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Appomattox court house
The civil war ended with Lee surrendering to Grant at Appomattox court house. It was a very polite ending to the fighting given that Grant fed Lee's soldiers who were starving. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
John Wilkes Booth (A well known actor at he time) shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford's theatre. The president was carried across the street and was attended by doctors until the time of his death the following morning. It was a tragic loss for the country especially during such a time of celebration( the end of the civil war). -
Seward's icebox
Alaska was one of many land purchases made during this time period in America. People were skeptical of the purchase and called it Seward's folly/ icebox. However eventually it panned out as a good source of minerals, a sea port, and one of America's natural wildernesses that still services today. -
Transcontinental railroad
Stretching 1,912 miles between Omaha Nebraska and Sacramento California. The railroad was constructed from both ends and finished at Promontory Point Utah in 1869, 6 years after they first started construction. It dramatically changed what it meant to move out west and to live there. It was finally viable for trade with the east and for people to travel comfortably back and forth. -
Enforcement acts
The enforcement acts (alternatively called the KKK acts) were designed to help protect blacks right to vote as well as in general stop the Klu Klux Klan from treating them poorly. They didn't work that well, but what is significant is that it got bad enough at the time that people tried to pass something to stop it. Even more important to note is that it was so vastly unpopular in the south that no one enforced it and thus things got worse. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
The Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as Custer's last stand, is significant because it was such a complete loss on the American side. It is actually one of many conflicts between Indians and federal agents about moving Indians to reservations or previous perceived obtuseness. In this case all of Custer's men including himself were killed, except perhaps a scout and a horse. -
The Political crisis of 1887
In the election of 1876 the outcome was a tie, thus in order to decide who would be president some compromises were made. The republicans got Rutherford B. Hayes as the next president and the democrats got the end of reconstruction. -
The Dawes Act of 1887
The purpose of the Dawes act was to assimilate the Native American population. However it required them to give up their heritage and didn't work out so well. However it marked a point that public opinion turned to at least pitty the Indians a little. -
How the other half lives
Jocab A. Riis wrote a book called "How the other half lives". It follows the poor conditions of city slums through the eyes of a photo journalists photos. He was trying to get higher classes to see the conditions and feel sympathy for them. -
Elis island
Averaging 11,747 people a day Ellis island served as an immigration station. It was one of the first things people experienced when they got to America. Officials would check people for diseases or physical defects and send back 2%. However most people where processed through, although most had to wait a long time. -
Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee was a response of the US military in response to a perceived threat which was actually just an attempt to hold onto a way of life. 150 Sioux tribe members and 25 soldiers died at what was supposed to be a Ghost Dance. It was a bloody slaughter that shows yet another tragedy of the way the Native population was treated. -
Ida B. Wells speaks out against lynchings
Ida B. Wells spoke out against lynchings in the south after the end of reconstruction. She led out in different boycotts and generaly protested. People attacked her and burned her store but she continued to stand up for what she believed. -
The Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was brought on by a change in policy about silver. It was no longer exchangeable for US currency and people worried about their money and rushed the banks. So the system crashed, unemployment went up, and people started rioting. Also investors overseas had to deal with the change and try to compensate. In the end it was the worst depression before the Great Depression (which was much worse. -
Annexation of Hawaii
Through a series of complicated events including overthrowing a queen, a disgruntled president, and general protest from the Native people. Hawaii is now a state but the process that brought it to statehood is often held up as an example of us ignoring a minority when it is convenient for our interests. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
The Plessy vs Ferguson case is famous for the line "separate but equal." Homer Plessy who was 1/8 black decided to sit in the white section of a train to protest segregation and then took it all to trial. It went all the way up to the Supreme Court and they decided that as long as the segregated areas were equal it was fine. -
Explosion of the USS Maine
Known for being the spark that started the Spanish American War, the explosion of the USS Maine will continue to live in infamy. Propaganda against the Spanish governer in Cuba and general anti Spanish reports led this event, a US ship exploding off the coast of Cuba, to clearly mean the Spanish attacked us. Recent studies of the wreckage lead us to question this conclusion. -
San Juan Hill
Theodore Roosevelt and his troop of men, the rough riders, are most well known for their storming of San Juan Hill. With out this event Theodore would never have became a war hero and later our president. This particular event was a roaring success as far as battles go. -
Foraker Act
The Foracker act allowed Puerto Rico to form its own government. Up until this point it was a US colony without legislation and this gave them the chance to govern themselves a little bit. -
Galveston Texas hurricane
Killing 8,000 people, the Galveston Hurricane was the worst that America had experienced up to that point. In order to deal with the devastation a new system of government was set up that consisted of a 5 person commison. It was very effective in clean up and helped stabilize the power of not just Texas but many other states that adopted the system. -
Macy's
Department stores became an important part of life in our new urban country. Macy's was one of the first and was prominent in New York and many other cities. Stores like this revolutionized the way people lived and made shopping "fun". Macy's was founded in 1858. -
Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire
Probably the most devastating factory accident in US history, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire claimed 146 lives. When the fire started the fire hose was rusted shut and rotting, then the fire escape collapsed when people tried to use it. To make matters worse the workers were trapped inside by locked doors and broken elevators. The one good thing this tragedy brought about is safety reforms in factories. Hopefully this will never be repeated. -
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
The last straw that started the First World War was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip. Allies rushed into the fray and soon everything got blown out of proportion. Thus the War had taken the first death of millions. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
Americans were enraged at the sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania. Several Americans died in the attack and we demanded a stop to German unrestricted submarine warfare. They agreed at first but eventually they resumed, this helped to pull us into war. -
National Women's Party (NWP)
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns started their own organization to fight for women's suffrage. Later both would spend time in prison and be force fed due to their hunger strike. They were both instrumental in getting the vote for women. -
Zimmerman note
Americans were outraged when they heard that the Germans were trying to rial up our closest neighbors by turning Mexico into an alli in the war witch we had tried to stay out of so long. This was one of the main reasons that we decided to join the war and yet another thing that turned the opinions of Americans against Germany. -
America enters the war
America tried to stay neutral during this war, however the longer they watched the less unrelated to them it felt. The Germans were perceived as dishonorable and after the US found out about the Zimmerman note and watched the Lusitania and other ships they gritted teeth and joined the war. -
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin is one example of an American immigrant who became an important part of America. He wrote both "God Bless America" and "White Christmas" which can still be heard today. -
Armistice day
The war was finally over, on the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th mouth a ceasefire was called. For the first time in years the battle fields sat silently. This was the end of the fighting but just the beginning of the political conversation of how to wrap things up. In the end Germany will draw the short straw which eventually builds up the environment that supported the Second World War. -
Women's suffrage
The 19th amendment became part of the constitution and thus answered the prayers of many women who had fought so hard for it. People who supported it wore yellow roses and Tennesse had the honor of being the last state to ratify. While the war raged abroad, finally women had won on the home front. -
Emergency Quota act
The Emergency Quota act was imposed to limit the amount of immigrants to 3% of that demographic added on. This makes it easier for the US to maintain the norm and also reflected the growing sentiment of Americans that we should have less people flooding into the country. This distrust of immigrants is one reason why there was another KKK revival in this time period. -
Scope trial
Formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes this case brought to the surface the tensions between evolutionists and christians throughout America. Scopes, a public school biology teacher decided to teach evolution in his class. He was charged for it but his actions brought to the surface tension which continued to fester long after the trial ended. -
The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer was the first movie with synchronized sound. While most movies of this era had live music played as accompaniment this was all new and people loved it. It was the first of many movies of this kind and was followed by classics like Steam Boat Willy forever changing what it meant to go to a movie. -
Black Tuesday
The stock market crash of 1929 otherwise known as Black Tuesday served as a herald of the Great Depression. People suddenly lost faith in the stock market and the value of stocks suddenly plummeted. People rushed to sell what they had but many went bankrupt. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was a major increase on tax on foreign trade. This bogged down international trade significantly because while it encouraged buying locally it hampered both imports and exports. -
Revenue Act of 1932
The largest peacetime income tax increase in American history could not have come at a worse time. This tax put even more pressure on an already struggling economy and helped to pull it deeper into depression. -
The rise of the Bonus Army
The bonus army as it was called was a group of 20,000 jobless vets from WWI who were promised a bonus in 1945. They however wanted it early because they needed the money then, so in 1932 the sat in front of the capital and waited. They were unceremoniously dispersed by force and there where a few casualties. This understandably didn't look that great for the government. -
Let's get a New Deal
People were generally feed up with Hoover so when FDR began his presidency anything different seemed better. FDR's plan for getting things back on track was called the New Deal. It set up several groups to help rebuild America and even helped restore trust in the banks by shutting them down, stabilizing them and reopening them. It had three main parts; relief, reform, and recovery. -
Manhattan project
The manhattan project was the code name for Americas attempt at creating the first atomic bombs. We created four, two were dropped on Japan and one was used in a test. These were some of the first experiments with nuclear fission and power. They pioneered much of the science in that area and created one of the most deadly weapons known to man. -
Germany invades Poland
To kick off the war Hitler marched this troops through politically neutral Poland creating uproar and protest which lead to Britain getting in on the war. This was the event that converted protest into battle. -
Pearl Harbor
A date that will live in infamy, December 7, 1941 was the event that brought America into the Second World War. Our naval base at Pearl Harbor containing a big chunk of our Pacific fleet was attacked by Japanese planes who sunk our ships creating outrage across America. Many American soldiers were caught sleeping and bombed. The most casualties were on the USS Arizona. -
Victory in Europe
The war was finally over, or was it? The Nazis have finally surrendered yet Japan fights on in the Pacific. FDR didn't survive to see this day yet it was his presidency that much of the war was fought under. There was celebrity in every allied country and for some this was the true end of the war. -
Victory in Japan
At last the war was over. Japan signed their formal surrender on September 2, 1945 just one day after the anniversary of the wars beginning. It took two nuclear bombs to get to this point, there is no telling how bad it would have gotten if it had gone on longer. This day was a final end to the death and destruction that had reigned for the years during the war. -
The National Liberation Front
When local South Vietnamese got tired of their dead beat overlord they created the National Liberation Front (NLF). Their goal was to have a unify Vietnam and take down Ngo Dinh Diem. When the war began they where often referred to as the Veit Cong. -
Rise of the wall
Berlin, the now divided capitol of Germany, was separated not just by a difference in ideology but a physical wall. When you have to build a wall to keep your own people from fleeing you know things are getting bad, but that is exactly what the soviet union did. In this case they isolated a small piece of a city making it necessary for the cities allies to fly in provisions. Even though this small enclosed city was walled off people still found it more inviting than the soviets. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
When the Cold war heats up it can get scary, we most clearly see this with the Cuban missile crisis. Both sides felt the tension that the other would begin the nuclear annihilation of the other. This was the height of the fear and the 27th is known as the worst day of it. luckily things went back to simply being frosty, yet it leaves you to ponder what the world would look like if we had killed each other. -
I have a dream
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." ~MLK. The I have a dream speech was extremely well attended and helped show the nation that this civil rights thing was serious. -
JFK assassination
On this fateful day in Dallas President Kennedy was shot both in the neck and head. He was heading for a speech in a car with the top off witch left him exposed to this attack. He was rushed to the Hospital, but nothing could be done. Lee Harvey Oswald, his assassin, was killed two days latter in a prison transfer. History could have been very different if he had lived, perhaps he would have been elected for another term in office, we might not have even fought in Vietnam. We can only speculate. -
What a wonderful world
Near the end of his career Louis Armstrong recorded one of his most famous hits, What a Wonderful World. However he was extremely popular trough out the 1920's for his trumpet and cornet playing as well as just in general being great at jazz. Renowned for his recognizable gravely voice he is still considered one of the most influential Jazz players of this time. -
Tet offensive
The largest offensive of the Vietnam war, the Tet offensive (named after Vietnamese new year) was a coordinated assault between the Veit Cong and the North Vietnamese to take over major southern cities, the US embassy, and other important locations. The US and South Vietnamese troops were able to beat them back, yet at home Americans were told it was a crushing defeat. -
My Lai Massacre
One of the worst war crimes committed by US troops during the Vietnam war was the My Lai Massacre. Some where between 347 and 504 civilian lives where lost. Lieut. William Calley Jr. is predominantly blamed for the incident and Hugh Thompson Jr., the helicopter pilot, is accredited with bringing it to an end. The public was outraged when they found out and the unpopularity of the war continued on in its downward spiral. -
MLK Assassination
MLK was staying at Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee when he was shot. James Earl Ray was later arrested for the assassination it was still a great loss to the nation. The hotel has now been converted to a civil rights museum in his honor and you can see what got the civil rights movement going and where it is today. -
A man on the moon
America proudly watched as Apollo 11 brought Neil Armstrong somewhere no one else had been before, the moon. This was our crowning moment in the space race and allowed America an emotional edge and a technological edge over the soviet union. -
Fall of the wall
Masses of people worked together to rip down the wall that had divided their city for years. The fall of the Berlin wall was not just a reunification of a city, it was also a sign of the weakening of the institution that built the wall in the first place. There was still some time before the fall of the soviet union in 1991 yet it was clear that they where on the way out.
