-
The Cotton Gin
In 1794, US born inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America’s leading export. Despite its success, the gin made little money for Whitney due to patent-infringement issues. Also, his invention offered Southern planters a justification to expand slavery even as a growing number of Americans supported its abolition. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was created to settle the tension between anti-slavery and pro-slavery states. The Compromise was supported by a balance of states who favor slavery and who are opposed to slavery. The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed by congress and allowed Missouri to become the 24th state in the United States; this began the conflict over the spread of slavery that, in turn, led to the American Civil War. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a US policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas issued by President James Monroe. It stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the US." At the same time, the doctrine noted that the U.S. would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies and not meddle in the internal concerns of European countries. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis was a United States sectional political crisis during 1832 to 1837, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, which involved a confrontation between South Carolina and the federal government. It ensued after South Carolina declared that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of the state. When the crisis ended, both sides could find reasons to claim victory, the tariff rates were reduced. -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty was a treaty resolving several border issues between the US and the British North American colonies (Canada). Signed under John Tyler's presidency, it resolved the Aroostook War, a nonviolent dispute over the location of the Maine-New Brunswick border. It established the border between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, originally defined in the Treaty of Paris, called for an end to the slave trade on the high seas, and agreed to shared use of the Great Lakes. -
The Annexation of Texas
Texas was a part of Mexico until they declared independence in 1836. The Mexican government tried to assert its authority and the settlers resisted, eventually declaring Texas's independence from Mexico. Some Texans wanted to join with the USA, others to keep complete independence. In 1845, the US offered to annex Texas and a year later after an agreement was reached, Texas became a state in the US. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican-American War. This land was Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado and Nevada. James Polk was all for this Treaty, but it was blocked in the Southern-Dominate Senate. This inflamed the growing controversy over slavery,and helped form the Republican Party in 1854. -
St. Patrick's Battalion
Formed and led by John Riley, St. Patrick's Battalion was a unit of several hundred immigrants and expatriates of European decent who fought as a part of the Mexican Army against the US in the Mexican-American War. Most of the battalion's members defected from the US army. The battalion served as an artillery unit for most of the war and then split into 2 infantry units. -
Spot Resolution
President James Polk reported to congress that Mexico had invaded US territory and that American blood had been shed on American soil. The Whig party opposition insisted that Polk provides evidence to support his claims of an invasion on US territory. On December 22, 1847, Abraham Lincoln introduced the "Spot Resolutions" which requested that Polk has to submit evidence to congress that the land which the "battle" took place was in fact American soil. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty ended the Mexican-American War. This treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, California, Utah, and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America's southern boundary. This treaty was negotiated by Nicholas Trist and General Winfield Scott who was the diplomat and representative for James Polk. -
Free Soil Party
This was a shortly lived political party which played a factor in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections. The party leadership consisted of anti-slavery former members of the Whig Party and the Democratic Party. Its main purpose was to oppose the expansion of slavery into the western territories, arguing that free men on free soil comprised a morally and economically superior system to slavery. It also opposed slavery in the new territories. This party was founded by Martin Van Buren. -
Compromise of 1850
Divisions over slavery in territory gained from the Mexican-American war were resolved in the Compromise of 1850. It consisted of laws admitting California as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery in each to be determined by popular sovereignty, settling Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in the former's favor, ending the slave trade in Washington DC, and making it easier to recover fugitive slaves. Senators Henry Clay and John Calhoun were involved. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was the term used to describe a network of people who helped escaped slaves on their way to freedom in the northern states or Canada. Various routes were lines, stopping places were called stations, those who aided along the way were conductors and their charges were known as packages or freight. The network of routes extended through 14 Northern states and “the promised land” of Canada–beyond the reach of fugitive-slave hunters. Harriet Tubman was the main activist. -
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
This is the new and revised Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and passed by Southern slave-holding interests and Free Soilers . It included the following elements: Any federal marshal or official who did not arrest a known fugitive slave was liable for a heavy fine, but officials who arrested a fugitive slave were given a bonus. A slave owner's claim that a slave was a fugitive was sufficient cause for arrest. If arrested, fugitive slaves could not claim trial by jury nor legally represent themselves. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The publication of this novel compounded difficulties for the federal government. This anti-slavery book, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, centered on the character of African-American slave 'Uncle Tom' and exposed the cruel realities of slavery. This book became a best seller, selling up to 300,000 copies in the first year and being sent around the world to read. It was also turned into movies so that people who cannot read can still understand the terrors of slavery. -
New England Emigrant Aid Company
Formed in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act by Eli Thayer. This company was a transportation business in Boston, Massachusetts, created to transport immigrants to the Kansas territory to shift the balance of power so that Kansas would enter the US as a free state rather than a slave state. -
Gadsden Purchase
This was an agreement between the US and Mexico in which the US agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for around a 30,000 square portion of Mexico that later became a part of Arizona and New Mexico. This purchase provided land necessary for a southern transcontinental railroad and attempted to resolve conflicts that have lingered after the War. The US minister James Gadsden met with Mexican President Antonio de Santa Anna to negotiate this purchase. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act mandated popular sovereignty which allowed settlers of a territory to decide whether slavery would be allowed within a new state's borders. This act was proposed by Stephen Douglas who was Lincoln's opponent in the soon to be civil war. The bill overturned the Missouri Compromise's use of latitude as the boundary between slave and free territory. The conflicts that arose from the passing of this act led to the infamous 'Bleeding Kansas; incident and paved the way to the Civil War. -
Ostend Manifesto
This was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the US to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the US should declare war if Spain refused. Cuba's annexation had long been a goal of US slave-holding expansionists. Pierre Soule was the main driving force behind this document. -
Caning of Charles Sumner
Representative Preston Brooks (Democrat) attacked Senator Charles Sumner (Republican, abolitionist) in the Senate with a walking cane. This was in retaliation for a speech given by Sumner two days earlier in which he fiercely attacked slaveholders including a relative of Brooks. The beating almost killed Sumner and drew a sharply polarized response from the American public on the subject of the expansion of slavery in the US. -
Dred Scott v Sandford
This is one of the most controversial events preceding the Civil War. The case had been brought on by Dred Scott, a slave who had lived with his owner in a free state before returning to the slave state of Missouri. Scott argued that since he spent time in these locations then he should be emancipated. Chief Justice of the Court, Roger B. Taney who supported slavery, disagreed with Scott's statements. The court found that no blacks, free or slave, could claim US citizenship -
Lincoln's "House Divided" Speech
This speech was given by Abraham Lincoln on June 16, 1858, at what was then the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, upon accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination as that state's United States senator. Lincoln's remarks in Springfield created an image of the danger of slavery-based disunion, and it rallied Republicans across the North. Lincoln's goals with this speech were, firstly, to differentiate himself from Douglas; and secondly, to publicly voice a prophecy for the future. -
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
The base of the campaign was laid in Lincoln’s famous House Divided speech in Springfield in 1858. Douglas opened his campaign on July 9 in Chicago. By August, the two candidates had agreed to a series of debates. On election day, the voters of Illinois chose members of the state legislature who reelected Douglas to the Senate in Jan. 1859. Although Lincoln lost, the Republicans received more popular votes than the Democrats, signaling an important shift in the political character of the state. -
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
In October 1859, the US military arsenal at Harpers Ferry was a target of assault by an armed band of abolitionists led by John Brown. The raid was intended to be the first stage in an elaborate plan to establish an independent stronghold of freed slaves in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia. They rounded up some hostages but were stopped by Colonel Lee. Brown was captured during the raid and later convicted of treason and hanged. This inflamed white southerners' fears of slave rebellions. -
The Presidential Election of 1860
This election is when Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Democrat Stephen Douglas, Democrat John Breckinridge, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. Lincoln only won 405of popular vote but he won in electoral votes. AFter this election, the Republican and Democratic parties became the 2 major parties in a two party system. Lincoln becoming President made states start being worried that slavery was going to be abolished so they started seceding from the Union one by one. -
The Secession of South Carolina
In 1860, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a "Resolution to Call the Election of Lincoln as US President a Hostile Act" and stated its intention to declare secession from the US. South Carolina Congressman John McQueen claimed that U.S. president Abraham Lincoln supported equality and civil rights for African Americans as well as the abolition of slavery, and thus South Carolina, being opposed to such measures, was ready to secede. They were the first state to secede the union. -
The Formation of the Confederate States of America
In February 1861, Delegates from rebel southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a new union called the Confederate States of America (CSA). Jefferson Davis was appointed president of the CSA. Then, a Constitution of the Confederate States was ratified, mirroring the US constitution but protecting the rights of slavery. The CSA set about to create their own army and adopted its own flag. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The site of the first shots of the civil war. U.S. Major Robert Anderson occupied the unfinished fort in December 1860 following South Carolina’s secession from the Union, initiating a standoff with the state’s militia forces. When President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. After a 34-hour exchange of artillery fire, Anderson and 86 soldiers surrendered the fort on April 13. -
The Anaconda Plan
This Plan was an unorthodox strategy in that it required the dispersal of forces. It was cautious in approach, aiming to wear down the south without inflicting painful military defeats, making post war reconstruction easy. This strategy aimed for suppressing the Confederacy at the beginning of the American Civil War. Proposed by General Winfield Scott, the plan emphasized a Union blockade of the Southern ports, and called for an advance down the Mississippi River to cut the South in two. -
The First Battle of Bull Run
On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies clashed near Manassas Junction, VA, in the first major land battle of the Civil War. Known as the First Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas), the battle began when 35,000 Union troops marched from Washington, DC to strike a Confederate force of 20,000 along a small river known as Bull Run. The Confederates won and the victory gave the South a surge of confidence and shocked the North, who realized the war would not be won as easily as they had hoped. -
Trent Affair
The Trent Affair was a diplomatic incident in 1861 during the American Civil War that threatened a war between the United States and the United Kingdom. The US Navy illegally captured two Confederate diplomats from a British ship; the UK protested vigorously. The United States closed the incident by releasing the diplomats. -
Monitor vs. Merrimack
The March 9, 1862, battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack (CSS Virginia) during the American Civil War (1861-65) was history’s first duel between ironclad warships. The engagement, known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, was part of a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern ports, including Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, that had been imposed at the start of the war. Though the battle itself was inconclusive, it began a new era in naval warfare. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act opened up settlement in the western United States, allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land. By the end of the Civil War, 15,000 homestead claims had been established, and more followed in the postwar years. In the years before, a homestead bill passed the House in 1858 but was defeated by one vote in the Senate; the next year, a similar bill passed both houses but was vetoed by President James Buchanan. -
Battle of Antietam
Bloodiest battle in the Civil War. On September 17, 1862, Generals Lee and McClellan faced off near Antietam creek in Maryland, in the the first battle of the American Civil War to be fought on northern soil. Though McClellan failed to utilize his numerical superiority to crush Lee’s army, he was able to check the Confederate advance in to the north. After several Union defeats, this tactical victory provided Abraham Lincoln the political cover he needed to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. -
The Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln found slavery repulsive, and waited for the right opportunity to make a move on slowly stopping slavery. By mid-1862, as thousands of slaves fled to join the invading Northern armies, Lincoln was convinced that abolition had become a sound military strategy, as well as the correct path. On Sept 22, soon after the Union victory at Antietam, he issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states will be freed. -
The Suspension of the Habeas Corpus
A writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person's release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention. The 3 famous cases: Merryman Case, Vallandigham Case, and The Milligan Case are prime cases of the writ of Habeas Corpus being ignored in the court of law. This was all during President Johnson's tenure. An estimated 10,000 people were incarcerated with the writ of Habeas Corpus suspended. -
54th Massachusetts
The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of the first official African-American units in the United States during the Civil War. The regiment was authorized in March 1863 by the Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Andrew. Commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, it was commissioned after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. -
The Battle of Gettysburg
This was considered the turning point of the Civil War with the Union victory. After a great victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania in June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads town of Gettysburg. The South was then defeated and they were shocked. General Lee was disheartened and upset over the defeat. -
Draft Riots of 1863
The New York draft riots, from July 13–16, 1863, known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of working-class discontent with new laws passed by Congress that year to draft men to fight in the ongoing Civil War. The riots remain the largest civil and racial insurrection in American history, aside from the Civil War itself. US President Lincoln diverted several regiments of militia and volunteer troops to control the city. -
10% Plan
During the Civil War, the 10% plan was a proposal put forward by President Lincoln for the reinstatement of Southern states. First put forward in December 1863, this plan for Reconstruction decreed that a state could be reintegrated into the United States when 10% of the 1860 vote count from that state had taken an oath of allegiance to the U.S. and pledged to abide by Emancipation. This policy was meant to shorten the war by offering a moderate peace plan. Radical Republicans opposed this. -
The Wade-Davis Bill
This was a bill proposed for the Reconstruction of the South written by two Radical Republicans, Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Representative Henry Davis of Maryland. In contrast to Lincoln's more lenient Ten Percent Plan, the bill made re-admittance to the Union for former Confederate states contingent on a majority in each Southern state to take the Ironclad oath to the effect they had never in the past supported the Confederacy. This never passed because it was pocket vetoed by Lincoln. -
Sherman's March
From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The purpose of this “March to the Sea” was to frighten Georgia’s civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. Sherman’s soldiers did not destroy any of the towns in their path, but they stole food and livestock and burned the houses and barns of people who tried to fight back. This put an impact on the end of the Civil War. -
Sand Creek Massacre
The causes of the Sand Creek massacre were rooted in the long conflict for control of the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. Waves of Euro-American miners flooded across the region in search of gold in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, placing extreme pressure on the resources of the arid plains. On November 29, 1864, peaceful Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians are massacred by a band of Colonel John Chivington’s Colorado volunteers at Sand Creek, Colorado. -
The Freedmen's Bureau
The Freedmen's Bureau was a U.S. federal government agency established in 1865 to aid freedmen/slaves in the South during the Reconstruction era of the US, which attempted to change society in the former Confederate States. This was initiated by President Abraham Lincoln and was intended to last for one year after the end of the Civil War. The Bureau's powers were expanded to help African Americans find family members from whom they had become separated during the war. -
Appomattox Court House
On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War. Lee escaped Richmond and planned to meet up with the rest of his troops to resume fighting. When Union forces cut off his final retreat, Lee was forced to surrender, finally ending 4 years of bloody sectional conflict. Lincoln had little time to enjoy his victory because he was assassinated several days later. -
Black Codes
In the US, the Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866, after the Civil War. These laws had the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans' freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt. Black Codes were part of a larger pattern of Southern whites trying to suppress the new freedom of emancipated African American slaves, the freedmen. This made the North furious and angered them. -
13th Amendment
The 13th amendment states that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction". This officially abolished slavery in the United States. Even though this was Lincoln's idea, he was assassinated 8 months before this Amendment was ratified. -
Klu Klux Klan
Founded in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. They started burning crosses and staging rallies, parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, blacks and organized labor. They terrorized blacks and freed slaves and made sure they would not vote in the upcoming elections. -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
This was the first US federal law to define citizenship and say that all citizens are equally protected by the law. It was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of people of African descent born in or brought to America, in the wake of the Civil War. This law was enacted by Congress in 1865 but vetoed by President Johnson. In April 1866 Congress again passed the bill. Although Johnson again vetoed it, a twothirds majority in each chamber overcame the veto and the bill therefore became law. -
Tenure of Office Act
Congress used this controversial law as the legal basis for its impeachment case against President Johnson in 1868. Seeking to limit his power to interfere with Radical Reconstruction in the South, Congress passed it on March 3, 1867. The bill prohibited the president from removing officials appointed by and with the advice of the Senate without senatorial approval. The effort to remove Johnson from office failed by one vote. -
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Reconstruction was the term applied to the process of reintegrating the Southern states into the US and building new social structures in the South to replace old slavery-based ones. The acts that aimed towards reintegrating the South, led by Ulysses S. Grant, were the 14th Amendment (1868) provided former slaves with national citizenship, and the 15th Amendment (1870) granted black men the right to vote. -
14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was a complex series of proposals, the most important of which stated that people who were born in the USA or who were naturalized were US citizens. This amendment also gave the federal authorities the right to intervene if states contravened its rules. The 14th amendment was primarily intended as an attack on the south. 1868 is when Ulysses S. Grant was elected as president. -
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment stated that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This Amendment ensured that citizens of any color or race could vote, wherever they live in the US. This was under Ulysses S. Grant yet again. -
Force Acts
Force Acts were a series of four acts passed by Republican Reconstruction supporters in the Congress between May 31, 1870, and March 1, 1875, to protect the constitutional rights guaranteed to blacks by the 14th and 15th Amendments. the major provisions of the acts authorized federal authorities to enforce penalties upon anyone interfering with the registration, voting, office-holding, or jury service of blacks; it also empowered the president to use military forces to make summary arrests. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
This battle marked federal troops led by Colonel George Armstrong Custer against a band of Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. When a number of tribes missed a federal deadline to move to reservations, the U.S. Army, including Custer and his 7th Calvary, was dispatched to confront them. Custer was unaware of the number of Indians fighting under the command of Sitting Bull at Little Bighorn, and his forces were outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed in what became known as Custer’s Last Stand. -
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 was a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election. The agreement was that if the Republicans got presidency, the democrats would be allowed to control southern states and deny African Americans of their newly acquired rights. Republicans won so that happened and it also resulted in the United States federal government pulling the last troops out of the South, and formally ended the Reconstruction Era. -
The Dawes Act
This act was designed to break up the Native American tribal system and assist the integration of Native Americans into 'normal' US society. Each Indian was given land and the means to cultivate it, but often in places where the soil was totally unsuited for cultivation. Of the millions of acres that had been made available for Native American reservations before the Dawes Act, over 2/3 were taken away from them and given to white settlement. Gradually, Indians were worn down and killed. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers and non-Indians. Reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing tensions at Pine Ridge. 7th Calvary surrounded the reserve then an Indian accidentally kills a US soldier. This ended up causing a 150 Indian massacre. -
Teller Amendment
Issued by President McKinley and proposed by Senator Henry M. Teller, the Teller Amendment placed a condition on the United States military's presence in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people." Which means the US would help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all its troops from the country. -
Spanish American War
The Spanish-American War was a conflict between the US and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in US acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain. Spain’s brutally repressive measures to halt the rebellion were portrayed for the US public by several sensational newspapers, and American sympathy for the rebels rose. American intervention began when the USS Maine was sank. -
Treaty of Paris 1898
The Treaty of Paris of 1898, issued by President McKinley, was an agreement made in 1898 that involved Spain relinquishing nearly all of the remaining Spanish Empire.
In accordance with the treaty, Spain:
-Gave up all rights to Cuba.
-Surrendered Puerto Rico and gave up its possessions in the West Indies.
-Surrendered the island of Guam to the United States.
-Surrendered the Philippines to the United States for $20 million. -
Philippine-American War
The Philippine-American War was an armed conflict between the First Philippine Republic and the United States that lasted from February 4, 1899 to July 2, 1902. The war was a continuation of the Philippine struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution. The conflict arose when the First Philippine Republic objected to the terms of the Treaty of Paris under which the United States took possession of the Philippines from Spain, ending the Spanish-American War. -
Open Door Policy
The Open Door policy was the desire of US businesses to trade with Chinese markets. The policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, keeping any one power from total control of the country, and to refrain from interfering with any treaty port, to permit Chinese 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. Deng Xiaoping to open up China to foreign businesses. -
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion was a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty. The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days. -
Big Stick Diplomacy
The Big stick diplomacy refers to US President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy: "speak softly, and carry a big stick." Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis". Roosevelt used military muscle several times throughout his 2 terms with a more subtle touch to complement his diplomatic policies and enforcing the Monroe Doctrine throughout interventions in Latin America. -
Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment, signed into law by President McKInley and enacted by Congress, was passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill. It stipulated seven conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish-American War, and an eighth condition that Cuba sign a treaty accepting these 7 conditions. It defined the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations to essentially be an unequal one of U.S. dominance over Cuba. -
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. Russia suffered numerous defeats by Japan, but Tsar Nicholas II was convinced that Russia would win and chose to remain engaged in the war; to await the outcomes of certain naval battles, and later to preserve the dignity of Russia by averting a "humiliating peace". The war concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt. -
Roosevelt Corollary
The Roosevelt Corollary was an addition to the Monroe Doctrine articulated by President Theodore Roosevelt in his State of the Union address in 1904 after the Venezuela Crisis of 1902. The corollary states that the US will intervene in conflicts between European countries and Latin American countries to enforce legitimate claims of the European powers, rather than having the Europeans press their claims directly. Roosevelt stated that he was going to put an end to chronic unrest in the West. -
Dollar Diplomacy
Dollar Diplomacy of the United States, particularly during President William Howard Taft's term, was a form against American foreign policy to further its aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. However, under Taft, the State Department was more active than ever in encouraging and supporting American bankers and industrialists in securing new opportunities abroad. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The Zimmerman Telegram was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of the United States' entering World War I against Germany. Germany said that if Mexico waged war against the US and helped Germany win, then Germany would help Mexico regain the Mexican Cession that they lost awhile back. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. -
The Fourteen Points
This was Woodrow Wilson's blueprint for peace that might also prevent future wars. The most important of the Fourteen Points were:
-Treaties and agreements should be open and there should be no more secret alliances or treaties.
-There should be freedom of the seas so that nations can sail and trade freely.
-Armed forces should be reduced.
-Germany should leave France and Alsace-Lorraine should be returned to France.
-Poland should be granted independence
-Germans should leave the Russians alone -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the most important of the peace treaties that brought WWI to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial required "Germany to accept the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage" during the war. prominent figures on the Allied side criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently. -
The Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan, proposed by Charles G. Dawes, was an attempt in 1924 to solve the World War I reparations problem that Germany had to pay, which had harassed international politics following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. The plan provided for an end to the Allied occupation, and a staggered payment plan for Germany's payment of war reparations. Because the Plan resolved a serious international crisis, Dawes shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 for his work. -
The Kellogg-Briand Pact
The Kellogg–Briand Pact, proposed by US Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand, is a 1928 international agreement in which signed countries promised not to use war to resolve "disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them." This Pact did not live up to its aim of ending war or stopping the rise of militarism, and was proved to be ineffective in the following years (WW2). -
The Young Plan
The Young Plan, proposed by Owen D. Young, was a program for settling German reparations debts after World War I written in 1929 and formally adopted in 1930. After the Dawes Plan was put into operation in 1924, it became apparent that Germany would not willingly meet the annual payments over an indefinite period of time. The Young Plan reduced further payments by about 20%. -
Good Neighbor Policy
The Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of US President Franklin Roosevelt towards Latin America. The policy's main principle was that of non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America. It also reinforced the idea that the US would be a “good neighbor” and engage in mutual exchanges with Latin American countries. Roosevelt administration expected that this new policy would create new economic opportunities in Latin America.
