American History Research Paper Topics

Considering the wide range of topics at your disposal, you may often find yourself at crossroads on the best topics for a history research paper. Unfortunately, randomly picking topics to use in your assignments may result in struggles in the latter writing stages, risking a poor grade.

Ideally, much thought should be invested in your topic selection to ensure simple research and original insight on the subject matter. To score high grades, your topic should be relevant to the topic and take an original approach to the subject matter. 

Read on to discover ideas on some interesting American history topics for your paper. We hope that these ideas will guide you in selecting a great topic and help you narrow down complex ideas. 

Interesting US history topics to write about

Without further ado, here are some worthwhile topic suggestions to guide you in topic selection. 

American history research paper topics for college students 

1. What is the function of amendments in American constitutional change? 
2. What significant role did African Americans play in the revolution? 
3. Who and how did people make money during the Great Depression? 
4. What innovators contributed to the industrial revolution? 
5. How did segregation impact the US music business? 
6. Describe the modifications that the American Revolution made to the states
7. Why did the Bill of Rights contain the right to keep and bear arms? 
8. Describe the circumstances surrounding President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination

Good US history research topics 

9. What impact did the Civil War have on new immigrants to the country? 
10. Effects of the murder of Martin Luther King Jr
11. What were the main factors that led to strife between North and South? 
12. Describe the effects of the murder of Abraham Lincoln
13. Discuss how industrialization affected the American landscape
14. Compare and contrast the approaches of Martin Luther King Jr. And Gandhi
15. Change seen in the 1920s American educational system
16. The effects of the American Civil War on American society

Early American history topics 

17. The Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution
18. Was it necessary to nuke Nagasaki and Hiroshima? 
19. Roosevelt’s strategy to put an end to the Great Depression
20. Assassinations of presidents throughout American history
21. Arrangements Between the Federal and State Governments
22. Executive Orders and Presidential Authority in the US
23. Racism and slavery in the United States
24. What Impact Did Japan’s Use of nuclear weapons Have on US History?

Research paper topics American history before 1877 

25. How did America’s founding fathers influence its culture
26. How did the USA join World War One?
27. The Mexican War: Its Causes and Consequences
28. Explain Illinois’ hostility to Mormons. How Mormons Overcame Every Obstacle
29. Before Columbus, America: The first British settlements and British rule in the Americas
30. The impact of the Protestant Reformation on US history
31. The American Revolution’s pivotal event was the Boston Tea Party

History topics after 1877 

32. American growth following 1877
33. US foreign policy during the 1890s
34. Involvement of France in the American Revolution
35. Industrialization following the American Civil War
36. Social change in the Progressive Era
37. The US women’s suffrage movement’s origins and consequences
38. Why did America fight in and ultimately lose the Vietnam War?
39. The impact of the Cold War on American society

WWII topics for research paper 

40. What part did women play in the military during World War II? What steps did the federal government of the United States take to empower women?
41. What motivated America to join the Second World War? What would have happened if the United States hadn’t joined the conflict?
42. What consequences did World War II have in the long run?
43. Did African Americans enjoy the same rights as white people during WWII? What activities were restricted for African Americans throughout the conflict?
44. How did WWII affect Black Immigration?
45. What new technologies emerged during WWII? What new positions were created as a result of the war?
46. Should the United States have held off on unleashing the atomic bomb until they were sure they could win?
47. Why was the United States so undecided about joining the conflict? Did the attack on Pearl Harbor prompt the United States to join the conflict?

Other interesting topics in US history

48. African Americans’ Civil War Contribution
49. Is there still racial prejudice in American culture?
50. How did the US rise to become the largest industrial nation in the world?
51. How did the construction of railroads affect the Industrial Revolution?
52. Causes of and results from the Missouri Compromise
53. The Boston Tea Party’s defense
54. The causes of the eighteenth-century financial crisis
55. How Washington, DC, became the country’s capital