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My final.
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A run in with the Native Americans of the area proved to be fatal. While attempting to establish a settlement in what would be present day Virginia, a Native American raid wipes out one-third of the population, 347 settlers. Led by Opechancanough, the Native Americans goal was to get the settlers of their land. A counter-attack by the settlers leads King James I to revoke Virginia's company charter and leads to becoming a colony with its own governor. -
Despite coming to the New World for religious freedom, it didn't stop the settlers from being liberal with the word "free". Denying any actual freedom, perfectly exemplified with the banishment of a young woman from their community. Anne Hutchinson taught women valuable skills and preached a different spin on the wisdom of the bible. This lead to her being "asked" to leave, since she was dangerous in terms of free thinking and not willing to conform nor follow what she didn't think was right. -
A very dark and disastrous time in human, not just American history. What happens when ego, greed, superstition, and fear all boil over into a bloody mess. While the actual version of the events may vary, it was a perfect time to gain political power by accusing your opponents of being witches. You could gain economic power by accusing your neighbor of being a witch and having them out of the way to gain their land. No one was safe, and all they needed was a finger pointed, and you could die. -
With tensions beginning to rise between Great Britain with the colonies, they decide to show who's boss. By passing the currency act, they effectively cut off the value of the money system used in each colony. This would have caused massive economic problems because what is the value of a colony's money system compared to another? They didn't have the luxury of searching for a currency converter on google. Not to mention that this could have straight up driven people to bankruptcy. -
British law imposing a tax on all paper used in the colonies. Widespread resistance to the Stamp Act prevent it from taking effect and led to its repeal in 1766. Due to the French-Indian war, the British government was lacking in funds, and since the war was fought for the colonies, they believed they deserved some money from their pockets. Expecting their full cooperation, they passed this act. They were in for a rude awakening, as the Americans had believed they had earned their respect. -
A British law passed by Parliament at the request of General Thomas Gage, the British military commander in America, that required colonial governments to provide barracks and food for British troops. It was in the minds of the British troops that since they were there to protect the colonists, they could at least house them in return. However, the colonists felt that such troops were unnecessary and were offended that they were forced to care and provide them with shelter. -
Law asserting Parliament's unassailable right to legislate for its British colonies "in all cases whatsoever". The law was made to spell out for the American colonies to swallow the unfortunate pill of no longer being able to control their government's way they pleased. This notion was lucrative to the colonies because the British hadn't taken care of them at all. Their hands off approach led Americans to believe that they deserved their independence from strict British rule. -
British law that establishes new duties on tea, glass, lead, paper, and painter's colors imported into the colonies. The Townshend duties led to boycotts and heightened tensions between Britain and the American colonies. The British set out to complete economic as well as political goals. They set out to raise 40,000 pounds a year from the tax, and to set out enough money for local British governments in the area to sustain themselves enough to no longer need bribes from Americans. -
A British act that lowered the existing tax on tea and granted exemptions to the East Indian Company to make their tea cheaper in the colonies and entice boycotting Americans to buy it. While the tea price may have gone down, it wasn't exactly to appease the American's sense of justice, it was to prevent the company from going belly up. This act was able to lower the price of tea below the smuggled tea, making Americans buy it once more. -
First major engagement of the new Continental army against 32,000 British troops; Washington's army was defeated and forced to retreat to Manhattan island. While the battle itself wasn't large by a big scale, it was big in terms of rebellion. No one had ever managed to stand up to Great Britain, especially those who were ill-equipped. A rebellion against this mechanical giant was one of suicide, to openly rebel was to put your life in a noose and pray no one kicked the chair from underneath you. -
The Victory at Saratoga was a crucial one to the Americans. In spite of fighting against outnumbering odds, the Americans still fought on to secure a much needed victory for the rebels. Pushing against John Burgoyne's troops, delays in British movements led to British troops being desperate for much needed supplies. After a desperate fail to take Vermont, they were swarmed by Patriots after. With this victory they claimed over 5000 British captive, and won much needed French support. -
A battle in which French and American troops and a French fleet trapped the British army under the command of General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The Franco-American victory broke the resolve of the British government and led to peace negotiations. This proved to the rest of the world that the mighty, British machine could be defeated. This sparked other rebellions around the world, and people of the America's began to call themselves Americans, and no their state names. -
The Treaty that brought an end to the American Revolutionary War. Great Britain lost it's claims in East of the Mississippi and South of the Great Lakes. France gained a small Caribbean island, and Spain regained Florida, but nothing else was really gained for the two. Americans gained access to lands, recognition as its own nation, and trading rights with all countries in the Old World. This was a clear demonstration in how winning or losing a war can bolster political and economic conditions. -
A plan drafted by James Madison that was presented at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. it designed a powerful three-branch government, with representation in both houses of congress tied to population; this plan would have eclipsed the voice of small states in the national government. While the plan itself didn't end up passing, it laid the foundational work for what would become our government. After combing some ideas that meshed with the New Jersey plan, we had our Constitution. -
Act that established federal district courts in each state and three circuit courts to hear appeals from the districts, with the Supreme Court serving as the highest appellate court in the federal system. This would lay the ground work for settling disputes that could not be solved with a simple agreement. To keep the Supreme court free to carry the important cases out, the lower levels would take the more banal cases, and if they reached certain importance, would be taken by higher courts. -
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, officially ratified by 1791. The amendments safeguarded fundamental personal rights, including freedom of speech and religion, and mandated legal procedures, such as trial by jury. The point of the Bill of Rights was to protect the rights of the people in case the government ever went haywire. It was a fail-safe, a calculated back-up hand if the government ever ended up in the wrong hands. It set the foundational rights for every citizen in the US. -
A proclamation issued by President George Washington in 1793, allowing U.S. citizens to trade with all belligerents in the war between France and Great Britain. This was an important step to build up the nation, and not hastily jump to one side and make a clear enemy of the other. Washington was wise enough to see that the war for Independence had sapped the already wobbly nation of its strength. In order to recuperate, he chose to remain neutral in the war to keep trade flowing. -
After the American Revolution, a genius by the name of Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. While it may have just been to provide some quality of life changes to those planting cotton, it sparked the rebirth and use of slaves. As the American Revolution came to a close, many slave owners were losing money because slaves were no longer as profitable as they once were. This invention unintentionally skyrocketed their usefulness. It made slaves essential to the Southern economy. -
In 1974, an uprising was caused by farmers in Western Pennsylvania in response to enforcement of an unpopular excise tax on whiskey. This prompted President Washington to meet the rebels with an army of around twelve-thousand men. The rebels quickly dispersed and 24 were charged with treason and two to hand. However, George Washington being wise and forgiving, pardons them. This was important because the previous national government wouldn't have been able to do this, and proved the might of it. -
A 1795 treaty between the United States and various Indian tribes in Ohio. American negotiators acknowledged Indian ownership of the land, and, in return for various payments, the Western Confederacy ceded most of Ohio to the United States. A major step for Westward expansion. This treaty may have spelled doom for the Indian tribes, because if you let someone get away with something once, they'll do it again. Violating boundaries, settlers sometimes went pass the Indian border. -
A 1795 treaty between the United Sates and Britain, negotiated by John Jay. The treaty accepted Britain's right to stop neutral ships and required the U.S. government to provide restitution for the pre-Revolutionary War debts of British merchants. In return, it allowed Americans to submit claims for illegal seizures and required the British to remove their troops and Indian agents from the Northwest Territory. Alleviating some of the tension between the two nations to keep rebuilding. -
A 1797 incident in which American negotiators in France were rebuffed for refusing to pay a substantial bribe. The incident led the United States into an undeclared war that curtailed American trade with the French West Indies. Something that Americans could not stand was disrespect. While the offer may have been small, it was a slap in the face of everything America stood for. Turning their backs they set off to make sure that no one would disrespect them like that again. -
The Act lengthened the residency requirement for citizenship. A crafty way to reduce the voting rights for immigrants and those who had come to the states less than 20 years ago. The new requirements require you to live in the US for 5 years, not 20 to be able to vote. At the time, John Adams was running for the election and didn't want to lose all the work that he and George Washington had worked for. In an attempt to keep office, he attempted to cut immigrants out of the voting picture. -
An act that authorized the deportation of foreigners. Given the context of the time, this law was proof that in the hands of the wrong person, the government could seriously threaten the liberties of the people. The purpose behind the act was to retain voting power for the upcoming election, and if immigrants spoke out against the party that would retain Adams in power, he would have every right to deport them. This was a clear abuse of power in trying to control the value of voting in itself. -
An act that prohibited the action of throwing insults against the president. The act itself is relatively harmless, however it does violate the first amendment of free-speech. Other than that, it might slide for the fact that it only means to keep the president from undergoing blows of loss of self-confidence. However, the law was abused in the way it was used. John Adams took the liberty of taking any newspaper that criticized him and had it taken care of. It shut down the newspaper. -
The nation was on the possible brink of defeat. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had just campaigned for the seat of the president, and were defeated in the election of 1800. This was the first time power had switched from the hands of the Federalists to the Anti-Federalists. Questions began to rise. Would Adams really step down? Would he raise the army? Was the US going to fall apart? Adams passed power to the hands of Jefferson with no bloodshed, a first for any world country at the time. -
A Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in finding that parts of the Judiciary Act of 1789 were in conflict with the Constitution. For the first time, the Supreme Court assumed legal authority to overrule acts of other branches of the government. While it may have been something that would be obvious in today's day and age, it gave proof that the system worked. That check's and balances really could keep the government from collapsing on itself. -
Congress prohibited U.S. ships from traveling to foreign ports in an attempt to deter Britain and France from halting the U.S. ships at sea. The embargo caused massive hardships for Americans engaged in overseas commerce. While the Act may have had good intentions and wanted to maintain U.S. neutrality, it didn't accomplish either of those things. It also didn't anticipate that it would wreck the U.S. economy, leave merchants without a way to make money, and only delay the war of 1812. -
The Founding Fathers of the United States realized that slavery could not go on. It was on the decline, and stood against the principle of the country. To keep it legal would be to be a hypocrite of everything the nation stood for. Hoping it would die down, they prohibited the slave trade and were crossing their fingers that it would die out on it's own. Unfortunately, this proved to be a fatal mistake that would change the course of history forever. -
The largest slave revolt in nineteenth-century North America, it began in early January on Louisiana sugar plantation sand involved more than two hundred enslaved workers. About ninety-five slaves were killed in the fighting or executed as a result of their involvement. This was a perfect example why slave revolts didn't work. They were poorly equipped and weren't able to mobilize effectively and were wiped out mercilessly. -
Fearing an attack from the Indians in the West, William Henry Harrison directed American troops to overrun the village, trading heavy casualties while burning down the holy village to the ground. A very scary day for the Indians indeed. An Indian by the name of Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa who also went by "the prophet". Gathering support from all around the country, Tecumseh traveled south to gain support from other tribes. However, that's when Harrison chose his moment to strike. -
The battle that completely flipped the American perspective. General Jackson and the opposing British force meet and clash on New Orleans hills. Being the strategic military genius that he was, he made his troops lie flat on their stomachs and give an almost impenetrable defense against the British troops. His strategy proved to be a rousing success, as only 19 Americans died, and 58 injured. The British suffered a loss of 700 men, and 2,000 or more were injured. -
Both America and Great Britain realized that prolonged warfare benefited nobody. Everyone has to rest and recuperate, and fortunately for the Americans, the British wanted peace. On Christmas Eve, arrangements were made to declare the war officially over. In many ways this is seen as the second American Revolution, proving that the British had not won simply by unlucky circumstances, but that the American troops could hold their own in the face of overwhelming odds. -
The first taste of what would be many boom and bust cycles of the United States. As prices dropped as low as thirty percent lower than what they were originally, many farmers went bankrupt because of this. Some of the deciding factors for the event was the fact that wartime had ended and the production of goods were no longer needed. Unemployment was on the rise and soon farmers couldn't pay the necessary money and so banks failed and in turn this caused a merry-go-round of problems. -
One of the biggest things that had been debated in terms of which was more important, state rights or national rights? This court case asserted national rights over state rights by ruling that the Second Bank of the United States could not be taxed by the states. An important strike in the debate of which was more important. It did pave the way for stronger national government representation, and might've lead to the government we face today. -
A tariff enacted in 1828 that raised duties significantly on raw materials, textiles, and iron goods. It enraged the South, which had no industries that needed protection and resented the higher cost of imported goods. The cause of the South's anger was that it mainly hurt the South, and only really benefited the North. They also were angered that the money that came from this tariff was constantly supporting only the wealthy and felt neglected in terms of legislative action in their benefit. -
A repetition of the 1828 election, with John Quincy Adams facing off against Andrew Jackson. However, the odds were stacked against Adams in this election, as the only thing he had really done was a establish a few schools, create a tariff that turned half the nation against him, and hadn't taken much action. Andrew on the other hand, was a war hero who had continued to do his duty, even out of office. With a sweeping majority, Andrew Jackson takes office and begins his reign of the US. -
An interracial justice movement that wanted to abolish slavery with no recompense to the southern slave owners based on the argument that human rights outweighed economic rights. It was the first of its time, and in the time of the republicans it gained great power. While men may have been at the head of such movements, women were behind the scenes and gathered money, news, and other essential necessities to help move the cause in the right direction. -
An economic depression that cut credit and cash flow to the US, causing economic downturn and problems for those trying to make money. A leading factor was the fact that New England had retracted a lot of money and support in Southern goods and business. With the sudden cut of funds, many people had to withdraw money to pay off their debts, as well as the fact that the British were no longer paying as much for cotton. Failing cotton prices caused worry and made investors withdraw their coin. -
The free soil movement inspired the Free Soil Party. A political movement that opposed the expansion of slavery. In 1848, the free soilers organized the Free Soil Party, which depicted slavery as a threat to republicanism and to the Jeffersonian ideal of a freeholder society, arguments that won broad support among aspiring white farmers. -
To compensate for the Northern benefits of the Kansas - Nebraska compromise, the South received the fact that the Northern state of America no longer could refuge escaped slaves. Before, many escaped slaves that could make it to these states were generally safe in terms of living a life as free Americans. With this new law, they could be captured and sent back to the South, some Southerners even took back Free African Americans. Popular opposition in the North made it hard to enforce. -
The creation of the Know-Nothing party was because of three deciding factors. One, the massive wave of immigration during the 1840's that didn't seem to stop. Two, the loss of jobs to said immigration waves. Three, it was simply that racism was alive in the United States. As each new wave of immigrants rolled in, the previous group would join the people who had shunned them and shun the new arrivals. It was quite a vicious cycle that wouldn't stop for some time. -
A controversial 1854 law that divided Indian territory into Kansas and Nebraska. It then repealed the Missouri Compromise, and left the new territories to decide the issue of slavery on the basis of popular sovereignty. Far from clarifying the status of slavery in the territories, the act led to violent conflict in "Bleeding Kansas" -
In 1854, a man by the name of William Marcy, the president's secretary of state, urged for him to take Cuba and add it to the United States in order to expand the American empire and slavery. While the document itself was eventually scrapped, it proved major things to the North. One, even the president was okay with spreading slavery. Two, Southerners would stop at nothing to spread their tyranny. It was one of the early deciding factors of what drove the nation to Civil War. -
To encourage Westward Expansion and create jobs and money for those who have no money. To be able to claim these lands you had to farm on it for five years, live on it, and improve the land in those five years. It brought opportunity with those who had nothing, and attracted many from other lands. This clearly shows an economic incentive, as well as hints of political incentive and power. -
While it attempts to get a railway system to create a bi-coastal nation, it creates incentive and competition to best the other company and make tons of money while they are at it. 4,000 dollars for a mile in the Great Plains, 8,000 for a mile in the foothills, and 16,000 dollars for a mile in the mountains. They also gained 10 square miles for every mile they created, and had a deadline of 1875, if not completed by the deadline, they forfeit every piece of land claimed by their company. -
A pivotal confrontation takes place in Pennsylvania. An accidental meeting between the two largest armies in the Northeastern part of the country. General Lee led the Confederates and General Meade for the Union. With heavy casualties on each side, Lee was forced to retreat and no longer had any plans about expanding into the North and turning the war from an offense to the defense for the South. A necessary victory for both sides with a lot on the line, but the Union comes out on top. -
The alternative to President Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan, passed by Congress, changing the requirements to rejoin the Union. A much harsher version of the more lenient president, The Bill required an oath of allegiance from a majority of each state's adult white men, compared to a 10 percent of it's voters if the Ten Percent Plan had been passed. This clearly demonstrates a political power grab by Congress, signaling an ominous path in terms of how powerful the federal government could be. -
Laws passed by Southern states after the Civil War that denied ex-slaves the civil rights enjoyed by whites. They punished vague crimes such as "vagrancy" or failing to have a labor contract. At the same time, they tried to force African Americans back to plantation labor systems that closely mirrored those in slavery times. An unfair and unjust clause through a present-day lens, however this was the way of the South retaliating for what they considered the injustice against their way of life. -
The Pendleton Act provided that federal government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that government employees be selected through competitive exams. The act also made it unlawful to fire or demote for political reasons employees who were covered by the law. -
An act to establish agricultural experiment stations in connection with the colleges established in the several States under the provisions of an act approved July second, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and of the acts supplementary thereto. -
A perfect example of what happens when miscommunication, retribution, and high tensions can all broil over into a bloody mess. Indians had been given misleading information about where they could hunt by the US military. With racism and a US military defeat already having brought prejudice against the Indians, all it took was one mistake to justify violence. A shot rings in the distance, and all breaks loose. The military could justify, but coincidentally this helped shrink the Indian border. -
In 1894, as part of a high tariff bill, Congress enacted a 2-percent tax on income over $4,000. The tax was almost immediately struck down by a five-to-four decision of the Supreme Court, even though the Court had upheld the constitutionality of the Civil War tax as recently as 1881. -
An 1898 Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to impose poll taxes and literacy tests. By 1908, every southern state had adopted such measures to suppress voting by African Americans and some poor whites. -
A 1902 law, supported by President Theodore Roosevelt, that allowed the federal government to sell public lands to raise money for irrigation projects that expanded agriculture on arid lands. -
Theodore Roosevelt’s 1904 campaign platform, calling for regulation of corporations and protection of consumers and the environment. -
A 1905 Supreme Court ruling that New York State could not limit bakers’ workday to ten hours because that violated bakers’ rights to make individual contracts. This example of legal formalism did not take into account the unequal power of employers and individual workers. -
A radical labor group founded in 1905, dedicated to organizing unskilled workers to oppose capitalism. Nicknamed the Wobblies, they advocated direct action by workers, including sabotage and general strikes -
A 1906 antitrust law that empowered the federal Interstate Commerce Commission to set railroad shipment rates wherever it believed that railroads were unfairly colluding to set prices -
A reform organization that worked (unsuccessfully) to win a federal law banning child labor. The NCLC hired photographer Lewis Hine to record brutal conditions in mines and mills where thousands of children worked. -
A 1908 Supreme Court case that upheld an Oregon law limiting women’s workday to ten hours, based on the need to protect women’s health for motherhood. Muller established a groundwork for states to protect workers but divided women’s rights activists, some of whom saw it as discriminatory -
A 1908 agreement between the United States and Japan confirming principles of free oceanic commerce and recognizing Japan’s authority over Manchuria. This was a very big foreign affairs breakthrough, as Japan had not been too keen to open its doors to Western influence. It brought a massive economic boost to the U.S. through numerous trade deals, but those trade deals would play a role in future wars between the two nations. -
An organization founded in 1909 by leading African American reformers and white allies as a vehicle for advocating equal rights for African Americans, especially through the courts. -
A 1911 Supreme Court decision that directed the breakup of the Standard Oil Company into smaller companies because its overwhelming market dominance and monopoly power violated antitrust laws. -
A canal across the Isthmus of Panama connecting trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and opened in 1914, the canal gave U.S. naval vessels had quick access to the Pacific and provided the United States with a commanding position in the Western Hemisphere. One of the crowning achievements of the U.S. construction industry for it's record-setting pace and technological feats. -
Antiblack riots in the summer and fall of 1919 by white Americans in more than two dozen cities leading to hundreds of deaths. The worst riot occurred in Chicago, in which 38 people were killed (23 blacks, 15 whites). -
Officially, the National Prohibition Act, passed by Congress to enforce the provisions of the Eighteenth Amendment banning the sale of alcohol. -
The first federally funded health-care legislation that provided federal funds for medical clinics, prenatal education programs, and visiting nurses. -
Nickname for scandal in which Interior Secretary Albert Fall accepted $300,000 in bribes for leasing oil reserves on public land in Teapot Dome, Wyoming. It was part of a larger pattern of corruption that marred Warren G. Harding’s presidency. -
A federal law limiting annual immigration from each foreign country to no more than 2 percent of that nationality’s percentage of the U.S. population as it had stood in 1890. The law severely limited immigration, especially from Southern and Eastern Europe. -
The 1925 trial of John Scopes, a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, for violating his state’s ban on teaching evolution. The trial created a nationwide media frenzy and came to be seen as a showdown between urban and rural values. -
The beginning of the end for the roaring twenties, as the flourishing period of the economy would soon come to an unexpected halt as the stock market began to see numbers so low that everyone panicked. Everyone began to withdraw their investments in such a frenzy that the price just kept falling and falling. Credit, a new form of purchasing goods backfired immensely as people's salaries fell, but the price stayed the same. Indicators had been building up over the years, but they were ignored. -
The ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol that went into effect in January 1920. Also called “prohibition,” the amendment was repealed in 1933. -
A legendary session during the first few months of Franklin Roosevelt’s administration in which Congress enacted fifteen major bills that focused primarily on four problems: banking failures, agricultural overproduction, the manufacturing slump, and soaring unemployment -
Legislation that sought to avoid entanglement in foreign wars while protecting trade. It imposed an embargo on selling arms to warring countries and declared that Americans traveling on the ships of belligerent nations did so at their own risk -
The military alliance formed in 1936 among Germany, Italy, and Japan that fought the Allied powers during World War II. While the Axis powers were able to fight together, later during the war Italy switched sides midway through the war, leaving Germany and Japan to challenge the Western powers. This alliance had come as a direct result of the shift in power in all three countries with new Communist ideals, with it an economic upturn was created, strengthening each country in turn. -
An order signed by President Roosevelt in 1941 that prohibited “discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin” and established the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). -
The law that gave President Roosevelt unprecedented control over all aspects of the war effort during World War II. While at the time this act may have been considered necessary, this was a massive leap in federal powers that had never been seen before. A very controversial act in itself when being reviewed in modern times, as Roosevelt was pushing boundaries that had never been touched before. One of the reasons why people are all in or out in his presidency and achievements. -
Civil rights organization founded in 1942 in Chicago by James Farmer and other members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) that espoused nonviolent direct action. -
Native American soldiers trained to use native languages to send messages in battle during World War II. The messages they sent gave the Allies a great advantage in several battles. This gave the allies a massive boost in communication, granting the Allies more time and efficiency in gaining an edge against the Axis powers. It also was another safe-guard against communications being deciphered as the new system was nothing they had ever seen before. -
An order signed by President Roosevelt in 1942 that authorized the War Department to force Japanese Americans from their homes and hold them in relocation camps for the rest of the war. This order proves the fear that had swept the American public during WWII. -
A 1942 act that expanded the number of people paying income taxes from 3.9 million to 42.6 million. These taxes on personal incomes and business profits paid half the cost of World War II. -
In June 1943, a group of white sailors and soldiers in Los Angeles, seeking revenge for an earlier skirmish with Mexican American youths, attacked anyone they found wearing a zoot suit, an outfit that symbolized a rebellious style. The actual brutality that stemmed from this was horrific, and it brought about a wave of outrage, giving more fuel to the fire of the Civil Rights movement. -
June 6, 1944, the date of the Allied invasion of northern France. The largest amphibious assault in world history, the invasion opened a second front against the Germans and moved the Allies closer to victory in Europe. -
Law passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 1947 that overhauled the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, placing restrictions on organized labor that made it more difficult for unions to organize workers. -
A Long Island, New York, suburb, built by William J. Levitt in the late 1940's, that used mass-production techniques to build modest, affordable houses. Other Levittowns were built in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The importance of such an event is the economic stability and prosperity that these homes were bringing. The new mortgage and loan rates are proof that the 1950's was a prosperous town, and this town was a market achievement of the Baby Boom. -
The 1947 report by the Presidential Committee on Civil Rights that called for robust federal action to ensure equality for African Americans. President Truman asked Congress to make all of the report’s recommendations — including the abolition of poll taxes and the restoration of the Fair Employment Practice Committee — into law, leading to discord in the Democratic Party. -
A 1948 Supreme Court decision that outlawed racially restrictive housing occupancy covenants. However, racial discrimination persisted until the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. -
A group founded by World War II veterans in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1948 to protest the poor treatment of Mexican American soldiers and veterans. The importance in such a group being made was a sign of progress for equality for all, however small the step was. -
Known popularly as the Dixiecrats, a breakaway party of white Democrats from the South that formed for the 1948 election. Its formation hinted at a potential long-term schism within the New Deal coalition. The problem with this rift is the fact, that once you divide your forces, you will not win because you pull votes away from your own party. -
The domestic policy agenda announced by President Harry S. Truman in 1949, which included civil rights, health care, public housing, and education funding. Congress rejected most of it -
Supreme Court ruling of 1954 that overturned the “separate but equal” precedent established in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. The Court declared that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal and thus violated the Fourteenth Amendment. -
Yearlong boycott of Montgomery’s segregated bus system in 1955–1956 by the city’s African American population. The boycott brought Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence and ended in victory when the Supreme Court declared segregated seating on public transportation unconstitutional. -
A 1956 law authorizing the construction of 42,500 miles of new highways and their integration into a single national highway system. The law ran further than just a way to connect the country other than railway, it was deemed necessary that the country could evacuate the cities in case Russia got trigger happy with nukes. -
After the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr. and other black ministers formed the SCLC in 1957 to coordinate civil rights activity in the South. -
A student civil rights group founded in 1960, under the mentorship of Ella Baker, that conducted sit-ins, voter registration drives, and other actions to advance racial equality throughout the 1960s. -
A series of multiracial sit-ins conducted on interstate bus lines throughout the South by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1961. An early and important civil rights protest. -
Resolution passed by Congress in 1964 in the wake of a naval confrontation in the Gulf of Tonkin between the United States and North Vietnam. It gave the president virtually unlimited authority in conducting the Vietnam War. The Senate terminated the resolution in 1970 following outrage over the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. -
The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, which investigated the 1967 urban riots. Its 1968 report warned of the dangers of “two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal." This group helped root out the racism that was spreading growing throughout the country, and brought to light how bad it was getting. -
A convention held in Chicago during which numerous antiwar demonstrators outside the convention hall were teargassed and clubbed by police. Inside the convention hall, the delegates were bitterly divided over Vietnam. -
Major campaign of attacks launched throughout South Vietnam in January 1968 by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong. A major turning point in the war, it exposed the credibility gap between official statements and the war’s reality, and it shook Americans’ confidence in the government.