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Period: to
US I
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Proclamation of Neutrality
After France declared war on Great Britain in February of 1793, President George Washington stated in a formal address that the United States would remain neutral in the conflict and any American who any sort of assitance to either nation would risk legal prosecution. The proclamation was a reassertion of Washington's belief in isolationism and effectively kept America out of a potentially costly and domming conflict. The speech also created tension and distrust between the U.S. and France. -
Jay Treaty
This treaty between the US and UK settled some issues that went unresolved after the Treaty of Paris. Provisions in this treaty included the UK leaving of 6 western forts in the USA, USA recieving "most favored" nation status from UK, and the establishment of a committee to resolve northeast border disputes. This treaty was met with criticism for not accomplishing enough, but it may have actually saved the country from war. -
George Washington's Farewell Address
In his address, among other things, George Washington appealed to Americans to remain isolationist and not get caught in entangling alliances. He warns that these alliances could bring America into costly wars that have no benefit to the nation. He also advocated the end to tariffs and free trade for nations. His beliefs and future presidents' respect for Washington would put them in an ackward position as America was forced to become involved in global matters. -
XYZ Affair
The three French diplomats known as X, Y and Z demanded bribes from the US diplomats during peace negotiations following Jay's Treaty. The French diplomats demands were taken as an insult by the US government, who refused to pay but offered a treaty with France that would have been similar to Jay's Treaty. This was rejected, and the bad feelings led to the Quasi-war, an undeclared naval conflict that included French attacks on merchants and and end to the alliance with France. -
Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson purchased the French claims in the Great Plains region for 60 million francs and the cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs. It should be noted that the USA did not own the land at this point, as it was still inhabited by the Native Americans. Jefferson was met by some opposition from congress under the idea that the purchase was unconstitutional. Another important aspect of this purchase was the acquisition of the important port of New Orleans. -
Embargo Act of 1807and Non-Intercourse Acts
The embargo act preevnted the US from any sort of trade with foreign countries. The idea was that it would ease tensions with the UK and France because we would not anger one country by trading with the other. The nonintercourse act was similar except it lifted all trading bans except those on France and Britain. This was a bit better, though almost all of our trade was with these countries, so still not good. These acts bothered many, but did force the US to do more manufacturing for themselves -
Rush-Bagot Treaty
The Rush-Bagot Treaty was signed by the United States and Great Britain that demilitarized the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. The treaty also gave joint-control of the Oregon territory and led to longest-standing demilitarized boundary line between the U.S. and Canada. -
Treaty of 1818
The Treaty of 1818 between the United States and Great Britain resolved several boundary disputes between the two nations including territory in Northern Minnesota, the Oregon Territory, and fishing waters east of Newfoundland. The treaty also called for the return of or reparations for slaves caputred or killed by the British during the War of 1812. Though it did not resolve all disputes, the treaty of 1818 ushered in an era of improved relations between the U.S. and Great Britain. -
Monroe Doctrine
Stated in his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress, President James Monroe declared that any acts of colonization or interference by Europe in the Americas would be interpreted as acts of agression. It also asserted that the US would not interfere in European affairs. The doctrine would become the cornerstone of US foreign policy. Amendments include the Roosevelt Corollary. -
Annexation of Texas
Under the Presidency of Polk, the annexation of Texas sparked a major debate and quickly drew America into the Mexican-American War. The annexation of Texas was a major goal for the Slave Power who saw the "Republic" as another chance to increase electoral power in the government should it be granted statehood. The constitutionality of the annexation was also questioned, as the Constitution made no mention of the aquiring of nations nor had the United States previously annexed a sovreign state. -
Oregon Treaty and subsequent Territory
This treaty between the US and UK settled a border dispute over the Pacific Northwest. The treaty gave the US the territory for Washington and Oregon, though the UK and US had been occupying the territory since 1818. The border was set at the 49th parallel and free navigation of waters on the border was granted for both countries. -
Gadsden Purchase
Under the presidency of Franklin Pierce, the Gadsden Purchase aquired the Southwesterly lands of what is now Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico. The purchase was pushed through by the Slave Power, hoping to build a southern transcontinental railroad and increased slave influence in the western territories. It became one of the major issues leading up to the Civil War. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This act was passed into law by Chester A. Arthur to suspend the immigration of Chinese citizens into the United States. The act came as a result of animosity towards Chinese settlers that were believed by many to be causing lower wages and taking jobs from Americans. -
Teller Amendment
Enacted in reply to President William McKinley's message of war, this joint resolution by Congress restrained imperialistic impulses, asserting that the United States could not annex Cuba in the event that it was taken from Spain in the war. -
American Anti-Imperialist League
The Anti-Imperialist League was a group that opposed the annexation of the Philippines based on the spirit of republicanism. That is, they did not feel that they could annex the Philippines because they would not have the "consent of the governed." Their opposition was less about the moral wrongness, but more about an idea of American isolationism and avoidance of foreign affairs. Important members include Mark Twain, Grover Cleveland, and Jane Addams. -
Annexation of Hawaii
The United States first began occupation of Hawaii in 1893 when a group of business went ot the islands to exploit the sugar and pinneapple growing business. They were backed by US troops and overthrew the Hawaiian Queen. The islands were eventually annexed despite investigations into the legality of overthrowing the Queen. -
Open Door Policy
Introduced in 1899 by Secretary of State John Hay, a series of notes outlined a multi-national foreign policy in China that would accept certain China rights and preserve fair competition. All nations but Russia, who was focused on the aquisition of Manchuria, accepted. After the Boxer Rebellion, Hay released another series of Open Door notes that also asked nations to preserve the territorial integrity of China. -
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
This agreeement between the United States and Great Britain allowed the U.S. to build and fortify a canal in Central America and nullified the outdated Clayton-Bulwer treaty. -
Platt Amendment
Incorporated into the Cuban Constitution, the Platt Amendment asserted the right of the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs "for the preservation of Cuban independence," prohibited the transfer of Cuban land to any foreign power besides the United States, and ceded the naval base of Guantanamo Bay to the United States. The amendment molded Cuban-U.S. relations until 1934. -
Insular Cases (1901-1904)
The Insular Cases were a series of Supreme Court decisions in regards to the newly acquired territories of the United States. The were handled by the Bureau of Insular (relating to islands) Affairs. The two views in the cases were either that: the citizens of the territories were unfit to become citizens of the United States, or that all territories must eventually become states. The results of these 14 decisions are greatly varying, but they all gave Congress and the President a lot of freedom. -
Panama Canal
On this date, construction began on the Panama Canal. Before this could happen, The US had to cause a revolution to free Panama from Colombia. The US worked with the French, who had land in Panama from years before, to get an agreement passed to construct the canal. -
Roosevelt Corollary
An extension of the Monroe Doctrine, the Roosevelt Corollary esatblished the right of the United States to intervene in Latin American and Caribbean countries in order to "stabilize" the economic conditions of a nation. The announcement came during Roosevelt's annual address to Congress where he addressed concerns of European intervention in the Western Hemisphere after Britain's aggressiveness in the 1902 Venezuela Crisis. -
The Gentlemen's Agreement (Late 1907-early 1908)
This was an informal agreement between the United States and Japanese governments. The United States would promise to not restrict Japanese immigration and schooling, as long as the Japanese would greatly restrict emmigration. The need for an agreement came after San Francisco was segregating Japanese students in schools, and Japan demanded equal treatment. -
Root-Takahira Agreement
Signed by Secretary of State Elihu Root, the agreement consisted of the United States and the Empire of Japan recognizing and respecting the other's territorial claims in the Pacific. -
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet was the US Naval fleet. Roosevelt sent the entire fleet on a trip around the globe to demonstrate the power of the Navy. The ships were greeted with excitement everywhere, all over the world. This is an example of Roosevelt's Big Stick Diplomacy. -
U.S. Involvement in Mexican Revolution
In 1913, Mexican President Madero, A U.S. supporter, was overthrown by the Indian General Victoriano Huerta. Huerta and the U.S. government strongly disliked each other. The U.S. sent weapons to Heurta's rivals Venustiano Carranza and Francisco "Pancho" Villa and Heurta's officials arrested navy officers on a merchant ship in the port of Tampico, Mexico. and Huerta was forced to abdicate and U.S.-supported Carranza took power. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The passenger ship, RMS Lusitania, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. Though the ship was carrying ammunition to supply the Allied war effort, Americans saw this as an attack on innocents and raised Anti-German feelings. -
Sinking of the Sussex and the Sussex Ultimatum
The French passenger ferry, the Sussex, was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in the English Channel. This outraged the American public and government, and led to Wilsons forcing Germany to agree to the Sussex Ulitmatum, in which Wilson threatened to cut all diplomatic relations with Germany if it did not stop its practice of unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany accepted with the exception that America would not support the British blockade of German ports. -
Hunt for Pancho Villa
After Carranza took power, Villa raided and burned down the New Mexico town of Columbia and killed three American engineers in Mexico. In retaliation, a force led by General John Pershing attempted to hunt Villa down on Mexican soil, but were unable to ever capture him. The hunt was called off in 1917 after the U.S. entrance into WWI. This act further raised tensions between the two neighboring countries. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The British military intercepted a secret cable from the German ambassador to the United States, Arthur Zimmerman, to the German ambassador to Mexico that proposed a German-Mexican alliance. This was the final straw for Wilson and he soon asked Congress for a declaration of war, thus beginning America's official involvement in WWI. -
President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points Address
To ensure the nation that U.S. involvement in WWI was for moral reasons, Wilson's presented his 14 goals for the post-war world including freedom of the seas, self-determination for different European ethnicities, end to secret treaties, and most importantly the creation of a League of Nations. Americans and Europeans greeted Wilson's idealism with great joy, but as the Paris Peace Conference began it became evident that the his points would have to settle for compromise. -
Red Scare
The first, less famous Red Scare took place from 1919 until 1920. This period was characterized by fears of Bolshevism and Anarchism following the Russian Bolshevik revolution during WWI. Many people feared revolutions by the working class, and as a result, the period featured exaggerated propaganda and illegal search and seizures. Senator A. Mitchell Palmer was the leading Red Hunter of the time. -
Rejection of the Treaty of Versailles
When the Treaty of Versailles was put to vote in the Senate, many Republicans feared the bindings of the League of Nations. Amendments were added, mostly out of Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge's 14 Reservations, and Wilson ordered the Democratic senators to reject the amended treaty. Because of Wilson's unwillingness to compromise the Treaty of Versailles was rejected by the Senate and the League was born weak. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Trial
Sacco and Vanzetti were Italian immigrants that were known anarchists. They were convicted of murder and armed robbery and were executed despite a lack of evidence. Immigrants in the United States saw it as racist and anti-immigrant, while other people all over the world were up in arms over the unfair conviction. Socialists within the Unietd States tried to campaign for a retrial but to no avail. Jurors houses were also bombed, but the pair was eventually executed. -
Washington Conference
This was a military conference held in Washington to discuss disarmament. Harding called this event of nations with interests in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean, and it led to the effective end to the creation of battleship fleets for all parties involved. This is generally regarded as the first attempt at international disarmament. -
Emergency Quota Act of 1921
This act was passed to try to limit the flow of immigrants into the country. The act said that 3% of the number of residents in the United States from a given country at the time of the 1910 census were permitted to immigrate into the country. The act did not apply to professionals trying to enter into the country -
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was designed to help Germany pay off its war reparations debt. The plan accomplished its goals by telling Germany to increase taxes, helping Germany to strengthen its national bank, and lowering the annual debt payments. The plan helped Germany at first, but the economy was far too dependant on the United States economy. For this reason, Germany suffered greatly when the Great Depression hit. -
Immigration Act of 1924
This act further limited immigration by lowering the percentage to 2% of residents from a given country at the time of the 1890 census. The goal of this act was to limit the number of Eastern and Southern Europeans going into the country. -
Kellog-Briand Pact
This pact, signed by many countries, renounced aggressive war. The pact prohibited the use of war for any means other than self-defense, though it did not provide for any punishment for breaking the pact. This pact really had no major impact in ending war, as was intended, but it did provide a base for trials such as those of the Nazi leaders that started WWII. -
London Economic Conference
This was a conference between 66 nations to try to control currency exchange rates and stimulate the global economy. The conference was a failure because Roosevelt denounced controlling currency exchange right before the conference and withdrew. Roosevelt did not attend the conference because he wanted to focus on stimulating the US economy rather than getting entangled in a foreign economic movement at the expense of the domestic economy. -
Good Neighbor Policy
This was the foreign policy with regards to Latin America during the Roosevelt administration. The general idea was of non-intervention and non-interference in domestic affairs. Roosevlt hoped that this policy would give a better image of the United States to Latin America and may promote trade. -
Tydings-McDuffie Act
This act provided self-government to the Philippines after 10 years of supervising by the United States. The United States would retain military forces on the islands and reserved the right to militarily intervene if need be. All United States forces and control would be gone after two years of Filipino independence. -
Neutrality Act of 1935
The act established an embargo on trading arms or war materials with any belligerents in reponse to isolationist feelings in America. The act expired after 6 months. -
Neutrality Act of 1936
This act renewed provisions of the Neutrality Act of 1935 for 14 months, but also forbade all loans or credits to belligerents. -
Neutrality Act of 1937
Restablished provisions set by previous two acts, except that provisions now covered civil wars (in reponse in the Spanish Civil War) and U.S. citizens could not be travelling in areas deemed war zones by the President. This act also came with no expiration date. -
Neutrality Act of 1939
In response to the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, this neutrality act was passed, but with a renewal of the cash and carry policy. This policy allowed for the sale of supplies and materials to belligerents, as long as the goods were carried on belligerent ships and goods were paid for in cash. -
America First Committee
An isolationist group, it opposed U.S. entry into WWII. Peaking to 800,000 members, it was the largest anti-war organization in American history. The group essentially broke apart after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. -
Atlantic Charter
Signed by FDR and British Prime Minister WInston Churchill and endorsed by Stalin and the USSR, it outlined plans for a post-war world. The Charter called for self-determination, establishment of new government in fascist nations, disarmament, and a permanent peace-keeping force similar to the League of Nations. The Charter was condemned by isolationists, but supported by Ally supporters and liberals. -
Destroyers for Bases
In an agreement made by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, the trade of U.S. World War I destroyers to Britain for British bases in the Western Hemisphere was a significant step in American involovement in World War II. -
Lend-Lease Program Begins
To avoid entangling money debts, FDR allowed for the leasing of war supplies to Allies to be returned after the war. By the end of the war, $50 billion worth of supplies had been sent to the Allies. Also known as the "Blank Check" Bill, this act saved the Allies from Axis domination. -
Bracero Program
The Bracero Program was a series of laws and agreements between the United States and Mexico for the US to be supplied with contract laborers. The program was designed to prevent illegal immigration, but it ended up having the opposite effect. This is because illegal immigrans did not need to be paid the minimum wage establish by the program, nor did they require the benefits that braceros were afforded. The prgram was also implemented to increase the amount of available labor during WWI. -
United Nations
The United Nations, whose headquarters in located in New York City, is an international peace-keeping force established post-WWII. Contrived in the Atlantic Charter and set-up to avoid a WWIII, it was given much more power and authority than its predecessor, the doomed League of Nations. The UN features a Security Council with 5 permanent members (US, UK, France, China, USSR*) and 10 non-permanent members. The UN's first major decision permitted military force in the Korean War. -
Truman Doctrine
In a speech made in March 1947, Truman asked Congress to send $400 million to anti-communist regimes in Turkey and Greece. Fearing the growth of the Soviet fear of influence, what later became known as the Truman Doctrine redirected foreign policy to be the United States support of "free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, first created by West European Nations, is an alliance among the democratic states of Europe and North America. The alliance was an uncommon practice during peacetime for America, but the Truman administration saw it as an oppurtunity to bolster defenses against the USSR. NATO became the cornerstone of American foreign policy in Europe and was a significant step in the militarization of the Cold War. Communist nations retaliated and signed the Warsaw Pact. -
U-2 Incident
While Eisenhower was President, the US was spying on the USSR through various means, including through planes. One such plane was shot down over the USSR, and the remains and surviving pilot were discovered by the Soviet government. The incident and subsequent anger by the USSR government led to deterioration of relations between the two powers before and East-West summit in Paris. -
Peace Corps
The peace corps was developed on the above date because the United States wanted to better relations with Latin America. The Peace Corps goes into third world countries and helps rebuild and better the countries. The peace corps also sought to increase US sphere of influence in the weaker countries. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
After Bay of Pigs and other unsuccessful attempts by the US to overthrow Castro, the USSR began to build bases and put nuclear missiles on Cuba. The US discovered the missiles and threatened to attack if the USSR did not remove the missiles. After days of stand of, the USSR removed the missiles and Khruschev was later forced to resign. This was a great triumph for American diplomacy. -
Detente
Detente was a period of eased tensions between the United States and the USSR during the Nixon administration. Major milestones during the "relaxed period" include the China and USSR summits and the signing of the SALT I treaty. Later presidents like Carter and Ford tried to continue the detente, but relations broke off after a number of disagreements, most notably Soviet agression in Afghanistan.
