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Indian Removal Act
The US Government decreed that the Indian tribes could freely inhabit the Great Plains. A Permanent Indian Frontier was established on the eastern edge of the Great Plains. -
Elizabeth Blackwell graduates
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Born in Bristol, England, she graduated from Geneva College in New York with the highest grades in her entire class. -
Inauguration of Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the antislavery Republican Party, is elected president. As a result, 11 Southern states secede from the Union. -
Battle of the ironclads
It was the first battle between two ironclad ships, the Monitor and the Merrimack. In the end neither side was declaired the winner. But this battle got nationwide attenion and also revolutionized how warships were build. -
The Homestead Act
This Act offered anyone prepared to settle in the West 160 acres of land for free provided they built a home and farmed the land for five years. -
The Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam was the first battle of the war to take place on Northern soil. It was the the bloodiest day in the war, with a total of over 23,000 casualties including more than 4,800 killed. -
Freedmen's Bureau established
In 1865, Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau to provide assistance to former slaves. Union Army general Oliver O. Howard was the Bureau's Commissioner. -
Lee surrenders to Grant
After evacuating Richmond, Lee and his troops were surrounded, on April 7, Grant called Lee to surrender. On April 9, the two commanders met at Appomattox Courthouse, and agreed on the terms of surrender. -
13th Amendment ratified
In January 1865, the U.S. Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, irrevocably abolishing slavery throughout the nation. -
Transcontinental railroad completed
The transcontinental railway was completed. A ceremony, known as the ‘golden spike ceremony’ because a golden spike was used to join the East and West railways, was held at Promontory Point in Utah. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
This act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations, including inns, theaters, public conveyances on land or water, and "other places of public amusement." -
Civil Rights Act of 1875 declared unconstitutional
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Civil Rights Cases of 1883 that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional. The Court ruled that the 14th Amendment prohibited states, but not citizens, from discriminating. -
Ellis island opening
Ellis Island is officially opened as an immigration station on this day (January 1, 1892.) Before Ellis Island opened, immigrants were required to be processed by the State, not the federal government. Located at the mouth of Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, the island saw millions of newly arrived immigrants pass through its doors. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Segregation is legal as long as both segregated areas are equal. -
Sinking Of The USS Maine
United States Navy ship that sank in Havana Harbor contributing to the Spanish–American War in April. -
spanish american war begins
the Spanish American war starts -
Annexation of Hawaii
During the 1800's it became clear to the United States that Hawaii was becoming more important as a commercial export resource and as a strategic location for defense in the Pacific region. The United States was also becoming concerned about the possibility that Hawaii might become part of a European nation's empire, possibly Great Britain or France. -
spanish american war ends
The Spanish American war ends -
Panama Canal
The 48 mile-long (77 km) international waterway known as the Panama Canal allows ships to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, saving about 8000 miles (12,875 km) from a journey around the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn. -
assassination of archduke franz ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. -
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, effectively beginning the Great War. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The RMS Lusitania was a UK-registered ocean liner that was torpedoed by an Imperial German Navy U-boat during the First World War on 7 May 1915, about 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. -
End of the Great War
At 5:00 am on Nov. 11, 1918, the Armistice document was signed in Foch's railway carriage at Rethondes. At 11:00 am on the same day, World War I came to an end. -
The 18th Amendment is passed
Prohibition is the ban on making and selling of alcohol. When this went into effect saloons were forced to close down. People who liked alcohol didn't like the government interfering, and found ways to get a hold of it. -
Women get to vote
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." -
John Scopes creates a national conflict
John Scopes created a national conflict by breaking a law caused by fundamentalism. -
Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie is created
Mickey Mouse -
Stock Market Crash
The Most devestating stock market crash in the history of the united states, the market lost $30 billion in two days -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
Congress passes the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, steeply raising import duties in an attempt to protect American manufactures from foreign competition. The tariff increase has little impact on the American economy, but plunges Europe farther into crisis. -
Roosevelt Reelected
Franklin D. Roosevelt is reelected for another term -
WW2 started
World war two is started -
Normandy Invasion (D day)
The importance of the Normandy Invasion 1944 was the Allies pushed into Europe on the eastern front. The Canadians were the only ones to accomplish their missions. It was to advance across the beach and get through German lines. It was called D-day as a code name. The D stood for nothing. -
hitler's suicide
On this day Hitler committed suicide shortly before the end of the battle of Britain. It caused most of Europe to surrender and ended the holocaust. -
First Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
This event was important because it rapidly forced Japan to surrender. So far they are the only nuclear weapons used to date. It killed lots and lots of people. -
Second atomic bomb on nagasaki
This was important for the same reasons as the first one. It pushed Japan to surrender. -
war ended
This was obviously important because it set an end to all the terrors of world war 2. -
UN formed
After Japan's surrender, WW2 came to a close & the US had learned its lesson from WWI. Following Wilson's dream of joining the now-defunct League of Nations, the US formed the UN. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine declared that the US would stop the spread of communism and also bolster democratic governments, which came to be known as containment. The US & the USSR fought for control over the world's resources until the Cold War came to an end in the 1980's/90's. -
Marshall plan
In a speech at Harvard, Sec. of State George C. Marshall outlined what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Europe, still devastated by the war, had just survived one of the worst winters on record. The U-S offered up to $20 billion for relief, but only if the European nations could draw up a rational plan on how they would use the aid. Marshall also offered aid to the Soviet Union and its allies in eastern Europe, but Stalin denounced the program as a trick and refused to participate. -
korean war starts
Nearly 100,000 North Koreans smashed across the 38th parallel and overran Seoul, the South Korean capital. On June 27, U.S. President Truman authorized the use of American land, sea, and air forces in Korea; a week later, the United Nations placed the forces of 15 other member nations under U.S. command. Communist China entered the war on Oct. 19, 1950. -
Ellis island closes
Ellis Island, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. In November 1954, the last detainee, a Norwegian merchant seaman, was released and Ellis Island officially closed. Beginning in 1984, Ellis Island underwent a $160 million renovation, the largest historic restoration project in U.S. history. -
fall of the berlin wall
The East German government announces that visits to West Germany and West Berlin will be permitted. Thousands of East Berliners pass into West Berlin as border guards stand by. People begin tearing down the wall.