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Plymouth Rock
The Pilgrims were the first Puritan settlers that crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower, finding Plymouth, Massachusetts. In England, the Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican church and were persecuted because of it. Seeking religious freedom they fled in hope to find a new life. In Plymouth, they could worship and build the churches they wanted without being killed. Though the Pilgrims struggled at first, Plymouth was successful and America was built on the history that comes from it. -
KIng Philip's War
King Philip's war was a massive Indian rebellion against the settlers. It is also known as the last major effort to drive them out. The Indians wrecked the New England settlements, destroying 12 towns. The settlers attacked back and destroyed the Indians' crops, having them starve. In the end, the Indians were defeated and lost their land. Some fled northward to Canada while others faced great hardships. King Philip's war was one of the most devastating wars in U.S. history measured by deaths. -
Witches in Salem
The Salem witch trials took place in Salem, MA and lasted about a year. It all started when young girls accused a group of women performing witchcraft. Cattle and sickened children also caused suspicion too. The trials prosecuted and executed those who were found guilty of being a witch. This created anxiety all over town and people started accusing their own family members of witchcraft. It got too out of hand and the colony was trapped in chaos. When the trials ended, families were torn apart. -
How did the French-Indian war start
The French-Indian war started by Britain and France fighting over land in North America. France had Canada and Britain had the 13 colonies. The French wanted to expand south, and the British west. It was already certain that both countries would meet somewhere along the way and break into war. When it came to the Ohio River valley, it had fertile soil and a good fur trade. Both countries wanted this land and so it began the fight for this valley, and the fight for other land along the way. -
British's turning point in the war
The French were defeating the British and destroying their settlements in the beginning of the war. With George Washington leading in combat and William Pitt putting in money, the war soon looked brighter for Britain. What really turned the war around was in 1758 when the British cut off French shipping to America. This action led to the Natives deserting the French and joining the better supplied British army which led the British to capturing French fortresses and eventually winning the war. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the French-Indian war (also known as the Seven Years War) in North America with the British and French, and all their allies. Although it ended the war in North America, fighting still continued in other parts of the world. The Treaty sided with the British and they kept Canada, Great Lakes region, the Ohio River valley, and Florida. The British successfully drove out the French from North America, and they also ended their relationship with the Natives after the war. -
Taxing the colonists
After the British won the French-Indian war, they got to expand their territory but also got into great national debt. To resolve this, Parliament thought that the colonists could help by paying taxes as a repayment to Britain protecting the colonists in the war. Once Britain announced the taxes on North America, the colonists were furious. Although Britain did have right to tax because it was a part of their empire, the colonists were not accepting it and decided to fight. -
Opposition and protests from the colonists
The colonists believed the taxes Britain put upon them was taking away their liberty and prosperity. They said that Britain had no right to tax them because Britain originally gave them self-government. The Colonists resisted right away. Tax protests came in three forms which were intellectual, economic, and violence. Colonists spoke out, stopped buying British imports, and used violent acts against the British. Riots and protests led to events like the Boston massacre and the Boston Tea Party. -
The First Continental Congress
In the fall of 1774, delegates from every colony except for Georgia met in Pennsylvania which was the First Continental Congress. This meeting was a discussion on how to stop the taxes. To withdraw the Coercive acts, they decided to start boycotting all British imports. The Patriots established committees throughout all the colonies to reinforce this. In result, they also established new governments which bypassed Parliament and the crown. This was a big step to independence from Great Britain. -
The XYZ Affair
The Jay Treaty between the U.S. and Britain had offended the French. France felt betrayed. To show their anger, France started seizing American ships. Adams decided to make peace and sent U.S. envoys to Paris. When the envoys got there, 3 French officials (X, Y, and Z) demanded humiliating terms and bribes. Adams broke off negotiations and America was insulted by France. In 1798, an undeclared war broke out between the U.S. and France. The French and the Americans were on rough terms. -
The Alien and Sedition Acts
These two controversial acts were signed into law by John Adams. The Alien Act allowed the President to arrest and deport immigrants who criticized the government. The Sedition Act made it a crime to criticize the government publicly. In court, it also said how you were guilty until proven innocent. These both were made to target the Democratic Republicans, who the Federalists strongly opposed. Intentionally, Adams wanted this to help American neutrality, but as a result, lost major popularity. -
The end of Adam's Presidency
From the Sedition Act to unpopular taxes to complicated relations with the French, Adams was losing support. He knew it himself too and attempted at solving his problems. Adams stopped expansion of the army and sent new diplomats to France to negotiate peace in 1799. Hamilton and other Federalists were angry at this and because Hamilton worked behind the scenes to mess up Adam's Presidency, it made more of Adams' popularity lag. In the Election of 1800, Adams lost to Jefferson. -
How Jefferson attacked the nation's debt
Thomas Jefferson adopted a nation $80 million in debt, but planned on changing that. He attacked it much differently than a Federalist would. Jefferson encouraged Congress to abandon the Alien and Sedition Acts and the unpopular taxes. He also made major cuts to the army and navy, and got rid of the unnecessary parts of the government. Also, with foreign trade growing and the sale of federal lands increasing helped a lot. Jefferson was able to get the national debt down to $57 million. -
The Louisiana Purchase
With the population increasing and the limited farms, Jefferson needed to expand. The Louisiana Territory was first owned by Spain and then was bought by France. Since France was in a war and with complications in a mission in Haiti, they needed an army and money. So when Jefferson sent men to try to negotiate something with Napoleon, France's dictator, he decided to sell the whole territory for $15 million. The territory doubled the size of America and the country was truly prospering. -
The Embargo Act
The desperate British navy started impressing U.S. sailors into their navy. Jefferson knew he couldn't build a bigger navy to fight because of its costs, so instead he got Congress to declare an embargo. This act suspended trade with Britain. Expecting that this would hurt the British, they found other markets in S. America. Instead, the embargo hurt America. People were bankrupt, thrown out of business, and farmers couldn't export their crops. Jefferson knew he failed and he became unpopular. -
The Transportation Revolution
In the early 1800's, technology advanced and improvements came about. Transportation was revolutionized by roads, canals, steamboats, and railroads. Before, transportation was expensive, slow, and not efficient. These new transportation systems made travel with goods and people faster. Markets expanded from local to all over the nation and trade immediately increased. The nation benefited from this new transportation and it was a permanent change that would be used for years and years. -
The Missouri Compromise
The Union at the time was split evenly with free and slave states and equal power in Senate, so when Missouri wanted to come into the Union as a slave state, it caused issues. To fix this, Henry Clay made the Missouri Compromise which made Maine enter as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. It also made a line that would determine in the future which states would be slave or free. The compromise was a short term fix but would soon lead to more disputes over the expansion of slavery. -
Industry changing Northern society
When industry grew in the North quickly, society changed. Workers weren't required to have skills so many skilled artisans struggled in business. For others, lives were tough and working conditions were bad, so many workers organized labor unions, people who sought better pay and conditions. The middle class also became more common and the social gap widened. The introduction of immigrants also made the population increase rapidly and social tensions rise as competition for jobs increased. -
The Monroe Doctrine
Nationalism became more known in America and was used for foreign policy situations. An example of this was the famous Monroe Doctrine, formulated by John Quincy Adams. The policy responded to European threats to help Spain recover Latin American colonies after declaring independence. President Monroe and Adams wanted to protect the republics and ultimately this doctrine showed the nation's desire for power. America wanted Latin America for expansion and wanted to protect it for their own good. -
Cotton gin increases slavery
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which reduced the amount of time and cost of separating cotton seeds from white fiber. This invention made cotton more popular, profitable, and became the South's leading crop in the mid 1800's. The down side of this invention was that it increased slavery. To grow the cotton, it required workers, and slaves were cheap. As cotton production grew, so did slaves. Slavery helped keep agriculture going, boosting the economy and making farmers dependent on them. -
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall of New York was the most famous political machine, dominating Democratic party politics.Tammany Hall is most known for its corruption, fraud, and its major corrupt politician leader, Boss Tweed. Boss Tweed ran both New York and Tammany Hall, controlling the city jobs and city contracts. Although overall bad, it had some better aspects to it such as providing services to immigrants and poor people. But, in order to get this, they had to vote to help Tammany Hall stay in power. -
Gilded Age Republicans and Democrats
Politicians and presidents during the Gilded Age included Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Chester Arthur, Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and McKinley. The parties of this time had different views. Gilded Age Republicans favored high tariffs, low government spending, paying off national debt, and reducing the amount of paper money. Gilded Age Democrats opposed the tariffs and were linked to New York bankers and financiers. Both of the parties were pro-business, but in different ways. -
First Big Scandals
The first big scandal involved Credit Mobilier, which was the construction company that did most of the road building for the Union Pacific Railroad. They overcharged the public for construction costs and draw off profits to the company. Then there was bribery of Congressman. The second major scandal was called Whiskey Ring which were distillers who didn't want to pay excise taxes on products. John McDonald reduced the taxes by intentionally under counting the number of kegs of booze. -
Grange Movement (Farmer's Alliance Movement)
The Western part of the country was politically motivated over the issue of freight rates. Farmers formed the Grange Movement in order to establish fair railroad rates and warehouse charges. Railroads being monopolistic, it became hard to negotiate fair shipping prices. The Grange Movement then turned into the Farmer's Alliance movement, pushing for economic cooperation to raise prices. The key motives they had were to have a sub-treasury plan and free coinage of silver. -
Settlement Houses
Settlement houses were in cities, as a response of the influx of immigrants and urban poverty. Its purpose was to share knowledge and culture, and alleviate poverty, providing support services. They provided classes, clubs, and social opportunities for both adults and kids. The first settlement house was Hull House founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr. There was an importance in making the rich and poor live close together in society as an interdependent community, especially during this time. -
Civil Service Act and Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Civil Service Act of 1883 was promoted by Garfield's assassination. It had created a merit system for 10% of federal employees, chosen by competitive examination than political favoritism. Unintended, it had made politicians more dependent on big business donations than from small donations from political appointees. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 had forbade combinations and practices that had restrained trade. It was hard to enforce though because of huge monopolies, like U.S. Steel. -
Populist Party
The Farmer's Alliance and supporters grew into the Populist party. Their plan for the country was the sub-treasury plan, government ownership of railroads, graduated income tax, government control of the currency, recognition of the Rights of Laborers to form Unions, and free coinage of silver for inflation. They wanted to appeal to producing classes, especially miners and industrial workers. Some Populist states had even granted women the right to vote, adding power to the electoral college. -
Louis Sullivan
Louis Sullivan is known as the father of modern architecture, as he's considered America's first modern architect. One of his famous buildings is the Wainwright Building. In his early years, Sullivan had worked for William Le Baron Jenney, who built the first skyscraper. Sullivan wanted to match a building to its environment. He became advocated for unique American architectural forms, and used natural ornament as a metaphor for a democratic society. His work showed a changing society. -
The Social Gospel
The Social Gospel was a Protestant religious movement that tied salvation and good works together. Much of the focus was also on to become like Jesus, trying to reciprocate his words and actions. It emphasized the need for Christians to be concerned for the salvation of society, not individual souls. Social Gospel leaders encouraged people to engage with society, and challenge social, political, and economic structure. It had become a sort of Christian socialism, confronting sins of society. -
Anti-Saloon League
The Anti-Saloon League was founded in 1893 in Ohio. It started off small but quickly turned into a powerful national one. The league was non-partisan and focused on prohibition. Their main campaign was to achieve national prohibition through the Constitution. They worked with churches in marshaling resources, stressing its religious character, and even allied with others such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. They also established a publishing company to increase anti-alcohol sentiment. -
Hawaiian Revolt
The Hawaiian Revolt was when American sugar growers revolted against the native Hawaiian monarchy. These growers attempted many times to increase their interest and decrease native influence, which led to revolting to secure a liberal constitution. The revolt was by the Revolutionary Committee of Safety and organized by Sanford B. Dole. US Marines were even sent to protect American lives. This new government received American recognition and a treaty was drawn up to annex Hawaii. -
Roosevelt and the environment
President Roosevelt wanted wildlife lands and forests to be used and preserved. He believed some lands contained natural resources that would help and are needed. There was the Forest Reserve Act in 1898, allowing Presidents to set aside land for public forests and national parks. The creation of the National Reclamation Act gave govt power to control where and how water should be used. And finally, dams were created to generate power and direct water flow to allow states to use it. -
Political Reforms
Major political reforms occurred. There was the initiative, where voters could directly propose legislation themselves. The Referendum put laws on ballots to be voted for by the ppl. The Recall allowed voters in removing failing or corrupted elected officials. There was direct primary elections, an increase in secret ballots, and a restriction on the amt. of money candidates could spend on their campaigns. Also, the 17th amendment was passed, which was direct election of senators by the ppl. -
Muckrakers
Muckrakers became very popular during the Progressive Era. They were journalists that would expose corruption and inequality of big business and large corporations. They got their name from Roosevelt because he didn't really like Muckrakers and looked at them more of problem creators, not solvers. Some famous muckrakers are Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffins, Jacob Riis, and Upton Sinclair. Jacob Riis' work had actual pictures of workers and the poor living in cities, and that was really effective. -
Women's Role in Progressive Era
Many women wanted to improve the lives of the poor and worked in Settlement Houses, which offered services to the urban poor. They were involved in movements, and through that they got greater political influence. Instead of being in a different role, women pointed that all of this was an extension of the home. Women also created the Women's Bureau in 1920, which worked in creating equality for women in the labor force. They promoted policy changes, increased public awareness and education. -
Other things Roosevelt did
The other things Roosevelt, the Progressive, did was forming the department of commerce and labor in order to look after business from abusing power. He passed the Elkins Act and Hepburn Act, which gave govt power to punish railroads and authority to set and limit shipping costs. He passed the meat inspections act, where federal agents inspected meat sold across state lines and meat plants. He also passed the pure food and drug act, which worked on shipping of impure food and improper labeling. -
Roosevelt Square Deal
In the Square Deal, Roosevelt wanted to regulate big business, and not destroy it. He wanted some sort of peace between big business and workers, so he acted as the middle ground. There was a mindset that everyone has a chance, but if you don't take that chance, then it's your own fault, not Roosevelt's or anyone else. The Square Deal has 3 C's, control of the corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources. -
Theodore Roosevelt (trust buster)
Teddy Roosevelt went from President of NY board of policemen, to appointed asst. secretary of the navy, to governor of NY, and then to President. Many liked his fighting to end corruption. Roosevelt was known as a trust buster as he fought to end bad trusts, went against corruption, and formed the square deal to stop big business of taking advantage of small businesses and poor. He broke up trusts and forced some companies to divide into small ones, and he believed there was good and bad trusts. -
Dollar Diplomacy
Dollar Diplomacy was created by President William Taft and his Secretary of State, Philander C. Knox. The goal of this diplomacy was to create stability and order to other places abroad that would promote U.S. commercial interests the best. Overall, Dollar Diplomacy was controversial and ultimately criticized for using money to control other people. -
New Freedom and New Nationalism
New Freedom was Wilson's campaign, emphasizing competition, small enterprise, state's rights, less govt intervention, free functioning of unregulated market, that social issues connects w/ state issues, and the belief that competition will destroy monopolies. New Nationalism was Roosevelt's ideals, wanting federal govt to increase power to fix social/economic issues, tariff reforms, graduated income tax, women minimum wage, child labor laws, prevent voting corruption, and regulate big business. -
Woodrow Wilson
Wilson was a Democrat and in the Election of 1912, he defeated Taft, a Republican, and Roosevelt, part of the Progressive Party. During presidency, Wilson lowered tariffs in order to prevent U.S. companies from increasing prices. He also made foreign products more competitive. He created the Underwood Tariff Act, the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Clayton Anti-trust Act. He also created Moral Diplomacy, where support was given to countries with moral beliefs like U.S.
