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William Becknell and the opening of the Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe is Americas first commercial highway. This trail connected Missouri, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and covered some area in the Great Plains. This trail helped a lot of traders, the military. This played a huge role in the expansion of America's westward expansion. It is said that it takes about 8 to 10 weeks to travel the trail. -
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was articulated with President James Monroe. It was part of his speech to Congress on December the 2nd in 1823. With this being said, the European powers were obligated to respect the West. The Monroe Doctrine had 4 main points to it. -
Matthew Perry Goes to Japan
On the year of 1853, Matthew Perry went to Japan. The reason was because the US wanted him to make a trade deal with Japan. He arrived to the Tokyo Bay and have a threat and deal message. The US wanted to get involved with Japan, when they had nothing to with them. Matthew Perry is credited with opening Japan to the western world. -
The Battle of Glorieta pass
The battle of Glorieta Pass was fought during the 26th and 28th of March. The plan was to seize southern California to make and ocean to ocean country. General Henry Sibley's Texas army invaded New Mexico in the 1862. They started off by taking down Arizona then made their way up to Rio Grande. Then they headed East to capture the supply base at Fort Union. They then destroyed the supplies and made a full scale retreat back down. -
The Homestead Act of 1862
The homestead act of 1862 was one of the most significant things that has expanded the US territory. Most families headed West because it was a dream of theirs. It was President Abraham Lincoln who signed it. This act was being run for 124 years. With this being said, there were people that didn't like it at all, but there were people took advantage of it. -
The 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment for the US Constitution is famously know for abolishing Slavery. In order for it to become an Amendment, it needed two thirds majority. Then on January 31, 1865 the House of representatives passed the proposed amendment with a vote of 119 to 56. This was enough than the two thirds that were required. Since the states weren't satisfied, people say that it could be the reason why Lincoln was assassinated. -
The KKK is founded
The KKK was founded in 1865. The KKK was an acronym for The Klu Klux Klan. They were mostly down south when they first were starting. They were normally a resistance to the Republicans during the Reconstruction era. They were mostly against blacks. They were mostly looked on because of "terrorism." They are mostly known for burning crosses, and staging rallies, marches and parades. -
William Seward buys Alaska from Russia
On the 30th of March, Seward buys Alaska from Russia for 7.2 Million dollars. He managed to negotiate the treaty with Russia and was signed from him. -
The House of Representative Elections
The House of Representatives were held in 1868 to elect Representatives. It was held on 1868 to elect the representatives for the 41st US Congress. Ulysses S. Grant was voted. The democrats were added 20 seats. Then the Republican Party retained a commanding majority in the Reconstruction era which was then followed by the civil war, which was fought for all slaves. -
The 14th Amendment amendment
The 14th Amendment failed to extend the Bill of Rights to the states. The 14th amendment also failed to protect the rights of black citizens. Putting aside all the negative, the amendment did guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws, but failed. The Amendment mentioned that all persons born or naturalized in the US are considered Citizens. The help of this amendment helped the Civil Rights Act. -
Grant is Elected President
Ulysses Grant became president on the 3rd on November in 1868. He was an Ohio Native. Before he was a president, he was a commander. During the war he was very aggressive and determined leader. Most of his focus was on reconstruction. -
The Transcontinental Railroad is completed
On the 10th of May, the transcontinental railroad is finished. This was a huge accomplishment for the american west. This was helpful for those that were looking for gold. This trail helped a lot with trade, business, and population. Today the track runs more than 21,000 miles. -
Sharecropping
Some people say that sharecropping was something that replaced
slavery. It was where the landowners would provide homes for slaves. The homes were't huge, they were more like cabins. Then the owner would give these slaves tools and seeds to grow as much crop as they can. Then after that, at the end of the year, the slaves could buy a third of what they planted, with the price that the owner wanted to give. -
The First State to allow the first woman to vote.
The first ever state that allowed women to vote was the state of Wyoming. The first women to ever vote was Louisa Ann Swain of Laramine. This was a huge things for the females because they already had a state that allowed them to vote. One of the reasons why Wyoming allowed women to vote was because of the Wyoming Suffrage Act of 1869. This was one huge step, because Colorado was the next state to allow women to vote. -
The Battle of Little Bighorn
The battle of little bighorn was fought on the 25th of June on 1876. It was fought near the Little Bighorn river on Montana territory. This was fought for the gold that was found on the Natives Land. It was fought between George Armstrong Custer and a group of Lakota Sioux with the help of some Cheyenne warriors. The war lasted two hours, and the Indians defeated Custer. -
The Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a significant law restricting immigration into the US. Many people from the West Coast contributed with denying wages to Chinese workers. Congress passed the act even though the only made up .002 percent of the nations population. One of the reason this came about was because of the opium wars they were having with Great Britain. The act was made to flood Chinese immigrants to the US. -
The Pendleton Act
The Pendleton Act provided that the federal government jobs were awarded on a basis of merit and that government employees were selected through exams. Some part of this act had to be because of the assassination of President James A. Garfield. They say that his assassin was a job seeker. This why they made everything be a little more difficult. -
The Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the things when you think about a city. At least 20 people died in the process of it being built. It cost about 15 million dollars to build it. This bridge had about 600 people working on it. The Brooklyn Bridge was invented by John Augustus Roebling and finished by Emily Roebling. The way it's being held up till this day is very shocking because it only has two base supporters, and the rest of it is held by a bunch of cables being held tight. -
Basketball is invented
Since there were a lot of people during urbanization, people needed entertainment, and this is when people started inventing sports. In this case, basketball is invented by James Naismith. Basketball compared to today's rules is very different. There originally 5 basic ideas and 13 rules.Since the time Basketball was invented, it has always been considered a winter sport. -
Who was the First person to go through Ellis Island
The first person to be the first immigrant registered through Ellis Island was Annie Moore. Since this was somewhat a huge thing, she was given a 10 dollar coin to commemorate the event. Putting this aside, the ship that was used for the traveling passengers had questions for them before getting on. This was because they wanted to make sure that when they get to the US they have enough to live there. You had lots of people coming. From Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, and even China. -
What caused the Spanish American War?
The war came up during the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain way back in February. During this time we have things such as Yellow Journalism which was considered fake news. With this, we had fake headlines in newspapers, and 'catchy' headlines. As time went by, people were still trying to find out what cause the ship to sink. -
The Spanish-American War begins
The Spanish American War began because a mysterious explosion sank a battleship in Havana Harbor. This is what started the war between America and Spain. During the war Maine had to go to Cuba to protect Americans while Cuban revolutionaries were fighting. This war lasted about four months. After the war, the Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10. -
Spain Surrenders
Spain surrendered after their fleet was destroyed two days later in Santiago Bay. With the help of the 'Torpedo,' the US managed to put a ship out in the battle of Santiago. This was because with this machine, they managed to hit it on the side, which made it sink. -
ALL women vote!
The 19th amendment gave all american women the right to vote. Achieving this goal wasn't easy, these strong women had to go through a lot, where people had no respect for them. The ladies had to go against President Wilson which was a huge thing because the US was also going through the Civil War at the same time. The last state to allow women to vote was Tennessee which was the 36th state. -
The Civil Rights Bill is signed
The Civil Rights bill ended segregation in the public areas and banned employment that was based on your color, race, national origin, etc. This started off when President JFK brought it up. Then as time flew by, it was signed by a successor of Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson. Then as years went by, congress added more to it and ended with the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Kennedy said that the US "will not be fully free until all of its citizens are free." He then was assassinated that same month. -
The death of Alice Paul
On the 9th of July was when Alice Paul died. Alice Paul was the main leader in the women suffrage. She died being able to vote, meaning her goal was achieved. She died from heart failure. It was this day where the ladies lost the leader that helped and fought for them. She died at the age of 92
