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John Deere
John was the inventor of the first successful, self-scouring steel plow which allowed for development in the mid west. He first started his career as a blacksmith. As he learned that the prairie soil of the new frontier was very heavy and sticky and hard to turn into light, sandy soil even with iron plows, he decided to design a plow that would improve on that design. The plow he created was made in 1837 used a broken saw blade. He created a company that made others and it continued to flourish. -
Robber Baron
A Robber Baron was a term used to describe businessman in the nineteenth century who would be a part of unethical and monopolistic practices. People of this practice were able to amass large wealth and control large companies. Robber Barons in the railroad industry would use their power to gather political influence to build their railroads. The term itself was wasn't considered bad, but also portrayed them as "self-made men" who were part of the success of the nation. -
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Transforming the West
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Transcontinental Railroad
The Pacific Railroad Act granted the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific with the task of building a transcontinental railroad that would allow a like between the east and west in the United States in 1862. The project lasted for seven years, and started from two different points: Sacramento, California and Omaha, Nebraska. With the Central Pacific starting west and heading east and the Union Pacific starting east and heading west, they to companies met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was a law passed that opened up settlement in the western half of the United States. It allowed Whites and even freed slaves to claim up to 160 acres of land. By the end of the Civil War, 15,000 claims had already been established and the number would eventually increase to over 1,600,000. The act helped in allowing land grants to small farmers. Originally, the South resented this idea because they believed that it would stunt their expansion into the western territories. -
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Becoming an Industrial Power
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Granges
The Grange, also called the Patrons of Husbandry, was created in 1867 to advance methods of agriculture, and was also created to encourage social and economic needs of farmers in the United States. Falling crop prices, increased railroad fees to ship crops, the financial crisis of 1873, and the reduction of paper money in favor of gold and silver by congress caused Granges to become very popular among farmers in the 1870's. It was successful in regulating the railroads and the grain warehouses. -
Social Gospel Movement
The Social Gospel Movement was a religious movement that took place in the late 1800's. It started when ministers began believing that good works would lead to salvation, believing that abandoning earthly desires and help others was the way to heaven. The movement itself was also an attack on the idea of Social Darwinism. People of this movement created settlement houses that helped homeless and less fortunate people. It was believed to have been started by Washington Gladden. -
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt was a shipping and railroad tycoon who became multi-millionaire and philanthropy in the 19th century. He originally started working as one of the countries largest steamship operators, but eventually went into the railroad industry in the 1860's. He created a interregional railroad system that operated in between Chicago and New York. The creation of this lead to lowered costs, increased efficiency, and faster travel and shipment times for railroads. -
Women’s Temperance Christian
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was one of the largest and most influential women's groups created in the 19th century. It focused on campaigning for labor laws, prison reforms, and women's suffrage. Annie Wittenmyer was the first elected president, but her failure to control factions within the group resulted in the lost of her position. It was led by Frances Willard you was charge from 1879 to 1898, and after his death the group focused primarily on prohibition. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
The Battle of Little Bighorn was battle between Native Americans and Americans over confinement to there reservations. After the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1875, the U.S ignored all treaties preventing them from entering Indian territory and invaded their land. Eventually, in 1876, over 10,000 Native Americans gathered along the Little Bighorn River. On June 25, George Custer 600 men entered into a battle with the Natives, and within in a hour, Custer and his soldier had all died. -
Farmers' Alliance
The Southern Farmers' Alliance, which was also called the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union was created in response to the troubles that farmers faced in the 1870's. At the time, farmers in the West and South were both hit will falling prices, which caused them to experience mounting debt and climbing interest rates.The group had more than three million members and only allowed whites. The group focused on two issues: purchasing issues and marketing issues. -
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The Gilded Age
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The Great Upheaval of 1886
The Great Upheaval started with leaders of the Baltimore and Ohio company reduced worker's pay by 10%, and by 10% more. The railroad workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia retaliated by storing away the trains and saying they won't work until they have their pay restored. Efforts to get the strikers to work failed, and President Hayes had to send in federal troops. The strike spread throughout parts of Pennsylvania, and was impossible to stop. Eventually, strikers stopped fighting back. -
Exodusters
Exoduster was a name given to any African Americans who hailed from the southern states and migrated along the Mississippi River to Kansas. The started with a man named Benjamin Singleton, who was a former slave himself. It was named due to its similarity to the Hebrews in the book of Exodus in the bible. Africans Americans migrated because the Homestead Act allowed for expansion into western territories, and the Exodusters saw it as a way to escape racial discrimination. -
Light Bulb
The Light Bulb was created by Thomas Edison. He wasn't the first person to attempt making an incandescent light, there being over 20 other people attempting to make it too. He was credited with its invention because he the best version of it due it being made of incandescent material, a higher vacuum output, and a higher resistance that made power distributional easier. His light bulbs could last over 1200 hours, and it was later mass produced in 1880 with the Edison Electric Light Company. -
Assassination of James Garfield
The assassination of President James A. Garfield occurred on Baltimore and Potomac train station. Garfield and his family decide to take a trip to England, where he would give a speech. Waiting for him at the train station, Charles Guiteau was ready to kill the president. Charles believed it was his mission to kill the president, he left a note to the White House saying "The president’s tragic death was a sad necessity". He believed it was the only way to unite the Republican Party. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress and approved by President Chester A. Arthur in 1882. The act created a 10-year moratorium on Chinese labor immigration. It was the first time a Federal law proscribed entry of a particular ethnic working group on the grounds that it interfered with certain localities. It required that all non-laborers need certification to enter the country and certification to leave. The act expired in 1892, but was replaced by the Geary Act. -
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was created by William F. Cody. He first created the "Wild West, Rocky Mountain, and Prairie Exhibition" in 1883 during the Forth of July celebration. When he realized that the show was successful, he moved on to creating an outdoor exhibitions showing different aspects of the "Wild West". For the next four ears, Cody would have large crowds even reaching to 20,000 people. Though his shows were depictions of the West, they weren't actually accurate. -
Time Zones
Time Zones were created because of railroads. Exactly at noon in November 18, 1883, American and Canadian railroads started using four different continental time zones to abate the dilemma caused by railroad estimate times. Originally, most towns had their own local time, they based on when the sun reached its highest point in the sky. When railroads became more popular, railroad timetables in major cities had different arrival and departure times than what was stated and needed to be fixed. -
The Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a widespread strike by workers in the railroad industry that put businesses on halt until the federal government intervened and put an end to it. The way it ended was unprecedented, President Grover Cleveland ordered federal troops to crush the strike and several people were killed in the violent clashes that took place on the streets of Chicago. It was significant because when workers stopped it affected the entire country, shutting down railroads and other businesses. -
Dawes Severalty Act
The Dawes Severalty Act was an attempt at assimilating Native Americans with the natural standards of Whites. It was named after Senator Henry Laurens Dawes from Massachusetts because he was the author of it. The act gave the president to divide Indian reservations separate, privately owned plots of land. Men with families would receive 160 acres of land, single men receive 80 acres of land, and boys would receive 40 acres. The act was really a way to take land from Indians. -
Kodak Camera
The Original Kodak camera was created by George Eastman. It allowed people to take pictures just by pressing a button. The camera used 100-exposure rolls of flexible film to take pictures and after they were taken, they would be sent back to the company to be printed. The original design used a rotating barrel shutter, that rotate as you pushed the button on the other side of the box. After the picture was taken, a key on the top of the camera would wind up the film for the next frame. -
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a genre of music that became popular in American in the late 19th century and was from an American song-publishing industry that was in New York City. The name came from a street at which the industry was based in, and the phrase "tin pan" was used to describe the sound of pianos furiously pounded by song pluggers. It was sold in sheet music and was in extreme demand. It declined when audio recording, radio, and television became popular and demand for other music came about. -
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Imperialism
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Sherman Anti-Trust Act
As the creation trusts came along in businesses, many people felt that this new form of business organization disrupted competition and led to the manipulation of prices. The Sherman Antitrust Act was the first federal antitrust law. It was a very good idea in the eyes of the public, but it was hard to enforce. It was meant to control regulations in cooperate matters. Its ambiguous meaning forced many more laws to big businesses and unions to compensate. -
Silver Act
The Silver Act, also called the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, was a law that made the Treasury purchase 4.5 million ounces of sliver each month at marker rates and allowed the Treasury to issue notes that could be purchased in either gold or silver. It was created when at a time where farmers were strained by growing debts and dropping prices, and anxious western farmers who were ready to market silver, forcing pressure on Congress. The act caused prices of silver to decline. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre started with a Ghost Dance created by the Sioux. When they began rejecting assimilation, the U.S acted by arresting Sitting Bull and killed him which caused further tension between the two groups. On December 29, the U.S Army approached a group of Ghost Dancers and demanded their weapons. Shots were fired, unknown by which side, which lead to the death of 150 Indians. The event was originally known as a battle, but due to its brutality, it's now called a massacre. -
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was steel tycoon and a very wealthy businessmen in the nineteenth century and later became a dedicated philanthropist. While he worked in the railroad industry, he started making several investments. He invested in things such as oil, and when he did, he got a lot in return. He left the railroad industry and dedicated his time into the steel industry. He created a company called the Carnegie Steel Company. He focused manufacturing steel easier, faster, and more productively. -
Motion Picture Camera
The motion-picture camera, also known as the movie camera, is a camera that designed to record a succession of images on a reel of film that was then repositioned after each exposure.It was created by Thomas Edison The idea was already thought by Eadward Mutbridge, but Edison perfected it. It's design consists of a body, a film-transport system, lenses, a shutter, and a viewing-focusing system. the motor-driven transport system is what makes it different from other cameras. -
Populist Party
The Populist Party, also known as the People's Party, was party made years after the Democratic and Republican Parties, being created just before the Civil War. It was created when agricultural areas in the West and the South were hit with an economic depression. Later in the 1880's a drought hit and cotton prices dropped and many farmers and tenants fell into debt. This created angry toward railroads, lenders, and grain-elevator owners which is why the party was founded. -
Sears & Roebuck
Sears, Roebuck and Company all started when Richard Sears bought an a shipment of gold watches. The sales that he made from those watches started his career as a watch retailer. Afterward, Sears hired a watchmaker named Alvah C. Roebuck to help him. They eventually came together to create the Sears, Roebuck and Company. The company created a mail-order catalog to help farmers who had to pay high prices for products they bought from local merchants. Julius Rosenwald purchased half of the company. -
Depression of 1893
The Depression of 1893 was one of the several panics that affected the economy and caused financial crisis. It began on the last days of the Harrison administration and when a major eastern line called the Reading Railroad collapsed and caused the failure of hundreds of banks and businesses. With this stock markets plunged and Europeans investors ceased funding the U.S. The depression ruined thousands of businesses and left four million workers unemployed. -
Henry Cabot Lodge
Henry Cabot Lodge was a famous lawyer who was the assistant editor of the North American Review and the co-editor of the International Review. He started his career in politics in 1880 where he served the Massachusetts legislature for one term. in 1893, He joined the Senate where he formed an relationship with Theodore Roosevelt, but they ended it later on. He was apart o the Republican Party and he opposed Woodrow Wilson by fighting for high protective tariffs and the gold standard. -
World’s Columbian Exposition 1893
The World's Colombian Exposition was an event that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus that took place in Chicago, Illinois. It was one of the most influential, social, and cultural events in the United States, and it had an impact of architecture, sanitation, and American industrial optimism. The fair had 26 million people visit. It was debated over where it should be built, many suggesting New York, Washington D.C, and St. Louis, but ultimately decided Chicago. -
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Progressive Era
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Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also known as the the Yukon Gold Rush, the Last Gold Rush, and the Alaska Gold Rush was a migration estimated to be 100,000 people moving to the Klondike region of Canada between 1896 to 1899. It began when there were was news of rich deposits along the Klondike River in 1896. The harsh terrain and weather of the region made difficult for gold rushers to the area. Gold and digging was slowed by permafrost, and out of the 30,000 that came only 4,000 found gold. -
Election of 1896
The Election of 1896 was a presidential election between William McKinley of the Republican Party and William J. Bryan of the Democrat-Populist Party. William McKinley ended up winning both the electoral vote and the popular vote. It was significant because it ended the old Third Party and created a new one the Fourth Party System. McKinley focused on businessmen and skilled workers and received favor in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, while Bryan did the opposite and was favored by the others. -
President McKinley
William McKinley served in the U.S. Congress and he was also the governor of Ohio before he became the 25th president of the United States. Due to favoring protective tariffs, the Republican McKinley was able to easily beat his opponent, Democrat William Jennings Bryan, and take his the position as president. He led the U.S into war with Spain over the issue of Cuban independence. His involvement in foreign issues open the doors for Americans into an active role in world affairs. -
Battle of Manila Bay
The Battle of Manila Bay was the first major battle of the Spanish-American War which started in April and ended in August of 1898. The U.S Asiatic Squadron devastated the Spanish Pacific fleet in this battle. One day prior to the battle, Dewey's men slipped passed the defenses of Corregidor Island and into Manila Bay. The Spanish fleet was weak in comparison to the U.S., and the attack began in 5:40 a.m when they spotted the Spanish fleet. The battle ended within two hours with a surrender. -
Battle of San Juan Hill/San Juan Heights
One month after the start of the Spanish-American War, a Spanish fleet settled in the Santiago de Cuba harbor coming in from Spain. After this, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps landed on Cuba and planned to marched to Santiago and launch a coordinated land and sea attack on the Spanish. The order to attack San Juan Hill was given by general William Shafter. The Spanish was able to resist most of them, but they eventually broke through. On July 3, the U.S. warships destroyed the Spanish fleet and won. -
Siege of Santiago
The Siege of Santiago, also known as the Battle of Santiago de Cube, was a battle during the Spanish-American War that sealed U.S victory over the Spaniards. It began when a Spanish fleet arrived in Santiago harbor and the U.S warships forming a immediate blockade. They remained at a stand still until the Spanish tried a breakout. The U.S. managed to take out all the ships and the one that managed to escape but surrendered within a hour. 474 Spanish were hurt/dead and 1 dead and 1 hurt in the US -
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris 1898 was signed in France, and it ended the Spanish-American War and granted the United States with its first overseas territory. The Spanish-American war began in April with the rebellion against Spanish rule. The U.S became involved when one of their ships was blown up. The treaty diminished the Spanish empire and took away Puerto Rico and Guam. They also sold the Philippines for $20 million. However there was still resistance in the Philippines even after the war ended. -
George Dewey
George Dewey was the first and only U.S. Navy to ever hold the rank of Admiral of the Navy. He started with his career in the navy when his father enrolled him into Norwich University. In July 1889, Dewey succeeded Winfield Scott Schley as the chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting. In October 21 1897 was promoted to commander n chief of the Asiatic Squadron. Eventually he was promoted to Admiral of the Navy, and with that position, was pressured to run for president, but he backed out. -
Philippine-American War
The Philippine-American War began two days after the end of the Spanish-American War. There was a revolt lead by Emilio Aguinaldo and rebels who wanted complete independence. Americans believed that these attacks were insurrections and did not believe them to be fighting for freedom. It lasted for 3 years, beginning in November of 1899 and ending in 1901 after the U.S captured Emilio Aguinaldo. Over 4,200 Americans had died in the conflict, 20,000 Filipino rebels, and 200,000 citizens. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was a rising politician who had later become the 26th president of the United States in 1901, succeeding William McKinley after his assassination. He was born on October 27, 1858 to a rich family in New York City. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1882 and served until 1884. Soon after he became the youngest president, being only 42 when he entered office. He believed that the government should mediate between conflicting forces in order to stabilize the U.S. -
Roosevelt Corollary
The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was an approach to deal with the Caribbean. It was created by President Theodore Roosevelt and was created in 1904. It was used to make sure that Europeans wouldn't interfere with western territories. Due to this, the United States used more military force to ensure the policy's success. Its real intention had nothing to do with the relations with Europe, but to make sense of the U.S intervention in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was created due to the lack of sanitary conditions of manufacturing plants, especially in Chicago's meat-packing industry. Many journalists had reported several times of this problem, but it wasn't until Upton Sinclair's publication of "The Jungle'" that Congress took action. The bill was sent to House of Representatives and remained there for 3 months. Representative James Mann was able to convinced its passing after he was given a poisonous red dyed apple. -
Meat Inspection Act (1906)
The Federal Meat Inspection Act authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to inspect and reprimanded any meat product found unfit for human consumption. It was created to work along side the Pure Food Act and the Drug Act. The Meat Inspection Act now makes meat shipped over state lines subject to federal inspection throughout the whole meat making process. It made meat safer to eat and prevented the furtherance of spoiled and rotten meat. -
Muller v. Oregon
The Muller v. Oregon case was a case focused around the issue of whether or not a state law setting the maximum workday for women constitutional. It started when Oregon passed a law stating women could only work up to 10 hours a day in factories, A woman at Muller's laundry was forced to work over 10 hours and Muller was convicted. Louis D. Brandies was picked to defend the law and argued that their was link between health and long working hours. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the law. -
Bull Moose Party
The Bull Moose Party, originally called the Progressive Party, was a political group that nominated president Theodore Roosevelt as its candidate for the presidential election of 1912.The goal of the party was to be more assertive, opposing the conservatism of the Republican Party. It wanted to revise the political nominating machinery and create an aggressive program of social legislation. The party's name came from characteristics used to describe the strength and vigor of Teddy Roosevelt. -
17th Amendment
Originally, Americans did not directly vote for the senators for the first 125 years of the government. It was until the 17th Amendment, that this would be allowed. of the Citizens were allowed to elect two Senators from each state. These two Senators would serve 6 year terms, and each of them had one vote. The idea was first proposed in 1826, but wasn't taken into much consideration. Problems of picking senators began and political machines took over. The amendment was created to solve that. -
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was an law passed by Congress that created and enforced the Federal Reserve System. It established private and public banks. 12 private banks were created and each had their own branches, a board of directors, and district boundaries. The Federal Reserve Board consisted of seven members and each member is appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S Senate. The board was restructured having now made a new currency called the Federal Reserve Note. -
Allied Powers
During World War I, two major groups of nations formed their own alliances. One of them was the Axis Powers and the other was the Allied Powers. Countries that the Allied Powers consisted of was Britain, France, Russia, and the United States. Originally, Russia allied itself with Germany. It wasn't until Germany surprised attack them that they joined the Allies. Also, the United States wasn't allied with any of the nations, because they wanted to remain neutral. It wasn't until the Pearl Harbor. -
Trench Warfare
Trenches were used greatly in war and in World War I. It is a type of fighting were both sides created deep trenches to as defense, and most trenches would stretch for many miles making it nearly impossible for both sides to advance. It was first used by France in World War I and as the war proceed, it was then used by everyone. The danger of trying to advance so great, that the area in between two trenches was called "No Man's Land". The total length of all trenches was about 25,000 miles long. -
Assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Plans to kill the Ferdinand began when the Young Bosnians, a secret revolutionary society made of peasant students, discovered that he was planning on visiting Serbia. Members Gavrilo Princip, Trifko Grabez and Nedeljoko went to Belgrade and received six handled bombs, four semi-automatic pistols, and cyanide capsules. Ferdinand had arrived June 23 and on his last day June 8, after he had already been attacked, he was shot point-blank. The shot killed both him and his wife, starting World War I. -
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World War I
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Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was a contingency plan made by the Germans in case war broke out. It was created long before World World I in 1897, and took nine years to complete. The plan was set on the bases that it would have a war with Russia and France at the same time, fighting a war on two fronts. The Germans believed that the French were to weak and the Russian's army would take to long to mobilize. The plan failed on July 30, 1914 because France did not attack and Britain declared war on Germany. -
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was a famous newspaper publisher and politician. He gained attention when he bought out his rival, Joseph Pulitzer, New York Journal, which was then called "yellow journalism". In his time in politics, he won two terms to the U.S. House of Representatives, but was unable to secure the title of U.S. president and mayor of New York. He lost most of his holdings during the Great Depression, but still managed to own the largest new conglomerate in the U.S.. -
American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
The American Expeditionary Force(s) was a name given to those who were serving in Europe during the time of World War I. At the start of World War I, the United States did not have organization necessary for deployment into the war. Some time of the start, General Pershing was instructed to take his staff to France. He placed the entire American forces in the hands of the Allied high command after the Germans attack. More than 1,200,000 American soldiers were sent to fight int the war. -
Espionage Act
The Espionage Act was created about two months after the United States entered the war. It basically made it crime for any person to send information that would disrupt with the U.S armed fores prosecution of the war effort to promote the success of any enemy country. It was strengthened by the Sedition Act that would pass later that year, which gave harsh penalties for anyone found guilty of making false statements that interfered with the prosecution of the war and insulting or abusing the U.S -
Spanish Flu
The Spanish flu was one of the most deadliest pandemic in history, with an estimated total of 500 million people infected worldwide, which at the time was a third of the population. It killed about 20 million to 50 million people, including 675,000 Americans. At the time it began there wasn't any vaccines or drugs that could cure it, so people were ordered to wear masks, schools, theaters and businesses were shuttered. It would pass when people touched others or touched themselves. -
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act was created to protect America's participation in World War I. It was created along with the Espionage Act, which was created in the year before. It was mainly enforced by the attorney general A. Mitchell Palmer. It was aimed at socialist, pacifists, and anti-war activists to prevent their intervention in the war. It imposed a harsh penalty on any found guilty. Many believed that it took away their First Amendment right. It was later repealed in 1921 after too many issues. -
Universal Negro Improvement Association
The Universal Negro Improvement Association was founded by Marcus Garvey and it was partnered with the African Communities' League. The main mission of the organization was to create multiple sub organization to improve the conditions and rights of African Americans. The first international convention was held in 1920 with people coming in from 40 different countries. It started to decline when Garvey was convicted of fraud in 1923. Garvey was deported in 1927 and never was returned to normal. -
The Lost Generation
The Lost Generation was a term given to a group of American writers, most of which immigrated to Europe and worked there from the end of World War I until the Great Depression. These writers felt that the home that they knew was gone and so they left it. It term was really meant to describe men and women who came of age during World War I. The origin of the term came from Gertrude Stein, who had been named that after her mechanic was upset with their young employees unsatisfactory work. -
First Red Scare
The First Red Scare was the belief that communism would spread to the United States. The idea was more eminent after the war because the United States no longer had to concentrate its efforts to it. Many citizens believed that the spread of communism would compromise the U.S. democratic values. The U.S. government responded by attacking communist threats. They enforced the Espionage Act and Sedition Act to prosecute potential communists. These actions led to violations of civil liberties. -
Volstead Act
The Volstead Act, originally known as the National Prohibition Act was created along with the 18th Amendment. It was meant to reinforce the power of the 18th Amendment. It prohibited the manufacturing and selling of alcoholic beverages. The Act is named after Minnesota Representative Andrew Volstead, the man who mainly advocated for prohibition. When it was first originally proposed, it was vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson, but it was passed after Congress voted to override the veto. -
National Socialist-German Workers’ Party (NAZI)
Originally founded as the German Workers' Party, the Nazi Party was formed due to the resentment created by the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty required several agreements that created numerous concessions and reparations for Germany. He joined this party the same year that it was founded and then established a totalitarian rule within Germany from 1933 to 1945. However, after Germany's lose in World War II in 1945, the Nazi Party was outlawed and most of it's top officials were punished. -
18th Amendment
During the late nineteenth century, prohibition movements became more prominent in the United States. At the time, alcohol was considered dangerous because of people getting drunk. It became so bad, that in 1920 Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transporting and sale of liquor that could lead to intoxication. However, it failed to be enforced and organized crimes stood against. Eventually the 21st Amendment was created, and it repealed Prohibition. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles put an official end to World War I. It was created by the Allied powers and dealt with how to punish Germany. It resulted in the Germany's boundaries being shortened and forced them to pay reparations. Germany agreed to pay them under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan, but these agreements were later cancelled in 1932, with Hitler's rise to power. It was difficult to finish it, because the French wanted to give Germany harsher punishments so they wouldn't start war again -
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The 1920's
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League of Nations
The League of Nations was created after the Covenant of the League of Nations ratified, uniting 42 different nations. After the war, the United States and Britain decided to make a permanent international body to maintain world order. President Woodrow Wilson became a main advocate of this and made a 14-point proposal to end the war. However, the U.S. Senate declined the League of Nations and the United States was unable to join. It failed in many of it's efforts, and ended 1946. -
American Civil Liberties Union
With the start of World War I, people and anti-war activists who protested were rounded up without regard to their constitutional protections and were left in horrible conditions. Finally through the ensuing chaos, a small group of people banded together and then formed the American Civil Liberties Union. One of the ACLU's major events was when the Scopes Trial took place in 1925. They defended John T. Scopes and even though he lost it raised public awareness. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment granted women's suffrage, the women's right. It all started with the women's suffrage beginning in 1848, with the Seneca Falls Convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Even after the event, they continued to raised pubic awareness. Stanton also led a group delegates that created the Declaration of Independence. When the proposed in 1919, several southern states were against it, and it ended up being a tie until Harry T. Burn voted in favor of it. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery event that took happened in the United States during 1921 and 1922. It happened within President Warren G. Hardling administration with the Secretary of the Interior, Albert Bacon Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming to private oil companies at low rates without bidding. He was later investigated and caught by Senator Thomas J. Walsh. Fall was then convicted for accepting bribes and was the first ever cabinet member to go to prison. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
The Monkey Trial is centered around a man named John Thomas Scopes, who violated Tennessee state law by teaching evolution. The law that he broke stated that no teacher can teach anything that denies the story of Divine Creation taught from the bible. He intended for this and joined American Civil Liberties Union and received help from Clarence Darrow. William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor. Darrow asked for a guilty verdict and got it, however Bryan was left humiliated from the trial. -
The Spirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of Louis was the first transatlantic flight to ever occur. The idea of this began with Charles Lindbergh. He wanted to make plane flights that would allow travel from the United States to Europe. He started to work with Donald Hall and started to work on a single-engine plane and it was completed in late April 1927. When they found a chance to fly in good weather, they flew out on May 20. It made it to Paris is 33 hours and 30 minutes. It returned to the U.S. in June 11. -
Valentine’s Day Massacre
The Valentine's Day Massacre began when group of men with tommy gun and police uniforms took six gangsters and a gambler to the SMC Cartage Company garage and shoot them to death as if they were a firing squad. Many believed it was a gang shooting but Herman N. Bundesen led an investigation and discovered the truth. The man that were killed were members of the North Side gang, which was run by George Moran, which was actually meant for him. Many believed Al' Capone, a rival leader, planned it. -
The Crash
The Stock Market Crash of 1929, also known as Black Tuesday hit Wall Street, a stock market company, when investors traded 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in one day. The company lost billions of dollars, which hurt thousands of investors. This would be one of the factors that causes the Great Depression of 1929. During the early 1920's, stock markets went a great expansion, but during September and October of 1929, it started a great decline. -
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The Great Depression
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The Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a drought that occurred in the Southern Plains of the United States which had also brought about several dust storms during the 1930's. Areas from Texas to Nebraska had people and livestock die because of crop failure throughout the region. This disaster also made the already severe Great Depression worse, as it forced farmers and farm families to move North for a chance to find work. The Dust Bowl was actually caused by the increased demand for wheat, which caused more plowing -
Election of 1932
Election of 1932 was a election between the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and Republican Herbert C. Hoover. Also, during the time of the election, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression were taking place. Hebert Hoover was losing voters, because they believed that he would be unable to reverse the fall of the economic.Franklin Roosevelt won his votes by saying he would great a policy called the "New Plan", that would deal with the economy problem. Roosevelt won in the end. -
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the murder of over 6 million European Jews, including Gypsies and homosexuals, by the Nazi Party during World War II. Adolf Hitler, the leader of this party, believed that Jews were an inferior race and that they were the cause of many of Germany's problems. Jews were arrested on the streets and sent to concentration camps, where they were burned alive. Anyone that had three or more Jewish grandparents were considered Jewish, and it left many of them in fear for their lives. -
FDR’s Plan
FDR's Plan, also known as the New Deal was created to counter the Great Depression. In 1929, after corporations invested money into the crashing stock market and lost numerous shares, the economy started falling apart. Banks failed, the U.S. lost a lot of money, and companies went bankrupt. The plan was created by Franklin Roosevelt, after he came into office 1933. Over the course of eight years, President Roosevelt would implement several policy in an attempt to restore the economy. -
Glass-Stegall Act
The Glass-Steagall Act, also known as the Banking of Act of 1933, was created to stop banks from using depositors' funds for for their own risky investments. It prevented investment into the stock market and it also prohibited bank sales of securities. It was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt, as it was a part of his FDR's New Deal. It was came about with such urgency because of the Great Depression. The investment into the crashing stock market is what caused the depression. -
21st Amendment
The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment, which banned alcoholic and intoxicating substances. It was the first amendment that was created to remove and make void another. It would allow the sale, manufacturing, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. They decided to allow this, because they noticed as alcohol consumption decreased, organized crime and crime rates increased to never before seen level. Without, crime lords profited from the illegal distribution of it. -
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission was created to regulate the commerce in stock, bonds, and other securities. It came about after the Great Depression, which was caused by investment into the crashing stock market. With this, the Securities Act of 1933 was created and it forced corporations to register their stock sales. The Securities and Exchange Commission was created after the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It ended up breaking apart larger holding companies. -
20th Amendment
The 20th Amendment dealt with the issue of president and vice president terms. It defines the dates that each term begins and ends. Before this, terms of election were left unchanged and unrevised. The idea was thought of decades before, but it was subject to several long term debates that prolonged its ratification. The amendment itself, is divided into six different sections. the first four deal with the proposed changes in legislature, and the last two detailed the dates that it would be used -
National Industrial Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act was created by Franklin D. Roosevelt as a part of his FDR's New Deal, to help in the recovery of the economy after the Great Depression. The act helped to enforce the alliance of industries. It stopped antitrust laws, forced companies to create "codes of fair competition", which also fixed the problem of fixed prices and wages. However, it ended in May 1935, after the Schechter Poultry Corp v. U.S lost because it was deemed unconstitutional. -
Neutrality Acts
The Neutrality Acts were created to avoid any action(s) that would involve the United States in war. It was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It required that all American vessels would have to obtain a license to use any kind of weaponry, restricted Americans from sailing on ships that came from hostile nations, and imposed an embargo on the sale of weapons to these nations. Even though the law meant to keep the U.S neutral, Roosevelt was prepared to fight in a war if the U.S had to. -
Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act, also called the Wage and Hour Bill,created minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping, and child labor standards which had an effect on full and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local government. It is regulated by the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor. The act also helps the Wage and Hour Division keep employers up-to-date with new information regarding employment. It was created by Franklin Roosevelt. -
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
The German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was an agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union that stated that neither country would take military action against each other for the next 10 years. It was signed just before World War II and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin saw it necessary to make peaceful terms with Germany, so that they would have time to build up their military power. The pact also help the Germany, as they were able to invade Poland without any resistance from the Soviet Union. -
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Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter was a famous star that was used to encourage women to join the work force in the defense industries during World War II. The real identity of this women is unknown. She became the ideal image of a hardworking woman. Women were able to join the workforce, because most men were drafted into the war, which left many jobs available for women. Women increased from 27 to 37 percent between 1940 and 1945, and nearly one out of every four women worked from outside of their house. -
Battle of Leningrad
The Battle of Leningrad was a siege on a major industrial center and the second-largest city in the Soviet Union by the Germans and Finnish. It was also called the 900-Day Siege because it lasted for over 872 days and caused the deaths of over million civilians and Red Army members. The Germans surrounded the city making it impossible to receive supplies and food from the outside. Many had succumbed to starvation and wasn't until 1944 that the Soviet Union was able to force Germans out. -
Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)
On the morning of this day, a Japanese dive bomber and 360 Japanese warplanes appeared above the island of Oahu. They led a surprise attack and bombed the U.S naval base at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese actions on that day led to the United States' involvement in World War II. Prior to this, diplomatic negotiations with the Japanese were getting worse and President Franklin Roosevelt knew that the Japanese would likely attack. A total of 2,400 Americans died and several vessels were destroyed. -
Executive Order 9066
The signing of Executive Order 9066 happened ten weeks after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It was signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and it forced people in military areas to relocate. It also forced people Japanese Americans to locate to internment camps in scattered locations across the United States. The Japanese living their had to live in extremely difficult living conditions and poor treatment. They would later be freed with the Public Proclamation No. 21 in January 2, 1945. -
Bataan Death March
After the United States surrendered at the Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese, about 75,000 Filipino and Americans were forced to march 65 miles to prison camps. The journey there was harsh, as they had to deal with intense heat and harsh treatment from the Japanese. The captives were divided into groups of 100 and were bayoneted when they weren't walking. Thousands of soldiers died on the this trip to San Fernando. Thousands of others would die in the camps from disease and starvation. -
Battle of Monte Cassino
The Battle of Monte Cassino was a battle started by the Italians in an attempt to retrieve the Roman Catholic abbey of Monte and the western anchor of the Gustav Line. They tried two attempts, which resulted in the destruction of the abbey and aerial bombardment of the area. It was only after the Gustav Line was destroyed that they were able to succeed in capturing the abbey. The battle itself was one of the longest and bloodiest battles for the Italians in World War II.
