U.S. History: 1877-2008

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    Early American History

  • Signing of the Declaration of Independence

    The Declaration was signed by congress during this day.
  • Writing of the Constitution

    This date marked the end of the writing of the Constitution.
  • Bill of Rights Ratified

    This is when the document that stated US citizens' rights was ratified.
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    Civil War/Reconstruction

  • Homestead Act

    This Act provided 160 acres to anyone willing to settle on land in the west.
  • 13th Amendment Ratified

    This Amendment was put in place to abolish slavery, it was ratified on this day.
  • 14th Amendment Ratified

    The 14th Amendment was ratified on this date, it allowed born and naturalized citizens equal protection under the law, it also included former slaves.
  • Transcontinental Railroad Completed

    The first railroad to stretch from either side of the US was completed on this day.
  • 15th Amendment Ratified

    This Amendment allowed African men to vote.
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    The Gilded Age

    1 Rockefeller/Carnegie
    Robber Barons were powerful industrialists who beat out smaller businesses and ended up hurting the economy. Captains of industry were also powerful industrialists, they used their power to help the economy
    2 Philanthropy
    Philanthropy is a desire to help others and promote the welfare.
    3 Monopoly
    A monopoly is when one business dominates a sector of industry
    4 Jane Addams
    Jane Addams was an activist
    5 Laissez-Faire
    A policy of letting things run their natural course
  • Telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell

    Alexander Graham Bell finished making the first fully function phone on this day.
  • Chinese Exclusion Act

    This Act prohibited immigration of skilled or unskilled Chinese laborers, this was the first immigration act.
  • Pendleton Civil Service Act

    Awarded government jobs based on merit.
  • Interstate Commerce Act

    ensured that the railroad set a reasonable rate, this was the first time the government stepped in to regulate a business.
  • Dawes Act

    This Act gave individual ownership of land to Native Americans instead of the tribe owning things collectively.
  • Hull House Founded

    First of many settlement houses
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    The Progressive Era

    1 Muckrakers-
    Reporters that dug up dirt on people.
    2 Initiative, Referendum, Recall-
    Three powers reserved for voters to change, remove, and propose legislation and government officials.
    3 The Great Migration-
    Six million African Americans migrated northward.
    4 NAACP-
    An organization that ensures equality and fairness to colored people.
    5 Immigration Issues-
    Assimilation was the propagation of one culture over another.
    Negativism is the strong sense that your nation is superior to any other.
  • Sherman Antitrust Act

    Allowed trusts to promote economic fairness.
  • Klondike Gold Rush

    People rushed to Alaska to try and find gold and make a profit.
  • Plessy v. Ferguson

    This court case legalized segregation, established "separate but equal".
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    Imperialism

    1. Theodore Roosevelt
    2. was the 26th president, brought many national parks to be made.
    3. Rough Riders
    4. First volunteer cavalry.
    5. Foreign Policy
    6. Strategy for dealing with other nations.
    7. Immigration Quotas
    8. Limited the amount of immigrants that could flock to the US.
    9. Yellow Journalism
    10. journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration.
  • USS Maine Explodes

    USS Maine explodes off the coast of Cuba, starting the Spanish American Was
  • Hawaii is Annexed

    Hawaii was annexed as a territory of the US.
  • Open Door Policy

    Initiated free trade with China.
  • Roosevelt Corollary

    Further stated the boundary of the western hemisphere
  • The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

    The novel portrays the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities.
  • Pure Food and Drug Act

    Regulation of the preparation of foods and the sale of medicine.
  • Meat Inspection Act

    Law that made it illegal to adulterate or misbrand meat.
  • NAACP founded

    The NAACP is an organization that fights for equality for colored people.
  • Dollar Diplomacy

    Taft's policy of paying for peace in Latin America.
  • 16th Amendment

    This Act established federal income tax.
  • 17th Amendment

    This Amendment stated that there will be 2 senators from each state.
  • Federal Reserve Act

    Established the Federal Reserve, which helped stabilize the banking industry.
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    World War I

    1. Alvin York
    2. One of the most decorated soldiers in the army.
    3. Home front
    4. Mobilization of supplies during WWI
    5. M.A.I.N. (Causes of WWI)
    6. Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism
    7. Sussex Pledge
    8. Allowed Germany to torpedo any ship including merchant ships, excluding passenger ships
    9. American Expeditionary Forces
    10. Under the lead of John J. Pershing the army made a small independent army to launch the first major offensive in northern Europe.
  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated

    Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, starting WWI.
  • Panama Canal

    Panama canal built.
  • Sinking of the Lusitania

    The ship "Lusitania" was sunk.
  • National Parks System Created

    President Woodrow Wilson signed an act to protect the 35 national parks in the US.
  • Zimmerman Telegram intercepted

    This telegram warned the US of a proposed ally between Mexico and Germany.
  • The United States enters WWI

    The United States enters WWI on the Allied side
  • Bolshevik Revolution in Russia begins

    Bolshevik Revolution in Russia begins, causing Russian troops to exit the war
  • Battle of Argonne Forest

    Considered the turning point of the war.
  • Germany surrenders

    Germany surrendered to the allied powers.
  • President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points

    Statement of principles for peace after WWI, included no Colonialism, freedom o the seas, and a League of Nations.
  • Treaty of Versailles

    Peace treaty that ended WWI, required Germany to accept full blame and pay war reparations as well as demilitarize.
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    Roaring Twenties

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    Great Depression

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    World War II

  • United Nations formed

    The UN was assembled.
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    Early Cold War

    1. Containment The US tried and succeeded in trying to contain the spread of communism.
    2. Arms Race/Space Race Technological race to see which nation could create the better weapons/ get to the moon first.
    3. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The USSR is a union of different territories in Germany.
    4. Communism A government system controlled by the working class.
    5. Domino Theory A theory that one country can cause change in neighboring countries.
  • 22nd Amendment

    Prohibits anyone from being elected president more than twice,
  • Truman Doctrine

    US policy that gave military and economic aid to countries threatened by communism.
  • Berlin Airlift

    Supplies were delivered to Berlin
  • Marshall Plan

    Program to help European countries rebuild after WWII
  • NATO established

    NATO was formed.
  • Korean War

    The differences in north and south Korea lead to a dividing of the nation.
  • Sweatt v. Painter

    ruled the separate law school at the University of Texas failed to qualify as “separate but equal”.
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    Civil Rights Era

  • Rosenberg's trial

    The Rosenbergs were soviet spies who leaked important information during the war, they were later executed.
  • First H-Bomb detonated by the US

    The technological arms race that was happening during the cold war lead to an H-Bomb, a powerful nuclear weapon
  • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka:

    overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and mandated desegregation.
  • Hernandez v. Texas

    Mexican Americans and all other races provided equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
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    Vietnam War

  • Jonas Salk invents the polio vaccine

    Jonas Salk discovered the polio vaccine.
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks’ arrest

  • USSR launches sputnik

    The USSR puts sputnik into space, a major achievement in the space race.
  • 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

  • 24th amendment abolished the poll tax

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day stand off with nuclear weapons between the USSR positioned in Cuba and the US
  • Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” at the March on Washington

  • John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, TX

  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    Begins undeclared war in Vietnam.
  • 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 Medicaid established

    Medicare and Medicaid was established.
  • Voting Rights Act of 1965

    Eliminated literacy tests for voters.
  • Tet Offensive

    The turning point of the Vietnam war.
  • Martin Luther King is assassinated

  • Civil Rights Act of 1968

    prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.
  • Tinker v. Des Moines.

    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

  • Pentagon Papers leaked

    The pentagon papers were documents that proved to the public that multiple presidents had lied to them.
  • 26th Amendment

    Moved the voting age from 21 years old to 18 years old.
  • Title IX

    Protects people from discrimination based on gender in education programs.
  • War Powers Act

    Law limited the President’s right to send troops to battle without Congressional approval
  • Fall of Saigon

    The Fall of Saigon marks the end of the Vietnam War.
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    1990s-21st Century