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Manifest Destiny
The U.S. begins its westward expansion. Americans and recently-arrived immigrants travel west in covered wagons, planning to settle there and profit off the land. -
Panic of 1873
Economic developments in Europe drive down the value of silver. U.S. monetary supply shrinks. Railroad bonds decrease in value, leading investors who overinvested in railroad companies to lose money and thousands of railroad companies failing. -
Great Railroad Strike
In response to large wage pay cuts, railroad workers employed at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad begin to strike. They block train tracks to prevent trains from leaving, declaring that they would stop if the pay cuts were reversed. Word of the strikes spread throughout the U.S., with more and more workers joining in. The strikes lead to violent riots and fights between strikers and law enforcement in various states, putting an end to the strikes after 45 days. -
The Progressive Movement
Progressives initiate state-level reforms to implement direct democracy in the U.S. They create three reforms: Direct primary elections, as well as initiative, referendum, and recalls, which allowed voters to propose ideas for laws to be put on ballots, to affirm or reject continuation of existing laws, and to vote politicians out of office; and the 17th amendment, which stated that U.S. senators would be voted for through direct elections. -
"The Birth of a Nation"
Film director D.W. Griffith releases “The Birth of a Nation,” a film about America’s Reconstruction Era. It depicted “carpetbaggers” – white northerners looking for financial gain in the south – and Black Americans as oppressors of white southerners and portrayed the Ku Klux Klan as heroes who saved America. In a time of escalating racial and national tension, the film sparked controversy among people from all sides and had many Americans believing in revisionist history. -
World War I
The U.S. declares war on Germany. Germany participated in unrestricted submarine warfare, sinking several British and American ships while at sea. Later, British intelligence intercepts the “Zimmermann Letter,” a telegram where Germany’s foreign minister urges its Mexican ambassador to join them in invading the U.S. if it declared war on Germany. After learning of this, the U.S. officially declares war on Germany and begins preparing for battle. -
Prohibition Era
The 18th Amendment is implemented, banning the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors. In response, Americans who opposed the amendment began obtaining alcohol illegally from overseas, making it at home, and opening “speakeasies” – illegal saloons that sold alcohol in secret, without liquor licenses. Organized crime rose drastically at this time, with many people profiting off the illegal trafficking of alcohol. -
19th Amendment
The 19th Amendment is ratified. After over 40 years of protests, campaigns, and demands, women are granted the legal right to vote in state and local elections. The 19th Amendment prohibited discrimination against voters on the basis of sex. -
Stock Market Crash
After a period of economic prosperity punctuated by warning signs, stock prices begin to decline. They hit a new low on October 29, 1929 – an event knowns as “Black Tuesday” – when investors rapidly traded their stocks en masse in an attempt to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Over 16 million shares were traded, causing a loss of $14 billion. The stock market’s rapidly declining value caused a crash that put thousands of banks in debt and forced them to close. -
32nd Presidential Election
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is nominated as a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. After a successful primary election, he wins the presidential election and become the U.S.’s 32nd president. -
New Deal
President Roosevelt implements the New Deal, a series of reforms meant to help America recover from the Great Depression. He shut down banks that had turned unstable during the Great Depression; created jobs for Americans to work at; began large public works projects to build hospitals, schools, and other public resources; and gave farmers relief payments to compensate their lack of profit, among other legislations that kickstarted a new era of hope and potential prosperity in America. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan attacks U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, from overhead. Japanese fighter planes shoot down 4 battleships and 200 aircraft, killing 24 U.S. military service members and injuring 1,100. -
Japanese Internment
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 into approval, allowing U.S. army forces to remove people from “military areas” to prevent sabotage or espionage against the U.S. Justified under this executive order, hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps, where they were forced to give up their old lives and suffered at the hands of widespread anti-Japanese sentiment. -
Desegregation of Montgomery Buses
Following the Montgomery Bus Boycott beginning in 1955, a federal court in Alabama rules the segregation of public buses in the city unconstitutional. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began in 1955, when African-American woman Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger despite being required to by segregation policies. Her refusal inspired many other African-Americans throughout the city to boycott buses as well. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
While driving to a rally in Texas for future president Lyndon B. Johnson, then-president John F. Kennedy is shot in the head and killed. Later that same day, the killer is discovered to have been warehouse employee Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald is arrested and then himself shot to death two days later by Kennedy supporter Jack Ruby. -
Watergate Scandal
President Richard Nixon and various employees of the Nixon administration are revealed to have committed illegal actions during the first term of his presidency with the intention of helping Nixon get reelected. Information about these actions was discovered after a staged burglary attempt of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. Mounting evidence of the Nixon administration’s misdeeds led to public outrage, opposition to Nixon’s presidency, and his eventual resignation. -
Rodney King
A video of police officers beating an unarmed black man is released to the public. The police officers involved were put on trial for using excessive force but were ultimately acquitted and did not face significant consequences. The incident caused public outrage and riots against police brutality. -
Clinton Accusations
In 1994, former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones files a lawsuit against President Bill Clinton accusing him of sexual harassment. Her claims were dismissed in 1998, after which her lawyer appealed, providing a list of other women who were allegedly also harassed by Clinton, including white house intern Monica Lewinsky, who he was found to have had an illicit affair with. The two denied the affair, but Lewinsky later provided evidence to the contrary after receiving a promise of immunity. -
9/11
On September 11th, 2001, two airplanes crash into the twin towers in New York’s World Trade Center. The planes had been hijacked by members of the Islamic extremist terrorist group Al-Qaeda, which had hijacked four airplanes. Two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon building in Virginia, and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This attack led to an era of newfound American patriotism and support for the U.S.’s rights to defend itself against attacks. -
Obama Presidency
U.S. Senator Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, running for the Democratic party alongside running mate and vice president Joe Biden. He becomes the 44th U.S. president and America’s first Black president.