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Bessemer Process Is Invented
The Bessemer process is an effective way to create steel which was vital to the American economy as many industries such as the train industry and skyscrapers depended on the Bessemer process. Us Steel was also a very large monopoly owned by Andrew Carnegie one of the richest men in the world. Us steel became a monopoly through vertical integration which many used such as Standard Oil Owned by Rockefeller. -
Tweed Becomes Head of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall was one of many political machines and Boss Tweed was a notorious leader of it. These political machines often gave immigrants jobs in exchange for their vote. Would control politicians by threatening to diver these votes. This was eventually stopped with the Australian ballot which made people's votes private but they also engaged in rigging the election with vote counting. This caused more hate against immigrants which lead to immigration quotas to limit immigration. -
Knights Of Labor is Created
The Knights of Labor was a union group that allowed unskilled workers to join their union. They fell apart after the Hay-market Square incident which turned violent. They argued for the 8 hour work week eventually adopted by Ford. They accepted everyone. Were socialistic and had 700,000 thousand members at their peak. American Federation of Labour comes from them and have a million at their peak. They would often go on strikes walk outs slowdowns and sabatoges. They wanted better pay and hours. -
Chinese Exclusion Act Is Signed
The Chinese Exclusion act banned Chinese immigrants from immigrating. The California Gold Rush brought many Chinese immigrants to america which caused racism against them and this ban. Before this the Page act was often used to prevent Chinese women from entering the us. This was also caused from the depression of the 1870's The Burlingame treaty before this had allowed many Chinese citizens to immigrate to the United States. Eventually it was ruled that Japanese and Koreans were also banned -
How The Other Half Lives Is Published
Jacob Riis published how the other half lives and demonstrated the badness of tenement housing using flash photography. This caused the Tenement Housing Act of 1901 to come into effect. Riis was a muckracker and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was another muckraker book demonstrating the evil of the meat packing industry leading to the Pure Food and Drug Act leading to the FDA being created along with the meat inspection act. The muckrackers appealed to Theodore Roosevelt who passed these laws. -
Sherman Anti Trust Act Is Passed
The Sherman Anti Trust act gave the government the power to break up monopolies. This is eventually strengthened by Woodrow Wilson with the Clayton Act which gave the government more powers to break up trusts. Theodore Roosevelt used the Sherman anti trust act to break up US Steel along with many other monopolies. Woodrow Wilson broke up any trusts where as Roosevelt focused on trusts he thought were harmful. This also allowed for the Standard Oil Decision breaking up Standard Oil. -
The U.S.S Maine Sinks
The U.S.S Maine was an American warship that blew up while in the bay of Cuba. America took this opportunity to blame it on Spain despite it not being their fault. This caused the U.S to begin the Spanish-American war and support the Cubans in the Cuban revolution against Spain. Theodore Roosevelt made his name in this war with his attacks such as the Battle of San Juan. He lead a group known as the rough riders and was a colonel. We also fought in the west against the phillipines. -
U.S Wins Spanish American War
The U.S defeated Spain in the Spanish American war with the Signing of the Treaty of Paris. This allowed the United States to control the Philippines Guam Cuba and Puerto Rico. We gave control of Cuba back to the Cubans but continued control of the others. The control of the Philippines granted them an exception to the immigration act of 1924. The Jones Act promised eventual release of The Philippines which came in 1946. Social Darwinism was used to justify the control over the Philippines. -
Theodore Roosevelt Becomes President
McKinley was assassinated which lead to Theodore Roosevelt becoming president it also lead to the removal of the spoils system. Theodore Roosevelt was not running as president as Republican party did not want him as he was uncontrollable. Roosevelt Passed the Antiquities Act creating National Parks. Roosevelt busted many trusts. Solved Anthracite Coal Strike by bringing in the Military to make them negotiate with the strikers or would open mine by force. Nominated Taft as his successor. -
Roosevelt Corollary Released
The Roosevelt Corollary sated that the United states would intervene if the European Powers attempted to recolonize the Americas. Roosevelt used big stick diplomacy which used the principle that you should look strong but not use it. This was used to settle the Russo-Japanese war and win Roosevelt a nobel peace prize. This also tied into him wanting more control over the americas. He did this when he supported panama's independence and then built the Panama canal. -
Pure Food and Drug Act Is Passed
The Pure Food and Drug act ensured the safety and quality of food and drugs. This was the predecessor to the FDA. Both of these were signed by Theodore Roosevelt who served in the Spanish American War. He was convinced by Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle. He was one of the numerous Muckrakers of this era. Other Muckrackers include Jacob Riis IDa B Wells Lincoln Steffens and others. -
Taft Becomes President
William Howard Taft was the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt and won the election in a landslide because of this. Roosevelt thought he was similar to him and hoped to control him eventually unhappy with his refusal to promote social change Theodore Roosevelt ran against him with his own party the Bull Moose Party causing Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Taft broke more trusts established more natural parks and created the Child Bureau. Taft also encouraged dollar diplomacy. -
NAACP is founded
NAACP promoted the advancement of black people and was founded by Ida B Wells and Du Bois. This was very influential in the civil rights movement and brought many cases such as Brown V. Board of education to be. Du Bois argued that we should assist the talented tenth of the country. Ida B Wells was a muck racker who showed the harsh discrimination against black people. A race riot that broke out in Springfield Illinois led to the creation of the NAACP. -
Triangle Fire
The Triangle shirtwaist fire killed 146 people in a fire at the triangle shirtwaist factory. The owners had locked the doors to prevent people from walking out on the job. Before this the workers had done a walk off to protest the poor safety regulations of this factory. Because of this New York passed 56 laws that dealt with safety fir hazards unsafe machine swages working hours. These laws had also recieved approval of Tammany hall which was a political machine in New York. -
Woodrow Wilson Becomes President
Woodrow Wilson came into power because of the bull moose party which split votes between the republican party and Roosevelt. Woodrow Wilson created the Clayton Anti Trust Act which strengthened the Sherman anti trust act. Woodrow Wilson also oversaw the united states through World War One and created the Creel Committee to spread Propaganda. Creates the Espionage Act which limited freedom of speech against the war. Makes FTC also makes graduated income tax. -
The U.S Enters WWI
The United States entered the war despite Woodrow Wilson promising not to bring us into the war This changed from the Zimmerman telegram which told Mexico to Attack the US and that Germany would support them The sinking of the Lusitania brought us closer to joining the war so Germany temporarily stopped their submarine warfare but resumed them. It began when archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated which brought many alliances into the war We did not want to fight a war that did not involve us. -
Armistice Begins
An armistice was reached on November 11th. This day would eventually become Veterans day in the U.S. This ended the fighting in World War 1 as the Allies had been winning once the U.S entered the war. This would eventually lead to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Russia had already dropped out of the war because of the Bolshevik Revolution. Italy had switched sides from Germany and Germany was the only country remaining on the Central Powers. -
The 18th Amendment Is Ratified
Temperance movements were able to ratify the 18th amendment in the United States This banned the sale and distribution of alcohol but not the consumption. This caused a large increase in illegal activity It gave rise to many mobs such as Al Capone's which dominated after the St. Valentine massacre. It also led to many speakeasies and bootlegged alcohol It hurt the economy as it restricted trade with alcohol. It would be repealed under FDR with the 21st amendment to raise the spirit of Americans -
The Treaty of Versailles is Signed
The Treaty of Versailles set the conditions for Germany's surrender. Germany only agreed to enter negotiations if they were going to be based around Wilson's 14 points. In the end Wilson was not able to get many of his ideas through. This led to the creation of the League of Nations which failed as the U.S didn't join. This led to World War Two as it devastated Germany and led to Hitlers rise and he hated the treaty of Versailles. This made Germany decolonize pay a debt limit their military -
Harlem Renaissance Begins
The Harlem Renaissance was the flourishing of black culture and Harlem was a prominent area. This was a racial enclave which was found around the nation for different ethnic groups. This led to the large popularity of Jazz and eventually Rock and Roll. It was caused by the great migration caused by World War I clearing jobs and increased opportunity in the north. Oftentimes black people could not even perform from their culture and they would have white men play musicals like the jazz singer. -
19th Amendment Passes
The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. This vote followed a long movement of women's suffrage with many events such as Seneca Falls. and important figures such as Susan B Anthony and Ida B Wells who also fought an anti lynching campaign. The last amendment guaranteeing the right to vote was the 15th amendment allowing African Americans to vote. Wyoming was the first to allow women to vote and this let all women vote. World War I helped bring this as it showed the strength of women. -
Immigration Act of 1924 is published
The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the amount of immigrants entering into the united states. This occurred as the immigrants shifted to eastern Europe which was less familiar to the Americans. The anti immigration sentiment grew in the north as immigrants often went to cities and increased competition. This sentiment came from the know nothing party but moved to the Republican party which sought to reduce immigration. This followed earlier anti immigration acts such as the chinese exclusion act -
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The Stock Market Crash was known as Black Tuesday and led to the end of the economic prosperity of the 1920's and began The Great depression which would see many New Deal policies. This was caused from the mass debt spending and lavish life styles of the 1920's. Other economic woes followed and many banks closed as people withdrew money causing banks to close causing more to withdraw. This occurred under Hoover who was criticized for his handling of the Great Depression. -
FDR becomes president
People became very upset with President Hoover and had named the homeless areas after him Hoovervilles. They saw him as a do nothing President so they elected FDR who was the opposite and related to Theodore Roosevelt. FDR enacted the New Deal named similarly to the Square Deal to play on his relations with Theodore. He also led us through World War II. He created many public works commissions and followed Keynesian Economics. He led the nation through the great depression and helped stop it -
Federal Emergency Relief Act Is Passed
This act gives the state's funds states based on population to provide relief. This act also creates the Works Progress Administration which creates thousands of public works and employs 8 million people. Similar programs were the Public Works Administration which created art and the Tennessee Valley Authority which made dams and gave electricity to the south. The Civilian Conservation Corps also fought to conserve got young single men jobs in preserving nature. -
Banking Act of 1933 Passed
FDR passed the banking Act in order to try and stabilize the banks. It created a national banking holiday and made it so only the healthy banks could reopen. It also insured individuals with deposits that the government would restore some of the money. This tried to increase trust in banks and prevent the banks that were left from closing. This made the FDIC. This was part of his New Deal which made many other agencies like SEC and the Tennessee Valley Authority or the WPA. -
National Industrial Recovery Act Is Passed
Creates fair work and competition codes Gives the workers the right to unionize Set work hours at 8 hours work day 40 hour work week These were ideas adopted by many unions and often embraced by Ford It creates minimum wage and price control. It was eventually struck down by the supreme court and declared unconstitutional This was part of FDR's reform His plan was the three Rs were Relief Recovery Reform FDR Communicated these ideas with his fireside chats to show different parts of his New Deal -
U.S Enters World War II
The U.S entered the war which actually helped fix the great depression as it provided thousands of jobs to people and stimulated the economy by creating demand. The U.S entered World War II because of the bombing of Hiroshima. The U.S joined England and Russia as Germany had complete control of France and decided to invade Russia. The U.S joining was a big boost to the exhausted forces. FDR did not want to join the war and promised to keep us out of this war but was drawn in with the bombing. -
D-Day Occurs
D-day marked a turning point of the war. Before this the Allies were losing without France and with Germany's control of Austria and Poland. American and British forces embarked on the beaches of Normandy and began a counter offensive pushing the Germans back until Hitlers demise on April 30th 1945. This was headed by Dwight D Eisenhower whose fame from this would allow him to become the president of the united states. -
Yalta Conference Is Held
The Yalta conference was held between England, The U.S and Russia. It agreed to divide Germany into four sections each controlled by and ally member and France along with dividing Berlin. This would lead to the Berlin wall and Berlin Airdrop. FDR was also unsuccessful at getting Russia to have eastern Europe have free elections causing the Soviet union to grow powerful. This conference also overthrew the League of Nations and replaced it with the United Nations which the US actually joined. -
The Bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima ended World War II by finally bringing Japan to surrender. We had not wanted to bomb them under FDR but he had passed away and Truman believed it was better than the costs of a land invasion. The Manhattan Project with members such as Oppenheimer created the nuclear weapons. After World War II ended only the U.S and Russia were super powers and the cold war began. We both had nuclear weapons causing tensions like the Cuban Missile crisis. Germany ends split. -
Levitt Towns Become Popular
Levitt Towns were immensely popular and the precursor to our modern day suburbs. They were cheap as they had only a few houses and were on the outskirts of the city. This became possible because of the invention of the car allowing people to go to work in the city and live far away. This was part of a greater trend of people moving out from the cities and of car culture creating several different things like drive through gas stations repair shops and more. -
Marshall Plan Is Introduced
The Economic Recovery Act of 1948 was signed in by Truman and also known as the Marshal plan as it was introduced by George Marshall The plan called for economic support of Europe after its destruction in World War II This was to limit the spread of communism from the Soviet Union as it had control over eastern Europe since World War II and the failures of the Yalta conference There was also the Berlin Airlift which was part of this plan and supported Berlin and caused Russia to release blockade -
NATO is formed
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in order to safeguard Europe from the Soviet Union. It declared an attack on one would be treated as an attack on all. In response to this the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact which was a military alliance between eastern Europe. We wanted Europe to be safe in the cold war so we supported them also with the Marshall plan which provided economic support to rebuild Europe and prevent communism. IN the end NATO still exists even past the Soviets -
Joseph McCarthy Gave His Speech About Communists In The Govenrment
This speech led to what would be known as McCarthyism. This was the search for communists in the united states. House Un-American Activities Committee often accused many people of being communists and even when they were not arrested they were socially blacklisted. The Holly wood 10 were 10 actors from Hollywood who criticized HUAC and were jailed by them. A few Russian spies were caught such as Ethel Rosenberg. Eventually McCarthy's power was cut short when he accused people in the military -
Korean War Begins
The Korean war was a proxy war between the North and South of Korea. The United States and the UN supported the southern capitalist side of the war while the soviet union supported the northern side. This war was caused by Japan giving up Korea after World War II. We had been pushed into a corner and then pushed North Korea very far and then China joined and MacArthur wanted to nuke them so he was fired. The war ended in an armistice and a demilitarized zone. The war technically isn't over. -
Brown V Board of Education
Brown V Board of Education ended the Segregation of the school system. The Case was set up by the NAACP who found a case they thought would work well. This overturned the decision of Plessy V Furgeson which created the decision of separate but equal. This did not have a date for integration so it was slow and Dwight Eisenhower had to send troops to little rock to allow the schools to integrate. Ruby Bridges was the first elementary kid to go and James Meredith going to college left 12 dead. -
Vietnamese War Begins
The Vietnemese war began in 1955 but the U.S did not join the war until 1965 when we sent in troops. THe war began after the french left in 1954. We wanted to stop the spread of communism with our containment policy under the fear of the domino theory. We eventually pulled out of Vietnam under president Nixon because of the great tragedy that was televised. The soviet Union supported the north and the United States Supported the south. When we pulled out the entire country fell to communism -
Montgomery Boycott Occurs
The Montgomery bus boycott began when Rosa Parks refused to give her seat for a white person. This act was planned by the NAACP and the boycott was organized by MLK. He also founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. NAACP also had other organizations work with it on other things like SNCC and CORE. This eventually ended the bus segregation as black people made up 60 percent of the customers of the busses. This then spread to other cities. -
Cuban Missile Crisis Occurs
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the United States discovered that ICBMS were being given to Cuba by the Soviet Union. To stop this we created a blockade which a ship carrying ICBMS almost went through but turned around last minute. This was the closest we got to Nuclear war during World War II. Cuba became communist after Fidel Castro's revolution and the Failed attempt by John F Kennedy with the Bay Of Pigs invasion. -
March On Washington Occurs
The March on Washington was where MLK gave his famous I have a dream speech. It was very symbolic as it was allowed by Washington which showed that the National government was on the civil rights activists side. The NAACP were able to organize this and mainly Used Martin Luther King Jr as the spokesperson of this event. MLK became very famous from his letter from Birmingham jail and organization of the Montgomery boycott this allowed this event to be very influential and famous. -
LBJ Becomes President
LBJ was very heavily influenced by FDR and created the great society. This was similar to FDR's New Deal. It sought to tackle poverty, the environment, education, and health care. He created war on poverty where 1 billion dollars went to job creation and education. He also made medicare and Medicaid. He made the air quality act. The water quality act as well. He also brought us through the vietnamese war which plumeted the popularity of the democratic party especially after the My Lai massacre. -
Civil RIghts Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed by Lyndon B Johnson. This banned discriminatory practices in public places based upon race, nationality, sex. It also ended these discriminatory practices in employment. It was shortly followed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This bill removed many practices used to discriminate against black people during the polls. These include literary tests and poll taxes. These bills were the consummation of the civil rights movement. -
Nixon Becomes President
Nixon became president after having lost to John F Kennedy . Nixon implemented the EPA and won after the Vietnamese war hurt the democratic party. Nixon made the endangered species act and introduced the war on drugs. He made the title 9 amendment which banned gender discrimination. Lowered the voting age to 18. He ended the Vietnam War. He normalized the ties with China. This then helps cool off the cold war. He violated the Logan Act and got southern votes through anti civil rights. -
The United States Lands On The Moon
The U.S won the Space race on this day from their perspective. The Russians sent the first satellite into space called Sputnik and beat us on sending the first men into space. They view this as them winning. The Space Race was caused from a cold war desire to stay ahead and was encouraged by John F Kennedy. The First men were sent to the moon with the Apollo missions. This gave the united states confidence that we were technologically ahead of the Russians. -
Watergate Occurs
Watergate was a very large scandal where the republican party was caught spying on the democrats. This resulted in a large investigation and in it Nixon refused to hand over tapes that had information about this. There was a long battle where Nixon released censored tapes. Eventually he was impeached and resigned. This caused Ford to become president who then pardoned Nixon hoping it would help Nixon move on. This eroded trust in the government which lead to Carter becoming president. -
Jimmy Carter Becomes President
Jimmy Carter won the election as people were disillusioned with the government from the Watergate scandal. This caused them to vote for him as he had only been the Governor of Georgia. His presidency was plagued by the energy crisis which he tried to fix with nuclear energy but nuclear energy leaks hurt this vision. He lost to Ronald Reagan after his unsuccessful presidency and Kennedy drawing away democratic supporters. Shaw of Iran dies causing tensions and hostages resolved by reagan -
Camp Davids Accord Is Signed
The Camp Davids Accord was able to establish peace between Israel and Egypt. This was a boost to Carter's polling numbers but between the Iran hostage crisis and the energy crisis and economic decay he would still lose the election to Ronald Reagan. The stagflation in the 70's hurt his presidency as well. -
Reagan Becomes President
Ronald Reagan wins and the hostages are returned from Iran. There was an attempted assassination attempt against Reagan but he survived and his popularity soared. The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 was passed and cut taxes. At first it was bad for the economy but inflation went down and the jobs rose. Reagan Invades Grenada because of the communist coup and it causes us to forget about deaths in Lebanon. Officials are caught in a scandal where they sold arms to Iran and funded the contras. -
Collapse Of The USSR
The collapse of the USSR occurred after an unsuccessful coup and the satellite states gaining independence. This was brought about by Ronald Reagan who raised military spending to make the USSR match ours and kill themselves. This ended the cold war which began after World War II and involved many proxy wars such as the Vietnamese and Korean war. This helped stop the spread of Communism and the U.S finally outlasted the USSR in the cold war