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Manifest Destiny
The Manifest Destiny was a phrase coined in 1845, t is the idea that the United States is destined- by God, its advocates believed- to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. -
Mexican American War
The Mexican American War stemmed from the U.S. annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Neuces River or the Rio Grande. -
Civil War
America's bloodiest and most divisive conflict, pitting the Union Army against the Confederate States of America. The war resulted in the deaths of more than 620,000 people, with millions more injured and the South left in ruins. -
Ku Klux Klan Founded
Many ex-Confederates were not willing to let freedmen gain equal rights. The group originated in Tennessee. It committed many acts of terrorism, such as burning freedmen’s schools, lynching Black citizens, and murdering political opponents. The group became so prominent that it was largely synonymous with the Democratic Party. Klan violence made many freedmen too intimidated to vote or try to agitate for political action, creating fear that would last into the next century. -
The Reconstruction Act of 1867
The Reconstruction Act of 1867 outlined the terms for readmission of representation of rebel states. The bill divided the former Confederate states. -
15th Amendment Ratified
Congress recognized the importance of securing civil rights for freedmen, and it took several steps to do so. First, it passed the 14th Amendment, granting slaves full citizenship; soon, though, they began to worry that it wouldn't offer enough protection against Southern Black Codes. The 15th Amendment was passed to protect citizens' rights to vote, regardless of race. It had a fatal flaw: it made no provisions regarding poll taxes and literacy tests, foreshadowing Jim Crow laws. -
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Thousands of rail workers in states across the country protested poor pay and working conditions in a massive-and violent-uprising. -
Chinese Exclusion Act Passed
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first signification law restricting immigration into the United States. -
Spanish American War
The Spanish-American War was an 1989 conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America -
Interracial Coalition forms NAACP
The NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1909 and is America's oldest and largest civil rights organization. -
World War I
World War I pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan. New military technology resulted in unprecedented carnage. -
Sedition Act of 1918
The Sedition Act of 1918 curtailed the free speech rights of U.S. citizens during the time of war. -
Women's Suffrage & The 19th Amendment
The women's suffrage movement was a decades-long fight to win the right to vote for women in the United States. It took activists and reformers nearly 100 years to win that right, and the campaign was not easy: Disagreements over strategy threatened to cripple the movement more than once. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. -
The Stock Market Crash of 1929
The Stock Market Crash occurred when Wall Street investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. -
Election of 1932
The 1932 election was the first held during the Great Depression and it represented a dramatic shift in the political alignment of the country. -
World War II
WWII was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. -
The Cold War
The Cold War began shortly after the end of World War II, it started a gradual winding down with the Sino-Soviet split between the Soviets and the People's Republic of China in 1961, and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. -
Civil Rights Act
Though JFK had long promised a civil rights bill, he was killed before it became a reality. Johnson was able to finish the job for him. The act outlawed employment discrimination based on race, guaranteed equal access to public schools and facilities, and gave new enforcement powers against employment discrimination. After a decade of activism, a strong bill with real teeth at the federal level had finally arrived, offering significant protections to Black Americans. -
The Election of 1972
The United States presidential election of 1972, American presidential election held on November 7, 1972, in which Republican President Richard Nixon was elected to a second term, defeating Democrat George McGovern in one of the largest landslides in U.S. history. -
Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion
Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protected a right to have an abortion.