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Jan 1, 1490
Unit 1 (1492-1750): The Iroquois Confederacy
This was the best known league of trading between tribal groups. Natives traded amoungst themselves to obtain matriels they needed. -
Jan 1, 1492
Unit 1( 1492-1750) The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a trading network set up by Europeans to exchange newly found crops , animals, technology and disease between the New and Old world. Which greatly affected the population of the two hemispheres, with population growth in the Old world but a decline in population drastically in the New world due to disease. -
Jan 1, 1567
Unit 1 (1492-1750): Encomienda
The practice of forced labor. Spaniards forced Natives to work and saw this as a cheap labor system to inquire goods. -
Unit 2(1607-1754): African Slavery
The first shipload of African captives to North America arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in August 1619. Before that cheap labor was provided by indentured servants, but however, after 1680, the indentured servants population declined leading to an increase in the African slave trade. By the middle of the 18th century, slavery could be found in all 13 colonies and was at the top of the Southern colonies’ agricultural economy. -
Unit 2 (1607-1754): Tobacco Cultivation
Tobacco was first introduced in Colonial America in 1612 by John Rolfe, an englishman sent with the Virginia company. As tobacco was increasing used by the English, it became a good economic source especially in the tidewater regions surrouding the Chesapeake Bay. Within a few years of Rolfe's first tobacco crop, settlers started to plant tobacco in every available field in Virginia. Tobacco became the cash crop after 1622 and it was used for trade, in exchange for gold. -
Unit 2 (1607-1754) :Trans-Atlantic Trade
TheTrans-Atlantic trade is said to have started in approximately 1650. It started when the Portuguese started exploring the coast of west Africa. Many other things were traded from food to natural resources, but the thing that was traded the most was slaves. At first just a little number was traded but as the growing demand for slaves increased, more and more were captured and shipped to europe and the colonies. The Trans-Atlantic trade later became the backbone of the colonies that of Europe. -
Unit 2 (1607-1754): Mercantilism
With the Trans-Atlantic Trade came the system of Mercantilism. Mercantilism was basically belief in the benefits of profitable trading by the mother country. The British government passed regulatory laws that made sure that the colonies would only trade with Britain. The laws created a trade system that went like this, by Americans provided raw goods to Britain, and Britain used the raw goods to produce manufactured goods that were sold in European markets and back to the colonies. -
Unit 1 (1492-1750): Feudalism
The king distributed land to the nobles in exchange for work. In the New world Feudalism was practiced using Natives as workers. -
Unit 1 (1492-1750): Capitalism
This was the practice of finding new resources and exporting and/or trading them.Capitalism in the New world included the land, crops, animals and wealth being transported to the Old world and Europeans making a fortion. -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): The Proclaimation of 1763
On October 7, 1763, King George the III issued the proclaimation that restricted the colonists from settling West of the Appalachian mountain and also restricted trading with the Native Americans to traders licensed by the British government. Westward expanison was now controlled by the British government. -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): The Sugar Act
After the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), Britain's economy was at lost due to how much money they spent on the war. In other to raise revenues, the British decided to tax the Colonists. The first revenue rasing that was really enforced was the Sugar Act. This Act imposed taxes on refined sugar and molasses. This really affected Colonial maritime commerce. -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): The Stamp Act
Another enforced tax act in attempt to raise money passed by the British Parliament was the Stamp Act. The tax was imposed on all colonists and required them to pay taxes on every printed paper that they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): The Tea Act
The Tea Act was passed by the British Parliament on May 10, 1773. The act granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies. This act created a rebellion in the colonies which led to the famous Boston Tea Party. -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): The Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed the Intorelable Act in 1774. This Act wasn't one lawbut a series of laws that restircted the colonists. Boston Harbor was closed to trade until the owners of the tea were compensated. Only food and firewood were permitted into the port. Town meetings were banned, and the authority of the royal governor was increased. -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): 1791 Excise Whiskey Tax
The 1791 Whiskey Tax was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed government. This tax was very unpopular with southern and western who produced the grain crop used to create the whiskey. This farmers loudly protested the tax as it affected them more than anyone else and this led to the "Whiskey Rebellion". -
Unit 3 (1754-1800): Cotton Plantations.
Cotton was fist introduced to the colonies in the n1730's, but didn't become that popular in the South until the 1790's. Eli whitney patterned the Cotton Gin in 1793 but officially made it in 1794. The creation of the Cotton Gin made Cotton popular as it decreased the gruesome process of seperating the seed from the fibers. Cotton Gin led to the development of cotton plantations which ranged from 500-1,000 acres. This made cotton to become the new staple crop. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848) Market Revolution
It connected small farmers and traders to larger markets through new machines and transportation structures. For example , the development of the Illinois Central railroad shaped chicago as a train city and helped open areas of Illinois to commercial farming. The Market Revolution also affected how we work for wages based on "around the clock" instead of from sunrise to sunset. -
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Unit 4 (1800-1848) Reform & Social Change
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Unit 4 (1800-1848): Embargo Act of1807
The Embargo Act was a law passed by the official U.S. state congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807. It prohibited American ships from trading in all foreign ports. This was in response to Britain and France passing trading laws that prohibited trade with neutral parties and this led to French and British impressment of American sailors. This conflict will later cause the War of 1812. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): Abolition of Slave Trade Act
In 1807 congress passed the an act that abolished the Slave Trade Act. This act prohibited the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the U.S. from any foreign place, kingdom, or country. This act actually became effective on January 1, 1808. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): Lowell System of Labor
A.K.A Waltham-Lowell Factory System. In 1812 and 1814 factories were established in Waltham-Masachusetts that recently developed manufacturing machinery. In Waltham-Massachusetts, industrialist Francis Cabot Lowell built the Boston Manufacturing Company, the first complete cotton spinning and weaving mill in the United States. Lowell etablished an innovative labor system. This marked a move to a more industrial economy. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): Tariff of 1816
The Tariff of 1816 was the first tariff passed by congress with an explicit function of protecting U.S. manufactured items from foreign competition. It did this by imposing a high tax on foreign goods to protect American industry after the war of 1812. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): The Panic of 1819
The Panic of 1819 was the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States[1] followed by a general collapse of the American economy persisting through 1821. Banks throughout the country failed; mortgages were foreclosed, forcing people out of their homes and off their farms. Falling prices impaired agriculture and manufacturing, triggering widespread unemployment. All regions of the country were impacted and prosperity did not return until 1824. Caused by the failure of the 2nd bank. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848) Erie Canal
This was a 363 mile canal that connected the Great lakes region to New York City. The North became industrialized and a dominant port due to the canal. The Canal cut shipping time and prices. Along the canal cities formed and flourished. The Canal also attracted large populations of irish immigrants who became prodominant in labor construction. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): Tariff of 1828
A.K.A. Tariff of Abominations, was a protective tariff passed by the Congress of the United States on May 19, 1828, designed to protect industry in the northern United States. The law economically benefitted the North—New England in particular favored high tariffs—and injured the South, which believed that the tariff was unconstitutional. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): The Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the U.S. that caused a major recession that lasted until the mid-1840's. It became the worst economic depression that the new nation had yet known. Profits, prices, and wages went down while unemployment went up. -
Unit 5: 1844-1877 Homestead Act
This was an act put in place that granted pioneers in the west a 160 acres of land to any family that would farm it for five years. Anyone was eligible to obtain the land including women, immigrants and blacks. "An extension of the Homestead Principle in law, the Homestead Acts were an expression of the "Free Soil" policy of Northerners who wanted individual farmers to own and operate their own farms, as opposed to Southern slave-owners who wanted to buy up large tracts of land and use slaves" -
Unit 5: 1844-1877 Morrill Land Grant
This Act gave federal lands to states for the purpose of building schools to teach technical agriculture. No state that was rebelling against the U.S was allowed these benifits. "After the war, however, the 1862 Act was extended to the former Confederate states; it was eventually extended to every state and territory, including those created after 1862. "(Wiki). -
Unit 5: 1844-1877 Sharecropping
A system of agriculture in which a landowner allowed a tenant to use the land. In return the tenant gave the landowner a share of crops produced on thier portion of land.
"At the same time, since the cropper pays in shares of his harvest, owners and croppers share the risks of harvests being large or small and of prices being high or low. Because tenants benefit from larger harvests, they have an incentive to work harder and invest in better methods than in a slave plantation system."(Wikipedia -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): Transcontinental Railroad
Known originally as the Pacific Railroad was the railroad line constructed in the U.S. between 1863-1869. It conected the west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to the Pacific coast at San Francisco Bay. The Transcontinental Railroad did not only improve transportation, but it also helped the economy as it made transportation of goods faster. -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): Rise of Big Business
American manufacturing gradually rose from $3 billion to $13 billion between the year 1816 and 1910. The surge was caused by the modern corporation whcih marked the entarnce of a new economy in the U.S. Business organization expanded in size and scale. By the beginning of the 20th century, the major sectors of the nation's economy--banking, manufacturing, meat packing, oil refining, railroads, and steel--were dominated by a small number of giant corporations. -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): The Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered a depression in Europe and in North America. This depression lasted from 1873 until 1879. The Panic was caused by when Banks and other corporations started to put their money in railroads. So when the banking firm of Jay Cooke and Company, a firm heavily invested in railroad construction, closed its doors on September 18, 1873, a major economic panic swept the nation. -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): Interstate Commerce Act
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 is a United States federal law that was designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices. The Act required that railroad rates be "reasonable and just," but did not empower the government to fix specific rates. Law was passed mainly in response to public demand that railroad operations be regulated. -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the first measure passed by congress to prohibit trusts. The Sherman Antitrust Act was based on the constitutional power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The law attempts to prevent the artificial raising of prices by restriction of trade or supply. -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): McKinley Tariff
In 1890, William McKinley, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio, introduced a tariff bill, which became known as the McKinley Tariff. Tariffs are taxes placed on foreign goods by federal governments. By placing taxes on foreign goods, these products become more expensive. -
Unit 6 (1865-1898): Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in that year.[1] Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures. Ended in 1897. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): Open Door Policy
Open Door Policy statement of principles initiated by the United States in 1899 and 1900 for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. The statement was issued in the form of circular notes dispatched by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. The policy was the cornerstone of American foreign policy in East Asia for 40 plus years. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): Mass Production of Automobiles
By the early 1800's, gasoline cars became more popular than other rypes of motor vehicles. American car manufacturer, Henry Ford invented an improved assembly line in his car factory which led to the Mass production of his new model T'S. After installing the moving assembly lines in his factory in 1913, Ford became the world's biggest car manufacturer. By 1927, 15 million Model Ts had been manufactured. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): Stock Market Crash of 1929
On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression (1929-39), the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): The Great Depression
The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. It was caused by the Stock Market Crash of 1829. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): The New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938, and a few that came later. They included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term (1933–1937) of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): Wagner Act
Bill that was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt on July 5, 1935. It established the National Labor Relations Board and addressed relations between unions and employers in the private sector. The measure endorsed the principles of exclusive representation and majority rule, provided for enforcement of the Board's rulings, and covered most workers in industries whose operations affected interstate commerce. -
Unit 7 (1890-1945): Lend Lease Act
Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” By allowing the transfer of supplies without compensation to Britain, China, the Soviet Union and other countries, the act permitted the United States support. -
Unit 8 ( 1945- 1980) The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
On March 12, 1947, the President announced the Truman Doctrine, a policy plan to keep Communism from spreading to politically unstable countries. Fearing that poverty and other conditions created by World War II might make Europe susceptible to Communism, the American government funneled about thirteen billion dollars into Western Europe to rehabilitate and stabilize countries through the Marshall Plan (or European Recovery Program). -
Unit 8 (1945- 1980) Federal Highway Act
Congress passed the Federal Highway Act in 1956, allocating $32 billion to build 41,000 miles of interstate highways. Highways were important not only because of Americans’ growing dependence on automobiles but also as a national defense measure, creating a nationwide transportation network for the US military. -
Unit 8 (1945- 1980) Equal Pay Act
The Feminine Mystique which looked at women’s roles, desires, and rights in American society made the best-seller lists and helped to spark the second-wave feminist movement. The same year Congress passed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which made it illegal to pay men and women different wages for equal work. And, in October, the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, established in 1961, issued a powerful report documenting widespread inequality and discrimination. -
Unit 8 ( 1945- 1980) Twenty-fourth Amendment
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1964, prohibited poll taxes for federal elections, which had often been imposed by state and local governments to prevent African Americans from voting. In Mississippi, civil rights advocates organized a Freedom Summer, registering African American voters and teaching literacy and black history. -
Unit 9 (1980-present) Reganomics
A popular term used to refer to the economic policies of Ronald Reagan, the 40th U.S. President (1981–1989), which called for widespread tax cuts, decreased social spending, increased military spending, and the deregulation of domestic markets. During the campaign of 1980, Ronald Reagan announced a recipe to fix the nation's economic mess. He claimed an undue tax burden, excessive government regulation, and massive social spending programs hampered growth. -
Unit 9 (1980- present) Iran-Contra Scandal
Iran-contra affair, in U.S. history, secret arrangement in the 1980s to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran. The Iran-contra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of President Ronald Reagan. -
Unit 9 ( 1980-present) First personal computer
The first personal computer. In 1975, Ed Roberts coined the term "personal computer" when he introduced the Altair 8800. Although the first personal computer is considered by many to be the KENBAK-1, which was first introduced for $750 in 1971. -
unit 9 (1980-present) Economic Recovery Tax Act
Ronald Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act, a major tax reform bill based on “supply-side economics,” cutting taxes and regulations. The act implemented an across-the-board tax cut for individuals, reduced the maximum income tax rate, lowered capital gains and estate taxes, and expanded individual retirement accounts. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 extended these changes. -
unit 9 ( 1980- present) Welfare reform
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act instituted major reforms in federal welfare assistance. The act ended the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, created time-based assistance limits, and instituted “workfare,” which required work in exchange for relief. -
Unit 9 ( 1980- presnt) Bush tax cuts
President Bush signed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The legislation made sweeping changes to the federal tax code by lowering income tax rates and implementing a one-time tax refund payment. A second “Bush tax cut”—the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003—reduced income and capital gains tax rates and increased deductions -
Unit 9 (1980- present) Great Recession
The “Great Recession” in the United States lasted and the global recession that resulted from it lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. Among the contributing factors were, an "over-heated" housing market and huge losses on mortgage-backed securities. One of the largest corporate casualties was the investment firm Lehman Brothers, which declared bankruptcy in September 2008. Other major corporations failed as well, including Countrywide Financial, Bear Stearns, IndyMac, and Fannie Mae and ect. -
Unit 9 ( 1980- present) Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
The Troubled Asset Relief Program was created to implement programs to stabilize the financial system during the financial crisis of 2008. It was authorized by Congress through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) and is overseen by the Office of Financial Stability at the US Department of the Treasury. -
Unit 9 ( 1980-present) Affordable Care Act (ACA)
President Obama signed his major health care act into law in March 2010. The legislation, which changed long-held industry practices like denial of coverage for existing conditions, also included a controversial coverage mandate. The Supreme Court has already ruled on some aspects of the law and will address it again in the 2015 session. -
unit 8 ( 1945- 1980) “Great Society”
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs proposed or enacted in the United States on the initiative of President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969). Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period. -
Unit 4 (1800-1848): Lowell System of Labor
