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Louisiana Purchase
President Thomas Jefferson buys the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. This doubles the size of the United States and provides a large area to the west of the country for expansion. The united states wanted to expand due to the thought of Manifest Destiny. The American people believed they had a right to move across the land. -
Missouri Compromise
Years before the Missouri Compromise tension between anti-slavery and pro-slavery were rising in the United States. It reached a point of apex after Missouri’s request to become apart to the Union as a slave state, which threatened balance between slave states and free states. Congress used this Comprise to mellow out the feud between the states. March of 1820, Missouri was made a slave state. -
Democratic Party Founded
"Second Party System" was supported by Presidents such as Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk. During this era of time was the civil war and the great Depression, the opposing Republican Party was the ruins of the Whig Party. Democrats support the Manifest Destiny strongly. Democrats opposed topics supported during that time because most parties were republican based. -
Captain Charles Wilkes Claims Portion of Antarctica as US Territory
During an exploring expedition, Captain Charles Wilkes sights the coast of eastern Antarctica and claims it for the United States. Wilkes’ group had set out in 1838, sailing around South America to the South Pacific and then to Antarctica, where they explored a 1,500-mile stretch of the eastern Antarctic coast that later became known as Wilkes Land. -
Treaty of Wanghia Signed
The Treaty of Wanghia was negotiated by Caleb Cushing. Cushing was sent by President Tyler to secure the same rights for the United States that European nations had received from the Chinese. Rights included gaining extraterritoriality for the United States. This meant that only U. S. Consul officials could try Americans for crimes committed in China. The Treaty of Wanghia also set fixed tariffs in the ports and gave Americans the right to buy land for churches and hospitals. -
Texas Admitted into the Union
The chances of Texas joining the Union as a slave state was slim due the fact that congress tried to balance slave and free states. In 1844, Congress finally agreed to annex the territory of Texas. On December 29, 1845, Texas entered the United States as a slave state.Six Short after Texas was accepted to be annexed by the United States, Texas became the 28th state of the United States. This created issues of slavery and setting off the Mexican-American War. -
Annexation of Texas
After the 16th century conquests of Hernando Cortez, Spanish forces extended their influence northward into the US. This expansion established Mexican claim to much of the southwestern part of the United States and California. This increased numbers of American settlers filled the region north of the Rio Grande. This resulted in a successful drive for Texas Independence and a push for annexation that soon after the United States recognized the Texas Republic. -
Gold Discovered in California
Many people in California figured gold was there, but it was James W. Marshall on January 24, 1848. Which led him to discover Gold unexpectedly. Some 80,000 immigrants poured into California during 1849. By the 1850s miners were coming from places all over the world such as Britain, Europe, China, Australia, North and South America. These pioneers found the land was productive, and ultimately California’s great wealth came not from its mines but from its farms. -
Mexican-American Conflict Begins
The desire of the U.S. to expand across the North American from Alantic to Pacific Ocean caused conflict with all of its neighbors such as the Mexicans and Native Americans. Ever since President Jefferson's acquisition of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, Americans migrated westward in ever increasing numbers. "Manifest Destiny" had taken root among the American people, and President Polk in the White House who was s a firm believer in the idea of expansion -
Mexican American War Officially Starts
April 25, 1846, Mexican cavalry attacked a group of U.S. soldiers under the command of General Zachary Taylor, killing about a dozen. Taylor called in reinforcements,with the help of superior rifles and artillery, Americans were able to defeat the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Two days later, on May 13, Congress declared war, despite opposition from some northern Americans. -
Oregon Treaty
The treaty established the 49th parallel as the border between the two countries. The United States and Great Britain ended the War of 1812. The joint-occupancy agreement was renewed twice, but by 1846 it was clear that the Northwest was rapidly becoming American.Britain would have preferred the Columbia River as the boundary but was willing to consider a border farther north and President James Polk, facing war with Mexico, was willing to compromise in order to resolve the issue. -
Wilmot Proviso
he Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War (1846-48). Fearing the addition of a pro-slave territory, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot proposed his amendment to the bill. Although the measure was blocked in the southern-dominated Senatn.Inspired such politicians of the time as James Buchanan, Lewis Cass, and John C. Calhoun to formulate their own plans for dealing with slavery as the nation expanded its territory -
Rejection of Wilmot Proviso
Passed for a second time by the House on March 3, 1847, but eventually rejected by the senate again. The Proviso raised serious constitutional and political questions as to the acceptability of slavery. The Wilmot Proviso, attached as an amendment to essentially aimed to prevent slavery from occurring in any territory ceded from Mexico after the conclusion of the Mexican American War. If the Senate had passed the Wilmot Proviso, it would have prevented slavery from emerging in Texas. -
Signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Signed
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States. IT stated over the dispute of texas. The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the including the land that makes up all or parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America’s southern boundary. -
End of Mexican-American War
The end of the war cost both countries pain and frustration, not only in the number of lives is cost them, respectfully deal with the obstacles that would arise. The war left an entire poplutaion of people living in a country with a new name, many lost their land as well, and in the midst of tension and bitterness, everyone was challenged by new cultural surroundings and the subsequent re-establishment of their own personal identity. -
Mexican Cession
The “Mexican Cession" refers to lands surrendered, To the United States by Mexico at the end of the Mexican War. To the United States, this massive land grab was significant because the question of extending slavery into newly found territories had become the leading national political issue. To Mexico, the loss of an enormous part of its territory was a massive embarrassment and created lasting anger among many Mexicans. -
Compromise of 1850
War was resolved in the Compromise of 1850. It consisted of laws making California a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the chance of slavery in each to be determined by popular sovereignty, settling a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in the former’s favor, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves. The compromise included Senators Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun. -
California Admitted as a Free State
California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state. In exchange, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Slavery was maintained in the nation's capital, but the slave trade was prohibited. a Fugitive slave law was passed, requiring northerners to return runaway slaves to their owners under penalty of law. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Acts were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway slaves within the territory of the United States. Enacted by Congress in 1793, the first Fugitive Slave Act authorized local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight. Many Northern states did not support this Act. -
Matthew Perry Sails Into Tokyo Harbor
Japan at this time was ruled by the shogun from the Tokugawa family. The Tokugawa shogunate was founded about 250 years earlier, in 1603. On July 8, 1853, Matthew Perry of the United States Navy, commanding two steamers and two sailing vessels, sailed into Tokyo harbor. Perry, on behalf of the U.S. government, forced Japan to enter into trade with the United States and demanded a treaty permitting trade and the opening of Japanese ports to U.S. merchant ships. -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase in 1854 was an agreement between the United States and Mexico. The United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29 thousand square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico. Gadsden’s Purchase provided the land necessary for a southern railroad through america and attempted to resolve conflicts that followed after the Mexican-American War. -
Formation of Republican Party
On March 20th, 1854 The Republican party began as a coalition of anti-slavery "Conscience Whigs" and Free Soil Democrats opposed acts such as the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the fugitive slave act. It was also formed due to the "tyranny" of President Andrew Jackson at the time. The Republicans rapidly gained supporters in the North, and in 1856 their first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont won. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery in their borders. The Act was created to affect the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.The Kansas-Nebraska Act upset many in the North who considered the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing agreement. Yet strongly support in the south -
Pottawatomie Massacre
May 24, 1856, the radical abolitionist John Brown and his sons, murdered five proslavery men at three different cabins along the banks of Pottawatomie Creek.The killings at Pottawatomie Creek marked the beginning of the bloodletting of the “Bleeding Kansas” period, as both sides of the slavery issue. -
Dred Scott Judgment
March 1857, created high tensions following the American Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. A slave who had lived with his owner in a free state before returning to the slave state of Missouri. Scott argued that his time spent in these locations entitled him to emancipation. The court found that no free or slave, could claim U.S. citizenship, and therefore blacks were unable to petition the court for their freedom. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates Begin
The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of formal political debates between the challenger, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen Douglas, in a campaign for one of Illinois United States Senate seats. In each debate either Douglas or Lincoln would open with an hour address. The other would then speak for an hour and a half. The first then had 30 minutes of rebuttal. In the seven debates, Douglas, as the current political seat holder, was allowed to go first four times. -
Raid at Harper's Ferry
October 16, 1859 John Brown and a group of his supporters arrived at Harpers Ferry. Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown believed that the local slave population would join the raid and through the raid’s success weapons would be supplied to slaves and freedom fighters throughout america but this was not true. Brown was caught and sentenced to death. -
Abraham Lincoln elected
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply the fighting democrat party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but easily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois. -
South Carolina Secedes
The force of events moved very quickly upon the election of Lincoln. South Carolina acted first, calling for a convention to secede from the Union. State by state, conventions were held, and the confederacy was formed.Within three months of Lincoln's election, seven states had seceded from the Union. This caused a deep divide of the united states and led to events of the civil war. -
Confederacy Established
During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America consisted of the governments of 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union. Convinced that slavery and hardship was irretrievably threatened by the election of President Abraham Lincoln in November 1860, the seven states of the Deep South such as: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas seceded from the Union during the following months. -
Lincoln Inauguration
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States. In his inauguration speech, Lincoln extended peace to the South, but also made it clear that he intended to enforce federal laws in the states that seceded. Lincoln promised not to interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed. However, he also took a firm stance against secession and the seizure of federal property. -
Union Declares War on South
The attack on Fort Sumter started the Civil War. Immediately following the attack. To retain the loyalty of the remaining border states such as: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri which were the slave states that never seceded. President Lincoln insisted that the war was not about slavery or black rights; it was a war to preserve the Union. For this reason, the government turned away African American volunteers who rushed to enlist. -
Attack on Ft. Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment near Charleston, South Carolina by the Confederate States Army, and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army that started the American Civil War. This was Following the newly declared secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. -
Jefferson Davis Elected
In 1861, Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America. He ran without opposition, and the election simply confirmed the decision that had been made by the Confederate Congress earlier in the year. -
Freedmen's Bureau Established
The Freedmen's Bureau had helped to create opportunities for emancipated African-Americans in the post-Civil War period. It provided education, jobs, and infrastructure to struggling African Americans across the US. The establishment of the bureau helped thousands of freedmen become stabilized in the society they were now a part of. -
Lee Surrenders to Grant
On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his approximately 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the front parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home in Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. When Union forces cut off his final retreat, Lee was forced to surrender, finally ending four years of bloody sectional conflict. -
Lincoln Assassinated
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, Confederate supporter, shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The assassination came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War. -
President Johnson Presents Plans for Reconstruction
After Lincoln was killed, Johnson created a plan of reconstructed that included:
Pardons would be granted to those taking a loyalty oath
No pardons would be available to high Confederate officials and persons owning property valued in excess of $20,000
A state needed to abolish slavery before being readmitted
A state was required to repeal its secession ordinance before being readmitted. -
Mississippi Enacts Black Code
In the United States, 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. -
Joint Committee on 15 pts of Reconstruction Created
On December 04, 1865, Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania opened the 39th Congress by introducing a resolution to create a Joint Committee on Reconstruction. His proposal made nine House Members and six Senators to see out the political and social conditions in the former Confederate states before considering their readmission to the Union. -
KKK Founded in Tennessee
In Pulaski, Tennessee, a group of Confederate veterans form a secret society that they called the “Ku Klux Klan.” The KKK rapidly grew from a secret social fraternity created to oppose the federal government’s progressive Reconstruction Era activities in the South, especially policies that elevated the rights of the local African American population.The U.S. Supreme Court declared the Ku Klux Act unconstitutional, but by that time Reconstruction had ended and the KKK had faded away. -
Memphis Race Riot Begins
The Memphis riots of 1866 were the violent events that occurred from May 1 to 3, 1866 in Memphis, Tennessee. The racial violence was caused by political, social and racial tensions in the early stages of Reconstruction. After a shooting between white policemen and black soldiers mobs of white civilians and policemen rioted through black neighborhoods and the houses of freedmen, attacking and killing black men, women and children. -
Memphis Race Riot Ends
Federal troops were sent to calm the violence and peace was restored on the third day. A subsequent report by a joint Congressional Committee detailed the carnage, with blacks suffering most of the injuries and deaths by far: 46 blacks and 2 whites were killed, 75 blacks injured, over 100 black persons robbed, 5 black women raped, and 91 homes, 4 churches and 8 schools burned in the black community. -
New Orleans Race Riot
The riot was started after whites attacked African Americans parading outside the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans. It is not known which group fired first, but within minutes there was a battle in the streets. The black marchers were unprepared and many were unarmed. The white mob brutally attacked blacks on the street. Federal troops responded to suppress the riot, and jailed many of the white insurgents. The governor declared the city under martial law until August 3. -
1st Reconstruction Act Passed
The First Reconstruction Act, also known as the Military Reconstruction Act, passed into law on March 2, 1867 over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act applied to all the ex-Confederate states in the South, except Tennessee who had already ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. It split the states into five military districts, each under the control of a Northern General whose responsibility it was to protect life and property.
-The History Engine, richmond.edu -
2nd Reconstruction Act Passed
The second Reconstruction Act of 1867 was passed on March 23, 1867. The Provisions of the Second Reconstruction Act of 1867 included: Military district commanders were given directions on holding state constitutional conventions. Reaction to the Second Reconstruction Act: President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, but Congress overrides the presidential veto. President Johnson is forced to implement Congressional reconstruction. -
USA Purchases Alaska from Russia
The USA purchased Alaska from Russia for a number of reasons. For one, Alaska was near the continental US and had a plethora of resources (lumber, metals, stone..etc). In addition, Russia was struggling to control Alaska- by purchasing it from them, the USA hoped to create a working relationship with Russia. Perhaps the most vital reason, however, was the creation of the opportunity to bar England from settling more of the northwest coast. -
3rd Reconstruction Act Passed
The 3rd Reconstruction Act affirmed the authority of the military district commanders to remove state officials from office in the South. -
4th Reconstruction Act Passed
The Fourth Reconstruction Act of 1868 was passed on March 11, 1868. The Provisions of the Fourth Reconstruction Act of 1868 determined that the proposed state constitutions to be ratified by a simple process of taking the majority vote in each state. The
Reaction to the Fourth Reconstruction Act: The House of Representatives, annoyed at the stubborn and inflexible attitude of the President and the interference of the Johnson administration, impeach President Andrew Johnson -
14th Amendment Approved
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This was the approval. -
14th Amendment Ratified
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This was the ratification. -
Ulysses S. Grant Elected
As a former Union general during the American Civil War, Grant was very popular among the North. His election was made following the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. He was an effective leader but not as strong into Reconstruction as his radical Republican predecessors wanted him to be. -
15th Amendment Ratified
The 15th Amendment allowed any race of citizen to vote. It states 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." -
First Transcontinental Railroad Completed
Also known as the "Pacific Railroad", the Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,912-mile continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay. Its creation allowed easier and faster westward expansion in the late 1800s -
KKK Act
Also known as the Third Force Act, the Ku Klux Act leads to Congress authorizing President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The act was important in displaying the 0 tolerance the North held for remaining radical racism in the South. -
Oscar J. Dunn Elected Lt. Governor of Louisiana
Oscar James Dunn was one of three African Americans who served as a Republican Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana during the era of Reconstruction. His election marked an important hallmark in acceptance of African American equality. Though the North did help to elect African American officials in the south, it is important to know that his election was unprecedented at the time. -
Freedmen's Bureau Ablolished
The Freedmen's Bureau had helped to create opportunities for emancipated African-Americans in the post-Civil War period. It provided education, jobs, and infrastructure to struggling African Americans across the US. Its dissipation led to a restoration of oppression for African Americans- much like their lives had been before the Civil War. -
1875 Civil Rights Act Passes
The 1875 Civil Rights act was a landmark legislature that was created to give more equality to African Americans. The act was a result of Reconstruction and it guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and prohibited their exclusion from jury service. -
Last Troops Leave SC, Effectively Ending Reconstruction
Reconstruction, however effective or ineffective it was, was a period of remarkable reform in the USA. By keeping watch over the defeated South, the Northern states (who had won the Civil War) were able to effectively enforce Reconstruction policies. By removal of troops, Reconstruction was no longer effectively enforced in the South, leaving it much as it was before the Civil War. -
Rutherford B Hayes Elected
Hayes was the 19th president of the United States and won a controversial and fierce election against Samuel Tilden. He withdrew troops from the Reconstruction states in order to restore control of the local states, this choice was saw as a betrayal of African Americans in the South.He made federal dollars available for the drowning in the South and appointed Southerners to influential posts in high-level government positions. -
Benjamin Butler Elected to Congress
Benjamin Butler was Radical Republican and he opposed President Johnson's weak Reconstruction plans. He later became the head figure in the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. As Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction, Butler also authored the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and coauthored the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1875. -
Massacre at Wounded Knee
Feeling threatened by the Ghost Dance Movement, US forces opened fire on the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The battle later became known as a massacre that effectively ended native american resistance in the West. Defeated Natives were forced to succumb to US policies. They were moved to reservations on undesirable and infertile land. -
USA Annexes Hawaii
The independent state of Hawaii was led by a hereditary monarch American expansionists saw the strategically located islands and planned their move. In January 1893, planters staged an uprising to overthrow the Queen. At the same time, they appealed to US armed forces for protection. Without Presidential approval, marines stormed the islands, and the American minister to the islands raised the US flag in Honolulu. The Queen was forced to abdicate and Washington took control. -
Treaty of Paris Signed
The Treaty of Paris was an agreement between the USA and Spain, ending the Spanish-American War. Since Spain had lost, the treaty involved Spain relinquishing nearly all of the remaining overseas Spanish possessions, especially Cuba, and ceding Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. The cession of the Philippines involved a payment of $20 million from the United States to Spain. -
Open Door Note
The Note entailed the details of the American idea of the 'Open Door Policy' for Chinese trade. The true purpose for the policy was to allow US business interests to become for significant in China. 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 calling upon all powers, within their spheres of influence, and to refrain from interfering with any treaty port or any vested interest. -
Teddy Roosevelt Takes Office
Originally William McKinley's vice president, Roosevelt took office after the presidents assassination. Roosevelt was an environmentalist and Republican. He ran on an expansionist platform and led the US into a period of mass growth- nationally, and internationally. -
Guantanamo Bay Lease Obtained
Nearly five years after the end of the Spanish-American War, the United States acquired a land lease in Cuba. Initially, the 'leased' land was to be used for a naval base in the Caribbean. Though this occurred, it quickly became evident that the base was well suited to become a maximum security prison. For this reason, it stands as an extremely high security prison- even today. -
Roosevelt Corollary Added
The Roosevelt Corollary was an addition to the Monroe Doctrine. The corollary stated that the US would, "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". -
Great White fleet Leaves Port
Part of Theodore Roosevelt's 'Big Stick' Policy, the Great White Fleet was created to 'flex' US naval supremacy. The fleet consisted of 16 brand new ships and 14,000 sailors. They were taken on a tour around the ports of the world in order to passively threaten other nations with US ocean power. This allowed the USA to pursue foreign interests without as much interference by weaker nations. -
Arizona Admitted to Union
Arizona was the 48th state of the USA. It completed the contiguous United States, and allowed more efficient westward expansion. Most of the Southern end of Arizona was acquired through the Gadsden purchase after it was taken from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. -
Panama Canal Opens
Before the Panama Canal, the only way to travel from Atlantic Ocean to Pacific was to sail around the horn of South America. A search for a more efficient route led to creation of the man-made Panama Canal by the USA. Theodore Roosevelt, a strong advocate for the canal, worked hard to ensure the project was carried out successfully and efficiently. Once opened, ships could sail from Atlantic to Pacific, saving nearly a week of extra sailing time. It helped to boost US power across the world -
USA Enters WWI
The War had already been raging in Europe for three years before the United States joined the allied forces. Initial debates in the US were actually in favor of joining the Central powers, not the Allies. The war ended just over a year after the USA joined- likely because of the significant power the US army had over the Central Powers. The USA suffered nearly 400,000 casualties during World War I. -
Woodrow Wilson Announces 14 Points
Woodrow Wilson's 'Fourteen Points' were meant to be guidelines for the post-WWI peace making process. Included in the 14 points were important concepts such as the creation of a League of Nations. The 14 points were not truly heard by other world leaders. And except for the League of Nations, Wilson's 14 Points were not taken seriously. -
Treaty of Versailles Signed
The Treaty of Versailles was written up after World War I. There were several conflicting interests on what to do with the defeated Central Powers. Woodrow Wilson of the USA wanted long-lasting peace without extremely harsh terms, Georges Clemenceau of France wanted the highest degree of punishment for Germany, and Britain was somewhere in the middle. The resulting Treaty was very unsuccessful in establishing lasting peace, and it effectively led to World War II. -
Washington Naval Treaty Concludes
The Washington Naval Conference was designed in order to prevent an international naval arms race. Japan had grown to be the undisputed naval superpower in Asia, in order to prevent a naval race, the conference drew up a few points. Capital ships (battleships and battle cruisers) were limited to 35,000 tons standard displacement and guns of no larger than 16-inch caliber. Aircraft carriers were limited to 27,000 tons and could carry no more than 10 heavy guns, of a maximum caliber of 8 inches -
Chinese Civil War Leads to 1000 US Marines Landing In Order to Protect American Interests
By the time of the Chinese Civil War, the United States had several foreign interests in China (such as businesses and trade relations). In order to protect its foreign interests, the USA sent 1000 troops to restore order and make sure the conflict didn't interfere with American interactions and businesses. The landing was successful, and led to a heightened US presence in Asia. -
Good Neighbor Policy Announced
The Good Neighbor Policy was drafted by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The main goal of the policy was to reassert US influence in Latin America. This was done by creating a policy of non-intervention in the domestic affairs of Latin America. It terminated US occupation in Nicaragua and Haiti as soon as it was announced.
