Timeline: U.S History: 1877-2008

Period: Jan 1, 1776 to Dec 31, 1860

Early American History(1776-1860)

Important Dates:
July 4, 1776: Declaration of Independence signed
September 17, 1787: Constitution written
December 15, 1791: Bill of Rights ratified

Period: Jan 1, 1860 to Dec 31, 1877

Civil War/Reconstruction(1860-1877)

Important Dates:
1869: Transcontinental Railroad Completed
1876: Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell
Amendments:
13th Amendment: abolished slavery
14th Amendment: citizenship & due process
15th Amendment: voting for all male citizens
Court Cases:
Plessy v. Ferguson: legalized segregation, established “separate but equal”
Acts:
Homestead Act (1862): provided 160 acres to anyone willing to settle on land in the west
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): outlawed business monopolies

Period: Jan 1, 1877 to Dec 31, 1900

The Gilded Age(1877-1900)

The Big Five:Rockfeller/Carnegie(Captains of Industry vs Robber Barons)
Philanthropy Monopoly Jane Addams Laissez-Fair
Important Dates:1889:Hull House founded, first of many settlement houses 1896-1899:Klondike Gold Rush(Alaska)
Acts:C.E.A:(1882):prohibited immigration of skilled/unskilled laborers Chinese laborers
I.C.A(1887):ensured that railroads set "reasonable and just rates"
Dawes Act(1887):gave ownership of land to Natives
P.C.S.A(1883): Government jobs given based on merit.

Period: Jan 1, 1890 to Dec 31, 1920

The Progressive Era(1890-1920)

Muckrakers
Initiative,Referendum,Recall
TGM
Immigration Issues
1906:The Jungle by U.Sinclair is published
1909:NAACP Founded
1916:National Parks System created
16th Amendment:established the federal income tax
17th Amendment:direct election of US Senators
SATA(1890):banned trusts to promote economic fairness
Meat Inspection Act(1906):law that made it illegal to misbrand meat
Pure Food and Drug Act(1906):regulated food and medicine
FRA(1914):established the FR, which helped stabilize the economy

Period: Jan 1, 1898 to Dec 31, 1910

Imperialism(1898-1910)

Theodore Roosevelt
Rough Riders
Foreign Policy
Immigration Quotas
Yellow Journalism
1898: USS Maine explodes off the coast of Cuba, starting the Spanish American War
1898: Hawaii is annexed as a territory of the United States
1904-1914: Panama Canal Built
Open Door Policy (1899): initiated free trade with China
Roosevelt Corollary (1904): an addition to the Monroe Doctrine
Dollar Diplomacy (1909): Taft’s policy of paying for peace in Latin America

Period: Jan 1, 1914 to Dec 31, 1918

World War 1(1914-1918)

Alvin York
Homefront
MAIN
Sussex Pledge
AEF
1914:Archduke F Ferdinand is assassinated, starting WWI
1915:Sinking of the Lusitania
1917:ZT intercepted by B, warned the US of an ally between M and G
1917:US enters WWI on the AP
1917:Revolution in R begins, R troops to exit the war
1918:BAF thought it was the turning point of the war
1918:G surrenders to the AP
President WW’s 14 Points(1918):PoP after WWI, included no colonialism, FOTS, a LoN
ToV(1919):PT that ended WWI,made G take full blame

Period: Jan 1, 1920 to Dec 31, 1929

Roaring 20s (1920-1929)

Period: Jan 1, 1929 to Dec 31, 1939

The Great Depression(1929-1939)

Period: Jan 1, 1939 to Dec 31, 1945

World War 2(1939-1945)

Period: Jan 1, 1945 to Dec 31, 1960

Early Cold War(1945-1960)

Period: Jan 1, 1950 to Dec 31, 1970

Civil Rights Era(1950-1970)

Period: Jan 1, 1954 to Dec 31, 1976

Vietnam War(1954-1976)

1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
1965: Medicare and Medicaid established
1968: Tet Offensive
1971: Pentagon Papers Leaked
1975: Fall of Saigon; end of Vietnam War
26th Amendment: Reduced voting age from 21 years old to 18 years
Tinker v Des Moines (1968): defined the First Amendment rights for students in the US Public Schools
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964):begins undeclared war in Vietnam
War Powers Act(1973): Banned President from sending troops to battle without Congressional Approval.

Period: Jan 1, 1970 to Dec 31, 1991