APUSH summer homework

PERIOD 3

Revolution & Independence : 1754-1800

1754-1763

Seven Years' War/French & Indian War
- began in 1754, a war between the French and their Indian allies and the English and colonists for domination of North America
- conflict eventually spread
- France lost the Seven Years War
- Under the Treaty of Paris the French lost nearly all their land claims in North America and their trading interests in India.
- Great Britain gained Canada, all lands east of the Mississippi, and Florida.
- France ceded Louisiana to Spain and evacuated Hanover.

1763

Proclamation of 1763
- issued by King George III on 7 October 1763
- followed the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain
- British-produced boundary marked in the Appalachian Mountains at the Eastern Continental Divide
- Decreed on October 7, 1763, the Proclamation Line prohibited Anglo-American colonists from settling on lands acquired from the French following the French and Indian War.

1765

Stamp Act
- also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765
- an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America
- created to help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War.
- The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents, and playing cards

1770

Boston Massacre
- a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers
- happened at a time of tension between the American colonies and Great Britain.
- Boston leaders wanted to control duties on imports to the town without Parliament's interference. The fight over taxes and representation led to violent outbreaks in the streets between Bostonians and royal customs officials
- a group of British soldiers shot their muskets into a crowd. Five colonists were killed
- Six soldiers were found not guilty and two were found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter
- one of the most important events leading up to the Revolutionary War

1773

Boston Tea Party
- an American political and mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, by the Sons of Liberty in Boston in colonial Massachusetts
- Colonists were protesting British Parliament's tax on tea. "No taxation without representation."
- Colonists threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British government considered the protest an act of treason and responded harshly.
- As a result of the Boston Tea Party, the British shut down Boston Harbor until all of the 340 chests of British East India Company tea were paid for.
- The Boston Tea Party was the first significant act of defiance by American colonists
- led to the start of the American Revolution

1775-1783

Revolutionary War
- imposing a series of deeply unpopular laws and taxes, including the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the so-called Intolerable Acts (1774) led to this war
- a military conflict that was part of the broader American Revolution
- the insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America
- American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army

1776

Declaration of Independence
- formally titled The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, is the founding document of the United States
- approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain.
- The Declaration of Independence states three basic ideas: (1) God made all men equal and gave them the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; (2) the main business of government is to protect these rights; (3) if a government tries to withhold these rights, the people are free to revolt

1783

Treaty of Paris
- signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution
- the agreement recognized U.S. independence and granted the U.S. significant western territory

PERIOD 1

Exploration : 1491-1607

1492

Columbus sailed the ocean-blue
- Columbus thought he landed in India, but he landed in the Caribbean and took over much of the islands (particularly Hispaniola)
- He subjugated the natives and many of them died
- his conquering of the Caribbean led to Spanish domination
1491 = one year before the major turning point of Christopher
- Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand sponsored many of Columbus's voyages
Columbus's "discovery" of America; this year represents the Pre-Columbian Era and all of the societies that developed over thousands of years.

1492-1588

Spanish Domination
- Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand ruled during the majority of this time
- after Columbus's voyages, the Spanish had control over North America
- many voyages took place between Spain and the Americas in order to bring riches back to Spain
- Spanish Domination ends when the Spanish Armada is defeated by England

PERIOD 2

Colonial Development : 1607-1754

1607

Jamestown founded
- The London Company dispatched 104 men including John Smith to form this colony
- led to the colony of Virginia
- Jamestown, first permanent English colony in the America's (prior to this, the colony of Roanoke failed/ disappeared), major turning point representing the beginning of English settlement and eventual domination of North America

1620

Mayflower Compact
- an agreement signed by the Pilgrims promising to consult each other about laws for the colony of plymouth
- the colonists promised to remain loyal to King James even though they wanted independence
- helped introduce the ideas of religous freedom, rule of law, and economic liberty in the colonies
- chose John Carver as Plymouth Colony's first Governer
- remanined in effect until Plymouth colony became part of the Massachussets Bay colony in 1691

1675

King Phillips War
- also known as first Indian War
- took place in southern New England in 1675-76
-fueled by ongoing land disputes between English settlers and the Pokanoket (Wampanoag) and other Indigenous groups in the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies
- the Native Americans' last-ditch effort to avoid recognizing English authority and stop English settlement on their native lands.
- alters balance of power between the natives and the settlers/english

1676

Bacon's Rebellion
- an armed rebellion held by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677
- led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley
- Bacon wanted to drive Natives out of Virginia in order to gain more land.
- rebellion arose due to discontent among backcountry farmers about their representation in government and handling of Native American relations
- farmers were also angry with Berkeley's favoritism towards large farmers
- first popular uprising in the American colonies
- The outcome of the rebellion encouraged elite Virginians to turn to enslaved West African labor over English indentured servants

1680

Pueblo Revolt
- also known as Popé's Rebellion or Po'pay's Rebellion
- The Pueblo people, Native Americans living in what is now New Mexico, rose up against Spanish conquistadores in the wake of religious persecution, violence, and drought.
- aimed to reclaim Pueblo religious practices, culture, and land, which had been stripped away by Spanish conquistadores.
- On August 21 the Spaniards were forced to flee, leaving 400 dead, including 21 priests. The Indians celebrated their victory by washing off the stains of Christian baptism, annulling Christian marriages, and destroying churches. They remained free until 1692, when New Mexico was reconquered by Gov. Pedro de Vargas.

1692

Salem Witch Trials
- a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693
- came about as the result of a combination of church politics, family feuds, and hysterical children,
- more than 200 people were accused (mostly women)
- many of the accused were excecuted and hung
- The governor of the colony, upon hearing that his own wife was accused of witchcraft ordered an end to the trials.

1786

Shay's Rebellion
- brought about by a monetary debt crisis at the end of the American Revolutionary War
- exposed the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation (first u.s constitution) and led many—including George Washington—to call for strengthening the federal government in order to put down future uprisings

1787

Constitutional Convention
- took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787
- The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787; all states were invited to send delegates
- designed a government with separate legislative , executive , and judicial branches
- the best solution to the young country's problems was to set aside the Articles of Confederation and write a new constitution

1788

Washington Elected
- the first federal elections in the United States following the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788
- he became the only U.S. president to be unanimously chosen
- helped shape the office's future role and powers, as well as set both formal and informal precedents for future presidents

1791

Bill of Rights
- Created: September 25, 1789
- Ratified: December 15, 1791
- comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution
- This amendment guarantees the right of freedom from establishment of religion, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom for people to get together peacefully, and freedom for people to send petitions to their government

1798

XYZ Affair
- a diplomatic incident between French and United States diplomats that resulted in a limited, undeclared war known as the Quasi-War.
- a failed negotiation in which French diplomats demanded a bribe to help them fight a war against Great Britain and preserve their new government
- The Quasi-War began when the United States began attacking French ships that were actively attempting to seize goods headed for Great Britain.

1798

Alien and Sedition Acts
- Passed in preparation for an anticipated war with France, the Alien and Sedition Acts tightened restrictions on foreign-born Americans and limited speech critical of the government
- People viewed these acts as being unconstitutional
- passed in 1798 during John Adams's presidency
- allowed for the deportation of foreigners and made it harder for new immigrants to vote

PERIOD 4

Expansion & Reform : 1800-1848

1800

Jefferson elected
- He slashed Army and Navy expenditures, cut the budget, eliminated the tax on whiskey so unpopular in the West, yet reduced the national debt by a third
- The election was a political realignment that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican leadership
- the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States and is considered one of President Thomas Jefferson's greatest presidential accomplishments
- Election of Thomas Jefferson (Rise of the Republicans) in 1800. The peaceful transition of power from Federalists to Republicans.

1800-1850

Market Revolution
- a theory in which the United States shifted from a traditional, moral economy to a more modern free-market capitalist system
- Traditional commerce was made obsolete by improvements in transportation and communication. This change prompted the reinstatement of the mercantilist ideas that were thought to have died out
- Increased industrialization was a major component of the Market Revolution as a result of the Industrial Revolution

1803

Louisiana Purchase
- the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803.
- the United States purchased 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.
- the United States doubled its size, expanding the nation westward
- happened under Thomas Jeffersons presidency

1812-1815

War of 1812
- fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America
- It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812
- The two leading causes of the war were the British Orders-in-Council, which limited American trade with Europe, and impressment, the Royal Navy's practice of taking seamen from American merchant vessels to fill out the crews of its own chronically undermanned warships
- some other causes were Western expansion, relations with American Indians, and territorial control of North America.
- With the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent , the War of 1812 came to an end.

1816-1824

Era of Good Feelings
- started in 1815 at the end of the War of 1812.
- reflected a sense of national purpose and a desire for unity among Americans
- Federalist Party was gone, but some of President Madison's economic policies revealed a division within Democratic-Republicans
-

1820

Missouri Compromise
- admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation
- outlawed slavery above the 36º 30' latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory
-This so-called Missouri Compromise drew a line from east to west along the 36th parallel, dividing the nation into competing halves—half free, half slave

1823

Monroe Doctrine
- Buried in a routine annual message delivered to Congress by President James Monroe in December 1823, the doctrine warns European nations that the United States would not tolerate further colonization or puppet monarchs
- Monroe made four basic points: (1) the United States would not interfere in European affairs; (2) the United States recognized and would not interfere with existing colonies in the Americas; (3) the Western Hemisphere was closed to future colonization; and (4) if a European power tried to interfere with any nation in Americas, that would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States.

1820s

Sectionalism
- overemphasized political, economic, and social loyalty to a region of a country rather than the country as a whole
- it is associated with the belief that different regions of a country have their own individual characteristics and values.

1828

Jackson elected
- "universal white manhood suffrage"
- reintroduced the two-party system
- He was the first "president of the people."
- The Jacksonians believed that voting rights should be extended to all white men. By the end of the 1820s, attitudes and state laws had shifted in favor of universal white male suffrage and by 1856 all requirements to own property and nearly all requirements to pay taxes had been dropped.

1830

Indian Removal Act
- signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson.
- The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi"
- The Act established a process whereby the President could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands.
-allowing the U.S. government to remove the Native Americans from their eastern homelands and force them to move west of the Mississippi River. Many tribes signed treaties and agreed to voluntary removal.

1832

Nat Turner's Rebellion
- historically known as the Southampton Insurrection
- a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831
- Led by Nat Turner, rebel slaves killed anywhere from 55 to 65 people, the highest number of fatalities caused by any slave uprising in the American South.
- the military sided with white slaveholders
- On August 21, 1831, at 2:00 a.m., Turner and his followers started at his master's house and killed the entire family. They marched throughout Southampton County in Virginia, killing at least 55 people until white authorities crushed the revolt. Turner avoided capture for nearly two months before he was caught
- Doomed from the start, Turner's insurrection was handicapped by lack of discipline among his followers and by the fact that only 75 Blacks rallied to his cause

1832

Nullification Crisis
-surrounding the Nullification Crisis of 1832 was whether or not the state governments had the ability to void federal laws that they saw as unconstitutional
- The crisis, which began as a dispute over federal tariff laws, became intertwined with the politics of slavery and sectionalism. Led by John C. Calhoun, a majority of South Carolina slaveholders claimed that a state had the right to nullify or veto federal laws and secede from the Union.
- The Nullification Crisis was a result of southern states resistance to imposed, protective tariffs on foreign goods to guard emerging industries. Southern states viewed these tariffs as "unconstitutional".
- The Nullification Crisis of 1832-33 erupted the previous November when South Carolina nullified a federal tariff that favored Northern manufacturing over Southern agriculture
- The Nullification Crisis, which unfolded in the 1830s, centered on the conflict between federal authority and states' rights, exemplified by South Carolina's attempt to nullify federal tariffs and threat to secede from the Union, reflecting the growing sectional divide over economic interests and slavery

1830-1850

Manifest Destiny
- a phrase that represented the belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand westward across North America, and that this belief was both obvious and certain
- the divinely ordained right of the United States to expand its borders to the Pacific Ocean and beyond
- there was a widespread belief that western expansion was for the good of the country and was the right of the American people
- The United States even proved to be willing to go to war to secure new territories

1836

Battle of the Alamo
- a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution
- Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar, killing most of the occupants
- the Mexican state of Tejas won independence and became a self-governing republic: Texas.
- some historians believe slavery was the driving issue in the showdown at the Alamo, arguing that Mexico's attempts to end slavery contrasted with the hopes of many white settlers in Texas at the time who moved to the region to farm cotton
- Mexico also feared a domino effect—that giving up Texas would lead to the loss of their other northern territories.

1838-1839

Trail of Tears
- the forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans within that were ethnically cleansed by the United States government
- the term "Five Civilized Tribes" came into use during the mid-nineteenth century to refer to the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations
- In the 1830s, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed thousands of American Indians from their homelands in the southeastern United States. They were relocated to an area of land then known as Indian Territory, now the state of Oklahoma. This tragic event is referred to as the Trail of Tears
- The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march

PERIOD 5

Civil War & Reconstruction : 1844-1877

1845

Annexation of Texas
- ongoing border dispute between the Republic of Texas and Mexico prior to annexation. Texas claimed the Rio Grande as its border based on the Treaties of Velasco, while Mexico maintained that it was the Nueces River and did not recognize Texan independence
- The Republic of Texas was annexed into the United States and admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845
- The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836
-Battle of San Jacinto. Victory over Mexican army and capture of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna on the following day achieves de facto Texas independence. Texans vote on new government officers, national constitution, and the question of annexation to the United States. Vote overwhelmingly in favor of annexation
- Politics in the United States fractured over the issue of whether Texas should be admitted as a slave or free state. In the end, Texas was admitted to the United States a slave state. The annexation of Texas contributed to the coming of the Mexican-American War

1845-1848

Mexican-American War
- known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico
- an invasion of Mexico by the United States Army from 1846 to 1848
- One of the causes of this war were the continued claims to Texas from both the United States and Mexican governments. Other reasons were claims against the Mexican government by American citizens for damages during the continuous Mexican Revolutions of the period and the U.S. desire to claim California
- The immediate cause of the Mexican-American War was a disputed boundary between the United States and Texas on the Nueces Strip. Mexico did not recognize Texas as legitimate American territory and Texas admission to the United States antagonized Mexican officials and citizens.
- Under the terms of the treaty negotiated by Trist, Mexico ceded to the United States Upper California and New Mexico. This was known as the Mexican Cession and included present-day Arizona and New Mexico and parts of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado

1848

Seneca Falls Convention
- the first women's rights convention
- advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman"
- Held in the Wesleyan Chapel of the town of Seneca Falls, New York, it spanned two days over July 19-20, 1848
- The Seneca Falls Convention led to three significant outcomes: the creation of the Declaration of Sentiments advocating for equality and women's rights, the start of the push for women's suffrage, and the foundation for future social justice movements
- the Seneca Falls Convention was subjected to public ridicule, and some backers of women's rights withdrew their support

1850

Fugitive Slave Act
- a law passed by the 31st United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers
- act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves.
- These laws denied alleged slaves fair trials, due process of law, or even the right prove their freedom in court. The fugitive slave laws clearly violated the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh amendments, as well as the Constitution's protection of the right to the writ of habeas corpus.

1852

Uncle Tom's Cabin
- an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe
- the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War"
- tells the story of Uncle Tom, an enslaved person, depicted as saintly and dignified, noble and steadfast in his beliefs. While being transported by boat to auction in New Orleans, Tom saves the life of Little Eva, an angelic and forgiving young girl, whose grateful father then purchases Tom
- The story's scathing indictment of slavery's cruelty evoked horror in the North, and outrage in the South over what Southerners perceived as an unfair condemnation of their "peculiar institution."

1854

Bleeding Kansas & Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas:
- series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859
- It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas
- part of the political storm that occurred throughout the United States before the Civil War. The anti-slavery forces prevailed as Kansas entered into the Union a free state on January 29, 1861
Kansas-Nebraska Act:
- a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska
- It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by President Franklin Pierce
- repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as "Bleeding Kansas," as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote
- The North was outraged. The Kansas-Nebraska act made it possible for the Kansas and Nebraska territories (shown in orange) to open to slavery.

1857

Dred Scott Case
- In 1846, an enslaved Black man named Dred Scott and his wife, Harriet, sued for their freedom in St. Louis Circuit Court. They claimed that they were free due to their residence in a free territory where slavery was prohibited
- Scott lost his case, which worked its way through the Missouri state courts; he then filed a new federal suit which ultimately reached the Supreme Court.
- On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney read the majority opinion of the Court, which stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a federal territory. This decision moved the nation a step closer to the Civil War
- legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled (7-2) that a slave (Dred Scott) who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820), which had declared free all territories west of Missouri and north of latitude 36°30′, was unconstitutional. The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy and pushed the country closer to civil war

1860

Lincoln elected
- issuing the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863.
- transformed the President's role as commander in chief and as chief executive into a powerful new position, making the President supreme over both Congress and the courts.
- built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.
- President Lincoln had been sworn in to his second term of office on March 4, 1865. On April 9, he oversaw the end of the American Civil War when the Confederate Army surrendered to the Union.

1861-1865

Civil War
- fought between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, a collection of eleven southern states that left the Union in 1860 and 1861
- The conflict began primarily as a result of the long-standing disagreement over the institution of slavery.
- it was the economics of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the conflict. A key issue was states' rights.
- Explanations for Confederate defeat in the Civil War can be broken into two categories: some historians argue that the Confederacy collapsed largely because of social divisions within Southern society, while others emphasize the Union's military defeat of Confederate armies.

1862

Homestead Act
- a revolutionary concept for distributing public land in American history. This law turned over vast amounts of the public domain to private citizens
- an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead
- To help develop the American West and spur economic growth, Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862, which provided 160 acres of federal land to anyone who agreed to farm the land.

1867

Purchase of Alaska
- The Alaska Purchase was the pocket of Alaska from the Russian Empire to the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867
- The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America and became an important step in the United States' rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region

1877

Compromise of 1877 & Reconstruction Ends
- also known as the Wormley Agreement or the Bargain of 1877
- an unwritten political deal in the United States to settle the intense dispute over the results of the 1876 presidential election
- The Reconstruction era was a period in United States history following the American Civil War, dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of abolishing slavery and reintegrating the eleven former Confederate States of America into the United States
- The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended the Reconstruction era. Southern Democrats' promises to protect the civil and political rights of Black people were not kept, and the end of federal interference in southern affairs led to widespread disenfranchisement of Black voters
- 1877 = The Compromise of 1877 included Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican, being chosen President in contested election in exchange for the troops withdrawing from the South, marking the end of radical reconstruction and ended 5 military districts,

PERIOD 6

A Nation Transformed : 1865-1898

1870-1900

Gilded Age
- as the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction Era and the Progressive Era
- It was named by 1920s historians after an 1873 Mark Twain novel, although its publication was in the Reconstruction Era
- a time of great political corruption and wealth inequality in the late 1800s
- characterized by rapid economic growth, a flood of immigration, and scandalous politics
- The Gilded Age was a period of economic growth as the United States jumped to the lead in industrialization ahead of Britain. The nation was rapidly expanding its economy into new areas, especially heavy industry like factories, railroads, and coal mining.
- During the Gilded Age the United States became the leading industrial nation in the world, built a powerful navy, defeated a world power, and acquired a large overseas empire. It was also transformed by the values of a new industrial and urban society.

1876

Little Bighorn
- a series of battles and negotiations between Plains Indians and U.S. forces over control of Western territory, collectively known as the Sioux Wars
- In less than an hour, the Sioux and Cheyenne had won the Battle of the Little Bighorn, killing Custer and every one of his men
- The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand, marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. The demise of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty
- George Armstrong Custer was a Union cavalry officer in the American Civil War (1861-65) and a U.S. commander in wars against Native Americans over control of the Great Plains. He led his men in one of U.S. history's most controversial battles, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, on June 25, 1876.

1886

Haymarket Square Riot
- The Haymarket Affair, also known as the Haymarket Riot, was a violent confrontation between police and labour protesters in Chicago on May 4, 1886, that became a symbol of the international struggle for workers' rights
- the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
- Radical unionists had called a mass meeting in Haymarket Square to protest police brutality in a strike action. A bomb was thrown into the crowd, killing seven policemen and injuring 60 others. Police and workers fired on each other.
- The Haymarket Square riot led to the discrediting of the labor movement in the popular imagination, and resulted in the eventual collapse of the Knights of Labor. Public opinion turned against labor organizers following the bombing that occurred during the protest.

1887

Dawes Act
- regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts
- Also known as the General Allotment Act, the law authorized the President to break up reservation land, which was held in common by the members of a tribe, into small allotments to be parceled out to individuals. Thus, Native Americans registering on a tribal "roll" were granted allotments of reservation land.
- The objective of the Dawes Act was to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream US society by annihilating their cultural and social traditions. As a result of the Dawes Act, over ninety million acres of tribal land were stripped from Native Americans and sold to non-natives.

1890

Wounded Knee
- Wounded Knee, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, was the site of two conflicts between Native Americans and representatives of the U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and, later, the FBI
- the deadliest mass shooting in American history, involving nearly three hundred Lakota people shot and killed by soldiers of the United States Army
- The massacre was the climax of the U.S. Army's late 19th-century efforts to repress the Plains Indians.
- following a botched attempt to disarm the Lakota camp.

1890

Sherman Anti-Trust Act
- a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies
- passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.
- authorized the federal government to institute proceedings against trusts in order to dissolve them. Any combination "in the form of trust or otherwise that was in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations" was declared illegal.
- passed to prohibit trusts, monopolies, and cartels. Its purpose was to promote economic fairness and competitiveness and to regulate interstate commerce.

1890s

Populism/Segregation/Imperialism
Populism:
- a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group with "the elite"
- It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment
Segregation:
- Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by people of different races
Imperialism:
- Imperialism is the practice, theory or attitude of maintaining or extending power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power and soft power. Imperialism focuses on establishing or maintaining hegemony and a more or less formal empire.

1894

Pullman Strike
- The Pullman Strike was two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression
- First came a strike by the American Railway Union against the Pullman factory in Chicago in spring 1894
- a widespread railroad strike and boycott that disrupted rail traffic in the U.S. Midwest in June-July 1894
- The Pullman Strike of 1894 was caused by union workers objecting to lowered pay rates by the Pullman Company, in which railroad workers refused to handle Pullman cars, causing the federal government to break up the strike and throw the leader in jail
- Tension between the troops and strikers led to violence. Strikers and their sympathizers overturned railcars and erected barricades to prevent troops from reaching the rail yards. On July 7 national guardsmen fired into a mob, killing between 4 and 30 people and wounding many others.

1896

Cross of Gold Speech
- delivered by William Jennings Bryan, a former United States Representative from Nebraska, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 9, 1896. In his address, Bryan supported "free silver", which he believed would bring the nation prosperity
- Bryan argued that the Democratic Party's focus on bi-metallism in its platform was justified because a gold standard alone could not solve the country's problems at the time, including debt, small business failure, and monopolies
- uses religious language to argue in favor of economic reforms. Specifically, Bryan is arguing for the issue of bimetallism, or having the U.S. dollar backed by both silver and gold rather than just gold.

1896

Plessy v. Ferguson
- a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal
- The Supreme Court case that had originally upheld the constitutionality of "separate, but equal facilities" based on race. It was subsequently since overturned by Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
- John H. Ferguson, at the Louisiana Supreme Court, arguing that the segregation law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which forbids states from denying "to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws," as well as the Thirteenth Amendment, which banned slavery.

PERIOD 7

A World Power : 1890-1945

1893

World's Columbian Exposition
- also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492.
- In the United States there had been a spirited competition for this exposition among the country's leading cities
- revolutionized city planning and architecture. Moreover, the legacy of the fair's influence can be seen in many American cities today. Historically, world fairs functioned to illuminate grand architecture, art, and new inventions.
- established a Neo-Classical revival in Chicago and across America
- H.H. Holmes was the alias of one of America's first serial killers. During the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he lured victims into his elaborate "Murder Castle.

1898

Annexation of Hawaii
- a joint resolution passed on July 7, 1898, by the United States Congress to annex the independent Republic of Hawaii. In 1900, Congress created the Territory of Hawaii. The resolution was drafted by Representative Francis G. Newlands of Nevada, a Democrat
- resulted from economic integration and the rise of the United States as a Pacific power. For most of the 1800s, leaders in Washington were concerned that Hawaii might become part of a European nation's empire.
- marked the end of a lengthy internal struggle between native Hawaiians and non-native American businessmen for control of the Hawaiian government
- King Kamehameha III had secretly asked the United States to annex Hawaii, but Secretary of State Daniel Webster declined, saying "No power ought to take possession of the islands as a conquest...or colonization." But later monarchs wanted to maintain Hawaii's independence.
- Hawaii drew American interest for both economic and strategic reasons. After Christian missionaries visiting in the early 19th century reported favorable conditions for planting sugar cane, white business investors arrived, buying up large tracts of land

1898

Spanish-American War
- began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence
- ended Spain's colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power.
- Many agree that the main causes of the Spanish-American War were Cuba's struggle for independence and the sinking of the USS Maine on 15 February 1898
- On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898.
- For many reasons, this short war was a turning point in the history of the United States. The four-month conflagration marked the transformation of the United States from a developing nation into a global power. At its conclusion, the United States had acquired the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
- U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to relinquish claims on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States also annexed the independent state of Hawaii during the conflict.

1900-1920

Progressive Era
- century of widespread social activism and political reform across the country.
- an era of business expansion and progressive reform in the United States. The progressives, as they called themselves, worked to make American society a better and safer place in which to live. They tried to make big business more responsible through regulations of various kinds.
- furthering social and political reform, curbing political corruption caused by political machines, and limiting the political influence of large corporations.
- Cities During the Progressive Era In the early 1900s, the United States entered a period of peace, prosperity, and progress. In the nation's growing cities, factory output grew, small businesses flourished, and incomes rose.

1903

Wright Brothers
- The Wright brothers, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane
- Among their many creations, they built the 1902 Wright glider, which was the first controlled glider with a movable rudder that allowed the pilot to more precisely control yaw, and the 1905 Wright flyer, which was the first practical flying machine
- the first successful powered airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer. It first flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, with Orville at the controls

1917

US enters WWI
- Germany's resumption of submarine attacks on passenger and merchant ships in 1917 was the primary motivation behind Wilson's decision to lead the United States into World War I.
- Three factors contributed to the United States entering World War I in 1917:
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.
Propaganda Campaigns.
The Zimmerman Telegram.
- The American Expeditionary Forces arrived in Europe in 1917 and helped turn the tide in favor of Britain and France, leading to an Allied victory over Germany and Austria in November 1918. By the time of the armistice, more than four million Americans had served in the armed forces and 116,708 had lost their lives.

1920

Women's suffrage
- Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest.
- Women also joined the workforce in increasing numbers, participated actively in the nation's new mass consumer culture, and enjoyed more freedom in their personal lives
- Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution - guaranteeing women the right to vote.

1920s

Red Scare
- a form of public hysteria provoked by fear of the rise, supposed or real, of leftist ideologies in a society, especially communism
- many in the United States feared recent immigrants and dissidents, particularly those who embraced communist, socialist, or anarchist ideology.
- The first Red Scare was a period during the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of far-left movements, including Bolshevism and anarchism, due to real and imagined events; real events included the Russian 1917 October Revolution, German Revolution of 1918-1919
- form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise, supposed or real, of leftist ideologies in a society, especially communism.

1920s

Prohibition
- the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages
- enacted ostensibly as a response to pre-existing social issues like domestic violence and child abandonment whose presumed cause was alcohol.
- The temperance movement had popularized the belief that alcohol was the major cause of most personal and social problems and prohibition was seen as the solution to the nation's poverty, crime, violence, and other ills.
- Prohibition ultimately failed because at least half the adult population wanted to carry on drinking, policing of the Volstead Act was riddled with contradictions, biases and corruption, and the lack of a specific ban on consumption hopelessly muddied the legal waters

1929

stock market crash
- The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, Crash of '29, or Black Tuesday, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It began in September, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, and ended in mid-November
- caused the Great Depression because everyone lost money. Investors and businesses both put significant amounts of money into the market, and when it crashed, tremendous amounts of money were lost. Businesses closed and people lost their savings
- In addition to the Federal Reserve's questionable policies and misguided banking practices, three primary reasons for the collapse of the stock market were international economic woes, poor income distribution, and the psychology of public confidence.

1932

Bonus Army March
- In May 1932, jobless WWI veterans organized a group called the "Bonus Expeditionary Forces" (BEF) to march on Washington, DC. Suffering and desperate, the BEF's goal was to get the bonus payment now, when they really needed the money.
- Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. Army chief of staff, drove out the demonstrators and destroyed their encampments, using tanks and tear gas. One veteran was shot to death, and several veterans and policemen were wounded. Congress then appropriated $100,000 to send the protestors home, and they dispersed
- Four years later, in 1936, the veterans did get their bonus, when Congress voted the money over President Franklin Roosevelt's veto

1939

Beginning of WWII
- World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945
- end-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War II. During World War II, the United States began to provide significant military supplies and other assistance to the Allies in September 1940, even though the United States did not enter the war until December 1941
- The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, ended the debate over American intervention in both the Pacific and European theaters of World War II. The day after the attack, Congress declared war on Imperial Japan with only a single dissenting vote.
-

1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor
- . The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, ended the debate over American intervention in both the Pacific and European theaters of World War II. The day after the attack, Congress declared war on Imperial Japan with only a single dissenting vote.

1944

D-Day
- The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it is the largest seaborne invasion in history
- brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France
- Planes dropped 13,000 bombs before the landing: they completely missed their targets; intense naval bombardment still failed to destroy German emplacements. The result was, Omaha Beach became a horrific killing zone, with the wounded left to drown in the rising tide
- By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. Fighting by the brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the allied forces western front, and Russian forces on the eastern front, led to the defeat of German Nazi forces

1945

Atomic Bomb Dropped
- The US wanted to force a quick surrender by the Japanese to reduce the number of American lives lost. In addition, it was secretly decided at the Yalta Summit in February 1945 that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan.
- Truman did not seek to destroy Japanese culture or people; the goal was to destroy Japan's ability to make war
- Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb
- The uranium bomb detonated over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 had an explosive yield equal to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. It razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings and caused an estimated 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945, along with increased rates of cancer and chronic disease among the survivors.

PERIOD 8

Changing Homefront : 1945-1980

1945-1991

Cold War
- a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, that started in 1947, two years after the end of World War II, and lasted until 1991, the fall of the Soviet Union
- The U.S was scared of the growing threat of communism
- The Cold War turned hot in several locations (like Korea)

SOURCES OF COLD WAR TENSION
- US and GB delay in opening the 2nd front to help Stalin
- Stalin broke the Yalta treaty by not having free elections in countries like Poland
- Truman Doctrine - promised to stop the expansion of communism
- Marshal Plan funding was limited to Western Europe which fueled Cold War tensions
- The soviet Berlin Blockade tried to force the Allied powers out of the city of Berlin which ultimately failed and scared the West thus contributing to Cold War tensions
- The U.S formation of NATO which is a military agreement designed to keep communism in check
- The Warsaw Pact (formed by the USSR) was a retaliation against NATO
- Soviet invasion of North Korea
- Nuclear arms race (nukes tested by both the Soviets and u.s to show their strength)
- Cuban missile crisis
- Erection of the Berlin Wall
- Brezhnev Doctrine: the Soviet Union and the satellite states have the right to intervene militarily in any East bloc country where communism is being threatened.
- Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
- PARIS ACCORD: ENDED COLD WAR and stated that all of Europe's borders were legal and valid

1947

Truman Doctrine
- an American foreign policy that pledges American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the primary goal of countering the growth of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War
- President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces
- The purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to prevent communism worldwide, explicitly stopping the Soviet Union from expanding its sphere of influence. The doctrine was considered a benchmark foreign policy that's helped shape America's foreign affairs

1950-1953

Korean War
- fought between North Korea and South Korea; it began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea and ceased upon an armistice on 27 July 1953. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United Nations Command led by the United States
- After five years of simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula, the Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the Northern Korean People's Army invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack at several strategic points along the 38th parallel, the line dividing communist North Korea from the non-communist Republic
- President Truman determined to fight communism wherever it may occur. So when North Korea invaded South Korea, Truman decided to send American forces to South Korea to help the South Korean army which was being overwhelmed by the North Korean army

1950s

McCarthyism
- also known as the Second Red Scare, was the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of alleged communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s
- McCarthy rocketed to public attention in 1950 with his allegations that hundreds of Communists had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies. These charges struck a particularly responsive note at a time of deepening national anxiety about the spread of world communism.
- In 1954 McCarthy's investigation of security threats in the U.S. Army was televised. McCarthy's bullying of witnesses turned public opinion against the Senator. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure him, describing his behavior as "contrary to senatorial traditions."

1954

Brown v. Board of Ed
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality
- state-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional
- The events relevant to this specific case first occurred in 1951, when a public school district in Topeka, Kansas refused to let Oliver Brown's daughter enroll at the nearest school to their home and instead required her to enroll at a school further away. Oliver Brown and his daughter were black

1955

Montgomery Bus Boycott
- a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States
- Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks on 1 December 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott was a 13-month mass protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional

1957

Sputnik
- Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted
- The launch and orbit of Sputnik 1 suggested that the Soviet Union had made a substantial leap in technology, which was interpreted as a serious threat to US national security, spurring the US to boost federal investment in research and development, education, and national security
- Launched as a contribution to the International Geophysical Year (IGY), Sputnik weighed 184 pounds and orbited the Earth every 90 minutes, sending out a signal that amateur radio operators around the world could monitor

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis
- The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis, was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba
- In 1962 the Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba to launch attacks on U.S. cities. The confrontation that followed, known as the Cuban missile crisis, brought the two superpowers to the brink of war before an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles.
- In October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles. He met in secret with his advisors for several days to discuss the problem

1963

March on Washington
- The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans
- a quarter of a million people rallied in Washington, D.C. for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to demand an end to segregation, fair wages and economic justice, voting rights, education, and long overdue civil rights protections
- The event focused on employment discrimination, civil rights abuses against African Americans, Latinos, and other disenfranchised groups, and support for the Civil Rights Act that the Kennedy Administration was attempting to pass through Congress
- Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin began plans for a march on Washington to protest segregation, the lack of voting rights, and unemployment among African Americans. Randolph and Rustin enlisted the support of all the major civil rights organizations, and the march—on August 28—was a resounding success

1963

JFK assassinated
- the fourth U.S. president to have been assassinated while in office (after Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley)
- The assassination and its aftermath played out through the newly dominant mass medium of television, which made it a uniquely immediate and shocking experience for many Americans.
- Kennedy's death also brought an abrupt end to his supporters' sense of optimism about the country's future, which had been fueled by his broad popularity.
- At 12:30 PM, President Kennedy was struck by two shots apparently fired from an open window on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. He was rushed to nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM. His accused killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested at 1:50 PM.
- During the 21 hours that the president's body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, about 250,000 people filed by to pay their respects. On Monday, November 25, 1963, President Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery

1964

Civil Rights Act
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing
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1968

DNC Riots in Chicago
- The 1968 Democratic National Convention protests were a series of protests against the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War that took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The protests lasted approximately seven days, from August 23 to August 29, 1968
- The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. - Antiwar protestors gathered outside the convention. Conflict between protestors and police led to a riot. - The riot caused some Americans to lose faith in the police and in politics

1968

My Lai Massacre
- a war crime committed by United States Army personnel on 16 March 1968, involving the mass murder of unarmed civilians in Sơn Tịnh district, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War
- mass killing of as many as 500 unarmed villagers
- On March 16, 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it," said their superior officers. A short time later the killing began
- Lieutenant Calley was the first to be court-martialed beginning on November 10, 1970, providing the country with the first public insight into the operation at My Lai. After more than four months of trial and almost 80 hours of deliberation, the jury found Calley guilty of the premeditated murder of 22 civilians
- Charlie Company was ordered to enter the village for a search and destroy mission. Still stinging from human losses in their unit during the Tet Offensive, Charlie Company vented their rage on the villagers at My Lai

1968

Tet Offensive
- The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War
- In late January, 1968, during the lunar new year (or "Tet") holiday, North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong forces launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in South Vietnam. The U.S. and South Vietnamese militaries sustained heavy losses before finally repelling the communist assault
- Tet made it clear that a U.S. victory in Vietnam was not imminent, and the American public's support began to wane. After Tet, U.S. generals at the heart of the campaign asked to add to the more than 500,000 troops already in Vietnam, hoping to start a counteroffensive

1968

MLK assassinated
- likely for the hope of collecting a racist bounty for the murder
- At 6:05 P.M. on Thursday, 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead while standing on a balcony outside his second-floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. News of King's assassination prompted major outbreaks of racial violence, resulting in more than 40 deaths nationwide and extensive property
- Martin Luther King, Jr., was standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, when he was shot by James Earl Ray. An hour later, King died at St. Joseph's hospital

1969

Moon landing
- It was the Apollo 11 mission that demonstrated convincingly for the first time how ancient the Moon is — the samples brought back were more than 3 billion years old. We learned that the Moon recorded and illuminated a period of solar system history that we hadn't begun to appreciate through our study of Earth
- The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth
- At 02:56 GMT on 21 July 1969, Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon. He was joined by Aldrin 19 minutes later. The two spent about two hours together outside the lunar module, taking photographs and collecting 21.5 kg of lunar material to be tested back on Earth

1972

Watergate Break-in
- It originated from attempts by the Nixon administration to conceal its involvement in the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters located in the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C
- The Watergate scandal refers to the burglary and illegal wiretapping of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, in the Watergate complex by members of President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, and the subsequent cover-up of the break-in resulting in Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974
- The term "Watergate" has since become synonymous with various clandestine and illicit activities conducted by Nixon's aides, including the bugging of political opponents' offices, unauthorized investigations, and the misuse of government agencies for political purposes

1973

Roe v. Wade
- The Roe v. Wade Ruling, 1973. In its 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court recognized that the right to liberty in the Constitution, which protects personal privacy, includes the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy
- protected abortion as a fundamental right
- The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for the second and third trimesters.