-
Period: to
Transforming The West
-
Union Pacific
A company that built the largest railroad system, over 32,100 miles and operates 8,500 locomotives west of Chicago and New Orleans. The company was part of the First Transcontinental Railroad project, or later known as Overland Route. Abraham Lincoln signed the charter that allowed for this company to create transportation tracks across half of the nation. The headquarter is in Omaha, Nebraska. Due to this, trading became easier and cheaper. -
Morrill Land Grant College Act
The act allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in the country by using the proceeds of federal land sales. This boosted the level of education in America. The grant was set up to establish universities that would teach people in many fields such as agriculture, home economics, mechanical arts, and other important professions. These institutes were founded in populated areas, usually in the west, through taxes on the sale of public land. -
Period: to
Becoming An Industrial Power
-
Cornelius Vanderbilt
An American business magnate and philanthropist who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. Even though he was born into a low-income family and only had an average education, Cornelius Vanderbilt used his knowledge, perseverance, and luck to work his way into leadership positions inland water trade and invest in the rapidly growing railroad industry. He would later own the New York Central Railroad and became one of the richest Americans in history, -
Bessemer Process
The Bessemer process is the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. Andrew Carnegie saw great promise in the new steel technology and invested in building steel mills. He continued to improve and refine the process of molting steel. Due to this technology, it started the growth of the United States as a major world steel producer. -
Knights of Labor
The first effective labor organizing that was more than regional in membership and influence. The Knights of Labor believed in the unity of the interests of all producing groups and sought to enlist in their ranks not only all laborers but everyone who could be truly classified as a producer. Under the leadership of Terence V. Powderly, they won a variety of causes, sometimes through political or cooperative ventures. Labor Day became a national holiday because of the knights. -
Western Dime Novels
Dime novels were aimed at youthful, working-class audiences and distributed in massive editions at newsstands and dry goods stores. These novels stereotyped the West as the "Wild West" that is filled with many adventures. Tales of urban outlaws, detective stories, working-girl narratives of virtue defended, and costume romances were the all the genres of these dime novels. Stories were printed on cheap acidic paper and put together in small pamphlets that costed a dime. -
Laissez Faire
An economic system in which transitions between private parties are free from government interventions such as regulations, privileges, and subsidies. The phrase originated from France and it translates to "let go." This is one of the guiding principles of capitalism and a free market. It is the belief that each individual's self-interest to do better, strong competition from others, and low taxes will lead to the strongest economy, and therefore everyone will benefit from it. -
John Rockefeller
John Davidson Rockefeller was an American oil industry business magnate, industrialist, and philanthropist. Back in that time, he was considered the wealthiest American of all time, and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller founded his most famous company, the Standard Oil Company, Inc. Furthermore, he gained enormous influence over the railroad industry, which transported his oil around the country. He also revolutionized the petroleum industry. -
Battle of Little Big Horn
The battle between federal troops led by Colonel George Armstrong Custer against a band of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors over the land. The tension rapidly grew since the discovery of gold in Native American areas. The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Natives and a massive loss to the US troops. Custer charged in without knowing the numbers of the other army and was killed along with all the people that he led. Media portrayed him as hero, as an excuse to kill the natives. -
Phonograph
A device for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound. Thomas Edison invented the machine, while others inventors created devices that are similar to it. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a spiral groove engraved, etched, incised, or impressed into the surface of a rotating cylinder or disc, called a "record." To recreate the sound, the surface is similarly rotated while a playback stylus traces the groove. -
Period: to
The Gilded Age
-
Tenements
A tenement is a rented or leases dwelling that housed more than three independent families. Tenements were first built to accommodate the waves of immigrants that arrived in the United States in the 19th century, and they represented the primary form of urban working-class housing. A typical tenement building was from five to six stories high, with four apartments on each floor. The poor were cramp into these buildings and the area they lived in was the slump. -
Exodusters
The name was given to African Americans who migrated west for a better opportunity. They also wanted to escape the racial violence in the south. Many of them settle in Kansas, and others kept on moving toward the west. However, only some Exodusters became successful, and the rest settled on bad land and would run out of money. The poor ones would eventually relocate back to the south. This movement received support from prominent figures like Benjamin Singleton and Henry Adams. -
Light Bulb
Thomas edition was credited with the invention of the light bulb, but multiple inventors before him were trying to accomplish the same thing. Edison's version was able to outstrip the earlier versions because of the combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable. He later patented this invention. -
Assassination of President Garfield
James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, was shot at 9:30 AM at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington DC. Garfield died 79 days later, on September 19 in New Jersey, as result of the injury. The man that shot him was Charles J. Guiteau, and he was out for revenge against Garfield for an imagined political debt. Garfield was the second President to be assassinated following Abraham Lincoln. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The exclusion act provided an absolute 10-year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration. This is the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States. The reason behind this was that Chinese laborers endangered the good order of certain localities. The act required the few nonlaborers who sought entry to obtain certification from the Chinese government that they were qualified to immigrate. This made it harder for Chinese to enter the states. -
Pendleton Act
A United States federal law which established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation. The act provided a selection of government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. It also made it illegal to fire or demote government officials for political reasons and prohibited soliciting campaign donations on federal governemt party. -
Great Upheaval of 1886
A wave of strikes and labor protests that touched every part of the nation during this time. People wanted better wages and working condition, so they protested. An estimated of 500,000 workers went on 1,400 strikes across the country and gained attention from the government. Involvement in a number of May Day strikes resulted in 50 percent failures and the Haymarket Square Bombing in Chicago. The Knights are the people that organize these protests. -
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) organized as an association of trade unions. The organization emerged from a dispute with the Knights of Labor. The AFL was a loose grouping of smaller craft unions, such as the masons' union, the hatmakers' union, and cigarmakers' union. They elected Samuel Gompers of Cigar Makers' International Union as the president. The AFL later became the largest union group in the United States. -
Dawes Severalty Act
The purpose of the act was to abolish the reservations in order to stimulate assimilation of Natives into mainstream American Society. Under this act, the head of each Native American family received 160 acres of land in an effort to encourage other Native Americans to take up farming, live in smaller family units. The government held such property in trust for 25 years, until the recipients could prove themselves self-sufficient farmers. Smaller tracts of lands went to unmarried. -
Jane Addams
Jane Addams is known as the "mother" of social work. She was a pioneer American settlement activist, social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace. She co-founded Chicago's Hull House with Ellen Gates Starr, and that would later become known as one of the most famous settlement houses in America. Addams was one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era and the second women that won the Nobel Bell Prize. -
Ghost Dances
A new religious movement into numerous American Indian belief systems. Natives believed that the proper practice of the dance would reunite the living spirits of the dead, and their ancestors' spirits would fight on their behalf to make the white colonists leave. The dance would bring peace, prosperity, and unity to Native people throughout the country according to the teaching of the Northen Paiute spiritual leader, Wovoka, or Jack Wilson. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
A landmark federal statute passed by Congress under Benjamin Harrison. The act allowed certain business activities that federal government regulators deem to be competitive, and recommended them to investigate and pursue trusts. The law attempts to prevent the artificial raising of prices by restriction of trade or supply. The purpose of the act is to preserve a competitive marketplace to protect consumers from abuses, not to protect competitors from harm. -
Period: to
Imperialism
-
Silver Act
The act was a United States federal law. The act provided that the Treasury would purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver each month at the market rates. They would also issue notes redeemable in either gold or silver. The bill had been passed in response to the growing complaints of farmers' and miners' interests. They urged the government to pass this act in order to boost the economy and cause inflation, allowing them to pay their debts with cheaper dollars. -
Wounded Knee
A site where the conflict between the Natives, the Sioux, and the American troops took place. The American soldiers were given the order to stop the ghost dance movement. A gunshot was fired and it was unclear which side shot first, but it resulted in a massacre. The American troops, about 5,000 soldiers, killed a 300 Sioux including women and children while they were performing the ghost dance. Only 25 American soldiers were killed in this "battle". -
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893
A world's fair held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. It is the first world's fair with an area for amusements that was strictly separated from the exhibition halls. It attracted more than twenty-seven million people during its six-month run. The visitors found unexpected excitement and novelty there like the Ferris Wheel. Electricity was presented there to the Americans and also the fair impacted the architecture world. -
Coxey's Army
A protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. The Panic of 1893 caused this protest, and the purpose of it was to lobby for the government to create jobs which would involve building roads and other public works improvement, with worker paid in paper currency. It originated with 100 men in Ohio and made its way toward the east. The expression "enough food to feed Coxey's Army" comes from this march. -
Pullman Strike
It was a national railroad strike in the United States, and it's a turning point for US labor. This boycott started when 4,000 factory employees of the Pullman Company began a random strike in response to recent reductions in wages. This strike pitted the American Railway Union against the Pullman Company and the federal government under President Grover Cleveland. The boycott shut down much of the nation's freight and passenger traffic west of Detroit, Michigan. -
Period: to
Progressive Era
-
Klondike Gold Rush
One of the greatest gold rushes in history with an estimated 100,000 prospectors migrating to Klondike region of the Yukon north-western Canada to mine gold. The routes to there were harsh, so only 30,000 arrived at the destination, and just a few of them became wealthy, and the rest went in vain. Mining was a challenge, so some miners invested into buying the land and let others mine for them. Others lost interest and head home or became broke. -
Bicycle Craze
The term refers to a period of time when an increase in bicycle enthusiasm, popularity, and sales in the United States. The recent technological innovation brought about changes in material and design that made bicycle a lighter, smoother, and faster to ride than before. Doctors wrote about the health risks and benefits of cycling. They were used for recreation and exercise, and in some cases, even for political campaigning. -
Cross of Gold Speech
William Jennings Bryan delivered the most famous speech in American political history and it was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Bryan supported bimetallism or "free silver," which he believed would bring the nation prosperity. The issue was whether to endorse the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of sixteen to one. Bryan's address helped catapult him to the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. -
U.S.S. Maine Incident
The battleship U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 268 men and shocking the American populace. Many Americans blamed the Spanish for destroying the ship and forced the country to go into war with Spain. However, recent research suggests that the explosion may have been an accident, involving a spontaneous combustion fire in the coal bunker. Other theorists believe that journalist William Randolph Hearst set the explosion to precipitate the war. -
Battle of Manilla Bay
The first major engagement of the Spanish-American war at Manilla Bay. The US Asiatic Squadron, under Admiral George Dewey, completely destroyed and annihilated the Spanish Pacific Squadron. The victory from the American troops prevented the Spanish from reinforcing its navy in Cuba. This battle is considered one of the most decisive naval battles in history and also marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Phillippine history. -
Battle of San Juan Hill
A decisive battle of the Spanish-American War. The fight was the bloodiest and most famous battle of the entire war. Roughriders, under the command of Theodore Roosevelt, and the United States forces claimed victory over the Spanish troops. This victory allowed the United States to begin a siege of Santiago, which led to the Spanish surrendering. The media made Theodore Roosevelt out to be a hometown hero after this battle and the war. -
Treaty of Paris 1898
The treaty ended the Spanish-American War and granted the United States its first overseas territories. The agreement is between the United States and Spain. The treaty gave the Spanish Empire: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Philipines to the United States. This is the start of United States becoming a world power. Also, the treaty dissolved the Spanish Empire power. The treaty became effective in 1899 when the documents of ratification were exchanged. -
Boxer Rebellion
An uprising in China that was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness. They were motivated by the proto-nationalist sentiments, and by opposition to Western colonialism and the Christian missionary that was associated with it. The protest took place against a background that included severe drought and disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. The rebels trained martial art and believed that they can withstand bullets, killed foreigners and Chinese Christians. -
Open Door Policy
The policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, keeping one power from total control of the country. Also, China is to refrain from interfering with any treaty port or any vested interest, to permit their authorities to collect tariffs on an equal basis, and to show no favors to their own nationals in the matter of harbor dues or railroad charges. Businessmen supported the policy because they had a desire to trade with Chinese markets. -
Carrie A. Nation
Carrie A. Nation was an activist and famous woman leader in America. She believed that the effect of alcohol, being drunk, was the cause of many problems in society. Nation protested against alcohol and tobacco and made a case to why people shouldn't drink and smoke. Later, she gained national attention when she started using violence. Due to her violence ways, she was put in jails multiple times. Her fights against drinking contributed to the passing of the 18th Amendment. -
Platt Amendment
An agreement between the United States and Cuba that attempted to protect Cuba's independence from foreign intervention. It demanded seven conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of Spanish-American War, and an eight condition that Cuba sign the treaty accepting these conditions. The amendment also permitted the U.S. to lease or buy lands for establishing a naval base. Overall, it gave the U.S. dominance over Cuba -
Nobel Peace Prize
Founded by the Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel. President Theodore Roosevelt received the Peace Prize for having negotiated peace in the Russo-Japanese war. He also resolved a dispute with Mexico by resorting to arbitration as recommended by the peace movement. Roosevelt was the first statesman to be awarded the Peace Prize, and for the first time, the award was controversial. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The act was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. The main purpose of this act was to ban foreign and interstate traffic in adulterated or mislabeled food and drug products, and it directed the US Bureau of Chemistry to inspect products and refer offenders to prosecutors. This law required that active ingredients must be placed on the label of a drug's packaging and it could not fall below purity levels. -
Great White Fleet
A nickname for the superior and powerful United States Navy battle fleet that traveled around the globe. President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the mission to make friendly courtesy visits to numerous countries while displaying America's new naval power to the world. The fleet consisted of 16 battleships divided into two squadrons, along with various escort ships. The idea of this is to demonstrate the growing American martial power and blue-water navy capability. -
Muller v. Oregon
The case was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court. The issue was that a woman at Muller's laundry was working more than ten hours when it was illegal to do that in Oregon. This case tested the general police powers of the state to protect the welfare of women when it infringed on her fundamental right to negotiate contracts. This case also enabled the Court to approve some state reforms. Muller lost this trial. -
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was the founder of Ford Motor Company and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. He developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle-class could afford. His introduction of the Model T car revolutionized transportation and American industry. Ford became the richest and well-known person in the world. His vision of consumerism for being the key to peace. He is credited with Fordism. -
Dollar Diplomacy
A form of American foreign policy to further its aim in Latin American and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. This policy was under President William Howard Taft's term and he promoted and supported American bankers and industrialists in securing new opportunities abroad. It is designed to make both people in foreign lands and American investors prosper. The ultimate goal is to improve financial opportunities. -
Angel Island
An immigration station located in San Francisco Bay where immigrants would be detained and interrogated when trying to enter the United States. The station held hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority of them were Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Philipinos. The detention facility was an ideal place to control immigrants, contain outbreaks of disease, and enforce new immigration laws. The stay here ranges from weeks to months or sometime even years. -
Bull Moose Party
A third party that was formed by President Theodore Roosevelt, formally Progressive Party. The party's popular nickname of Bull Moose was derived from the characteristics of strength and toughness often used by Roosevelt to describe himself. The new party was known for taking advanced positions on progressive reforms and attracting some leading reformers. However, the party lost in the 1912 presidential election, and it would go into rapid decline and disappear by 1918. -
Federal Reserve Act
An Act of Congress that created and established the central banking system, and which created the authority to issue Federal Reserve Notes as legal tender. This law is intended to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system. The law sets out the purposes, structure, and functions of the System as well as outlines aspects of its operation and accountability. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Act into law. -
Period: to
World War I
-
Ludlow Massacre
The Colorado National Guard and Colorado Fuel & Iron Company camp guards attacked 1200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado. They killed about two dozen people, including the miners' wives and children. This massacre was the deadliest single incident in the southern Colorado Coal Strike. The owner of the mine, John D. Rockefeller was widely criticized for this incident. This massacre was a watershed moment in American labor relations. -
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
An Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia. Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip. The killer was a member of Young Bosnia and belonged to a group of assassinations organized and armed by the Black Hand. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. All of these events triggered the first World War. -
Schlieffen Plan
The plan was created by the German Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen. The strategic plan from Germany is to invade France and Belgium. The purpose of this is to gain power and assert itself as a dominant state. However, the plan was implemented two years ahead of its schedule because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The final version of the plan was built around classic military strategy, thirty-four divisions armed with heavy artillery. -
National Park System
President Woodrow Wilson signed an act that created the National Park Service. This created a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the thirty-five national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established. The NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available for the public use and enjoyment. -
U-Boats
Germany was the first country to employ submarines, or U-Boats, in war as substitutes for surface commerce raiders. They only have thirty-eight U-Boats, but they achieved notable successes against British warships. The undersea boats were most effectively used in an economic warfare role and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boats were the merchant ships bringing supplies to their enemy. -
Espionage Act
The act was passed shortly after the United States entry into World War I. The Espionage Act made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the United States armed forces prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country's enemies. Anyone that violates this law would be sentenced to twenty years in prison and still have to pay a $10,000 fine. The supreme court rules that the act did not violate the freedom of speech. -
Zimmerman Telegram
A secret diplomatic communication issued from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to Mexico. Germany offered to recover Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. However, the message was intercepted and decoded by the British Intelligence. The British would send this proposal to the United States and it upset them. The United States was drawn into the war due to this message and thus changed the course of history. -
American Expeditionary Force
The expeditionary force of the United States Army, under the command of General John J. Pershing, and fought in World War I. They fought alongside with the French Army, British Army, Candian Army, and Australian Army against the German Empire on the Western Front. In the summer of 1918, the AEF gained major actions in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensive later on. This force is well-trained and they are elites, and they will remain so for the entire war. -
Spanish Flu
The flu pandemic involved the H1N1 influenza virus that infected an estimated amount of five-hundred million people worldwide. It killed an estimated of twenty million to fifty million people, including some 675 thousands Americans. The flu was first observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asian before it swiftly spread around the globe. There were no medication or cure for the flu at the time, so citizens were ordered to wear masks. It is deadliest flu pandemic in history. -
18th Amendment
This is the only amendment to be repealed by the Constitution. This unpopular amendment banned the sale and drinking of alcohol in the United States. However, this amendment was a massive failure because not only people find other ways to drink alcohol, criminals made a lot of money selling alcohol to those people. It was put in the first place because many people blamed alcohol for violence and other problems that were affecting American families in this period. -
Treaty of Versailles
The most important treaty that brought World War I to an end. The treaty ended the conflict between Allied Powers and Germany. It was signed on the five years anniversary of the Archduke Granz Ferdinand assassination. Even though the fighting between countries had ended, it took an additional six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations. -
Volstead Act
The act was enacted to carry out and help to enforce the Eighteen Amendment. The Anti-Saloon League's Wayne Wheeler conceived and drafted the bill, which was named for Andrew Volstead, who managed the legislation. The act defined which intoxicating liquors are prohibited or not. Some alcoholic beverages were excused because of medical used or religious purpose. However, the Volstead Act and the Eighteen Amendment were repealed by the twenty-first Amendment later on. -
Universal Negro Improvement Association
A black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Mosiah Garvey in Jamaica. The UNIA dedicated to racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. However, its main influence was felt in the principal urban black communities of the United States in the North after Garvey arrival in Harlem, New York. The organization enjoyed its greatest strength in the 1920s before Garvey was deported back to Jamaica. -
Anti-Saloon League
The leading organization lobbying for prohibition in the United States and was founded in Oberlin, Ohio. It was the key component of the Progressive Era and it was strongest in the South and rural North. The League was a non-partisan organization that focused on the single issue of prohibition. Its influence spread rapidly throughout the country and it quickly rose to become the most powerful prohibition lobby in America. It finally achieved its goal when the 18th Amendment was passed. -
Period: to
1920s
-
League of Nations
An intergovernmental organization founded as a result of Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I. The principal mission of the organization was to maintain world peace. The primary goals were to prevent wars through collective security and disarmament and to settle international disputes through negotiation and treaties.Other issues related to the treaties included labor conditions, fair treatment of native inhabitants, human and drugs trafficking, and protection of minorities. -
19th Amendment
The amendment granted women the rights to vote, a right known as women's suffrage. The ratification of the 19th Amendment ended a century-long of protests from women. The protest dates all the way back to Seneca Falls Convention. From that moment, women started to fight for their rights and the right to vote became the center of attention or them. After long battle of protests, women finally earned their rights through the 19th Amendment. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
The scandal surrounding the secret leasing of oil reserves by the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Bacon Fall. After President Warren G. Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil-reserve lands from the Navy to the Department of the Interior, Fall secretly granted to Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome in Wyoming. He also granted similar rights to Pan American Petroleum Company for the Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills reserves. -
Tin Pan Alley
The phrase 'tin pan' referred to the sound of pianos furiously pounded by the so-called song pluggers, who demonstrated tunes to publishers. The name Tin Pan Alley is given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in this time period. The origin of the name came from West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan. The sidewalk on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth honors it. -
Immigration Act of 1924
The act limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to two-percent of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States. The law was primarily aimed at further restricting immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans. It severely restricted the immigration of Africans and banned the immigration of Arabs and Asians. The purpose of the act was to "preserve the ideal of American homogeneity." -
Scopes Monkey Trial
The trial is formally known as 'The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes,' was an American legal case in which John T. Scopes, a high school substitute teacher, was accused of violating Tenessee's Butler Act. The act made it illegal to teach human evolution theory in any-funded school. However, the trial was staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tenessee. In fact, Scopes was unsure whether he had ever taught evolution, but he went along with the case. -
Charles Lindberg
An American aviator nicknamed Lucky Lindy, The Lone Star, and Slim. He made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic from Long Island, New York to Paris, France. He won the Orteig Prize because of the flight and gained world fame. Lindberg flew a single-engine purpose-built monoplane called the Spirit of St. Louis. He was also an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve, and he received the Medal of Honor which is the highest military decoration. -
Period: to
The Great Depression
-
Valentine's Day Massacre
Four men dressed as police officers entered gangster Bugs Moran's headquarters on North Clark Street in Chicago. They then lined the seven men associated with the Irish gangster Moran against the wall and shot them to death. It was the culmination of a gang war between arch rivals Al Capone and George "Bugs" Moran. The massacre was never officially linked to Al Capone, but he was generally considered to have been responsible for the murder. -
The Dust Bowl
A period of time where dust storms greatly damaged agriculture and economic factors. The severe drought and failure to apply dryland farming techniques to prevent wind erosion caused the environmental disaster. An estimated of 35 million acres formerly cultivated land had been rendered useless for farming, while another 125 million acres was rapidly losing its topsoil. The phenomenon would last for almost a decade and by 1939, rainfall returned to the areas. -
Thomas Shipp
A young African-American man who was lynched in Marion, Indiana, after being taken from jail and beaten by a mob. Shipp got arrested that night as a suspect in a robbery, murder and rape case. He and Abraham Smith were hanged to death after the severe beating by the mobs. One more person with them and that is James Cameron. He escaped the killing but was sentenced to prison. Years later, Cameron came out and said that the rape charge against Shipp was false but he did kill a person. -
Hoovervilles
These were shanty towns built during the Great Depression by the homeless and unemployed in the United States. These towns were named after Herbert Hoover because he was the president during the Great Depression and people blamed him for the intolerable economic and social conditions. The term was coined by Charles Michelson, who was the publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee. There were hundreds of these communities across the nation during this period. -
Huey Long "The Kingfish"
An American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana and later on as a member of the United States Senate. He rose to power through the ranks of the Louisiana government. Long dominated every governing institution within the state and used the power to expand programs for underdeveloped infrastructure and social services. He gained supporters for his promises of redistribution of wealth. As he was preparing for his presidency run, he was assassinated by the enemy. -
Emergency Relief Act
The United State's first major-relief legislation. It created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which released funds for public works projects across the nation. The act was designed to be a temporary means of providing employment and all the positions created in the navy yard to service the projects were therefore classified as temporary. The goals were to be effective, provide work for employable people on the relief rolls, and to have diverse variety of relief programs. -
Glass-Steagall Act
The legislation effectively separated commercial banking from investment banking and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The separation of commercial and investment banking prevented securities firms and investment banks from taking deposits. The act permitted commercial banks, and especially bank affiliates, to engage in an expanding list and volume of securities activities. The act was passed because Congress saw the need for substantial reform of banking system. -
The New Deal
A series of federal programs, public work projects, financial reforms and regulations enacted in response to the Great Depression. Federal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Civil Works Administration, the Farm Security Administration, the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, and the Social Security Administration were apart of the New Deal. These programs supported farmers, the unemploys, youth and elderly as well as new constraint and safeguards on the banking industry. -
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
A prime New Deal agency established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The goal was to eliminate "cut-throat competition" by bringing industry, labor, and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices. The NRA was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act and allowed industries to get together and write "codes of fair competition." The codes were intended to reduce "destructive competition" and to help workers by setting minimum wages and maximum weekly hours. -
21st Amendment
The amendment repealed the Eighteen Amendment to the United States Consitution, which banned alcohol across the country. It is unique among the twenty-seven amendments to the United States Constitution for being the only one to repeal a prior amendment and to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions. The legislation came to place because more and more Americans opposed the Eighteen Amendment, so a political movement grew for its repeal. This movement led to the 21st Amendment. -
Exchange Act
a law governing the secondary trading of securities (stocks, bonds, and debentures) in the United States of America. A landmark of wide-ranging legislation related statutes forms the basis of regulation of the financial markets and their participants in the United States. It also established the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency primarily responsible for enforcement of United States federal securities law.Trillions of dollars are made and lost each year through secondary trading. -
Social Security Act
The act established a system of a system of Federal old-age benefits for workers, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, unemployment insurance, aid for dependent mothers and children, the blind, and the physically disabled. It also authorized the Social Security Board to register citizens for benefits, to administer the contributions received by the Federal Government, and to send payments to recipients. Overall, it created unique solutions to the old problems. -
Period: to
World War II
-
The Battle of Britain
A military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by the German Air Force. It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The battle ended when Germany's Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of targeting Britain's air bases, military posts, and civilians. Britain's victory saved the country from a ground invasion. -
Operation Barbarossa
The Nazi's operation to invade Soviet Union during World War II. The operation aimed to conquer the western Soviet Union so that it could be repopulated by Germans and to seize the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories. Hitler ordered three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier to invade. A major turning point of WWII, for its failure, damaged Germany's resources. -
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazis. Adolf Hitler believed that Jews are the inferior race and that they are a threat to the Germans race. The Nazis built a network of concentration camps for political opponents and people that are "undesirable" in Germany. The would kill them in gas chambers or by firing squad. The killing of Jews continued until the end of World War II in Europe. -
Pearl Habor
A United States naval base in Hawaii and it was the scene of a devastating surprise military strike by the Japanese forces. In the morning of the attack, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly twenty American navy vessels and over three hundred airplanes. More than two thousands four hundreds Americans died in the attack, and another one thousand people were wounded. This attack led the US entry into World War II. -
Atlantic Wall
An extensive coastal defensive structure and fortifications built by Nazi Germany that stretched all the way from Norway, along with Belgium and French coastline to the Spanish border. This act as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from the United Kingdom during World War II. Millions of French workers were drafted to build it and the wall was frequently mentioned in Nazi propaganda., where its size and strength were usually exaggerated. -
Navajo Code Talkers
These code talkers were recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater. Their primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages. Secret messages were transmitted over military telephone or radio communications nets using formal or informally developed codes built upon their native language. Their service improved the speed of encryption of communications at both ends in the front line operations during World War II. -
Bataan Death March
The Imperial Japanese Army forced sixty to eighty thousand Filipino and American prisoners of war to make an arduous sixty-five miles march from Bataan to Camp O'Donnell, a prison camp. The marchers made the walk in the intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. An estimated of 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march. This march was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime. -
Battle of Anzio
The battle stemmed from the Allied attempt to draw the German troops off the Gustav Line during Operation Shingle. United States Major General John P. Lucas commanded the expeditionary force with intention being outflank German forces at the Winter Line and enable an attack on Rome. A succession of attacks resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. The Allies finally broke out of the beachhead in late May, facilitating the advance that led to the eventual capture of Rome. -
D-Day
The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord, and that day is known as D-Day. This day was considered the largest seaborne invasion in history, and it required extensive planning. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. Prior to this day, the allied conducted a large-scale deception campaign to mislead the Germans. -
Hiroshima, Japan
During this day, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out ninety-percent of the city and immediately killed eighty-thousand people. Tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. The United States dropped the bombs after obtaining the consent of the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Agreement. The Japanese would surrender after the cruel bombing.
