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Alaskan Purchase
The Alaskan Purchase was when the USA purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire. The reason that the USA had purchased the Alaskan territory from the Russians was for the potential of untapped resources. They believed in the possibility of gold in the Alaskan territory, furthermore, they also believed that there were untapped oil reserves in Alaska. They believe that this would positively impact their economy and also lessen the Russian presence and influence on North America. -
Woman's Temperance Union
The Woman's Temperance Union was a group of women that were first focused on feminism but then later transitioned their focus over to prohibition. Due to the high success of the union, they began to move on to different topics such as labor laws and prison reforms. Though the union was extremely successful, it began to decline in popularity after its leader Frances Willard, passed away due to complications with the flu. -
Spanish American War
The Spanish a war that was a conflict between the USA and Spain, the war was fought over the sinking of an American ship in Havana Harbor. Furthermore, this war was fought because of the ongoing conflict and fight for control over Cuba and the Philippines. Due to the USA being heavily involved in matters with Cuba, they felt as if Spain was attacking a part of the USA. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris, as part of the treaty, the Spanish had to give up all their control in the New World. -
Theodore Roosevelt is Elected into Office
Former President Theodore Roosevelt is voted into office, he was by far one of the most popular and well-liked presidents to ever come into the office. President Theodore Roosevelt had a heavy emphasis on conservation and national parks. While he was very passionate and focused on conservation, but when it came to foreign policy, he had a very strong emphasis on Central America, he started by continuing the development of the Panama Canal. -
Panama Canal
Theodore Roosevelt calls for the Panama Canal to be built, and the USA wanted a cost-effective and efficient way to transport goods from one place to another. Though this advanced the economy, many sacrifices were made while building the Panama Canal, for example, more than 26,000 workers passed away during the construction of the Panama Canal. The majority of these deaths were caused by diseases that were present such as Yellow Fever. -
The Great Migration
The Great Migration was when over six million African Americans migrated moved from rural Southern areas in the United State to areas in the North and the Midwest that were more industrialized. The reason for the Great Migration was that African Americans wanted to escape racial violence and wanted to have newer opportunities in a much more industrialized part of America. Furthermore, they also wanted to move away from sharecropping which was very oppressive to them. -
The Jungle is Published
Up until The Jungle was published, there was little to no regulation on labor safety and food quality at meat packing facilities. The Jungle exposed the horrors of the conditions in meat packing facilities. There was extremely low hygiene and relegations in the meat packing facilities. Due to this book, the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act were signed and put into place. This revolutionized food and drug regulations. -
Woodrow Wilson is Elected President
Woodrow Wilson was elected president, beating 3 other presidential candidates: William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, and Eugene V. Debs. Woodrow Wilson was the president that was in office during the start of the First World War. At first, he determined that the USA should stay neutral due to his lack of experience being in office during times of war. Until a message was intercepted, Woodrow Wilson determined that the best course of action was no action. -
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was an act that stated that there would be a central bank in the USA. There were 12 different regional banks. This was aimed that it would strengthen the American economy and regulate the currency system. -
World War I
There are many different things to blame for the start of World War I but the one commonly agreed upon by Historians is the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Germany also sought to break the alliance/bond between the Russians and the French nation. The USA at first chose to be neutral but later they decided to participate because of intercepted messages and due to the German submarine attacks on passenger and merchant ships in European waters. -
Sinking of the Lustania
The Lusitania was a British boat that was sunk by a German submarine. Even though this was a British boat, 128 American were on the boat all were killed. This greatly encouraged the Americans to take a step away from neutrality and start participating in World War 1. Many consider this event as the event that made the Americans start to support participation in the war and not neutrality in the war. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The Zimmerman Telegram was a message that had been decoded by the American government which further encouraged their involvement in World War 1. The message came from German Prime Minister Arthur Zimmerman, the message stated that if Mexico was willing to side with Germany on the occasion that the USA was too opposed to Germany, they would help Mexico "reclaim" Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. This was perceived as a direct attack from Germany to the USA which cemented our involvement. -
USA Enters WW1
The United States officially declares war on Germany. This results from repeated submarine attacks on American ships/ships that are hosting American citizens. The soldiers from the USA will begin their combat in the trenches and dugouts of France. People are feeling extremely passionate and patriotic about this decision because of the events that are leading up to it. -
Armistice
This marks the end of the First World War Conflict, by the time this came around, the morale on the German side was extremely low, and they were cornered by the Allied Forces. The Germans were forced to end the conflict and surrender themselves to the likes of the Allied Forces. Even though tensions were high, both sides celebrated the end of the conflict together as if they weren't ever fighting, they all rejoiced that they were no longer at risk of death. -
The 18th Amendment
The 18th Amendment was essentially just a prohibition. This means that all production, sale, transport, import, and export of alcohol was illegal. This Amendment was extremely ineffective as it didn't do anything to stop people from drinking, it made it worse. Due to the 18th Amendment, gangs were formed so that they could distribute alcohol. Underground bars were also formed. These bars were highly gatekept. -
Red Scare
The Red Scare was a period in time when there was widespread concern about communism and socialism spreading throughout the United States. This fear stemmed from when the Bolsheviks came into power during the Russian Revolution. During the peak of the Red Scare, people led campaigns to flush out and accuse "communists" and get them ostracized from everything in their life. You could get someone arrested for being a communist with little to no evidence against them. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles is the event that officially ended the First World War. Combat had already stopped long before the Treaty was signed, but this was what officially ended the conflict. Germany suffered a lot from this treaty, they were forced to pay all reparations which amounted to $33 billion, disarm themselves, lose territory, and give up all of their territories that were overseas. -
19th Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment granted suffrage to women. Which means that it gave women the right to vote. Formerly, only male citizens of the United States had the opportunity/chance to vote for the president of the USA. This change happened because of the contributions that Women had made toward the war effort. They garnered much more respect. This was also the work of all of the Women's Suffrage Unions. -
Wall Street Stock Market Crash
The Stock Market crash was one of the most devastating economic events in American History. A shocking 16,410,030 shares of stock fell over twelve percent. This stock market crash resulted in millions of Americans losing thousands of dollars of personal income and many businesses going out of business. Furthermore, this marked the start of the infamous event known as the Great Depression, which was a period of extreme economic distress. -
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period in time when severe dust storms plagued the Great Plains region of the United States. The Dust Bowl was caused by farmers neglecting soil conservation efforts. These events laid the groundwork for severe soil erosion which would soon lead to the infamous Dust Bowl. Many farmers were forced to move from the Great Plains into California in search of jobs and new opportunities. The lands in the Great Plains were left unfarmable. -
FDR is Elected
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected into office, people were extremely happy to see Franklin D. Roosevelt in office. This was not because he was an extremely popular candidate but because it wasn't Herbert Clark Hoover in office. The American population seemed to have the common consensus that President Hoover did nothing but make their economical issues worse than it already was. -
The New Deal is Introduced
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Furthermore, the New Deal provided for people who were unemployed, it allowed people that were either extremely low income, struggling, or jobless to still be able to live. -
Hoover Dam
This was part of the New Deal, it wanted to get unemployed Americans back into jobs and working. They started with the development of the Hoover Dam. The development of Hoover Damn provided many different jobs for people that were once unemployed. This Dam was built downstream on the Colorado River, downstream from the Grand Canyon. The purpose of the dam was so it would provide a dependable amount of water to Los Angles and Southern California. -
World War II
Germany makes the decision to invade Poland which marks the start of World War II, due to the start of the war, President Roosevelt opts to sign the Neutrality Act which doesn't directly participate the USA in the war but allows the Allied forces to purchase arms from the USA. The USA will later be involved in the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Attack on Pearl Harbor is what involved the United States of America in the Second World War. During Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 2,300 American lives were lost that day. The American Navy also lost a great deal of firepower as many of their ships were blown to shreds or rendered unusable by the Japanese Kamikaze pilots dropping bombs on the ships. -
D-Day
D-Day was an operation that was developed by Dwight Eisenhower. The Allied forces landed on the Coast of Normandy, France. The goal was to take back France, the invasion included 160,000 troops, 5,000 ships, and 13,000 aircraft. The operation ended as a success but there were over 9,000 casualties that happened during the invasion. The operation was a do-or-die operation, there was no turning back as the ships left the shore after they deployed the troops. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima
This was the first use of nuclear weapons in war. During the bombing, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb destroyed the entirety of the city and killed almost 30 percent of the population. Not only did it kill 30 percent of the but there were also lasting effects from the radiation that were terminal diseases. -
The Japanese Surrender
The Japanese surrendered after the Hiroshima bombing. After the bombing, the Japanese agreed to surrender to the USA. The Japanese president at the time stated that the method that the USA used to wrap the war up was very cruel and took many innocent lives. But he also stated that the Japanese nation should keep fighting but not in a literal sense but more figuratively speaking. -
Cold War Starts
The Cold War starts because of the rivalry between the United States of America and Soviet Union. The tension were extremely high because of the Red Scare, and the respect for each countries powers didn't help with the fact that each country had extremely conflicting ideologies. There was little to no combat during the Cold War, it was more like a race to see which country was "better." A big example of this was the space race as they competed for who could reach the moon first. -
Truman Wins the Election
Harry S. Truman wins the United States presidential race, Truman would later prove to be a strong president that had very large goals for the country as a whole. Truman led the American country through the Cold War and committed himself to contain the Soviet Union in Russia. In other words, he committed himself to prevent the Soviets from expanding too far and possibly having the threat of world domination. -
The Korean War
The Korean War was a conflict between Northern and Southern Korea. Northern Korea wanted to spread the ideal of communism to Southern Korea. The USA viewed this as communism not being afraid to attack and wage war in order to spread their ideals. The US and the UN wanted to halt the expansion of communism into other nations. Furthermore, the US also aimed at re-combining North and South Korea. Even though the US and South Korea won the war effort the 2 nations were never put back together. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected
Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected the president of the United States of America. Eisenhower was voted into office because of his military past, he was the mastermind behind Operation D-Day, which was one of the biggest turning points in the Second World War. Not only was he beloved by the American Population, but he was also an extremely smart and quick-witted president that served a good term. -
Brown V. Board of Education
This was a court ruling by the Supreme Court that officially ruled that separating children in public schools based on race was extremely unconstitutional. This was an extremely influential event because it signaled the end of segregation in schools. Furthermore, it overruled the decision that was set forth by the Plessy v. Ferguson court case. This was extremely well received by the African American community but was less well received by the White population in the USA. -
Federal Highway Act
Congress passed the Federal Highway Act in 1956. As part of the act, they allocated $32 billion in order to build over 41,000 miles of interstate highways. There was a growing dependence on automobiles. Furthermore, they also wanted to create a nationwide transportation network for the US military. Furthermore, they also wanted to establish a better nationwide defense, and installing an extremely large network of highways would make that much easier. -
John F. Kennedy elected
John F. Kennedy is elected president. Many considered John F. Kennedy an extremely proficient and abled president. Not only was he an extremely proficient and abled president but he advocated for many civil issues to be solved and also heavily advocated for equal rights and opportunities for all Americans. Furthermore, he also greatly progressed the Apollo program and established something that we call the peace corps. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
This was an invasion that was planned by Kennedy but he went off-script. The original plan was the Cubans were going to take back Cuba along with the support of American forces helping them and watching over them. What actually happened was the poorly trained Cuban soldiers went and fought without any support from the American military. The rag-tag army was easily conquered by Castro's resources and just the sheer number of troops they had. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
This was when President John F. Kennedy was informed about Soviet plans for installing launchpads for missiles in Cuba. The president called for a blockade in Cuba so that the Soviets could no longer transport missiles and resources over to Cuba so that they could be used to build the launchpads. The missiles had such a large range that they could reach all the way to Canada. This was a big threat to the USA and tensions were extremely high. -
March On Washington
The March on Washington was when Martin Luther King Jr. led over 200,000 civil rights movement supporters on a March in Washington. This was a peaceful notion and not one that should be perceived as violent. This was when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream Speech," this speech is still remembered today as one of the most influential pieces of modern-day writing. This motivated many to support the Civil Right Movement. -
John F. Kennedy is assassinated
One of America's most beloved presidents, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. John F. Kennedy was riding in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas when he was suddenly shot in the head by Lee Harvey Oswald. Lee Harvey Oswald fired many shots but the shots that killed John F. Kennedy were the second and third shots. After John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon Johnson was sworn into office as the new president. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This was a very significant event because the Civil Rights Movement supporters finally got when they had wanted. The Civil Right Act of 1964 stated that you could not be discriminated based on sex, race, religion, or national origin. In other words, this Act attempted to outlaw the use of discrimination against other people. For example, segregation was now illegal in the United States of America, you could no longer be assigned due to your race. -
Malcom X is assassinated
Malcom X was a civil rights movement leader and he was assassinated during one of his lectures that he was hosting in Harlem. Three members of the Nation of Islam were later convicted for his murder. Malcom X strongly believed in black power, black self-defense, and just independence in the black nation. His ideals were very different from Martin Luther King Jr. as MLK took a more passive stance on Civil Rights but Malcom X wanted to take the initiative and be aggressive. -
Martin Luther King Jr. is Assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray outside Martin Luther King Jr.'s hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. This assassination sparked extreme outrage and people rioted over his assassination. Martin Luther King Jr. was an extremely influential Civil Rights Movement leader. He preached peaceful ways of achieving their goals. He was one of the key reasons for the success of the Civil Right Movement as a whole. -
Richard Nixon is elected
Richard Nixon is elected president, he was elected over Democrat Hubert Humphrey and independent party candidate George Wallace. He promised that he would provide stability and civil order if he was elected and came into office. Nixon ended American involvement in the Vietnam war, he also established positive diplomatic relations with nations like China and other Asian nations. Furthermore, he also concluded the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. -
Moon Landing
This was the first manned spacecraft to successfully land on the moon. The US Apollo 11 achieved the first successful moon landing. The first steps on the moon were taken by Neil Armstrong. The US had beaten Russia to the moon and this boosted patriotism and morale in the United States of America. -
Nixon Visits China
This was when Richard Nixon became the very first American president to visit China and attempt to establish positive diplomatic relations with the country. Richard Nixon met with Mao Zedong and many other Chinese diplomats and officials. Richard Nixon was able to establish positive relations with China and this proved to be a very good decision because there were lasting effects from his visit. This allowed more positive and willing trade with China. -
Vietnam Peace Settlement
This agreement didn't exactly end all violence and conflict in Vietnam, but it did end it on the American end. In other words, this was when the US officially pulled out of the war and it officially ended US involvement. This only temporarily stopped the violence between Northern and Southern Vietnam. The violence in Vietnam didn't stop until 1975 when Northern Vietnam had captured the city of Saigon which was in the South. -
Richard Nixon resigns
The resignation of Richard Nixon was mainly due to the fact that he was either face with impeachment or just to resign. He was forced to resign as a result of the Watergate break-ins. Richard Nixon tried to cover up his involvement in the Watergate break-ins but all of the evidence has stacked up against him to the point where he was either forced to resign or to be impeached. -
Ronald Reagan elected
Ronald Reagan from the Republican party defeated Jimmy Carter from the Democratic party. The people were happy that someone that wasn't Jimmy Carter was in office. This was mainly because of the fact that Jimmy Carter established questionable relations with Iran and dealt with the hostage situation very poorly. The hostages didn't get released until Ronald Reagan became the president of the United States. The Iranians didn't want Jimmy Carter to have any credit for the release. -
Bill Clinton is elected
Bill Clinton is elected over George H.W. Bush. Later in Bill Clinton's presidency, he would prove as incompetent and unfit to lead has he was impeached. He committed many crimes such as tampering with evidence, and having sexual relations with many different people. He set a bad example for America and many people felt ashamed that he was the person that represented all Americans. -
9/11 Attack
The 9/11 Attacks were a series of attacks executed by Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. The Attacks started when a plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. The Second plane crashed into the South tower of the World Trade Center, this was when the nation knew that this was terrorist attack and not just a freak accident. 2 other planes were planned to hit the pentagon but these attack were never carried out.