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Revolutionary War
After years of tension between the American colonies and Great Britain, colonists stage a rebellion to break free from their oppressive mothercountry. With help from France, the North American colonies gained freedom after eight years of fighting. -
Quasi War
This undeclared war was fouht between America and the French through naval battles. Building conflicts from the Franch Revolution, Great Britain, and outstanding war debt led to the XYZ affair and resulted in fighting. -
War of 1812
This military conflict was fought between Great Britain and the USA for two and a half years in three different theatres. This conflict was part of the ongoing Napoleonic wars. The cause of the war were the British sanctions on US trade, which great hurt the American economy. Battles were fought at sea, on the Canadian border, and on the mid-atlantic coastline. -
Mexican-American War
Marking the first armed conflict for the United States, the war was fought between Mexico and the US. After a series of battles laong the border, Mexico lost one-third of their land to the US. -
American CIvil War
The first shots were fired at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. This is when tensions between the Union North and the Confederate South boiled over and erupted into a war. President Abraham Lincoln led the North in a war against the racist, slave-owning South. While this war seemed to be fought for the abolition of slavery, other pressing matters such as state vs federal rights, economic differences, and political/social divides. The war ended with a Union victory, starting an era of Reconstruction -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Colonel Custer was sent to negotiate for the Black Hills owned by the Sioux (gold found there), offering the natives $6 million for the land. Custer's men were outnumbered 4:1 by the Sioux and other tribes, and were brutally slaughtered within an hour of fighting. Custer and his 250 men died in the hands of the natives, and the natives mutilated their bodies so that “their soul could not reach the afterlife”. -
Massacre at Wounded Knee
After their leader Sitting Bull is killed,the Sioux tribe flee their original grounds to join up with other Sioux tribes. One deaf native resisted to give up his weapon per the military’s request, and during a struggle to take his gun, a shot is fired and the entire US regimen fire into the group of unarmed Natives. It is estimated that 300 natives and 25 US soldiers died, and this massacre is considered the last of the Native battles. -
Homestead Strike
Frick, manager of the Homestead plant (owned by Carnegie and part of Carnegie Steel) worked to cut wages and to break apart the AA, the union protecting the skilled workers. After a failed attempt to use Pinkertons to stop the strikers, the state militia came in and took control of the situation. Overall, 16 were killed from both sides, and the strike leaders were balcklisted while the strikers ahd to return to work at Frick's low wages. -
Pullman Strike
Workers’ wages dropped and could not afford company town rent. Over 250,00 workers participated in the strike, and over $80 million was lost due to damages. President Cleveland sent 12,000 federal troops to stop the strike, ending with thirty deaths, many injured, and angry workers whom gained nothing from their striking. Cleveland sent in federal troops to stop the strike for he reasoned that the transportation of mail was being stopped from the lack of operational railroads. -
Spanish American War
US captures Filippenes from Spain. The Untied States military and native Fillipenes worked together to overthrow Spanish precense. US held control of the Phillippines for some time, so that other nations could not take it, and also so that internal conflicts would not hurt the country. US captures Guam easily from Spain. US retreated from Cuba for many men were dying of yellow fever, yet treaty is reached with Spain, and it is considered a victory for the US. Treay of Paris ends conflict. -
Manila Bay, Philippines
This was the first battle of the Spanish- American War. The fighting occured when a US Fleet, commanded by George Dewey, went into Manila Bay in the Phillippines. The fleet captured or destroyed all ten of the Spanish ships that were there. 381 Spanish lives were lost in the battle while only one American life was lost. -
Boxer Rebellion
In China during this time, a group of Chinese nationalists, called boxers, rebelled against foreignors in their country. At the time, many nations occupied China, mostly for economic purposes. The Boxers used violence to push these imperalistic foreignors out of their country. The US, under McKinley sents troops to join other countries to put down this rebellion. It should be noted that the Chinese government did not support the Boxers, yet some members did. -
Great White Fleet
This was the nickname of the modern and technologically advanced US navy fleet that was sent around the globe by Theodore Roosevelt. This action was to show off America's advanced navy/military, establising its dominance and stregnth in the world theatre. -
World War 1
The first major global war fought between countries of multiple continents. Mainly taking place in Europe, massive militarization in many major world powers erupted in to fighting when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated. Lasting the span of four years, over 16 milion civilians and combatants pershed from the result of new military technologies, including bombers, poison gas, better transportation, and overall, better weapons. In the end, the Allied forces triumphed the Central forces. -
Black Tom Explosion
On July 30, 1916, the Black Tom munitions facility was blown up by German saboteurs. The explosion killed seven people who were working there. The facility was in Jersey City, New Jersey and was holding military munitions. -
Bonus Army March
43,000 veterans and families set to Washington DC and demanded that the government immediatly pay in cash for their promised war pensions. Known as the Bonus Army, these people build temporary shanty towns around the Capital to get their pensions. However, President Hoover sent in the army to "clean up" the Bonus Army, killing 4 and injuring many in the process. -
World War 2
The largest military conflict on the history of Eath erupted from German invasion of Poland. The Axis Powers consisted of many totalitarian governments looking to secure Europe. The Allied Powers, fought to keep Europe free from oppressive leaders. On the Pacific front, the Japanese Empire fought to expand its borders, while the United States fought them to stop their attacks. Over 73 million dead from the six years of fighting, where the Allied forces reigned victorious. -
Pearl Harbor
During the early years of WWII, the US remained out of the conflict. As the US made plans to negotiate with Japan, Japan took the element of surprise and severly damaged the US's Pacific naval fleet through multiple bombing runs. This lead to the US's military involvement in WWII -
Korean War
The korean war took place in Korea and was fought between North And South Korea. Both sides had help from other countries. North Korea had pushed the south korean forces down in the early stages in the war. Then south korea fought the North koreans up to the Chinese border with the help of US forces. Then they fought back to mid korea with the help of chine. -
Tet Offensive
The northern Vietnam and Vietcong forces attacked many cities in southern Vietnam. This came on Tet, the Vietnamese new year. This event made people lose faith in LBJ because he told the American people that the war was going smoothly and this was not the case. -
Vietnam War
This conflict was never officially declared a war by Congress, and lasted the span of 19 years. After the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, Congress gave unconditional power to President Johnson to use all conventinonal force necessary to stop communist North Vietnam from spreading their influence. LBJ sent in a peak of 543,000 US soldiers to fight both the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese. President Nixon sucessfully pulled out from the war, that ended the war in a what is considered a stalemate.
