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Transcontinental Railroad Completed
The first Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 - it took six years to complete. The route started in Nebraska and ended in California. It was a major accomplishment for the Rail Industry. -
Boston & Chicago Fires
Chicago and Boston were destroyed by major fires in 1871. These fires destroyed major portons of the downtown areas. Although the destruction was great, it encouraged city planners to build differently through constructing fireproof buildings, as well as high rises. Professional fire departments were also created to battle against fires in similar proportions. -
Nationwide Railway Strike
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began in July and lasted for 45 days in response to the great economic downfall and resulting ten percent wage cut for all railworkers. The strikers destroyed railway equipment and rioted in the streets of major cities all over the country.
It took milita forces to end the strike; hundreds of strikers and innocent people died.
This strike was the first labor based conflict in the country. -
Garfield Assassinated; Arthur assumes presidency
President Garfield was assassinated in the summer of 1881 after being in office for four short months.
Chester Arthur took over his position and worked to mirror how Garfield was as a president - by not encouraging reform. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
In 1882, President Arthur signed a treaty that prevented Chinese immigration for a ten years. This treaty also prevented Chinese people who were already inside the United States from becoming naturalized citizens.
It was eventually made permanent and severely impacted the Chinese population. It is interesting to note that the Chinese were the main group of people who built the Transcontinental Railroad. (Picture) -
Interstate Commerce Act
The Interstate Commerce Act banned "discrimination" in rates between long and short hauls (regarding freight on the railways).
It required Railways to publish their rate schedules and submit copies of them to the government.
This was supposed to end all problems with the railways but, as many similar acts, failed. -
Dawes Act
The Dawes act was put in place to divide up Indian tribal land distribute it amongst the Native Americans.
The Dawes Act ruined the lives of the Native Americans. It totally disrupted tribal lifestyle tremendously. -
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was the precursor to the nation's most severe economic depression. The panic ensued when the PHiladelphia and Reading Railroad could no longer make payments on their loans and declared bankruptcy. Several other companies failed soon there after the failure of the railroad, which caused the stock market collapse. Banks then failed as well, which put many businesses into bankruptcy as they were dependent upon loans. Many lost their jobs and businesses. -
Immigration Restruction League Established
This "agency" proposed a new way of dealing with immigrants by testing them for literacy skills, and other criteria to determine whether or not they were desirable. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris (1898) brought a formal end to the Spanish-American War. The Treaty also allowed the United States to acquire the Philippines for 20 Million dollars. -
Wright Brother's First Airplane Flight
Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully went "airborne" in their engine propelled glider on the beach in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although the flight lasted 12 seconds, it was a major step towards the advancement of aviation. -
Financial Panic of 1907
Although the Roosevelt Administration attempted to reform the government and spending, the recession that occured in 1907 made it appearent that the government had little control over the industrial economy. This said recession was blamed on Roosevelt's reform attempts. -
NAACP Formed
NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was an organization that was created to make sure the civil rights of African Americans were right and sound while helping to eliminate racisim and descrimination. -
NCAA Founded
A reform plan brought together by President Roosevelt calling for a reform in College Sports. -
Federal Trade Commission Act
This act was created to regulate businesses and determine "in advance" whether or not their actions would be acceptable to the government. The act would also allow it's agency to focus on unfair trade practices, stopping them, and prosecuting those who participate in them. -
The New Technology of Warfare
By having this new technology in warfare, it was a bigger advantage. They had more destructive power such as newly improved machine guns and higher power artillery. -
The Military Struggle
Great Britain was suffering such vast losses from German submarines that its ability to receive vital supplies from across the Atlantics was in such Jeopardy. -
The Paris Peace Conference
Woodrow Wilson held a conference that was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following -
Women in the New Era
In the 1920's, college educated women were no longer pioneers. -
Women and Minorities in the Workforce
Growing proportion of the workforce consisted of women. -
Religious Fundamentalism
This was another cultural controversy and was a conflict over the place of religion in contemporary society. -
The Dawes Plan
americans banker would provide enormous loans to Germany, so Germarny would pay France and Britain -
Women and Families in the Great Depression
The economic crisis served in many ways to strengthen the widespread belief that woman's proper place was in the home. -
The Great Crash
The Great Crash cause The great depression. The market began to fall apart. Stocks started to crash and became worthless. -
New Deal
Roosevelt release a groups of programs to help the depretion. -
African Americans and the Depression
Over half the blacks in the South were unemployed. The blacks tried to move to the southern cities but there was unemployed whites who believed they had first claim to whatever job came first. -
Frances Perkins:
First women appointed as a member of the cabinet. -
Critics of the New Deal
The Du Pont family and member of their groups who were the oppocition did not a agree with Roosevelt and his New Deal programs. -
Neutrality Act
established a mandatory arm embargo against both sides in any military conflict and directed the president to warm American citizen against traveling on the ships of warring countries. -
Television Boom
Televisions boomed in the market increasing media capabillities massively. Advertisements, news, and media were communicated much more efficiently. -
Pear Harbor
A wave of Japanese bombers attacked the United States Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii. -
Battle of Midway
The war turned around in favor of the Americans force and help turned back the unstoppable Japanese navy forces. -
Navajo “Code-talkers”:
The Navajo Indians speaking their native language help the military to communicate over the radio and the telephones. -
United Nations Founded
International organization including the allies. Aimed for world peace. -
Hiroshima
the United States dropped an atomic weopen on the japanese industrial center at Hiroshima killing 80,000 civilians. -
Soviets Test A-Bomb
First successful tet of the atomic bomb by the Soviet Union. Nuclear powere becomes a threat. -
McCarthy Begins Anti-Communism Campaign
Senator McCarthy begins nation wide communist scare by accusing Government officials of being communist. -
Brown V. Board of Education
Court case based on segregation of blacks and whites in public schools. Led to the desegregation of all public schools -
indian civil rights movement
1961, more than 400 members of 67 tribes fought for the right to vote, to choose their own ways of life, and to embrace their heritage. The national Indian council issued the declaration of Indian purpose. 1968, congress passed Indian civil rights act, which gave native Indians the same rights as others pertaining to the bill of rights -
the new left
The new left: A group of college students from Michigan formed the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) which was basically a new view of democracy. Their beliefs were put into a document called the Port Huron statement and stated a need for a government reform a change in the ways of the modern university. They also protested against war in Vietnam. -
Kennedy Assassinated
President John Kennady is assassinated in while making a public appearence in Texas. -
Civil Rights Act
Bill passed by congress ending segregation of races in the United States. -
MLK Assassinated
Pease maker and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated. -
America Lands on the Moon
American, Neil Armstrong and crew land on the moon achieving the feat. of being the first humans on the moon. -
abortion issue
women have been trying to gain more control of their own sexuality and freedom since they acquired the right to vote in 1920. The distribution of birth control and contraceptives rose due to high occurrences of rape in the 1970’s. Earlier in the 20th century, abortion had been illegal, but many were performed very shadily and undercover, which led to many deaths. The court case “roe vs wade” made great strides in pushing abortion to be legalized, but in the end it was still unsettled. -
carter elected president
After Nixon’s impeachment, the election of 1976 saw a matchup between Ford and a no expected newcomer jimmy carter, former governor of Georgia. These two would have to run the country in a staggering time along with a recession. His views on how he thought the economy should be changed and offered piety and honest won him the democratic nominee and eventually the election. -
camp david accords
The Camp David Accords saw President Carter invite the leaders of Israel and Egypt to Camp David in September of 1978. The meetings saw the two nations sign a peace treaty among them at a time where they were so close to going into war with each other. -
berlin wall dismantled
: The fall of the Soviet Union Economy lead to its influences in much of eastern Europe falling as well. The governments that were set up in these nations were overthrown by the citizens. In November of 1989 the Berlin, which divided Germany into east and west Germany, was smashed down by its citizens to reunite the nation as one. -
president clinton impeached
December of 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached from his presidency on two counts: lying to the grand jury and obstructing justice. What sparked all of this were his alleged sexual relations with a white house intern, Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state worker, along with charges of corruption against his cabinet and staff. -
9/11 attacks
on September 11th, 2001, the world trade center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C were attacked by a terrorist group called Al Qaeda. The purpose of the attack was to make the United States aware that terror was growing against them in the Middle East. Before these attacks little was known about the Arab nations and the Middle East. These attacks sparked the war in Iraq which saw United States troops in the Middle East in search of Al Qaeda. The September 11th attacks still re -
hurricane katrina
: In late August of 2006, Hurricane Katrina was deemed the worst natural disaster in United States History. Katrina swept all of the Gulf Coast along Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida. The most severe damage was to the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, which is almost completely below sea level. The mass flooding led to over 1,000 deaths and left thousands homeless. The Bush administration suffered from Katrina because of its slow response. FEMA failed to handle the situation effectively and ef
