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US History: VHS Summer: Joseph Ginsburg
This timeline demonstrates specific points of history discussed in the US History: VHS Summer class. The timeline will start with the reconstruction era and go all the way to the modern age -
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a large strike led by railroad workers that damaged the oppressive railroad industry in the summer of 1894. The Pullman Palace Car Company cut the wages of all of its workers by 25%. Most of the workers lived in the company town Pullman, however the company did not lower the cost of living at all despite the pay cut. Several Pullman factory workers faced starvation. The strike garnered public support and led to Labor Day. -
Hawaii becomes a US territory
Hawaii went from being an independent nation to becoming under US rule. Hawaii was dependent on the US for it's economy. Many farmers in Hawaii thought they would be more prosperous if they were a territory of the US, bypassing the tariff. They overthrew their government, and became a US territory. -
American Imperialism
Imperialism is when a country expands its power through diplomatic or military means in other countries. America became a major player on the world stage and had a lot of influence in Central America, Islands in the ocean, and even South America -
American Socialism
The definition of socialism according to Wikipedia.
Socialism is a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership and democratic control of the means of production; as well as the political ideologies, theories, and movements that aim at their establishment.
Some Americans wanted for America to be more socialized, fearing capitalism eventually becoming too corrupt. Eugene V. Debs ran the American Socialist party in the 1910s. -
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in US History. 145 workers died trapped inside the burning building. The tragedy led to a strengthened fire code, and as an argument for strikers to get better working conditions. -
The sinking of the Lusitania
The sinking of the Lusitania was a major event that led up to American involvement in WW1. Germany suspected that the U.S. was sending britain supplies in cruise ships. Germany bought newspaper space warning americans that any ship thought to be sending supplies would be sunk. When a German U-Boat sunk the Lusitania, the public cried out. This event swayed public opinion in the favor of Britain and helped lead to the U.S. involvement in WW1. -
The Zimmerman Telegram was published
British Code breakers intercepted a message from the PM of Germany intended for the president of Mexico. The Zimmerman Telegram suggested that Mexico should declare war on the US and that Germany would help them and give them Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. This outraged the American public and helped lead the U.S. to war. -
Black Thursday
Black Thursday was the first day of the stock market crashed that led to the Great Depression. The stock market fell 11% in one day. The stock market would not end up reaching its original high for over 20 years. -
American Isolationism
This was the belief that America should try to not interfere with international politics in other countries. This belief allowed america to stay out of the war for an extended period of time until pearl harbor. Americans who were isolationists really did not want the US to join the war. -
US Declares War on Japan
After Japan attacked pearl harbor, Franklin Roosevelt and the USA declared war on Japan. This is when the U.S. enters the war. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was the operation that brought food to the people of West Berlin when Stalin stopped land and sea traffic in and out of East Germany. Stalin attempted to make democracy look weak by cutting off West Berlin, but ended up watching as the Western forces airdropped 4000 tons of goods daily into West Berlin. Stalin ended up looking bad internationally because he was using innocent civilians as pawns in his political scheme. -
NATO
NATO, also known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an intergovernmental military alliance. The idea of the alliance is that if one of the nations is attacked, they will all help defend together and beat back whoever was attacking them using a multinational force. -
Rosa Parks stands up by sitting down
Rosa Parks ended up starting a revolution by sitting down. The movement pushing towards equal treatment for African Americans was incited by her simple act of defiance. Before this, white people would get seats on the bus before black people, even if the colored person got on the bus first. This double standard led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott -
2nd Wave Feminism
Second-wave feminism was a movement that sought equality for women. Women before were typically restricted to the role of housewife. The feminist movement fought to change that and gave women more options and opportunities to lead and become better. No longer would women be forced into being the care taker and they could become the breadwinner. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder began in February of 1965. Operation Rolling Thunder was the continuous systematic bombing of several targets on the Indochinese Peninsula. At first the targets were strictly military targets, however as the length of the operation increased, so did the types of things targeted. Even tree cover was targeted with chemicals like Napalm and Project Orange. -
The U.S. Embassy in Tehran is taken over
The Iran Hostage Crisis was when 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days. This was one of the boiling points in the diplomatic crisis between both the United States and Iran. During the climax of the event, the U.S. attempted to militarily rescue the embassy. This failed attempt led to the deaths of 8 Americans, 1 Iranian civilian, and the destruction of 2 aircraft. -
Reaganomics
Reaganomics was Reagan's economic ideas of putting America back on track. It consisted of heavily reduced government spending, trickle down economics, and increased military spending. -
The Fall of the Wall
Since then end of WW2, Berlin had been divided into east and west Berlin by a large wall. The [Berlin Wall](www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall) stood as a symbol of the divided world between the communists and the capitalists. The USSR was in dire trouble and when the wall finally fell it was a symbol that the USSR was no more. -
The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is the very beginning of the internet. While the internet could only originally support basic text pages and email functions, over time the internet would sprawl and develop into the cultural juggernaut that it is today. "The Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand" - Eric Schmidt -
Columbine
Columbine was a horrible school shooting in which 13 people died before the gunman took their own lives. This was the worst school shooting in America at the time and opened peoples eyes to the issue of gun-control and the media glorifying violence.
