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Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls was the firs women's suffrage convention. This was heled in Seneca Falls, New York and over 300 women were in attendance along with 40 men. Over this two day convention, they passed 10 resolutions and wrote the Declaration of Sentiments. -
Civil War Begins
At 4:30 am on April 12, 1861, the South shot cannons into Ft. Sumter trying to force the North out. After 34 hours of cannon fire, the Union surrendered. This was the least bloodiest day of the Civil War because no one died in cross fire. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. This battle alone resulted in about 23,000 casualties. It was fought between three places: Sunken Lane, The Bridge, and The Cornfield. The North won at the end of the day. -
The 13th Amendment
This is the amendment that ended slavery. Slavery was still legal but only as a punishment. This amendment was the first of the three Reconstruction amendments. -
Civil War Ends
On April 9, 1865 the Civil War ended. General Lee surrender to General Grant. They sat down in the parlor at the McLean house in Appomattox and talked awhile. Eventually, Lee signed the papers and the war was over! -
Discrimination Against Black Voters
An act was signed by Lyndon Johnson that made it nearly impossible for black people to vote. This act included a literary test or a voters tax. Because most black people in the South were former slaves, they has no education so couldn't pass the literacy portion, and no money so they couldn't pay the voters tax. -
Prescient Johnson’s Impeachment Trial
On March 5 is when President Johnson’s impeachment trial began. Congress wanted to impeach him because he violated the tenure of office act. Congress also wanted him impeached because he was a weak prescient and there was always a constant power struggle between the two. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The 14th Amendment allowed all us citizens to vote except women. This was major because it allowed black people vote even though the southerners didn’t want that to happen. It also said that no one could be deprived of life, liberty, or property which people down south didn’t want for ex-slaves. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
This battle was started by the Americans because they broke their treaty with the Natives. Custer lead his regiment of 647 into battle split into 3 batillions. Custer and his regiment fought against an encampment trying to croos the Little Bighorn RIver. They were brutally anihilated and the only thing to survive was a horse named Comanche. -
Gunfight at the OK Corral
The gun at he OK Corral started between the Earps and the Cowboy gang.This fight started because the Earps were responding to a threat from the Cowboys. It is one of the only gun fights in Wild West history and lasted around 30 seconds. -
The Brooklyn Bridge
On May 24, 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge opened. This was the worlds longest suspension bridge at that time. It was designed by John Roebling, engineered by Washington Roebling, and finished by Emily Roebling. This was a huge breakthrough in engineering because there was a stigma surrounding suspension bridges prior to this. -
Ida B Wells
On May 4, 1884 Ida B Wells was asked to move from the ladies only car on a train to the smoking car which was crowded with passengers. She refused to move and was forcibly moved by a member of the crew whom she ended up biting. She sued the train company and won $500. This event caused her to become very active in politics. -
The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World
The Statue of Liberty was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The statue was a gift from France to America and also a celebration of being independent from Britain for 100 years. It was completed October 28, 1886 and is still standing tall today on Liberty Island. -
Closing the Frontier
On April 22 thousands of white settlers took over the Oklahoma Indian Territory. They claimed over 2 million acres of Indian land. This event marked the end of the Frontier as there was no more open land left. -
Hull House
Jane Addams was the founder of the Hull House in the United States. She opened this house to help immigrants and poor people. Hull houses started opening up all over the United States and there were over 100 of them by 1900. She also went on to win a Nobel Piece Prize in 1931. -
First immigrant to Ellis Island
Annie Moore was the first official immigrant to be processed and send through Ellis Island. A worker from Ellis island commemorated her with a $10 coin for being the first person through. From that day forth Ellis Island would go on to process and bring 12 million more immigrants to the US. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in the whites only section of a train despite he fact that he was only 1/8th black. He sued the train company and the case went all the way to the supreme court. In this case, the supreme court ruled that segregation was legal as long as facilities were "separate but equal". This ruling would not be overturned until 1954. -
The USS Maine
The USS Maine was an American Navy ship in the Havana Harbor in Cuba. At this time there was tension between Spain and America. On February 15, 1898 this ship exploded and the Americans believed it was Spain's fault. It is now believed that the explosion came from the inside due to a malfunction with the boat. -
The Teller Amendment
The Teller Amendment was passed by President McKinley and it gave Cuba their independence. In return, Cuba had to sign the Platt Amendment. This limited their right to make treaties, borrow money, and gave the US control of the naval base in Guantanamo Bay. -
The Foraker Act
Puerto Rico was one of the territories given to the US for winning the war. The Foraker Act passed in 1900 gave Puerto Rico their owner government. They were also given citizenship in 1917. Puerto Rico is still a territory of the US till this day. -
The NAACP
The NAACP was founded by in 1909. It stands for the National Association of Colored People and was meant to help protest racial violence towards African Americans. It was founded by members such as W.E.B Dubois and Ida B Wells and is still around today. -
Angel Island Opens
Angel Island opened its doors Januaray 21, 1910. Angel Island was considered the Ellis Island of the west. Angel Island brought in over 235,000 Asian immigrants but was very oppressive and harsh compared to Ellis Island. -
Panama Canal Finished
The Panama Canal was built through Central America to save boats 8000 miles of travel around South America. Originally the French started it but America took over and finished it. For a while it was considered American territory but is now completely owned by Panama. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
A German U-boat sank the Lusitania which was a British passenger ship. This was ship was carrying British civilians along with 100+ Americans. This made America upset because they were neutral and civilians were supposed to be left out of the war. This was one of the event that helped bring America into the war. -
Zimmerman Note intercepted
Germany had sent a message to Mexico saying if they helped Germany fight then Germany would get them back the territory they lost to America. America was able to intercept this note before anything serious could happen. This was another event that helped America be pulled into the war. -
The 18th Amendment
The 18th amendment was passed during the time of prohibition. This amendment made transportation, sale, and manufacturing liquor illegal. This amendment failed because people still wanted liquor. -
America Signs Peace Treaty with Germany
President Wilson and his 14 point plan was rejected by the American people and the Allied Countries. Because of this, American did not sign the Treaty of Versailles. This lead to American having to sign their own treaty with Germany a few years later. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
The Scopes Monkey trial took place in Tennessee. John Scopes was a biology teacher teaching evolution with the support of the ACLU despite the fact that it was illegal at the time. The ACLU hired Clarence Darrow who was the most famous lawyer of that era and the state hired Williams Jennings Bryan who was also a famous lawyer. Ultimately the state won and Scopes was fined $100. -
Black Tuesday
On October 29, 1929 the stock market crashed. Many people were trying to sell stock and very few were buying it. Losses from the crash exceeded $26 billion and 16 million stocks were sold in the frenzy. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Passed
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was passed by President Hoover. This tariff increased tax on all imported goods in hope that it would increase domestic purchase of goods. This tariff failed miserably and started an international trade war. -
FDR Elected President
In 1932 FDR beat Herbert Hoover in a landslide in the presidential election. FDR was president for 13 years and was the leader during the bulk of the Great Depression. He was known for his fireside chats and his New Deal. -
National Bank Holiday
Two days after FDR was elected president he called a national bank holiday which closed all the banks across America. This was to stop panic and large scale withdraws. This allowed the government to evaluate banks to see if they were fit to reopen. After this he passed the Emergency Banking Act and Glass-Steagall Act which created the FDIC. -
Beginning of WWII
WWII officially began when Germany invaded Poland. This was major because Poland has always been neutral. Hitler wanted to take over Europe and began to invade many countries very fast and the only country left to fight the Axis Powers was Briain. -
Pearl Harbor
In 1941 Japan wanted to start their own empire in the Pacific so they attacked the US navy base at Pearl Harbor. Japan joined the Axis Powers with Germany ad Italy and the US reacted by restricting goods to Japan. Japan believed that if they took out the US Pacific Fleet it would cripple the US allowing them to take over. -
War Production Board
The War Production Board (WPB) was established under the FDR administration. The purpose of the WPB was to turn companies into wartime producing companies to make sure soldiers has enough supplies. It also set allocations on household items such as coffee, gas, meat, and sugar. -
D-Day
D-Day was the largest air-sea-land attacked in history. D-Day was the allied powers plan to free France. The German retaliation was brutal especially at Omaha Beach. By September of that same year the allies were able to free France. -
Hiroshima Bombing
The Manhattan Project was the creation of the atomic bomb in the US. The US planned to planned to drop these bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki so they dropped leaflets all over to warn the people there. The Enola Gay dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima August 6, 1945. -
End of WWII
V-J or Victory in Japan day was the end of WWII. This took place a little less than a month after the two atomic bombs that were dropped. The Japanese people still didn't want to surrender after the bombings but did. -
The Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was passed because communism threatened Greece and Turkey. The idea behind this doctrine was that if the USA could help countries rebuild economically that it would stop the spread of communism. After this doctrine was passed, it sent $400 to Greece and Turkey to help them rebuild. -
NATO
In 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed. This was a mutual defense pack formed against he Soviets with the US, Canada, France, Belgium, Netherland, and Luxemburg. NATO still exists today and had been joined by many more countries. -
Easter Parade/Operation Vittles
Operation Vittles was the name for the operation where planes would drop necessities over the Berlin Blockade. On the day of the "Easter Parade" there were over 1,398 flights that dropped supplies over the blockade. That means there was almost one flight every single minute dropping over the blockade. -
North and South Vietnam
The Vietnam Communist defeated the French Colonel Forces. After this happened, the country was divided at the 17th parallel into North and South Vietnam. The US picked up the responsibility of providing anti-communist aid to the South. -
Hawaii becomes a state
On August 21, 1959 Hawaii became the United States 50th state. In 1893 the queen of Hawaii was overnthrown and a new government was set up and headed by Sandford B Dole. When President Mckinley became president, congress declared Hawaii a territory which then became a state over 60 years later. -
Man on the Moon
The US the first to having a man on the moon during the space race. The space race was a between Russia and the US to see who could be faster with building successful space technology. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong was the firs man on the mood. -
Battle of Belleau Wood
The Battle of Belleau Wood was the first major battle that America fought in WW1. In late May of 1918 German troops were only 45 mile from Paris. So, American troops attempted battle to halt the troops and they were successful. This Battle started June 1 and lasted about a month.