Studied by 26 people
Compromise of 1850
CA is admitted as a free state (forever upset the balance), Fugitive Slave Law is passed, slave trade abolished in Washington D.C., popular sovereignty established below 36°30' line
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
proposed by Senator Douglas of Illinois - created Nebraska and Kansas as states & gave the people in those territories the right to choose to be either a free or slave state through popular sovereignty - repealed Missouri Compromise, North received route of transcontinental railroad, fostered end of Whig Party, and led to violence between pro- and anti-slavery forces
Dred Scott v. Sandford 1857
ruled that African Americans cannot be U.S. citizens and that Congress has no power to forbid slavery in U.S. territories
Lincoln-Douglas debates 1858
Lincoln: a nation will be slave or it will be free - a house divided against itself cannot stand Douglas: Freeport Doctrine - popular sovereignty can work if territorial legislatures don't pass laws protecting slavery Douglas won, but Lincoln gained national attention
John Brown's Raid 1859
John Brown planned to secure the federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, VA, and start slave revolts across the South - became a martyr to many abolitionists and increased southern fears of slave revolts
The Civil War 1861-1865
deadliest war in American history - conflict between the Union and Confederacy - 11 southern slave states wanted to secede from Union - caused by historic, economic, social, and political sectional differences that were further emotionalized by the slavery issue
Homestead Act 1862
encouraged westward settlement by allowing heads of families to buy 160 acres of land for a small fee - settlers were required to develop and remain on the land for 5 years
Emancipation Proclamation 1863
declared all enslaved persons in the rebellious states free - guaranteed all slaves would be freed if the Union won the war - helped keep the British from allying with the Confederacy - changed the war objective - a war to end slavery
Ten Percent Plan 1864
Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction - states could be readmitted once 10% of voters took a loyalty oath - pardons would be given to most who took loyalty oath and allowed for emancipation
Freedmen's Bureau 1865
an agency of early Reconstruction, founded by Lincoln, to help freemen in the South - education, medical care, job training - the United States' first "welfare agency"
Black Codes 1865
imposed slavery-like restrictions on blacks and angered the North - made segregation commonplace and made it difficult for African-Americans to leave the South
Thirteenth Amendment 1865
outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime
Military Reconstruction Act 1867
ex-rebel states were divided into 5 military districts, Republicans dominated state governments, African-American men allowed to vote and serve in elected office, new state constitutions had to be written before readmission - 50% loyalty oath required
"Seward's Folly" 1867
Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million - critics attacked Seward, claiming it was a waste of money, but gold was later discovered
Fourteenth Amendment 1868
citizenship granted to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S., and guarantee of equal protection and due process of law - overturned 3/5 Compromise
Fifteenth Amendment 1870
universal male suffrage, right to vote cannot be denied
Chinese Exclusion Act 1882
law that suspended Chinese immigration into America - ban was supposed to last 10 years, but it was expanded several times and was essentially in effect until WWII - the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States of an ethnic working group - extreme example of nativism of the period
Pendleton Act 1883
under the presidency of Chester Arthur - established the Civil Service Commission - designated jobs were awarded based on merit
Haymarket Affair 1886
protest in Haymarket Square in Chicago - bomb killed 11 people, including 7 policemen - led to the end of the Knights of Labor
Sherman Antitrust Act 1890
forbade contracts or combinations that restrained competition - no monopolies
Homestead Steel Strike 1892
strike at Carnegie's steel plant in Homestead, PA - Pinkerton agents hired as "strikebreakers" - shootout occured between workers and agents - 16 killed - union is dead
United States v. E.C. Knight Company 1895
declared manufacturing a strictly intrastate activity (out of the contol of Congress) - made the Sherman Antitrust Act ineffective
Plessy v. Ferguson 1896
legalized segregation in publicly owned facilities on the basis of "separate but equal"
Northern Securities Company v. United States 1904
set a precedent for government regulation under Roosevelt - a holding company formed for the express purpose of limiting competition is guilty of restraint of trade and in violation of the federal antitrust acts
Lochner v. New York 1905
court voided a 10 hour day - stated the law violated a worker's "liberty of contract"
Meat Inspection Act 1906
federal guidelines established to ensure safety of products - followed the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle - exposed the horrors of the meat-packing industry
Muller v. Oregon 1908
upheld a 10 hour work day for women based on sociological data - first time the court accepted sociological data - long hours made women neglectful wives and mothers
Federal Reserve Act 1913
established the Federal Reserve, a central banking system in control of all paper currency, extending credit to member banks, and controlling interest rates
Sixteenth Amendment 1913
gave Congress the power to collect taxes on people's income - established graduated income tax
World War I 1914-1918
European conflict challenges U.S. policy of neutrality -Allied victory intended to make the world safe for democracy and self-determination - League of Nations established - U.S. did not join
Federal Trade Commission 1914
a regulatory act - agency has the power to file antitrust lawsuits - replaced the Bureau of Corporations - part of Woodrow Wilson's campaign to break the Triple Wall of Privilege
Bunting v. Oregon 1917
upheld a 10 hour work day for both men and women
Seventeenth Amendment 1917
popular election of U.S. senators - previously senators were indirectly elected - a success for democracy in the Progressive Era
Eighteenth Amendment 1918
banned the sale, manufacture, and transport of alcohol in the U.S.
Schenck v. United States 1919
the Espionage and Sedition Acts were upheld as constitutional in wartime - freedom of speech may be curtailed if exercising that right posed "clear and present danger" to others or to the state
Nineteenth Amendment 1920
enfranchisement of women - climactic achievement of the Progressive Era - the end of a century long struggle
Washington Armaments Conference 1921
many nations agreed to limit naval enlargement - respect of Pacific possessions - continuity of Open Door
National Origins Act 1924
a law that severely restricted immigration by establishing a system of national quotas that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and virtually excluded Asians policy stayed in effect until the 1960s
Scopes "monkey" Trial 1925
a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school - case was thus seen both as a theological contest and as a trial on whether evolution should be taught in schools - Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy
Stock Market Crash 1929
"Black Tuesday" - speculative prices "burst" and a massive selling of shares occured - stock values plunged by half entering November - Great Depression
Glass-Steagall Act 1933
banks closed for reform - deposits now guaranteed by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
Civilian Conservation Corps 1933
unemployment relief under the New Deal - jobs in environmental projects
Tennessee Valley Authority 1933
New Deal agency that was created to help control flooding, soil conservation, and bring hydroelectric power to the mid-south - created jobs
Social Security Act 1935
pension system for the elderly, payroll tax paid by employer, individual pays into system and receives retirement benefits - established under New Deal
National Labor Relations Act 1935
a.k.a the Wagner Act - worker guaranteed collective bargaining and has the right to join a union
Court Packing Plan 1937
FDR's proposal to expand the court from 9 to 15 justices to ensure New Deal laws passed - plan failed to pass
Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
established a minimum wage law - meant to be a living wage - no more pure capitalism - established a maximum work week
Lend-Lease Act 1940
U.S. can send supplies to threatened allies on credit - primarily aided Great Britain
Pearl Harbor 1941
Japan's surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor, killing 2400 and launching the U.S. into WWII
World War II 1941-1945
deadliest war in human history - 50 million deaths - Allies fighting Hitler, then Japan - United Nations established - international change
Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) 1942
a nonviolent civil rights organization that was committed to the "Double V" - victory over fascism abroad and racism at home - after World War II, it would become a major force in the civil rights movement
D-Day 1944
Operation Overlord - Allied invasion of Normandy, France - turning point in WWII
Smith v. Allwright 1944
outlawed "all white" primaries - gain for African-Americans during WWII
Hiroshima 1945
"Little Boy" atomic bomb was dropped on this Japanese city - 80,000 killed - number grew to 200,000 over the decade
United Nations 1945
peace keeping agency of sovereign nations - U.S. took a world leadership role, forever out of isolation
Containment 1947
U.S. policy of preventing the spread of communism to other countries, causing interventions across multiple continents - collective security against Soviet Union's malicious intentions
Berlin Airlift 1948
5,000 tons of supplies dropped daily in West Berlin for more than a year in response to the Soviet blockade of West Berlin
NATO 1949
North Atlantic Treaty Organization - mutual alliance - an attack on one is an attack on all
Domino Theory 1954
theory coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower that a communist takeover in one country would cause neighboring countries to fall
Brown v. Board of Education 1954
segregation is inherently unequal and violates the 14th Amendment - overturned Plessy - called for integration of schools "with all deliberate speed"
Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955
a political and social protest campaign that started in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system following Rosa Park's arrest
Federal Highway Act 1956
created the interstate system - incentives: commerce, internal migration (many to Sunbelt), military mobilization
Browder v. Gayle 1956
ended segregation in public transportation
Greensboro sit-ins 1960
college students refused to give up seat at Woolworth's all-white counter - "sit-in" movement began
Mutually Assured Destruction 1962
a nuclear holocaust threat helped keep U.S. and USSR from going to war
Sixteenth Street Church bombing 1963
KKK perpetrated a bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing 4 young girls - in response to MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech - prompted thousands of activists
The Feminine Mystique 1963
a criticism of the traditional woman's role - women should seek independence - start of feminism in this time period
Civil Rights Act of 1964
outlawed racial discrimination in public facilities - federal authority to enforce school desegregation
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1964
Vietnam incident led to the resolution to use "any means necessary" to defeat communists in North Vietnam
Voting Rights Act of 1965
suspension of literacy tests and other fraudulent acts required for voting
Griswold v. Connecticut 1965
SCOTUS barred states from banning contraceptives - based on marital privacy
Miranda v. Arizona 1966
police must inform suspect of rights before questioning - influenced by 14th Amendment
National Organization for Women 1966
grass roots democracy - fought against sexual harassment in the workplace, for abortion rights, and equal pay
Roe v. Wade 1973
no state can ban abortion through the 2nd trimester - based on the "individual liberty" of privacy - choice
War Powers Act 1973
after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, Congress passed to this law to secure more control over military interventions - reduced some executive power
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Flashcard (90)