1898: Spanish-American War (SPAM). The US becomes a world power and gains control of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
1914: WWI Begins in Europe.
1918: WWI Armistice. Treaty of Versailles. The US does not sign due to isolationism.
1929: Stock Market Crashes, start of the Great Depression.
1939: WWII Begins in Europe.
December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor attack.
1945: WWII ends in May (Victory in Europe) & US uses nuclear weapons (Hiroshima & Nagasaki) in September (Victory in Japan).
1957: Russia Launches its first satellite, Sputnik, which Started Space Race/NASA.
1969: Moon Landing.
1991: Berlin Wall falls and the Cold War ends.
2001: Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, leading to the War on Terror.
2008: Election of Barack Obama.
Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10)
Individual Rights: These rights were the first act of Congress and relate to the list of grievances expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
1st Amendment: Personal Freedoms of Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly & Petition.
2nd Amendment: Right to Bear Arms, Gun ownership & regulation for Militia.
3rd Amendment: No Quartering of Troops.
4th Amendment: Protection against unreasonable Search & Seizure.
5th Amendment: Protection of Life, Liberty, and Property.
6th Amendment: Criminal Trial Rights such as trial by jury of peers.
7th Amendment: Civil Trial Rights.
8th Amendment: Protection against Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
9th Amendment: Other rights for individuals.
10th Amendment: Other Rights reserved for states.
Must Know Amendments
13th Amendment: FREE: Abolishes Slavery (freed slaves). Known as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.
14th Amendment: CITIZENS: Rights of Citizenship & guaranteed due process of law for all citizens. Known as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.
15th Amendment: VOTE: African-American Male Suffrage. Known as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.
16th Amendment: TAX: Created Federal Income Tax.
17th Amendment: SENATORS: Direct Election of US Senators - elected by the people not state legislatures. Known as one of the Progressive Amendments.
18th Amendment: DRINK: Prohibition - no alcohol!
19th Amendment: WOMEN: Women's Suffrage (the Right to Vote). Known as one of the Progressive Amendments.
21st Amendment: Ends Prohibition and overturns the 18th Amendment.
24th Amendment: Outlawed Poll Tax (You don't have to pay to vote). Poll taxes & literacy tests were used to discriminate against minority voters - a big deal during the Civil Rights movement.
26th Amendment: All US Citizens 18 and older may vote.
Powerful and Prominent Presidents
1. Theodore Roosevelt: Progressive President, Rough Riders during SPAM War, Square Deal, 3rd Party, Conservation, Trust Buster.
3. Warren Harding: Return to Normalcy, Teapot Dome Scandal.
4. Herbert Hoover: Rugged Individualism, President during Stock Market Crash, blamed for Great Depression (Hoovervilles).
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR): 4 term President During Great Depression & WWII, New Deal, Court Packing.
6. Harry S. Truman: President at the end of WWII, ordered the dropping of Atomic Bombs, Truman Doctrine containment of communism at any cost.
7. Dwight D. Eisenhower: General & Allied Commander during WWII & D-Day, President during Cold War, Started Space Race.
8. John F. Kennedy (JFK): Space Race, Bay of Pigs & Cuban Missile Crisis (against Communist Cuba and Castro), Space Race/moon.
9. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ): President after JFK assassination, Vietnam & escalation, Civil Rights Act 1964, War on Poverty.
10. Richard Nixon: Vietnamization, "silent majority", détente with China and Soviet Union, Environmental Protection Agency, Watergate Scandal.
11. Jimmy Carter: Stagflation due to oil crisis, Camp David Accords agreement between Israel and Egypt, Iran Hostage Crisis.
12. Ronald Reagan: Conservatism, Reaganomics, Peace through Strength, Iran-Contra Affair, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
13. George H.W. Bush: Rust Belt to Sun Belt migration, Americans with Disabilities Act, Gulf War, official end of the Cold War.
14. Bill Clinton: 1992 election and Perot, NAFTA, impeachment and scandal.
15. George W. Bush: 2000 election and Gore, 9/11, War on Terror, Katrina.
16. Barack Obama: 2008 election, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Time Periods or Eras
Westward Expansionism: 1826-1890s. Info includes Manifest destiny, California, Alaska, Gold, Indian Wars, transcontinental railroad, Homestead Act, populism.
Industrial Era: 1870s-1910s. Info includes Electricity, assembly line, agriculture to factory work, urbanization, child labor, political machines.
Gilded Age: 1880s-1900s. Info includes Robber barons vs. Captains of industry, monopolies/trusts, immigration.
Progressive Era: 1890s-1920. Info includes Labor unions, muckrakers, social & government reforms, suffrage, Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Social Gospel.
Imperialism/Expansionism: 1880s-1900s. Info includes SPAM "Remember the Maine" (Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines), Panama Canal, Hawaii, Big Stick Diplomacy, Open Door, yellow journalism.
WWI: 1914-1918, US enters in 1917. MAIN long-term causes of WWI, assassination of Archduke, Central Powers vs. Allied Powers, Lusitania, Unrestricted Submarine Warfare, Zimmerman Telegraph, Selective Service Act → draft, League of Nations in Wilson's Fourteen Points, Treaty of Versailles.
Jazz Age: 1920s. Info includes Harlem Renaissance, 1st Red Scare, Scope's Trial debate teaching evolution (traditionalism vs. modernism), jazz, Prohibition, buying on credit, flappers and the changing role of women, radio creates national culture, Teapot Dome Scandal.
Great Depression: 1929-1939. Info includes Stock Market crashes, speculation, over production, buying on credit, bank failures, risky loans, business and bank closures, high unemployment, Dust Bowl.
New Deal: 1932-1939. FDR takes total control, government begins to address depression, Bank Holiday, Alphabet Soup (PWA, WPA, CCC, AAA) Agencies, 1st 100 Days, fireside chats.
WWII: 1939-1945, US enters Dec. 7, 1941. Allies-US, Britain, USSR, and France. Axis Italy, Germany, and Japan. Rise of European dictators in Europe and Asia, ends US Depression, Invasion of Poland, Holocaust and liberation of camps, Pearl Harbor attacked by Japan → US enters war, Homefront & rationing, Pacific, Eastern and Western Fronts, Rosie the Riveter, Executive Order 9066 creates Japanese Internment, G.I. Bill-provides $$ to returning soldiers (Turning Points: Midway - Pacific, D-Day-Western Front in Europe, Stalingrad-Eastern Front in Europe)
Cold War: 1946-1989. Info includes Marshall Plan, Iron Curtain, Containment. 2nd Red Scare→HUAC & McCarthyism, Nuclear Arms Race, Space Race, Korean War, United Nations, NATO/Warsaw Pact
Civil Rights Movement: 1950s-1960s. Info includes Organized movement of people and ideas for minority civil rights, civil disobedience (peaceful protest), Chicano Mural Movement, Women's Rights (NOW), Native American Rights (AIM), Title IX, affirmative action, Civil Rights Act 1964
Vietnam: 1964-1975. Military Action-Guerrilla Warfare, Draft, US & South Vietnam against North Viet Cong, Communism and USSR, Counter Culture, Student Movement Protests, Vietnamization, role of media
Nixon to Reagan: 1969-1990. Info includes Détente, Watergate, OPEC, Camp David Accords, Iranian Hostage Crisis, Conservative resurgence, stagflation, Reaganomics, Peace Through Strength, Iran-Contra Affair
Post-Cold War Era: 1990-present. Info includes USSR dissolves, Persian Gulf War, Contract with America, NAFTA, Clinton impeachment, Bush v Gore, 9/11, War on Terror, entrepreneurs, globalization
Other Information
Manifest destiny
Expansionism Imperialism/getting more land/BULLY
Isolationism -avoid involvement with others/LONER
Executive President Legislative -Congress/make laws
Judicial Courts
Nationalism - Extreme pride in ones country
Temperance = movement to ban alcohol-Prohibition
D-Day = Invasion of Normandy
Flapper = 20s woman defied traditional roles
Third Party =group to oppose major political parties