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Founding of Jamestown
104 English men sailed from England to North America to create a settlement. In May they picked Jamestown Virginia, named after King James I. This became known as the first permanent English settlement in North America, setting the stage for all to come. -
voyage of the Mayflower
The Merchant ship more commonly known as the Mayflower, set sail from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England. The Ship carried 102 passengers, known as pilgrims, all hoping to start a new life on the other side of the Atlantic. When the ship had landed in Massachusetts, only 50 passengers and half of the crew had survived the treacherous journey. They then settled, and with the help of natives, form the Massachusetts bay colony. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon was the instigator of the rebellion against colonial governor William Berkeley. It was the first rebellion in the American colonies that discontented frontiersmen took part. They responded by tightening the racial caste of slavery in an attempt to divide the two races from subsequent uprisings with the passage of the Virginia slave codes of 1705. -
Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation line of 1763 was a British-produced boundary marked in the Appalachian mountains at the eastern continental divide. The proclamation line prohibited Anglo-American colonists from settling on lands acquired from the French following the French and indian war -
Sugar Act
The sugar act was British legislation aiming at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies and at providing increased revenues to fund enlarged British Empire responsibilities following the French and Indian war. It greatly disrupted the economy of the American colonies by increasing the cost of many imported items, and reducing exports to non-British markets -
Quartering Act
The British parliament requiring colonial authorities and citizens to provide food, drink, quarters, fuel, and transportation to British forces stationed in their towns or villages. American colonists resented and opposed the Quartering Act because they were being taxed to pay for provisions and barracks for the army, a standing army that they thought was unnecessary during peacetime and an army that they feared. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was the first internal tax levied directly on American colonists by British Parliament. The act imposed a tax on all paper goods in the colonies during a time when Britain was in debt from the Seven years War and they turned to their North American colonies for revenue. -
Boston Massacre
What began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. The event was heavily publicized by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest that took place at Griffin's Warf in Boston Massachusetts. American colonists grew furious at Parliament for imposing taxation without representation and dumped 342 crates of British tea into the Boston harbor. This is an important moment in history because it is the first open act of defiance against British rule over colonies. -
The Albany Congress
The Albany Congress was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the thirteen British colonies in British America: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. The Albany Plan of Union was a plan to create a unified government for the Thirteen Colonies suggested by Benjamin Franklin. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first battles of the revolutionary war after tensions had been rising up for years between the American colonies and Great Britain. on the night of April, 18 100s of British troops marched from Boston to concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride go on ahead of them to warn colonial militia men to intercept the redcoats. -
The Battle of Yorktown
The World turned upside down- The battle of Yorktown famously known for it's outcome that was so wildly unexpected. General Cornwallis and his British army surrendered to General Washington's American forces and French allies at Chesapeake Bay. For the American colonies it was more than just a military win. The outcome in Yorktown, Virginia marked the conclusion of the last major battle of the American Revolution. The start of a new nation's independence. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 formally ended the American Revolutionary War. American statesmen Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay negotiated the peace treaty with representatives of King George III of Great Britain. In the Treaty of Paris, the British Crown formally recognized American independence and ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States, doubling the size of the new nation and paving the way for westward expansion. -
Constitutional convention
Between the months of May and September delegates from the 12 states convened in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, which had proven insufficient to cope with the challenges facing the young nation. The Notorious Three-fifths compromise came out of this meeting. It established that enslaved men and women were represented in the house at a 3 to 5 ratio of their actual number. -
Election of 1789
The first presidential election in US history. George Washington was unanimously elected president of the United States. With 69 electoral votes, Washington won the support of each participating elector. He was inaugurated into the presidential office on April 30,1789. -
First bank of the United States
Alexander Hamilton wrote the proposal for the first bank of the United States. It was established and chartered for a term of 20 years. It assumed states debts and made the national credit competitive. -
Bill of rights
The Bill of rights was ratified on December 15,1791. While Federalists opposed including a bill of rights in the constitution, Antifederalists saw the flaws in the constitution and wrote a bill of rights with the first ten amendments in the us constitution. -
Neutrality Proclamation
President Washington issued the neutrality proclamation that declared the nation neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain. The significance of this event being that the US had previously signed a treaty with France after their help in America's time of need in the revolutionary war. Their only request in return was for the US to help France in future if needed. -
Jay's treaty
As tensions raised between America and Britain after the end of the Revolutionary war over British military posts still located in America's northwestern territory and British interference with American trade and shipping. Supreme court justice John Jay was only partly successful in getting Britain to meet America's demands and opposition to the treaty in the US was tense. Eventually it passed the senate with exactly a 2/3 vote. -
Washington's farewell address
George Washington, after serving two presidential terms, steps down from his role, teaching the nation how to move forward. In his farewell address he advises the nation to view themselves as a cohesive unit and avoid political parties. He talks about the importance of neutrality and entanglements with other nations. His address to America starts our foundation of democracy. -
Election of 1796
Thomas Jefferson, running for the democratic republican party against John Adams, of the Federalist party. John Adams wins the Election with 71 electoral votes and becomes the second president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson, coming in second in the election, becomes his Vice President. This is the first peaceful transition of power in the United States. -
XYZ Affair
Previous affairs had already set the French on edge with America. They felt their treaties were violated by America and as a result they went on to seize a number of American merchant ships. US diplomats were sent to France, in order to stop the conflict and were shunned .Congress then authorized defensive measures causing the start of what came to be known as the Quasi- War. John Adams, became unpopular during the presidency by trying to negotiate out of a war but the people favored it. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
A series of four laws collectively known as the alien and sedition acts were passed by the federalist congress in 1798 and signed into law by president John Adams. These laws included new powers to deport foreigners as well as making it harder for immigrants to vote. They also limited freedom of speech and of the press. The sedition act took direct aim at anyone who directly spoke out against Adams, or the federalist dominated government. -
Election of 1800: Jefferson becomes 3rd president of the U.S.
Vice President Thomas Jefferson ran against incumbent president John Adams in the fourth presidential election This election was very monumental because after the defeat of John Adams there was never another federalist president The electoral vote is split between Jefferson and Aaron burr from the same party, it was sent to the House of Representatives to decide where Jefferson eventually won majority. This leads to the 12 amendment The person who comes in second is no longer the vice president. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana from Napoleonic France in 1803.In return for approximately 15 million dollars, 18 dollars per square mile, the United States acquired a total of 828,000 sq mi. Current President Thomas Jefferson sent explorers Louis and Clark to go on an expedition to study the new lands and write back to him with their findings. -
Marbury v. Madison
This landmark supreme court case established the principle of judicial review in the U.S. the federal courts now have the power to strike down laws that they find violate the constitution. John Adams, after being defeated in reelection, was rushing to fill positions before Jefferson took office. The court case was between Madison, Jefferson's secretary of state, and Marbury who had been appointed under Adams but the paperwork wasn't finished before his term ended and was refused his commission. -
Embargo Act
Jefferson is reelected for president in 1804 and legislation of the U.S. congress closed U.S. ports to all exports and restricted imports from Britain. This was president Jefferson's response to the British and French interference with neutral U.S. merchant ships during the Napoleonic wars. This act greatly hurt the American economy and took years to repair. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–American War. California was to be admitted as a free state .As a solution to the disagreement over if California would be a slave for free state Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850. -
Battle of New Orleans
the treaty in Ghent, effectively ended the War of 1812. News was slow, so the two sides met in what is remembered as one of the conflict’s biggest and most decisive engagements. In the bloody Battle of New Orleans, future President Andrew Jackson and a assortment of militia fighters, frontiersmen, slaves, Indians and even pirates weathered a frontal assault by a superior British force, inflicting devastating casualties along the way. The victory vaulted Jackson to national fame. -
War of 1812/ Treaty of Ghent
The War of 1812 was a conflict fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against Great Britain and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. The war was fought over British violations of U.S. maritime rights. It ended with the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Ghent. -
Missouri Compromise
Amid growing sectional tensions over the issue of slavery, the U.S. Congress passed a law that admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while banning slavery from the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands located north of the 36º 30’ parallel. -
Andrew Jackson Presidency
Andrew Jackson ran against the incumbent president of the united states John Quincy Adams in 1828. He won with 178 electoral votes. As America’s political party system developed, Jackson became the leader of the new Democratic Party. A supporter of states’ rights and slavery’s extension into the new western territories, he opposed the Whig Party and Congress on polarizing issues such as the Bank of the United States. -
Indian Removal Act: Trail of tears
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, authorizing the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. what became known as the trail of tears was the treacherous journey of indigenous peoples, more than 4,000 died of disease, starvation, and exposure to extreme weather. -
Nullification Ordinance
The Ordinance of Nullification declared the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within the borders of the U.S. state of South Carolina. In the face of the military threat, and following a Congressional revision of the law which lowered the tariff, South Carolina repealed the ordinance. -
Battle of the Alamo
A Mexican force numbering in the thousands began a siege of the fort. Though vastly outnumbered, the Alamo’s 200 defenders and the famed frontiersman Davy Crockett—held out for 13 days before the Mexican forces finally overpowered them. For Texans, the Battle of the Alamo became an enduring symbol of their resistance to oppression and their struggle for independence, which they won later that year. The battle cry of “remember the Alamo” became popular in years to follow. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty ended the war between the United States and Mexico. By its terms, Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including parts of present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, to the United States. This led to debates through the nation whether they would be slave or free states. -
Seneca Falls Convention
In Seneca Falls, New York, the assembly launched the woman suffrage movement in the United States. The convention passed 12 resolutions—11 unanimously—designed to gain certain rights and privileges that women of the era were denied. Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott started the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. They worked on encouraging women, sharing tactics, ideas, and next steps to take, they met Susan B. Anthony. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Dred Scott Decision
This supreme court case went down in history as the worst decision ever made. The court ruled (7–2) that Dred Scott who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy and pushed the country closer to civil war. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War. This Union fort held a strategic position for the Union as it was deep within Southern territory and right off the coast of south Carolina. It ended in a Confederate victory. With supplies nearly exhausted and his troops outnumbered, Union major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter to Brig. Gen. P.G.T Beauregard’s Confederate forces. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln Addresses the nation as they approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." This was an important step at the time because it led to the 13th amendment to the constitution. -
Battle of Vicksburg
a decisive Union victory during the American Civil War that divided the confederacy and cemented the reputation of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The 47-day siege gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union, a critical supply line, and was part of the Union’s Anaconda Plan to cut off outside trade to the Confederacy. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Arguably the most important engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania. Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia. The Union had won in a major turning point, stopping Lee’s invasion of the North. It inspired Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” which became one of the most famous speeches of all time. -
13th Amendment
A direct outcome of the civil war, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. -
Freedman's Bureau
During its years of operation, the Freedmen's Bureau fed millions of people, built hospitals and provided medical aid, negotiated labor contracts for ex-slaves and settled labor disputes. It also helped former slaves legalize marriages and locate lost relatives, and assisted black veterans making it an important agency during the reconstruction Era. -
Purchase of Alaska
the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. William H. Seward pushed to purchase Alaska because he knew how beneficial its land could be for military and economic purposes. -
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Johnson became the first American president to be impeached. When the House formally adopted the articles of impeachment and forwarded them to the United States Senate for adjudication. He was constantly having his vetoes overrode by the super majority of republicans in congress. The house impeached Johnson, but the Senate fell one vote short. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States including former enslaved people and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” It was one of three amendments passed during the Reconstruction era to abolish slavery and establish civil and legal rights for Black Americans. -
Transcontinental railroad
The Pacific Railroad Act chartered the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies, tasking them with building a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from east to west. Over the next seven years, the two companies would race toward each other from Sacramento, California on the one side to Omaha, Nebraska on the other, struggling against great risks before they met at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson was the supreme court case that ruled that the "separate but equal" policy was constitutional. It was a 7-1 majority vote by the court. This advanced separate but equal laws and reaffirmed society that this was an ok action even though it is not. The impact of this is that these laws continued to happen and now they were even considered fully constitutional laws. -
Sinking of the USS Maine
This incident preceding the Spanish-American War in which a mysterious explosion sank the U.S. battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana. The destruction of the Maine was one of a series of incidents that precipitated the United States’ intervention in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain. This tragedy was painted in away to US citizens that Spain was the problem and that war was necessary. -
Start of Spanish American War.
The Spanish–American War was a period of armed conflict between Spain and the United States. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence -
Rough Riders
Teddy Roosevelt gave up his position as the Under Secretary of the Navy.During the Spanish-American War, He hand picked a group of tough sharpshooters from the west to become his cavalry unit. These cowboys became the most famous unit in the war. They First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. They were successful in taking San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill with their courage and ability to shoot on horseback. -
annexation of Hawaii
the Hawaiian islands were formally annexed by the United States in 1898 by the urging of president William Mckinley. Spurred by the nationalism aroused by the Spanish-American War. The event marked the end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and non-native American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government. -
Teddy Rosevelt's Big Stick diplomacy
Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy, shows force and military preparedness that was always ready for war. His moto was "speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." He used his foreign policy when European powers threatened to seize control of south or central American nations. His policy was known also as the Roosevelt Corollary and was shown to be very powerful and not something to challenge. -
President McKinley Assassinated
President McKinley was shot at a Pan American exposition in Buffalo, New York. He died days later of complications from his bullet wounds. The significance of this event now means Theodore Roosevelt is now president. He was very famous and popular from serving in the military but the Republicans thought he was a wild card and would be hard to control. Roosevelt was one of the reasons McKinley was able to get re-elected because he was so popular and everyone loved him. -
Wright brother's first flight
The Wright Flyer made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on 17 December 1903. Invented and flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation. This Historic moment took place at Kitty Hawk beach in Dayton Ohio. -
United States Forest Service
President Roosevelt loved the outdoors and wanted to protect and preserve some of Americans natural wild lands and make them national parks and reserves. He established 150 national forest, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game preserves, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments. He was the first U.S. president to prioritize conservation. -
FDA is established
Theodore Roosevelt signed the FDA into law. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human drugs. It brought them under the agency's control and required that drugs be labeled with adequate directions for their safe use.The law also mandated the premarket approval of all new drugs. The impact of this is that public health becomes safer and there are more regulations so that things are done in a cleaner way. -
United States enters World War I
On April 4, 1917 The United States senate voted in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. The House concurred two days later. The United States later declared war on German ally Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917.The U.S. entered WWI because of events such as the Zimmerman telegram and unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I. The treaty was seen as highly controversial. Germany was forced to take all the responsibility for what happened in the war, which economically crippled them. This would end up leaving Germany in a vulnerable state that would be taken advantage of by the Nazi party, which would use the anger of Germany's people to their advantage. Germany was also forced to have a reduced military. -
Harlem Renaissance
While African Americans were gaining more social mobility due to the Great Migration. The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance was a new age of African American culture allowing for a new sense of shared community that transcended neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states. -
Prohibition
Alcohol: the root of many problems within society in the early 1900s, or so it was thought. Many people believed that domestic violence and other forms of crimes were due to the consumption of alcohol. To combat these problems, America banned the manufacturing and eventually the consumption of alcohol. This resulted in much defiance. People started to bootleg alcohol, and speakeasies became common. -
19th amendment (Women's suffrage)
The women’s suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States. It took activists and reformers nearly 100 years to win that right. on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
The Scopes Monkey Trial was a landmark supreme court case in which high school teacher John T Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act that outlawed the teaching of evolution. This trial was a major clash between Modernists who believed in evolution and Fundamentalists that believed in the Bible. Scopes enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and although losing the case was able to draw nationwide attention to outlawing the teachings of evolution. -
Wall Street Stock Market Crash
The economic boom that was the roaring 20's ended on a day know as "Black Monday".October 28, 1929, the Dow declined nearly 13 percent. On the following day, Black Tuesday, the market dropped nearly 12 percent. By mid-November, the Dow had lost almost half of its value. The slide continued through the summer of 1932, when the Dow closed at 41.22, its lowest value of the twentieth century, 89 percent below its peak. The Dow did not return to its pre-crash heights until November 1954. -
Dust Bowl
A drought in the Midwest brought a natural phenomenon we now know as the Dust Bowl.Economic depression, extended drought, unusually high temperatures, poor agricultural practices and the resulting wind erosion all contributed to making the dust bowl. For a period of time, the topsoil on our land would blow easily with the wind due to wind erosion. The Dust Bowl also exposed our poor agriculture practices. -
Bonus Army
The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators made up of 17,000 veterans of the United States in World War I, with their families and affiliated groups who gathered in Washington, D.C. in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates. Caused by the impoverishment of WWI veterans from the Depression and leading to demonstrators dispersed, demands rejected, Herbert Hoover losing 1932 presidential election, and eventually the G.I bill of 1944. -
The New Deal
America in the middle of the great depression President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal had three r's: relief, recovery, and reform. The New Deal looked to control certain economic problems such as the price of items and the wages people were payed.The New Deal established the precedent of the federal government assisting in economic and social affairs.Its primary goal to pull America out of the Great depression was unsucessful as WWII was what actually suceedded in ending the Great Depression -
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
The biggest agency in Roosevelts New Deal, employed over 8 million people and had a $2 billion fund. It worked on bridges, reservoirs, irrigation, sewage, schools and playgrounds. The workers got paid the minimum wage, but were able to get a job. Roosevelt knew that the countries unemployment rate needed to be low for the country to get out of a depression. The WPA would get workers from employment, charity and soup lines. It provided jobs and incomes for millions of Americans. -
Social Security Act of 1935
The Social Security Act of 1935, enacted by the 74th United States Congress.The law was part of Roosevelt's New Deal domestic program.To provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and enabling states to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws to establish a Social Security Board to raise revenue -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act allowed older citizens of the United States to live life after retirement more comfortably. The act established a system of federal old-age benefits, along with benefits for blind and crippled people. This Act was part of President Roosevelt's New Deal Program. -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, early morning on Sunday, December 7, 1941. The United States was a neutral country at the time; the attack led to The United States formal entry into World War II the next day. -
Japanese Internment
After the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and growing paranoia, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 marking the beginning of Japanese Internment. The Executive Order created military zones in California, Washington, and Oregon forcing Americans of Japanese ancestry into them. This drastically effected many Japanese families who were forced to rapidly sell their possessions at unfavorable prices. -
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. It brought together the land, air and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. -
G.I. Bill of rights
U.S. legislation adopted in 1944 provided various benefits to veterans of World War II. The act enabled veterans to obtain grants for school and college tuition, low-interest mortgage and small-business loans, job training, hiring privileges, and unemployment benefits. The government waanted to show their gratefullness to the soilers who fought long and hard during WWII.It also made a huge impact on the post-war economy, eventually pulling the U.S. out of the great depression. -
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. Truman decided to use the nuclear wepon to bring the war to a speedy end and demonstrate their power to the Soviet Union. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. The Truman Doctrine effectively reoriented U.S. foreign policy, away from its usual stance of withdrawal from regional conflicts not directly involving the United States, to one of possible intervention in far away conflicts. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat against communism.Truman asked Congress for $400 million of aid plus U.S. troops and advisors to help countries not fall to communism. Truman believed that the seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. -
Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player in Major League Baseball's history. he did so competing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. While Robinson's integration into baseball was met with some pushback by fans, the color barrier being broken was a huge step for the civil rights movement. Jackie was specifically chosen to be the first black player in major league baseball by his coach. He was chosen for the role because of his ability to take the hate and criticism from the public. -
1st Levittown is built
The suburbs expanded by 47% during the 1950s. Levittown in Long Island, New York, was one of the first to introduce the idea of a pre-planned, mass-produced uniform suburban community. As family size in the 1950's was increasing due to the G.I. bill of rights giving cheap mortgage loans and the baby boom, families were looking to expand housing as well. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion in economic recovery programs to Western European economies after the end of World War II. Secretary of state, George Marshall created the four year plan to reconstruct cities, industries, and infastructure damaged during WWII. In hopes to also remove trade barriers between the U.S. and western Europe. -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by America and many European nations in order provide security against the threat of the Soviet Union. This was the first peacetime alliance America had ever entered outside of the Western hemisphere This alliance shows the threat the Soviets were seen as at the time and the fear for the spread of communism -
Brown v. Board of education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. As previously deemed constitutional by the Jim Crow laws. -
Montgomergy Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest during which African Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest segregated seating.The boycott is regarded as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation.4 days before the boycott began Rosa Parks was arrested and fined for refusing to yield her bus seat to a white man.The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system -
Eisenhower Interstate Highway Act
The largest public works project in history, updated and modernized America's roadways. It connected and intertwined the country and made it a lot easier to transport goods and to travel. Eisenhower also played off of Cold War fears, so that the interstate could act as emergency runways incase an enemy destroys our air fields. The act also reduced manufacturing and distribution for companies which made the U.S. more competitive in world markets. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock 9 were a group of 9 Black students who enrolled at an all-white High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.This was a test of Brown v. Board of Education.The first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the Black students’ entry into the high school.Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock 9 into the school.It drew national attention to the civil rights movement. -
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It orbited for three weeks before its batteries ran out. This was the start of the space race between the United States and the Soviet union. Leading to American funding NASA and eventually putting the first man on the moon. -
Freedom Riders
Student volunteers both black and white, organized by CORE and SNCC began taking rides throughout the south to test new laws outlawing segregation in bus and railways stations. Several groups of riders were viscously attacked and buses were bombed by mobs of angry white racists. The police chief intentionally delayed getting on scene so the racists had more time to seriously damage people. Pictures surface of the bus being bombed and there is nationwide support for the students. -
Cuban Missle Crisis
For thirteen days in October 1962 the world waited seemingly on the brink of nuclear war and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis.An American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on Cuba.Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade around Cuba.The aim of this "quarantine," was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies.He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites -
March On Washington
The March on Washington was a massive protest march that occurred in August 1963, when 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Also known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the event aimed to draw attention to continuing challenges and inequalities faced by African Americans a century after emancipation. It was also the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The March remained completely peaceful and no violence took place. -
JFK Assassination
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. This sent shockwaves through America as there was great confusion in the hour between Kennedy's shooting and the announcement of his death. Taking place during the Cold War, it was at first unclear whether the shooting might be part of a larger attack upon the U.S., and whether Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had been riding two cars behind in the motorcade,was safe. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.It prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs.It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools.It is the nation's benchmark civil rights legislation, and it continues to resonate in America.It ended the application of Jim Crow laws and was eventually expanded by Congress to strengthen these fundamental civil rights -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was a coordinated series of North Vietnamese attacks on more than 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam.The offensive was an attempt to urge rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the U.S. to scale back its involvement in the Vietnam War.Despite heavy casualties, North Vietnam achieved a strategic victory with the Tet Offensive as the attacks marked a turning point in the Vietnam War and the beginning of the slow, painful American withdrawal. -
MLK jr. Assassination
Martin Luther King jr. was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. News of King’s assassination prompted major outbreaks of racial violence, resulting in more than 40 deaths nationwide and extensive property damage in over 100 American cities. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old escaped fugitive, later confessed to the crime and was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.“Martin Luther King Jr., tried to give his life serving others” -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11, U.S. spaceflight during which commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin Aldrin Jr. on July 20, 1969, became the first people to land on the Moon and walk the lunar surface. Apollo 11 was the culmination of the Apollo program and a massive national commitment by the United States to beat the Soviet Union in putting people on the Moon.The flight of Apollo 11 was witnessed via television by hundreds of millions of people in nearly every part of the globe. -
Watergate Break-in
The police arrested burglars in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Evidence linked the break-in to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign.In February 1973 the Senate investigation revealed the existence of audiotapes, the content of which proved incriminating to President Nixon, and ultimately led to his resignation to avoid impeachment. Nationally televised, the Watergate Committee hearings boosted public confidence in Congress. -
Roe v. Wade
A landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, challenging a Texas law making abortion illegal except by a doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life.Roe alleged that the state laws were unconstitutional and abridged her right of personal privacy protected by the 1,4,5,9,14 Amendments
