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Jamestown founded May 13, 1607,plays a significant role in US history because it became the first permanent English settlement in North America.Jamestown was a failure because many settlers moved to Jamestown with a lack of knowledge about the area, this would lead to the “Starving Time” and an 86% death rate.The settlers of Jamestown would soon find out that Tobacco was a cash crop and grew well in Virginia and this would lead to massive income for Virginia and start the high demand for Slaves. -
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, a message given by Jonathon Edwards in 1741 in Northampton, Massachusetts, aimed to teach about the horrors of Hell, the dangers of sins, and the terrors of being lost. This sermon was significant for it is oftentimes referred to by historians as the catalyst of the First Great Awakening. Jonathon Edward would continue preaching and would further play a significant role in the First Great Awakening with his. -
The British Parliament ratified the Quartering Act of 1765 in 1765 shortly after the ratification of the Stamp Act of 1765. The Quartering act would prohibit British soldiers from being in private homes but it would make the colonial legislature responsible for paying and providing for barracks and other accommodations to house British regulars. The US would later make the first three amendments to the Bill of Rights in response to the Quartering Act. -
On December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty, a resistance group that used extreme levels of civil disobedience to intimidate Loyalists and outrage the British government, went to the Boston port and seized three British ships. The Sons of Liberty would then proceed to throw 92,000 lbs of tea off of these boats. This would result in 1.8 million dollars (in today's money) of damage. This would be very significant for it would be the first major act of British defiance. -
The Coercive Acts of 1774, was the quick British response to the rebellious acts of the Sons of Liberty, the Boston Tea Party. The Coercive Acts consisted of 5 acts.The Boston Port Act closed the Port of Boston.The Massachusetts Government Act outlawed local assemblies.The Administration Act tried royal officials accused of a crime in England. The Quartering Act is reinforced. This would lead to the formation of the First Continental Congress which would ultimately lead to the revolutionary war. -
The 2nd Continental Congress formed May 10,1775 planned the colonies further responses if the British government did not repeal or modify the acts they had put in effect.This congress would be the first time all 13 colonies would work together.The 2nd Continental Congress would leave a lasting effect on the US creating voting to adopt the Declaration of Independence which would eventually lead to the colonies becoming the US.The newly formed country raised an army and developed a new government. -
The Declaration of Independence, written by Benjamin Franklin, was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence would quite literally be the declaration of independence from the control of Britain. This document would include how the colonies made an effort to stay with the British but the British control of the colonies would last no longer. This would be impactful for this would be our independence day and the beginning of America we know today. -
The victory at Saratoga on October 7, 1777,would end up being a big turning point in the revolutionary war.The Continental Army would go into this battle with a disadvantage in resources and in army size.In the end, George Washington’s strategy would end up coming in clutch in the end and led the disadvantageous Continental Army to a mighty victory.This would also secure the French as allies to the colonies. The French would ultimately help the Continental army to force the British to surrender. -
On November 15, 1777 the newly founded country, the US, would adopt the country's first constitution. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. This would be the result of the abusive power of the British. The articles would constitute, No Standing Army, No Taxing Authority, Northwest Ordinance.This constitution would be significant for the future of the US but would soon need to be revised. -
The Treaty of Paris, signed September 3, 1783,would mark the end of a long hard fought war and mark the start of the successful country the United States would become.The Treaty of Paris would be signed by King George III after the British defeat at the Battle of Yorktown.The British surrender would be a result of the colony's ally, the French, and the strategies throughout the war.This treaty would grant all lands between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi river and north to British Canada. -
On August 29, 1786, poor farmers would have reached their limit and would decide that it is time to take a stand against the Articles of Confederation. This uprising would be a result of poor farmers coming back to nothing after fighting in the Revolutionary War. This would be an important uprising because it would shine a light on the flaws of the Articles of Confederation and lead to the constitution we have and abide by today. -
The Northwest Ordinance, enacted on July 13, 1787,splits up the Northwest into 5 different sects.This ordinance would start to set down ideas for what a city needs to consist of and creates opportunity for territories to become states. The land in the Northwest Ordinance would also be the first land of the US to abolish slavery.The Northwest Ordinance would be significant in US history because it would allow for more states to join the union and it would also be the start of division of slavery. -
On September 24, 1789 the Judiciary Act of 1789 was passed. This act created an independent federal system with the supreme court and lower court levels. This allows for not-as-important court cases, such as speeding, to be taken care of without the supreme court while leaving only extreme cases to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court is to have Chief Justice and five associate justices. This would be significant because it would play a very important role in the future. -
On December 12, 1791, the first national bank, the Bank of the United States, would be established in Philadelphia. In 1791 the First Bank of the United States was needed because the government had a debt from the Revolutionary War, and each state had a different form of currency. It was built while Philadelphia was still the nation's capital. This would start to create unity in the newly founded United States. This would be significant because it would play a big role, even today. -
On December 15, 1791, articles 3 through 12, by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constituted the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is important not only in the freedoms it protects but in its demonstration of America's enduring commitment to self-improvement and striving to continuously form a “more perfect union.” Since 1791, 17 additional Amendments have been ratified for 27 Amendments to the Constitution. -
On February 24, 1803, the Marbury v. Madison case would give the right of ‘Judicial Review’ or the power of federal courts to void acts of Congress in conflict with the Constitution. This would mark the first time the Supreme Court assumed legal authority to overrule acts of other branches of the government. This would be a very important case because it would give the Supreme Court, one of its main roles, to deem acts of congress constitutional or unconstitutional. -
In a transaction with France, signed on April 30, 1803, the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million. Thomas Jefferson would have to exercise power not put in the constitution. This would eventually double the size of the United States, greatly strengthening the country materially and strategically, providing a powerful impetus to westward expansion, and confirming the doctrine of implied powers of the federal Constitution. -
The Second Bank of the United States had much in common with its forerunner, including its functions and structure.It would act as fiscal agent for the federal government holding its deposits,making its payments, and helping it issue debt to the public and it would issue and redeem banknotes and keep state banks' issuance of notes in check.This would be significant for it would be a representation of what the US would not want as a federal bank. Andrew Jackson denounced this bank and "Bank War." -
The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) is a Christian denomination founded by Bishop Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816. The AME Church was created and organized by people of African descent (most descended from enslaved Africans taken to the Americas) as a response to being officially discriminated against by white congregants in the Methodist church. This would be significant because it would be the first step towards the independence of African Americans. -
Born in Warren, Connecticut in 1792, Charles Grandison Finney was a Christian revivalist preacher who played an influential role in the Second Great Awakening. But, Finney's draw to preaching did not occur until the early to mid-1820s. Charles Finney would introduce the idea of free will. The Second Great Awakening set the stage for equally enthusiastic social reform movements, especially abolitionism and temperance. These both would play a major role in the future. -
With the United States beginning to divide into slave states and free states, Henry Clay would come in as an attempt to save the country. He would propose the Missouri Compromise on March 2, 1820. This compromise would suggest that the country be divided straight in half, at latitudes 34, and 30, and divides the country in half evenly for abolitionist states and pro-slavery states. This would be significant for it would be the start of great division in the country. -
The tariff of 1828 raised taxes on imported manufacturers so as to reduce foreign competition with American manufacturing. The tariff sought to protect northern and western agricultural products from the competition with foreign imports; however, the resulting tax on foreign goods would raise the cost of living in the South and would cut into the profits of New England's industrialists. This would be significant for it would furthermore create division between the north and the south. -
On May 28,1830,Jackson would push the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which would direct the mandatory relocation of eastern tribes to territory west of the Mississippi.Jackson insisted that his goal was to save the Indians and their culture.Indians resisted the controversial act,but in the end,most were forced to comply.This would lead to the Trail of Tears which would relocate Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma,many of whom died on the way.This would lead to a long lasting battle with the Native Indians. -
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) was founded in 1833 in Philadelphia, by prominent white abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Lewis Tappan as well as blacks from Pennsylvania, including James Forten and Robert Purvis. The society's goal was to immediately and unconditionally abolish slavery. The AASS sponsored speaking tours and published antislavery books, newspapers, and pamphlets. By the late 1830s, AASS had 250,000 members. AASS would play a big role in abolition. -
The Oregon Trail, established in 1843, was a roughly 2,000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and finally into Oregon. This trail would be significant because it would mark the beginning of westward expansion for the United States. -
Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined by God, to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. The ideology of Manifest Destiny inspired a variety of measures designed to remove or destroy the native population. This would be significant because it would start to create conflict once again between Native Indians, as well as further pursue westward expansion for the United States. -
In 1844, Congress finally agreed to annex Texas. On December 29, 1845, Texas entered the United States as a slave state, broadening the irrepressible differences in the United States over the issue of slavery and setting off the Mexican-American War. The annexation of Texas contributed to the coming of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The conflict started, in part, over a disagreement about which river was Mexico's true northern border: the Nueces or the Rio Grande. -
The 1848 Seneca Falls Woman's Rights Convention marked the beginning of the women's rights movement in the United States. The Seneca Falls Convention framed a national discussion about women's rights in America and marked the beginning of a massive civil rights movement that would span the next 70 years. The right to vote was seen as the first step to changing the traditional and unjust systems that existed. Women worked for equal rights. This movement would ultimately lead to near equal rights. -
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-48), was signed on February 2, 1848, at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a city north of the capital Mexico had fled. With the annexation of more than 525,000 square miles of land, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo extended the boundaries of the United States west to the Pacific Ocean. This agreement, along with the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, created the southern border of the present-day United States. -
Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C. was abolished. This would be a significant compromise in a last-ditch effort from Henry Clay that would last just over 30 years. This would be his last effort to prevent what would end up becoming the Civil War. -
Passed on September 18, 1850, by Congress, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, bearing, and trying escaped slaves. This would be significant in the south because this would leave southern blacks with no hope and would also create an even bigger divide between the north and the south, leading to the Civil War. -
It became law on May 30, 1854. 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 pro-slavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. This would also be one of the last major steps toward the civil war. This act would now completely split the US. -
The Bessemer Process, invented in 1856, would change the industrial and engineering world forever. The Bessemer process allowed steel to be produced without fuel, using the impurities of the iron to create the necessary heat. This drastically reduced the costs of steel production. This would affect the world as we know it today. Steel is the most important engineering and construction material. Steel is used in every aspect of our lives and the Bessemer Process made steel much more accessible. -
Missouri's Dred Scott Case, 1846-1857. In its 1857 decision that stunned the nation, the United States Supreme Court upheld slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America, and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional. This would leave blacks in the south even more hopeless and would start to cause more blacks to resent their owner which would just be an even further step to the Civil War. -
The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War a war that lasted four years,cost the lives of more than 620,000Americans,and freed 3.9million enslaved people from bondage.The bombardment of Fort Sumter would play a major part in triggering the Civil War.In the days following the assault,Lincoln issued a call for Union volunteers to quash the rebellion,while more Southern states including Virginia,North Carolina and Tennessee cast their lot with the Confederacy. -
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation 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 would be significant because it would mark the legal end of slavery in all of the US. Although it would mark the end of slavery legally, many felt that slavery would continue on for many more years to come. -
The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of First Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of the city of Manassas and about thirty miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C. Bull Run was the first full-scale battle of the Civil War. The fierce fight there forced both the North and South to face the sobering reality that the war would be long and bloody. -
The capture of New Orleans on April 29, 1862, gave Union forces under Flag Officer David Glasgow Farragut and Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler control of the Confederacy's largest port on the Mississippi River. The loss of New Orleans, the Confederacy's most populous city, not only denied Confederate forces a major center of trade and industry, New Orleans' capture gave Union forces control of the lower Mississippi River valley. This would lead to the Union's victory in the Civil War. -
Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land. Among its provisions was a five-year requirement of continuous residence before receiving the title to the land and the settlers had to be, or in the process of becoming, U.S. citizens. This would play a significant role in the US because it would lead to the full expansion and colonization of US citizens in the US. -
By connecting the existing eastern U.S. rail networks to the west coast, the Transcontinental Railroad (known as the "Pacific Railroad") became the first continuous railroad line across the United States. It was constructed between 1863 and 1869. A transcontinental railroad, Lincoln hoped, would bring the entire nation closer together, would make Americans across the continent feel like one people. This would be significant because it would be a useful resource as well as create unity in the US. -
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, ended with a victory for Union General George Meade and the Army of the Potomac. The three-day battle was the bloodiest in the war, with approximately 51,000 casualties. Gettysburg ended Confederate general Robert E. Lee's ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end. The loss there dashed the hopes of the Confederate States of America to become an independent nation. -
On November 29, 1864, roughly 700 federal troops attacked a village of 500 Cheyenne and Arapaho on Sand Creek in Colorado. An unprovoked attack on men, women, and children, the massacre at Sand Creek marked a turning point in the relationship between American Indian tribes and the Federal Government. This would lead to nearly all of the Native Americans being “Americanified” or forced into a small area of land as well as a long-lasting battle between Americans and Native Americans. -
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The 13th Amendment would state, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This would be a huge moment in US history because slaves would be no more, but this would not stop racial discrimination. -
After meeting these criteria related to protecting the rights of African Americans and their property, the former Confederate states could gain full recognition and federal representation in Congress. The act became law on March 2, 1867, after Congress overrode a presidential veto. This act outlined the terms for readmission to the representation of rebel states. The bill divided the former Confederate states, except for Tennessee. This would allow for the reconstruction of the US. -
Passed by the Senate on June 8, 1866, and ratified two years later,on July 9, 1868,the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons"born or naturalized in the United States,"including formerly enslaved people,and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws,"extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states.The amendment authorized the government to punish states that abridged citizens right to vote by proportionally reducing their representation in Congress. -
Passed by Congress on February 26, 1869,and ratified on February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment granted African American men the right to vote. The 15th Amendment guaranteed African-American men the right to vote. Almost immediately after ratification, African Americans began to take part in running for office and voting. This would allow for African-Americans to finally start to inch forward toward being equal to whites. Although it would still not be perfect, it would put blacks equal in the law. -
The adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution extended civil and legal protections to former slaves and prohibited states from disenfranchising voters “on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.” Congress passed a series of Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 (also known as the Force Acts) to end such violence and empower the president to use military force to protect African Americans. This would legally set blacks as equal to whites. -
The National Women’s Christian Temperance Movement (WCTM) was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1874. The initial purpose of the WCTU was to promote abstinence from alcohol, which they protested with pray-ins at local taverns. Their membership grew rapidly, and the WCTU remains one of the oldest non-sectarian women's groups in the United States of America. This would be significant because it would lead to the 18th amendment which would ban alcohol for a certain period of time. -
Approved on January 16, 1883, the Pendleton Act established a merit-based system of selecting government officials. Following the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act in January of 1883. The Pendleton Act provided that federal government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and through competitive exams. The act also made it unlawful to fire or demote for political reasons employees who were covered by the law. -
The Senate brought the bill to the floor for a vote in late February 1875. Perhaps as a last gesture of respect for the departed Charles Sumner, for whom securing civil rights had been a lifelong pursuit, the Senate passed the bill with a vote of 38 to 26 on February 27, 1875. The bill became law on March 1, 1875. The bill guaranteed all citizens, regardless of color, access to accommodations, theaters, public schools, churches, and cemeteries. This would be another step towards equality. -
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 started on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, in response to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad cutting wages of workers for the third time in a year. Striking workers would not allow any of the trains, mainly freight trains, to roll until this third wage cut was revoked. One of the major impacts of the strike was the increased presence in U.S. cities of local militias that later became the National Guard. -
In Chicago on May 4, 1856 radical unionists had called a mass meeting in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality in strike action. A bomb was thrown into the crowd, killing seven policemen and injuring 60 others. Although this was seen as counterproductive to the labor movement in the 1800s, it served as a turning point in American labor because it led to the formation of the American Federation of Labor. -
Approved on February 8, 1887, "An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations," known as the Dawes Act, emphasized severalty – the treatment of Native Americans as individuals rather than as members of tribes. the law authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals. This act more than anything would just create division. -
John Sherman proposed and passed the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, a federal statute which prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace. This act acted to curtail combinations of power that interfere with trade and reduce economic competition. It outlaws both formal cartels and attempts to monopolize any part of commerce in the United States. This would be significant because it would protect the consumers of American goods. -
One of the last military actions against Native Americans of the northern Plains took place on December 29, 1890. Government officials banned a growing religion known as the Ghost Dance on a South Dakota reservation that month. The Ghost Dance was a spiritual movement that arose among Western American Indians. These visions foresaw the renewal of the Earth and help for the Paiute peoples as promised by their ancestors. This would be significant because it would cause great division. -
Booker T. Washington, the African American leader and educator, reads an excerpt of the famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech that he delivered at the Atlanta Exposition on September 18, 1895. The Atlanta Compromise represented Booker T. Washington's strategy for addressing the Negro problem and has long served as the basis for contrasting Washington's views with those of Du Bois. Even today, scholars and educators debate the utility of Washington's educational ideas. -
The case originated when an all-white jury indicted Henry Williams, an African American, for murder in 1896. Williams filed a motion to quash the indictment on the ground that the laws under which the jury was formed were unconstitutional. It upheld disfranchisement clauses that established requirements for literacy tests and poll taxes paid retroactively from one's 21st birthday as prerequisites for voter registration. The tests limit African Americans' access to the polls and fair trials. -
Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people. This would court case would ultimately lead to the end of segregation but at the time would just lead to more segregation in America. -
The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of the U.S. These cases responded to the question of how American constitutional rights apply to those in United States territories. Territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. This would be important for the future because it would lead to a growing debate in politics about illegal v legal immigrants. -
The Square Deal was Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program, which reflected his three major goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. These demands often referred as the "three Cs" of Roosevelt's Square Deal. The Square Deal established a precedent that the American president could establish legislative goals for his administration. the Square Deal brought more governmental involvement in conservation, business regulations and consumer protection. -
Lochner v. New York was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court holding that a New York State statute that prescribed maximum working hours for bakers violated the bakers' right to freedom of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This was a very important case in the business and economic part of the US and would be viewed by most as a very poor decision from the Supreme Court. -
The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) was enacted to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs in interstate commerce and laid a foundation for the nation's first consumer protection agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). -
Efforts to protect specific archeological sites, such as Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, became more frequent and widespread. Finally, these efforts culminated in President Theodore Roosevelt signing the Antiquities Act into law on June 8, 1906. The Antiquities Act stands as an important achievement in the progress of conservation and preservation efforts in the United States. The Act created the basis for the federal government's efforts to protect archeological sites from looting and vandalism. -
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, and Ida B. Wells. The NAACP gave black people a voice in a time of despair. The prior people listed would lead the NAACP to play a factor in the ending of segregation. -
The Sixteenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, played a central role in building up the powerful American federal government of the twentieth century by making it possible to enact a modern, nationwide income tax. Before long, the income tax would become by far the federal government's largest source of revenue. The most significant long-term impact of the Sixteenth Amendment was the shift in the way the federal government received funding for its works. -
A particularly severe panic in 1907 resulted in bank runs that wreaked havoc on the fragile banking system and ultimately led Congress in 1913 to write the Federal Reserve Act. The Federal Reserve System was initially created to address these banking panics. The 1913 Federal Reserve Act created the Federal Reserve System. It was implemented to establish economic stability in the U.S. by introducing a central bank to oversee monetary policy. -
On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service, a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. This act tells us that this fundamental purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for their enjoyment. -
On January 17, 1917, British signals intelligence intercepted and decrypted a coded German telegram from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann that was intended for Germany's ambassador to Mexico. The telegram was considered perhaps Britain's greatest intelligence coup of World War I and, coupled with American outrage over Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, was the tipping point persuading the U.S. to join the war. -
Natinal Origins Act of 1917 banned Asians, Other Non-White People from Entering U.S. On February 5, 1917, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917, also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act. Intended to prevent “undesirables” from immigrating to the U.S., the act primarily targeted individuals migrating from Asia. The National Origins Act was a discriminatory and ethnocentric policy. This act would lead to the deportation of many ethnic Americans. -
The Sedition Act of 1918 curtailed the free speech rights of U.S. citizens during times of war. Passed on May 16, 1918, as an amendment to Title I of the Espionage Act of 1917, the act provided for further and expanded limitations on speech. The laws were directed against Democratic-Republicans, the party typically favored by new citizens. This is significant because is directly violates the US constitution and the freedom of speech. -
On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act providing for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified nine months earlier. Known as the Prohibition Amendment, it prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” in the United States. The 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act would later be repealed and the 21st Amendment would reverse the 18th Amendment once again making alcohol legal. -
Approved by the Senate on June 4, 1919, and ratified in August 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest. Having worked collectively to win the vote, more women than ever were now empowered to pursue a broad range of political interests as voters. -
The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and the Allied Nations on June 28, 1919, formally ending World War One. The terms of the treaty required Germany to pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory,and give up all of its overseas colonies.Almost half a century after the proclamation of the German Empire,when the defeated German delegates signed the peace treaty in the Hall of Mirrors,in the same place where Germany had previously proclaimed its empire.The First World War was over. -
Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism, or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The Red Scare led to several thousand who were aliens being deported. The largest raids occurred on January 2, 1920, when over 4000 suspected radicals were seized nationwide. Over 800 were arrested in New England from locations. The red scare and its effects would lead to the impeachment of the freedom of beliefs. -
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects,financial reforms,and regulations enactedby President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939.The New Deal restored a sense of security as it putpeople back to work.It created the frameworkfor a regulatory state that could protect the interests of all Americans,rich and poor,and thereby help the business system work in more productive ways.The New Deal still has several programs and organizations ineffect today. -
The Indian New Deal's premiere piece of legislation was the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA). The IRA abolished the allotment program detailed in the Dawes Act and made funds available to Native American groups for the purchase of lost tribal lands. Through the law, Indians won a greater degree of religious freedom, and tribal governments regained their status as semi-sovereign dependent nations. This act would grant Native Indians many rights and land that still stand today. -
On August 31, 1935, Congress passed the first Neutrality Act prohibiting the export of “arms, ammunition, and implements of war” from the United States to foreign nations at war and requiring arms manufacturers in the United States to apply for an export license.Legislation did this in hopes to avoid entanglement in foreign wars while still protecting wars.This was significant because it kept the United States out of the war for several years.This saved millions of dollars and lives during WWII. -
New Deal legislation passed in 1938 that outlawed child labor, standardized the forty-hour workweek, mandated overtime pay, andd established a federal minimum wage. The act put adult Americans back to work and guaranteed that they would be treated and compensated more fairly. The Fair Labor Standards Act succeeded in improving labor standards and actual working conditions, a result that continues to better the daily lives of millions of working Americans. The FLSA is still in full effect today. -
The War Powers Acts of 1941 and 1942 granted President Franklin D. Roosevelt extensive powers to support the war effort and provide for the nation's defense. This bill merely gives the President powers that are necessary to win the war, but powers that should be returned to Congress when the war has been won.This would be significant because it would give the President basically power of the whole United States.This would go against everything Americans had fought for but viewed to be necessary. -
Executive Order 8802 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to prohibit ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation's defense industry. It also set up the Fair Employment Practice Committee. In order to appease the civil rights leaders, especially Randolph, the president issued Executive Order 8802, which specified that there would be no discrimination in the U.S. defense industry on the basis of race, color, or national origin. -
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Since early 1941 the U.S. had been supplying Great Britain in its fight against the Nazis. This attack brought the United States into World War II, as it immediately declared war on Japan. Pearl Harbor is the most important American naval base in the Pacific. After Japan’s defeat, its military was dismantled and the Empire of Japan was officially eradicated. -
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, authorized the War Department to force Japenese Americans from their homes and to hold them in relocation camps for the rest of the war. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 after fears generated by the Japanese attack made the safety of America's West Coast a priority. Families were forced to leave their homes, jobs, and friends behind. This violated the Constitutional Rights of the Japenese-Americans. -
The D-Day operation of June 6, 1944, brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. The D-Day invasion would lead to the liberation of France, denying Germany any further exploitation of that country's economic and manpower resources. -
Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, this act, also known as the G.I. Bill, provided World War II veterans with funds for college education, unemployment insurance, and housing. It put higher education within the reach of millions of veterans of WWII and later military conflicts. The GI Bill is still in effect today and grants benefits to all military benefits. It gives some a reason to join and awards many for their service to our country. -
The Truman Doctrine was the principle that the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or Communist insurrection. First expressed in 1947 by US President Truman in a speech to Congress seeking aid for Greece and Turkey, the doctrine was seen by the Communists as an open declaration of the Cold War. The Doctrine became justification for US intervention into several countries during the Cold War. This would lead to the US joining into the Cold War. -
Shelley v. Kraemer is a U.S. Supreme Court case that held that restrictive covenants in real property deeds which prohibited the sale of property to non-Caucasians unconstitutionally violate the equal protection provision of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 1948, in Shelley v. Kraemer, the US Supreme Court held that courts could not enforce real estate covenants that restricted the purchase or sale of property based on race.This was another court case that was a forward step into ending segregation. -
Brown v Board signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the separate but equal principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v.Ferguson case. The legal victory in Brown did not transform the country overnight,and much work remains.Striking down segregation in the nations public schools provided a major catalyst for the civil rights movement,making possible advances in desegregating housing,public accommodations,and institutions of higher education. -
On January 5, 1949 President Harry S. Truman would announce his idea for the Fair Deal. His Fair Deal recommended that all Americans have health insurance, that the minimum wage be increased, and that, by law, all Americans be guaranteed equal rights. In July 1948 he banned racial discrimination in federal government hiring practices and ordered an end to segregation in the military. The minimum wage had risen, and social security programs had expanded. This shows that Truman was semi-succesful. -
The Warsaw Pact embodied what was referred to as the Eastern Bloc, while NATO and its member countries represented the Western Bloc. NATO and the Warsaw Pact were ideologically opposed and, over time, built up their own defenses starting an arms race that lasted throughout the Cold War. The Warsaw Pact and NATO provided for a unified military command and the systematic ability to strengthen the Soviet hold over the other participating countries. -
The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation in the public transit system of Alabama.It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States. Lasting 381 days,the Montgomery Bus Boycott resulted in the Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses unconstitutional.A significant play towards civil rights and transit equity,the Montgomery Bus Boycott helped eliminate early barriers to transportation access. -
On June 26, 1956, the Senate and House both approved a conference report on the Federal-Aid Highway Act (also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act). Three days later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law. This act authorized the building of highways throughout the nation, which would be the biggest public works project in the nation's history. This Act would help transportation across the whole country and give a way for quick mass excitement if necessary. -
Eisenhower Doctrine was a U.S. foreign-policy promising military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing help in resisting communist aggression. To stop the spread of communism the US realized that poor countries would appeal/to communism. This doctrine made the US officially a part of the Cold War. This would put the US into millions of dollars of debt and would be a very long-fought war. In the end, this war would lead to constant fear in Americans for many years to come. -
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. The successful launch came as a shock to experts and citizens in the United States, who had hoped that the United States would accomplish this scientific advancement first. The fact that the Soviets were successful fed fears that the U.S. military had generally fallen behind in developing new technology. As a result, the launch of Sputnik served to intensify the arms race and raise Cold War tensions. -
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. The march was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in Congress. -
In 1964, Congress passed, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also strengthened the enforcement of voting rights and the desegregation of schools. -
On August 7, 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorizing President Johnson to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia. This gave President Lyndon Johnson the authority to increase U.S. involvement in the war between North and South Vietnam. The resolution would happen in 1970. This would give the President an unconstitutional amount of power in the US. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This act ensured that no federal, state, or local government could in any way impede people from voting because of their race or ethnicity. This would be another step towards ending segregation. -
Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States 2nd Air Division, U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War. At the end of 1967, the CIA estimated 27,900 military and 48,000 civilians were killed and wounded. The US government has estimated that 30,000 civilians were killed in total as a result of the operation. -
In 1970, Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, where she resided, challenging a Texas law making abortion illegal except by a doctor's orders to save a woman's life. Roe v Wade in 2022 would later be voted by the Supreme Court to be overturned for it was seen as and is unconstitutional and inhumane. This would be significant because it would be a continuous debate for years to come. -
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. A scandal involving an illegal break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in 1972 by members of President Nixon's reelection campaign staff. Before Congress could vote to impeach Nixon for his participation in covering up the break-in, Nixon resigned from the presidency. -
On January 20 1981 minutes after Ronald Reagans inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 US captives held at the US embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. The resolution of this crisis would show the legacy and respect of Reagan. Jimmy Carter would try day after day to free these hostages but would come up unsuccessful for 444 days as soon as Ronald Reagan took office, Iran feared and respected him as a leader a let the hostages go.