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The Revolutionary War
This war came about due to rebellion within the colonies because of the tyranny of England. The first battles of the war were fought at Lexington and Concord. When the Queen of England rejected the Declaration of Independence, the US went to war. The ending battle occurred in Yorktown, Virginia. The French navy and the Continental Army surrounded the English Army and they were forced to surrender. The war was finished in the Treaty of Paris in 1783. England recognized the sovereignty of America. -
Quasi War
The Quasi War is an undeclared war between the United States and France. The French were outraged when the US declared neutrality with Britain and France. This caused unofficial conflict between the US and revolutionary France. -
First Barbary War
This War first began when the Muslim pirates of the Barbary countries of Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Tripoli began to capture American merchant ships and to provide the Muslim rulers of these nations with wealth and naval power. We declared war when Jefferson requested "An act for the Protection of Commerce against the Tripolitan cruisers” and the congress passed it. Immediately after we went to naval war with them. Peace eventually came in 1805 after our naval fleet had dominated them. -
The Battle of Tippecanoe
Governor William Henry Harrison led United States forces against the Native American warriors led by Tecumseh. These Native Americans possessed great animosity towards the Americans. Harrison defeated the “Prophet” Tecumseh. -
War of 1812
June 18, 1812-February 18, 1815 War between the British and the Americans over British seizure of American ships, connections between the British and Native-American tribes, and other tensions. The British sacked Washington, DC in 1814. -
The Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815. It was the last major battle of the war of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans, an important port granted in the Louisiana Purchase -
The Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War occurred after the annexation of Texas from Mexico in the 1830s. Disputed land south of Texas forced them go to war. The Americans claimed the border lay on the Nueces River while the Mexicans claimed it was Rio Grande. The two countries continued to fight for 2 years until they came to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty forced Mexican Cession of the territories of California and New Mexico to the U.S. in exchange for $18 million. -
The First Cortina War
The First Cortina War started on July 13, 1859 when Brownsville town marshal Robert Shears was shot in the arm by Juan Cortina for brutalizing his former Ranch Hand, Tomás Cabrera. Mexican military forces lead by Cortina confronted constituents of the United States Army, the Confederate Army, the Texas Rangers, and local militias of Brownsville, Texas. This was the culmnation of Mexican heart feelings towards the US citizens who were prejudice against them. -
The American Civil War
The Civil War occurred after the South ceded from the Union due to differences over the issues of slavery, states rights, and economical issues. The war started when the south attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Many important battles included the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battles of Bull Run. The south, under General Lee, surrendered at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. After the country then entered into a period of Reconstruction. -
The Second Cortina War
The Second Cortina War occurred in May 1861, and lasted for a shorter amount of time. Cortina aligned himself with the Federal Government of the United States during The American Civil War. He invaded Zapata County. He was defeated by Confederate Capt. Santos Benavides at the battle of Carrizo and retreated back into Mexico. -
Sand Creek Massacre (pg 515)
During a Gold Rush in 1864 the Cheyennes and Arapahos in Sand Creek, Colorado were forced to starvation. They had to go off their reservations to hunt bison and steal livestock from settlers. The local militia then went out and attacked Indian travelers. The indians retaliated with many attacks. The Governor than sent Colonel John M. Chivington with troops to massacre a band of Indians. These Indians were in fact peaceful and they attacked poor women and children looking for protection. -
Response to Sand Creek Massacre (pg 515)
This massacre than rekindled debate of federal Indian Policy and the 1867 Congress sent a peace commission to end fighting. -
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Indian Conflcts
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Fetterman Massacre
On December 21, 1866, troops rode out of Fort Phil Kearny to protect a wood-cutting expedition that was then under attack. The troops consisted of 80 men led by Fetterman and Brown. They followed a group of Indians on horseback all the way up the Bozeman Trail. They fell into a trap of Indians that lie there waiting for them behind one of the mountains. The men had no chance to escape for the Indians outnumbered them by a great amount and all 80 men to the regiment were killed. -
Battle of Washita River
On November 27, 1868, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle’s Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita River (near present day Cheyenne, Oklahoma). This was a response to the signing of the Medicine Lodge Treaty and tribes beging forced to new reservations. -
Red River War (pg 516)
The Plains Indians were in a crisis once the Medice Lodge Treaty was instituted and the amount of buffalo herds became more and more scarce. The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874, as part of the Comanche War, in order to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains and forcibly relocate them to reservations in Indian Territory. -
Battle of Little Big Horn (Part 1) (pg 517-518)
The Battle of Little Bighorn came about when General Sherman sent Colonel George Armstrong Custer into the Black Hills of South Dakota to find a location for a new fort and keep and eye on the Indians. His true motives were to confirm rumors that there was gold in the Black Hills. Custer than was asked to negotiate with the Indians to buy the land of the Black Hills. The asking price was too high for the Indians believed the land was more than money. -
The Battle of Little Big Horn (Part 2) (pg 517-518)
It was an emblem of their rights and heritage. In order to force the Indians off their land, on the morning of June 25, Custer with his troops of 209 men advanced against the Cheyenne and Sioux. He had earlier on split up his forces expecting this to be an easy defeat. The Indians largely outnumbered Custer and his troops and they were wiped out by the Indians. A second Calvary then came to bury the bodies where they lye. This battle outraged many Americans and sparked determination. -
Fort Robinson Tragedy (pg 518)
The Fort Robinson Tragedy occurred in winter 1878-1879 refers to incidents that took place at Fort Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. A band of Northern Cheyenne fled north after being forced to the Darlington Agency in the Southern Cheyenne Reservation. The US Army hunted them down and forcefully outnumbered in the attacks. -
Haymarket Riot (pg 568, 569)
The Haymarket Riot was a demonstration that took place on May 4, 1886 at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It started as a peaceful rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as the public meeting dispersed. The deaths of eight police officers and an unknown number of civilians resulted from the bomb and gunfire interaction. The riot was sparked by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions who petitioned for a standardized eight-hour workday. -
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Industrial Conflicts
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Las Gorras Blancas (The white caps) (pg 530)
During the 1880s the Mexican-Americans and the Anglo ranchers got into large disputes over various topics such as land. This caused a group called the Las Gorras Blancas to form in 1888. They are a group of Mexican-American ranchers that tore up railroad tracks and attacked new Anglos and Hispanics who had acreage in northern New Mexico, which used to be grazing land. They soon faded due to the Anglo ranchers domination of corporate ranching. -
The Dispute over Samoan Islands between US and Germany
The Samoan Islands are located in the South Pacific, which is a prime refueling placement for shippers. Both the United States and Germany sought the port of Pago Pago for refueling. In March 1889 the German and American fleets avoided conflict when a hurrican destroyed their fleets. This occured to do Americas Imperialism. Although they never came to physical blows, this shows the type of new confrontations that are brought on with imperialism and expansion. -
Pubication of Alfred T. Mahan's Book "The Influence of Sea Power upon History"
Advocates of a stronger navy, including Theodore Roosevelt, stimulated the imperialist movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Alfred T. Mahan’s "The Influence of Sea Power upon History" relates sea power with national greatness and urges continued increases in the US navy. -
Wounded Knee Massacre (pg 522)
Two weeks after the death of Sitting Bull one of the bloodiest battles between Indians and Whites occurred on the Plains. On December 29, 1890 the Seventh Cavalry was rounding up a desperate Indian clan at Wounded Knee. An Indian by accident set off a gun hidden under his blanket. The troops then fired into the crowd of Indians killing over 300 Indians including infants. The corpses were frozen into place by an oncoming blizzard. This was the end of Indian Rebellions for the next few decades. -
Battle of Wounded Knee- Sitting Bull (pg 522)
In early 1890, the Indians began to perform a dance called the Ghost Dance. It alarmed many officials; for they believed it was a dance to kill off all of the settlers. McLaughlin dispatched forty-two Indian policemen to take Sitting Bull into custody for the Ghost Dance. When they attempt to take him into custody, Sitting Bulls body guard, Catch-the-Bear shot one of them. As he fell he set of the trigger and shot Sitting Bull. This then turned into hand-to-hand fighting between the two groups. -
Homestead Strike (pg 569-570)
The Homestead Strike occurred at one of Carnegies Steel plants in Homestead Pennsylvania. The wages were lowered for the workers and so they went on strike. At the time Henry Clay Frick was in charge. The workers than took over the company town of Homestead. Frick then sends Pinkertons to break the workers strike. When they attempted to get off the boat the workers surrounded them and open fired on them. The Pinkerton, private police force, retreated back down the river. -
Homestead Strike Part 2 (pg 569-570)
Troops were then sent in. They surrounded strikers and soon they ran out of supplies and were forced back into work. This was the end of strikes at Homestead for a while. -
Disposal of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii
The United States involvement in Hawaii was mainly within the sugar industry. The Reciprocity Treaty in 1875 was for duty free sugar in Hawaii. However, when the US implemented the McKinley Tariff 1890, the price to import and export sugar became more expensive. White sugar planters forcefully overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, in 1893, once wholesale sugar prices plunged 40 percent in January. White (Amer.) sugar planters proclaimed the independent Republic of Hawaii and requested US annexation. -
Coxeys "Army"
Coxey’s Army was formed by one Jacob Coxey in order to lobby for his idea that to challenge unemployment the government should start a $500 million public-works program that is backed by paper money and not gold. As he marched to Washington from Ohio he gained thousands of followers. In April 1894 they reached Washington and attempted to enter the Capital grounds. Him and his army leaders were arrested and the march broke up. -
Pullman Strike (pg 570, 625, 626)
On May 11, 1894, 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company Chicago began a strike. The strikes were in response to recently reduced wages, and were organized by members of The American Railway Union. The Pullman Strike became violent and triggered national hysteria. President Cleveland used his "executive power" and got involved. He used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to force strikers to come to a halt. -
US intervenes in Venezuela Boundary Crisis
In 1895, a boundary dispute emerged between Venezuela and British Guiana. The disagreement was inflamed once gold was discovered in the challenged territory. There was armed conflict between Venezuela and British Guiana; the US was involved because the British rejected a US arbitration offer and insisted that the US Monroe Doctrine had no standing in international law. Grover Cleveland asked Congress to establish a commission to settle the disputed boundary without Britain’s consent. -
Yellow Journalism and the USS Maine
Yellow Journalism and the USS Maine were two main causes of the Spanish American War. Yellow Journalism was a form of sensationalized reporting that exploited the Cuban Crisis and made people support America’s involvement in Latin America. Two main yellow journalists were Hearst and Pulitzer. One of their main topics was the USS Maine. This was an American ship that blew up off the coast, and the reporters claimed it was an attack by the Spanish and this enraged many people who read their works. -
US Arrive in the Philippines
A fleet led by George Dewey was sent into Manila Bay in the Philippines in order to destroy all of the 10 Spanish ships that were anchored there. They were sent from Hong Kong, for the trip from Hong Kong was shorter than that from America. This ensured a suprise for the Spanish and a quicker victory. Dewey won by a large margin. 381 Spanish lives were taken while only 1 American life was taken. In August, US took over hte capital, Manila. This was the beginning of the Spanish-American War. -
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Spanish-American War
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US Blockades Spanish Ships at Santiago de Cuba Harbor
Most of the fighting that occurred during the Cuban Revolt took place in Santiago de Cuba on the southeastern coast. On May 19, 1898, a Spanish battle fleet of seven aging vessels sailed into the Santiago de Cuba harbor, where five US battleships and two cruisers blockaded them. -
General W. Shafter leads troops to Cuba
The Campaign in Cuba was primarily to assist the Cubans in their revolt against Spain. The US had economic investments in Cuba and felt it necessary to protect the country. The US sent General W. Shafter to lead troops to Cuba. The US troops who fought in Cuba were unprepared, ill trained, and got sick. -
Seizing of San Juan Hill and El Caney
On July 1, in war’s only significant land action, American troops seized two strongly defended Spanish garrisons on El Caney Hill and San Juan Hill overlooking Santiago de Cuba. The “Rough Riders” were a US volunteer militia unit that captured San Juan Hill and was led by Theodore Roosevelt. -
Spanish Fleet Defeated in Cuba
On July 3 the Spanish attempted to pierce through the American blockade to open sea. US naval fire raked and sank their archaic vessels. Spain lost 474 men in the US victory. -
US and Geurrilla War in the Philippines
America took over the Capital of the Philipines, Manila in the treaty of Paris. George Dewey, stationed in Manila, supplied Arms to Anguinaldo to capture Luzon, the main island. The spanish surrended, and Anguinaldo and his men began to draft a consitution when the Treaty of Paris ceded the Philippines to the US. Anguinaldo and his men then attacked Manila, the US's main base. US troops were sent there and the rebellion was crushed by 1899. Guerilla conflicts would continue until 1902. -
Boxer Rebellion Erupts in China
John Hay introduced the open door policy after Europeans took Chinese ports, which opened all trading to all countries. This influenced antiforeigner feelings in China. In 1899 an antiforeigner society called the Harmonious Righteous Fists, also known as Boxers were created. In June 1900 they went to Beijing and attacked the district housing the foreign legations. The US and other European countries contributed to an army that took out the Boxers and rescued the legations. -
Assassination of President McKinley; Theodore Roosevelt takes presidential seat
President McKinley was assonated by Leo Czolgosz inside the Temple of Music located on the grounds of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Czolgosz was suspected to be an anarchist. -
Bunau-Varilla and the Panama Revolt
Bunau-Varilla with the support of Roosevelt created an uprising in Panama against Columbia. Roosevelt wanted the area in Panama for the Panama Canal for a smaller sum of cash and Bunau-Varilla wanted some money for his bankrupt French company who attempted to build a canal. On November 3, 1903 US warships hovered offshore of Panama in order to help in case anything were to go wrong. Panamanians won the revolt against Columbia and sold the area for the Panama Canal to Roosevelt for $10 million. -
TR's "Roosevelt's Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine
The “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine was enacted at the end of 1904. The corollary increased the ability for the US to involve them in international conflict. The “Roosevelt Corollary” asserted a right for the United States to intervene in order to stabilize the economic affairs of small states in the Caribbean and Central America. -
US Troops ccupy Veracruz, Mexico
In April 1914, seven thousand US troops occupied Veracruz. They engaged in armed conflict with Huerta’s forces. Sixty-five Americans and approximately five hundred Mexicans were killed or wounded. Huerta abdicated; Carranza took power; and the US troops withdrew. -
WWI begins and the U.S. proclaims neutrality under President Wilson
President Wilson declared neutrality for WWI in 1914. Most other European countries were tied into the war by alliances. America was neither on the side of the Allies or the Central Powers. They had strong economic ties to Britain, but Wilson along with many other immigrants hoped for a German win. The neutrality caused some issues on the seas. The raging war in Europe caused seas to be captured and claimed. It was not until 1917 that Germany pushed America into war. -
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American Involvement in WWI Conflicts
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British liner Lusitania sunk by German U-Boat
May 7, 1915 the German U-boat, U-20, launched a torpedo at the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, off the coast of Southern Ireland. Within 18 minutes, the Lusitania had sunk and killed 1,128 people, including 128 Americans. The sinking of the Lusitania heightened tensions between the U.S. and Germany and helped sway American opinion in favor of joining World War I. The newspaper headlines used this story to enflame an anti-German sentiment. -
U.S. Marines occupy Haiti
The United States occupied Haiti on July 28, 1915. 330 US Marines, sent by Wilson, landed at Port-au-Prince to protect US corporations. Upon America’s arrival, they faced some opposition from the Haitians. In 1918 a rebellion was sparked. 40,000 former cacos and others fought against the American troops. This overwhelmed the Gendarmerie, but Marine reinforcements helped stop the revolts. In this revolt, almost 2,000 Haitians lost their lives. The invasion ended on August 1, 1934. -
Germany pledges not to attack merchant ships without warning
Germany ordered U-boat captains to spare passenger ships, and agreed to pay compensation for the American lives lost in the Lusitania sinking. This was seen as a way to obtain a neutral stance with the US. -
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa was a bandit chieftain in northern Mexico. In 1916 he murdered 16 US mining engineers. He and his group later burned down Columbus, New Mexico. General John J Pershing was sent to Mexico with troops and order to stop his brutal killings. Pancho worked around Pershing and planned another excursion into American Territory to raid Texas, Wilson sent 150,000 national guardsmen to the border. This embittered Mexican-American relations for a while. -
French passenger ship The Sussex sunk by German U-Boat
German submarine sank a French passenger ship, the Sussex, in the English Channel, injuring several Americans. This incident caused Wilson to threaten to break diplomatic relations with Germany and brought the US closer to war. -
Germany resumes unrestricted U-boat warfare; US declares war
In January 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare even with the threat of the US responding with the declaration of war. Germans saw full-scale U-boat warfare as the only way to bring victory. During February and March, U-boats sank five American ships. At the same time, Germany’s Ambassador to Mexico, Arthur Zimmermann conspired with Mexico to declare war on the US. The British intercepted this telegram. Angered by the Germans, US declared war as a member of the allied forces. -
US troops withdraw from Mexico
On January 1917 U.S. General Pershing withdraws from Mexico without coming close to capturing Villa. The US troops around the border states near Mexico also being to break up around this time. On April 6th the US declared war on the Central powers in Europe and the Mexican Revolution no longer had the attention of the United States. -
American forces see action at Chateau-Thierry, Belleau Wood, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne campaign.
March 1918, the Germans attacked the Somme and Americans fought with the Allies around Armentieres and Amiens, defeating the Germans. Then in May the Germans were defeated at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood. They had broken through allied lines at the Aisne River and could attack Paris, but America stepped in with three divisions. Later in 1918, 85,000 US troops helped stopped German attacks on Rheims. All German offensives had been defeated and it was a turning point of the war. -
The Meusse-Argonne Offensive
The final offensive of Allied forces against the Germans. British and French forces came from the west, while American forces came in from the south, pushing the Germans back. The whole battle was planned by Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France. -
Armistice signed
An armistice, an agreement made by opposing sides in war to stop fighting, was signed by the US and Germany. This was signed because Germany could not afford to fight any longer and sudden US presence in the war was overpowering. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War 1. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Although the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the actual fighting did not end until six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the Peace Treaty. -
The Washington Naval Arms Conference
The Washington Naval Arms Conference was a military conference called for by President Warren G. Harding. It was attended by 9 nations: Japan, China, France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal. It was the first international conference in the US. The conference worked towards disarmament and resulted in the creation of the Four-Power Pact, the Nine-Power Treaty, the Five-Power Limitation Treaty and many other pieces of legislation. The conference ended on February 6, 1922 -
WWI Veterans Bonus Army
The Bonus Army was a group of 17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups, who gathered in DC to demand immediate cash payment redemption of their service certificate. This urgent need for money was due to the Great Depression. On July 28, Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered he veterans removed from all government property. This caused a conflict that resulted in 4 deaths and 1,017 reported injuries. -
Harlem Race Riot
The Harlem Riot of 1935 was Harlem's first race riot. It was sparked off by rumors of the beating of a teenage shoplifter. Three African Americans died and hundreds were wounded. It caused over $2 million in damages were sustained to properties throughout the district, with African-American owned homes and businesses destroyed the most. It just furthered the tension during the great depression and shows the tension that everyone faced during this hard time period. -
World War II Begins
German forces invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. This act of conflict ignited WWII. It was the start of HItler's attempt to create an empire dictatorship. -
Germany Conquers Nations
Germany conquers Netherlands, Belguim, France, Denmark, Norway and Luxembourg. Hilter's Nazi Party inflicted total control/torture on these nations, especially minorities of these nations such as Jews. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union
Germany invades the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The Soviet Union was a part of the allied forces. The Soviets were fighting the war from the east and the other allies, France, UK, and US were fighting from the west. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was an attack by the Japanese on our naval base stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese bombed our naval base in order to cripple us. They did not want us interfering with the their expanding empire. It was a suprise attack, and it was said that just 30 min. after the attack, we decoded their messages. They sank three destroyers, three cruisers, and an anti-aircraft training ship. Luckily our aircraft carriers were in the pacific. This attack threw us into WWII. -
Battles of Coral Sea and Midway
Both the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway occured in the Pacific. US /allied strategic victory in both battles slightly halted the Japanese offense. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was a British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II, during the North African Campaign. -
Allied Victory @ Stalingrad
The Soviet Union defeated German troops in the Battle of Stalingrad. The death toll was incredibly high as a result of this conflict. -
Allied Invasion of Italy
Allied forces invaded Italy in order to liberate the nation of its dictator Mussolini, also to prevent HItler from having any further influence on the nation's government. -
D-Day
D-Day was the allied invasion of France. It freed France from German control. -
US Presence in the Phillippines
US foreces invade the Phillippines of October 20, 1944. This is an attempt to eliminate Japanese influence in the Phillippines. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The bombing of Hiroshima was the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan, and it was dropped on August 6th of 1945. The second bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945 on Nagasaki. These bombs devistated the Japanese area and made them ommit to an unconditional surrender. If we had not dropped the bombs we would have planned a fill scale invasion. Sadly, it devistated the Japanese race with radiation poisoning for years to come. It is still a debated topic whether or not we should have dropped the bombs. -
Korean War
The Korean War was between the Republic of Korea/South Korea (primarily supported by the US) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea/North Korea (supported by the Soviet Union). This war was fought by the US during the Cold War to prevent the spread of Communism. -
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Civil Rights Movement in America
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Laos Conflict
Crisis flared in early 1961 in Laos, a tiny nation created by the Geneva agreement in 1954. There was a civil war between American-backed forces and Pathet Laos rebels headed toward a communist triummph. In July 1962, Kennedy agreed to a compromise that restored neutralist government but unfortunately left communists forces dominant. -
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US involvement in Vietnam
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Assaults on Freedom Riders in Montgomery
In spring of 1961 the Congress of Racial Equality organized a "freedom ride" through the Deep South. The freedom right was design to intergrate buses in the South. This angered many Southern whites. Violence began to emerge towards this peacefully protesting blacks. It was after further assaults in Montgomery when Kennedy sent federal marshals to end the violence. -
Bay of Pigs
In 1961, Kennedy made his first foreign policy decisions. He approved CIA’s plan to invade Cuba. “La Brigada,” anti-Castro exiles, would attack Cuba with the support of the US. They tried to overthrow communist leader, Fidel Castro. The troops landed in mid April and tried to start an uprising, but they failed to do so. Many exiles and troops were captured. Kennedy had refused to send the second wave of air support for the exiles, which led the mission to fail. It was a foreign policy failure. -
James Meredith and the University of Mississippi
In fall of 1962, the federal court ordered the University of Mississippi to enroll black student James Meredith in their school. From this riots erupted and angry mobs broke out onto the campus. These mobs attacked federal marshals that led Meredith around and caused the marshals to lash back in violence to dissipate the riots. In the end, 2 people died, hundreds were injured, and the campus was a wreck. -
U-2 plane shot down
During peace accords between Kennedy and Khrushchev, a US spy plane was shot down over Cuba. It was called the U-2 plane. This led Khrushchev to disregard all peace plans that he once had. It almost pushed the US to invade Cuba, but Kennedy refused and wished to keep peaceful relations. At first the US did not even recognize the plane as their own and denied it, but later with the pilot in custody for espionage, they took the blame but did not apologize. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The crisis began when the US found bases for IRBMs in Cuba. The US soon armed themselves with many missiles and nuclear weapons for protection. Kennedy demanded that the missiles be removed from Cuba or the US would impose a naval blockade. Ships carrying missiles to Cuba moved toward the blockade and US military and air force waited to invade Cuba. Peace eventually came on October 27th. Khrushchev agreed to take missiles out of Cuba in return the US didn’t invade and took missiles out of Turkey -
Birmingham Civil-Rights Movement
In 1963 MLK Jr. led the civil-rights protestors to Birmingham Alabama, the most racist town in the South. In April he led marches, sit-ins, and pray-ins. MLK was sent to prison for his protests. The blacks used children to inspire sympathy from the North. Bull Connors, a white Police Commissioner for Birmingham, ravaged the blacks with police dogs and fire hoses to get them to stop. The rest of the country soon gained sympathy for the blacks. Many blacks were injured in the process. -
Birmingham Tragedy- Death of Four Girls @ Sunday School
In Spetember the Ku Klux Klan bombing of a black church in Birmingham killed four girls attending Sunday School. -
Diem overthrown by US and Kennedy
Frustrated American policy makers, including Kennedy, concluded that only a new government could prevent a Vietcong victory, They secretly backed the efforts of Vietnamese army officers planning Diem's overthrow. On November 1, military leaders staged their coup and captured and shot Diem and his brother. -
Gulf of Tonkin
In August 1954, two American destroyers and North Vietnamese patrol boats clashed in the Gulf of Tonkin. Johnson portrayed this as an “unprovoked attack.” It was later found that it not unprovoked, the US had been helping the South Vietnamese attack the North. LBJ then asked for “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the US.” Congress passed it. It was later called the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. It allowed him to send troops and materials to Vietnam as he wanted. -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was put in place after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. It was the sustained bombing of North Vietnam. Through this LBJ hoped to, force Hanoi to negotiate, and stop the flow of North Vietnamese Soldiers to South Vietnam through the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This did not work. LBJ was forced to commit ground troops to Vietnam. The number of troops grew exponentially each year. -
Selma to Montgomery March
In 1965, MLK sought to use public violence to gain sympathy from the country and inspire Congress to act for black rights. He decided to march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama in opposition to George Wallace’s run for presidency. The protesters were clubbed and tear-gassed by lawmen. This was under the authorization of Jim Clark, Selma’s county sheriff. This televised abuse led the country to support the cause as well as inspire LBJ to back the voting-rights act and also helped gain support from -
Watts Riots
Watts, LA was the largest black district in LA. 5 days after the passing of the Voting-Rights Act, white police and young blacks faced confrontation. 50,000 blacks looted shops, firebombed white businesses, and shot police officers. It went on like this for six days. Blacks in Chicago and Massachusetts began to do the same thing. In the end of the Watts Riot, thirty-four people were dead and nine hundred were injured. This inspired many black outbreaks in urban places all over the country. -
Summer of 1966
The summer of 1966 was a summer of ghetto outbreaks in the northern cities. Blacks stoned whites, ransacked stores, and torched buildings. They were angered with the whites and the good lives of the middle class portrayed on TV. They rioted against slum conditions and the brutal treatment they faced from police forces. This summer was only the start of black urban plight and squalor. -
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. It urged blacks to attack whites and use force to obtain their rights as black individuals. They were known somewhat for their activism in communities, but mostly for their violence against police forces and FBI. Many people lay dead after their confrontations. They many times had shoot-outs. This party help spark the violence later found in many black riots and protestors. -
Tet Offensive
On the Vietnamese New Year, America lost hope in the Vietnam War when the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese troops mounted an attack on hundreds of South Vietnamese cities and towns. They even attacked the US embassy in Saigon. US troops eventually drew back the offensive after a month of fighting. The media capitalized on this and exaggerated the devastations. In reaction the American citizens lost trust in their government who claimed they were winning the war. -
My Lai
In March 1968, an army unit massacred several hundred South Vietnamese in their search for Vietcong in villages. The unit was led by Lieutenant William Calley. The soldiers raped girls, lined up women and children and shot them into ditches. In the end they burned the village. This massacre resembled the massive toll of atrocities that the Vietnamese mounted. It also showed the immense amount of tragedy that the soldiers faced. -
Kent State incident
In 1970, college students broke out in fury against Vietnam War. At Kent State University in Ohio, students broke windows and tried to firebomb ROTC buildings in opposition. The Ohio governor placed martial law on the university and national guardsmen flooded the campus. Students again erupted against the US invasion in Cambodia. The guardsmen reacted in violence with teargas and began to shoot into the crowds. 4 students died. This riot showed the frustration of the US with the Vietnam War. -
Iran-Contra Affair
A scandal that erupted during Reagan administration when it was revealed that US government agents had secretly sold arms to Iran in order to raise money to fund anticommunist "Contra" forces in Nicaragua. **Arms/ no armed conflict. -
Operation Desert Storm
August 2, 1990- February 28, 1991- Military action by the United States and a coalition of allied nations against Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein after Iraq had invaded Kuwait; this operation was a success, all the decision was made not to force Saddam Hussein out of power.
