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Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock
100 Separatists, immigrants, adventurers, and seculators set out across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower heading to the new land from England. Originally, the Mayflower was to arrive near Jamestown; but the Mayflower became lost at sea and arrived at what would be known as Cape Cod after two months of sailing. The pilgrams set up camp not far from Plymouth rock. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period of time in which rural societies in America became industrial and urban. This revolution marked the change from hand-held tools and basic machines to special purpose machines, factories, and mass production. -
Revolutionary War
Tensions between Great Britain's 13 American colonies and the colonial government caused the people to revolt against the British government.The colonies’ men fought for their independence in a full scale war. The French entered the war to assist the colonies, changing what was originally a civil war to an international conflict. The colonies won to war and gained their independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The revolutionary war began as a way to gain representation in the British government, but that summer, the goal became to acquire total independence of Britain. Delegates of the Continental Congress decided to send a formal declaration of independence from Britain to King George III. A committee of five men was assigned to draft the formal statement of the colonies’ intentions in mid June. The Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by congress on July 4th. -
Louisiana Purchase
In the Louisiana purchase, the United states acquired approximately 828,000,000 square miles of land from France. The Louisiana territory stretched from the Mississippi river to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Border. This doubled the size of the growing United States. -
Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire burned for two days before efforts to stop it finally worked. The fire destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people, and cause about $200 million in damage. There are many stories that claim to be the cause of the fire, they vary from a cow kicking over a lantern to a meteor hitting the city. Either way, the fire was catastrophic and took years to repair the city. -
Civil War
The Civil War occurred when the Southern states of the U.S. left the union because they believed that they should be allowed Slavery and many other reasons. President Abraham Lincoln did not want to allow the Confederate states to leave the union, thus the Civil War began. The Confederate and Union states fought for four years in what is the bloodiest war in American history. The Civil War was the war that the most Americans died at an estimated 620,000 dead. -
The U.S. Dakota War
The Dakota became furious when white settlers began to take all their land and food. The tribes decided to revolt against the settlers and found that the best time was during the Civil War when all the men were away in battle. The Dakota were no match for the white settlers whom had guns and other weapons to defend themselves. There was a series of unjust trials that followed the war and 303 Dakota men were hanged where the Blue Earth County Library stands today. -
WWI
WWI was sparked when the Archduke of Austia-Hungary was killed by a Serbian man. Tensions within Europe were so strained that when the murder of the Archduke occurred, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and other countries were quick to take sides and join the war. Britain, France, and Russia joined Serbia and create the Ally power. Germany, and the Ottoman Empire joined Austria-Hungary to create the Central Powers. Eventually, about 100 countires were involved, including the U.S. -
Great Depression
When the stock market crashed, it wiped out millions investors. Over the nest few years, the U.S. economy was in ruins; consumer spending and investment dropped and many companies had to lay-off workers. The Great Depression reached its worst in 1933, some 13-15 million Americans were unemployed and almost half of the U.S. banks had failed. President Theodore Roosevelt’s attempts helped lessen the effects of the Depression, but the economy would not begin to recover until WWII. -
Dust Bowl
The Great Plains contained rich, fertile soil for farming; but after generations of this soil being used for farming, much of the tip soil was gone. Therefore, when a drought struck the plains, and there were high winds, it cause catastrophic dust storms. The “black blizzards” covered parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. The dust storms made it impossible to raise crops and killed most families’ livestock. Farming families began to lose money fast, and fled the area. -
WWII
With Europe still recovering form WWI, all countries are somewhat vulnerable. Hitler took over Germany and increased their arm’s power so that he could invade other countries and gain more power. Britain and France declared war on Germany when the Nazis invaded Poland. The U.S. attempted to stay out of conflict as long as possible, but eventually joined the war when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, destroying most U.S. war ships and planes. -
Cold War
Despite how the U.S. fought alongside the Soviets in WWII, there was much distrust between the two nations. The U.S. worried Stalin was planning on taking over the world due to postwar expansion. And the Soviets held a grudge against America because of its delayed entry in WWII. Both leaders of the superpowers sought very different postwar plans, this of course caused more conflict. The Cold War consisted of spying on both parts and preparing for battle but never truly engaging. -
Apollo 11
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin set on the mission known as Apollo 11. The goal of this mission was to feat the worldwide goal of putting man on the moon. The two astronauts were the first people to ever land on the moon; and 6 hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first man to ever set foot on the moon. His famous words are remembered today: “That’s one small step for man, and one big leap for mankind.” -
9/11
19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group, al-Qaeda, hijacked four American planes and carried out suicided missions. Two of the planes crashed into the World Trade Towers, also known as the Twin Towers. One was flown into the Pentagon just outside of Washington D.C. And the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 civilians and rescue workers were killed in the attacks.
