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Eugene V. Debs
An American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. -
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Ida Tarbell
Ida Tarbell, aka “Madame Mucraker” was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. A leading muckraker of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and pioneered investigative journalism. -
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John Dewey
An American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. Considered the most significant educational thinker of his era and, many would argue, of the 20th century. As a philosopher, social reformer and educator, he changed fundamental approaches to teaching and learning. -
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Ida B. Wells
An African-American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. -
National American Woman Suffrage Association
Created in response to a split in the American Equal Rights Association over whether the woman's movement should support the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. -
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Union (WCTU) was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in November of 1874. It was influential in the temperance movement, and supported the 18th Amendment. -
Interstate Commerce Act
The act was designed to protect against monopolistic railroads, but failed to empower the government to fix prices. In short it failed miserably. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
The first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts. ... Several states had passed similar laws, but they were limited to intrastate businesses -
How the Other Half Lives
An early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York City slums in the 1880s. It served as a basis for future muckraking journalism by exposing the slums to New York City's upper and middle class. -
Alfred Thayer Mahan
The policies discussed by this American author were quickly adopted by most major navies, ultimately leading to the World War I naval arms race. He basically indicated that England’s rise to power, after the Battle of Trafalgar (scene depicted on the book cover) was a direct result of its control of the seas. -
Alaskan Gold Rush
Significance of the event: Aside from adding a huge amount of land, natural resources and a strategic position in the northern hemisphere, Alaska represents American imperialism at a very affordable price of little more than 7 million dollars that was paid to Russia to help finance its Crimean War debts. The gold rush was the catalyst that brought about huge influx of population, wealth, and led to further discovery of oil and fishing. -
Anti-Saloon League
A single-issue lobbying group, promoting National Prohibition in the U.S. It was a non-partisan political pressure group. It worked with churches in marshaling resources for the prohibition fight. -
Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and Queen Liliʻuokalani
This represented the triumph of wealth American business interests in overthrowing a sovereign leader for the express purpose of financial gain and acquisition of land and control over the Hawaiian Islands. -
The USS Maine Explodes and Sinks in Havana Harbor02
This event led to the US declaring war on Spain. -
Application for annexation of Hawaii denied
President Cleveland wanted nothing to do with Hawaii and saw the Hawaiians like the Indians as another liability. This contrasted sharply with the wealthy farm owners and traders who saw vast potential wealth and were eager to attain Hawaii no matter the morale or legal issues which Congress contended with. -
McKinley signs joint congressional resolution
The resolution demanded Spanish withdrawal and authorized the President to use military force to help Cuba gain independence on April 20, 1898. In response, Spain severed diplomatic relations with the United States on April 21. On the same day, the U.S. Navy began a blockade of Cuba.[20] Both sides declared war -
The Teller Amendment
This document basically the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people." In short, the U.S. would help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all its troops from the country. In some ways this could be seen to reverse the idea of imperialism but in truth it helped legitimize US aid which in the end furthered its own interests. -
Battle of Manila Bay
In a matter of hours Commodore Dewey defeats the Spanish Fleet in the Pacific and set the stage for the surrender of the Philippines. -
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The Puerto Rican Campaign
This was one of the last conflicts which ended as a result of the Treaty of Paris. It signified Spain giving up the last of its colonies in the New World. -
US Captures Guam
The U.S. Navy sent a single cruiser, USS Charleston, to capture the island of Guam, then under Spanish control. However, the Spanish garrison on the island had no knowledge of the war and no real defenses. They surrendered without resistance and the island passed into American control. -
The Charge of San Juan Hill by the Rough Riders
The taking of San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill provide the major land engagements to precipitate the capture and liberation of Cuba from Spain. It was also used as propaganda at home to curry support for American imperialism. -
Hawaii Annexed
The US formally annexes Hawaii as part of its sovereign territory and control, extending its reach halfway to Asia with an important waypoint for its Navy and Merchant Marine Fleet. -
Protocol of Peace between the US and Spain/Treaty of Paris
This treaty was negotiated on terms favorable to the U.S. which allowed it temporary control of Cuba and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine islands. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($602,320,000 today) to Spain by the U.S. to cover infrastructure owned by Spain -
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The Boxer Rebellion
This demonstrated Chinese frustration with imperialist actions taken to exploit their country, but the eventual failure of the Boxer rebels to overcome colonial forces further demonstrated vulnerability to western aggression, military might, and exploitive practices. -
Philippine-American War Starts
Just two days before the US Senate ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Spain, conflict breaks out between American forces and Filipino separatists. This signifies the substantial difficulties and challenges that American imperialism has. It takes three year to put down the insurrection. -
China Open Door Policy
John Hay introduces a statement of principles initiated by the United States in 1899 and 1900 for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. So the US is trying to get its foot in the door and true to imperialist form it omits the Chinese from the discussion. -
US implements pacification policy
American makes it first foray into extracating itself from the headaches of imperils by adopting a policy that permitted a significant degree of self-government, introduced social reforms, and implemented plans for economic development. Over time, this program undermined the revolutionaries’ popular appeal, helping the US win the war by getting rid policies that helped revolutionaries. This would be a model to follow later. -
Socialist Party in America
A multi-tendency democratic socialist and social democratic political party in the United States formed in 1901 it represented much of the progressive movement of the early 1900’s as well as parallel rise to sweeping the rest of the world. -
Big Stick Diplomacy
The idea of using American military and naval power as a threat to further US imperialism was clear to competing European nations as well as the smaller South American countries and the Caribbean -
Anthracite Coal Strike
The Coal strike of 1902 was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania. Miners struck for higher wages, shorter workdays and the recognition of their union. The strike threatened to shut down the winter fuel supply to major American cities. -
Northern Securities Antitrust
President Roosevelt and his advisors believed that the Northern Securities Holding Company had formed a monopoly and was in violation of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act. He took them to the Supreme Court and won and had the trust dissolved. -
Elkins Act
Took on railroads for fair pricing which the Interstate Commerce Act had failed to do. -
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The US builds the Panama Canal
Reduced dependency on lengthy, dangerous naval travel around southern tip of South America. -
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Dollar Diplomacy
A form of American foreign policy to further its aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. -
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Lincoln Steffens
The most famous of the American muckraker journalists of the period. His exposés of corruption in government and business helped build support for reform. -
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Department of Commerce and Labor
The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with controlling the excesses of big business. -
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Supporting Panamanian Independence
This allowed the US to obtain the rights to build and maintain the Panama Canal and thereby control sea travel from Atlantic to Pacific and have better control of the region. -
The Jungle
The novel expose the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new federal food safety laws. -
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Japan – The Russo-Japanese War
This was the first time an Asian power had decisively defeated a European power and it presented the world stage with a new Imperialist power on the rise, Japan, one that would be willing to challenge the US and its interests in Asia. -
Big Stick Diplomacy – The Roosevelt Corollary
United States would use military force “as an international police power” to correct any “chronic wrongdoing” by any Latin American nation that might threaten stability in the region. Unlike the Monroe Doctrine, which proclaimed an American policy of noninterference with its neighbors’ affairs, the Roosevelt Corollary loudly proclaimed the right and obligation of the United States to involve itself whenever necessary. -
Meat Inspection Act
The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 is an American law that makes it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the first of a series of significant consumer protection laws which was enacted by Congress in the 20th century and led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. -
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Robert La Follette
U.S. leader of the Progressive Movement, who as governor of Wisconsin (1901–06) and U.S. senator (1906–25) was noted for his support of reform legislation. -
Square Deal Policy
Theodore Roosevelt's domestic policy based on three basic ideas: protection of the consumer, control of large corporations, and conservation of natural resources. It provide a basis for much of his activity to protect private citizens. -
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. It was a tragedy that opened the nation's eyes to poor working conditions in garment factories and other workplaces, and set in motion a historic era of labor reforms. -
Progressive (Bull Moose) Party
Roosevelt felt President Taft, his handpicked successor, betrayed his progressive policies and split the Republican ticket by forming a new political party. This resulted in democrats winning the White House for the first time in 16 years. -
17th Amendment
The 17th amendment provided for regular voters to elect their Senators, preventing state representatives from being able to choose US Senators which previously had led to corruption of the election process and a failure for proper representation of common people’s interests. -
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was enacted in response to a series of financial crises that occurred in 1907. The intent of the act was to create a degree of financial stability. The act empowers the Fed to regulate and supervise banks and to develop and implement monetary policy. However, the agency isn't accountable to the US government. -
Underwood Tariff
Sought to reform and reduce tariffs on manufactured goods while providing for an income tax on the public to raise revenue for the government. It provided a progressive tax structure, meaning that high incomes paid an increasingly higher tax rates. In the end the common man just paid more taxes to compensate for lower tariffs on big business. -
Mexican Revolution – US signs “Pact of the Embasssy”
The American ambassador conspires with revolutionaries against Mexican President Maduro to overthrow him and thereby protect American commercial interests in Mexico. -
Federal Trade Commission
Promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, such as coercive monopoly. -
Clayton Antitrust Act
Passed by the U.S. Congress in 1914, meant to further promote competition in U.S. businesses and discourage the formation of monopolies. This act prohibited price discrimination, price fixing, and exclusive sales contracts. -
Arch Duke Ferdinand Assassinated
Austria declares war on Serbia and the rest of Europe chooses sides and effectively starts WWI. US, while initially neutral, is concerned due to threat to its own imperialist interests. -
Sinking of Lusitannia
Sets off a chain of events that helps bring the US into WWI. -
Keating-Owen Child Labor Act
It was the first federal law regulating child labor. The Supreme Court later declared the Keating-Owen Child Labor law unconstitutional on the grounds that child labor was not interstate commerce and therefore only states could regulate it. -
Margaret Sanger
Devoted her life to legalizing birth control and making it universally available for women. In 1916 she opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. Sanger fought for women's rights her entire life. -
Mexico Revolution – US Searches for Pancho Villa in Mexico
U.S. Army expedition, led by Gen. Pershing, goes into Mexico in search of Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa, after Villa attacks Columbus, New Mexico and the US Cavalry stationed there. -
Zimmerman Telegram
The so-called "Zimmerman telegram," intercepted by the British, in which Germany floated the idea of an alliance with Mexico is revealed to the United States and it decides to enter the war because of the Germans' decision to resume the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare -
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The Home Front
The home front of the United States in World War I supported the war effort in many ways, including a wide range of volunteer efforts; collect scrap metal, roll bandages, saving bread, Liberty Bond sales. -
Congress passes Selective Service Act of 1917
Authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription. -
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Espionage Act and Sedition Acts
Enacted soon after the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Espionage Act prohibited individuals from expressing or publishing opinions that would interfere with the U.S. military's efforts to defeat Germany and its allies. The Sedition Act was a set of amendments to the Espionage Act. -
18th Amendment
The US prohibits the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. This effectively begins prohibition. -
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Red Scare
The first Red Scare occurs immediately after WWI and was significant in that it represented a threat to American imperialism due to the internal threat of the American labor movement, anarchist revolution and political radicalism. -
Treaty of Versailles 1919
Treaty that ended WWI forcing Germany to pay for the war caused the democratic German government of the Weimar Republic to collapse. This allowed Hitler to rise to power. -
Rise of Religious Fundamentalism
The Fundamentalist Movement rejected the modernity of the "Roaring Twenties" that increased the impulse to break with a new kind of Christianity emerged which was called Fundamentalism. The Fundamentalists believed that the Bible should be taken in the literal sense and rejected ideas such as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution which led to the prosecution of schoolteacher John Scopes and the famous 'Monkey Trial' . -
19th Amendment
Grants women the right to vote. -
Palmer Raids
Instigated by United States Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer from 1919 to 1920. The raids were conducted by Federal Agents and involved mass arrests and deportation of immigrant political radicals at the height of the WW1 Red Scare -
US & the League of Nations
Although the League of Nations was much of the work of President Woodrow Wilson America never joined the League of Nations. This was for several reasons, firstly America had suffered civilian casualties in the war, and many people in the USA wanted to keep America out of European affairs. -
Start of Prohibition – Bootlegging
As a result of the 18th Amendment it became illegal to make, import or sell alcoholic beverages. An illegal industry sprang up to meet the heavy demand for alcohol. -
AFL Strike Against Steel Mills
The AFL is not entirely unsuccessful in a strike against the steel mills. Significance is the public is tired of reforms, the economy is buzzing, and conservatism is on the rise. The steel companies agreed with 8 hour shifts but the workers still remain without a union. -
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Nightclubs & Speakeasies
Speakeasies were illegal drinking dens, saloons or nightclubs that sold illicit alcoholic beverages during the Prohibition Era (1920 - 1933). Speakeasies was a nickname for these bars because patrons had to whisper code words to enter the establishments. It was a direct disobedience of law by the general public. -
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Black Fashion
The "Zoot," rose to popularity with wide-brimmed hats, colored socks,[31] white gloves, and velvet-collared Chesterfield coats. During this period, African Americans expressed respect for their heritage but also taking ques from latest haute couture for a unique look. -
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Rise of Gangsters
Famous gangsters such as Al Capone capitalized and profited from the illegal alcohol market. This led to a rapid growth of organized crime in America. -
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Prosperity Leads to The Rise of the Automobile
The expansion of credit in the 1920s allowed for the sale of more consumer goods and put automobiles within reach of average Americans. -
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The Flapper
Flappers were a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. -
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Nickelodeon Theater - Movies Theaters
Many American towns had a movie theater. Most Americans went to see the movies at least once a week. The movie industry became a big business. Young Americans tried to copy what they saw in the movies. They dreamed about far-away places and a different kind of life. -
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Jazz
African American jazz culture has an amazing influence upon popular culture in the 1920s due to the availability of these recordings to white, upper middle class listeners. A New Jazz Culture: Jazz music influenced all aspects of society. -
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Billboards
more and more Americans purchased automobiles in the 1920s, billboard advertising, such as this ad for "Oh Henry!" chocolate bars, began to spring up all all along the roadways. -
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Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social, and artistic explosion centered in Harlem, New York, spanning the 1920s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after The New Negro, a 1925 anthology edited by Alain Locke. -
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The Great Migration
The Great Migration brought hundreds of thousands of African Americans to cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York. African Americans seeking a better standard of living and relief from the institutionalized racism in the South. -
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The Roaring 20s
Real and sustained prosperity, dizzying technological advancements. -
The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot
The Waste Land expresses with great power the disenchantment, disillusionment, and disgust of the period after World War I. -
The Cantos by Ezra Pound
The Cantos is generally considered one of the most significant works of modernist poetry in the 20th century. As in Pound's prose writing, the themes of economics, governance and culture are integral to the work's content. -
Johnson-Reed Act of 1924
First true restrictions on immigration in the US. It limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origin quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. -
Mellon Tax Cuts
Plan for reducing taxes on the wealthy and businesses, advocating high tariffs and cuts in government spending and corporate taxes. The economy was booming and it was thought these tax cuts was spur even more growth. Some argue that this helped set up the Great Depression. -
US Border Patrol Created
Congress established the Border Patrol as part of the Immigration Bureau in the Department of Labor through the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 helps to secure the borders between Mexico and Canada. -
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Novel famous for displaying the mood of the 1920s, especially a postwar society America obsessed with wealth and status, absent of morale scruples. -
The Garvey Conference & Marcus Garvey
Charismatic Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant, convenes the first International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World in New York's Madison Square Garden. Pan-Africanist Leader pushing for the return of African-Americans to Africa. -
The Monkey Trial
An American legal case in July 1925 in which a substitute high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. This one of the first cases where science and religion begin to come into conflict. -
Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos
The novel follows the rising and falling fortunes of more than a dozen characters as they move through a bewildering maze of tenements and skyscrapers in which Wall Street speculators, theatrical celebrities, impoverished immigrants, and anarchist rebels all strive to make sense out of the chaos of modern urban existence. -
The New Negro by Alain LeRoy Locke
Distinguished as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar in 1907, Locke was the philosophical architect —the acknowledged "Dean"— of the Harlem Renaissance, a “New Negro Movement” promoting a renewed sense of racial pride, cultural self-expression, economic independence, and progressive politics. -
A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemingway
A love story set during WWI. There are many themes such as the terrible reality of war, the ridiculous nature of war, and love that can be found in so many different places. -
The Great Crash
A four-day collapse of stock prices that began on October 24, 1929. ... The 1929 stock market crash lost the equivalent of $396 billion today. It was more than the total cost of World War I. It destroyed confidence in Wall Street markets and led to the Great Depression. -
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The Great Depression Begins
A severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until the late-1930s. -
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Banks Collapse
The stock market crash crippled the American economy because not only had individual investors put their money into stocks, so did businesses, when the stock market crashed, businesses lost their money and consumers also lost their money because many banks had invested their money without their permission or knowledge. -
Herbert Hoover’s Policies 1
The Hawley Smoot Tariff seriously backfired as furious European countries imposed a tax on American goods making them too expensive to buy in Europe, and restricting trade which contributed to the economic crisis of the Great Depression. -
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Dust Bowl - Drought & Winds Ruin Farms
Drought , storms, and poor farm management of the land results in the wind carrying large amount of dust in storms, rendering farms useless and bankrupting farmers. -
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Dust Bowl – Migration of Farmers
Destitute farmers leave their homes and head west to seek their fortune only to find conditions no better, inspiring stories like “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck. -
Herbert Hoover’s Policies 2
Approved the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to prevent more bankruptcies. By 1933, it disbursed $2 billion to failing banks, railroads, and a few other businesses. It was effective in keeping them from going under. -
New Deal Programs - Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
Provided $500 million ($9.68 billion today) for relief operations by states and cities, while the short-lived CWA gave locals money to operate make-work projects in 1933–1934. -
New Deal Programs - Securities Act of 1933
Enacted to prevent a repeated stock market crash and govern securities transactions on the secondary market, ensuring greater financial transparency and accuracy and less fraud or manipulation and authorized the formation of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulatory arm of the SEA. -
New Deal Programs - Banking Act of 1933 – aka The Glass-Steagall Act
Prohibits commercial banks from engaging in the investment business. Roosevelt's actions helped restore credibility (and thus functionality) to the banking system. -
New Deal Programs - Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
Designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses, the Government bought livestock for slaughter and paid farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land, thus helping to subsidize farmers in financial distress. -
New Deal Programs - Tennessee Valley Authority Act
Creating the TVA and enabling the federal government to build dams along the Tennessee River that controlled flooding and generated inexpensive hydroelectric power for the people in the region and it put thousands of people back to work. -
New Deal Programs – National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
Created the National Recovery Agency (NRA), guaranteed that workers would have the right to unionize and bargain collectively for higher wages and better working conditions; it also suspended some antitrust laws and established a federally funded Public Works Administration and authorize the President to regulate industry for fair wages and prices that would stimulate economic recovery. -
New Deal Programs – Ended Prohibition
Roosevelt recognized Prohibition was one of the more divisive issues of the 1920s – by pushing Congress to make it legal once again for Americans to buy beer he helped unify the country, reduce crime, and the cost of fighting bootleggers and organized crime. -
New Deal Programs - The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Provided jobs for unemployed people. WPA projects weren’t allowed to compete with private industry, so they focused on public works like post offices, bridges, schools, highways and parks. -
New Deal Programs – National Labor Relations Act – aka Wagner Act
Instrumental in preventing employers from interfering with workers' unions and protests in the private sector and established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to protect the rights of workers to organize, bargain collectively, and strike. -
New Deal Programs 11 - Social Security Act of 1935
Guaranteed pensions to millions of Americans, set up a system of unemployment insurance and stipulated that the federal government would help care for dependent children and the disabled. -
New Deal Programs - 1935 Banking Act
It changed the structure and power distribution in the Federal Reserve System that began with the Banking Act of 1933 and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). -
New Deal Programs - United States Housing Authority (USHA
It was designed to lend money to the states or communities for low-cost construction. It helped to get people out of slums andback to owning their own home. -
New Deal Programs - Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
Created the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits most employment of minors in "oppressive child labor". -
Manhattan Project Began
The Manhattan Project was the secret effort by US to build an atomic bomb and ushers in the age of nuclear warfare. -
Nazi Germany Invaded Poland
Germany concludes an agreement with the Soviet to jointly attack Poland, as result this effectively begins World War II because Britain and France had agreed to defend Poland. -
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Sitzkrieg
Sitzkireg also known as the Phoney War began with France and Britain declaring war on Germany but no large military action took place for nearly 8 months. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) defended the United Kingdom (UK) against the Luftwaffe of Germany. -
France fell to Germany
Germany defeats France in 6 weeks of combat operations, taking with it Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. -
Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
A deal to transfer fifty mothballed destroyers from the United States Navy in exchange for 99 year lease rights on British naval and air bases circumventing Neutrality Act to help Britain. -
America First Committee Launched
This was an influential political pressure group in the US that opposed aid to allies I World World II because it fear being dragged into another conflict and was a significant obstacle to aiding allies until just after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. -
Congress Instituted the Draft
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. This was the first peacetime draft in United States' history -
Four Freedoms
Roosevelt addressed the 77th session of Congress and insisted that people in all nations of the world shared Americans' entitlement to four freedoms, and was significant because FDR went beyond the regular freedoms insured by the constitution and claimed these new rights as American values. -
Lend-Lease
It provided that the U.S. President could ship weapons, food, or equipment to any country whose struggle against the Axis assisted U.S. defense and formally eliminated any semblance of neutrality. -
USS Kearny Attacked
The escorting of convoys to Britain was dangerous but up to this point none had fallen prey to German U-boat attacks, but this time with 11 American deaths it hardened American people attitude to supporting the war effort. -
Reuben James Sank
This was the first ship on convoy duty to be sunk by a German U-boat, although it didn’t cause the US the declare war it did serve to elevate tension. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese surprise attack results in the US entering World War II. -
Battle of Bataan
As result of the Battle of Bataan, the Japanese had to divert forces due to invade Australia to finish off the remaining American and Filapino forces of Bataan -
Battle of Coral Sea
It was the first pure carrier-versus-carrier battle and though a draw, it was an important turning point in the war in the Pacific because, for the first time, the Allies had stopped the Japanese advance. -
Battle of Midway
Considered the turning point in the Pacific, effectively eliminating Japan’s offensive capability in the Pacific during World War II. -
Bataan Death March
Not only was it a big loss for us, but it was the largest surrender in American history and through propaganda, it helped motivate Americans to fight for their country -
Island Hopping Campaign Begins
The strategy to bypass non-strategic islands and use other islands to leapfrog across the Pacific with the goal of setting up airbases for long range bombing of the Japanese Islands set up the final stage of the war with Japan. -
Battle of El Alamein
The two battles of El Alamein marked the elimination of German/Italian forces from North Africa and the tightening of the Allies control of the war in Europe. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad represented the final tide turning against the Germans, this along with the Battle of El Alamein marked the German’s retreat and an inability to dictate the war. -
Casablanca Conference
The result of this conference established a requirement for unconditional surrender which has the effect of putting the Axis forces on notice the war would be fought to their total destruction and served to close many possible avenues for negotiation. -
Tehran Conference
The was the first time all three key allied leaders met and they discussed the future of a post-war Europe's fate. -
D-Day
This marks the Allies opening the western European front in Northern France which then took pressure off the Soviets on the eastern front and also signaled the final stage of the war. -
MacArthur Returned to the Philippines
When MacArthur returns, just as he predicted, this was a popular with Filipinos and represented vindication for those who felt the US has abandoned the Philippines and also another significant victory for the allies in the Pacific. -
FDR Elected to a 4th Term
FDR has already broken the precedent of the unstated two-term limit for presidents but, being elected for a 4th consecutive term was even more unprecedented and was clearly indicative of his popularity and the inability of the American people to change presidents during the war. -
Battle of the Bulge
This marked the last major offensive by Germans during World War II and resulted in the destruction of the last significant fighting units of the Wehrmacht. -
Yalta Conference
The three leaders agreed to demand Germany's unconditional surrender and began finalizing plans for a post-war world. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This battle prevented the Japanese from having an air base to intercept long-range B-29 Superfortress bombers or a haven for Japanese naval units in dire need of logistical support. -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the last major battle of the war in the Pacific and also one of the bloodiest. -
FDR Died / Harry Truman Became President
This marks the transition of power to President Truman who then leads the country into the end of World War II for America. -
VE Day
This marks the end of the war in Europe and allows America to focus on the Pacific. -
Potsdam conference
The conference failed to settle the most important issues between the big three nations and sets the stage for the Cold War. -
Little Boy Dropped on Hiroshima
First atomic bomb used against Japan, killed 90,000 – 146,000 -
Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki
Second atomic bomb used against Japan, killing an estimated 40,000 – 80,000, this attack sped the surrender of Japan. -
VJ Day
This concludes the war in the Pacific and solidifies the US as a major world power for decades to come. -
Nuremberg Trials
The post-war trials held those responsible accountable for crimes committed during World War II, such as the Holocaust. -
Japanese War Crime Trials
Like the Nuremburg trials, these military tribunals sought to hold accountable, suspects of war crimes committed against soldiers and civilians during the war and were exposed as “plain, ordinary murderers,” and thus bringing closure to the Pacific War.
