-
Pony Express Founded
The Pony Express was a mailing system that delivered news and mail between St. Louis and San Francisco. They would ride horses and it took them about ten days to bring the mail. They started this so they would could have faster communication. Along the routes, they had stations to change horses so they wouldn’t get too tired. This was an extremely hazardous job and after the Transcontinental Telegraph was created, they didn’t need the Pony Express anymore. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
This was the official start of the civil war. South Carolina was the first state to secede the union but the union had control over the fort so South Carolina’s government demanded they leave. Lincoln didn’t want to start the war so he waited for the south to make the first move and they eventually did by bombarding and firing at the fort. There were no casualties and the union surrendered the fort. -
Homestead Act Passed
The Homestead Act was passed by the government to encourage American and immigrants to move West. It offered 160 acres of land free to anyone who agreed to live and improve the land for five years. They just had to be considered the head of a family or at least 21 years old. This helped poor families who couldn’t afford land in the East. This also gave unemployed workers a chance to find work in their own land. -
Battle of Antietam
This battle is considered the “bloodiest single day of the war” with over 20,000 casualties. It was the south’s first attempt in invading the north. This battle was fought over three major fighting areas, the cornfield, the bridge, and the sunken lane. It resulted in a draw but the South had to retreat, so it gave Lincoln the win he needed to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. -
13th Amendment Ratified
This amendment was put into place to end slavery in the United States. Also to abolish involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Congress passed his law during reconstruction so slaves would finally be free. -
Freedmen’s Bureau Established To Aid Former Slaves During Reconstruction
The Freedmen’s Bureau was established to provide food, clothing, jobs, medical care, and education to former slaves and poor white people. During reconstruction, they set up Freedmen’s Bureau School in the south for them to have an education. Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to help southern freedmen. After the war, former slaves didn’t know what to do because they had nothing so this Bureau helped them. -
Surrender at Appomattox
This was the end of the Civil War. General Lee realized he had no choice but to surrender to General Grant. Grant was very generous with the surrender terms because no prisoners were taken, men could keep their horse and personal belongings. This was because Lincoln didn’t want to punish the south. -
Alaska Joins the United States
The Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. Many Americans though it was pointless and referred to the purchase as “Seward’s Folly”. About 30 years later gold was found and Seward was vindicated. Alaska turned out to be rich in many resources such as fish, gold, copper, timber, oil, and coal. -
Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment
Johnson became President after Lincoln was assassinated. Even though he was President, Congress was way more powerful than him. They didn’t let him really have a say in anything. He was impeached because he removed Stanten, which broke the Tenure of Office Act. He couldn’t remove any cabinet members without Senate’s consent. In the Senate Trail, he was acquitted so he stayed and finished his term but he was a very weak president. -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
The transcontinental railroad was the railroad that stretched from coast to coast. Two companies worked to complete the railroad the fastest. The Union Pacific Railroad started in Omaha, Nebraska and the Central Pacific Railroad company started in Sacramento, California. The railroad workers were mostly Irish or Chinese. The two companies ended up meeting in Promontory Point, Utah. The presidents of both railroads met in Promontory Point and swung at the last gold spike of the railroad track. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was put in place to restrict the amount of Chinese immigrants in America. If you are coming from China, the only way you could get in, is if your family lives in America. This made it a lot harder for immigrants to be allowed in America. They let 339,570 immigrants from 1931 to 1940 through Ellis Island but only let 4,928 Chinese immigrants through Angel Island. -
The Brooklyn Bridge Opened
The Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening. It was designed by John Roebling but he died so his son Washington Roebling was chief engineer. But his wife Emily completed the bridge when he got sick. Emily Roebling was the first to cross the bridge when it completed. This bridge was a major symbol of American ingenuity and what Americans could accomplish. -
Ida B. Well Won Her Lawsuit
Ida B. Wells was born as a slave in Mississippi and her parents were very active in the Republican Party. One day, she was riding a train from Memphis to Nashville and she bought a first-class ticket but was told to go the the “colored” car. She refused to move and in the process, she bit one of the crew. She later sued the railroad and won a $500 settlement. She went on to write about race and politics in the South. -
The Statue of Liberty Completed
The statue of Liberty is a symbolism of freedom and liberty. It was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. France gifted it to America because France helped America in ending the American Revolution. They made it out of copper but it rusted and turned green. -
First Person through Ellis Island
At age 17, Annie Moore was the first immigrant registered through Ellis Island. She was given a 10 dollar coin to commemorate this event. To enter Ellis Island, she had to go through a series of test to confirm that she could enter. -
Plessy v. Ferguson Case
Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a “whites only” section of a train because he refused to move. He sued and his case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal as long as facilities were “separate but equal”. This ruling wasn’t overturned until the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954. -
Sinking of the Maine
President McKinley sent the battleship Maine to Cuba to protect American citizens and property. The USS Maine randomly exploded in Havana, Cuba Harbor. It killed 260 U.S. sailors. Most Americans thought it was Spain’s fault and this was the spark that started the war. Their rally cry became “Remember the Maine!” -
Foraker Act Passed
The Foraker Act of 1900 gave Puerto Rican’s their own government. Puerto Rico is a territory that the United States a gained after the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were given American citizenship in 1917. But Puerto Rican’s can’t vote in the final election. -
The Platt Amendment Passed
The Teller Amendment gave Cuba their independence in 1899 at the end of the War. But Cuba also had to sign the Platt Amendment. But this limited Cuba’s rights to make treaties and borrow money. It also gave the United States control of the naval base in Guantanamo Bay. -
The Roosevelt Corollary
There was concern that European nations would decide to interfere in the Americas despite the Monroe Doctrine which warned them to stay out. So Roosevelt declared to Congress a new Latin America policy, which was the Roosevelt Corollary. This meant to update the Monroe Doctrine which essentially made the US the police power of the Americas and allows them to interfere when deemed necessary. -
Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington DC
Ida B. Wells worked against launching, segregation, and for women’s rights. She marched in the Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington DC. She wanted to show that women deserve just as many rights as men. But when she went to march in the front, the white woken told her she had to go to the back of the parade because that’s where the colored women were. She refused to go to the back and stayed marching in the front for women’s rights. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The sinking of the Lusitania was when the Germans sank a passenger ship and Americans died. But Germans claimed it was transporting was ammunition. Germany told America to stay off British ships because they would torpedo them. Since Germany killed some American, it made the Americans angry and they wanted to help the British and join the war. -
The Zimmerman Telegraph
The Zimmerman Telegram was from Germany to Mexico and they Germans were asking Mexico to invade America. The U.S. intercepted the note and realized that Germany was promising the help Mexico get Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona back. This made America so mad so they joined the Allies to fight against Germany. -
Sedition Act of 1918
The Sedition Act of 1918 stated that it was a crime to speak against the purchase of war bonds. It was illegal to willfully utter, print, write or publish any disloyal about to government. This act was completely breaking the right of freedom of speech. The American government didn’t want anything bad about their country being said during World War One. -
Battle of Belleau Wood End
The Battle of Belleau Wood was the first large-scale battle fought by American soldiers in world war 1. The battle started when the United States force under General John J. Pershing were fighting to stop German advance to Paris. The Allies won but at the cost of nearly 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing in action. -
18th Amendment passed
The 18th amendment banned the making, transporting, and selling of alcohol. The support for prohibition came from reformers who believed alcohol led to crime, children and wife abuse, and accidents. Too many people were not willing it give it up and started finding new ways to smuggle alcohol. The nationwide prohibition didn’t go into effect until January 17, 1920 so about one year after the amendment was passed. -
19th Amendment Passed
In August 1920 they needed one more state to ratify the amendment. Tennessee was potentially the last state needed. In the Senate the vote was ratified but in the House of Representatives, it almost failed. Harry Burn got a last minute note from his mother that told him to vote for women's suffrage but he was originally going to vote no. He voted yes which made Tennessee the 36th state to ratify the Amendment. The 19th Amendment gives to right of all citizens to vote. -
Scopes Trail Verdict
John Scopes the teacher who illegally taught his student abiut evolution. He was put in trail and two of the most famous lawyers at the time were involved. Scopes attorney was Darrow and Bryan represented the state. The law was purposely broken to draw attention to evolution. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. But it started the chain of questions and evolution being accepted. -
The Crash: “Black Tuesday”
Business were booming in the 1920s and stock prices kept rising with businesses growing profits. People were buying stocks on margin which functioned like a credit card. Banks began to loan money to stock-buyers. On Black Tuesday the stock market crashed and everyone started selling but they weren’t buyers to buy the stocks. Over 16 million share holders lost 26 billion dollars total. The crash wasn’t a one day event and kept getting worse. -
Smoot-Hawley Tariff passed
The greatest mistake of the Hoover administration was the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. This act raised tariffs on United state imports up to 50% so goods were a lot higher prices. But raising trade barriers would force Americans to buy more domestic goods instead of imported. The Hoover Administration ignored the principle of international-trade which is a two-way street. This closed our borders to foreign goods which wasn’t fair to other countries, which depended on America. -
Al Capone Charged
Prohibition encouraged gangsters to smuggle liquor and Al Capone because a famous bootlegger in Chicago. He took control of the Chicago liquor business by killing off his competition. He was pay the law enforcement to look the other way so he could keep selling alcohol. He ended up being convicted on tax evasion charges because when it came to prohibition, he always payed people to do the dirty work. -
Revenue Act of 1932
The federal government decided it was time to balance the federal budget. So President Hoover passed the largest peacetime income tax increase in history. Hoover’s advisors hoped this tax increase could cover the deficit of government spending. This tax increase too money out of peoples hands, so it stopped their spending on nonessential items but that stopped business from being able to sell things. The huge increase in taxes hurt companies and the citizens. -
Election of 1932
Americans blamed President Hoover for the countries economic challenges and they were ready for a new president. In the election of 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the Democratic Party’s nomination. He promised relief for the poor and more public works programs to provide jobs. He won a landslide victory in the election. His plan was the New Deal which promised relief, recovery, and reforms. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attacked the US Navy in Pearl Harbor and it brought the USA into World War 2. The attack was a surprise attack and Japan hoped it would cripple US enough so they wouldn’t be able to fight back but the US joined WW2 right away. Winston Churchill, the British Prime minister, was excited when America joined the won and said “so we have won after all”. The USS Arizona was the worse damaged ship in the harbor. -
Start of the Battle of Stalingrad
For weeks the German pressed in on Stalingrad then winter hit and they were unprepared for the conditions. The Germans surrender and the Soviets lost more than 1 million men in the battle. This is considered the first great turning point for the Allie’s because it was a huge victory. -
Manhattan Project Created
The most important achievement of the Office of Scientific Research and Development was the secret development of the atomic bomb. Eisenstein wrote to Franklin D Roosevelt warning him that the Germans were attempting to develop a atomic bomb. The code they sued to describe American efforts to build the bomb was the “Manhattan Project”, -
D-Day
D-Day was the largest land-sea-aid operation in military history. The allied troops invaded Normandy, France during World War 2. Despite the air support, German retaliation was brutal, especially at Omaha Beach. D-Day was an amphibious landing because soldiers were going from the sea to land. They even had planes dropping paratroopers from behind enemy lines in France. The allied forces won and it was a huge turning point for them in Europe. -
V-E Day
General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich/ Germany. The Allie’s celebrated V-E Day which was the victory in Europe Day so the was in Europe was finally over. President Roosevelt didn’t live to see V-E Day even though he has been fighting for the victory. -
V-J Day
The US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The US had warned them before hand because president Truman sent them leaflets. Japan surrendered days after the second atomic bomb was dropped. V-J Day was the end of the war and the war in the Atlantic. V-J day stands for victory over Japan. -
Start of The Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women’s rights conference. It lasted two days and about 300 people attended and about 40 were men. They passed 10 resolutions unanimously relating to women’s rights but barely got enough votes to pass the resolution on women’s rights. They wrote a declaration of sentiments called Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848. -
The Election of 1948
Harry Truman decided to run for re-election because his term was ending. He ran against the governor of New York, Thomas Dewey. On election night, the Chicago Daily Tribune printed “Dewey Defeats Truman” before knowing the results. Truman had actually won but the media was telling everyone that he lost so they had to quickly change their headline. -
Berlin Airlift- The Easter Parade
The Soviets blocked Berlin from getting supplies delivered to them. So the Allied created the Operation Vittles where they sent food, coal, and other materials. On its biggest day, the “Easter Parade” the airlift sent 1,398 flights into Berlin, one every minute. In total more than 278,000 flights carried 2.3 million tons of relief supplies into Berlin on one day. -
First Human to Space
Russian succeeded in launching a satellite into space before America. America and Russia were in a competition on who could get a human into space first. They both tested with animals first before they sent humans into space. The Soviets succeeded first in launching the first human into space and returned safely, he was named Yuri Gagarin. -
Berlin Wall Falls
Gorbachev rebounded the Brezhnev Doctrine, which pledged to use Soviet forces to protect its interests in Eastern Europe. Hungary opened its boarder with Austria, allowing East Germans to flee to the West. After the huge public demonstration in East Germany and Eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall fell. -
The Fall of the Soviet Union
The Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union and he resigned. He declares his office extinct and handed over its power including the control of the Soviet nuclear mistake launch ship code to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The Soviet Flag was lowered and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.