DCUSH Timeline 1302 The West - WWII

As the transformation of the West was taking place, means of transportation were no exception. Numerous tracks and commute networks were appearing which had a positive effect on agriculture. New lands opened up for farming and farmers had the opportunity to sell on the national market. This led to the boom of many towns into major cities including Denver, Colorado, San Francisco, and Portland. The increase of trains also developed time zones to accurately mark departure and arrivals.

The Homestead Act was created and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in an effort to help populate the West. In exchange for a small filing fee, settlers were promised 160 acres of public land so long as they have continually improved the land in the time-span of 5 years. Since this deal was open to a large demographic, landless farmers, former slaves, and single women decided to take advantage of this offer.

Cattle drives were a very popular economic activity that would start in the mid 1880s and last for about 20 years. During this time, longhorns (mixture between Spanish and English cows) were transported in mass groups to meet their high demand. The business of cattle drive was sustainable, with $4 per animal in the South and $40 in the north. Eventually, the decline of cattle drives will be the result of a turning point towards beef. They were less labor intensive and were affordable.

"Laissez Faire" was the preconceived notion that things would work themselves out. The direct translation of this phrase from French is "leave alone." This refers to government activity concerning private affairs. Laissez Faire is against governmental intervention by means such as regulation or rules. According to this system, the market should take care of itself.

The Battle of Little Big Horn was the result of conflict on the Northern Plains. After gold was discovered in South Dakota, the Sioux were ordered off their hunting grounds as a response to miners. The Sioux refused, and to respond the government sent in the army. George Cluster made the mistake of leading the offense before reinforcements could arrive which resulted to the mass slaughter of the army, as well as Cluster dying as a martyr.

Tenements were living spaces in impoverished areas to house people who couldn't afford to live in the city. Each tenement typically consisted of 4 to 6 stories in which multiple families lived.Each living space housed dozens of families so that rent could be split among them. These rooms had poor ventilation and were poorly lit, creating compatible environments for diseases to multiply. Due to overpopulation, rent increasingly soared.

As Asian and European immigration continued to flow into American land, many citizens became weary of these foreigners. They attempted various methods to prevent more from coming over including the Chinese Exclusion Act which limited the immigration of the Chinese coming to the states. Another form of limitation was immigrant deportation. They would deport immigrants with a criminal background, illiterates, or people who were too poor to pay fees.

Issues surfaced concerning the country's effort to implement a standard currency throughout the nation. Republicans and business owners wanted "hard money", in the form of gold while Democrats and laborers wanted "soft money" or paper money because they thought that hard money couldn't support the economy. Silver would increase inflation, causing worker wages to increase. And in response a compromise was created. The Silver Act was given to the Democrats and the Republicans raised taxes.

During the Gilded Age, women reformation was taking place. Middle classed women found themselves having more leisure time, and in response attended college. This was also the age for the increase of women's roles in the household. The aftermath was the temperance movement. Women were abolitionists of alcohol to prevent domestic violence. In addition, controversy was raised concerning women riding bicycles which was seen as immoral since prior, it was proper for women to have a male escort.

Although prejudice against Native Americans was prominent, there were some Americans who recognized the injustices. Activists such as Helen Hunt, author of the novel "A Century of Dishonor" exposed the American government's mistreatment of Natives. Assimilation of Natives was a huge conflict at this age. Native children were forced to attend American school and abandon their own culture. They were punished if they were caught speaking in their foreign tongue.

A monopoly consists of one powerful individual or single group controlling a sector of the economy. Railroads were some of the first monopolies, climbing their way into power through means such as bribery. Railroad men would sometimes bribe elected officials to be on top on the game. Furthermore, monopolies held the power to take advantage of their consumer base by manipulating stock prices.

During the time of American Industrialization, many workers faced exploitation problems. Strict rules were enforced on employees, such as being expected to work in utter silence, or working grueling long hours to provide food on the table for their families. This was also the beginning of foremen, or managers to overlook employees and keep them on task. Often times, employees felt threatened by "blacklists," a list of "bad" employees that was popular in the employing sphere.

Charles Darwin founded the theory of Social Darwinism in the mid-1800s. Many related it to the theory of human evolution. He believed that those who were wealthy would be the ones that would survive in the end due to their superior intelligence, strength, and adaptability. On the other hand, those who were poor, were subordinates and should stay at the bottom because they were inferior. The rich are sustainable, and the poor are not.

In the 1880s, many farmers faced relapses due to environmental issues. At the time, droughts and insects were effecting crops and led to the decline in agriculture. As a response, many farmers had to decrease their crop prices to compete with foreign trade and many small scale farms found it hard to compete-- not just with foreign trade, but larger scaled farms as well-- this was due to the fact that larger farms were much more profitable and led to the foreclosure of many small scale operations

Buffalo were a vital resource to Native Americans. Natives hunted buffalo as needed, never killing more or wasting any part of the buffalo. They consumed all meaty parts, used hide as clothing, sharpened bone as knives, and fashioned horns and hooves as cups. In an aggressive attempt to rid Natives for western settlement, Americans hunted buffalo to the point of near extinction. By the late 1880s, only around a few thousand remained.

Immigrants in this time period mainly consisted of Northern Europeans such as the Swedish, Norwegian, and German as well as Chinese people. Of these races, the Irish and Chinese faced hardships for being wage workers. While the Irish had their hardships, the Chinese were faced with the most racism and violence. Eventually in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act will be established in 1882, banning Chinese immigration to the U.S to address the fear of immigrants taking over "American jobs."

For many, the West was thought of as an adventurous space complete with wild Indians, large open ranges, mountainous terrain, and rivers. To capitalize, a man named William Frederick who deemed himself "Buffalo Bill" decided open a western show showcasing former cowboys, sharpshooters, and even Indian leader sitting bull. These shows consisted of Indian fights, cowboys, cattle drives, lassoing, and marksmanship. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was one of the many catalysts in Western Romanticism.

Horizontal integration is a method companies use in an effort to monopolize. Unlike vertical integration where companies would be in charge of the beginning through end process to capitalize, horizontal integration was simply a company buying another company. This was much more efficient than vertical integration. Carnegie himself was a participator in this method. By buying out other companies, he eliminated his competition to build his empire.

On May of 1886, a protest was planned to avenge the workers killed a few days prior at the Haymarket Square. Police heard of the alleged outbreak, and in response sent 300 officers in hopes of breaking it up. A bomb exploded near the police, and was the start of Haymarket Riot. Angry police attacked the crowd with various weaponry and resulted in 7 deaths. After the matter, the press exaggerated the riot on the news and started an uprising.

Andrew Carnegie has lived through what most Americans would call the "American Dream." Carnegie was a Scottish immigrant who lived in poverty his adolescent years. By his hard work and investing, he was able to build the steel industry. For the first time, steel was able to be mass produced. Carnegie was one of the first investors in the Bessemer Process, the process which enabled manufacturers to mass produce steel and sell it for low prices.

American philanthropist and oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller was often referred to as the Carnegie of the oil industry. He was in control of 90% of domestic oil and founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870. To grow his company, he invented two elements: trusts and holding companies. Trusts brought different companies of the same industry under a board of trustees, and holding companies were large companies that bought and manages smaller ones.

Robber Barons were greedy capitalists that grew rich by shady business practices. They were infamous for their political manipulation and worker exploitation. Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt are examples of well-known robber barons.The term "robber barons" is supposed to be a derogatory way of categorizing wealthy businessmen who acquired their power through corruption.

Wounded Knee Massacre was the aftermath of the Ghost Dance Movement-- a resistance against white rule. A shaman envisioned a flood washing away whites for Natives to return to their way of life. He told his following dead spirits would protect Natives from bullets. Military leaders saw this movement as a threat which lead to their intervention. A gun accidentally went off, and over 300 Sioux were killed performing the ghost dance.

Since many workers felt their needs were being ignored in government, the People's Party, or Populist Party was formed. This party steered from big businesses and catered to the common man: farmers, workers, and reformers. Their cause, to fight corruption and greed. They wanted the elimination of monopolies, coinage of silver, and graduated income tax. Ultimately, the Populist Party didn't preform well on the national level. But despite this, they achieved their goal-- to give commoners a voice.

The Depression of 1893 was one of the worst in American history. A plethora of businesses faced a steep decline: banks, railroads, private owned. At this point, many were reconsidering the Laissez-Faire economic system. To protest, Coxey's army peacefully marched on Washington to protest capitalism. The late 19th century was the birth of a large conflict between big businesses and their laborers. Businesses such as Carnegie's were under harsh spotlight for de-unionization.

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 was a large fair taking over 600 acres and held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' 1492 arrival in the New World. The fair provided a showcase for new inventions, new products, different styles of architecture and art, featured over 46 countries, and numerous exhibits to cultural understanding and tourism. The fair was first open May 1st and continued until October 30.

George Pullman owned a company that built luxurious railroad cars for travel. His company underwent a steep downfall during the Depression of 1893, forcing him to lay off workers and cutting worker salaries. In response, his employees went on strike and, formed the American Railroads Union. The intensity was so high, President Cleveland had to intervene. These strikers gained public support through means much as media outlets.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, child labor was common among American industries. Employers thought that because they were smaller, children could fit in smaller spaces of machinery where adults could not. Children worked long hours in bad working conditions and be paid less than adults. By 1900, 18% of all american workers were under the age of 16. Educational reformers eventually convinced the mass that education was necessary for children and school attendance became mandatory.

The election of 1896 was William McKinley vs.William Jennings Bryan. McKinley supported gold standard of money, while Bryan supported silver. In the end, McKinley won 51 percent to 47 and the Republicans take on the Midwest and Northeast for 30 years. On the other hand, Democrats dominated the South and newly expanded West. Third parties, such as the Populist Party, disintegrated due to lack of support on the national scale. Although the party was no longer, their ideas sustained.

Yellow Journalism was given its name during the Spanish America War where it was primarily used as a method to gain the approval of the American population. It held dramatic and highly exaggerated stories that are targeted against specific people. In this case, the Spanish. Stories of rape and murder across Cuba to white people made many Americans want to enter the war effort. "You furnish the pictures, I will furnish the war." A quote from famous journalist William Hearst.

This episode was one of the main causes for the start of the Spanish-American war. The U.S.S. Maine set sail to Havana located in Central America and On February 15th after its arrival, it exploded in the Havana Harbor. The American media, having no substantial evidence, still blamed it on the Spanish accusing them of allegedly setting a harbor mine. Years later, Americans came to the realization it was most likely by faulty design.

The Battle of Manila Bay took place on May 1st 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The Battle ended in defeat of the Spanish Pacific fleet by the U.S. Navy which resulted in the fall of the Philippines and contributing to the final U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War. In addition, after an explosion sank, the United States declared war with Spain in support of a Cuban rebellion against Spanish colonial rule. A U.S. "New Navy" attack on the Spanish fleet in the Philippines occurred.

Hawaii initially gained the attention of the United States through its flourishing sugar industry. They wanted to annex the country so that the sugars produced in Hawaii could be transported without any taxation. The ruler at the time, Queen Liliuokalani opposed and was later overthrown by Sanford Dole, an American who helped to eradicate the Hawaiian religion and gained the people's support to be annexed by the U.S. Hawaii was eventually annexed by Congress in the year 1898.

The finish of the Spanish-American war was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1898. Spain was to rid of all claims to Cuba, give the United States all rights to Guam and Puerto Rico, and transfer rule of the Philippines to the United States for a total of $20,000,000. After Spain’s defeat, they had to turn their attention away from overseas colonization and more towards their domestic needs. The United States, on the other hand, came out of the war as a world power.

The Philippine-American War was an armed conflict between the United States and the Philippine Republic. The war was fought from 1899 to July 1902. The conflict arose from a Filipino political struggle against the U.S. occupation of the Philippines after the ending of the Spanish-American War. Besides being an armed conflict, guerrilla warfare was also an important tactic used in the war. Ultimately, over 220,000 Filipinos died, and 4,000 Americans also passed..

Before the Open Door Policy was proposed, China had little opportunities which other countries could trade with it. Through this new policy introduced by the United States in 1899, every nation would have equal opportunity to trade with China. However, it was nonbinding meaning they were able to be relinquished if they wanted to. Along with the right to trade, there would also be no taxations attached to it. The Chinese would be the ones to collect all the product fees.

Mail Order Catalogs were a stepping stone towards our modern mass market. Since most Americans lived in the rural areas, Richard Sears took the initiative to capitalize on the lack of marketing through mail. The Sears Catalog provided a simple and affordable option to rural citizens and eased the division between city and rural folk. Sear's biggest competitor was a man by the name of Montgomery Ward. Ward was among the first to bring department stores to rural America.

Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is said to be a political statement about populism. Kansas represented America: dry, impoverished, and rural, Emerald city, Washington DC and money, the Wicked Witch of the West, railroads, the Wicked Witch of the East, monopolists, capitalists, industrialists, and bankers, the munchkins, the impoverished, the tin man, oil, the lion, William Jennings Bryan, the slippers, silver, and the brick road, the gold standard.

As industrialization gained momentum, so did the consumption of alcohol by men. Within 5 years, the production of alcohol doubled. Women, the victims of the indulgence (domestic violence), came out as the champions of temperance. They united to form the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to help decrease their husband's indulgence. Carrie A. Nation was an extreme advocate of being sober. She walked around with a bible and a small ax she used to wreck bars.

Carrie Amelia Nation was born on November 25, 1846. She was a prominent advocate of the temperance movement and is best known for carrying a bible and attacking alcohol-selling establishments with her small axe. On December 27, 1900, Nation smashed up the bar at the Carey Hotel in Kansas and was put in jail. Shortly after, she was released and became infamous for these incidents as part of her anti-alcohol movement.

Otherwise known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Rebellion was an uprising in Northern China against the spread of Western and Japanese influence. This resistance was led by a Chinese organization called the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists. Foreigners in China were attacked and the rebellion was secretly funded by the Chinese Government. This resulted in the US ensuring that China wouldn't be taken over and China was fined $333 million for aiding rebels.

Booker T. Washington was a prominent intellectual of the African American community and also the founder of the Tuskegee Institute which trained African Americans in blue collared jobs. He was an advocate of education in agriculture and industry. His philosophy revolved around the idea that blacks should aim towards economic equality and social equality would soon follow after. Unlike DuBois, he didn't demand immediate civil rights but believed it would follow economic equality

After the assassination of President McKinley, Vice President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was sworn into office 1901. Many described him as energetic and a likable. He received his nickname "Teddy" after he refused to shoot a tied bear. A toy maker decided to make bear stuff animals and name them "Teddy Bears." Roosevelt was also against large monopolies. He filed many lawsuits against trusts because he believed that the common people were more important and was deemed the "trust buster."

Born July 1863, Henry Ford was an engineer and businessman who built his first gasoline powered carriage in his shed. In 1903, he founded the Ford Motor company and created what is now known as the assembly line which made the building of vehicles faster and more effective. In 1908, Ford was able to release the Model T, a high demand vehicle that was practical and affordable to the common man. He was a very influential figure in the industrial world until his death in 1947.

"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair was a novel published in 1906 that captured the extremely unsanitary conditions in Chicago's meatpacking industry. Although book was fictional, it still shined truth to the American people about what Sinclair had personally witnessed. After many read it, it caused a public uproar for change in the food industry. Eventually, the book was a stepping stone to the passing of the Pure Food and Drug Act, as well as the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

The Fleet's original intention was by the United States' effort to update its naval fleet in the late 1800s with new modern steel ship. It was nicknamed the "Great White Fleet" because all the ships were painted all white. They set sailed on of December 16, 1907 from Hampton Roads, Virginia on its voyage around the world to show off new technology the U.S. had updated. The fleet was commanded by Admiral Robley Evans from the U.S.S Connecticut.

W.E.B. DuBois, like Booker T. Washington, played an important role for the African American community. He co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which sought to break racial barriers. He differed from Washington's plan by believing that economic equality was not possible unless social equality was achieved first. He believed in fighting for immediate civil rights.

The Presidential Election of 1912 was Theodore Roosevelt vs. Woodrow Wilson. During this election, Roosevelt started a new progressive third party, the "Bull Moose" Party and gained the following of Progressive Republicans. Republicans nominated William Howard Taft and a New Jersey Governor, Woodrow Wilson, who ran as a Democrat. Wilson eventually defeated both Roosevelt and Taft in this election, and became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.

The Panama Canal was a project first initiated by the French, but was stopped after diseases and mudslides kept surfacing. Theodore Roosevelt then purchased the rights to continue to build it, which cost the nation $40 million. The structure consists of a system of locks and an artificial lake. Unlike the French, the United States came up with a solution that eradicated mosquitos in the area, which lowered the possibility of diseases. It officially opened in 1914.

Although the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary was the main factor for the start of WWI, alliances had a part in it too. Germany was Austria-Hungary's only alliance. On the Bosnia end, Russia was its biggest ally. Connected to Russia, was the French, and connected to the French, was Great Britain. Germany had declared war on all 3 alliances of Bosnia as well as Bosnia itself, resulting in the start of WWI. The U.S. didn't enter the war early on, and tried to remain neutral.

The Eastern Front of World War I mainly consisted of the interactions in Russia. Because of the massive size of the country, the front was the biggest among the two areas. Unlike in the Western Front, it consists of a trench-less terrain. After the collapse of imperial Russia, Vladimir Lenin will push the country to become a communist state. They will sign a peace treaty with the Central Powers in March of 1918, stepping out of World War 1 entirely. The war will now be a one front war.

Although the Western Front was smaller in area, it was more densely populated. Trenches were a prominent factor in which soldiers fought and were used from the years 1914 to 1917. These dugout ditches were never moved more than 20 miles. New developments, such as mustard gas, airplanes, and machine guns, helped the increase of total deaths among all nations and turned the war into a very deadly one. The Americans would later on enter into the Western Front to assist the British and French.

Trench Warfare was a type of combat used in WWI iwhere the opposing troops fight from dugout trenches facing each other. Most soldiers spent intervals of 3 weeks in these trenches, then they would have 1 week off. In the middle of enemy trenches was an area known as "No-Man's Land," where barbed wire, artillery shell holes, and barbed wire filled up the open gaps. Many that came out also came out with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), also known during World War 1 as "Shell Shock."

Due to the general focus of the whole war being on Germany, many German-Americans faced various forms of discrimination and oppression. Some even changed their family's last names and completely stop speaking their native tongue in hopes of not being recognized as what they are. If Americans were to figure out someone was of German descent, they would be ridiculed and assaulted in public in front of large crowds of people. If they were among the unlucky, they would be killed off by lynch mobs.

The RMS Lusitania built as a British cruise-liner. The ship is mostly known for being sunk by Germany. Many believe the Lusitania was carrying ammunition to British troops when it was torpedoed by a German U-Boat during early World War I. There were about `130 Americans on board. They were killed as the ship sank. At first, President Woodrow Wilson only asked the German government to apologize and compensate the families of the victims. This was a catalyst to lead the U.S. into joining WWI.

The National Parks System was first created by Theodore Roosevelt in effort to help protect important lands of the U.S being exploited by large industrial companies. This national federal agency manages almost all national parks, many prominent national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties. It was created on August 25, 1916 by Congress, who passed the National Park Act of 1916.

In 1916, Russia was transforming into a communist nation under the Bolshevik Revolution. Many Americans feared that communism was slowly spreading over the rest of the world. They thought that immigrants would bring over socialist ideas that would then lead to communism in the United States. General Palmer, a believer of this theory, rounded up thousands of those that he suspected were socialists and deported those that were recent immigrants. He ended up sending back a lot of involved people.

The Fourteen Points were components of a speech by Woodrow Wilson addressed to Congress in January of 1918. The Fourteen Points were 14 strategies Woodrow came up with to ensure national security and world peace. Several of these points addressed territorial issues in Europe and others set the tone for post-war American diplomacy. It also set the tone for the ideals that would form the backbone of the United States foreign policy as the nation achieved high status in the 20th century.

The Spanish Flu of 1918 was a mass pandemic that influenced the lives of many people. About 500 million people were infected globally, even spreading to remote Pacific Islands and the Arctic. It killed 50 million to 100 million people, 3% to 5% of the world's population at the time. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. In most cases, the outbreaks killed the young and elderly, unlike the 1918 pandemic, which mainly targeted healthy young adults.

The Treaty of Versailles brought an official end to World War I. It was purposefully signed on the 6th anniversary of the death of the Archduke of Bosnia, the initial cause of the war. Since Germany was not invited to the signing of the treaty, they were at a large disadvantage.. The Germans had to take full responsibility for the war, as well as pay reparations. These reparations would the cripple their economy, bringing them into a depression.

The Paris Peace Conference was held in secret amongst the allied powers to negotiate the repercussions of World War I. This document took months for the allies to finally agree with each other. Since Germany was not a part of the conference, they had no say in their steep punishment, and would spend an extended amount of time paying off their debt. This hurled Germany into a depression.

After a long battle, the government heeded to the wives of America's request: to outlaw alcohol. In order to reduce domestic violence, the 18th amendment was passed in spite of intoxicated husbands. The amendment outlawed the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of and type of alcohol. It was passed in 1917, ratified three years later in 1919, and went into effect January 1920. Despite the law, prohibition popularized the ambiance associated with alcohol, which made people want it more.

During the 1920's there was much controversy about the teaching of evolution. There were two sides to this argument, the science-based side, and the fundamentalist approach. Science claimed that the evolution of the human derives from the evolution of the monkey. Fundamentalists believe that Christ is the one that created the whole universe, including us humans. Even though many people debated on this topic, most school systems made it a rule where only fundamentalism was taught.

Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican immigrant and advocate for economic equality of African Americans, similar to Booker T. Washington. He created the UNIA to aid their improvement. Unlike other philosophers, however, his ideas revolved around black people migrating back to where their origins were--Africa. He wanted to buy land there for all the black people of the world to reside in peace. The government feared this movement would become a violent one, so they convicted him of mail fraud in 1923.

Huey Long was a former governor and senator of Louisiana. His political ambitions led him to become the greatest threat to Franklin Roosevelt's presidency in the year 1936. He was initially a supporter of FDR's "New Deal", but later on criticized it because of the length of the process. Long also believed in the distribution of wealth among the people so that no one would make over $1 million. Later on, he would be assassinated in September of 1935 by a political opponent's son in law.

The "Lost Generation" was a term used to describe a number of American writers and artists who went to live in Europe after World War I. After WWI, members of the Lost Generation decided that they no longer want to live a normal life in America. They moved to Europe, and while away from America, often drank heavily, had affairs in an effort to try finding meaning in life. The Lost Generation is said to produce some of the finest writing.

The Ku Klux Klan was a group advocates for white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration. The Klan was initially suppressed by the government but then allowed after debate due to the first amendment. By the 1920's, they gained millions of members. Many of these whites were upset over the Great Migration, wanting African Americans to stay in a separate area from them. Blacks, along with Jews, Catholics, immigrants, and feminists, were often harassed, assaulted, and even killed.

Charles Lindbergh was the first man to fly on an airplane across the Atlantic from New York City to Paris, nonstop. His entire trip was over 3,500 miles, an instantaneous media sensation. He had not brought a radio nor radar with him, only necessities like water and sandwiches. His flight became very popular, turning him into quite the celebrity. Due to his large wealth, a kidnapper stole his son and demanded a ransom. He did not agree to it, calling a bluff, but ultimately his son was murdered.

Young Herbert Hoover lived the "American Dream." He began his life as an orphaned child and eventually climbed his way up the political ladder. In 1928, Hoover became President of the U.S. Though the beginning of his term went smoothly, the public soon began to turn on him after experiencing the great depression. He was a very poor public speaker and an overall introverted person. He was also very disconnected to the public citizens.

The crash leading to the Great Depression was a combination of the overproduction of goods, the country's unequal income distribution , and high tariffs. On October 20, 1929, the first 10 days of plummeting stocks began. Many investors sold off their stockpile, sparking the rush of thousands of Americans to the bank to retrieve their savings. Millions, will end up losing their life savings which marked the beginning of the Great Depression.

On February 14, 1929, four gang members under the control of Al Capone, famous American mobster, dressed as policemen and entered their rival gang's warehouse where they lined up and shot seven henchmen. These men were subordinates of competing mobster and bootlegger Bugs Moran. The two groups were always attacking one another, and nefarious for their violent sprees.

As Henry Ford's idea of the Model T vehicle began to take shape, many of the American people became immediately interested. In order to create affordable vehicle, Ford used a system of assembly lines. Another reason for the boom in sales was the creation of credit. Many were able to buy these cars without money, later paying back the bank for what they had borrowed. As cars grew popular, the government began to build infrastructure to go with.

In the election of 1932, Herbert Hoover ran against Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt. Due to Hoover's unpopularity after the Great Depression, Roosevelt won overwhelmingly. He was diagnosed with polio before his election as president, but the public never found out about it until his death in 1945. Many future presidents would later compare themselves to him; his 100 first days in office, and charisma. Because of his popularity, he was in office for four terms.

After World War I, thousands of veterans were promised future compensation for their services in the war. 40,000 of these men demanded an early payment on these bonuses because of the recent stock crash of the Great Depression. To protest, the men marched outside of Washington D.C., some even setting up tents for a temporary stay. McArthur sent a request for the army to forcefully remove these veterans, but this whole transaction was blamed on Hoover, severing his relationship with the people.

As a response to the Great Depression, the National Industry Recovery Act, or NIRA was passed. The notion was supported by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was considered very out of the ordinary. The act suspended anti-trust laws while supporting an alliance of industries. Under the Recovery Act, companies were required to write industry-wide codes to fix wages and prices.These codes were a form of industry self-regulation.

The Dust Bowl, also known as the "Dirty Thirties," was a drought-stricken spell in the Southern half of the United States. From 1930-40, topsoil was stripped away and left dust covered cities in the South. People, livestock, and crops suffered dearly during this time period. People were forced to evacuate into their homes, but the cattle and other livestock were compromised. In addition, crops failed across the nation which worsened the Great Depression.

Eleanor Roosevelt was Franklin Roosevelt's wife as well as the niece of Theodore Roosevelt. Because of FDR's polio disease, she was considered his "right hand" and took care of many administrative moves in his presidency. She was never really in the White House and always out traveling, making her the first outspoken First Lady. Eleanor hated the way that African Americans were treated through Jim Crow, so she visited almost every state, except the southern ones fighting for civil rights.

Social Security was first introduced by Dr. Frances Townsend. He campaigned for old age pensions and economic security for geriatrics. The Social Security Act would pay through payroll taxes and would be collected by those that were unemployed and not fired. The first to receive them were retirees who first go their checks in 1940. Though the liberal political force of the people forced Roosevelt to sign on this act, the Conservatives were not happy that their money would be used for it.

The horrendous living conditions in the depression throughout Germany helped give rise to a new leader, Adolf Hitler. He was a natural orator and charismatic speaker. His leadership role in the Nationalist Socialist Party (NAZI) helped him to successfully take action as the new chancellor of Germany. His 9 month stay in prison led him to write his one and only book, "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle). In this book, he would express his wants for Eastern Europe territory.

Hitler ordered a massive air raid on British Ships stationed in the English Channel. On the night of June 10, 1940, almost 2,000 aircraft from Germany filled the skies of Great Britain, hoping to destroy property by bombs. Initially, there were aiming to bomb military targets, but then turned to terror bombing major cities in Britain. In response, Winston Churchill responds by ordering bomb raids on the city of Berlin in Germany, which causes Hitler to be mad.

Just like in World War I, World War II was also sparked by two sides of alliances. On the Axis power's side were most of the communist and dictatorship nations, includingx Germany, led by Hitler, Italy, led by Mussolini, and Japan, led by Emperor Hirohito. The Allied Powers side consisted of nations that were more considered a Democracy or Republic. They were: Great Britain, the British Commonwealth Nations, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States, who joined the war later on.

Throughout World War II, many forms of racism could be seen throughout the warring nations. Germany's holocaust was one of the extreme examples. The extermination of the Jewish people can be considered as such event because Hitler believed in the superiority of the Aryan race. An example in American would be the Zoot Suites. This was a style of clothing started by African Americans. Mexican Americans started wearing it, so they were viewed as gangsters and resulted in assaults.

Father Charles Coughlin was a famous Catholic priest from the Detroit suburbs. He had weekly sermons broadcasted by radio nationally. He was famous for his sympathy for the fascist party. Before this, he was known primarily as a major advocate for changing the currency systems and proposed reforms that he insisted would restore prosperity and ensure economic justice during the Great Depression. By 1935, he had one of the largest radio demographics in the United States.

On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese executed a surprise attack on the American naval ships located in Pearl Harbor. A total of eight battleships were damaged and the supplies for planes were destroyed. Japan's goal, however, was to cripple the American fleet, which was not successful, because major aircraft carriers and battleships were located somewhere else. This event would be one of the bigger reasons why the United States would enter the war in the Pacific Theater against Japan.

The Holocaust was the systematic persecution and slaughter of Jews by the Nazi party of Germany and its allies from 1933 to 1945. Though Jews were the primary victims with about 6 million deaths, Gypsies, the handicapped, and prisoners of war were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons. After the end of concentration camps, Germans were forced to look over the dead bodies of those they killed and were forced to bury the deceased.

After the Navajo code was developed, the Marine Corps established a Code-Talking school. The Navajo code is a form of secret communication used during WWII. As the war progressed, more than 400 Navajos were eventually recruited as Code Talkers. Besides fluency in Navajo and English, candidates had to demonstrate that they were physically fit to serve as messengers in combat. The Navajo Code Talkers were formed because of the need for a more secure method of communicating.

The "Europe First" Strategy during World War II was created in the infantry stages of the war. This plan was created by the allied nations and stated that the greatest defensive side to the war should be focused on Germany, not the Pacific theater against Japan. This was because the threat of Hitler and his regime, "Third Reich", seemed a lot more serious. To counter, the Allied Nations wanted to focus on what was more important at the moment and not stray off to something else.

D-Day, also known as "Operation Overlord", was the invasion of Normandy beaches which lead to the Battle of Normandy. Because of the distraction caused a few days earlier, Nazis were caught off guard. 175,000 troops (Americans, British, and Commonwealth), 6,000 aircraft, and 6,000 ships landed on 5 different beaches on the coast of Normandy. This invasion required those that landed at sea to stealthy walk inwards to the shore without getting caught or shot down.

The infamous events of atomic warfare presented in World War II were the first two bombings in Japan. On August 6, 1945, a bomb named "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by the Enola Gay. In Nagasaki later on, a bomb named the "Fat Boy" was dropped. These atomic bombs created an explosion that would cause much suffering to the people of Japan. Even today, some people can still feel the effects of these events and will be part of their genetic makeup for a very, long time.

As the movement towards better work conditions were slowly improving, talk of worker benefits surfaced for the first time. The government, heeding to employee requests, added worker benefits. To compensate with lowering salaries from WWI, the government added sick leave, ownership of stocks, pensions, medical insurance, and paid vacations to diligent and loyal employees.