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About the timeline.
This timeline is dedicated to the contemporary history of the United States of America. It will summarize some of the key events and key ideologies/beliefs of modern American history. -
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Chinese Exclusion Act
The first-ever law to ban entry based on nationality in the USA, the Chinese Exclusion Act denied entry to Chinese people, and Chinese residents were denied natural citizenship no matter how long they had worked there. This is one of two acts of the time period that denied entry to people based on their ethnic background. -
First Labour Day
In 1872, Canadian autoworkers marched to Canadian Prime Minister John McDonald's house, protesting the anti-union law. After its success, it became an annual national holiday for Canada. When Peter McGuire was invited to the 1882 march, he decided to have a similar celebration for labourers in America. On Sept 5, 1882, the first ever Labour day was held. -
Trickle-Down Economics
During Reaganomics, President Reagan believed that if the high income classes gained more wealth, that the wealth would then trickle down to the lower classes. This theory was dubbed trickle-down economics, or supply-side. He believed reducing taxes for the rich would allow them to spend more money and invest more, benefiting the economy and creating more job opportunities. He also believed that eventually, this would create more revenue in the long run for the national government. -
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American Imperialism
From around the end of the 1800s well into the 1900s, the USA began to build an empire and employ imperialism in new territories. The USA managed to gain land via negotiation and war. Using these, the US was able to build a global empire. Here are some examples of American Imperialism:
Panama: Gained Canal Zone via negotiation
Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico: Gained via war with Spain
Hawaii: Annexed
Alaska: Purchased from Russia
To this day, the effects of the US's imperialism are still present. -
US Imperialist Motives
The US had reasons for imperialism. Before imperialism, all the US had for land was the states and Alaska. However, many were calling for the USA to gain more land; Industrialists wanted new markets and resources, Nationalists claimed that imperialism was a sign of prestige, others believed they had to compete with Europe or they would perish, Missionaries wished to spread faith, and Social Darwinists hoped to share the USA's gift. For these reasons, the US imperializing around the 1900s. -
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Americanization: 20th Century's Policy
The 20th Century is sometimes referred to as the American Century. Why? Because at that time, Americanization was the core idea of the time. Americanization is the influence of the US on foreign countries in various ways. Americanization was commonplace in the prior century due to America's economic and military strength, creating an appealing image to other countries. As such, American culture and businesses seeped into other countries during the century. Americanization was the 1900's policy. -
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Isolationism & World War 1
Before World War 1, the USA held a policy of isolationism. They tried their best to avoid conflict in European nations; even when World War 1 broke out, the US did not initially enter the war. Also, their people consisted of many ethnicities. Instead, the US decided to trade with both the Allies and the Central Powers. Though, when the UK deployed a blockade around Germany and Germany sank US ships, the USA joined the Allies in 1917 and won WWI in 1918. Isolationism ended when the US joined WWI. -
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League of Nations and Fourteen Points
In order to secure peace in 1918 after victory in World War 1, Woodrow Wilson created the Fourteen Points to outline his goals for the world post-WWI. However, at the Paris Conference, the European leaders ignored most of Woodrow Wilson's points, as they wanted to focus on punishing Germany for the war. However, they did give Wilson the green light for the League of Nations, an international peace-keeping group. However, this league failed as no country would provide their military for support. -
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Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a time period in which African-American culture was reborn, growing new traditions to match the old. After migrating north from a White Supremacist-South, the African-American people began to involve themselves in the arts created at the time. This resulted in the musical creations of Jazz and Improvisation, along with the integration of African-American culture into American culture. -
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The Great Depression began on the day the stock market crashed in 1929, but to say it was the only factor that caused it would be factually incorrect. Many small factors added up to a potential economic disaster if something were to happen. All of those problems culminated at the Wall Street Crash of 1929, where poverty skyrocketed. Thus began the era of the great depression. -
Pearl Harbor
After WWII began in Europe, the only problem keeping Japan from achieving its goals was the USA. This was because the USA could easily attack Japan with its navy. So, in order to counter this, Japan attacked a naval fleet in Pearl Harbor, hoping to cripple the USA's navy and taking control of its territories, in the Pacific. 3,000 Americans died in the attack, and 6 ships were destroyed in the attack, along with many ground planes. Due to the attack, the USA joined the Allies in WWII. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
After the Battle of Midway, the US pushed the attack on Japan. Via island-hopping, the US took Japan's bases one after the other to launch the next attack. Near WWII's end, the US had 2 moves: invade Japan or use atomic bombs. Invading Japan was a worse risk for the army, so Japan was bombed. On 8/6, an atomic bomb hit Hiroshima, vaporizing 70,000. 10,000 died afterwards from radiation and burns. On 8/9, another bomb hit Nagasaki, where 8,000 people died. Japan then unconditionally surrendered. -
Housewife Culture
During the "Happy Days" of the 1950s, women were taught and raised to be housewives and to please their spouses. They were encouraged to be happy by raising many children, waxing the floors and sewing the clothes for themselves and their family. Women were taught from a young age they would be happy by basking in femininity, yet many felt dissatisfied by their lifestyle. No one mentioned it until the 1960s. Until then, women carried on as housewives, despite the dissatisfaction in their lives. -
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Vietnam War
In Vietnam, after a conflict broke out over a communist North and noncommunist South, the USA joined the side of the South in order to defeat the Northern Viet Cong. This proved to be a great humiliation and failure to the USA in the end. They were unable to win the war and ended up losing to the Viet Cong, as they proved to be a tough enemy. On top of this, the war was also highly unpopular back at home. Due to this, Richard Nixon signed a ceasefire in 1973, ending the war in 1975. -
Equality
Around the 1960s, many oppressed individuals began to stand up for their rights and equality, fed up with the problems found in their lives. Modern Feminism took hold in the 1960s after the publishing of "The Feminine Mystique," which began a movement to create equal pay for work compared to men. Another big movement was the Civil Rights Movement that aimed to create equality for African Americans via nonviolence. Due to these movements and many more, equality became a big idea in the 1960s. -
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Iran Hostage Crisis
After the Shah of Iran was overthrown, Iranians stormed the USA Embassy and outmatched the marine guards, taking 66 hostages. The military was weakened from the fighting in Vietnam, so only the Delta Force, designed for hostage situations, could storm Iran to take the hostages. The problem? They had no big missions before this. Then a 2-year crisis began in which the US had to decide between diplomacy or military to recover the hostages. In the end, the Delta Force was used to save the hostages. -
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Reaganomics: Tax Falls, Debts Rise
When Reagan became president, he set in motion his plan to fix the economic shortcomings of the government. His initial plan to promote economic growth was cutting the tax rate by 30%, concentrated in upper income levels. He believed the wealth would trickle down to lower levels via trickle-down theory. Congress was not as confident about the cut as Reagan was, a 25% tax cut during his first term was employed. However, the results of the cut were only temporary inflation and a tripling of debt. -
Iran-Contra Scandal
US hostages held in Lebanon by Iranian forces cause the USA to sell Iran military goods in exchange for the hostages. However, instead of complying with the US Government, Ronald Reagan went rogue. Instead of supplying goods to Iran, Reagan had Oliver North send the supplies to support the Nicaraguan Contras, fighting against the Sandinistas; an act in direct violation of Congress' demands. In order to cover up the truth, many documents were shredded. To this day, the scandal was never proven. -
Labour Day Legalized
In 1894, Railway workers began a strike, and President George Cleveland was incentivised to end the strike. To do so, he sent forces to end the strike with force. It ended in violence, which then made headlines. In an attempt to appease the citizens, Cleveland legalized Labour Day. -
Bill Clinton Impeached
During his presidency, President Bill Clinton had an affair with his wife Hillary via indulging in sexual interactions with Monica Lewinski during his first term of presidency, leaked Jan 1998. Clinton originally denied the charges, but it was ultimately proven that he had cheated on Hillary with Monica. After individual council Kenneth Star was appointed to researching the crime, Clinton admitted to his affair. He was impeached by Congress for the affair; however, he was acquitted of the crime. -
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Globalization: 21st Century Policy?
Contrary to the 20th century, the 21st century appears to hold the ideal of Globalization at its core. Globalization is the idea of increasing international economic unity via the lowering of trading barriers. The goal in mind is to promote and stimulate the growth of material wealth, along with other goods and services internationally. This is believed by some to become the 21st Century's policy, as other countries are developing their own economic growth and rivaling the strength of America.
