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The Interstate Commerce Act
The Interstate Commerce Act was a U.S. federal law aimed at limiting and regulating private businesses in hopes of preventing monopolistic control over transportation. It was passed because in the 1800s, railroad monopolies exploited farmers and small businesses by charging high and unpredictable rates, eventually leading to an outcry and the act. It was weakly enforced causing it to not make much of an impact, but it did set precedent for future federal regulation of private businesses. -
The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act aimed to assimilate Native Americans them into mainstream American society. They did this by breaking up their land and distributing the smaller portions to native families or individuals, with the rest going to white settlers. The act lead to a devastating loss of the natives cultural identity, traditional practices and land. -
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American war was a brief conflict fought between the U.S. and Spain from April 21 to December 10, 1898 that essentially ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas. The was was sparked by the explosion of the U.S.S. Marine in Cuba and U.S. support for Cuban independence, and it ended with the defeat of Spain. The U.S. then gained former Spanish territories including Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines and marked the rise of the U.S. as a global superpower. -
The Pure Food and Drug Act
The Pure Food and Drug Act was a law that banned the sale of contaminated foods and drugs, aiming to protect the American consumers. The law was passed largely due to the outrage after the publication of the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This book exposed the filthy and dangerous conditions of the meatpacking industry. -
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The Red Scare
The Red Scare was a period in time where there was intense fear of communism in the United States. People were worried about communists, or "reds", trying to overthrow the government, leading to many arrests and deportations. -
US Enters WWI
The United States entered World War I after years of being neutral in 1917, mainly because of the German submarine attack on American ships and the Zimmermann telegraph. President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to join the world and "make the world safe for democracy" and help the Allied forces defeat the Central Powers. -
19th Amendment- Women's Suffrage
The 19th amendment-- ratified August 18, 1920-- gave women the right to vote after decades of activism by the women's suffrage movement. It was a major victory for gender equality in America. -
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The Great Depression
The Great Depression was an economic crisis that started with the stock market crash in 1929, and it lasted throughout the 1939s. It led to widespread unemployment and poverty across the United States. The crisis deeply affected the American society and ended with Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. -
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The New Deal Reforms
The New Deal Reforms, put into place by Franklin D. Roosevelts, aimed to combat the effects of the Great Depression. These reforms created jobs, provided citizens with social securities, and regulated the stock market. It also helped restore American faith in the government via fireside chats. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 when Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii. The attack killed over 2,400 Americans and eventually lead to the United States joining WWII the next day. -
US Enters WWII
The United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. This led to full American involvement in the global conflict. -
The Atomic Bomb Drop on Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945 the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and three days later on Nagasaki during the final stages of WWII. Over 100,000 people died, and forced Japan to surrender on August 15, 1945, affectively ending the war. -
The Start of the Cold War
The Cold War was a period of political and military tension between the U.S. and its allies (representing democracy), and the Soviet Union and its allies (representing communism). It was characterized by nuclear arms race and proxy wars, but it never escalated into direct combat between the two superpowers. -
The US joined NATO
On April 4, 1949, the United States joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) as one if its founding members. NATO was established as a collective defense alliance to counter the perceived threat of the Soviet during the early years of the Cold War. -
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The Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement was a decades long struggle in the 50s and 60s with the goal of ending racism in America. Led by leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks, it resulted in Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which helped dismantle racial segregation and obtain the right to vote for African Americans. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education was a Supreme Court case in 1954 that ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. It essentially overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, declaring that "separate but equal" was inherently unequal and it mandated the desegregation of all schools across the U.S. -
Start of the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that took place from the 1950s to the 1970s. The U.S. supported South Vietnam to fight against the communist North Vietnam. The war ended with North Vietnam victory in 1975, leaving a lasting impacting on American confidence, politics, society and veterans. -
The Cuban Missle Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union over the presence of nuclear weapons in Cuba, 90 miles from U.S. shore. The crisis brought the world super close to nuclear war, but was resolved peacefully when the Soviet agreed to remove the missiles if the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba. -
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
The Apollo 11 moon landing occurred on September 7, 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to take a step on the moon. This is where we get the iconic line from Armstrong, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." It also a major victory for the U.S. in the Space Race against the Soviet. -
9/11
On September 11, 2001, two commercial planes crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one in a field in Pennsylvania. These four crashes were coordinated islamic terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States. In total, 2,977 people died that day, including the 19 terrorists.