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Social Darwinism
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Social Darwinists believed in a social ‘survival of the fittest.” Economic and political success were based completely around having the best skills. Those with the best skills would succeed, those without, would fail. This viewpoint on wealth influenced wealthy families to educate their children, as it was viewed as an appropriate way to outfit them for life correctly. -
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US History: VHS Summer: William Rodgers
This is a collection of events and ideas from throughout the years 1877-2011. Each of these events is an important point in United States history. -
The Great Upheaval
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Starting in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the Great Upheaval was a series of serious strikes across America. Workers were tired of poor work conditions and were willing to stand to their employees. All around the nation, workers were being beaten down by the police and the military for demanding better pay and hours. Not many of the strikes were successful, but overall, a message did get through, but only after more than 100 deaths. -
The Wounded Knee Massacre
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The Wounded-Knee Massacre was one of the final openly horrendous acts against Native Americans by the United States Government. The Seventh Cavalry demanded all weapons from a group of Sioux in Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. Tensions arose and shot rang out. By the end of the event, the Cavalry had slaughtered nearly all of the 300 men, women, and children present at the time. This happened after direct military conflict with the Sioux ended. -
The Creation of the Panama Canal
Relevant LinkAfter a huge amount of labor, money, and colonialism, Americans opened their canal in Panama that connected the Atlantic to the Pacific. The canal was created as a result of the Hay-Herran Treaty, which gave the U.S. a six-mile wide strip from coast to coast, for an annual fee. The canal allowed ships to move from one ocean to the other without going around South America, revolutionizing trade and naval warfare. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
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The Lusitania was a passenger vessel that was torpedoed by a German submarine, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. This event, in combination with the interception of Mexican-German communications, sparked America’s entry into the Great War, and was one of many horrible acts committed by the Germans throughout the War. They torpedoed any vessel that entered their ocean space, irrelevant of whether or not it carried war materials. -
The Creation of the League of Nations
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The League of Nations, outlined by Woodrow Wilson after WWI, was a consortium of nations from around the world that would create international rules. The idea is much like the modern day United Nations, and was ratified by the Treaty of Versailles. Despite all the fight he made for it, Wilson could not get Congress to allow American entry, as there was fear of too much overbearing control. This was a serious blow to the authority of the League of Nations. -
The Modern Teenager
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Mainly due to the popularization of the automobile and the creation of longer-lasting public schools, young adults, or teenagers, began to have more interaction with one another away from home. The idea of a modern teenager was created to distinguish someone who was entering adulthood from a child. Teens in the Roaring twenties became much more open and sexual due to the ability to be away from parents during interaction. -
Lebensraum
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Lebensraum, or “living space,” was an idea that originated with Social Darwinism and was coined by German geographer, Friedrich Ratzel. Adolf Hitler popularized this phrase in his manifesto, Mein Kampf, which stated that the Aryan race, his “master race,” was superior and somehow granted lebensraum by default. This justified his later invasions of Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union. -
The Bank Holiday
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The Bank Holiday of 1933 was a four day period in which President Roosevelt limited all banks from performing any transactions except making change. This allowed him to pass the Emergency Banking Act, which gave him power from the Treasury Department to help and reopen banks that were failing. He also grouped banks into four categories based on success and how easily they could be saved. This was one of his earliest Acts, and it laid the foundation for his later work. -
The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima
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The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan was the first of only two nuclear weapons ever used. This bomb, known as Little Boy, was ordered by Harry Truman as a last resort to end the War in the Pacific. This bomb was followed by Fat Man, dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. Collectively they killed at least 129,000 people, many of whom were civilians. Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945. -
The Sputnik 1 Launch
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Sputnik 1, the first manmade satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union. It began what is known as the “Space Race” between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. N.A.S.A. was created in America as a direct response to the Sputnik success. Widespread fear resulted from the launch with the belief that the Soviets were using the satellite for covert surveillance. The United States later invested heavily in space exploration, putting a man on the moon in July 1969. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
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The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day negotiation between the Soviet Union and the United States. The U.S.S.R. established trade relations with Cuba in exchange for building a missile site on the island. This event was the closest the world has come to all-out nuclear war. Khrushchev and Kennedy agreed to remove the Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for the removal of American missiles in Turkey. -
Jim Crow
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Jim Crow was the term used to describe the ideas and laws that kept racial segregation throughout most of the post-Civil War era American South. Jim Crow laws were local and state laws that promoted the racial inequality of African Americans. Often referred to as “separate but equal,” the laws were ultimately brought down by the passing of the Civil Rights Act deeming this practice unconstitutional. -
The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated standing on the balcony of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. Dr. King was struck in the neck by a snipers bullet, and after being rushed to the hospital, was pronounced dead. His death came as a shock to all of America, and riots took place in major cities across the country. The Motel is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. He was a great man who did great things, and his life was cut short. -
Kent State Shooting
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The event began as a reaction to President Nixon’s announcement of the Cambodian Campaign, but overall, was a non-violent student anti-war protest. The protest turned bloody when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on the protestors, killing four and wounding nine. This event caused a large public outcry, supporting the anti-war movement and the general increase in student-led movements. -
The Welfare Queen
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The Welfare Queen was a term used to describe people who collected large amounts of money through welfare fraud or manipulation. While originally used in a magazine, the term was popularized by Ronald Reagan and used as a political argument for cutting social government spending. Reagan’s critics accused him of being racist and sexist, stereotyping and criminalizing African American women. -
The Creation of the World Wide Web
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee proposed a system where information could be accessed through “hyperlinks” that were directed towards nodes of the web. While he may not have realized it at the time, he ended up creating a completely world-changing technology for storing and accessing data and information. The World Wide Web is a vital part of the modern world and we would in no way be the same without it. -
NAFTA Signed
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Bill Clinton signed the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which removed the tariffs and other restrictions between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While the Agreement did reduce prices on many imported goods and allowed for easier exportation, it also allowed for easier labor outsourcing and had serious negative impacts on the Mexican economy and the American lumber industry. -
The Dot-com Boom
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The Dot-Com Boom, or Bubble, was a series of events that led to a huge economic crash for internet-based companies. Many, many companies started as online retailers and became extremely successful due to their ease-of-use and marketing, but lacked the merchandise or products to stay afloat, causing hundreds to go bankrupt in a matter of weeks. Some companies, such as Amazon.com and eBay survived the crash and became even more successful. -
The September 11 Terrorist Attacks
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The September 11 Terrorist Attacks consisted of four passenger planes being hijacked by a total of 19 Al-Qaeda operatives. The first two planes were flown into both of the 110-story towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the third flew into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and the fourth angled towards Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after the passengers attempted to regain control. 2,996 people were killed.
