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Period: to
Transforming the West
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Homestead Act
The Homestead act was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. It encouraged Western Migration and provided settlers with 160 acres of land. The conditions were that they would receive this land if it was improved for five years. This act was also only for farmers that did not have any land. Landless farmers, single women, and former slave took advantage. Approximately 15,000 homestead claims were placed by the end of the Civil War and would later increase to 1.6 million approved claims.. -
Morrill Land Grant College Act
Also known as the Morrill Act, the Morrill Land Grant College Act was passed and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in July of 1862. It funded new universities in areas, that were sparsely populated. They were funded through taxes on the sale of public land, which allowed new western states to establish new colleges for their citizens. These institutions emphasized agriculture and mechanic arts. This gave many farmers and working people more opportunities to receive a higher education. -
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Born in May of 1794, Cornelius Vanderbilt was a businessman and philanthropist. During the Nineteenth Century, Vanderbilt became one of the wealthiest men in the United States. In the late 1820's, he became one of America's biggest steam steamship operators. He gained a reputation for being very competitive and ruthless and was nicknamed "The Commodore." In the 1860's, Vanderbilt changed from the steamship career to focusing more on the railroad industry, which is what he is most known for. -
Period: to
Becoming an Industrial Power
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Transcontinental Railroad
The first Transcontinental Railroad was constructed between the years of 1863 and 1869, when in first opened. It was approximately two thousand miles in length and it linked the United States from east to west for the first time. The Central Pacific and Union Pacific were the two corporations tasked to build and complete the railroad. Central Pacific built east while Union Pacific built west; the two point met in Promontory Point, Utah, which was approximately in the middle. -
Red River War
The Red River War started during the summer of 1874 in Oklahoma, Texas. Southern plains Indians were upset over illegal white settlement and the devastation over the killing of the buffalo. As a result, they wanted to retaliate against white so they attacked. In 1875, they were defeated by the whites, which stopped native resistance on the southern plains. Tribes included the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and the Arapaho Native American Tribes. -
Telephone
The telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. The telephone, or phone, for short was his most successful invention and it is what he is best known for. He wanted to find a another form of communication through electricity. As a result of his first official patent for the phone, he faced legal claims and it ended up being one of history's longest patent battles. Like the telegraph, his invention revolutionized the methods of communication, making it much easier to contact someone. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
The Battle of Little Big Horn took place near the Little Big Horn River in Montana territory. This battle occurred between the United States and Northern Tribe Native Americans and lasted only one day. The federal troops were led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. He led the offensive before reinforces had arrived. This was a victory for Native Americans, Custer had underestimated the size of their army and his side was outnumbered. Approximately 250 of his men were dead. -
Great Uprising
The Great Uprising was also known as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and started on the 14th of July in West Virginia. People were on strike because their wages were being cut for the third time in a year. It quickly began spreading through various cities across the country and was one of the first mass strikes to occur in the United States. With this uprising, labor unions became more better and more organized. Also, as a result of the Great Uprising, the modern National Guard was created. -
Period: to
The Gilded Age
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Light Bulb
The light bulb was first created by Thomas Edison, an American inventor and businessman, in 1879; he has been described as the America's greatest inventor. The light bulb is a modern invention that became essential and was widely used at the time and still is used today worldwide. Edison wanted to create something that would improve and make electric lighting better. His invention was then commercially manufactured and in 1880, companies began marketing this new creation. -
Tenements
Tenements are narrow, low-rise apartment buildings where many were located in the lower east side neighborhood of New York City. Many of these buildings were crowded by immigrants relocating to get and experience a better life. The population of New York City doubled in every decade from 1800 to 1880 causing these tenements to become very overcrowded. In each tenement were dozens of families where it was poorly ventilated and poorly lit. Rents soared and people were evicted for falling behind. -
John D. Rockefeller
Born in July of 1849 in New York, John D. Rockefeller was considered the Andrew Carnegie of the Oil industry because he did many similar things as him. He then became one of the wealthiest men in the world. In 1870, he established a company, Standard Oil, which, in the 1880's, controlled approximately 90 percent of U.S. refineries and pipeline. He is the inventor of two major elements which are Trusts and Holding Companies. Additionally, Rockefeller went from horizontal integration to vertical. -
Helen Hunt
Born in October of 1830 in Massachusetts, Helen Hunt was an american poet and writer who later became an activist in support of Native Americans. She is known for writing the book "A Century of Dishonor," which was published in 1881. It was about the things Native Americans went through the United States, mainly focusing on their injustices. It was well received and congress looked in to Native American affairs. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Approved in May of 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act banned further Chinese immigration into the United States. It was the first significant act that restricted immigration. Whites were threatened by the Chinese because they were "taking" their jobs. In 1892, the act was renewed for another ten years and in 1902, it made Chinese immigration permanently illegal. This caused the Chinese population to sharply decline, which showed that the Chinese Exclusion Act was effective. -
Sarah Winnemucca
Born around 1844 near Nevada, Sarah Winnemucca was an educator, writer, and activist. She was also a Native American reformer who was raised by white people. Also, she was an interpreter for her people and the United States army during times of conflict. She passionately spoke over the mistreatment of Native American communities. She passed away in 1891 and in 1993, she was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame for her 1883 book "Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims." -
Pendleton Act
Also known as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, the Pendleton Act was approved in January of 1883. It was passed following the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled job seeker. This act established a merit-based system of selecting government officials and supervising their work and replaced the Spoils System. Additionally, it established the Civil Service exam which also made the system more fair and changes were made against favors. -
Great Upheaval of 1886
The Great Upheaval of 1886 was a wave of strikes held across the nation. People stopped working in protest of the bad working condition and bad pay. During this upheaval, several workers were killed by the police at a reaper plant in Chicago. It resulted in the Haymarket riot, which occurred three days later. People gathered in protest for the workers that were killed in the Great Upheaval of 1886, seven police officers ended up dead. The strike was set back because of the events that occurred. -
Haymarket Riot
The Haymarket riot was an event that, at the time, set back the labor movement into the early 20th century. This riot was a result of the Great Upheaval of 1886, it was a protest planned for strikers that had been killed and was held in Chicago. Approximately 300 police had arrived to help break up the crowd. A bomb exploded in the process near the policemen. turning the protest into a riot. They began to attack the crowd with guns and batons which resulted in the death of seven police officers. -
Coca-Cola
First introduced in May of 1886, Coca-Cola is a soft drink that many still enjoy today. When it was first introduced, the original recipe consisted of small amounts of the actual drug that is illegal today, cocaine. It claimed to relieve exhaustion and serve as a substitute for alcohol, also, it was said to cure the addiction people had to opium. In 1903, cocaine was officially removed from the recipe. The company began to export their products overseas and are still widely distributed today. -
Dawes Severalty Act
Also known as "Dawes Act," the Dawes Severalty Act became effective in February of 1887. It was created by Henry Dawes and was signed by President Grover Cleveland. This ac t called for the breakup of Indian reservations and the assimilation of Native Americans into American Christian society. Natives were granted a pieces of land of about 160 acres to farm. Natives who were not married or under the age of 18 received smaller tracts of land. It also allowed Natives to apply for citizenship. -
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
Opening in May of 1887, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was a result of Western Romanticism. It was started by William Fredrick Cody, who took on the persona of Buffalo Bill from the book of the same name. He was a former scout and buffalo hunter who took his show to Eastern United States, as westerners knew it was a misinterpretation of the West. It portrayed Indian fights, cowboys, lassoing, and marksmanship. Many former cowboys, sharpshooters, and Indians, joined this show in the East. -
Andrew Carnegie
Born in November of 1835, Andrew Carnegie was a successful monopolist, businessman, and entrepreneur. He was a Scottish immigrant who grew up very poor and became a wealthy person. When he move to the United States, he worked in various railroad jobs and by 1889, he owned his own business, Carnegie Steel Corporation. He was a hard worker, investor, and would push production costs to their lowest levels possible. Additionally, he was the first to invest in the Bessemer Process. -
Jane Addams
Known as the "Mother of Social Work," Jane Addams was an American settlement activist, reformer, and leader of women's suffrage and world peace. She was also a supporter of immigrants and the starter of the Hull House in Chicago in 1889. The purpose of the Hull House was to teach people basic needs such as cooking, sewing, civics, English, and hygiene. It was also a models for other settlement houses. She is known for her book, Twenty Years at Hull House, which is the time she spent there. -
Great Migration
The Great Migration was the relocation of many African-Americans from the rural South to the North. They wanted to move North to cities such as Detroit and Chicago to get away from bad economic opportunities and harsh segregation laws, Jim Crow. Between 1890 & 1910, approximately three-hundred thousand African-Americans arrived North and by 1970, about seven million had relocated. By moving North, they escaped persecution and war and took advantage of the better opportunities and economic life. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Approved in summer of 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first measure taken by Congress to prohibit trusts. It was named after its primary supporter, Senator John Sherman from Ohio. It called for the outlawing of monopolization and was based on the constitutional power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce and, unlike similar laws, it was not limited to intrastate businesses. At first, it was useless against monopolies but it later became successful and made trusts illegal. -
Period: to
Imperialism
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City Beautiful Movement
The City Beautiful Movement was an American urban-planning movement led by architects and reformers to reduce or eliminate city problems through redesign. Much of the architecture was classical and included boulevards to make the streets wider, large open parks, and public squares. The idea of the City Beautiful Movement flourished between the 1890's and the 1920's and was most prominent in cities such as Cleveland, Chicago, and Washington D.C. -
Depression of 1893
Also known as the Panic of 1893, the Depression of 1893 was one of the worst economic downfall in the United States, which also effected surrounding countries. This depression began in 1893 and did not end until about 1897. Banks, railroads, and many other everyday businesses went under during this panic and many people questioned the laissez fair capitalist economy. Efforts of reform in the late 19th century were not sufficient and conflict between labor and big business was going on. -
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike is considered to be one of the most influential events in the history of US Labor. George Pullman, who owned a company that built luxury railroad cars, was forced to cut back on salaries and lay off workers because of the impact left by the Depression of 1893. It began as a walkout by railroad workers in the Midwest and later escalated. The ARU shut down railroads and President Cleveland had to intervene. Attention was later increased as Strikers gained some public support. -
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The Progressive Era
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William McKinley
Born in January of 1843 in Ohio, William McKinley became the 25th President of the United States during the Election of 1896 against William Jennings Bryan with 51% of the votes. Before running for president, McKinley served in the US Congress and as governor of Ohio. He led the US into war with Spain because of the issue with Cuban Independence which resulted in the US possession of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. During second term in 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated. -
Election of 1896
The Presidential Election of 1896 is said to be one of the most exciting elections in the history of the United States. Money was an issue during this time which caused parties to split based on who favored the gold standard and those who favored free silver. William McKinley was a former Ohio Congressman and governor and ran for the republican party. William Jennings Bryan was a former Nebraska Congressman and ran for the democratic party. McKinley won both the electoral and the popular votes. -
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was born on April 29, 1863 in San Francisco, California. He was a business man, politician, and publishing magnate. He inherited the San Francisco Examiner from his father and was able to build his media empire from there. He later bought the New York Journal and gained attention for his Yellow Journalism, a way to increase newspaper sales through dramatic and very exaggerated stories. He is known for his famous quote: "You furnish the pictures, I will furnish the war." -
Treaty of Paris 1898
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed by representatives of Spain and the United States of America. This treaty marked the end of the Spanish-American War which lasted from April to August in 1898. Besides ending the war, the Treaty of Paris also declared that Spain relinquish Cuba and Puerto Rico to the United States. Cuba was then made into a "puppet state" by the U.S. The U.S. also gains Guam and the Philippines which would approximate to twenty-million dollars. -
U.S.S. Maine Incident
The U.S.S. Maine was one of the first American battleships. It weighed more than six-thousand tons and it took approximately 2 million dollars in costs to built. It had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of America after a rebellion broke out in Havana. On February 15, 1898, the Maine exploded due to spontaneous, internal combustion and 266 of the people on board. Many,including the media, blamed Spain for this incident but there was no actual direct evidence to support that claim. -
Philippine-American War
After the Spanish-American War, the Philippines became a territory belonging to the United States. Fighting then broke out between American forces and the Philippines when they revolted against the US. The Philippine-American War began in 1899 and lasted about three years ending in 1902. Soldiers used guerrilla warfare to fight against each other. Over 70k soldiers fought for the US and by then end of the war, over 4k of them were dead, a small amount compared to the 220k Filipinos that died. -
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is a fictional book written by L. Frank Baum that was published in 1900 and was later adapted into a movie of the same name in 1939. It is said be an allegory on the populist movement, a story that contains a lot of symbolism and can be interpreted into hidden meanings related to events and situations that had occurred during that time period. It is indicated that the author, Baum, was a supporter of William Jennings Bryan during the Election of 1896. -
Carrie A. Nation
Carrie Amelia Nation was born on November 25, 1846. She was a radical member of the temperance movement and is best known for carrying a bible and attacking alcohol selling establishments with her hatchet. On December 27, 1900, Nation smashed up the bar at the Carey Hotel in Kansas. She caused thousands of dollars worth of damage and was put in jail. She was released shortly after and became famous for these type of incidents as part of her anti-alcohol movement until her death in 1911. -
Booker T. Washington
Born in 1856, Booker T. Washington was a former slave and a prominent black intellectual around 1900. Washington wanted black economic equality through vocational work. In 1881, he founded the Tuskegee Institute to train African-Americans in agriculture and industry and to promote their economic justice with whites. He urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being as economic justice would allow equal rights later on. He clashed with other black leaders over the topic of equality. -
Child Labor
During the late 1800's and early 1900's, child labor was popular among american industries. Adults thought that, because they were smaller, they could fit in smaller spaces of machinery where adults could not fit. Children would work long hours in bad working conditions and they would be paid less than adults. By 1900, 18% of all american workers were under the age of 16. Educational reformers later convinced many that education was necessary for children and school attendance became mandatory. -
Boxer Rebellion
Also know as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Rebellion was an uprising in Northern China against the spread of Western and Japanese influence there. This rebellion was led by a Chinese organization called the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists. Foreigners everywhere in China were attacked and the rebellion was secretly funded by the Chinese Government. This resulted in the US ensuring that Chine wouldn't be taken over and China was fined $333 million for supporting the rebels. -
Election of 1900
The Presidential Election of 1900 occurred between William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. This election is said to be a rematch from the Election of 1896. Bryan ran as a Democrat and McKinley ran as a Republican with Theodore Roosevelt as his candidate for Vice President. McKinley easily won with two hundred and ninety-two of the electoral votes. He became the 25th President of the United States with Teddy as his VP until his assassination in September of 1901. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Also known as Teddy and T.R., Theodore Roosevelt was Vice President to William McKinley until his assassination in 1901 and became the 26 President of the United States. He is known to be the youngest president in U.S. History at 42 years old. Teddy was a very energetic and enthusiastic person, some could call him a "big little kid," he was also very athletic, a lecturer, and an overall likable person. He is also known to be a dedicated conservationist of nature, national parks, and reserves. -
Platt Amendment
Passed in March of 1901, the Platt Amendment was introduced by Orville Platt to the United States Army appropriations bill. This amendment specified several conditions for the American military evacuation of Cuba. It required that Cuba cede territory for American military and naval bases and grants the U.S. the right to intervene in the island to preserve life, property, and individual liberty. The Platt Amendment was able to regulate Cuban-American relations until it was repealed in 1934. -
Henry Ford
Born in July of 1863, Henry Ford was an engineer who built his first horseless, gasoline powered carriage in his shed. In 1903, he founded the Ford Motor company and created what is now known as the assembly line to make the process of building vehicles faster and more effective. In 1908, Ford was able to release the Model T, a high demand vehicle that was practical and meant to be affordable for the common man. He was a very influential figure in the industrial world until his death in 1947. -
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War began on February 8, 1904. It started when Japan launched a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, which was a Russian naval base in China. During this war Japan gained many victories against Russia, who underestimated their power. This caused Russia to be embarrassed and Japan to become cocky. In August of 1905, United States President Teddy Roosevelt mediated a peace treaty between the tow nations and the war came to an end on September 5, 1905. -
Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 20, 1878. He was an American novelist and political writer. Sinclair is best known for his book, The Jungle. This best-selling book and more of his other works often uncovered social injustices. The Jungle was part of Sinclair's intention to reveal the truth about the meat-packing industry. It described the unsanitary conditions and the cruelty of animals, this caused a public outcry and changed the way that people shopped for food. -
W.E.B. DuBois
Born in 1868, W.E.B DuBois was a civil rights activist and like Booker T. Washington, a prominent black individual. However, he was the opposite of Booker T. Washington with their different views on African-American rights. While Washington wanted economic equality, DuBois wanted immediate civil rights. He wanted African-Americans to have professional occupations, such as politicians and teachers. In 1909, he co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. -
Angel Island
Known as the Angel Island Immigration Station, Angel Island the principal facility for immigration in the U.S. from 1910-1940. It is considered to be the Ellis Island of the West Coast. It is located in San Francisco Bay, California and is where thousands of Chinese immigrate after the earthquake in San Francisco, 1906. Many birth records were lost, which the Chinese took advantage of, so Angel Island was opened in attempt to help identify immigrants. In 1924, Congress banned Asian immigration. -
Election of 1912
The Presidential Election of 1912 occurred between Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. During this election, Roosevelt started a new progressive third party, the "Bull Moose" Party; he gained the following of Progressive Republicans. Republicans nominated William Howard Taft and a New Jersey Governor, Woodrow Wilson, ran as a democrat. Wilson defeated both Roosevelt and Taft in this election, becoming the twenty-eighth President of the United States. -
Woodrow Wilson
Born in December of 1856, Woodrow Wilson served as the 28th President when he defeated both Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft during the Election of 1912. He served for two terms from 1913 to 1921. He was the president that led the United States in to World War I from 1914 to 1918. Wilson helped negotiate a treaty after the war and is also often referred to as one of the nations greatest presidents by historians. He later received a Nobel Prize for his efforts in peacemaking. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Born in December of 1863, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne and empire. In 1914, he was on an official visit in Sarajevo, Bosnia. During this time, Austria-Hungary was in control of Serbia and wanted to join with Bosnia. A group called the Black Hand wanted to make a statement for Serbia to be let go and kill the Archduke. During his visit, Ferdinand and his wife were killed by Black Hand member Gravilo Princip. His assassination is what caused World War I. -
Panama Canal
Starting construction in 1904, the Panama Canal was a project commenced by the United States by building a canal across a fifty mile stretch of the Panama isthmus. Theodore Roosevelt bought the rights to build this canal which cost approximately 40 million dollars. It functions through a system of locks and a man-made water source, and artificial lake. It was first opened in 1914. The opening of the canal was meant to be a big deal, but the event was overshadowed by the beginning of World War I. -
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World War I
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Mustard Gas
Sulfur Mustard, or more commonly known as mustard gas, is a chemical weapon that was first introduced in 1915 when Germans fired approximately 150 tons of lethal gas along the Western front. It was the first major gas attack by the Germans. They has begun actively developing chemical weapon when the first World War broke out. In order to avoid the effects of mustard gas, the Germans had to wear gas masks. Effects included blisterd skin, eyes, and lungs and this weapon killed thousands. -
RMS Lusitania
The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner en route from New York to Liverpool, England. Less than a year after World War I started, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania on May 7, 1915. There were more than 1,900 passengers and crew members on board and about 1,200 died due to the explosion. The sinking of this ship played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany. Newpapers then warned the public stating that if they got on a ship, they were at risk of dying. -
Vladimir Lenin
Born in 1870, Vladimir Lennin was the founder of the communist party and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. He was considered to be on of the most influential and controversial leaders political figures in the 20th century. He was also the first leader of the Soviet Union. Leading up to the revolution, Lenin spent his time in exile within Russia. Lenin later attempted to shape the future of the Soviet Union and would warn against the unchecked power of party members. He passed in 1924. -
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Force, or AEF, was the name given to the American troops serving in Europe during World War I. It was founded because the United States did not have the organization necessary for the deployment of the soldiers needed for the war. It was the first time that U.S. troops were sent abroad to help defend other countires. The AEF was led by General John Pershing, who helped prevent Germans from marching in France and pushed them back to the trenches. -
Mexican Revolution
Throughtout World War I, the Mexican Revolution was going on. It was a long struggle between several factions in Mexico. It started in November of 1910 and ended in the year of 1920. This revolution ended dictatorship in Mexico and established a constitutional republic. Groups were led by revolutionaries including Francisco Madero, Pascual Orozco, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, who participated in the costly conflict. Their armies began raiding government garrisons. -
14 Points
The Fourteen Points were a speech by Woodrow Wilson. It was an address delivered before a meeting of Congress in January of 1918. The Fourteen Points are 14 strategies to ensure national security and world peace. Several of these points addressed specific territorial issues in Europe and others set the tone for postwar American diplomacy. They also set the tone for the ideals that would form the backbone of the United States foreign policy as the nation achieved high status in the 20th century. -
Spanish Flu
Also known as the Killer Flu, the Spanish flu caused a worldwide pandemic in 1918. It was very contagious and infected approximatetly 500 million people around the world. About 20 to 50 million people were killed by this sickness which included thousands of Americans. This flu was first observed from Europe, the United States, and some parts of Asia and later spread. At the time, there were no drugs or vaccines to help treat this and people were instructed to wear masks to avoid the infection. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles officially ended World War I with the signing in 1919, on the fourth anneversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It consisted of 15 parts and 440 articles which reassigned German boundaries. This treaty stated that Germany would be assigned liability for the reparations needed after World War I. Because of this, the economy of Germany crippled and they were not able to rebuild the German army. Germany also had to take fully responsibility for the war. -
Henry Cabot Lodge
Born in May of 1850 in Boston, Massachsetts, Henry Cabot Lodge was an American Republican Congressman and historian. He was the first person to be granted a doctorate in history from Harvard University. He launched his political career in the state legislature and in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate.Lodge later led the successful congressional opposition to the United States participation in the League of Nations following World War I. -
18th Amendment
The Eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1917, ratified in 1919, and went into effect in 1920. It outlawed the manufacture, sale, an transportation of intoxicating liquor, this was known as Prohibition. Prohibition was difficult to enforce and the banning of alcohol failed to have the intended effect of eliminating crime and other social problems. It actually did the opposite, it led to the rise of organized crime because the bootlegging of alcohol became a more profitable operation. -
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City during the 1920's and 1930's. It was an artistic movement involving photogrpahers, musicians, writers and more. Thid period is considered a golden age in African American culture. Jazz began to dominate American music during this time and jazz venues become more popular. Many thought this music during the Harlem Renaissance eluded lewd behavior. -
Women in the 1920's
By 1920, women were part of twenty-five percent of the workforce. Their jobs included secretaries, phone operators, nurses, librarians, and teachers. By this time, all women were also given the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment. Many women were also known as "Flappers," they were able to go out to bars, smoke in public, dance new dances, and were sexually liberated, Flappers represented women's newfound freedom. -
Period: to
1920's
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The 19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified and added to the U.S. Constitution on August 8, 1920. It granted America women the right to vote, which is known as Women's Suffrage. Once it was ratified, it ended the protest that lasted almost a century, with the movement beginning in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention. Many women, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and other activists, raised awareness regarding their right to vote and other women's rights. -
Marcus Garvey
Born in 1887, Marcus Garvey was aJamaican immigrant, leader in the black nationalist movement and a militant. Like Booker T. Washington, Garvey believed in economic empowerment for African Americans. His UNIA was the largest secular organization in African-American history, it was also the conterpart for the NAACP. He was against doing away with Jim Crow because he did not want African Americans to integrate with whites. In 1923, Garvey was arrested for mail fraud and was then deported. -
Margaret Sanger
Born in 1879 in Ney York, Margaret Sanger was one of eleven children. She was a nurse and birthcontrol advocate who believed that children made women impoverished. She later opened the very first birth contorl clinic in 1923 in the United States, the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau. She also educated women about birth control, the dangers of illegal abortions, and contraceptives. She was laters arrested because it was against state laws to teach womean about contraceptives. -
Ku Klux Klan
During the 1920's, the Ku Klux Klan reached was at its peak.The 1920's was also the second era for the Ku Klux Klan and had approximately 4 million members throughout the country. During this time, the KKK was not only in the South anymore, it had also reached the North. Initially, the Klan was suppresed by the goverment, however, the thousands of lynchings and burnings of African-Americans by KKK members were not stopped by the government. -
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 was signed by President Calvin Coolidge. It was passed in order to maintain the racial composition of the United States by restricting the entry of immigrants. The new law reflected the desire of Americans to isolate themselves from the world after fighting World War I in Europe. While people from Northern Europe were let in, entry was denied to Mexicans, and disproportionately to Eastern and Southern Europeans and Japanese. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
The Scopes Trial, or more commonly known as the Scopes Money Trial, was a legal case which took place in July of 1925 in Dayton, Tennesee. This case had to do with John Thomas Scopes, a 23 year old substitute from Tennessee. He was arrested for teaching evolution to students and was prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan and defended by Clarence Darrow. Within a few days, the trial became a media spectacle and money maker for Dayton as people came from all over. Scopes was later found guilty. -
Charles Lindberg
Born in 1902, Charles Lindberg was an aviator and military officer. He rose to fame when he became the 1st man to cross the Atlantic by plane. He flew nonstop from New York to Paris in 33.5 hours in 1927 on his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis. He didn't sleep for 55 hours and had no radio or radar, only a flashlight, rubber raft, wicker chair, and sandwiches. He then began to promote commercial air travel and planes became more popular because of him. Lindberg also became a WWII fighter pilot. -
Al Capone
Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, Al Capone was the most infamous gangster in American History. During the height of Prohibition in 1920, his operation in bootlegging, gambling, and prostitution was dominant in the organized crime scene. He was responsible for many acts of violence, including the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. He ordered the murders of 7 rivals but was never arrested for this. Instead, he was arrested in 1931 for income tax invasion. He was later released and he passed in 1947. -
Herbert Hoover
Born in 1874 in Iowa, Herbert Hoover served as the thirty-first President of the United States during the beginnings of the Great Depression. In the minds of the American people, Hoover was to blame for the depression. Hoover failed to recognize the severity of the situation or leverage the power of the federal government to squarely address it. He was widely viewed as callous and insensitive toward the suffering of Americans. During the Election of 1932, Hoover was replaced as President. -
Period: to
The Great Depression
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Election of 1932
The Presidential Election of 1932 was ran between Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Hoover ran for his second term as a republican, Roosevelt ran for the first time as a democrat. This election took place as effects of the Great Depression were being felt across the United States. Hoover's popularity among voters fell as they felt that he would be unable to reverse the effect of the depression. Roosevelt won the election overwhelmingly, becoming the 32nd President of the U.S. -
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Also known as F.D.R., Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. He was a governor of New York and was later elected as the 32nd President of the United States. When he became president, when the economy was in the middle of the Great Depression. He is known as the 1st modern president and would have “fireside chats” through the radio with Americans, speaking to them directly over the state of the economy. During his presidency, he hid his disease, polio, from the people. -
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady of the United States and the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt. She was considered to be the eyes, ears, and right hand of F.D.R. She was also one of the most active first ladies in history and worked for political, racial and social justice. After President Roosevelt’s death, Eleanor was a delegate to the United Nations and continued to serve as an advocate for a wide range of human rights issues. Eleanor Roosevelt was an icon and role model for all women. -
Father Charles Coughlin
Father Charles E. Coughlin was born on October 25, 1891 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was a clergyman and politician who supported Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Election of 1932. In 1930 Coughlin experimented with the new medium of radio, broadcasting sermons and talks to children in 1930. He was known as a U.S. Roman Catholic “radio priest” who developed one of the first loyal mass audiences in radio broadcast history in 1930. -
21st Amendment
The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 5, 1933. It repealed the 18th amendment and brought an end to the era of national prohibition of alcohol in America. This amendment was passed because of the failure of Prohibition. After the repeal of the 18th Amendment, some states continued Prohibition by maintaining statewide temperance laws. Mississippi was the last "dry" state in the United States and ended its prohibition in 1966. -
National Industry Recovery Act
The National Industry Recovery Act, or NIRA, was passed in an effort to help the nation recover from the Great Depression. It was supported by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was considered to be an unusual experiment in United States history. This act suspended antitrust laws and supported an alliance of industries. Under the NIRA, companies were required to write industrywide codes of fair competition to fix wages and prices and these codes were a form of industry self-regulation -
20th Amendment
The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president and congress from March to January. This amendment was known as the "Lame Duck Amendment" because a lame duck is an official who continues to hold office after not being re-elected. Before the 20th Amendment, a newly elected congress person did not take office for four months after being elected. -
Huey Long
Huey Long, nicknamed "the Kingfish," was a powerful politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana. He believed in the redistribution of wealth, which would mean that no one would make more than one million dollars and everyone would receive a guaranteed income. He also believed in old age pensions for the elderly, benefits for veterans, educational support, and shorter working days. He was considered as a threat to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 but was assassinated in September, 1935. -
The Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl refers to the drought-stricken Southern region of the United States. The south suffered severe dust storms during a dry period in the 1930's, from 1930 to 1936. People and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region. High winds and chiking dust swept the region. The Dust Bowl made the impacts of the Great Depression worse and drove many families to a desparate migration in hopes of finding work and better living conditons. -
Hitler
Born in 1889, Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party in Germany. He was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of the 20th century. Hitler took advantage of economic problems, political infighting to take absolute power in Germany beginning in 1933. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to the outbreak of WWII and by 1941, Nazi forces occupied much of Europe. His obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy led to the murder of about 6 million jews and other victims of the Holocaust. -
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World War II
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Auschwitz
Also known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Auschwitz opened in 1940 and was the largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. It is located in southern Poland and initially served as a detention center for political prisoners. It later evolved into a network of camps where Jewish people and other members of persecuted groups were killed, often in gas chambers, or used as slave labor. Some prisoners were also used in medical experiments. More than 1 million people died in Auschwitz throughout WWII. -
Dunkirk
The event that occurred in Dunkirk is considered to be one of the greatest maritime evacuations in history. As the German Army advanced through northern France during the beginnings of World War II, it cut off British troops from their French allies, forcing an enormous evacuation of soldiers across the North Sea from the town of Dunkirk to England. The Allied armies were trapped by the sea and were quickly being encircled on all sides by the Germans. -
National Socialist-German Workers’ Party (NAZI)
The National Socialist-German Workers’ Party, or more commonly known as the Nazi Party, was under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. This party grew into a mass movement and ruled Germany through totalitarian means from 1933 to 1945. It was founded in 1919 as the German Workers’ Party, it promoted German pride and antiSemitism. After Germany’s defeat in WWII, the Nazi Party was outlawed. Many of its top officials were convicted of war crimes related to the murder of 6 million Jews during this time. -
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps. They were trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama and they flew more than 15,000 individual sorties in Europe and North Africa during WWII. The program’s trainees, nearly all of them college graduates or undergraduates, came from all over the country. Their performance earned them more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and helped encourage the integration of the US armed forces. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. It was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Japanese fighter planes managed to destroy almost 20 American naval vessels and over three hundred airplanes. More than two thousand Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and approximately one thousand people were wounded. The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. -
Navajo Code Talkers
After the Navajo code was developed, the Marine Corps established a Code Talking school. The Navajo code is a form of secret communication used during the second World War. As the war progressed, more than 400 Navajos were eventually recruited as Code Talkers. Besides fluency in Navajo and English, candidates had to demonstrate that they were physically fit to serve as messengers in combat. The Navajo Code Talkers were formed because of the need for a more secure method of communicating. -
The Holocaust
"Holocaust" is the word assocated with the mass murder of some 6 million European Jews and members of other persecuted groups, such as gypsies and homosexuals, by the German Nazi regime throughout the second World War. To many Germans, Jews were an inferior race, an alien threat to German racial purity and community. Jews were sent to concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, all over Europe. The first mass killings of jews in concentrations camps began in 1942. -
D-Day
D-Day was the day of June 6, 1944 when Allied forces invaded northern France by means of beach landings in Normandy during World War II. 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest military assaults in history and it required extensive planning. The initial day for the invasion was supposed to be on June 5 but was delayed because of bad weather. -
Joseph Stalin
Born in 1878, Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the USSR, or the Soviet Union. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. He ruled by terror and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. Stalin aligned with the United States and Britain in WWII but later engaged in an increasingly tense relationship with the West known as the Cold War. He ruled over the Soviet Union from 1929 until his death in 1953.
