Key Events in U.S. History: From Founding to WWII

Alexander Hamilton

National Bank, federal power

Louisiana Purchase

Doubled U.S. size (1803), Jefferson

Monroe Doctrine

Europe, stay out of Western Hemisphere

Manifest Destiny

U.S. right to expand westward

Indian Removal Act

Led to Trail of Tears

Seneca Falls Convention

Women's rights; Declaration of Sentiments

Missouri Compromise

36°30' line; balance of slave/free states

Compromise of 1850

Fugitive Slave Act; California free

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Slaves are property, not citizens

Emancipation Proclamation

Freed slaves in Confederacy

13th Amendment

Abolished slavery

14th Amendment

Citizenship & equal protection

15th Amendment

Voting rights for African American men

Jim Crow Laws

Legal segregation

Natural Rights

Life, liberty, property (John Locke)

Declaration of Independence

Break from Britain, list of grievances

Articles of Confederation

Weak federal government

U.S. Constitution

Replaces Articles; creates strong federal government

Federalism

Power divided between national and state governments

Checks and Balances

Prevents one branch from overpowering others

Separation of Powers

3 branches: Legislative, Executive, Judicial

Elastic Clause

Congress can make laws 'necessary and proper'

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments; protects individual freedoms

Judicial Review

Marbury v. Madison gives Supreme Court power to interpret laws

Stock Market Crash

1929

Dust Bowl

Drought & poor farming

New Deal

Government programs to help economy

CCC, WPA, SSA

Programs included in the New Deal

Pearl Harbor

U.S. enters war (1941)

Internment Camps

Japanese Americans relocated (Korematsu v. U.S.)

D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy

Atomic Bomb

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Containment

Stop spread of communism

Marshall Plan

Aid to rebuild Europe

Truman Doctrine

Aid to fight communism

Berlin Airlift

Supplies dropped to West Berlin

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cold War confrontation

Laissez-Faire

Government stays out of economy

Robber Barons

Powerful businessmen (Carnegie, Rockefeller)

Monopolies / Trusts

Total control over industry

Labor Unions

Fought for better wages and conditions

Nativism

Anti-immigrant beliefs

Tenements

Poor urban housing

Muckrakers

Exposed corruption (e.g., Upton Sinclair, The Jungle)

Pure Food and Drug Act

Legislation to ensure food safety

Sherman Antitrust Act

Stop monopolies

Initiative, Referendum, Recall

More voter power

Imperialism

Gaining overseas colonies

Spanish-American War

U.S. gains Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam

Panama Canal

Shorter route for trade/military

WWI

U.S. joins after Lusitania and Zimmerman Telegram

Treaty of Versailles

U.S. rejects League of Nations