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California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, started a pattern of the search for gold. A rush of prospectors descended upon the site, followed by those who were trying to benifit by preying off the newly rich. -
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
After a significant pay cut, railroad workers in West Virginia began to strike, blocking the tracks. News of the strike spread across the country and many rail workers joined in sympathy, leaving their jobs, and committing acts of vandalism to show their frustration. -
las Gorras Blancas
This group of several hundred Mexican Americans formed to try and reclaim their land and intimidate White Americans. Their actions never resulted in any fundamental changes. -
Atlanta Compromise
Booker T. Washington gave a speech to call upon African Americans to work on their own prosperity rater than occupy themselves with political and civil rights. He believed that their success would eventually convince White people to grant their rights. -
Paris Peace Conference
Peace negotiations after the first Great War. This conference became the largest conference of world leaders in history. This conference created the Treaty of Versialles to officially conlcude World War I. -
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Prohibition
The Eighteenth Amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors. This gave rise to less respect to law and order as well as a higher amount of crime. There was also deep political divisions within the nation. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
John Scopes, a biology teacher, supported the American Civil Liberties Union in their challenge of the Butler Act to teach evolution in public schools.They believed that the Butler Act was an infringement of the freedom of speech. -
Black Tuesday
Stock holders traded over sixteen million shares and lost over $14 billion. People unloaded their stocks quickly. Banks demanded payments for the loans they had provided to individual investors.Those who could not afford to pay found their stocks sold immediately and their life savings wiped out, yet they were still in debt with the bank. -
Scottsboro Boys
Nine Black boys were arrested for vagrancy and disorderly conduct after an altercation aboard a train with some White travelers. This case illuminated racial hatred and illustrated the injustice of the court system. These boys were sentenced to prison from a falsely accusing statement. -
Second New Deal
President Roosevelt's legislative plans that he gave to Congress as "must-pass" legislation. This was to help change the face of America for the next sixty years. -
D-Day
On this day the Allied forces stormed the beaches of northern France. There were met with German forces and more than ten thousand Americans were wounded or killed during the assault. -
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Baby Boom
Married couples gave birth to the largest generation in US history. Marriage rates had risen and conformity required wives stay at home and raise the children instead of working. -
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Cold War
The decades-long struggle between the United States and Soviet Union for technological and ideological supremacy. It also became an arms race to build the greatest stockpile of nuclear weapons. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
During this time, any African American who was sitting in a seat when all seats were filled, were supposed to give up their seat for anyone who was White. They were also not to share a seat with someone who was White. On this day, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a White man and the Montgomery police arrester her. This started a movement where African Americans in Montgomery avoided usin the city's buses. -
Little Rock Nine
The first nine African American students entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This resulted in mob violence and eventually the Arkansas National Guard was put in place to escort those students from class to class. Throughout the school year, the nine students were insulted, harassed, assaulted, and yet they continued to go to school each day. -
Freedom Riders
African American and White volunteers rode across the south on buses to challenge the seating order of Jim Crow segregation. This group wanted to test the enfrorcement of the Supreme Court decision prohibiting segregation on interstate transportation. -
Cuban Naval Quarantine
President Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from approaching. This was a move to prevent Soviet nuclear warheads from being so close to American borders. -
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The march was supposed to pressure President Kennedy into acting on his promises regarding civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. gave is famous speech "I Have a Dream," and called for an end to racial injustice in the US. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The resolution gave President Lyndon Johnson the authority to use military force in Vietnam without asking Congress for a declaration of war. -
Watergate Scandal
After a break-in at the Watergate office in Washington, DC, a committee was to investigate who was involved. During this investigation Nixon denied any connection to the break-in. It was later found that he was involved, in fact he had tapes that talked about the White House's involvement in the break-in. Because of this scandal, Richard Nixon resigned.