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Founding of Jamestown (American Identity)
Jamestown, Virginia is named after King James I and was the first permanent English settlement in the New World. It is significant to American Identity because it laid the ground rules for American settlements to come. -
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Middle Passage (American Identity)
The Middle Passage is the part of the trading process where African slaves were brought over the Atlantic to America. Because of the slave trade in the United States, ethnicities in the US (especially in the south) were greatly divided. -
First Great Awakening (American Identity)
The First Great Awakening was a religious revival that left a permanent impact on American Protestantism. This affected the American Identity by changing Christianity in a way that made more people feel closer to God and Jesus Christ. -
Declaration of Independence (American Identity)
The Declaration of Independence is a document written by Thomas Jefferson outlining the colonies independence from England. This document is important for American Identity because it let America break its ties with England while also stating the core values of any American. -
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The Second Great Awakening (Political Participation)
The Second Great Awakening took place between the First and Third and was very similar to the First by helping Protestants focus on romanticism characterized by enthusiasm, emotion, and the super natural, rather than the old religious traditions. This event showed political participation by helping to revitalize previous religions and creating new religions. -
The Ratification of the Constitution (American Identity)
The ratification of the Constitution was when the US Constitution had to be approved by at least nine out of the thirteen colonies. This event shaped American Identity by clearly outlining the powers and embodiment of the United States government. -
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Manifest Destiny (American Identity)
Manifest Destiny is the American ideal that the United States could and should stretch from coast to coast. This allowed a much wider range of American Identities in the future by having many more regions throughout the United States. -
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The Underground Railroad (Political Participation)
The Underground Railroad was a circuit of Abolitionists who helped escaped slaves make it to the Northern States where they could attain freedom. The Railroad showed political participation through civil disobedience. -
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The Abolitionist Movement (Political Participation)
In the mid-1800's, the Abolitionist Movement was trying to achieve the emancipation of all slaves, and the end of racial segregation. The Abolitionists shows political participation by writing many books and papers, involving themselves in government, and protests. -
The Seneca Falls Convention (Political Participation)
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention to be held in the US, having almost 200 woman in attendance. The convention showed political participation through protesting and writing the "Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances", a document that stating men and women should be treated equally and explained the injustices done to women. -
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The Knights of Labor (Political Participation)
The Knights of Labor was a labor union during the late 1800's that included members from all industries and focused on higher pay, 8 hour work days, and abolishing child labor. They politically participated through strikes, protest, and riots. -
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The Gilded Age (American Identity)
The Gilded Age was a time between the 1870's and the early 1900's where jobs in industries other than farming became more needed and the line between the wealthy and the poor became larger and larger. This great divide in America's economical classes had made American Identity, from an outsiders perspective, much different than the land of opportunity that America is known for. -
13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments (American Identity)
The 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments (otherwise known as the Civil War Amendments) were amendments added to the US Constitution that banned slavery, let anyone born or naturalized in the US be a citizen, and let a man of any race vote. This event had let millions of people of color, slaves or free, participate in any activity a white person could, drastically changing the physical meaning of American Identity. -
Chinese Exclusion Act (American Identity)
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a federal law that prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers, which did not get repealed until 1943; this act was the first law to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the US. The law had most likely greatly restricted the Chinese population in the US, causing a change in the overall American Identity. -
The Haymarket Affair (Political Participation)
A labor protest in Chicago's Haymarket Square turned into a riot after one of the spectators had thrown a bomb at the police. This was an example of political participation through striking, rioting, and demonstrating. -
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Americanization Movement (American Identity)
The Americanization Movement was the American governments way of "Americanizing" the millions of immigrants coming into the country by turning them from the "unskilled, inefficient immigrants" into "skilled workers and efficient citizens". The attempted change in cultures that many immigrants went through had stripped some of their heritage while other had still held on to the country they were from. This large scale conformity had greater centralized the American Identity. -
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Muckrakers (Political Participation)
Muckrakers were progressive journalists from the Progressive Era who had written about institutions or leaders being corrupt or unjust. They politically participated through their writings, whether they be personal or published works. -
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Progressive Era (Political Participation)
The Progressive Era was a period where many of the lower and middle class were fighting for better conditions at work, stopping corruptions in government, and better immigration. These goals were accomplished through protests, writings, and general civil disobedience. -
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Populists (Political Participation)
Populists were members of the Populist's Party, a political party which eventually merged with other parties to make the Democratic Party in 1896, with small remnants staying active another 12 years. The party politically participated through their direct affecting of the government in favor of the left-wing and more specifically farmers. -
The Pullman Strike (Political Participation)
The Pullman Strike was a railroad strike that resulted in a government injunction and greatly disrupted railway traffic for the next couple months. The members of this event participated through striking and boycotts. -
Plessy v. Ferguson (American Identity)
The Plessy v. Ferguson case pitted a 1/8 black citizen, Homer Plessy , against the Supreme Court over both segregation in train-cars and segregation in general. The segregation was upheld by the Supreme Court under the ideal "separate but equal". The segregation between races only further divided the idea of American Identity as we know it today. -
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Industrial Workers of the World (Political Participation)
A world-wide labor worker organization made in Chicago that originally consisted of socialists, Marxists, and anarchists. They showed political participation through strikes, propaganda, and boycotts. -
The 17th Amendment (Political Participation)
The 17th Amendment stated that each state in the US Senate will be composed of two senators, each serving 6 year terms. This amendment was added from decades of written articles, protests, and unrest within the Senate. -
The 18th Amendment (Political Participation)
The 18th Amendment prohibited the production, transportation, and selling of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Many Americans combated prohibition through civil disobedience in the form of bootlegging alcohol. -
The 19th Amendment (Political Participation)
The 19th Amendment allowed for any woman in the United States to vote for government officials and laws. This amendment was created from much protesting, boycotting, and picketing. -
The Scopes Trial (Political Participation)
The Scopes Trial was the state of Tennessee vs. substitute teacher Thomas Scopes for him teaching his class about human evolution, which was against the law to do in public schools in the state. The Scopes Trial showed political participation through resistance going to court. -
Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" (American Identity)
The "Four Freedoms" speech is a speech by president Franklin D. Roosevelt where he outlined the four freedoms that "everyone in the world should enjoy". The freedoms are freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These four freedoms had outlined not only freedoms that the rest of the world should enjoy, but also those in America's constitution, further adding to the American Identity outlined in it. -
Korematsu v. United States (American Identity)
Korematsu v. United States was a Supreme Court case where the constitutionality of executive order 9066 (the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II) was brought into question. The court found in favor of the government because the need for overall security outweighed the individual rights of those interned. In this instance, the American Identity became less about individual safety and more about the safety of the country as a whole. -
Immigration Act of 1965 (American Identity)
The Immigration Act of 1965 is a reformed version of the previous immigration policy in the US where immigrants of certain origins could only come in if their "immigration quota" has not been met. The policy was changed so immigrants could come to the country if they have family already in the country or are skilled laborers. This allowed a wider range of cultures to come into the country, further adding to the American Identity. -
September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks (American Identity)
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. were hit by passenger planes, killing thousands both in the buildings and on the flights. These attacks had made the US government enact much more security in both immigration and airport/planes. Having our own home country attacked had spread fear throughout Americans, and it loosened the idea of America being invulnerable. -
Barack Obama's Presidency (American Identity)
The inauguration and presidency of Barack Obama was the first instance of the US having a black president. This groundbreaking action gave a true sense of the progression this country and its people have gone through in such a short amount of time.