Rhode Island becomes 9th state to officially ratify the Constitution
Alexander Hamilton creates Bank of the United States (opposed by Jefferson)
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)
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
John Adams (Federalist) defeats Thomas Jefferson (Republican) in first contested Presidential Election; Jefferson becomes Vice President
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
2nd Great Awakening – major religious reform movement; helps increase abolition
Thomas Jefferson defeats John Adams (controversy); Aaron Burr is VP
John Marshall becomes first chief justice of the Supreme Court
Louisana Purchase – not known to Jefferson if it was constitutional to annex land, Congress approves purchase from France, doubles the size of U.S.
Marbury vs. Madison establishes Judicial Review
Embargo Act – placed by Jefferson on Britain/France; fails – hurts U.S. economy
James Madison elected President
Tecumseh establishes union of Native Americans to resist westward movement of U.S.
William Henry Harrison leads attack on Tecumseh at Battle of Tippecanoe (wins) War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Congress declares war on Britain (issues – impressments, blockades, economy, Native Americans)
– Underground Railroad provides Northern escape for slaves
James Monroe elected 5th President (reelected in 1820)
Erie Canal– construction begins (connects Great Lakes to Atlantic Ocean)
McCulloch vs. Maryland – ruling confirms Congresses’ right to found the 2nd Bank of the United States
Spain cedes Florida to the U.S.
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
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)
Andrew Jackson elected 7thPresident
Two party system fully emerges in U.S. politics for first time
First Jim Crow Laws established (legal segregation)
Manifest Destiny – U.S. destiny and duty to expand and conquer the west
William Lloyd Garrison – wants immediate emancipation (he was white)
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – ends Mexican War, Mexico cedes Texas
Compromise of 1850 – North gets California as free states, ban of sale of slaves in D.C.
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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
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
Abraham Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth; Andrew Johnson now President
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)
Transcontinental Railroad– connects the coasts of the United States; greatest transportation achievement
15th Amendment – 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
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
Susan B. Anthony – gets women’s suffrage vote to Congress – leads to 19th Amendment
Thomas Edison creates the electric light
President James Garfield assassinated
Booker T. Washington – gradual approach to equal rights – prove yourself W.E.B Dubois – changes in civil rights now; founds the NAACP
Chinese Exclusion Act – bans Chinese immigration for 10 years
John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil Trust; Andrew Carnegie – Steel
Wounded Knee – Federal forces massacre 200 Sioux Indians
Sherman Antitrust Act – outlaws monopolies, price-fixing, other trade restraints
Populist Party – formed specifically to give farmers a voice in government
Yellow Journalism – journalism that features unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or individual journalists.
Plessy vs. Ferguson – ‘Separate but Equal’ is constitutional (overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education)
Grandfather Clause – voting rights of blacks challenged with literacy tests and poll taxes
Spanish-American War – Teddy Roosevelt leads Rough Riders, U.S. crushes Spain’s Navy
Treat of Paris – ends the Spanish-American War
Open Door Policy
President McKinley assassinated, Teddy Roosevelt now 26th President
Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine – increases U.S. presence in Latin America
Muckraker – writers who expose big business corruption
Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat Inspection – set food quality standards
Panama Canal – connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (opens in 1914)
Henry Ford introduces the Model T car, assembly lines introduced
16th Amendment – establishment of income tax , 17th Amend.– direct election of senators
World War I begins in Europe
German U-Boat sinks British passenger liner Lusitania, Americans killed on board
Zimmerman Telegram – intercepted by British, asks for Germany/Mexico alliance against U.S.; US. Enters WWI
Germany continues unrestricted submarine warfare – gets warning from U.S.
Selective Service Act – establishes the draft
Fourteen Points– by Woodrow Wilson, 14th pt most important – calls for League of Nations
Treaty of Versailles – ends WWI; calls for heavy reparations on Germany, disarmament, and creation of League of Nations; U.S. Senate rejects it
18th Amendment– outlaws purchase, sale, and transport of alcohol
19th Amendment – women’s suffrage (right to vote)
Teapot Dome Scandal – exposes massive corruption in Harding Administration
Dawes Plan – ease war reparations on Germany
Scopes Monkey Trial– popularizes debate over teaching evolution in schools – outlawed
Charles Lindbergh – completes world’s first solo flight across Atlantic – seen as a hero
Sacco and Vanzetti– executed for murder; controversial because the were anarchists, politically motivated and unjustified
Stock Market Crash– ‘Black Tuesday’ – launches Great Depression
Bonus Army (WWI vets) march on Washington demanding compensation – forced out
Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected President
U.S. unemployment rate reaches 25%, FDR claims Bank Holiday to fix banks
Fireside Chats – FDR address public on radio – continues to 1944 – gives public hope
1st 100 Days – creation of countless jobs, most productive of any president’s 1st 100 days
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
Huey Long– criticizes FDR, “Share Our Wealth” proposes large tax burden on wealthy
Wagner Act– supports union rights, protects collective bargaining
Social Security Act – establishes funds for unemployed and elderly
Germany (led by Adolf Hitler) invades Poland; WWII begins
FDR elected for unprecedented 3rd Term
Lend-Lease Act – provides U.S. loan aid to Britain, USSR & allied powers
Battle of Midway – U.S. defeats Japan, seen as turning point in the war in the Pacific
Manhattan Project– creation of the Atomic Bomb
Allies invade Normandy, France on D-DAY, June 6, 1944 (largest land/sea invasion)
Battle of the Bulge – begins to break down Axis position on western front
Nuremberg Trials – prosecute Nazi war criminals Baby Boom, Economic Prosperity
Allies liberate Nazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe
FDR dies, Harry Truman becomes President; Adolf Hitler commits suicide
Germany surrenders on V-E-DAY(victory in Europe day)
U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima (Aug. 6) and Nagasaki (Aug 9) – Japan surrenders
United Nations created with 51 founding nations
“Iron Curtain” – describes division of Communist Eastern Europe from Western Europe
Truman Doctrine – U.S. intent to fight Communism by helping free nations resist it.
Marshal Plan – postwar economic recovery to help Western Europe; largest relief aid given by the U.S. in U.S. history
Berlin Blockade – USSR blocks all aid into West Berlin; Berlin Airlift – U.S. drops food and supplies by air to West Berlin
Harry Truman orders desegregation of military
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) created – alliance system of 26 countries in North America and Europe
Korean war begins ; U.S. aids South Korea against North Korea; Peace Treaty in 1953
Joseph McCarthy – begins rabid anti-communist campaign; hurt when he accuses military of having communists; alcoholic
Brown vs. Board of Education – overturns Plessy vs. Ferguson; says separate but equal is unconstitutional
“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
Geneva Peace Accords – temporally divides Vietnam at 17th parallel
Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up seat on bus to whites; sparks Montgomery Bus Boycott
Jonas Salk – creates polio vaccine
USSR launches first satellite in space – Sputnik
1st televised Presidential debate – JFK vs. Nixon (JFK wins); JFK president 1960
1st televised Presidential debate – JFK vs. Nixon (JFK wins); JFK president 1960
JFK launches New Frontier platform to help America
Lunch Counter “Sit-Ins” spark waves of civil rights protest; SCLC created by MLK, Jr.
Bay of Pigs– failed invasion of Cuba by U.S. (CIA) trained military
Berlin Wall– divides East and West Berlin (East was communist)
Cuban Missile Crisis– standoff b/n U.S. and USSR after Soviets placed missiles in Cuba pointed at the United States; no fighting incurs
“I have a dream” speech given by MLK – speech for civil rights
Lee Harvey Oswald assassinates JFK in Dallas, TX
Lyndon Johnson President– launches “Great Society” program to end poverty and racism
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – bans discrimination in education, employment, & public places
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution– broadens LBJ’s military powers in Vietnam – no declare war
Voting Rights Act of 1965– bans literacy tests for voting
Malcom X (Nation of Islam) – blamed whites for African American problems; assassinated
Miranda vs. Arizona - police must read suspects their rights
Thurgood Marshall – first black justice of the Supreme Court
Tet Offensive launched by North Vietnamese Army – turning point of U.S. in Vietnam
James Earl Ray assassinated MLK, Jr. – hurts Civil Rights movement
Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother; Richard Nixon voted President
Apollo 11 lands on the moon, Neil Armstrong first to walk on moon
My Lai Massacre – U.S. soldiers kill 200 innocent men, women, and children
Pentagon Papers– 7,000 page document outlining U.S. government plan in Vietnam; shows gov’t was not telling truth to public.
Watergate Scandal– Nixon authorizes break-in and wiretapping of Democratic National Committee headquarters in Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.
Roe vs. Wade – legalizes abortion (up to 3 months)
U.S. Energy Crisis– fuel shortage in U.S. due to OPEC raising prices
U.S. withdraws from Vietnam; North Vietnam overtakes South after departure
Jimmy Carter elected President
Camp David Accords – Carter negotiates peace between Egypt and Israel
Three Mile Island – nuclear power accident causes concern of nuclear safety
Ronald Reagan elected 40th President
Iran releases U.S. embassy hostages released after 444 days in captivity.
Strategic Defense Initiative (a.k.a. STAR WARS) – space based missile defense proposed
Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on takeoff, crew killed; space program never the same
U.S. bombs Libya for supporting Palestinians
Osama Bin Laden founds Islamist group Al Qaeda
Chinese government crushes pro-democracy revolt in Tiananmen Square
Berlin Wall falls (Reagan feels its U.S.’s great est accomplishment of the era)
Saddam Hussein orders invasion of Kuwait; starts Operation Desert Storm
Bill Clinton President; appoints Janet Reno first female attorney genera