization: the shift from manufacturing to services and technology, the digital revolution, free trade and globalization, growing inequality, and the new immigration from Latin America and Asia and its political debates.
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What this topic is asking
Topics 9.4 and 9.5 ask you to explain the changing economy and migration of the contemporary era: the shift from manufacturing to services and technology, the digital revolution, the forces of globalization and free trade, the resulting inequality, and the new immigration from Latin America and Asia and the debates it has provoked. The exam wants how these forces reshaped the economy and society since 1980.
The shift in the economy
Globalization and free trade
The digital revolution
A second great force was the digital revolution. The spread of personal computers, the internet from the 1990s, and later smartphones transformed how Americans worked, shopped, communicated, and entertained themselves. New technology companies created vast industries and fortunes, made information instantly available, and reshaped the economy around data and connectivity. Like globalization, the digital revolution brought enormous benefits but also disruption, displacing some workers and industries while raising new concerns about privacy and the concentration of corporate power.
The new immigration
Worked example: arguing globalization transformed the economy
Try this
Q1. Name the 1994 free-trade agreement linking the United States, Canada, and Mexico. [Recall]
- Cue. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Q2. Explain why globalization produced both prosperity and a political backlash. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Globalization brought cheaper goods, new markets, and economic growth, benefiting consumers and many businesses, but it also moved manufacturing jobs overseas and contributed to rising inequality, hurting industrial workers and communities; this uneven distribution of gains and losses fueled a political backlash against free trade by the twenty-first century.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP USH (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE way the United States economy changed after 1980. Briefly explain ONE effect of globalization on American workers. Briefly explain ONE feature of recent immigration to the United States.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per bullet.
A. Describe: the economy shifted from manufacturing toward services, finance, and technology, transformed by computers and the internet.
B. Effect: globalization and free trade brought cheaper goods but also moved manufacturing jobs overseas, hurting many industrial workers.
C. Immigration: recent immigration has come largely from Latin America and Asia, making the population more diverse and fueling debate over policy.
Markers want a real economic change, a concrete effect of globalization, and an accurate feature of recent immigration.
AP USH (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which globalization transformed the United States economy in the period 1980 to the present.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point rubric.
Thesis (1): "Globalization profoundly transformed the economy, integrating it into world markets and accelerating the shift to services and technology, though it also moved manufacturing overseas and widened inequality, fueling a political backlash."
Contextualization (1): the decline of American manufacturing and the rise of new technology after the postwar boom.
Evidence (2): free-trade agreements such as NAFTA and the digital revolution; the loss of manufacturing jobs and rising inequality.
Analysis (2): explain HOW globalization reshaped the economy, then add complexity by weighing its costs and the backlash it provoked.
Related dot points
- Topic 9.1 Contextualizing Period 9: the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, globalization, and the technological and demographic changes that have shaped the United States since 1980.
Sets the scene for AP US History Period 9, covering the rise of conservatism under Reagan, the end of the Cold War, globalization and a changing economy, the digital revolution, demographic change, and how to write contextualization for a DBQ or LEQ on the contemporary era.
- Topic 9.2 Reagan and Conservatism: the rise of the New Right, the policies of the Reagan administration, and the conservative reshaping of American politics.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.2, covering Reagan and conservatism: the roots of the conservative resurgence and the New Right, Reaganomics and supply-side economics, deregulation and the military buildup, the role of the religious right, and the limits and legacy of the conservative movement.
- Topic 9.6 Challenges of the 21st Century: the post-Cold War world, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis, and growing political polarization.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.6, covering the challenges of the new century: the post-Cold War world and the Persian Gulf War, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2008 financial crisis, the election of Barack Obama, and rising political polarization.
- Topic 9.3 The End of the Cold War: the renewed Cold War of the 1980s, the role of Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of communism in Europe, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.3, covering the end of the Cold War: the renewed superpower tensions of the early 1980s, the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the debate over why the Cold War ended.
- Topic 9.7 Causation in Period 9: using the historical reasoning skill of causation to analyze the developments of the contemporary era.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.7, teaching the historical reasoning skill of causation through Period 9: explaining the causes of the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, and the transformations of globalization and technology, and how to frame a causation essay for the DBQ or LEQ.
Sources & how we know this
- AP United States History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)