America's High and Low Points (Annotated Timeline by Bria Lawrence)

By bl5908
  • US troops enter Korea

    The US troops went to South Korea to stop the spread of communism.
  • McCarthyism/Red Scare

    Senator Joseph McCarthy gave a speech claiming that he knew 205 communists that were currently working for the US government. This caused a series of court trials which was referred to as a modern day witch hunt.
  • Little Rock Nine

    A group of nine African-American students weren't allowed to enroll in a racially segregated school. The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education. The decision declared all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. This had an impact because it integrated schools.
  • US troops arrive in Vietnam

    The Vietnam War was a conflict between nationalist forces attempting to put the country of Vietnam under a communist government and the United States trying to stop the spread of communism. The historical impact that this event had was that it stopped the spread of communism to America.
  • Freedom Riders go to south

    To test the president's commitment to civil rights, CORE proposed the "Freedom Ride." The strategy was that the whites would sit in the back and the blacks in the front. At the other stops the whites would go into blacks only areas. The historical impact was that it signified blacks trying to have equal rights on public transportation.
  • Berlin Wall Falls

    The Berlin Wall was a wall that separated East Germany, the communists, from West Germany, the capitalists. After many peaceful protests and a speech from Reagan, that wall was torn down. Because of this, Germany is no longer communist.
  • Berlin wall goes up

    The Berlin Wall was put up to separate people from East and West Germany mainly because of government differences. The historical impact this event had was that the separation of Berlin was an open invitation to control their government.
  • Civil Rights March

    The march was held in Washington DC and 250,000 people attended. Franklin D. Roosevelt convinced Philip Randolph to call off a massive civil rights march by agreeing to allow blacks to work in factories to supply America's military.
  • John F Kennedy assassination

    President Kennedy was murdered while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. He was murdered at the peek after the cold war, a year after the Cuban missle crisis. This event had historical impact because more troops were sent to Vietnam after his death which caused US to have full involvement in the war.
  • Civil Rights Act

    The civil rights act was passed and signed by Lyndon Johnson. It stopped discrimination in public places. provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal. This had an impact because it stopped segragation and was the most effective document since the reconstruction era.
  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    This was the resolution put before the U.S. Congress by President Lyndon Johnson, This happened in reaction to two unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. This had a historical impact because it approved and supported the determination of the president to take all necessary measures to defend America against any armed attack by outside forces.
  • Malcolm X assassination

    Malcolm X was assassinated by rival black muslims while speaking at his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights.
  • Richard Nixon elected president

    Richard Nixon beat out Hubert Humprey and George Wallace. This event had a historical impact because his time of presidency marked the end of the Vietnam War.
  • Tet Offensive

    It was a series of surprise attacks by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces on cities, towns, and hamlets throughout South Vietnam. This event had historical impact because it was a turning point in the Vietnam War because North Vietnam leaders couldnt keep taking loses caused by Americans.
  • My Lai Massacre

    Frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai and killed men, women, and children.
  • Martin Luther King assassination

    After doing one of his famous speeches, Martin Luther King Jr. was hit by a sniper's bullet while standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. This had a historcal impact because he was one of most influential civil rights activist.
  • Woodstock festival of peace and love

    The Woodstock Festival was a three-day concert and went into a fourth day. It involved sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. The Woodstock Music Festival has become an icon of the 1960s hippie culture.
  • Nixon's Water gate scandal

    A political scandal that started with an arrest of five burglars. These burglars broke into DNC headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. They were directed by G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt. It soon became evident that the Watergate burglars were tied closely to the Committee to Re-elect the President and the CIA. Afterwards some of Nixon's aides began talking to federal prosecutors. Nixon resigned as president so Gerald Ford took his place.
  • Roe V Wade

    Norma McCorvey didn't want to continue on with her pregnancy after her marriage failed. Abortions weren't legalized in Texas so she looked for someone to do it illegally. She didn't find anyone but she did find Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, two attorneys interested in changing the abortion laws. This had impact because the decision of the court alllowed abortion to be legal.
  • Arab Oil embargo

    The U.S supported Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The Arab member nations of OPEC struck back against the West by imposing an oil embargo on the U.S., while increasing prices by 70% to America’s Western European allies. Overnight, the price of a barrel of oil rose from $3 to $5.11. This event had an impact because it hurt the U. S economically by raising the price of gas.
  • Three Mile Island

    It was a nuclear meltdown which occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It resulted in the release of small amounts of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. This had an impact because it gave an example of how not to run a nuclear power plant.
  • Reagan Election

    America was going through troubled times with President Carter and Reagan seemed like the perfect solution. He won the election in a landslide. He had goals for America such as strengthening national defense and cutting taxes. Many said that he was too conservative and wasted millions of dollars. He is now on the list of The Most Consequential Elections in History.
  • Coalition Frees Kuwait

    After the Iraqis invaded Kuwait, the United States led an international coalition against Iraq. The US launched an air attack against the Iraqis, followed by a land attack, which dislodged the Iraqis from Kuwait.
  • START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) negotiations begin

    It was a treaty between the US and the USSR. It removed 80 percent of all nuclear weapons in existence. In April of 2010, Obama and Medvedev signed a new treaty that added on to START called Measures to Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
  • US Troops to Bosnia

    The War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war came about as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia. The US came in to bring peace.
  • Clinton Elected

    People were happy after he was elected because he turned the economy around. Many doubted him because of his character. He was re-elected anyway because of the good job that he was doing. He later resigned.
  • Confrontation in Waco

    The siege began when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms accompanied by several members of the media, attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel. Shortly after the attempt to serve the warrant, an intense gun battle erupted, lasting nearly 2 hours. When a fire destroyed the compound when a second assault was launched. 75 people died in the fire, including more than 20 children, two pregnant women.
  • NAFTA

    It is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
  • Federal Office Building Bombed

    It was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. It killed 168 people and injured 680. The people responsible for it were Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and Michael and Lori Fortier.
  • President Clinton Impeached

    He was impeached on one charge of perjury and one charge of obstruction of justice.
  • US Leads Intervention in Kosovo

    The US assisted Albanians in fighting Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War by deploying military forces and aircraft.
  • George W Bush Elected President

    He was the 43rd president. His father was the 41st president. He is known as a wartime president because he had to deal with many terrorist attacks.
  • Large Tax Cut Passed

    It significantly lowered the marginal tax rates for nearly all U.S. taxpayers.
  • 9/11 Attack on New York and Washington DC

    Terrorists hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center. They also hit the Pentagon. About 3,500 people died as a result of the attacks.
  • Anthrax Attacks in US

    Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. The main suspect was Bruce Edwards Ivins.
  • US and Great Britain Attack Afghanistan

    After the terrorist attacks on 9/11 the US went into Afghanistan to find Osama Bin Laden and other terrorist group leaders.
  • Enron Bankruptcy

    The company filed for bankruptcy after it's scandal was revealed. The scandal also brought into question the accounting practices and activities of many corporations throughout the United States and was a factor in the creation of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002.
  • Congress Authorizes Force Against Iraq

    Bush was allowed to use the Armed Forces to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq and enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
  • US Invades Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom

    US and UK armies claimed that they were going in there to look for WMDs. This led to the execution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
  • Hurricane Katrina Devastates Gulf Coast

    It was one of the five deadliest hurricanes in US history. Total property damage was estimated at $81 billion. At least 1,836 people died in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent flood.
  • US Recession begins

    The economy begins to fail. Companies lose stocks and investors lose money. It causes a widespread effect on the world's economy.
  • Barack Obama Inaugurated President

    He was elected the 44th president. He is now working on removing troops from the Middle East.
  • General Motors Declares Bankruptcy

    They got a second chance after Obama gave them a bailout.
  • Osama Bin Laden Killed by US Forces

    Osama was found in his compound and then killed by a team of Navy Seals. On May 6th, Al-Qaeda vowed to avenge the killing.
  • President Obama Announces Troop Surge

    Obama plans to remove troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. This will end the war in Iraq,
  • US Combat Mission Ends in Iraq

    The war in Iraq ended officially with a flag-lowering ceremony in which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said a free, democratic Iraq was worth the sacrifice in American lives.