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George Washington Elected President
George Washington, commander of the continental army, was unanimously voted into the first presidency and John Adams served as his vice president during the Revolutionary War. -
Judiciary Act of 1789
This act established a federal district court in each state and three circuit courts to hear appeals from the districts, with the Supreme Court having the final say. -
French Revolution
Federalists oppose it, Anti-Federalists support (U.S. was neutral) -
Rhode Island ratifies the Constitution
Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, thereby becoming the last of the original founding colonies to enter the Union. In order for the Constitution to become the official governing document of the United States, nine of the 13 states needed to ratify it. -
Alexander Hamilton creates Bank of United States
Opposed by Jefferson. Hamilton was a federalist. -
Proclamation of American Neutrality
Made by George Washington. Keeps America Neutral after France declares war on Britain, Spain, and Holland. This is an example of U.S. foreign policy. -
Eli Whitney invents Cotton Gin
Creates massive increase of slaves in the south. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This is an act that provided for the seizure and return of runaway slaves who escaped from one state into another or into a federal territory. -
The Whiskey Rebellion
A uprising of farmers and distillers in Western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government. -
Pinckney Treaty
An agreement in 1795 between Spain and the U.S. by which Spain recognized the 31st parallel as the southern boundary of the U.S. and permitted free navigation of the Mississippi to American ships. -
Treaty of Greenville
U.S. cheaply pays 12 Native American tribes for Ohio territory. -
John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson in first contested Presidential election.
John Adams was a federalist. Thomas Jefferson was a republican. John Adams won, but Thomas Jefferson became the vice president. -
XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a moment within this larger span of events tying the domestic and international arenas together as the Federalists benefited politically from a French attempt to bribe American diplomats. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Expands government power, limit dissent and weakening of government; ruled unconstitutional. -
Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions
The Kentucky Resolutions, authored by Jefferson, went further than Madison's Virginia Resolution and asserted that states had the power to nullify unconstitutional federal laws. -
2nd Great Awakening
Major religious reform reform movement; helps increase abolition -
Thomas Jefferson defeats John Adams (controversy)
Aaron Burr is vice president. -
Alexander Hamilton suggests U.S. capital moves to Washington, D.C.
move helps gain Southern support for Hamilton’s economics -
John Marshall becomes first chief justice of the Supreme Court
Judiciary Act/ Midnight Judges- Adams attempt to secure the Federalist party days before he is to leave office by appointing Federalists into office Westward Expansion and Strained Neutrality (1803-1811) -
Louisiana Purchase
Not known to Jefferson if it was constitutional to annex land, Congress approves purchase from France, doubles the size of the U.S. -
Marbury vs. Madison
establishes judicial review -
Lewis and Clark
Led an expedition to survey the land West of the Mississippi, known as Louisiana Territory, that had been purchased from France. -
Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a duel
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Embargo Act
placed by Jefferson on Britain/France; fails – hurts U.S. economy -
James Madison elected President
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Tecumseh establishes union of Native Americans
does this to resist westward movement of U.S. -
William Henry Harrison leads attack on Tecumseh at Battle of Tippecanoe
He wins. -
War of 1812
1812-1815 -
Native Americans begin attacking U.S. settlers
Weapons were provided by Britain -
Congress declares war on Britain
issues – impressments, blockades, economy, Native Americans -
Harford Convention
New England's states threaten secession; Federalist Party is no more. -
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent was signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of 1812. -
U.S independence finally confirmed
Good relations with Britain begins (i.e. sharing of Oregon Territory) Nationalism, sectionalism, and economic expansion. -
Era of Good Feelings’
(one party politics) begins in the U.S. -
James Monroe elected 5th president
He was reelected in 1820 -
Underground Railroad
provides Northern escape for slaves -
Erie Canal
construction begins (connects Great Lakes to Atlantic Ocean) -
McCulloch vs. Maryland
Ruling confirms Congresses' right to found the 2nd Bank of the United States -
Spain cedes Florida to the U.S.
Spanish realized that they could not keep the United States from talking over the Florida territory so in 1819 Spain agreed to sell Florida to the United States. -
Missouri Compromise
Sets dividing line between free and slaves states at 36'30'. Above the line was free. Below the line was slave. -
Stephen F. Austin establishes first U.S. Settlement in Texas
Austin's Colony was the first and largest Anglo-American settlement in Mexican Texas and was established by Stephen F. Austin in 1821 -
Gibbons vs. Ogden
establishes federal control of interstate commerce -
Monroe Doctrine
Claims western hemisphere closed to European intervention (first major U.S. foreign diplomacy) -
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die on the same day
(50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) -
Indian Removal Act
authorizes forcible westward relocation of Native Americans -
Ralph Waldo Emerson
transcendentalism (individualism) -
Andrew Jackson elected 7th President
After narrowly losing to John Quincy Adams in the contentious 1824 presidential election, Jackson returned four years later to win redemption, soundly defeating Adams and becoming the nation's seventh president, -
Spoils System
Giving government positions to friends or colleagues (Andrew Jackson) -
Cyrus McCormick invents mechanical reaper
Transforms agriculture -
Trail of Tears
Cherokee tribes sent on forced removal to Oklahoma, 4,000 die on the way. -
Manifest Destiny
U.S. destiny and duty to expand and conquer the west -
Abolitionist newspaper
created by Frederick Douglas. -
Compromise of 1850
North gets California as free states, ban a sale of slaves in D.C. -
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin
Anti-slavery novel. Helped lay the groundwork for the civil war -
Bleeding Kansas
John Brown leads antislavery massacre at Pottawatomie Creek, fight over slavery in Kansas. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Stephen Douglas wins Illinois Senate seat. Lincoln household name -
Abraham Lincoln elected
16th president; South Carolina secedes the Union= Civil War -
Fort Sumter (S.C.)
Confederates attack Union- war starts -
Battle of Antietam
bloodiest battle of the Civil War -
Emancipation Proclamation
Frees slaves in only Confederate states; foreign diplomacy! -
Abraham Lincoln assassinated
by John Wilkes Booth; Andrew Johnson now President Reconstruction (1865-1877) -
13th Amendment
abolishes slavery -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Grants citizenship to all people born in U.S. (14th Amendment) -
U.S. purchase Alaska from Russa
Becomes the 49th state in 1959 -
15th Amendment
Grants protection of voting rights to black males -
Whiskey Ring Scandal
Corruption in Grants administration and Republican Party -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
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Susan B. Anthony gets women's suffrage vote to Congress
Leads to 19th Amendment -
President James Garfield assassinated
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Chinese Exclusion Act
Bans Chinese immigration for 10 years -
Dawes Severalty Act
Denies tribal rights, advances forced assimilation, opens lands to white -
Sherman Antitrust Act
Outlaws monopolies, price-fixing, other trade restraints -
Yellow Journalism
Journalism that features unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists. -
Treaty of Paris
ends the Spanish-American war -
Grandfather Clause
voting rights of blacks challenged with literacy tests and poll taxes -
President McKinley assassinated
Teddy Roosevelt now 26th president -
Muckraker
writers who expose big business corruption -
Panama Canal
Connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (opens in 1914) -
16th Amendment
established of income tax, 17th amendment-direct election of senators -
German U-boat sinks British passenger liner Lusitania
Americans killed on board -
Woodrow Wilson wins reelection
on campaign of keeping U.S. neutral during war -
Zimmerman telegram
intercepted by British, asks for Germany/Mexico alliance against U.S. -
18th Amendment
Outlaws purchase, sale, and transport of alcohol -
Teapot Dome Scandal
Exposes massive corruption in Harding Administration -
Scopes Monkey Trial
Popularizes debate over teaching evolution in schools. Outlawed. -
Sacco and Vanzetti
They were executed for murder; controversial because they were anarchists, politically motivated and unjustified. -
Bonus Army
(WW2 vets) march on Washington demanding compensation. They were forced out. -
U.S. unemployment rate reaches 25%
FDR claims Bank Holiday to fix banks. -
1st 100 days
FDR creation of countless jobs, most productive of any president's 1st 100 days. -
AAA, TVA, NIRA, NRA, and PWA
AAA-Controls crop production, compensates farmers for cooperation
TVA- established to construct dams in Tennessee River to generate electricity
NIRA- sets nationwide business practices
NRA- manage industry recovery
PWA- employ jobless -
Unemployment Relief Act and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
To employ public works -
21st amendment
Repealed the 18th amendment (prohibition) -
Wagner Act
Supports union rights, protects collective bargaining -
Germany invades Poland
Led by Adolf Hitler; begins World War 2 -
Propaganda
motivate U.S. citizens to support war efforts. -
Lend-Lease Act
Provides U.S loan aid to Britain, USSR and Allied Powers. -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
U.S. enters the war after this. -
Internment of Japanese Americans
Imprisonment of Japanese people in California -
Battle of Stalingrad
Seen as the war's turning point for Allied victory. -
D-Day
The Allies invade Normandy, France. The Largest land/sea invasion. -
Allies liberate Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe
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United Nations created
51 founding nations -
Soviet Union Emerges as only major U.S. rival
Creates intense, prolonged standoff between superpowers, knows as the Cold War -
Germany surrenders on V-E Day
victory in Europe day -
Truman Doctrine
U.S. intent to fight Communism by helping free nations resist it. -
Berlin Blockade
The USSR blocks all aid into West Berlin; Berlin Airlift- U.S. drops food and supplies by air into West Berlin. -
NATO (North Atlantic treaty organization)
Created in 1949. Alliance system of 26 countries in North America and Europe. -
Joseph McCarthy begins anti-communist campaign
Hurt when he accuses military of having communists. He was an alcoholic. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
overturns Plessy vs. Ferguson; says separate but equal is unconstitutional -
Geneva Peace Accords
Temporarily divides Vietnam at 17th parallel -
Jonas Salk creates polio vaccine
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1st televised Presidential debate
JFK vs. Nixon (JFK wins); JFK in president 1960 -
Lunch Counter "sit-ins"
Sparks waves of civil rights protests; SCLC created by MLK, Jr. -
Berlin Wall
Dives East and West Berlin. East was communist. -
Lyndon Johnson President
Launches "Great Society" program to end poverty and racism. -
"I have a dream" speech given by MLK
Speech for civil rights. -
gulf of Tonkin Resolution
broadens LBJ's military powers in Vietnam. No declare war. -
Malcom X (Nation of Islam)
Blamed whites for African American problems; assassinated -
Thurgood Marshall
First black justice of he supreme court -
James Earl Ray assassinated MLK, jr.
Hurts civil rights movement -
Apollo 11 lands on the moon
Neil Armstrong first to walk on the moon -
Pentagon Papers
7,000 page document outlining U.S. government plan in Vietnam; shows government was not telling truth to public. -
William "boss" Tweed
Greatest example of a political machine (NYC) -
U.S. withdraws from Vietnam
North Vietnam overtakes South after departure -
Roe vs. Wade
Legalizes abortion (up to 3 months) -
Jimmy Carter elected president
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Three Mile Island
Nuclear power accident causes concern of nuclear safety. -
Iran releases U.S embassy hostages
They were released after 444 days in captivity. -
Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on takeoff
Crew was killed; the space program was never the same. -
Osama Bin Laden founds Islamist group Al Qaeda
This group was responsible for 9/11 terrorist attacks. -
Berlin Wall falls
Reagan feels it is the U.S's greatest accomplishment of the era. -
Saddam Hussein orders invasion of Kuwait
starts Operation Desert Storm -
Bill Clinton President
Appoints Janet Reno first female attorney general.
