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Before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Georgia adopted their first state constitution. The constitution was officially organized at the state constitutional convention in April of 1776. This was important because it laid the foundation for the state government we have today.
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The British came to Savannah and seized the Rice Boats that were in the harbor. They did this to steal the product, not invade Savannah. I chose this event because it shows how petty the British could be, instead of actually trying to fight with the Georgians they decided to steal their supply of rice.
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The Patriots captured Dorchester Heights, dominating the port of Boston Massachusetts. This later caused the British to leave Boston.
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The declaration of independence was signed.
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Seven months after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, word was sent for the British troops occupying Savannah to evacuate. This was an important event in Georgia history because it signified the end of British occupation of Georgia and the end of the Revolutionary War.
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Preliminary articles of peace signed by the Americans and the British. This was the precursor to the Treaty of Versailles.
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Georgia became the 4th state admitted to the Union on January 2, 1788. This was an important event, because it is the beginning of official statehood for Georgia. It was no longer considered a charity colony.
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New Hampshire was the 9th and final state to ratify the U.S. Constitution and become a state.
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Georgia ceded all land west of the their current boundary to the United State government for $1,250,000. They were also responsible for kicking out all indians off the land and out of Georgia. This was an important event in Georgia history because it was the beginning of a very sad period for the native Americans who had always lived in Georgia.
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This act authorized residents of the Northwest to form Ohio and let it join the U.S.
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The trail of tears was the journey the Cherokee Indians made to Oklahoma from Georgia in 1838. They were removed as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy. The Cherokee were removed after gold was discovered near Dahlonega Georgia. This was an important event in Georgia history because it marked the eradication of the Cherokee people in their homelands.
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The Potawatomi Indians were forcibly removed from Indiana to relocated to Kansas.
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Georgia and other states voted Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy. This was an important event in Georgia history because it showed how serious the Georgians were about secession from the Union.
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One of the earliest amphibious operations of the Civil War
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Ulysses S. Grant gets first major victory in Civil war by capturing For Henry in Tennessee
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The Great Locomotive Chase was a military raid in which Union soldiers stole a train in Northern Georgia and took it toward Tennessee doing as much damage as possible to the railroad line. I chose this event because it was an important event during the Civil War as the Unions attempt at taking down the confederacy.
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The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought during the Civil War around Atlanta. I chose this event because it was a major Union victory during the war.
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Sherman marched to the sea from November 1864-December 1864.
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Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. This was an important event in Georgia history because it officially ended the Civil War and changed the lives of everyone living in the South as they once knew it.
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Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C.
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Supreme court case that upheld segregation making African Americans 'separate but equal.'
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W.E. DuBois opened a conference on the living conditions of urban blacks. I chose this event because it was an important point in the early Civil Rights movement that started the stirrings of the fight against racism in the south.
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The Selective Draft Act of 1917 allowed the government to create an army if one was needed.
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Senator Thomas E. Watson challenged the Draft Act in federal court after offering to defend two black men who were arrested in Augusta for not registering for the draft. They had so much support that the court took place outside so that all of the spectators could be present. I chose this event because it was a great example of the people of Georgia coming together despite their beliefs to support something they were all against.
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Moina Michael, a native of Walton County Georgia, was known for designing paper poppies after WWI. The revenue generated by these poppies were used to fund the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. I chose this event because this is one that is familiar to me. Every year I buy poppies from veterans and it was interesting to learn where they came from and who created them.
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The Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending WWI
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Supreme Court Case that upheld the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote.
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Rebecca Felton became a U.S. Senator for one day when Senator Thomas E. Watson died. Governor Thomas Hardwick was planning on running for Senate in the next election and he wanted to ensure that the person who replaced Watson would not be voted in as a Senator when he ran, so he chose Felton. I chose this event because even though she was only senator for a day, it marked an important moment in Georgia history for women's rights.
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The Techwood Homes was the first public housing project built in Georgia as a result of the new deal. Charles F. Palmer came up with the idea in 1933 after driving through the deteriorating Techwood Flats neighborhood. I chose this event because it was an important beginning toward affordable housing in Georgia, and it shaped a lot of the housing that exists in Atlanta today.
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The Public Works Administration was founded as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act
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In early 1942, the Southeastern Ship Building Corporation was contracted by the Government to build 36 Liberty ships in Savannah. I chose this event because it was important in keeping the Georgia economy afloat after the end of the New Deal programs. It put many people to work.
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The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest running military campaign in WWII.
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Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to the Atlanta Constitution in 1946 and it was published on August 6th. The letter called for "basic rights and opportunities" for blacks. I chose this event because it was a very big risk for the newspaper to publish that and for King to put himself out there like that. It was an important moment in Georgia history and Civil Rights history.
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The Presidential Committee on Civil Rights was created by Harry S. Truman.
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The Atlanta Negro Voters League (ANVL) was formed in 1949 by black leaders to strengthen the black vote in Georgia. I chose this event for my timeline because it was an important moment in Georgia history, because after the white primary was eradicated there was a major surge in black voter registration in Georgia and they needed an organization to get on the same page and make their voice count.
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A race riot occurred in Chicago Illinois in 1949.
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Marvin Griffin was elected Governor of Georgia in 1954. He was notoriously opposed to the ruling of Brown V. Board of Education. He was elected after the decision was made and after he had made it known he was against integration in schools. I chose this event because it really shows how far Georgia has come in terms of Civil Rights in such a short time. Schools weren't desegregated in Georgia until 1961 after he was already out of office.
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This court case deemed segregation in schools to be unconstitutional.
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The court heard arguments by schools requesting relief from desegregation. Their decision remained the same.
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In early 1956 a joint resolution was presented to the Georgia General Assembly to overturn the monumental Brown V. BOE case of 1955. Their goal was to render the ruling null and void in Georgia. It did them no good and the ruling stands. I chose this event because almost a year after the initial ruling the Georgian's were still fighting against it and continued to fight because the first Georgia school was not integrated until 1961.
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The buses in Atlanta were desegregated until 1959. The supreme court ruled in unconstitutional two years after the Montgomery bus boycott. I chose this event because it was another step in the right direction for equal rights in Georgia.
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The Greensboro sit-ins occurred in February of 1960, when four college students sat down at the white lunch counter and refused to move until they were served.
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Lester Maddox owned the Pickrick Restaurant in Atlanta Georgia. After the Civil Rights Act was passed he still refused to allow blacks in his establishment. He later had to pay fines of $200 a day for refusing to serve the African Americans. This was what ended up closing his restaurant. I chose this even because it shows how hard some people in Georgia still fought against Civil Rights even after the law was passed.
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The Civil Rights Act outlawed all discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
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The 19th amendment was officially law in 1920. Georgia women didn't get to vote until 1922 and it wasn't officially ratified by the state legislature until 1970. I chose this event because it was a piece of Georgia history that offiically gave women the right to vote and that was a very important thing for women living in the state.
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The Women's Strike for Equality was held in New York City.
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Jimmy Carter announced that he was going to seek the Democratic Nomination for president at the end of 1974 after Nixon announced that he was resigning. I chose this event because Jimmy Carter was the only president to ever come from Georgia.
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President Richard Nixon announced his resignation to avoid being impeached in light of the Watergate Scandal
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This court case deemed death by lethal injection constitutional.
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William Earl Lynd was the first person in Georgia and in the United States to be executed after the decision of Baze v. Rees was made. I chose this event because it was a turning point in Capital Punishment in the United States.
