U.S. History: 1887-2008

By Misha.Olleres
  • Period: to

    Early American History

  • Declaration of Independence signed

  • Constitution Written

  • Bill of Rights ratified

  • Period: to

    Civil War/Reconstruction

  • Homestead Act (1862)

    provided 160 acres to anyone willing to settle on land in the west

  • 13th Amendment

    abolished slavery

  • 14th Amendment

    citizenship & due process

  • Transcontinental Railroad Completed

  • 15th Amendment

    voting for all male citizens

  • Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell

  • Period: to

    The Gilded Age

    1)Rockefeller/Carnegie (Captains of the Industry vs. Robber Barons) -

    2)Philanthropy - Effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations
    3)Monopoly - exists when a person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity.
    4)Jane Addams - was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage.
    5)Laissez-Faire - abstention by governments from interfering in the workings of the free market
  • Period: to

    The Progressive Era

  • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

    outlawed business monopolies
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    Imperialism

  • Plessy v. Ferguson

    legalized segregation, established “separate but equal”
  • Period: to

    World War I

  • Period: to

    Roaring Twenties

  • Period: to

    Great Depression

  • Period: to

    World War II

    Island Hopping-military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan
    Liberation of Concentration Camps-Allied forces of the US freeing prisoners in the concentration camps
    Dwight Eisenhower-led the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe
    Douglas McArthur-a US general who commanded the Southwest Pacific
    Chester W. Nimitz-fleet admiral in the US navy
    Navajo Code Talkers
    Tuskegee Airmen
    Flying Tigers
    The Manhattan Project
    Rosie the Riveter

  • Adolf Hitler invades Poland, starting World War II

    German army under Adolf Hitler launched an invasion of Poland that triggered the start of World War II

  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    A surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States (a neutral country at the time) against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii

  • Executive Order 9066

    Incarceration of Japanese Americans for the duration of World War II

  • Bataan Death March

    A forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains.

  • Battle of MIdway

    A major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea .

  • "D-Day" - Invasion of Normandy

    The US and allies' invasion of Western Europe.

  • G.I. Bill

    Gives military veterans financial and educational benefits.

  • United Nations formed

  • United Nations formed

    Representatives of 50 countries gathered at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California from 25 April to 26 June 1945.
  • Period: to

    Early Cold War

    Containment-Cold War foreign policy of the US and its allies to prevent spread of communism
    Arms Race/Space Race- bet. US and Soviet Union, who can make the best weapon & who can go to space first-US won
    Union of Soviet Socialist Republics- a federal socialist state in Northern Eurasia; existed from 1922 to 1991.
    Communism-system w/c goods are owned in common&are available to all as needed
    Domino Theory-if a country came under the influence of communism,then d surrounding countries would follow

  • The atomic bomb, "Little Boy" is dropped in Hiroshima Japan

    The first nuclear weapon used in warfare.

  • The atomic bomb, "Fat Man" is dropped in Nagasaki, Japan, ending World War II

    An atomic bomb is dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, by a B-29 bomber piloted by Maj. Charles Sweeney. It explodes 1,540 feet above the ground. The original target for the bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, is Kokura, Japan. Due to cloud cover, the bomb is instead detonated over Nagasaki, the alternate location.

  • Truman Doctrine (1947)

    U.S. policy that gave military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism

  • Truman Doctrine

    US Policy that gave military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism.

  • 22nd Amendment

    prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected again

  • 22nd Amendment

    Prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected again.

  • Berlin Airlift

  • Marshall Plan (1948)

    program to help European countries rebuild after World War II

  • Marshall Plan

    Program to help European Countries rebuild after World War II

  • Berlin Airlift

    In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States begins a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of West Berlin.

  • NATO established

  • NATO established

    North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II.
  • Period: to

    Civil Rights Era

    1)Martin Luther King Jr-led a grp. of African American leaders, met in Atlanta, GA to discuss strategies to help end discrimination.
    2)Rosa Parks-arrested for not giving up her seat on a Montgomery, AL bus to white man.
    3)Cesar Chavez-former field laborer & activist for workers' rights,co-founded the Nat'lFarmWorkersAssoc. along w/ Dolores Huerta.
    4) Hector Garcia-Hispanic surgeon & advocate forMexican American Rights.
    5)Eleanor Roosevelt-worked for causes like Univ'l Declaration of HumanRights.
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    Korean War

  • Sweatt v. Painter

    Ruled the separate law school at the University of Texas failed to qualify as "separate but equal".

  • Korean War

    Soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south.

  • Rosenbergs trial

  • Rosenbergs trial

    The 1951 trial of Julius Rosenberg, Ethel Rosenberg, and Morton Sobell, Communists accused of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union, drew worldwide attention at a time of heightened American concerns about nuclear warfare.

  • First H-Bomb detonated by the United States

  • First H-Bomb detonated by the United States

    United States successfully detonated “Mike,” the world’s first hydrogen bomb, on the Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Marshall Islands.
  • Period: to

    Vietnam War

  • Hernandez v. Texas

    Mexican Americans and all other races provided equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

  • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

    Overturned Plessy V. Ferguson and mandated desegregation.

  • Jonas Salk invents the Polio Vaccine

  • Jonas Salk invents the Polio Vaccine

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Park's arrest

    Protest campaign against racial segregation on buses in Montgomery, Alabama which lasted from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956.

  • Interstate Highway Act

    Authorized the building of a national highway system.

  • USSR launches Sputnik

  • Little Rock Nine integrated into an all-white school in Little Rock, AK

    Politic crisis about a group of nine African Americans who attended a previously all-white school in 1957.

  • USSR launches Sputnik

    Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I.

  • Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba

    The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. Covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government, the operation took place at the height of the Cold War, and its failure led to major shifts in international relations between Cuba, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

  • Berlin Wall built to prevent people from leaving communist East Berlin

    Soviets and the East German leaders, on August 12th and 13th of 1961 built a wall around Berlin to prevent people from leaving.

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1962, the Caribbean Crisis, or the Missile Scare, was a 1 month, 4 day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union which escalated into an international crisis when American deployments of missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of similar ballistic missiles in Cuba.

  • Equal Pay Act

    Requiring employers to pay men and women equal for equal work.

  • Martin Luther KIng's "I Have a Dream Speech" at the March on Washington

    Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered this iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at the March on Washington, will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

  • John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX

    John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza.

  • 24th Amendment

    Abolishes poll tax.

  • Civil Rights Acts of 1964

    Made discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin in public places illegal and required employers to hire on an equal opportunity basis.

  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    Begins undeclared was in Vietnam.

  • Medicare and Medicaid Established

    Medicare and Medicaid are two government programs that provide medical and other health related services to specific individual in the US. Medicaid is a social welfare or social protection program while Medicare is a social insurance program.

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Eliminated literacy tests for voters.

  • Tet Offensive

    Officially called The General Offensive and Uprising of Tet Mau Than 1968 was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War.

  • Martin Luther King is assassinated

    Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, an event that sent shock waves reverberating around the world.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1968

    Prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.

  • Indian Civil Rights Act

    Attempted to require tribal law to follow the basic individual rights and freedoms guaranteed in the US Bill of Rights.

  • Tinker v. Des Moines

    Defined the first amendment rights for students in the United States Public Schools.

  • First Man on the Moon

    Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon.
  • Period: to

    End of the Cold War

    1)Detente - relaxing of Cold War tensions by President Nixon, favored increased trade and financial stability over protection of global human rights.
    2)Watergate - Scandal involving illegal activities that ultimately led to the resignation of President
    3)Reaganomics - Trickle Down economics
    4)Sandra Day O'Connor - 1st woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court
    5)War on Drugs - Nancy Reagan’s (First Lady) “Just Say No” program
    6)Billi Graham- advised some US presidents and supports Civil Rights.

  • American's Celebrated the first Earth Day

  • Kent State University shooting

    Four Kent State University students were killed and nine were injured when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fired on a crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam war.

  • 26th Amendment

    Moved the voting age from 21 years old to 18 years old.

  • Pentagon Papers Leaked

  • Equal Rights Amendment

    Equal rights for all Americans regardless of sex.

  • Title IX

    Protects people from discrimination based on gender in education program.

  • Clean Water Act

    Limited the amount sewage and other pollutants flowing into waterways.

  • Roe v. Wade

    Gave women the right to an abortion in their first trimester.

  • The Heritage Foundation

    An American conservative think tank based in Washington D.C., primarily geared towards public policy.

  • War Powers Act

    Also knows as Was Powers Resolution is a law that limited the president's rights to send troops to the battle without Congressional approval.

  • Endangered Species Act

    The act requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to list species of plants and animals that are threatened with extinction, take further steps to protect them.

  • Watergate Scandal, which leads to Nixon's Resignation

    Scandal involving illegal activities that ultimately led to the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.

  • Nixon Resign

    President Nixon resigns after the Watergate scandal.

  • Safe Drinking Water Act

    Allowed the EPA to regulate the quality of public drinking water.

  • Fall of Saigon, marks the end of the end of Vietnam War

    Known as the Liberation of Saigon, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong.

  • Apple was Founded and the First Personal Computer was Built

    Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak founded Apple and built the first personal computer in their garage.

  • Camp David Accords

    President Carter negotiated peace between Israel and Egypt over the Sinai Peninsula. This led to the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

  • Moral Majority

    A prominent American political organization associated with Christian right and Republican party.

  • Three Mile Island Disaster

    A Nuclear Plant at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island left radioactive gases into the atmosphere and convinced many Americans that nuclear power plants posted a risk.

  • Iran Hostage Crisis

    November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981 -A group of Islamic students and militants captured U.S. citizens when they took over the U.S. Embassy in Iran, and subsequently held the hostage for 444 days during the Iran and Revolution. This effectively ruined President Carter’s presidency.

  • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was Officially Recognized by the Center of Disease Control

    CDC officially recognized AIDS and its prevention and treatment became an essential health issue around the world.

  • Star Wars

    Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars - a space-based missile defense system.

  • Summer Olympics Boycott

    In 11983, Soviets shot down a Korean airliner. In 1984, the Russians boycotted the LA Summer Olympics. Tensions were very high.

  • Iran Contra Affair

    August 20, 1985 to March 4, 1987 -Scandal during the Regan administration in which Colonel Oliver North took blame for illegally selling weapons to Iran in order to fund a rebel group in Nicaragua.
  • Period: to

    1990s-21st Century

    Sonia Sotomayor- 1st Hispanic Supreme Court Justice
    Bill Gates- founded Microsoft in 1976 & has become one of the wealthiest people in the US.
    Sam Walton- grew his low price, chain department stores in Walmart
    Estee Lauder- co-founded a beauty supply in 1946 that has grown to top 10 billion dollars in sales in 2013; named one of Times most influential business people in 1998; dies in 2004 at age 97.
    Robert Johnson- founded Black Entertainment Television(BET)

  • Persian Gulf War

    After Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the United States led a 34 Nation Coalition into War with Iraq to free Kuwait and limit Iraq's ability to create nuclear weapons.

  • Cold War Ends

    Soviet Union dissolved into fifteen separate countries. The Soviet Hammer and sickle ,flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor.

  • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

    Free trade agreement between Canada, United States, and Mexico.

  • 9/11 Terrorist Attack

    Lead to a war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, death of Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden

  • USA Patriot Act

    Allows government to monitor electronic communications in order to flush out potential acts of terror.

  • No Child Left Behind Act

    President George W. Bush implemented this policy to make sure that no children would be left behind in the educational system. It was to assist all students.

  • Hurricane Katrina

    Natural disaster that along with human factors including engineering failure of the levees and physical factors including the storm surge added to the flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mississippi following the landfall.

  • American Recovery Act

    Economic stimulus package intended to create jobs, promote investment, and increase consumer spending during the recession.

  • Barack Obama

    First African American elected president in 2008. Fought to fix the recession in 2008 and established the Affordable Care Act.

  • Affordable Care Act

    Government response to the increasing cost of medical care and the need for all Americans to have health care.