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The Great Migration
The Great Migration was the mass relocation of 6 million African Americans, which was a demographic change in our country's history. -
The Red Scare of the ‘20s & ‘50s
The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. -
The KKK Marchs in Washington
The KKK paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., the headline in the New York Times declared “Sight Astonishes Capital: Robed, but Unmasked Hosts in White Move Along Avenue.” This showed the gap between black and white issues. -
The Great Depression
Sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. -
Gospel Blues
The song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” unexpectedly became the foundation for the modern African American gospel music tradition. Its success stimulated an entirely new music industry—the gospel blues. It became a touchstone for the dramatic role that music played in sustaining and forwarding America’s Civil Rights movement. -
FDR Accepts the Democratic Presidential Nomination
FDR boomed as he accepted the Democratic nomination for a second presidential term in 1936, the government no longer belonged to the people but had been taken hostage by “privileged princes of these new economic dynasties, thirsty for power.” -
Hugo Black is Appointed to the Supreme Court
FDR’s first appointment to the Supreme Court, defined the American judicial scene for three and a half decades. Black first defined and then implemented a reformist agenda that would revolutionize modern American constitutional law. -
World War II
A war that created to opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. -
The Cold War
The United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. -
The Signing of the North Atlantic Treaty
After intervening twice in the previous 32 years to restore peace in Europe, the U.S. was finally committed to an international alliance in peacetime, focused on preventing war in the first place. The act shaped our forign plicies, politics, military spending and structure. -
Barbara Johns Walk Out
Sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns led a walkout by four hundred black students to protest inadequate facilities at segregated Robert R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. -
The Birth Control Pill is Approved
Americans began to think differently about sex, contraception and about women’s capacity to control their own bodies and participate as truly equal members of society. -
The Children March in Brimingham
The civil rights breakthrough in the 1960s required galvanizing the whole country, not just through rational arguments but by really breaking down people’s emotional resistance and making citizens across the country see they needed to do something. It really pushed President Kennedy to propose what became the Civil Rights Act basically a month after those demonstrations. -
Tich quang Duc's Self-Immolation is Broadcast
The international newspaper and TV coverage of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burning himself to death during a demonstration in Saigon changed the course of the Vietnam War and of American life. In the immediate aftermath, it caused horror and a reassessment of policy, which eventually led to more American troops on the ground and in the air but also to more media coverage in which Americans could actually see the war. -
Ronald Reagan Speaks to Conservations
Barry Goldwater’s campaign was floundering a week before the 1964 election. The candidate inspired none but the truest of believers; the Republican regulars were dejectedly heading for the exits. “A Time for Choosing,” transformed the washed-up actor into the darling of conservatives and launched a political career that would carry Reagan to White House, revive American conservatism and push Soviet communism to the brink of dissolution. -
The Immigration and Nationality Act is Signed
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, catalyzing an increase in cultural diversity in the United States. -
Affirmative Action Goes Unchallenged
For much of the 20th century, unions, private employers and government agencies affirmatively discriminated based on race—until, through workplace protests, public demonstrations and political negotiation, African Americans compelled Congress and President Richard Nixon to adopt affirmative action policies. -
Watergate
The Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, leading many Americans to question their leaders and think more critically about the presidency.The Watergate scandal began early in the morning of June 17, 1972, when several burglars were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. -
California Passes Proposition 13
the voters of California overwhelmingly passed Proposition 13, limiting local property taxes and making it harder for communities to raise them in the future. This 20th-century tax revolt opened the floodgates to other anti-tax ballot measures at the state level and initiated a general shift in popular opinion. -
9/11
A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States. An extensive compensation program was quickly established by Congress in the aftermath to compensate the victims and families of victims of the 9/11 attack as well.