Landmark Legislation and Landmark Executive Action

Missouri Compromise (1820)

Balanced free and slave states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while creating the 36°30′ line for future territories.

Compromise of 1850

Admitted California as a free state while using popular sovereignty in new territories and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Allowed settlers to decide slavery through popular sovereignty, leading to Bleeding Kansas.

Homestead Act (1862)

Encouraged westward expansion by granting 160 acres of land to settlers willing to farm it.

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

Replaced the spoils system with a merit-based federal hiring system.

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Increased federal authority by restricting immigration and limiting criticism of the government during tensions with France.

Civil Rights Act (1866)

Granted citizenship to all people born in the United States and protected the rights of formerly enslaved people.

Civil Rights Act (1964)

Prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and helped end segregation.

Voting Rights Act (1965)

Protected voting rights by banning discriminatory practices such as literacy tests and enforcing the 15th Amendment.

USA PATRIOT Act (2001)

Expanded government surveillance and investigative powers to combat terrorism after the September 11 attacks.

New Deal (1930s)

Franklin D. Roosevelt's programs to provide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression, including Social Security.

Great Society (1960s)

Lyndon B. Johnson's domestic programs to reduce poverty, expand health care and education, and advance civil rights.

Affordable Care Act (2010)

Expanded access to health insurance through protections for pre-existing conditions, Medicaid expansion, and insurance subsidies.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)

War Powers Resolution (1973)

Limited the president's war powers by requiring notification of Congress within 48 hours and limiting troop deployments without congressional approval.

Treaty of Paris (1898)

Ended the Spanish-American War. Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S., while Cuba became independent, marking the rise of the United States as a global power.

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States and encouraging westward expansion.

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

Spain transferred Florida to the United States and settled border disputes between the two nations.

Suspension of Habeas Corpus

Allows the government to temporarily suspend the right to challenge unlawful imprisonment during rebellion or invasion when public safety requires it.

Japanese American Internment (1942)

Executive Order 9066 relocated over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. The policy was upheld in Korematsu but later recognized as unjust.

Little Rock Nine (1957)

President Eisenhower used federal troops to enforce school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education, demonstrating federal enforcement of civil rights.

University of Mississippi (1962)

President Kennedy sent federal troops to protect James Meredith's enrollment and enforce desegregation.

University of Alabama (1963)

President Kennedy ordered Governor George Wallace to allow African American students to enroll, reinforcing federal authority over state resistance to integration.

Executive Order 9981 (1948)

President Truman desegregated the U.S. Armed Forces by requiring equal treatment regardless of race.

Affirmative Action

Policies begun under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson to expand educational and employment opportunities for underrepresented groups. The Supreme Court has limited how race may be considered in admissions decisions.