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1492
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a result of the Spanish invading the American lands and spreading things like disease to native Americans that resided there. This included disease like smallpox, influenza, measles, yellow fever, and others. Since these were new diseases that none of the natives were exposed to, none of them were immune and dropped the population severely and in some cases in the densely packed towns, 90% of the population died. -
Settling of Jamestown
Male merchants from London traveled to what they called "Virginia" after their virgin queen in hopes of finding gold but didn't find any. They didn't adapt to their environment since they were in a swampy area and didn't plant any crops and after 9 months from the initial arrival, 38 of the original 120 men were still alive. They were having trouble attracting people to their town so they introduced the headright system which guaranteed 50 acres of land for each person they pay the passage to. -
Steam Engine
The invention of the steam engine was revolutionary for America and a massive benefit for a multitude of reasons. The steam engine was implemented to boats and boats could now travel upstream much more easily and no longer had to rely on going downstream. They were also significantly faster than regular boats or on-foot transportation. As a whole, these helped the American economy by making travel easier and exporting goods faster. -
The First Enlightenment
The enlightenment introduced and spread new ideas among colonists. John Locke, famous in this era, came up with the natural rights of man which are "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This era also saw a rise in Christianity with the passionate preachers of Johnathan Edwards and is famous for the "Sinners of an Angry God" speech scaring people into religion telling them they'll be punished if they don't and George Whitefield depicted a much more calm and forgiving god. -
Molasses Act
This was Britain's large tax on sugar and sweeteners with the expectation that colonists pay for the taxes. Colonists were furious and afraid saying that it would harm their income and damage many different lives. Merchants requested a bribe from their customers to avoid the tax from the act and as a result to protest against this act and any more acts like it in the future and as a result, many merchants smuggled sugar and sweeteners to colonists. -
Sugar Act
This act lowers the tax of the Molasses Act in hopes that more people would actually pay for it. This didn't affect much and colonists continued to buy sugars and avoiding the tax. Many avoided the tax for multiple reasons such as to not pay Britain and their own oppression and because in many cases, the bribe was the same cost as the tax if not lower. -
Quartering Act
This act was passed by the British Empire that stated that colonists were required to hold British soldiers in their homes if instructed. This particular act stung for the colonists because it was a legally-required violation of their privacy and further drove many people to protest against the act refusing to house any soldiers. -
Stamp Act
In order for the British to gain more money to support troops that were in the colonies, they imposed a tax that placed a tax on printed items like newspapers, legal documents, almanacs, and more. This understandably enraged many colonists and many refused to pay entirely. Benjamin Franklin stated that it would make sense that they would have to pay a tax as long as they got representation in their parliament. -
The Daughters of Liberty
To protest against the taxes and acts placed on the colonists, the Daughters of Liberty were created. This group of women were brought into the political sphere and protested by making their own products that were not taxed primarily clothes. These products made a dent in Britain's profit they were hoping to make off of these taxes and made it more clearer for Britain that many colonists were striving to become independent and against the acts that were imposed on them. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5th, 1770, 8 British soldiers went to Boston with the intent of enforcing the various unpopular acts that were passed (Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, etc.). An angry crowd that was against these acts gathered and started throwing objects at the soldiers like snowballs and sticks. After a bit, the soldiers fired onto the crowd killing 5 people. Paul Revere used this event to drive more people against the British with his engraving and depiction of the event titled "The Boston Massacre." -
Boston Tea Party
In 1773, the recently passed tax on tea was heavily disliked by many colonists and they protested by dressing up as Indians and destroyed the modern equivalent of around 1 million dollars worth of tea to protest the tax on tea and any other taxes. The British responded by passing the Coercive acts which included a demand that the colonists payed for the tea that was thrown into the harbor. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
This act was a response to the Boston Tea Party from the British Government and was a demand to the colonists that they pay for the damage of the Boston Tea Party (around $900,000 today). The colonists responded to this by organizing the Continental Congress to discuss what they were going to do about this act and with Britain as a whole. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from each colony gathered to the First Continental Congress as a result of the Coercive/Intolerable Acts to try to figure out what to do. They agreed that they would be willing to be taxed and allow their acts provided that they get a say in their parliament but this was unlikely to happen so they believed that they should prepare for a possible revolutionary war. -
The Shot Heard 'Round the World
After the First Continental Congress was held, they thought that they should prepare for a revolutionary war and gather weapons in Concord. Citizens loyal to Britain informed them and British soldiers came and tried to take the weapons and eventually stood against around 70 militiamen from the colonies with Britain having around 10 times the troops. One side fired to the other known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World." And Britain seizes the weapons in Concord. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia the month after the American Revolution had begun and was presided over John Hancock. Delegates from all of the colonies came and wanted reconciliation from Britain and drafted up the Olive Branch Petition and gave it to Britain. Britain declined and it showed America that if they wanted independence from Britain, they were going to have to fight for it. The idea of the Declaration of Independence was also born at this meeting. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
This was an elaborate book about reasons why the Colonies should become independent that criticized the Monarch government that Britain had. The book had gone through 25 editions within half a year and clearly had spread to a lot of the colonies influencing the people and giving them more reasons to protest and to fight for their independence. -
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
As the name suggests, this marks the day where Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and many others sign a document declaring that they will not stop fighting until they've been separated from the British Empire to become the United States of America. This took a lot of inspiration from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" in the sense that it mentions natural rights and justifies separation. This document and fateful day is still celebrated by Americans every year. -
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton was famously held on Christmas Day as a surprise attack on the British from the colonial army led by George Washington. The colonial army was facing immensely low morale and were in desperate need of a victory with poor training and low supplies. So they crossed the Delaware and attacked the British on Christmas Day and resulted in a much needed victory and morale boost for the army contributing to their confidence in later battles. -
Treaty of Paris
This treaty ends the Revolutionary War for America officially claiming their independence from Britain and with America gaining all British land east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes that was theirs. This harmed the Indians because they were aligned with the British but America now had their land. -
Virginia and New Jersey Plan
The Virginia plan would be based on the population of the state and was heavily favored by large states since it would give them more power over smaller states. The New Jersey plan gave equal representation to each state and was favored by smaller states because it would give them equal power with larger states. What ended up happening was the Connecticut Compromise which divided the congress into the Senate (equal) and the house (population). -
Hamilton's Financial Plan
Hamilton's financial plan was to establish a constant national debt by giving out bonds to each state. He expected them to pay for the bond in exchange for interest and he wouldn’t try to claim them back to maintain financial interest in states. He would assume national war debt of every state so that each state would share their debt ignoring if they paid any of it at all. This plan was considered controversial by states that already paid their debt but did come into action and was effective. -
Invention of the Cotton Gin
The invention of the cotton gin from Eli Whitney caused cotton to become a viable source of money since before, the amount of work needed to produce cotton wasn't sustainable and not profitable. The invention had caused production of it to skyrocket and made people mostly in the south because of slave labor a lot of money selling it to foreigners and improved the economy of America. -
Whiskey Rebellion
This was a rebellion against the excise tax that Hamilton had placed on certain items like corn whiskey and was a short-lived rebellion. Rebels had used the French slogan that they used for their revolution which was "Life, Liberty, Fraternity!" Washington had sent around 12,000 troops to stop the rebellion and was successful. -
XYZ Affair
This was an attempt to repair America's relationship with France since after France helped and supported them with their revolution, America didn't support France. France wanted a payment of $250,000 before they negotiated at all but they refused to pay. Eventually, they did agree to peace but America did invest more in their own navy since the French navy was far more . -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Both of these acts were passed under John Adams with the Alien Act allowing the president to deport any alien that was considered "dangerous" giving the president a lot of power since he could argue that anyone is "dangerous." The Sedition Act made it illegal for newspapers to print any material that criticized the president or congress which was very unpopular with the people since it was a direct violation to our Freedom of Speech right. -
Louisiana Purchase
The president, Thomas Jefferson , sends James Monroe to negotiate with France's Napoleon Bonaparte. Thomas Jefferson was particularly conflicted by this because he believed in a static and unchanging constitution and there was nothing in the constitution about acquiring new land. He was forced to accept the idea of a constitution open to change and accepted the Louisiana Purchase and sent Lewis and Clark on an expedition to explore the land. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition started because of the Louisiana Purchase and Thomas Jefferson wanted to know what the new territory held and he was hoping for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. He also wanted to build relationships with the Natives there since while America owns the land, the natives still occupy it so a good relationship with them would be beneficial. -
War of 1812 Causes
America had many reasons to declare war on Britain at this time. One of these include taking US sailors and forcing them to work on their own ships (impressment). Another was the fact that the British was actively supporting Native Americans which were the people that the US was against and was training them and giving them guns and supplies. They also wanted to prove to Britain and the rest of the world that they were a mature country and their victory of the American Revolution wasn't luck. -
Burning of the Whitehouse
The British army marched to Washington DC to burn the capital down with the city surrendering not too long after. A lot of damage was done but Francis Scott Key notices that the American flag was still standing strong and wrote the National Anthem of "The Star Spangled Banner" talking about the day the capital burned. This day in American history is important because the flag still being there was symbolic that America will fight no matter what they're up against and will still stand strong. -
Second Great Awakening
In this awakening, the church revaluates its relationship with the church and realizes that it can use the church as a way to incite good behavior among those who attend especially with the rise of acknowledged problems that alcohol causes. Charles Finney and Lyman Beecher being very famous preachers in this era. There was also more of an emphasis on women in society and started to become more open to women being involved in religion and society. -
Tariff of Abominations
This tariff was designed in a way that would help the south since it placed a tax on foreign goods and encouraged Americans to support locally with increased American industry profit. This was harmful to the south because they depended on foreign markets to sell their products to make profit so an increased price would mean they would still have to pay to maintain their customers' interest and weaken the southern economy as a whole. -
Cyrus McCormick's Reaper
Similar to the cotton gin, it sped up the time needed to harvest a field and reduced the number of people needed. This machine was polarizing to the social class and made few people rise to the top of the social classes since it lessened the amount of jobs needed for farming and those who did have jobs made more money more efficiently. -
Invention of the Telegraph
The Invention of the Telegraph by Samuel Morse revolutionized long-distance communication and made it much easier with the only limit being the wires from two different telegraphs. It was an advantage during each war since they could easily relay communication from one base to another and they communicated through Morse Code. Morse code was invented as a way of using this form of communication to send messages through dots and dashes. -
Woman's Suffrage Movement
This movement started in the Midwest, in Montana. At the time, Montana wasn't a state but was offered statehood if they denied their women's right to vote and they didn't accept saying "Thanks but no thanks. If we come into the Union were bringing our women." Another part of this movement was the Seneca Falls Convention which criticized the Declaration of Independence for not saying "All men and women are created equal." The National American Women's Suffrage Association was also founded. -
Battle of Bull Run
This was the first battle of the Civil war and ended with a Confederate victory likely because of the Confederate army having nearly 4,000 more troops. General McDowell marched him and his men towards the opposing Confederate army with the Confederates trying to defend their own railroad at Manassas. This included "Stonewall" Jackson leading the Union from the front. Union forces were defeated disappointing the Union with a total of 4,878 casualties. -
Segregation During Reconstruction
After the victory of the Civil War, the south still wasn't hasty about getting rid of slavery immediately since, prior to Reconstruction, a lot of their economy depended on slaves work so they tried to find a replacement and introduced black codes which enforced labor on farms and was illegal to break. In order to stop this unfair treatment, congress passed the 14th amendment which stated that all people, black or white, in the US are citizens but this didn't entirely stop the codes. -
America's Reconstruction Plan
Lincoln had the idea for the 10% plan which would allow statehood as long as 10% of the state population agreed to an oath of loyalty to the union which included the agreement to the 13th amendment which outlawed slavery. All the seceded states refused to agree to the 10% plan and remained outside of the Union. This led to congress making the Wade-Davis bill which required at least 50% of the white population of the state to agree to an oath similar to the 10% plan. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Confederacy retreated from the battle prior and eventually met the Union army in Gettysburg unintentionally and battle started quickly. Robert E. Lee made a risky move on behalf of the Confederacy in this war and advanced his army to the center of the Union line in an attempt to take them down. This single battle took up a lot of casualties and around 28,000 from the Confederate side alone and is remembered because of this but the Union won in the end. -
Battle of Vicksburg
This battle in the Civil war was heavily influential and beneficial to the Union because winning this battle caused them to gain control over the Mississippi River. This completed their Anaconda Plan of surrounding the Confederacy to break them down slowly and control of the river divided the Confederacy reducing the effectiveness of their communication and gave the Union even more power over the Confederacy. -
Wade-Davis Bill
After Abraham passed his 10% plan to the south hoping that they would agree and regain statehood, no one agreed. So the Wade-Davis bill was similar to the 10% plan but needed 50% of the white population to agree to abolishing slavery and loyalty to the Union. In addition to the 10% plan, this punished former Confederate officers and didn't allow them to vote. Lincoln didn't want to pass it because he thought it was too harsh and no one would agree to it and he proved right when no one agreed. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
This was a massive demonstration of the Union's power over the Confederacy with Sherman and his men marching along the Confederate coast raiding farms and taking what they can and burning what they couldn't with their "Total War" tactic. The reason this was so influential during the Civil War was because it heavily weakened the Confederacy and further lessened their supplies which were already less than the Union to begin with. -
Freedmen's Bureau
In 1865, Congress tried to pass the Freedmen’s Bureau which helped aided in former slaves and blacks into daily life of America with things like schools, land-owning, and more. The south tried to regain control of blacks and established Black Codes which declared that they couldn’t fight other whites in court, couldn’t use loans to buy land, and were obligated to agree to labor contracts. -
13th Amendment
The Emancipation Proclamation was passed and declared an outlawing of slavery but Abolitionists were fighting for it to be apart of the constitution out of fear that the Proclamation would lose power after the Civil War. It didn't have a very big impact in the south since after the war ended, many things were still put into place to limit the freedoms of blacks like Black Codes since they still wanted to maintain control over them and to keep the general system of slavery. -
14th Amendment
The 14th amendment had similar goals as the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Civil Rights Act which was to fight back on the injustice that blacks still continued to face in the south even after the Civil War. It stated all people born in the US are US citizens, all people that complete the immigration process are citizens, and all states had to protect citizens’ rights. It didn't have much affect on the freedom of slaves in the south but the amendment passing was a step in the right direction. -
Transcontinental Railroad
America wanted construction of a railroad spanning from Sacramento, California to Omaha, Nebraska and if building wasn't done in 10 years, all land and money had to be returned. People that laid down railroad were paid with money and land and this started towns that were built next to the railroad. The construction of this massively improved and reduced travel times for Americans. It also lowered the price of certain goods due to the reduced import time and improved America's economy. -
Urbanization and Political Machines
America saw a large increase in immigration due to the lure of benefits that living in America had like perceived incomes and freedoms. "Political Machines" took advantage of their need for finding jobs, housing, and general help. Political Machines helped these immigrants in exchange for their vote for them in the next local election. Since votes could be accessed by the public, the machines had an easy job at finding those that didn't vote for them and punished them for it. -
Standard Oil Founded
Around 1870, Americans saw massive breakthroughs in the industry field such as corporations. Corporations optimized the way they functioned and combined companies to create some of the most powerful entities that are still prominent today. A product of these innovations was the company, Standard Oil, which was the world's largest oil company and it's founder, John D. Rockefeller, was one of the richest people in history. -
15th Amendment and Alignment with Women's Suffrage
15th amendment was passed in 1870 and allowed all men (not women), black or white, to be able to vote. This divided the formerly aligned abolitionists and women’s suffrage advocates because before both of them were looking for representation in government and congress but the 15th amendment had shook this alignment by giving abolitionists what they were fighting for and ignoring women’s suffrage advocates. Some saw abolitionism as more important since it also punished leaders of the Confederacy. -
Invention of the Telephone
Alexander Graham bell was credited for the invention of the first telephone. This was revolutionary as it made communication faster and more efficient than the previous main form of communication of the telegram but, instead of dots and dashes, it transmits voice messages making it easier and faster to understand. It was more accessible for the masses to use and was implemented into many homes making communication faster. -
Invention of the Lightbulb
Inventor Thomas Edison is credited for making the first commercially viable and long-lasting lightbulb. This has easily been a very influential invention as it has revolutionized the way we light our homes and buildings and we still use lightbulbs today. He also innovated production lines with ideas of mass production -
Pendleton Act
The Pendleton Act was passed soon after the assassination of President Garfield after he was shot by Charles Guiteau who was disappointed for his lack of reward because of the spoils system. Guiteau had openly supported Garfield to be president in hopes of being offered a federal job but was not repaid and so he shot the president. The Pendleton Act required a more thorough look into the applicants for federal jobs and involved an examination. -
Dawes Severalty Act
This act granted 160 acres of land to Native American families if they live on the land and farm there. It was put into place to lure Native Americans away from their own lands and people and adopt "White ways" because they believed that they couldn't fit into their society without abandoning their own culture. It worked and broke up around 66% of the Natives' land and the effects of it are still said to be felt today. -
Jacob Riss's Book "How the Other Half Lives" is Published
Jacob Riss was another muckraker of the progressive era and focused his muckraking on the flaws of tenement houses. Tenement houses were built in the progressive era to keep up with the large demand of housing from the large wave of immigrants that were moving in. These were poorly constructed, packed in tight, unsanitary, unventilated, and more. Jacob Riss sought out to expose these flaws to society and did in multiple news-entries and books. -
Plessy V. Ferguson
This was the supreme court case between Plessy and Ferguson. It was dealing with segregation and the verdict of the case legally allowed segregation. Their principal was "Separate but Equal" but as we see later, this was not the case and it in the white's favor with blacks getting overall, poorer treatment. -
De Lome Letter
A letter that was intercepted by America from Spain and in the letter, Spain criticizes president McKinley calling him a "would-be politician" and them also admitting that they wouldn't stay true to their agreement with America. This letter eventually made it to a publisher of a very notable newspaper and was published on it spreading the word and infuriating Americans and is one of the reasons the De Lome Letter started the War on Spain. -
America and the Spain War
The anger from Americans from the De Lome Letter makes America send the USS Maine to the Havana Harbor and it blows up. Journalists use this to sell more newspapers and blames it exploding on Spain and war is declared. The war was short because of the military and naval power they had over Spain and only lasted 4 months with 546 American deaths. They promise not to annex any land from Cuba after they help and they don't showing the rest of the world that America can be trusted. -
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair was known for being a muckraker. Muckrakers rose around the 1900s and they strove to shed light upon flaws of society. He exposed the poor and dangerous conditions young children worked in combined with long 12 hour days they worked even though they got paid less than older men to provide for their families. This influenced the enactment of child labor laws which improved their working conditions and the establishment of the federal Food and Drug Act. -
Ford Motor Company Founded
Henry Ford revolutionized travel by making cars cheaper than ever. He didn't invent the car but he manufactured them with mass production tactics and made cars more cheaper and more accessible than ever and made them a staple and almost a necessity to have in America. Living next to your work was no longer needed as much. -
Panama Canal Opens
After America convinced Panama to help them build a canal for trade after helping win their independence, they finished it in 1913. This made trading across oceans and countries much faster as it connected the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans just under America shown on the map attached and trade boats would no longer need to go all the way under South America or any other route. -
Zimmerman Telegram Intercepted
The Zimmerman telegram outlined the Central powers trying to convince Mexico to join them for the war and if they did and America also joined the war, Germany would help get back the land that they lost from America like Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Wilson requested to declare war saying that it would help support democracy. When they joined the war, they were very conservative with their troops and didn’t want to use them until they had at least a million trained and ready. -
The Start of World War I
While reluctant to join the war at first, Woodrow Wilson decided to join the war after Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare on Britain after taking it and getting permission to by the Supreme Court. Many people were drafted and this war impacted many different aspects of American life such as one of the causes of the Great Migration to the north. -
Palmer Raids
General Palmer encouraged raids from American citizens in order to deport other Americans that were considered to have wildly different ideals, beliefs, and political stances. This caused many that were expected to be anarchists, communists, radicals, and others and were arrested. It showed the fear that Americans have towards new and unique ideas and how they can take it as a threat. -
Prohibition Act Passes
Many Americans believed alcohol to be the root of many evils such as spouse abuse, child abuse, unemployment, homelessness, and so much more so they banned it in 1919 with the Prohibition Act and it made any consumption of alcohol illegal in order to cut back on the problems mentioned earlier. Banning alcohol didn't reduce consumption and in fact, increased it. People found jobs in exporting alcohol and selling it illegally. Private bars opened called speakeasies which sold alcohol. -
19th Amendment Passes
The 19th amendment was the amendment that allowed women the right to vote. There was a lot of people involved in trying to get this to pass earlier with many mostly peaceful protests in support of it along with many different organizations getting established such as the National Woman Suffrage Association, American Woman Suffrage Association, American Equal Rights Association and many more. -
The Great Migration
The Great Migration was a large influx of African Americans moving to the north in order to sign up for war positions or for someone else in the war. African Americans brought over their culture and traditions with them like fashion dancing and, arguably most prominently, jazz. Jazz and dancing was a large part of the 1920's culture like the Charleston. What commonly happened was the way these traditions went mainstream was someone white replicating it since racism was still very prominent. -
Treaty of Versailles in Effect
There were many conditions of the Treaty of Versailles that Germany was forced to accept like paying money to countries involved in the war and caused Germany’s economy to fall greatly lowering their troops to drop to just 100,000. They also weren’t allowed to use any planes or submarines and were allowed only a few ships and they weren’t allowed to form an alliance with Austria because Britain and France were fearing that they could be a big threat together. -
Jazz Singer
Advances in technology have led to the first full motion-picture movie with both video and audio. Before there was only motion-pictures with captions for dialogue or only-audio movies. The first one with both was called the "Jazz Singer" featuring a white man in blackface performing as a Jazz Singer since Hollywood refused to hire any African Americans. -
The Great Depression Starts
In the early 1920s, America's economy was thriving and doing really well. Many learned to invest in the stock market to make more money and commonly bought on margin (pay a 10th of the price for the stock now and pay the rest later). When the stock market crashed in around August of 1929, many people that invested in the stock market went bankrupt shortly after. Banks closed down with citizens' money with them. Unemployment hit 25% shortly after and would last longer than anyone had speculated. -
Dust Bowl Hits the West
In the depression, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, were hit by what was essentially a sandstorm. This interrupted farmers and their way of living since the Dust Bowl destroyed the soil farmers used because of strong winds and drought. The government did many things to recover from the damage of the dust bowl like planting more trees to try to block some of the dust and encouraging farmers to plant grasses instead of regular crops that would help restore the soil’s nutrients. -
Enactment of the New Deal
To get out of debt, the New Deal was passed and it took certain actions like passing the Smoot-Hawley tariff which enacted a tax on foreign countries and their goods. During the start of the depression, banks had to shut down and they took their customers’ money with it. They wanted to restore people’s faith in banks so they passed new acts to ensure this. One of these was the start of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation which guaranteed a certain amount of money would be protected. -
The Second New Deal
The Second New Deal included the Wagner Act, which allowed workers the right to a union and to protest and restricted what companies could do to silence those protests. The social security act was also passed in the Second New Deal and it strived to help out fatherless families, the unemployed, and workers around the age of 60. New acts were also passed that dealt with children such as the ADC and AFDC. This deal dealt more with socials aspects while the first New Deal dealt with finance. -
Start of World War II
America officially joined World War II in 1939 pulling America out of the depression providing jobs and military positions for many. Helping out for the war-effort also opened jobs and changed a lot of the existing jobs. Industries were switching to help support the war like Ford Motor factories went from making cars to making tanks to help. Other manufacturers helped build ships for the Navy. Many more efforts were taken from the people like conserving gas and recycling more cans -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a massive event in American history caused by America no longer wanting to support Japan with American gas and oil after Japan started practicing expansionism and invading other countries when they needed more raw materials to become an industrial power. Japan retaliated America and attacked and bombed Pearl Harbor killing and injuring many Americans in the process. This struck great fear among Americans more so on the west with rising fear of Japanese Americans. -
Japanese Internment Camps
The Bombing of Pearl Harbor increased the fear Americans had about Japanese-Americans. Out of this fear, Japanese Americans were forced to be sent to internment camps when Executive Order 9066 was passed by FDR which allowed this to happen to stifle these fears among Americans. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, he apologized for these internment camps a while after and gave a large amount of money to all of those that were affected. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a battle in WWII between the American Navy and the Japanese Navy. Japanese Navy leader Yamamoto started the battle by planning a surprise attack on the US Navy. The Japanese were overconfident in their outcome since they suspected that the Yorktown ship of the US Navy would still be damaged. The US won which made Japan back off on their plans to possibly invade the pacific after they retreated on June 6, 1942. -
Doomsday
Doomsday was a massive invasion that took place on multiple beaches on the coast of France of over 50 miles in length and was one of the largest invasions in history. America tried to fake flank one part of France using fake tanks and soldiers that would appear real from a far enough distance. In the end, in was indecisive who won, but it was undeniably a large battle with both sides using many of their resources and losing many lives in order to win. -
Potsdam Conference
The powers met to decide postwar. Stalin of Russia wanted to further spread Communist ideas to other governments. He also wanted to punish Nazis by absorbing some of Germany’s land into Russia. America believed that they should help rebuild Germany’s economy because it would benefit everyone else and it would help them to prosper and not revert back to Naziism. Stalin believed that Capitalism developed unevenly and if we don’t become communist, violence in the form of another war will break out. -
America Drops Atomic Bomb on Japan
The American government considered invading Japan with their soldiers to further attempt to convince them to surrender but they estimated that this would result in more casualties than if they dropped an atomic bomb on a Japanese city of medium size. They warned Japan that they would do it if they didn’t surrender and even considered demonstrating the power of the bomb by dropping it near Japan. After Japan refused to surrender multiple times, America dropped the Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki. -
The End of World War II and the Baby Boom
After many years of fighting, World War II had finally ended when Japan surrendered on September 3rd, 1945 and impacted many aspects of American life. Women were more involved in this war, Executive Order 8802 was a good step in the right direction for Civil Rights. Veterans went home for the first time in years to meet with their wives to start a large increase in population known as the baby boom. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was done somewhat out of fear of the spread of Communism. It declared that America would provide financially and militarily to all democratic nations and to all nations that may become Communist. They did fulfill and stay true to this and generously helped out many different nations like Germany, France, China, and others with some success. -
Cold War Begins
With the Cold War beginning, also began the fears of communism and planted the seed of the Red Scare for a few years later. The reason it was called the "Cold" war was because no war was ever declared but the tensions were there and were high. The Cold War struck many new fears into Americans like their progress with developing an atomic bomb, their missile development, their growing influence and spread of Communism to other countries and nations like West Germany, China, Cuba, etc. -
Jackie Robinson Joins Dodgers
In Major League Baseball at this time, all of the leagues were segregated by race with all-black leagues and all-white leagues. The manager of the Dodgers team, Branch Rickey, realized that there was potential that they were missing out on by not including blacks and they found Robinson. He was ridiculed, attacked, all for his race but he never retaliated. This boundary was broken and inspired people across the nation to rebel and protest to further break these unnecessary boundaries. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was similar to the Truman Doctrine and declared that they would provide financially to those nations in need and they did extremely generously giving billions of dollars to other nations while asking for very little, if at all, of it in return. Their aid to western Europe was extremely beneficial to both America and Europe and increased their industrial production by a very large amount. They helped other countries and were a big reason West Germany didn't fall to communism. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was America sending support and dropping supplies down to Berlin, Germany because the Soviet Union was trying to rid them of supplies so that they would have to succumb to them and Communism. America wanted to show the Soviet Union that they wouldn't give up which is why they continued sending air supplies for nearly an entire year from Jun 24, 1948 and May 12, 1949. -
McCarthy Communist Claims and the Red Scare
A politician named Joseph McCarthy was infamously known for making wild accusations and claims saying that he had a list of many known communists that were working in the government. This struck fear into Americans making the threat of Communism in America seem more prominent than it really was. This caused many people suspicious of being Communist to be put on trial and were sent to jail if they were found guilty. This was a direct violation of our freedom of speech and disrupted many. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a long-lasting protest where blacks refused to ride on the bus as long as they were forced to sit in the back. A notable and probably the most famous instance of this was the protest of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat in the front of the bus. This protest lasted 382 days with around 40,000 protesters and successfully made the company abide by their demands. -
Interstate Highway Act of 1956
The nation’s largest public works project was the Eisenhower Interstate Highway Act connecting America by roadways more than ever. They were also designed to act as emergency airplane runways by requiring at least one completely straight and level section every 10 miles out of fear from the Cold War. With the average number of families that owned cars and the rising appreciation for them, these roadways were useful and connected a lot of America together. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock 9 was a result of the integration of black students in Little Rock High School. On the first day of school, many whites protested against this and the Governor announced that he would call the Arkansas National Guard to prevent them from coming into school. Eventually Ronald Davies got involved and dismissed them. The day after that, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,200 men from the American 101st division to escort them and protect them from protesting whites. -
Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
The Sit-ins were a protest started by a group of black men in college: they would go into a Woolsworth and sit down at the "Whites-Only" part and refuse to leave until they are served. The police got involved often needing to beat them and drag them away. They did this for 6 months until they are finally served and inspired many similar protests in the south. -
U2 Plane Shot Down
The U2 was a spy plane with intensely-trained pilots that would need to take a cyanide pill if they were ever caught. The U2 was hit by a missile and went down but the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, didn't take the pill claiming he went unconscious. He was captured by the Soviet Union and gave away detrimental info about the US and their weapons. He eventually returned to the US when they offered to return a Soviet spy they had captured. Powers went back and was sent to 10 years in prison. -
Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of the Pigs
Rumor had spread to America that Cuba had obtained missiles from Soviet Union and they could fire at any moment. Great fear rose in America since Cuba was very close by and, depending on what kind of missile they had, they could fire it at highly populated areas. America had to act quickly so they responded with the Invasion of the Bay of the Pigs which was a group of soldiers trying to neutralize the threat. This went horribly and many of the soldiers were injured and captured. -
Letter From Birmingham Jail
A very famous and likely, the most famous Civil Rights activist of this time Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed because of his protesting and he was sent to Birmingham Jail. While in jail, he writes a famous inspiring letter titled "Letter from Birmingham Jail" arguing that all people have a right and need to protest unjust and unfair rules or laws. This letter further inspired millions of Americans growing support of him and the Civil Rights Movement. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Delivers "I Have a Dream" speech
25,000 protesters guarded by 2,000 troops marched to the capital where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream speech” where he talks about how we shouldn’t judge people based on “the color of their skin but the content of their character.” Many of these marches were televised and shown to a large number of Americans as they saw what these people were fighting for peacefully and how they were attacked and it grew empathy and sympathy for many in America. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 Pass
Registration for voting as an African American before the Voting Rights Act restricted many blacks from voting as they were required to take literacy tests and needed to pass to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed these tests and other barriers for black voting registration. The Civil Rights Act had lots to do with discrimination of African Americans and prohibited firing or not hiring someone because of their race and tried to get rid of the “separate but equal” features in society. -
Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnam War)
The first shots of the Gulf of Tonkin were fired from the Vietnam side at the US Destroyer Maddox. Lyndon B. Johnson was notified of this and he believed that a call to arms was necessary and he officially declared war on Vietnam. He had an idea called the Operation Rolling Thunder which was an overwhelming bombing campaign on the coast of Vietnam. -
Selma to Montgomery (Bloody Sunday)
Martin Luther King Jr. may be the most well-known protesters and civil rights activists of this time. He led numerous peaceful protests against racial discrimination such as the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama with 600 people. This didn’t end well and protesters and marchers were attacked by police and the day was known as “Bloody Sunday”. The protest was televised and the pain the protesters went through grew support from many that were watching, seeing who was truly at fault. -
My Lai Massacre
The My Lai Massacre was a disgusting act of violence and rape from American soldiers in a village in Vietnam with 500 of the villagers killed setting fire to their houses. The soldiers were able to cover this up for about a year until the story was released to the press. -
Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall Riots were a series of police raids at gay bars and they originated in New York and escalated into a 6-day long protest since it was illegal to be LGBT in New York. These inspired similar riots across the nation. After a while, LGBT identifying people were then allowed to be served alcohol but were still not allowed to display this like have relations with the same sex in public. -
Moon Landing
On July 20th, 1969, America had its first contact ever with the moon landing as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon arguably beating the Soviet Union in the space race. This demonstrates how far the worlds technology has advanced and that we have the capability to travel to the moon. They also launched the satellite, Sputnik. -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate Scandal happened during Richard Nixon's time as president and involving him tainting him as a president and undermining his achievements that were otherwise very beneficial to America. The scandal involved Nixon breaking into the Democratic National Committee bugging and recording offices inside. After this was revealed to the public, he resigned from his position of president tainting his image forever.
