US History: 1877-2008

By Kirsten.Hoq
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    Early American History (1776-1860)

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    Civil War/Reconstruction (1860-1877)

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    The Gilded Age (1877-1900)

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    The Progressive Era (1890-1920)

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    Imperialism (1898-1910)

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    World War 1 (1914-1918)

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    Roaring Twenties (1920-1929)

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    Great Depression (1929-1939)

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    World War 2 (1939-1945)

  • United Nations Formed

    The United Nations (UN) was created at the end of World War II as an international peacekeeping organization and a forum for resolving conflicts between nations. The UN replaced the ineffective League of Nations, which had failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Nations quickly became a Cold War battleground between communist and non-communist countries.
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    Early Cold War (1945-1960)

  • Truman Doctrine

    U.S. policy that gave military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism 1947 declaration that stated that the United States would militarily support nations that were being threatened by communism. Created initially to stem the tide of communism in Greece and Turkey.

  • 22nd Amendment

    Prohibits anyone who has been elected president twice from being elected again Limited the president to two terms or ten years. This was in response to FDR’s four elected terms.

  • Berlin Airlift

    response to a soviet blockade of allied controlled sections of Berlin, successfully brought food and medical supplies to allied controlled areas of Berlin.

  • Marshall Plan

    program to help European countries rebuild after World War II the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet communism

  • NATO Established

    NATO: Developed during Cold War to deter against USSR (Warsaw Pact). Promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and cooperation on defense and security issues to build trust, and in the long run, prevent conflict.

  • Korean War

    1950-1953 The Korean War was an important development in the Cold War because it was the first time that the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had fought a 'proxy war' in a third country. The proxy war or 'limited war' strategy would be a feature of other Cold War conflicts, for example the Vietnam War.
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    Civil Rights Era (1950-1970)

  • Rosenbergs Trial

    Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were charged and executed (1953) for allegedly passing atomic secrets to Russia, violating the Espionage Act of 1917.

  • First H-Bomb detonated by the United States

    The United States detonates the world's first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific. The test gave the United States a short-lived advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union.
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    Vietnam War (1954-1976)

  • Jonas Salk invents the Polio Vaccine

    Polio vaccines helps prevent polio.

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks' arrest

    1955-1956

  • USSR launches Sputnik

    Sputnik: First artificial satellite to orbit Earth, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. The U.S. responded by creating NASA and the National Defense Education Act.

  • Little Rock Nine integrated into an all-white school in Little Rock, AK

  • Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba

  • Berlin Wall built to prevent people from leaving communist East Berlin

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    1962 crisis that arose between the United States and the Soviet Union over a Soviet attempt to deploy nuclear missiles 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

  • John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX

  • Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” at the March on Washington

  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    1964 congressional resolution authorizing President Johnson to take any military action he felt necessary in Vietnam.

  • 24th Amendment

    Abolishes the poll tax

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Made discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin in public places illegal and required employers to hire on an equal opportunity basis

  • Medicare and Medicade Established

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Eliminated literacy tests for voters

  • Tet Offensive

    1968 attack by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces throughout South Vietnam. The North lost all battles and had enormous casualties, but the effect was to turn American public opinion against the war.

  • Martin Luther King is assassinated

  • Civil Rights Act of 1968

    prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of housing

  • Tinker vs. Des Moins

    Defined the first amendment rights for students in the United States Public Schools.

  • First Man on the Moon

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    End of the Cold War (1970-1991)

  • Pentagon Papers Leaked

    Secret government study of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, made public in 1971 by Daniel Ellsburg.

  • 26th Amendment

    Reduced the voting age from 21 to 18. This gave the young men getting drafted into Vietnam a way to influence policies that affected them.

  • Title IX

    protects people from discrimination based on gender in education programs

  • War Powers Act

    1973 law limiting the President's power to send American troops abroad.

  • Fall of Saigon (marks the end of the Vietnam war)

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    1990’s - 21st Century (1990-2008)