How did technology and globalization transform the American economy at the turn of the twenty-first century?
Analyze the economic and technological changes of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, including the shift to a service and information economy, the computer and internet revolution, globalization and free trade, and their effects on American workers (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 6: The Modern Age).
A LEAP-level answer on the modern American economy for the Louisiana US History test: the shift from manufacturing to a service and information economy, the computer and internet revolution, globalization and free-trade agreements such as NAFTA, the effects on workers, and the debate over free trade, with worked source questions.
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What this topic is asking
The late twentieth century transformed how Americans worked, shopped, and connected, through technology and an economy tied ever more tightly to the world. Standard 6 (The Modern Age) wants you to analyze the shift from manufacturing to a service and information economy, the computer and internet revolution, globalization and free trade, and their effects on workers. LEAP often uses an employment graph, a technology timeline, or a trade document as the source.
From factories to services
The most basic economic change was a shift in the kind of work Americans did.
Factories automated (replacing workers with machines) or moved production overseas to cut costs, so the old industrial jobs shrank. This "deindustrialization" hit manufacturing regions hard, even as new jobs grew in services and technology, often requiring different skills.
The technology revolution
Globalization and free trade
The American economy became ever more tightly tied to the rest of the world.
Globalization is the increasing interconnection of the world's economies and cultures through trade, investment, technology, and the movement of goods, people, and ideas across borders. It was driven by new technology (cheap communication and shipping) and by free-trade agreements that lowered barriers between countries. The most important for the United States was NAFTA (1994), which created a free-trade zone with Canada and Mexico, and the country also joined the global trading system through the World Trade Organization.
The effects on workers
LEAP rewards weighing both sides of globalization, a genuinely contested issue.
- Benefits. Globalization gave consumers lower prices and more choices, opened larger markets for American goods and services, and spread technology and investment.
- Costs. It also moved many manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages, contributing to factory closures, job losses, and economic decline in industrial communities.
The debate over whether free trade helps the nation (through cheaper goods and growth) or harms it (through lost jobs) became one of the defining political arguments of the modern age, and it remains unresolved.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of LDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
LA LEAP 2025 US History (style)1 marksA source shows a graph of American manufacturing jobs declining while service and technology jobs rise from the 1970s onward. This trend reflectsShow worked answer →
A single-select item assessing analysis of a data source (Standard 6; Standard 1 source analysis).
Correct answer: the shift from a manufacturing economy to a service and information economy.
As factories automated or moved overseas, employment shifted toward services, technology, and information work, a defining change of the modern American economy. Distractors such as "a return to farming" or "the growth of heavy industry" contradict the trend in the graph.
LA LEAP 2025 US History (style)2 marksPart A: What is globalization? Part B: Identify one benefit and one criticism of free-trade agreements such as NAFTA.Show worked answer →
A two-part evidence-based item (Standard 6; Standard 1 claims and evidence).
Part A (1 point): globalization is the increasing interconnection of the world's economies and cultures through trade, technology, investment, and the movement of goods, people, and ideas across borders.
Part B (1 point): a benefit is lower prices for consumers and access to larger markets and cheaper goods; a criticism is the loss of American manufacturing jobs as companies moved production to countries with lower wages. A distractor claiming free trade had no effect on jobs ignores the well-documented manufacturing decline.
Markers reward defining globalization in Part A and giving a genuine benefit and criticism in Part B.
Related dot points
- Analyze the conservative resurgence of the 1970s and 1980s, including the reaction against the Great Society, the rise of the New Right, and the policies of the Reagan administration (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 6: The Modern Age).
A LEAP-level answer on the conservative resurgence for the Louisiana US History test: the backlash against the Great Society and the 1960s, the economic troubles of the 1970s, the rise of the New Right, and Reagan's conservative policies of tax cuts, deregulation, and a military buildup, with worked source questions.
- Analyze the end of the Cold War, including renewed superpower tension and detente, Soviet reforms, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the emergence of the United States as the sole superpower (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 6: The Modern Age).
A LEAP-level answer on the end of the Cold War for the Louisiana US History test: detente and its breakdown, Reagan's pressure on the Soviet Union, Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the United States as the sole superpower, with worked source questions.
- Analyze the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the war on terror, including the response of the United States, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, homeland security, and the debate over security and civil liberties (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 6: The Modern Age).
A LEAP-level answer on September 11 and the war on terror for the Louisiana US History test: the 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda, the American response, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the creation of homeland security and the Patriot Act, and the debate between security and civil liberties, with worked source questions.
- Synthesize the major developments of the modern United States, including demographic change and immigration, contemporary political and social debates, the nation's role as a global power, and the enduring themes of American history (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 6: The Modern Age).
A LEAP-level synthesis of the modern United States for the Louisiana US History test: demographic change and the new immigration, contemporary political and social debates, the expansion of rights, the nation's role as a global power, and the enduring themes of American history, with worked source questions.
- Analyze the economic and social changes of the 1920s, including mass production and consumer culture, the automobile, new media, changing roles for women, and the uneven nature of the prosperity (Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies, US History Standard 4: Becoming a World Power through World War II).
A LEAP-level answer on the Roaring Twenties for the Louisiana US History test: mass production and consumer culture, the automobile and credit, radio and movies, the flapper and changing roles for women, and the uneven prosperity that left farmers and others behind, with worked source questions.
Sources & how we know this
- 2025-2026 Assessment Guide for US History (LEAP 2025) — Louisiana Department of Education (2025)
- K-12 Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies — Louisiana Department of Education (2022)