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Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 from Spain to the "New World" and deemed it America. Columbus also brought a significant amount of slaves over with him on his voyage from West Africa. The slaves were captured from their local tribes and forced to board multiple ships to go to work in the New World and thus were the roots of slavery in The Americas. -
The First-ever settlement in America was in modern-day Florida, near St. Augustine. This settlement was founded by Pedro Menendez de Aviles of Spain, who sailed across the sea to create a basis on what to expect in the New World when creating a settlement. This initiated a rush of settlements being created all across America by mainly the Spanish, English, and French, who were all interested in the new land that had been found. -
Sir Walter Raleigh initially tried to establish a colony in Roanoke years prior to the Roanoke colony that disappeared infamously, but that first attempt at a colony ultimately failed or was very short-lived and was a motive for another expedition. Raleigh believed it could be beneficial for the people of England if they could set up a colony, so he tried again in 1587 under Governor John White. White made a trip back to England for supplies and when he came back the colony had disappeared. -
Under King James I, English explorers are determined to establish a successful colony that can set up a base in The New World. After a long voyage, around 103 settlers along with Captain John Smith, who was named Governer, land in Jamestown and claim the land for England. This sends waves through England because now they believe that they can set up numerous more colonies in America and perhaps even claim all the land for valuable resources that are unattainable in England. -
When Rolfe married Pochahontas, it brought peace between the towns, and the tribe taught the settlers how to plant tobacco as a moneymaker, which brought great profit into Jamestown. Before the marriage, Jamestown was struggling to produce anything because where it was situated, it could not grow crops very well. So when the marriage went through, the Powhatan tribe taught the colonists how to plant Tabacco. Tobacco became the main source of profit for Jamestown and funded its economy. -
Escaping religious persecution, the Pilgrims make a long voyage across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. When they arrive, they deem a landmass "Plymouth Rock" and that's where they put up the settlement. They establish the Mayflower Compact, which created a legal structure for the town. However, over the winter months, almost half of the Pilgrims died of various causes. In the spring they find peace with Natives who teach them how to grow crops and settle, this led to the first Thanksgiving. -
Although not as significant as other events on this list, the establishing of Boston is vital in the grand scheme of things. It becomes the biggest port city in the Colonies and if it didn't exist then maybe the Colonies wouldn't have gained independence because Boston seemed to be the hub of the activism that occurred during that time period. It was also an epicenter of education and literacy which led to schools being established and ideas of what government looks like. -
Formally under Dutch control, New Amsterdam was taken over by the British because they didn't want Dutch control in the Colonies. When they captured it, they renamed it, New York, after York, England. They looked to keep it under British control and turn it into something useful like a trading outpost or port. The takeover was not violent though and it actually was very peaceful because the British and the Dutch lived amongst each other in something close to harmony. -
Amidst the many settlements that were being established, mass hysteria erupted around witchcraft. People were being accused left, right, and center. Most women were the accused because they were doing things that were thought of as supernatural to directly harm others. This went on until the governors wife had been accused, then he put a stop to it and all those that had been accused and imprisoned had been pardoned. He also forbade anymore accusations occurring, which ended the madness. -
The Spanish wanted to assert themselves in The Americas, so they built The Alamo. The Alamo was supposed to be a missionary center, however, it suffered frequent attacks from natives in the area and was struck by a hurricane. Little did the Spanish know that The Alamo would play a vital role in the independence of Texas from Mexico, which had gained independence from Spain. It slowly transformed into a military stronghold because it kept on getting viciously raided by many native groups. -
The Negro Act of 1740 was passed in the Provinces of the South Carolinas, during Governor Bull's time in office, in response to the Stono Rebellion in 1739. The act made it illegal for enslaved Africans to move abroad, assemble in groups, raise food, earn money, and learn to write. It made other states reconsider their laws because rebellions could happen anywhere in the colonies. As expected, other states followed suite and took all the few rights that Africans had and took them away. -
Virginians and Englishmen founded the Ohio Company to establish clear trading posts with the Native American tribes. They also did this so that the English would gain control of the Ohio River valley and extend their boundaries past where they were before. They could also take control of all the resources that were in the valley like fertile soil to plant valuable crops. This later caused land disputes which led to The French and Indian War. -
The French and Indian war was fought between the French and British over the upper Ohio River Valley which was established by the Ohio Company because British people wanted to settle there and trade. The French thought it was theirs because they controlled the territory up to that point. The two sides could not find a peaceful resolution and had to go to battle. -
The end of the war is met with The Treaty of Paris, which resulted in France giving up all its territories in mainland North America, stopping any foreign threat to the British's land. During the war, Britain had left the colonies alone, which created a sense of independence that the colonists gained. This period was called Salutory Neglect and I think it was one of the most important factors in the fight for independence. -
The Britsh had started their long streak of oppressive taxes on colonists by making the Stamp act and The Quartering Acts. The Stamp Act made them pay taxes on things needing transportation the mail or legal documents such as birth and death certificates, and The Quartering Act forced colonists to take British troops in their homes, invading their privacy and straining their income. In resistance to this rose the Sons of Liberty, which used force to resist the laws; they were led by Sam Adams. -
The Sons of Liberty have a violent exchange with some British soldiers over the manner that Britain is ruling over the colonies. This was one of the first violent acts towards British soldiers by colonists, who believed that they were doing the right thing by doing this. This bit of violence would set a tone for years to come with a lot of small acts of resistance in order to be noticed, in a good or bad way, by the Houses of Parliament. -
Since the British had been enforcing unfair taxes on the colonists, they took it into their own hands to resist that taxation. So in the big port cities that the British relied on, the colonist did not buy things that had taxes attached to them. As a result of that, the British sent regiments of troops to the two cities to control people and enforce that people do the taxes. -
In the first act of violence towards the colonists, British soldiers fire upon a group of colonists who were throwing rocks in the snow at them. One soldier gets hit on the head with a rock and starts to bleed out of control. Out of fear of their lives, the soldiers fire into the crowd and kill 5 people who they did not intend to kill. After the event, the colonist used this as exaggerated propaganda against the British to get people on their side for the fight for independence. -
Out of resistance against the Tea Act, The Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians and dumped copious amounts of tea into the Boston harbor. Tea was Britain's product in the colonies, so by dumping it in the harbor, colonists killed the GDP of the Britsh temporarily. Britain's response to this was to pass the Coercive acts or The Intolerable acts as colonists called them. These were a string of strict laws that completely demoralized the colonists and pushed them to the edge of rebellion. -
The First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia to discuss American rights and how to boycott British goods. This was the first act of people coming together to form an alliance in U.S history. The group was willing to stay as a colony if it could have representation in British Parliment. They came up with ideas on how to negotiate with them to come to a conclusion they both like, but they could not. -
The British generals order soldiers to march to Lexington to destroy the colonists' armory to stop the rebellion at the source. Concord was on the way to Lexington, and the British learn that John Hancock and Sam Adams were hiding in Concord. They escape before they get there. Paul Revere goes from Boston to warn everyone that the British are coming to wage war. This climaxes in "The Shot Heard Round the World," and the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
The Second Continental Congress assembled once before, but now it is more serious because their independence is up for grabs. In the second one, they placed the colonies on the defensive side of the war because they were fighting for their land. They also appointed George Washington as The Continental Army's General because he clearly had the most experience on how to fight battles and win wars. This would prove to be a good move because he led them to victories and eventually freedom. -
In an act of peace and reconciliation, the Continental Congress forge The Olive Branch Petition, which said that they wanted to be represented in Parliament as a voice for the colonies. If the King rejected this then the colonies would go to war with England. As expected The King did not even look at it and instantly rejected it. This meant the colonies would official declare war on the most powerful military in the world, but they di try to find peace first. -
After The King had declared the colonies as a state of open rebellion, the war had officially started, and with help from France, the colonies needed tangible documentation for independence. Congress nominated Jefferson to write the draft of the document, and they would all check and make edits to it. This document was called The Declaration of Independence, the most important document in U.S history. It established the colonies as a sovereign nation and forged the U.S into what it is today. -
The day after Christmas, Washington leads a force across The Delaware River into Trenton. It was a surprise attack and the Hessians were not expecting it, so they were extremely drunk and could not really resist Washington's force. The army then gets a boost of morale and resources like gun powder that they had stored there because it was a camp. The caused a chain of victories for Washington's army because they were rejuvenated. -
After the two victories at Trenton and Princeton, Washington's army set up camp in Valley Forge. They underestimated the power of the winter, and Washington lost many men, and many deserted because they had lost faith in the war. When Thomas Paine writes Common Sense, the hope starts to rebuild itself because the work was so motivating that it urged the troops through the harsh winter. The army lived to fight another day. -
In the first monumental win for The Continental Army, the British surrender in Saratoga, New York. This represented a turning point in the war because it persuaded the French to step in and offer military and financial assistance. With the added French support, the colonist would boast a better chance at holding off the British on their land. The French also provided an established Navy that could be used to the colonist's advantage, -
Building off the win at Saratoga, this treaty secured an alliance with France including trade and help with the war with Britain. France also had an established Navy, something that the Continental Army did not have. This turned the tide of the war because, with the colonies' determination and France's military strength, they were a formidable force that could stand up to the tyrannical British. It also allowed proper training by French generals, something that the army needed desperately. -
After another long winter, the Continental Army plan a mutiny of George Washington at Morristown, New Jersey because they wanted full salary and rations, which they were not getting. This posed a threat to Washington's power because he was potentially going to be overthrown. The Pennslyvania army eventually sw to this rebellion and two of the leaders were hanged because of their treason against the United States standing army. -
The Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle of the war and it forced the British's hand in surrender. American and French forces surrounded British troops, forcing their surrender. It also cemented George Washington's status as a hero and eventually led to him getting elected president. This battle gave birth to a country because it secured independence for the Colonists. All military operations by the British were completely stopped and they pulled out of American affairs. -
The second Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary war and it made international countries recognize the U.S as an independent nation with its own governmental system. It also established that the U.S could trade with other nations independently. After the treaty, the U.S formed an alliance with France because they had helped them win independence and they were grateful for that, they also had a common enemy in the British government because it at one time oppressed them both. -
In anger against the federal government's tax policies, Daniel Shays and other leaders lead an armed rebellion by attacking government buildings. Although Shays didn't intend this, he tested The Articles of Confederation, which was the government body at the time. It highlighted the flaws of not having a standing army to defend against threats like that. The government noticed this flaw and decided a change needed to be made from the old to the new by creating the constitution. -
Under the newly made Constitution, the standing army that was established because of that is put to the test. PA farmers refused to pay the tax on Whiskey because they deemed it too expensive to drink more than water, which was dangerous to drink back then. The rebellion got big enough to draw attention from the federal government. The standing army with George Washington as chief went to the rebellion and put it out without a single death to mark their authority on the new nation. -
Pinckney's Treaty was an agreement with Spain about land disputes that they have been undergoing. The treaty allowed the U.S to freely use the Mississippi River for transport and trade. It defined the border between the U.S and Spanish Florida. This affected the business of the river because it was the main way of transporting goods and people throughout the country without it taking months and it really boosted the economic growth. -
Under President Adams, who had already avoided a war with France by negotiating with Napolean, the U.S was off to a shaky start. Out of fear, Adams passes the Alien and Sedition acts to calm down the nation. The Alien act allowed the president to deport any alien that was deemed dangerous by the government or threatening. The sedition act made the newspapers suppress anything negative about the president, which is very corrupt and will lead to Adams not getting re-elected. -
The election of Thomas Jefferson as president is also called the revolution of 1800 because it ended the federalist era that preceded it. It was the start of the Jeffersonian era that sparked agricultural production and economic booms. Jefferson was extremely anti-federalist and was against everything that the federalists were for like a strong central government and fewer state rights. In a last attempt to grab power, Adams appoints federalist judges to have an influence on the federal courts. -
In a very conflicted manner, Jefferson goes back and forth on whether the acquisition of new land is constitutional for a strict constructionist. It never said anything like that in the constitution, but for the good of the country, Jefferson decided it was the right thing to do. He only wanted to have control of the Mississippi River because he was fearful that the U.S might lose control of the river if they did not act soon. He then sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new land and report back. -
With Britain and France in a war once again, Jefferson did not want to support one side because that would show bias toward one country. As an effect, he cut off trading with both of them. This was a questionable idea since they were rather reliant on goods from those two countries. Despite that conception, the act actually worked surprisingly well because the U.S had to build its own economy and produce its own goods by means of agricultural and industrial materials. -
In the first significant battle of The War of 1812, British and Indian forces are defeated by the Americans in Canada. The British and the Indians were trying to defend the land from being captured for use of the river to transport things. The death of Tecumseh sees the Indian resistance in the Ohio River Valley because he was the organizer of the resistance. Without resistance, the U.S could focus on more important things like the war as a whole. -
The Battle of New Orleans took place after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed, but neither side had heard about it because it had to come from Belgium. Americans and British forces faced off in a battle that was extremely one-sided for the Americans. Future president Andrew Jackson acquired a force of soldiers from around New Orleans to fight and defend against the British. The reason they had few casualties was because they knew the land and used bunkers to take cover from British shots. -
After his win at the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson rides that to the White House for his first term of presidency. He was a common man who people could relate to because he came from nothing. He shared some ideas of Jefferson, including ideas about the agricultural industry. The year 1828 was the first election in where the media was used to mudsling and to organize rallies in where people would attend and support their canidate. -
What went on for a span of many years, The Trail of Tears started in 1831 and lasted until 1877. Mass Indian removal under Andrew Jackson's command was what caused the Trail of Tears. There was also much ethnic cleansing being done by the government. This is probably what Andrew Jackson will be most remembered for and many people opposed this idea as seen in Worcester v. GA in which the state thought it was unconstitutional to move Indians off their lands. -
Still outraged at The Tariff of Abominations, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina wants to pass the act of null and void. His reasoning for this was that apparently, it was unconstitutional to favor one part of the country and not the other. The government lowered the tariff but S.C was still not happy and they threatened to secede if the federal government made them comply. Henry Clay stepped in with the compromise tariff to prevent conflict between the two factions. -
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the U.S that triggered an economic depressing for a few years. There were many factors to blame, but the main one fell on falling cotton prices in the south which deeply affected the economy throughout the country. The country did not fully recover from the depression until the California Gold Rush which injected new life into the U.S economy. -
When Mexico was in possession of Texas, the U.s always had wanted it to expand its borders. With the uprising issue of slavery and abolitionism, the issue with Texas was whether it should be a slave state or a free state. It was decided that Texas would be a slave state, so in order to keep the balance, the U.S had to grant another free state as well. Mexico was enraged that the U.S had managed to get Texas and that heightened tensions between the two countries. -
After the annexation of Texas, the border disputes over where the Texas border should extend to would ultimately cause a war for it. Polk sent a small militia to the disputed area, many people think he wanted a war. Those soldiers got killed and gave Polk a reason to declare war. The U.S ends up winning and the war ended with The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which reduces the amount of Mexican-owned land in the U.S, making the U.S a bicoastal country open for trade around the world. -
In the new territory of Kansas, a dispute over slavery between pro-slaver and anti-slavery led to many bloody massacres and people nicknamed it Bleeding Kansas. In The Compromise of 1850, the states would vote for slavery instead of having it decided for them. Kansas was very abolitionist and when the results came back that Kansas was going to be a slave state, it raised eyebrows. In an act of retaliation, abolitionists fought back which eventually led to the Civil War. -
In the Dredd Scott case, The Supreme Court ruled that if a slave moves to a free state, they are still "property" of their master. This meant that there were no free states because slavery could exist everywhere due to this decision. African-Americans apparently had "no rights which a White man is bound to respect" according to Supreme Court Judge Roger Brooke Taney. Scott eventually got his freedom, but it was delayed a lot. This also split the country more and led to the Election of 1860. -
In an election that split the country, the Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln won the election against John C. Breckinridge, a Democrat. In direct acknowledgment of the election, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Soon after, 10 more followers to form The Confederate States of America. In order to preserve the Union, the north declare war on the south and the Civil war starts with the conflict at Fort Sumter, with the north having the far superior advantages. -
On the single bloodiest day in American history, Antietam stopped the south from going too far up into the north to invade their big cities. The battle turned the tide of the war in the north favor because it provided them with a boost after losing a few battles to the south. It also gave Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in the Confederate territory, but not Union because they would've seceded without being able to have slaves. -
In the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, Union forces stop the Confederate forces from advancing into the north any further than Gettysburg. The confederates knew they had very little chance of winning the war at this point that they decided to go for it. If the Confederates had won, it would have been a different story because then they would have access to the Union's capital. This was the point of no return for the south as they had basically lost the war at this point, they were stalling. -
The decisive battle of The Civil War ended with confederate surrender after Union forces cut them off while they were retreating back to their camp. They had the surrounded and Lee had no choice but to surrender to Grant. They sat down in the parlor of Wilmer McLean and the south officially surrendered to the north and The Civil War was almost over, but shortly after this, Abraham Lincoln gets assassinated because the south had lost the war and they were in denial. -
Six days after the south's surrender at Appomattox, President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, an actor who was on the stage. He was a confederate sympathizer and thus hated Lincoln for overcoming the south. After Lincoln's death, Andrew Johnson became president. His reconstruction plan was similar to Lincoln's but it was directed at elites in the south. Johnson wanted to be remembered for being the guy that put the south together again, but he did it horribly wrong. -
After Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves in Confederate territory, the 13th amendment would free all the slaves in the U.S, unless it was for punishment. President Johnson was opposed to slaves being integrated into society and he didn't really like the amendment. Now with all the black freedmen, the government had to fit them into society somehow, they came up with the Freedman's Bureau, which established necessities for newly freed African-Americans. -
The act specified the terms to re-enter the union for rebel states. Each state needed to create a new state constitution that needed to be verified by the citizens, including African-Americans, and passed on to the federal government. The states also needed to ratify the 13th and 14th amendment to the constitution, which was added before the act was passed. After meeting these criteria, the state could then rejoin the union and have federal representation in congress. -
The Ku Klux Klan, also known as The KKK was founded during the reconstruction era in response to freedmen getting rights. In response to this, President Grant issues a militia to go down to the south and stop the resistance. This resistance suppressed the clan temporarily, but they re-emerged later that century when the police left the south to stop supervision. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a United States federal law enacted during Reconstruction in response to civil rights violations against African Americans in the newly rejoined south who were morally opposed to giving them rights. This was later followed up almost 100 years later by the civil rights movement originating from this act. -
After Hayes's controversial election, the democrats agreed to acknowledge him as president if he removed government troops from the south to enforce laws that were put in place. This act just transformed the south into what it once was without slavery because since there were no federal troops to enforce the laws, racism skyrocketed and reconstruction ultimately was a failure, not just because of Hayes's actions, but of Johnson's as well. -
In Jacob Riis's book, How the Other Half Lives, Riis documents the people living in tenement housing and the tribulations of the other half. This was a direct cause of massive industrialization and immigration because the cities were not made to hold the number of people that moved to the cities looking for job opportunities or an escape from their homeland if they were an immigrant. The book brought awareness to tenement housing and people sought to change it by creating movements. -
After the De Lôme Letter and the explosion of the USS Maine, the U.S were pushed to war because U.S soldiers had been harmed, something that no country should do. People in Cuba wanted independence, so the U.S would grant them their freedom if they helped them beat the Spanish, so they did. The U.s easily overpowered the Spanish navy in Cuba and The Philippines and the war was swiftly over. It was also the origin story of Teddy Roosevelt, who quickly became the most loved man at that time. -
Although he was not elected president, Roosevelt became president after the assassination of McKinley when Roosevelt was vice president. Roosevelt went on to spearhead the progressive era of American history and he was so popular he got re-elected to serve a second term. Throughout his presidency, Roosevelt established national parks, improved meat standards, and established big stick diplomacy to assure his legacy. We still see some of his policies today like the Roosevelt Corollary. -
After negotiations with Columbia for an addition to their territory, the U.S sparks a rebellion in the territory that they want to be liberated. They then support the rebellion and end up toppling the Columbian rule over what is now Panama. The canal needed to be constructed because it would halve travel times between countries around the world for economic assurance of trade. Countries would no longer have to go all the way around South America, therefore allowing trade to thrive in the U.S, -
Along with all the other inventions being created, the Wright brothers invented the most useful form of transportation known to man. It revolutionized travel because you could go from North America to Europe in a matter of days, instead of traveling by ship, which was much slower. This would also have an impact on the U.S because materials for trade could be transported quicker than ever before when the invention was patented in 1906. They would also have an effect on how WW1 warfare developed. -
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written to bring awareness to socialism, but it failed at that objective because it actually brought to light the atrocities of the meatpacking industries. Many people were outraged and demanded that something be done about it. It reached the desk of Roosevelt, who through Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. This led to the creation of the FDA, which ensured that Americans were getting high quality food and other goods. -
When Roosevelt had served as president for almost two terms, he decided he would stick to the precedent set by Washington of two terms. He then put all his support behind Taft and campaigned tirelessly to get him elected as the next president. When Taft failed to expand on T.R's policies in his first term, T.R saw him as not fit for office and created a new republican party called the Bull Moose Party to run against Taft. This resulted in votes being split and Woodrow Wilson being elected. -
With the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1913, two new amendments were ratified, the 16th, and the 17th. The most pivotal one was the 16th because it established income taxes on every American who made it above a certain mark in their salary. This cut the value of tariffs that the U.S had to pay to other countries that were exporting goods to the U.S. Although it was not the most popular amendment, it made the federal government stronger because it had more money to utilize. -
WW1 breaks out in Europe because of the assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand. Soon after that Serbia and Austria-Hungary declare war and plunge the rest of Europe into war. Wilson declared that the U.S would stay neutral during the war because he did not feel the need to use soldiers was necessary. Despite this pledge, the U.S entered the war after Germany kept on sinking U.S ships carrying supplies to Europe. Americans were on board those ships and were a war motive. -
The U.S was determined to stay neutral because Wilson was running for another term. However, after the constant sinking of U.S ships and The Zimmerman telegram, the U.S declared war on Germany and joined the allies. The Zimmerman telegram was intended for Mexico to inform them that Germany would help them annex their old territory that was in the U.S. This alone was enough to declare war, and along with the sinking of ships since 1914, people wanted to enter the war. -
This ended the fighting in Europe because a peace treaty was being constructed and if people died during the construction of it, their death would be in vain. This is known as the formal end of WW1 because the opposing sides agreed on a ceasefire. Fighting had not stopped elsewhere like in Africa and Asia though because they were not part of the agreement because it was only meant for Europe. A treaty was eventually forged and ended the war for good, leading to U.S troops going home. -
The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. The women suffrage movement had been brewing since The Second Great Awakening because people now realised women were an important part of society. After multiple protests that ended up in the public eye, the movement picked up speed until it got to the doorstep of the White House where it was confirmed as an amendment. This completely changed the dynamic of the voting system in the forthcoming years leading up to modern American society. -
The treaty to end WW1 was named after the place that it was signed in. It put harsh restrictions on Germany and how its military could not expand a certain boundary and put them into an economic depression before the rest of the world. Wilson believed it was too harsh and he wanted his 14 points verified, but congress rejected them, so he reluctantly agreed to the treaty. This led to the rise of Nazi Germany because Germany did not follow the rules laid out and silently built an arsenal. -
After the proposed amendment was brought up in 1917, the country took action in 1919 and banned the sale and production of alcohol. The Second Great Awakening was a source of the belief that alcohol should be banned because it was the root of all evil. Women mainly pushed for alcohol to be outlawed because they saw its negative effects. The amendment failed because people drank more than ever by making an illegal profit off of it, leading to it being repealed in later. -
When the waves of immigrants during the progressive era began to level off, a new wave of immigrants started coming from Eastern Asia and Europe. This on top of the anti-immigrant feeling at the time led to a filter on immigrants that wanted to come to the U.S to start a better life all because of some hysteria that was surfacing about immigration. The government only accepted a small percentage of immigrants of that nationality into the country to control who came in. -
Since the invention of the airplane, no one person had flown across the ocean to Europe nonstop until Charles Lindbergh had done it. He took off in New York and landed in Paris, France 33 and a half hours later. This really shaped the new dimension of travel for the U.S because it showed that a journey was achievable, even though it was quite laborious, the time would be cut down and lead to what modern flying techniques we know today with the addition of air traffic control and radios. -
America has had scares about going into a depression in the past, but in 1929 the stock market took the biggest crash in U.S history. This erased all the postwar prosperity into a depression where most banks needed to shut down and unemployment was around 25%. The president at the time, Herbert Hoover, did not want to directly help Americans and willed them to go to their local communities to resolve their problems. This made him unpopular and led to the election of FDR and his first 100 days. -
Herbert Hoover had become so unpopular in his response to the Great Depression that it was almost impossible for him to win another term as president. FDR won overwhelmingly in the electoral college, starting his first of four terms. His first 100 days are the defining action of his first term because they helped form the New Deal that created jobs to help the U.S out of the depression. Although the New Deal didn't end the depression, I think it relieved some of the pressure off the people. -
Building off of the 18th amendment, the 21st amendment repeals the actions of prohibition because the nation had not stopped drinking alcohol despite it being banned. The government also saw how much crime it caused because mobs sold that alcohol in competition with each other. Through the depression, it was a source of money for people who were out of a job, so people did it more because it made a lot of money. -
The Social Security act created the Social Security program and assured insurance against unemployment for Americans by having payments being made into retired people's accounts. It was signed into action by FDR as a part of his second New Deal to combat the depression by creating jobs. We still use this system today because it has proven to be effective to maintain the economic status of every American. It made people at that time feel secure because they had insurance to their money. -
Hitler's invasion of Poland triggered WW2 because soon after that Britain and France declared war on Germany for invading a sovereign nation. Hitler was trying to expand the Nazi empire because he believed that his ideas were the only right ideas in the world. The U.S declared neutrality when the war broke out despite pleads from Britain and France to join the war. They still were sending supplies to the allies, which in turn ended the depression because everyone could get a factory job. -
The event that triggered the U.S to enter WW2 was the bombing and kamikaze of the U.S naval ships by the Japanese air force. It was the biggest loss of life in U.S naval history with almost 2,000 deaths. On Dec. 8th, FDR gave a speech that confirmed the entry into the war against Nazi Germany and Italy. This turned the tide of the war because this put more troops on the ground because France had been invaded and captured by the Nazis, allowing for a full-scale invasion of France. -
After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S citizens began to fear the Japanese-Americans that were amongst them every day. To combat that, the federal government creates order 9066, which made all Japanese-Americans and every descendant of Japanese ancestors go into camps where they were contained. This made them lose all their assets because of uncertainties about when they would return, and when they did return they had to start their lives again in a new American society. -
When Nazi Germany controlled and took over France, they had the whole country at their disposal, which provided them a major advantage because they occupied more land and the capital of France. The operation to liberate France was called Operation Overlord. 150,000 allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy to push onto the capital and free France. They were successful and it also allowed them to push all the way to Germany and surround Berlin, leading to Nazi surrender and Hitler's death. -
Since the result of WW2 had been pre-determined since the invasion of Normandy, the government needed to devise a way to repay the veterans for their service in the war. They came up with the G.I Bill of rights, which assured veterans lower house loans when they bought a house and lower business loans. This created a lot of small businesses that drove the economy forward because they invested in the community projects that were neccessary. -
When all the allied forces surrounded Berlin, Germany had no choice but to surrender to them. This led to the death of Hitler, who did not want to face the atrocities he had committed, and symbolically was the death of the Nazi's ideas. The allies each got a section of Germany and split it into West and East Germany. The west had a capitalist economy and the East had a communist economy. This led to tensions during the cold war because they could not coexist with each other. -
After victory was secured on the European front with the surrender of Nazi Germany and Italy, the allies turned their attention to the Asian front and Japan. After numerous battles and U.S victories, the Americans were getting tired of losing men when the war was already won. So Truman gave the executive order to drop the bombs that ended the war. This opened up a whole new world of possibilities because nuclear weapons were now at the forefront of any discussion of war during The Cold War. -
In the post-WW2 era, only two world superpowers remained, The United States and The USSR. The USSR was trying to expand communism past its borders into democratic countries that did not want communism. This led to The Truman Doctrine, which stated that the United States would assist any government with political, military and economic assistance if they were under threat of being invaded by communism. This led the USSR to interpret it as an attack on Russia, leading to the Cold War. -
Under threat from the communist USSR, western countries were fearing that their government would succumb to communism because of the Soviet increasing influence in the western world. In order to combat this, the west created NATO, so if the USSR decided to influence a country militarily, they would have to deal with all of the NATO countries under article 5. The USSR saw this as an aggressive move because they could not make moves on capitalist countries. -
The first installment of the battle against communism ended up in a conflict between two territories once owned by Japan. North Korea wanted to be communist and strike an alliance with China, however, South Korea wanted to adopt capitalism as the western countries had done with great success. The North staged a sneak attack on the South during a time of peace, which was seen as an aggressive move by the U.S and sparked their involvement in the war by deploying troops on the ground. -
In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled almost unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and African American students were unequal in quality. This initiated the Civil rights movement because it was a step closer to equality for African-Americans in the United States. -
In the midst of the Cold War, the country needed something to calm them down, instead, they got the concept of Mccarthyism which caused even more panic than there already was over communism. McCarthy would accuse people without much-withstanding evidence of being communists in the federal government. Although he was correct on some accusations, he tainted the reputations of some politicians who were not communists by calling them communists, thus ruining their careers and ambitiontions.. -
Based on the civil rights movement that took action in the 1950s, the movement really picked up momentum after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. This sent shockwaves throughout the nation because it prompted a boycott that eventually led to desegregated buses for white and black people. She got imprisoned for it, but she got released after her actions were justified by the federal government, which ked to more inspired black people taking action against injustice. -
With racial desegregation taking shape in public schools, some state governments in the south were still not allowing African-Americans to go to school with white kids. When a group of nine African-Americans decides to boycott the Arkansas state government's order, it creates protests and they are unable to get into the school. because Orval Faubus, the governor, had called the national guard. Eisenhower ordered special forces to escort them to school, which ignites the civil rights movement. -
With the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the U.S was behind in the space race initiated to get leverage over the USSR. Explorer I was the first American satellite to orbit the Earth and not malfunction. This paved the way for future experiments with satellites, which were getting more advanced with every trial that the U.S had. It led to a greater understanding of space and eventually led to the moon landing in 1969. -
The U-2 incident was a conflict between the U.S and the USSR that initiated the destruction of a U-2 reconnaissance plane over the Soviet Union territory that caused the collapse of a conference in Paris between the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, and France. The pilot, Gary Powers, did not take the cyanide pill, so the Russians could interrogate him about how the plane works so they could recreate it and recon the United States in the same way that the U.S did. -
With rising tensions over communist governments taking over, the U.S looked to topple the communist government that had taken over Cuba in 1959 because it posed a great threat by being around 90 miles from the U.S borders. The Bay of Pigs invasion was carried out by Cuban exiles that wanted to retake their country funded by the U.S government. The invasion was a failure and quickly repelled by the Cuban government, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963. -
After the Bay of Pigs invasion, tensions were at an all-time high between the USSR and the U.S because ICBMs could be just off the coast of the U.S. In order to stop the missiles from coming into port in Cuba, the U.S stage a blockade around Cuba to make the vessel carrying the missiles make a decision, turn back or go through. They choose to turn back and compromise with the U.S by removing the missiles. This led to the emergence of nuclear war speculations that were more serious. -
The culmination of many struggles with racial discrimination concludes with the freedom march on the capital. MLK gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to almost 250,000 people. This changed the complexion of the country forever because racism was no longer the norm anymore because of the black community's tireless efforts to achieve racial equality. It was soon followed by The Civil Rights Act of 1963 which secured equality for all people. -
When President Kennedy was in a motorcade through Dallas, he was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was in a warehouse above the street. Many people believe that Oswald was working with the Soviets because that seemed to be his main motive. After his death, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in hours later. LBJ then went on to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, affecting the lives of African-Americans forever because they would finally be free of discrimination due to this law. -
After the eleven-year struggle after Brown V Board of Education, the African-American community had finally received an act that secured their equality with white people in society. The bill was signed by LBJ, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, or religion. This did not complete the civil rights movement through because black people could still not vote without fees and literacy tests. -
In the year 1968, both RFK and MLK Jr. got assassinated for being activists in their specific fields. Robert was running for president and was shot by an Israeli because he had seen the terror in Israel that RFK may have incited. Dr. King was assassinated because he was actively trying to achieve equality for African-Americans, which many white supremacists did not like, so they assassinated him and things that he stood for. Both assassinations caused huge riots calling for peace nationwide. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 presented the African-American community with a way to get around the complications at the state and local levels that had prevented them from exercising their right to vote such as literacy tests and paid fees at the booth. This led to more black participation in voting in the coming years and turns in some elections because black communities leaned to one political side. -
The climax of the space race with the USSR concluded with the moon landing in 1969. Neil Armstrong was the main astronaut who first stepped foot on the moon to plant the American flag as a symbol of the prosperity and freedom that they hold. It showed the rest of the world that the U.S was still a world superpower and anything could be achieved if the countries of the world put their mind to it. -
The Twenty-Sixth amendment of the United States Constitution established the voting age of 18 down from 21 years old. The reason for the amendment ratification was that if they are old enough to fight, then they are old enough to vote for those who would make them fight in wars. This happened because of the Vietnam War's controversies because many Americans did not want to fight in that war because it was not their battle to fight, but they were conscripted anyways. -
When members of Nixon's party broke into the Democratic Watergate building to obtain information about his opposing candidate in the election, it put Nixon's presidency in jeopardy. Nixon knew about the robbery but did not let anybody know that he knew until he got accused of being an instigator of the raid. This led to his eventual resignation as president because he could not deny the allegations that he had for an impeachment trial. -
The trademark of Microsoft marked a new era of innovation for Americans because they could now think of new ideas that they didn't think were possible. Microsoft led other big technology companies such as Apple and Samsung because it was the platform for technology to move forward. It also gave Bill Gates his wealth which started his vision of philanthropy to make the world less impoverished and to provide opportunities for young adults. -
In 1977 one of the most profitable and well-loved sagas was created by George Lucas. It changed the movie industry because nothing on that scale had ever been conceived of before because it extended movie settings to space, not just on Earth. It was so popular that it was originally only going to be one movie, but it was so well received that five more movies were made after it elaborated on the storyline. It also fi the theme of space because of the space race that had just occured. -
A new epidemic was taking over the USA because research on it was very low and they did not have enough information to prevent it. President Reagan kind of ignored it because he thought it would go away on its own, but it did not and it is still here today. AIDs is an STD and can be underlying in its early stages, which is when it spread to people. There was no cure in the 1980s, so people started panicking, which in turn affected the government because they needed to act on the hysteria. -
After President Reagan had challenged Gorbachev to tear down the wall as a symbol of the crumbling communist economy and social system. This allowed citizens of West Germany and citizens of East Germany to pass freely across the border, eventually integrating into just Germany again. This was a win for the U.S because it signaled the beginning of the end for communist nations to have a real influence on the capitalist countries, and it also signaled a near-conclusion to the cold war. -
After the collapse of the USSR, Iraq was free from Soviet influence and political sway. The ruler went by the name of Saddam Hussien and he committed many atrocities against the people of Iraq. As an effect of this, the U.S pass the liberation act to remove Saddam Hussien from power and replace him with a democratic official to rule over the people of Iraq. It was successful because he was executed by the Iraqi government, but this also started conflict in the middle eastern countries. -
The most deadly attack on U.S soil, 9/11 was carried out by terrorists under the command of Osama Bin Laden, who hated America. Four planes were set to be targeted, two hit the World Trade Center, one went into the Pentagon, and one landed in a field in Pennslyvania This started a chain of assaults in the middle east by the U.S, mainly in Afghanistan to hunt down Bin Laden, leading to more conflict in the middle east which still occurs today.