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George Washington Elected President
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Judiciary Act of 1789
Established the Supreme Court -
French Revolution
Federalists oppose it, Anti-Federalists support (U.S. Neutral) -
Rhode Island becomes 9th state to officially ratify the Constitution
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Alexander Hamilton creates Bank of the United States (opposed by Jefferson)
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All states unanimously ratify the Bill of Rights
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Proclamation of American Neutrality (by George Washington)
keeps America neutral after France declares war on Britain, Spain, and Holland (example of U.S. foreign policy) -
Fugitive Slave Act
illegal to help slaves escape -
Eli Whitney invents Cotton Gin
Creates massive increase of slaves in the South -
Whiskey Rebellion
1st time U.S. Government uses Federal troops to subdue domestic issues (Farmers did not like new excise taxes) -
Treaty of Greenville
U.S. cheaply pays 12 Native American tribes for Ohio territory -
Pinckney Treaty
Spain gives U.S. navigation rights on Mississippi River, New Orleans -
John Adams (Federalist) defeats Thomas Jefferson (Republican) in first contested Presidential Election; Jefferson becomes Vice President
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XYZ Affair
– French try to extort U.S. for diplomatic meetings – public wants war -
Alien & Sedition Acts
– expands Gov’t power, limit dissent and weakening of Gov’t, ruled unconstitutional -
Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions
increase state rights over Federal rights, written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison -
2nd Great Awakening
major religious reform movement; helps increase abolition -
– Thomas Jefferson defeats John Adams (controversy); Aaron Burr is VP
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Alexander Hamilton suggests U.S. capital moves to Washington, D.C.
move helps gain Southern support for Hamilton’s economics -
John Marshall becomes first chief justice of the Supreme Court
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Judiciary Act/Midnight Judges
Adams attempt to secure the Federalist party days before he is to leave office by appointing Federalists into office -
Westward Expansion and Strained Neutrality
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Marbury vs. Madison establishes Judicial Review
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Louisana Purchase
not known to Jefferson if it was constitutional to annex land, Congress approves purchase from France, doubles the size of U.S. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition sets to survey land of Louisana Purchase (Sacagawea guided) Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a duel
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– Embargo Act
– placed by Jefferson on Britain/France; fails – hurts U.S. economy -
James Madison elected President
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Tecumseh establishes union of Native Americans to resist westward movement of U.S.
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– William Henry Harrison leads attack on Tecumseh at Battle of Tippecanoe (wins)
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War of 1812
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-Congress declares war on Britain (issues – impressments, blockades, economy, Native Americans)
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Native Americans begin attacking U.S. settlers (weapons provided by Britain)
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Treat of Ghent ends War of 1812
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Treat of Ghent ends War of 1812
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-‘Era of Good Feelings’ (one party politics) begins in the U.S.
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U.S independence finally confirmed
Good relations with Britain begins (i.e. sharing of Oregon Territory) -
Underground Railroad provides Northern escape for slaves
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– James Monroe elected 5th President (reelected in 1820)
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Erie Canal
construction begins (connects Great Lakes to Atlantic Ocean) -
– McCulloch vs. Maryland
ruling confirms Congresses’ right to found the 2nd -
Spain cedes Florida to the U.S
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Missouri Compromise
sets dividing line between free and slaves states at
latitude 36’30’ o Above line (free), Below line (slave) -
– Stephen F. Austin establishes first U.S. Settlement in Texas
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Monroe Doctrine
claims western hemisphere closed to European intervention (first major U.S. foreign diplomacy) -
Gibbons vs. Ogden
establishes federal control of interstate commerce -
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die on same day (50th anniversary of Dec. of Independence
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- Andrew Jackson elected 7thPresident
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Two party system fully emerges in U.S. politics for first time
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-Indian Removal Act
authorizes forcible westward relocation of Native Americans -
Cyrus McCormick
invents mechanical reaper – transforms agriculture -
Ralph Waldo Emerson
– transcendentalism (individualism) -
Thoreau
Civil Disobedience -
Spoils System
– giving government positions to friends or colleagues (Andrew Jackson -
-Horace Mann
reforms in education -
-Trail of Tears
Cherokee tribes sent on forced removal to Oklahoma, 4,000 die on way -
– First Jim Crow Laws established (legal segregation
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Manifest Destiny
– U.S. destiny and duty to expand and conquer the west -
– William Lloyd Garrison
wants immediate emancipation (he was white -
Frederick Douglass
creates North Star abolitionist newspaper, writes Narratives of... -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
– ends Mexican War, Mexico cedes Texas and all land north of the Rio Grande to U.S. (creates modern border of the U.S. with
Gadsden Purchase) -
-Compromise of 1850
North gets California as free states, ban of sale of slaves in D.C.
South gets stricter enforcement of Fugitive Slave Act, $10 mil to Texas -
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
– repeals Missouri Compromise, popular sovereignty to determine slave/free states -
– “Bleeding Kansas”
John Brown leads antislavery massacre at Pottawatomie Creek, fight over slavery in Kansas -
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
ruling effectively nullifies Missouri Compromise, declares that slaves are property – cannot sue. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
– Stephen Douglas wins Illinois Senate seat. Lincoln a household name -
John Brown leads attack on arsenal at Harper’s Ferry; later captured and hanged
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Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President;
South Carolina secedes the Union = Civil War -
– Confederate States formed
Jefferson Davis – 1st and only President -
– Fort Sumter (S.C.)
confederates attack Union – war starts -
Homestead Act
– 160 acres to each farmer willing to cultivate land in West -
Battle of Antietam
bloodiest battle of the Civil War -
– Battle of Gettysburg
turning point of Civil War; South never recovers -
– Emancipation Proclamation
– frees slaves in only Confederate states; foreign diplomacy! -
– William Sherman
‘March to Sea’ – Atlanta to Savannah – destroys everything! -
- 13th Amendment
– abolishes slavery -
Gen. Robert E. Lee (confederacy) surrenders at Appomattox Court House to Union Gen. Ulysses Grant
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– Abraham Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth; Andrew Johnson now President
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South establishes Black Codes
limits rights of freed blacks -
Civil Rights Act of 1866
grants citizenship to all people born in U.S. (14th
Amendment) -
Tenure of Office Act
used to impeach Andrew Johnson (said he had violated it) -
U.S. purchase Alaska from Russia (becomes 49th state in 1959)
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Transcontinental Railroad
connects the coasts of the United States; greatest transportation achievement -
15thAmendment
– grants protection of voting rights to black males -
– Hiram Revels
– first black senator – Mississippi -
William “Boss” Tweed
– greatest example of a political machine (NYC) -
Slaughter House Cases
authority of state governments over individuals -
– Whiskey Ring Scandal
– corruption in Grants administration & Republican party -
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse lead Sioux to crushing victory of General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn
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Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
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Susan B. Anthony – gets women’s suffrage vote to Congress – leads to 19th Amendment
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Thomas Edison creates the electric light
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– President James Garfield assassinated
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– Booker T. Washington – gradual approach to equal rights – prove yourself W.E.B Dubois – changes in civil rights now; founds the NAACP
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– Chinese Exclusion Act – bans Chinese immigration for 10 years
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– John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil Trust; Andrew Carnegie – Steel
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Dawes Severalty Act – denies tribal rights, advances forced assimilation, opens lands to whites
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Wounded Knee – Federal forces massacre 200 Sioux Indians
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Sherman Antitrust Act – outlaws monopolies, price-fixing, other trade restraints
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– Populist Party – formed specifically to give farmers a voice in government
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Yellow Journalism – journalism that features unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists.
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Plessy vs. Ferguson – ‘Separate but Equal’ is constitutional (overturned by Brown vs. Board of Educatio
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Grandfather Clause – voting rights of blacks challenged with literacy tests and poll taxes
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Spanish-American War – Teddy Roosevelt leads Rough Riders, U.S. crushes Spain’s Navy
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– Treat of Paris – ends the Spanish-American War
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Open Door Policy
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– President McKinley assassinated, Teddy Roosevelt now 26th President
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Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine – increases U.S. presence in Latin America
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Muckraker – writers who expose big business corruption
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Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat Inspection – set food quality standards
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Panama Canal – connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (opens in 1914)
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– Henry Ford introduces the Model T car, assembly lines introduced
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– 16th Amendment – establishment of income tax , 17th Amend.– direct election of senators
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World War I begins in Europe
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German U-Boat sinks British passenger liner Lusitania, Americans killed on board
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Germany continues unrestricted submarine warfare – gets warning from U.S.
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Zimmerman Telegram – intercepted by British, asks for Germany/Mexico alliance against U.S.; US. Enters WWI
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Selective Service Act – establishes the draft
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Fourteen Points– by Woodrow Wilson, 14th pt most important – calls for League of Nations
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Treaty of Versailles – ends WWI; calls for heavy reparations on Germany, disarmament, and creation of League of Nations; U.S. Senate rejects it
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18th Amendment– outlaws purchase, sale, and transport of alcohol
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19th Amendment – women’s suffrage (right to vote)
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Teapot Dome Scandal – exposes massive corruption in Harding Administration
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– Dawes Plan – ease war reparations on Germany
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– Dawes Plan – ease war reparations on Germany
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Charles Lindbergh – completes world’s first solo flight across Atlantic – seen as a hero
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– Sacco and Vanzetti– executed for murder; controversial because the were anarchists, politically motivated and unjustified
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– Stock Market Crash– ‘Black Tuesday’ – launches Great Depression
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– Stock Market Crash– ‘Black Tuesday’ – launches Great Depression
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected President
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected President
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Fireside Chats – FDR address public on radio – continues to 1944 – gives public hope
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1st 100 Days – creation of countless jobs, most productive of any president’s 1st 100 days
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Unemployment Relief Act and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to employ public works
oAAA – controls crop production, compensates farmers for cooperation
oTVA – established to construct dams in Tennessee River to generate electricity
oNIRA – sets nationwide business practices
oNRA – manage industry recovery
oPWA – employ jobless -
20thAmendment – shifts presidential inaugurations from March to January
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21st Amendment – repeals 18th amendment (prohibition)
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Huey Long– criticizes FDR, “Share Our Wealth” proposes large tax burden on wealthy
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– Wagner Act– supports union rights, protects collective bargaining
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Social Security Act – establishes funds for unemployed and elderly
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– FDR elected for unprecedented 3rd Term
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Lend-Lease Act – provides U.S. loan aid to Britain, USSR & allied powers
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– Atlantic Charter– agreement b/n U.S President FDR and Britain Prime Minister Churchill
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Propaganda– motivate U.S. citizens to support war efforts
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Battle of Midway – U.S. defeats Japan, seen as turning point in the war in the Pacific
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Interment of Japanese Americans– imprisonment of Japanese in California
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Manhattan Project– creation of the Atomic Bomb
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Allies invade Normandy, France on D-DAY, June 6, 1944 (largest land/sea invasion)
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Battle of the Bulge – begins to break down Axis position on western front
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Allies liberate Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe
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FDR dies, Harry Truman becomes President; Adolf Hitler commits suicide
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Germany surrenders on V-E-DAY(victory in Europe day)
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U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (Aug 9) – Japan surrenders
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United Nations created with 51 founding nations
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– Nuremberg Trials – prosecute Nazi war criminals Baby Boom, Economic Prosperity
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– “Iron Curtain” – describes division of Communist Eastern Europe from Western Europe
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Truman Doctrine – U.S. intent to fight Communism by helping free nations resist it.
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– Marshal Plan – postwar economic recovery to help Western Europe; largest relief aid given by the U.S. in U.S. history
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– Berlin Blockade – USSR blocks all aid into West Berlin; Berlin Airlift – U.S. drops food and supplies by air to West Berlin
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Harry Truman orders desegregation of military
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– NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) created – alliance system of 26 countries in North America and Europe
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Korean war begins ; U.S. aids South Korea against North Korea; Peace Treaty in 1953
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– Joseph McCarthy – begins rabid anti-communist campaign; hurt when he accuses military of having communists; alcoholic
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– Communist Fear in U.S. – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage; Alger Hiss convicted of perjury – 1991 Soviet documents confirm their guilt!
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* Brown vs. Board of Education – overturns Plessy vs. Ferguson; says separate but equal is unconstitutional
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– “Containment”-(Truman) must stop spread of all communism; “Domino Theory” (Eisenhower) – fears that Indochina must not go communist or it will spread all over the world
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- Geneva Peace Accords – temporally divides Vietnam at 17th parallel
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Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up seat on bus to whites; sparks Montgomery Bus Boycott
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Jonas Salk – creates polio vaccine
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USSR launches first satellite in space – Sputnik
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– 1st televised Presidential debate – JFK vs. Nixon (JFK wins); JFK president 1960
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JFK launches New Frontier platform to help America
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Lunch Counter “Sit-Ins” spark waves of civil rights protest; SCLC created by MLK, Jr.
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– Bay of Pigs– failed invasion of Cuba by U.S. (CIA) trained military
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– Berlin Wall– divides East and West Berlin (East was communist)
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Cuban Missile Crisis– standoff b/n U.S. and USSR after Soviets placed missiles in Cuba pointed at the United States; no fighting incurs
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“I have a dream” speech given by MLK – speech for civil rights
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– Lee Harvey Oswald assassinates JFK in Dallas, TX
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Lyndon Johnson President– launches “Great Society” program to end poverty and racism
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Civil Rights Act of 1964 – bans discrimination in education, employment, & public places
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Gulf of Tonkin Resolution– broadens LBJ’s military powers in Vietnam – no declare war
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– Voting Rights Act of 1965– bans literacy tests for voting
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Malcom X (Nation of Islam) – blamed whites for African American problems; assassinated
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Miranda vs. Arizona - police must read suspects their rights
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– Thurgood Marshall – first black justice of the Supreme Court
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Tet Offensive launched by North Vietnamese Army – turning point of U.S. in Vietnam
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James Earl Ray assassinated MLK, Jr. – hurts Civil Rights movement
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Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother; Richard Nixon voted President
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Apollo 11 lands on the moon, Neil Armstrong first to walk on moon
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My Lai Massacre – U.S. soldiers kill 200 innocent men, women, and children
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Pentagon Papers– 7,000 page document outlining U.S. government plan in Vietnam; shows gov’t was not telling truth to public.
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– Watergate Scandal– Nixon authorizes break-in and wiretapping of Democratic National Committee headquarters in Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.
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– Roe vs. Wade – legalizes abortion (up to 3 months)
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U.S. Energy Crisis– fuel shortage in U.S. due to OPEC raising prices
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– U.S. withdraws from Vietnam; North Vietnam overtakes South after departure
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– Jimmy Carter elected President
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Camp David Accords – Carter negotiates peace between Egypt and Israel
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Three Mile Island – nuclear power accident causes concern of nuclear safety
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Three Mile Island – nuclear power accident causes concern of nuclear safety
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– Iran releases U.S. embassy hostages released after 444 days in captivity.
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– Strategic Defense Initiative (a.k.a. STAR WARS) – space based missile defense proposed
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Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on takeoff, crew killed; space program never the same
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– U.S. bombs Libya for supporting Palestinians
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– U.S. bombs Libya for supporting Palestinians
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– U.S. bombs Libya for supporting Palestinians
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Berlin Wall falls (Reagan feels its U.S.’s great est accomplishment of the era)
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Saddam Hussein orders invasion of Kuwait; starts Operation Desert Storm
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Bill Clinton President; appoints Janet Reno first female attorney genera