Unit 1: 1491-1607

• Cultures of Central + South America

  • Mayas: between the years 300 and 800, they built large, distinct cities throughout the Yucatán Peninsula (aka modern-day Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico)

  • The decline of the Mayas led to the development of the Aztecs (central Mexico), famously known for their capital, Tenochtitlán (population around 200,000 people)

  • The other major group during this time (as the Aztecs) were the Incas seen in western South America (mostly in modern-day Peru)

    • All three of these groups were highly organized, carried out trade, created scientifically accurate calendars, and cultivated crops (corn/maize for Mayas and Aztecs; potatoes for Incas) + influenced the culture of early North America

• Native Culture in North America generally included less people and a less complex social structure

  • The growing of maize spread northward from Mexico (presumably influence from the Aztecs) and allowed for larger and dense populations → socially diversified societies

  • American Indian languages constituted more than 20 families (examples being Algonquian, Siouan, and Athabaskan)

• Southwest Settlements: dry region (modern-day New Mexico and Arizona) was home to the Hohokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos; lived in caves, under cliffs, and in multistoried buildings

  • Wealth generated by the spread of maize cultivation → irrigation system development → economic growth and additional wealth → more complex society (social and economic classes formed)

• Northwest Settlements: along the Pacific coast (modern-day Alaska to northern California); longhouses/plankhouses; diets based on hunting, fishing, and gathering (nuts, berries, and roots)

  • Introduction of the totem pole (the carving of stories, legend, and myths into wood)

• Great Basin + Great Plains: dry climate and grasslands = mobile ways of living/nomadic

  • Survived primarily off of the buffalo which was used for food, decor, crafting tools, knives, and clothing

  • Introduction of the teepee (frames of poles covered in animal skins; easy to disassemble + transport)

  • corn/maize, beans, + squash

• Mississippi River Valley: modern-day Mississippi + Ohio River Valleys (hunting, fishing, + agriculture)

  • The Adena-Hopewell culture (modern-day Ohio) is famous for its earthen mounds

  • One of the largest settlements was Cahokia (estimated 300,000 people)

• Northeast Settlements: descendants of the Adena-Hopewell culture (modern-day Ohio Valley to New York; hunting + farming; longhouses)

  • Their culture exhausted the soil rapidly → moving to find fresh land 

  • Many lived near the Great Lakes: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, + Tuscaroras

    • These groups formed a strong Native political group called the Iroquois Confederation (aka Haudenosauanee) which battled rival Native Americans and Europeans

• Atlantic Seaboard Settlements: modern-day New Jersey to Florida (coastal plains)

  • Relied on the rivers + Atlantic Ocean for food

  • Descendants of the woodland mound builders

• 17th century: Native Americans acquired horses by trading/stealing from Spanish settlers

  • Lakota Sioux tribe could use horses to follow buffalo horses

  • Made migration easier

• Advancements in Technology:

  • In Europe in the 15th + 16th centuries, the Renaissance led to many technological advancements 

    • Gunpowder was now being used by Europeans (invented by the Chinese)

    • Sailing Compass was adopted by Arab merchants and traded to Europeans (invented by the Chinese)

    • Printing Press in the 1450s allowed knowledge to spread across Europe

    • Shipmaking + Mapmaking improved by the Europeans

• Expanding Trade was done due to the need to find a new route to Asia 

  • The Portuguese realized the route south and east was the shortest and they sponsored a journey (Henry the Navigator) who opened up a route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope

    • Henry the Navigator: Portuguese prince who promoted the study of navigation and directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa

  • 1498: Portuguese sea captain, Vasco de Gama was the first European to reach India by sea

• The Spanish + Portuguese were the first to claim territories in the Americas → constant disputed 

  • 1493: the pope drew a vertical line on the world (aka the line of demarcation) and granted Spain all the land west of the line + Portugal all the lands to the east

  • 1494: Spain + Portugal moved the pope’s line a few degrees west and signed the Treaty of Tordesillas which now included Brazil (under Portugal)

• England began exploring under the voyages of John Cabot (an Italian sea captain, signed to work under England’s King Henry VII)

  • 1497: Cabot explored Newfoundland (Canada)

  • 1587: Sir Walter Raleigh (English) attempted to form a colonial settlement at Roanoke Island (off of modern-day North Carolina) → failed

• France decided to begin exploring as well in 1524

  • Their first explorer was Giovanni da Verrazzano (Italian explorer sponsored by the French monarchy) who explored North America’s eastern coast (modern-day New York harbor)

  • French claims to American territory were also led by Jacques Cartier who explored the St. Lawrence River

• Christopher Columbus (originally from Genoa, Italy) originally spent 8 year seeking someone to sponsor his sail from Europe to the “Indies” 

  • 1492: Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain decided to provide 3 ships and make Columbus the governor, admiral, + viceroy of any land claimed for Spain

    • September 6, 1492: Columbus left the Canary Islands (Spain) 

    • October 12, 1492: landed on an Island in the Bahamas

• Columbian Exchange consisted of trade (plants, animals, and diseases) from each side of the Atlantic (Old World + New World)

  • This changed many aspects of both European and American life:

    • Introduced Europeans to beans, corn, sweet + white potatoes, tomatoes, + tobacco → revolutionized the diets of people in Eurasia + expanded to from Ireland to West Africa to China

      • New disease: syphilis

    • Introduced the Americas to sugar cane, bluegrasses, pigs, horses, the wheel, iron implements, + guns

      • The introduction of smallpox + measles killed millions of Native Americans due to no immunity to the diseases + germs brought by Europeans

• Spanish Conquest + Exploration was done by numerous explorers and journeys

  • Vasco Núñez de Balboa explored the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean

  • Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs (Mexico)

  • Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas (Peru) 

    • This ultimately expanded the Spanish empire + supremacy in the Americas

    • These conquerors are known as conquistadors who conquered land and sent ships back with gold and silver

• Slavery/Forced Labor:

  • The Encomienda System was used to control the surviving Indians into the Spanish empire 

    • Granted Spaniards land within the region with natives forced to farm or work in the mines (slavery)

  • The Portuguese began using African labor on sugar plantations on African Islands → saw an influx of profit and became a model for other European empires

    • Spanish added Africans to their labor force to replace the Indians who died from diseases + brutality (got their laborers from African partners)

    • Began the asiento system which required colonists to pay a tax to the Spanish king for every enslaved person they imported to the Americas

• The transatlantic slave trade was the major route taken to import slaves to the Amercicas

  • Ended in the 1800s, slave traders sent between 10-15 million enslaved people from Africa (10-15% died) on this voyage across the Atlantic (aka the Middle Passage)

• The Spanish Caste System was formed due to a combination of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans living in one diverse society

  • The top were pure-blooded Spaniards

  • The middle were mixtures of European, Native American, + African heritage

  • The bottom were people that were pure Native American or African

    • Furthered the superiority of Europeans and worsened the forced labor

• Debates about the Treatment of Spanish Policy was rare but occurred as a way to speak up against the brutality faced within the Americas, enforced by Spanish rule

  • Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Spanish priest who heavily disagreed with the view Europeans had on Native Americans and advocated for better treatment 

    • The king was persuaded and instituted the New Laws of 1542 which ended Indian slavery, halted Indian labor, and began the end of the encomienda system

  • 1550-1551: The Valladolid Debate consisted of questioning the role for Indians in Spanish colonies 

    • Las Casas argued how Indians were human + morally equal to Europeans (enslavement was NOT justified)

    • Another priest, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, argued that Indians were less than human and benefited from the encomienda system

Unit 2: 1607-1754

• Successful British Colonies were along the Atlantic coast (North America) + were called Jamestown +  Plymouth → Starting point for the 13 colonies 

  • England’s population was rapidly growing → poor/landless families became more common and they sought for opportunities in the Americas

    • Joint-stock companies were used to then finance colonization

  • Three types of charters/colonies developed:

    • Corporate colonies: owned by joint-stock companies (like Jamestown)

    • Royal colonies: were to be under the direct authority and rule of the king’s government (like Virginia post 1624)

    • Proprietary colonies: under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king (like Maryland and Pennsylvania)

• 1607: Jamestown was chartered by the Virginia Company under England’s King James I; first permanent English colony in America

  • The settlement was in a swampy area → dysentery and malaria outbreaks 

  • Captain John Smith led the survival of Jamestown for 5 years

  • John Rolfe and his Indian wife, Pocahontas, helped develop a variety of tobacco, which became popular in Europe and was VERY profitable

  • Began providing headrights, 50 acres of land to any settler who paid

  • 1624: the Virginia colony was close to collapsing due to disease, conflict with Indians, and near bankruptcy → King James I took over → England’s first royal colony

• Separatists wanted a separate church (without royal control), and left England to go to Holland for religious freedom (due to their ample amounts of travel, they became known as the pilgrims)

  • Many hardships with the Dutch (financial and cultural) led to the selection of a colony in America, and then controlled by the Virginia Company of London

    • 1620: a group of Pilgrims set sail for Virginia aboard the Mayflower

      • The Mayflower landed in Massachusetts (north of Virginia) and established a colony, Plymouth

      • 1621: The surviving pilgrims were aided by Indians who allowed the pilgrims to adapt to the land → harvest was used to celebrate a feast (aka Thanksgiving)

      • Captain Miles Standish and Governor William Bradford, grew Plymouth

      • Fish, furs, and lumber were what the economy primarily relied on

• Puritans, which believed in reform (or “purifying”) for the Church of England

  • 1625: Puritans were being persecuted under King Charles I of England 

  • 1629: the Puritans were seeking religious freedom, and embarked on a journey on a royal charter → Massachusetts Bay Company

  • 1630: 1,000 Puritans led by John Winthrop sailed for Massachusetts and founded Boston

    • Great Migration: Continuous religion and political conflict in England → an estimated 15,000 settlers to the Massachusetts Bay Colony 

• 1632: The foundation of Maryland was due to King Charles I splitting up Virginia to make a new colony

  • Was put in the hands of George Calvert (L-rd Baltimore) to oversee it, a Catholic noble

    • L-rd Baltimore died → Maryland was passed onto his son, Cecil Calvert (the second L-rd of Baltimore) 

      • 1634: The second L-rd of Baltimore implemented his father’s plan to make Maryland a safe haven for Catholics who faced persecution in England

  • Act of Toleration was formed to avoid persecution in England → wealthy Catholics moved to Maryland to establish plantations

  • 1600s: the Protestant Revolt angered by Catholic proprietor → civil war → Protestant win and repealed the Act of Toleration

    • Catholics now could not vote in the elections for the assembly 

• 1631: Providence (Rhode Island Pt. 1) was founded by a Puritan minister who moved from England, Roger Williams, and originally lived in Boston

  • Williams believed that an individual’s conscience was beyond any control of any civil or church authority → led to disputed between him and other Puritan leaders → Williams was banished out of Boston

    • 1636: Williams fled south and established Providence (Rhode Island) which was one of the first Baptist churches in America

    • Was unique because it welcomed Catholics, Quakers, and Jews to worship and recognized the rights of Native Americans

• Anne Hutchinson began questioning Puritan leadership, similar to Williams, and was banished for her beliefs in antinomianism (the idea that since individuals receive salvation through their faith alone, they were not required to follow traditional moral laws)

  • 1638: Hutchinson and her followers founded Portsmouth (Rhode Island Pt. 2) 

  • 1644: Williams was granted a charter from the Parliament and Providence and Portsmouth became one colony, Rhode Island → refuge for many due to accepting policies

• The formation of Connecticut happened when many were unhappy with the authorities in Massachusetts

  • 1636: Reverend Thomas Hooker led a large group of Boston Puritans → formed Hartford 

  • 1639: Drew up the first written constitution: the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (established a representative government with a legislature elected by popular vote and a governor chosen by that legislature)

  • 1637: John Davenport formed a second settlement named New Haven

  • 1665: New Haven and Hartford joined together and formed Connecticut → limited degree of self-government (including election of the governor)

• The last colony to be established to form New England was New Hampshire with a goal to increase royal control

  • 1679: formed by King Chalres II separating New Hampshire form the Massachusetts Bay Colony → royal colony 

• The Carolinas were founded by Charles II granting land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to 8 nobles (due to aiding him to gain the throne)

  • 1663: the nobles became the l-rd proprietors of the Carolinas

  • 1729: South Carolina and North Carolina were formed 

• The four colonies between New England and Virginia were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware (aka the Middle Colonies)

  • All four had fertile land and a diverse group of people → good harbors → cities

    • The Dutch gave up New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island and the Hudson River Valley

  • Pennsylvania was given to a political leader, William Penn, in return for debt and was originally known as Penn’s woods

    • Penn died and his son (also named William Penn) joined a group of Christians named the Religious Society of Friends/Quakers who were the most radical (in the eyes of British and colonies) 

      • Believed that authority was found within each person, not the Bible → equality between men and women, rejected violence, resisted military service

• The 13th and final colony was Georgia which was the only colony that received direct financial support from the British government because they wanted a defensive buffer and a place to send people in England who were imprisoned for debt (relieved crowded jails and let people restart their lives)

  • 1733: Georgia was a royal charter for a proprietary colony, and a group of philanthropists led by James Oglethorpe founded Savannah (Georgia)

    • Oglethorpe was the colony’s first governor and had strict regulations (bans on drinking rum and slavery)

  • 1752: Oglethorpe’s group stepped down and the British government took over → royal colony

• Spanish Colonies:

  • 1513: Florida was claimed for Spain by Juan Ponce de Leon who fought against American Indian resistance

    • 1565: the settlement of St. Augustine was formed (America’s oldest city)

  • 1590s: Arizona + New Mexico were conquered by Spanish colonists against Native Americans

    • 1598: Spanish conquistadores began arriving

    • 1610: Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico

  • 1700s: Texas was settled 

  • 1769: San Diego (California) started a settlement

• French Colonies:

  • 1608: The first French settlement was Quebec, founded by Samuel de Champlain (the “Father of New France”)

  • 1673: Louis Jolliet + Father Jacques Marquette explored the upper Mississippi River

    • 9 years later: Robert de La Salle explored the Mississippi basin → Louisiana

  • 1718: French moved south + established New Orleans → trade center

• Dutch Colonies:

  • 1600s: The Netherlands sponsored voyages

    • 1609: hired Henry Hudson (English sailor) to explore the westward passage to Asia

      • Sailed up a river (now known as the Hudson River) → claimed land around him known as New Amsterdam (modern-day New York)

    • Granted a private company, the Dutch West India Company, the right to control the region for economic gain

• Britain struggled to control all 13 colonies, especially due to the large distance between them all → representative assembly in Virginia 

  • The Virginia Company encouraged settlement by guaranteeing settler the same rights as residents in England

  • 1619: Virginia’s colony organized the first representative assembly in America, the House of Burgesses

• 1620: While on the Mayflower, the Pilgrims drew and signed a document where they pledged that decisions will be made by the will of the majority (aka the Mayflower Compact)

  • Was an early form of self-government and a written constitution!

• Triangular Trade (a three-part route between North America, Africa, and Europe) was commonly seen to transport goods between the 3 regions

  • Rum would be brought from New England to West Africa

  • In return for the rum, Africa would load the ship with captive Africans, and set out on the Middle Passage and arrive in the West Indies, traded for sugar cane

  • The ship would go back to New England where the sugar will be sold to be made into rum

• 1650-1673: The Acts of Trade and Navigation was when England’s government implemented a mercantilist (the economic theory where a country’s wealth was determined by how much it exported more than imported) policy → Navigation Acts established 3 rules:

  • Trade to and from the colonies should be carried by strictly only English built ships and be ran by English people

  • All goods into the colonies (except some perishables) need to pass through English ports

  • Specified/”enumerated” goods could only be imported to England (example being tobacco)

    • PROS: The acts aided New England shipbuilding, provided a monopoly of tobacco, and provided English military forces to protect the colonies from any French or Spanish attacks

    • CONS: limited the development of the colonial economy (colonists no longer could manufacture their own goods)

• 1643: The New England Confederation was formed between Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven to guarantee mutual protection → military alliance 

  • Was directed by a board composed of two representatives from each colony

  • Limited powers to act on boundary disputes, runaway slaves, and Native Americans

  • 1684: colonial rivalries and renewed control by English monarchy collapsed this alliance

    • Established an important precedent for colonies taking unified action for a share purpose

• Conflict within the colonies

  • Metacom’s War OR King Philip’s War was led by the chief of the Wampanoag tribe, Metacom (known as King Philip) as a response to English encroachment on American Indian’s land

    • Tribes like the Mohegans and the Pequots supported the colonists due to their rivalry with the Wamponag 

    • The result was burned villages, many people were killed, and known as the most American Indian resistance in New England

  • Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished farmer, led a rebellion against William Berkely’s government

    • 1676: Bacon and other farmers conducted a series of attacks against American Indian villages nearby → Bacon’s Rebellion

      • Berekely’s government in Jamestown accused Bacon of rebelling against royal authority → Bacon’s army defeated the governor’s forces and burned down Jamestown

• Indentured Servants were people who signed a contract with a master/landowner who paid for their trip in return for agreed work for a specific period and were given room and board

  • Indentured servants were under complete control of their masters until the work period elapsed 

  • At the end of that period, the person gained their freedoms back and was eligible to work for pay and get their own land 

• The Great Awakening was led by a few people:

  • Jonathan Edwards, a Congressional minister from Massachusetts 

  • 1739: George Whitefield spread the Great Awakening throughout the colonies → 10,000 people were on board

    • Impact was the changes of religious practices and denominations became different

• 1735: John Peter Zenger, a New York publisher, was tried on a charge of criticizing New York’s royal governor

  • Andrew Hamilton, Zenger’s lawyer, argues that his client had printed the truth → encouraged newspapers to criticize the government

• Unit 3: 1754-1800

• The first three wars from the period 1689-1748 were named after British monarchs in whose reign they occurred:

  • 1689-1697: King William’s War was when the British launched expeditions to capture Quebec (from the French) → failed

    • Native Americans supported the French

  • 1702-1713: Queen Anne’s War, the British were slightly more successful and captured Nova Scotia from France and trading rights in Spanish America

  • 1744-1748: King George’s War, named after George II; the governor of Massachusetts succeeded in capturing Louisbourg by siege from the French

• The final war (after the 3 wars above) was the Seven Years’ War (aka the French and Indian War)

  • Under commandment of George Washington, a small initial victory happened until Washington’s troops surrendered to the French and their American Indian allies on July 3, 1754

  • 1755: Edward Braddock led another expedition from Virginia → loss

  • 1758: the year that William Pitt, British prime minister, planned to retake Louisbourg

  • 1759: the year they expected the surrender of Quebec to General James Wolfe

  • 1760: the year they expected the taking of Montreal

    • Britain's victory in the Seven Years’ War gave Britain unchallenged supremacy, challenged the autonomy of many Native Americans, proved naval dominance, and legitimized the colonies

• To stabilize the western frontier, the British government issues the Proclamation of 1763 that removed the ability for colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains

  • The idea was that removing this ability would prevent aggression between Native Americans and settlers

  • This proclamation angered colonists and many continued traveling westward regardless → beginning of the British angering colonists

• King George III began enforcing acts that would change the colonist’s ways of life

  • 1764: The Sugar Act (aka the Revenue Act of 1764) placed taxes on foreign sugar and certain luxuries → goal was to regulate the sugar trade to raise profit/revenue

    • If caught or accused of smuggling, they would be tried in admiralty courts with royal appointed judges with no juries

  • 1765: The Quartering Act would require colonists to provide food and living facilities for British soldiers while stationed in the colonies

  • 1765: The Stamp Act requires that revenue stamps would be placed on most paper goods in the colonies (legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements) 

    • Virginia lawyer, Patrick Henry, spoke in the House of Burgesses to demand the right not to be taxed without representation

    • In Massachusetts, James Otis initiated a call for cooperative action amongst the colonies to protest against the Stamp Act

    • 1765: 9 colonies sent representatives to form the Stamp Act Congress 

    • An aspect of violence was added with the formation of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, a secret society that had a goal of intimidating tax agents 

• 1767: Under Charles Townshend, the newly appointed chancellor of the exchequer, he proposed another tax measure called the Townsend Acts

  • Collected taxes on colonial imports of tea, glass, and paper → revenue would be used to pay the crown’s officials in the colonies (salaries)

  • Provided the ability to search private homes for smuggled goods (a whit of assistance/license to search was needed instead of a judge’s warrant)

• 1770: a crowd of colonists began harassing guards near the customs house and a guard fired into the crowd (aka the Boston Massacre)

  • One of the people killed was Crispus Attucks, a dockworker of African and American Indian descent → became the symbol for antislavery movement 

• Boston Tea Party: Due to hatred for the British, colonists continue to refuse to purchase British tea due to the taxes put on it → colonists would smuggle Dutch tea

  • 1773: the British passed the Tea Act which lowered the price of the British tea, making it cheaper than smuggled Dutch tea

  • In response, colonists still refused to purchase British tea and a group of Bostonians (disguised as Native Americans) boarded the British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor

• 1774: In response to the Boston Tea Party, King George III enacted the Coercive Acts (aka the Intolerable Acts):

  • Port Act closed the port of Boston → no trade in or out of the harbor until the destroyed tea was paid for

  • Massachusetts Government Act reduced the power of the Massachusetts legislature → increased power of the royal governor

  • Administration of Justice Act allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried in Britain instead of the colonies (would favor the royal officials)

  • Expanded the Quartering Act to all colonies and private homes

  • Quebec Act made Catholicism the official religion of Quebec, established a government without a representative assembly, and extended Quebec’s boundary to the Ohio River

• Enlightenment Ideas were at its peak during the mid-18th century with the primary idea being Social Contract

  • A concept of agreement among people to form a government with promoted equality and liberty

  • This was derived from John Locke and was further expanded by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    • Began the thoughts and how to carry out a move for independence (fueled the colonists)

• 1776: the pamphlet titled “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine was published which argued for independence and the breaking of all ties with the British monarchy

  • It was contrary to common sense for a large continent to be ruled by a small and distant island and for people to pledge allegiance to a king whose government was corrupt and laws were unreasonable (attacked King George III directly)

  • This pamphlet spread like wildfire throughout the colonies → people wanted to push for independence even more now

• 1774: a convention in Philadelphia was held to respond to the alarming threats to freedoms/liberties sent by Britain (aka the First Continental Congress)

  • Consisted of all wealthy white men; diverse ideas held (radical to conservative)

    • Wanted concessions from Britain: Patrick Henry of Virginia, Samuel Adams and John Adams of Massachusetts  

    • Moderates: George Washington of Virginia and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania

    • Conservative delegates: John Jay of New York and Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania 

      • Loyalists were underrepresented

  • The delegates voted on proposed measures that were intended to change British policy

  • Joseph Galloway proposes a plan (similar to the Albany Plan of 1754):

    • Endorsed the Suffolk Resolves which had a goal to repeal the Intolerable Acts, boycott British goods, and allow colonists to prepare militarily

    • Passed the Declaration and Resolves which was a petition to urge the king to redress the colonial grievances and restore colonial rights

    • Created the Continental Association which enforced the sanctions of the Suffolk Resolves

• April 18, 1775: the commander of British troops in Boston, General Thomas Gage, sent a large force to take colonial military supplies in Concord

  • Paul Revere and William Dawes followed by the Minutemen (a militia) warned the colonists and they assembled in Lexington to face the British → Americans retreated under heavy British fire

    • British entered Concord → destroyed some military supplies and marched back to Boston 

• June 17, 1775: the battle on Bunker Hill took place

  • While the Americans took an overall loss, this battle was seen as a victory because it was the first time the American militia did severe damage to the British

• May 1775: the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia 

  • They adopted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking up Arms and called on the colonies to provide troops to defend against the British

  • George Washington was appointed as the commander-in-chief for the new colonial army → sent to Boston to lead the Massachusetts militia

  • Benedict Arnold was given troops to raid Quebec to draw Canada away from the British empire 

• June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution declaring the colonies to be independent

  • 5 delegates formed a committee to support Lee’s resolution and drafted a declaration

    • The declaration was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and it detailed the specific grievances against George III’s government and expressed basic principles justifying their claims: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

    • July 4, 1776: Continental Congress adopted Lee’s resolution/Jefferson’s work → Declaration of Independence

• October 1777: America got a victory at Saratoga → persuaded France to join the war on America’s side 

  • France’s king, Louis XVI, an absolute monarch did not want to help the revolution for an American victory, he wanted to weaken Britain

• The term, republican motherhood, emerged during the the Revolutionary era which meant that women should be educated so they can teach their children the values of a republic and their roles as citizens 

  • Ultimately gave women a more active role in the new nation’s political life 

• The Path to Victory:

  • 1781: the last major battle of the Revolutionary War was fought near Yorktown, virginia → General Charles Cornwallis led the British army and surrendered

  • 1783: The Treaty of Paris was signed which established the following:

    • Britain would recognize the United States independence

    • The Mississippi River is the western boundary 

    • Americans have fishing rights off the coast of Canada

    • Americans would pay debts owed to British merchants for property confiscated during the war

• 1776: while Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, John Dickinson drafted the first constitution for the United States

  • Congress modified his plan to protect the powers of individual states (aka the Articles of Confederation)

  • 1781: the Articles of Confederation was ratified 

    • Established a central government that had one body (a congress) where each state was given a singular vote; 9 out of 13 votes was needed to pass laws

• Under the Articles of Confederation, a few things were done:

  • The Land Ordinance of 1785 was established as a policy that would survey and sell the western lands; set aside one square-mile of land in each 36 square-mile township for public education

  • The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set rules for creating new states between the Great Lakes and Ohio River; granted self-government to the developing territory and prohibited slavery

  • While the articles were in place, weaknesses were discovered:

    • Congress had no taxing power and could only request donations to fund national needs (no dependable source of revenue to pay back debt) 

    • 13 states treated each other as rivals in order to achieve an economic advantage 

    • 1786: Captain Daniel Shays led other farmers in an uprising against high state taxes, imprisonment for debt, and lack of paper money → they stopped the collection of taxes and forced the closing of debtors’ courts

      • 1787: Shays and his followers tried to seize weapons from the Springfield armory → militia broke Shays’s Rebellion

• 1785: To review the future of the nation regarding problem solving, George Washington hosted a convention at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia → postponed to be in Annapolis, Maryland a year later

  • 1786: 5 delegates were sent

    • James Madison and Alexander Hamilton persuaded that another convention should be  held to fix the Articles of Confederation

  • 1787: all 13 states were asked to send delegated to Philadelphia (everyone did except Rhode Island)

    • First order of business: electing a presiding officer and deciding whether to publicize → decided to conduct the meeting in secrecy and George Washington was the chair

    • Madison and Hamilton (both strong nationalists) wanted to write an entirely new document and argued that the confederate model of government was unworkable

      • They believed in federalism (a system with a strong but limited central government) 

    • Madison and others believed in the separation of powers (dividing power among different branches of government)

      • Also wanted the new constitution to be based on a system of checks and balances (the power of each branch would be limited by the powers of others)

    • Madison’s Proposal, the Virginia Plan, favored the large states; while the New Jersey Plan favored smaller states → Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed the Connecticut Plan OR the Great Compromise

      • Provided a two-house legislature:

        • Senate: would have equal representation

        • House of Representatives: would be represented based on population

    • The delegates agreed to the Three-Fifths Compromise which counted every enslaved person as â…—ths of a person for the purpose of determination taxation and representation

    • The Electoral College was instituted to ensure that no one was worried about democracy leading to mob-like rule

      • a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

• Federalists are supporters of the Constitution and a strong federal government; opposers are Anti-Federalists

  • James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay published 85 essays which made up The Federalist Papers which present reasons for believing each provision of the Constitution 

• 1791: the first Congress approved amendments to defend individual rights; the 10 amendments (mostly written by James Madison) are known as the Bill of Rights

  • First Amendment: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

  • Second Amendment: right to bear arms 

  • Third Amendment: no quartering of soldiers 

  • Fourth Amendment: freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures

  • Fifth Amendment: right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy

  • Sixth Amendment: rights of accused persons (right to a speedy and public trial)

  • Seventh Amendment: right of trial by jury in civil cases

  • Eighth Amendment: freedom from excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments

  • Ninth Amendment: states that people's rights are not limited to just those listed in the Constitution.

  • Tenth Amendment: powers reserved to the states

• Alexander Hamilton, secretary of treasury, presented a plan for putting US finances on a stable foundation; 3 layers

  • (1) Pay off the national debt at face value and have the federal government assume the war debts of the states 

  • (2) protect the young nation’s “infant” industries and collect adequate revenues at the same time by imposing high tariffs on imported goods

  • (3) create a national bank for depositing government funds and printing banknotes that would provide the basis for a stable US currency

• 1793: The Proclamation of Neutrality spearheaded by Washington (as president) issued that the US would be neutral in the French Revolution 

• 1794: the Jay Treaty with Britain was passed to maintain Washington’s policy of neutrality

• 1795: the Pinckney Treaty with Spain, led by Thomas Pickney (US minister to Spain), negotiated a treaty with the following provisions

  • Spain opened the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans to American trade

  • The right of deposit was granted to Americans so that they could transfer cargoes in New Orleans without paying taxes to the Spanish government

  • Spain accepted the US claim that Florida’s northern boundary should be the 31st parallel

• 1794: Hamilton wanted to enact a tax on whiskey to make up for the revenue lost after placing tariffs lower than desired → the Whiskey Rebellion 

• 1796: Washington, with the help from Hamilton, wrote a piece for the future of the nation (aka the Farewell Address) which stated the following:

  • Do not get involved in European affairs

  • Do not make “permanent alliances” in foreign affairs

  • Do not form political parties

  • Do not fall into sectionalism

• After Washington, his vice president, John Adams, became president; Jefferson was Adams’s vice president

  • The XYZ Affair was when French warships and privateers were seizing US merchant ships

    • XYZ refers to the 3 French agents whose identities were never revealed

  • The Alien and Sedition Acts had two parts:

    • Alien Acts authorized the president to deport aliens considered dangerous and to detain enemy aliens in time of war

    • Sedition Acts made it illegal for newspaper editors to criticize the president and/or Congress

Unit 4: 1800-1848

• The presidential election of 1800 was the first election with distinct political parties

  • The Federalist Party stood for stronger national government and was leaning towards Britain’s side in European affairs

  • The Democratic-Republican Party emphasized the powers reserved to the states and leaned towards France’s side in European affairs

    • BOTH parties supported tariffs on imports to raise revenue

  • The election (as chosen by the Electoral College) was between two Democratic-Republicans: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr

    • The election resulted in a tie → (as per the Constitution) it went to the House of Representatives → House elected Jefferson

• During Jefferson’s presidency, he wanted to follow Hamilton’s plan of a national bank, maintain neutrality (established by Washington and Adams), and retain the loyalty of his supporters

  • He reduced the size of the military, eliminated many federal jobs, repealed certain taxes (like the one on whiskey), and lowered national debt

• Under Jefferson’s administration, the addition of the Louisiana Territory to the nation happened (aka the Louisiana Purchase)

  • This territory included lands west of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers 

    • The most valuable part of this territory was the port of New Orleans (big spot for commerce)

  • The Louisiana territory was originally claimed by the French → Spanish took it → 1800: the French led by Napoleon Bonaparte forced Spain to give it back to France 

  • The purchase of this territory doubled the size of the United States and remove a European presence from the nation’s borders 

• Prior to the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson persuaded Congress to allow an expedition throughout the territory led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark (aka the Lewis and Clark Expedition) 

  • 1804: Lewis and Clark set out from St. Lewis, crossed the Rockies, reached the Oregon coast, turned back (got back in 1806)

  • Impact was a better understanding of the geography of the region and more accurate maps of the nation

• 1803: The first major case under Federalist judge, John Marshall, was Marbury vs. Madison

  • Under Adams’s administration, he enacted what is referred to as “midnight judges” (a way for Adams to quickly fill any of the vacant judicial positions with people who supported him and the Federalist Party)  → Jefferson wanted to block these appointments and ordered that his secretary of state (James Madison) to not give any commissions to this 

    • In response, William Marbury, one of Adams appointees, sued for his commissions

    • Result: Marshall ruled that Marbury had his right to his commission under the Judiciary Act of 1789 (gave the Court greater power than the Constitution outlined in Marshall’s opinion → deemed unconstitutional → Marbury was not paid)

  • Major outcome of this case was the development of judicial review, which states that the Supreme Court has the power to decide whether an act of Congress or the president was constitutional

• A few other (not as significant cases) were also under Marshall’s jurisdiction:

  • 1810: the case of Fletcher vs. Peck involved land fraud in Georgia

    • Marshall declared that a state could not pass legislation invalidating a contract

    • Outcome was that this was the first time a STATE law was deemed unconstitutional 

  • 1819: the case of Dartmouth College vs. Woodward involved how Dartmouth College (in New Hampshire) changed from private to public

    • Outcome was that the state law was unconstitutional and that a private corporation could not be altered by the state

  • 1821: the case of Cohens vs. Virginia happened due to two brothers (Cohens) were convicted of illegally selling lottery tickets in Virginia, however they were authorized by Congress in DC

    • Outcome was that the Supreme Court would review a state court’s decision involving any powers of the federal government

  • 1821: the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden implied the question of if New York (as a state) could grant a monopoly if authorized by Congress

    • Outcome was that monopolies were deemed unconstitutional and that the federal government had control of interstate commerce

• 1819: The final court case under Marshall was McCulloch vs. Maryland which was when Maryland wanted to enact taxes on the Second Bank of the US (located in Maryland)

  • Outcome was the development of implied power (political powers granted to the United States government that aren't explicitly stated in the Constitution) and even though there was no clause specifically mentioning a national bank, the government had the implied power to create one

• 1816: the election deemed James Monroe as president and began the Era of Good Feelings (the years during Monroe’s presidency were known for optimism, nationalism, and goodwill)

  • During this time, people were debating over tariffs, the national bank, internal improvements, public land sales, and slavery

  • Under Monroe’s presidency, the acquisition of Florida, the Missouri Compromise, and the Monroe Doctrine were adopted

• One outcome of the War of 1812 was the political shift towards a growing American economy

  • This began with the subsidizing of internal improvements (mainly infrastructure); later expensed to protected US industries from international competition (mostly European companies) 

  • Henry Clay (from Kentucky) proposed a plan under this movement to make the workplace setting more efficient under a 3 part plan (aka the American System):

    • (1) protective tariffs: would promote American manufacturing and raise revenue (could be used to better infrastructure)

    • (2) a national bank: to keep the system running with a national currency

    • (3) internal improvements: promote growth in the West and South 

      • 1816: James Madison (the president at this time) adopted a protective tariff (step 1) and a national bank (step 2)

        • The national bank was the Second Bank of the United States

      • The third step (internal improvements/infrastructure) was tough to get passed due to Monroe vetoing acts that would provide the funds due to the Constitution not explicitly mentioning it → states were left to due this individually 

• After the development of the Second Bank, the first ever panic took place, the Panic of 1819 which happened due to credit being tightened to control inflation 

  • This resulted in the mass shutdown of banks in the states, unemployment, bankruptcies, and imprisonment for debt → hurt nationalistic beliefs and changed the foundation of politics for the future

• 1820: the Missouri Compromise was enacted which drew a line along the 36th parallel dividing the nation into halves where slaves would be put into slavery (south of the line) or free (north of the line)

  • James Tallmadge from New York began debating the compromise arguing for an amendment which did the following:

    • (1) prohibited the further introduction of slaves in Missouri

    • (2) required the children of Missouri slaves to be emancipated at 25 years old

      • The Senate shot down this amendment due to the response from the southerners (angry) because they saw this as a step towards eliminating slavery

  • Henry Clay presented a compromise which did 3 things (aka the Missouri Compromise):

    • (1) admit Missouri as a slave-holding state

    • (2) admit Maine as a free state

    • (3) prohibit slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of latitude 36°30’ 

• During this time, the United States was remaining neutral, however, European powers continuously tampered with this:

  • 1807: a British warship, Leopard, fired at a US warship, Chesapeake, off of the Virginia coast → killed 3 Americans and kidnapped 4 Americans into the British navy (aka the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair)

    • Increase anti-British sentiment 

  • 1807: instead of initiating conflict, Jefferson persuaded the passing of the Embargo Act which closed all US ports and restricted imports from Britain 

    • The motivation behind this was that Britain would stop violating the declared neutrality due to our importance in their economy (we were their largest trading partner)

    • The effect was so damaging to New England economies → New England states considered seceding 

    • 1809: the act was repealed 

  • 1809: under Madison’s administration, he enacted the Nonintercourse Act of 1809 which said that Americans can trade with any nation except Britain and France

• The War of 1812 was caused due to the continuous violation of America’s neutral stance

  • Led to the development of War Hawks, people that were overly eager to engage in war with Britain (led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina) and they argued that a war was the only way to defend America’s legitimacy, gain Canada, and destroy native resistance 

  • 1812: This conflict led to a divided nation in the midst of an election between Madison (for a second term) and De Witt Clinton 

  • The people that were opposed to the war and war hawks were New England merchants, Federalist politicians, and “Quids” (aka “Old” Democratic-Republicans)

  • During this conflict, the American army invaded Canada from 3-points (from Detroit, Niagara, and Lake Champlain) → pushed for British retaliation

  • From a naval perspective, the US warship, the Constitution (or Old Ironsides) raised American morale by sinking a major British ship off the coast of Nova Scotia → led to the capture of many British merchant ships 

    • 1813: battle in Lake Erie, led by Captain Oliver Hazard Perry (American)  who led to victory

      • Led to the Battle of the Thames by General William Henry Harrison (another victory)

      • 1814: Thomas Macdonough defeated a British fleet on Lake Champlain 

    • All three of these naval battles led to the British retreat 

  • 1814: the British were concerned about war and Americans began pushing for peace talks → American peace commissioners traveled to Ghent, Belgium to discuss peace with British diplomats 

    • The terms outlined in the Treaty of Ghent outlined the halt of fighting, returned all conquered territory to prewar status, and recognized the prewar boundary between Canada and the US

      • 1815: was ratified by Congress → War of 1812 is over

• December 2, 1823: Under Monroe’s presidency the Monroe Doctrine was enacted (as previously mentioned) which declared the US’s approach to Europe and Latin America

  • To put it simply, it established that European powers should not interfere with United States/western powers and the affairs that follow

  • The impact of this was later glorified in the future (around the 1840s with President Polk) who justified and utilized Monroe’s wordings

• In the Old Northwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota), corn was highly profitable and was a major food source

  • John Deere invented the steel plow and Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical reaper, which allowed farms (typically family-owned) to be more efficient and allowed farms to be larger → less additional labor was needed

• 1790s: Pennsylvania’s Lancaster Turnpike began the building of toll roads that would later connect the nation’s major cities

  • Roads began crossing state lines, funds were being spent on infrastructure, conditions were getting better

• 1825: the Erie Canal in New York was completed and it linked the economies of western farms and eastern cities → stimulated economic growth and began the building of more canals

  • With more access to bodies of water, the development of the steam engine and steamboat were more common (originally seen in Britain but expanded to the US in the 19th century)

• 1820s: the construction and usage of the railroad was beginning which carried both passengers and freight → led to the development and wealth distribution in smaller western towns 

• 1844: inventor Samuel F. B Morse demonstrated and created a successful telegraph which allowed messages to be send via wires rapidly → wires were distributed throughout the nation (often near railroad tracks) and people were able to communicate as fast as electricity 

• 1793: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which made it easier to separate the cotton fiber from the seed

  • Resulted in southern planters relying on cotton more than tobacco or indigo because it was profitable 

• 1824: this election was between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams → Jackson won

  • 1830: Jackson’s idea of democracy was not welcoming for Native Americans → signed the Indian Removal Act which forced the resettlement of many Native Americans

    • 1838: Led to the Trail of Tears, when the US Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave George (4,000 died)

  • 1832: in response to South Carolina (in 1828) nullified a federal tariff (which favored Northern manufacturing over Southern agriculture), Jackson responded with the nullification theory (each state had the right to decide whether to obey a federal law or declare it null and void)

  • Jackson removed all the federal funds from the national bank → put them into “pet banks” (state banks) 

• 1836: this election resulted in Jackson’s vice president, Martin Van Buren, in becoming president

  • 1837: the Panic of 1837 happened due to banks closing their doors due to financial hardship → economic depression 

    • Whigs blamed the Democrats for their laissez-faire economics (little federal involvement in the economy)

• 18th-19th Century: the Second Great Awakening occurred, leading to religious reform; developed new denominations:

  • Millennialism: led by William Miller who predicted a date for the second coming 

  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: the Mormon Church became popular under the teachings of Joseph Smith in 1830 who wrote the The Book of Mormon

• 1826: Protestant ministers and other were concerned about the consumption of alcohol → foundation of the American Temperance Society which persuaded abstinence 

• 1848: the Seneca Falls Convention was when the leading feminists met at Seneca Falls, New York where they issues their Declaration of Sentiments (declared that “all men and women are created equal”) 

  • Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are given credit for their campaigning 

Unit 5: 1844-1877

• 1844: in this election, the Democrats were split between the former president, Van Buren, and John C. Calhoun → Allowed James Polk to win

• Causes of the Mexican-American War:

  • 1845: Polk sent out John Slidell to the government in Mexico city to persuade Mexico to sell California and New Mexico territories to the US and settle the disputed Mexico-Texas border

    • Slidell failed both parts (refused to sell and insisted that Texas’s southern border was on the Nueces River) 

  • After Plidell’s failure, Polk sent out General Zachary Taylor to move his army towards the Rio Grande

    • April 24, 1846: Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande and captured an American army patrol (11 Americans died)

  • After Taylor, Polk sent General Winfield Scott to invade central Mexico → 1847: 14,000 person army and they captured Vera Cruz and Mexico City 

• 1848: In response to the Mexican-American War, the Mexican government agreed to the US’s terms and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which outlined the following:

  • Mexico recognized that Texas’s southern border is the Rio Grande

  • The US took possession or California and New Mexico (aka the Mexican Cession) and paid Mexico $15 million

• 1846: Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed that a bill has to be amended to forbid slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico

  • Was appealing to many voters and lawmakers

  • The Wilmot Proviso passed in the House but was striked down in the Senate 

• Polk offered to purchase Cuba from Spain for $100 million → Spain refused to sell its last territory in the Americas

  • 1852: Franklin Pierce is elected president and dispatched 3 American diplomats to Ostend, Belgium to secretly negotiate purchasing Cuba from Spain → they drafted the Ostend Manifesto 

• 1848: Northerners that opposed slavery in the newly gained territories organized the Free-Soil Party (“free soil, free labor, and free men”) which prioritized preventing the expansion of slavery; advocated for free homesteads and infrastructure 

• Democratic senator from Michigan, Lewis Cass, proposed a compromise between Free-Soilers and Southerners which suggested that matter shall be determined by a vote of the people who settled in a territory (aka popular sovereignty)

• 1848: the election was between senator Lewis Cass (Democrat), Zachary Taylor (Whig, and Martin Van Buren (Free-Soil)) → Taylor won 

  • Even though President Taylor had slaves, he supported admission of California and New Mexico to be free states 

  • 1850: President Taylor died → vice president Millard Fillmore became the president

• Due to the influx of migrants (mainly Irish and Germans), the idea of nativism grew rapidly (mainly due to the migrants being Roman Catholics; Americans opposed to immigration were primarily Protestant)

  • 1840s: Americans began being hostile towards the immigrants and rioted

  • 1850s: the Whig Party disintegrated → the Know-Nothing Party emerged due to the common response of “I know nothing” when asked about politics 

• 1857: the Panic of 1857 occurred which heavily dropped prices in the Midwestern agriculture industry and increased unemployment in Northern cities 

• 1850: the Fugitive Slave Law was passed which persuaded many Southerners to accept California’s decision to be free → Northerners were opposed to the law

  • The purpose of this law was to help slave owners track down their runaway (fugitive) slaves who ran away to a northern state, capture them, and bring them back 

  • Impact was more division between the north and south

• To allow slaves to escape and achieve freedom in the North or Canada, the development of the Underground Railroad was crucial

  • It consisted of a loose network of activists who had “stations” where slaves could escape 

  • Most famous conductor was Harriet Tubman, a women who escape slavery and made numerous trips to help people escape

• 1852: the publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel about an enslaved man and his brutal owner, was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who described the cruel and inhumane treatments slaves received in the south 

  • Southerners responded by saying the accusations were false and referenced the Bible 

• 1852: the election of 1852 was between General Winfield Scott (Whig) and Franklin Pierce (Democrat) → Pierce won all but four states

• 1854: Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois proposed the construction of a transcontinental railroad through the center of the country → Southerners responded by a route that went more south

  • Douglas introduced a bill which divided the Nebraska territory into two parts: Kansas and Nebraska and allowed the settlers to determine the state’s stance on slavery → Kansas-Nebraska Act

• In response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Missouri Compromise was repealed and regional tensions went down

  • Post-1854: the conflict between anti and pro-slavery exploded → fighting broke out between the two sides → Kansas became known as “bleeding Kansas”

  • 1856: the violence in Kansas became a topic of discussion in Congress and Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner attacked the Democrats in his speech, verbally attacking South Carolina senator, Andrew Butler

    • Butler’s nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks, defended his uncle’s honor by walking into the Senate and beating Sumner over the head with a cane → the Sumner-Brooks incident

• 1854: in Wisconsin, former Whigs (who opposed the expansion of slavery) became known as the Republican Party in response to the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act

  • The party was made up of antislavery Whigs, Free-Soilers, and Democrats

• 1856: in this election, the Republicans nominated John C. Frémont, the Know-Nothings nominated Millard Fillmore (former president), and the Democrats nominated James Buchanan → Democrats/Buchanan won a majority of the popular and electoral votes 

  • During Buchanan’s administration, numerous constitutional issues were brought up:

    • 1857: Buchanan had to decide whether to accept of reject a proslavery constitution for Kansas called the Lecompton Constitution → did not have majority support (and was rejected by people living in Kansas a year later)

    • Many Northerners were angered with the proslavery decision in the case of an enslaved man, Dred Scott, who was a slave in Missouri nand then taken to Wisconsin (a free state) 

      • 1846: Scott sueded for his freedom in Missouri

      • 1857: the Supreme Court decided against Scott (Chief Justice Roger Taney)

        • Scott had no right to sue in federal court because the Constitution did not outline African Americans to be US citizens

        • Congress did not have the power to deprive someone of property without due process of law 

        • The Missouri Compromise was deemed unconstitutional because it did not include the new territories (ie Wisconsin)

    • 1858: debates for the election of senator for Illinois was between Stephen Douglas (Democrat) and Abraham Lincoln (Republican)

      • Lincoln gave the “house-divded” speech which awarded him with fame 

      • In a debate in Freeport, Illinois, Lincoln challenged Douglas to reconcile popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision → the Freeport Doctrine 

• 1859: John Brown led some followers to attack the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry 

  • The goal was to use the guns from the arsenal to arm Virginia’s enslaved African Americans to allow them to revolt

    • Southern whites saw this as a raid

    • Northerners saw this as influence

• 1860: the election of 1860 was between John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), Stephen Douglas (Democrat), Abraham Lincoln (Republican), and John Bell (Constitutional Union Party) → Lincoln won

  • The Constitutional Union Party consisted of Whigs, Know-Nothings, and moderate Democrats

• 1861: in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, Lincoln announced that he would send provisions of food to the federal fortress in Fort Sumter 

  • Lincoln gave South Carolina the choice of either permitting the fort to hold out or open fire → they chose open fire 

    • The attack on Fort Sumter was captured two days later → Northerners began feeling patriotic and wanted to save the Union

• 1861-1865: the Civil War between the Union and the Confederacy began (also known as the Second American Revolution)

  • 1861-1862: 

    • The Union Strategy was led by General-in Chief Winfield Scott who had a 3 part plan:

      • Us the US Navy to blockade Southern ports, cutting off essential supplies from reaching the Confederacy (aka the Anaconda Plan)

      • Take control of the Mississippi River → divide the Confederacy into two

      • Obtain a trained army of 500,000 to conquer Richmond

    • July 1861: the first major battle happened when 30,000 federal troops marched from Washington DC to attack Confederate forces at Bull Run Creek (Virginia) (aka the First Battle of Bull Run)

      • Confederate reinforcements under General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson counterattacked and made the Union troops retreat

    • March 1862: General Geoerge B. McClellan (new commander of the Union’s army) trained the army and invaded Virginia (March 1862) → the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, forced the Union’s army to retreat 

      • McClellan was replaced by General John Pope

    • August 1862: General Pope was trapped by Lee’s troops → Pope withdrew to defend Washington

    • September 1862: Lee led his army into Maryland

      • McClellan was put back into power and the Union army intercepted the Confederates at Antietam Creek (Maryland) → Lee’s army retreated

    • December 1862: General Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan and was known for being more aggressive → Burnside’s Union army attacked Lee’s army at Fredericksburg (Virginia) 

  • In order to raise revenue and have a European intervention, the South relied on “King Cotton Diplomacy” which was the idea that Europeans would purchase cotton to fund their missions

    • Failed because Europe was obtaining cotton from Egypt and India and cotton was not the only resource that could be used to textiles now

  • 1836-1865: the turning point

    • Spring 1863: General Ulysses S. Grant (new general for the Union army) began his siege of Vicksburg (Mississippi) → Union army artillery bombarded Vicksburg for 7 weeks → Confederated surrendered the city and 29,000 soldiers on July 4

      • Result was that Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas were cut off from the Confederacy

    • July 1, 1863: the Confederate army surprised the Union at Gettysburg (Pennsylvania)

      • The Union army, led by George Pickett, destroyed a large share of Lee’s forces → Lee’s army retreated to Virginia 

    • 1864: Lincoln made Grant the commander of all Union armies 

    • 1864-1865: Grant let General William Tecumesh Sherman lead a force of 100,000 men out from Chattanooga, Tennessee 

      • Georgia: Sherman’s men destroyed everything the enemy would use to survive 

        • September 1864: Sherman’s men captured Savannah

      • February 1865: they set fire to Columbia, the capital of South Carolina → destroyed the Confederacy’s will to fight

• May 1861: Congress passed two laws known as the Confiscation Acts:

  • August 1861: the Union army had the power to seize enemy property (including enslaved people); empowered the president to use the freed people in the Union Army

  • July 1862: freed people who were aiding the rebellion 

• July 1862: Lincoln freed all enslaved people in the states at war 

  • 1863: he issued the Emancipation Proclamation 

• 1864: the election of 1864 was between McClellan (Democrat) and Lincoln (Union) → Lincoln won

• November 19, 1863: Lincoln rallied Americans for the Gettysburg Address which said that all men were created equal 

• April 14, 1865: John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln in Ford’s theater 

• The Reconstruction Amendments:

  • 13th Amendment: banned slavery

  • 14th Amendment: citizenship to anyone born in the US

  • 15th Amendment: Black Americans have the right to vote

• The term “scalawags” were used to describe Southern Republicans; Northern newcomers were called “carpetbaggers”

• 1867: former Confederate general, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, founded the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) which burned Black-owned buildings, flogged, and murdered several thousand freedman to keep them from exercising their voting rights (under the 15th amendment)

  • The Force Acts of 1870 and 1871 were then passed to give federal authorities the power to stop the KKK’s violence and protect the civil rights of citizens

• Black Codes restricted the rights of African Americans:

  • They could not rent land or borrow money to buy land

  •  They could not testify against white people in court 

  • Had to sign work agreements or could be arrested for vagrancy

Unit 6: 1865-1898

• Transcontinental railroads were becoming more and more common

  • 1883: three additional transcontinental railroads were built

    • The Southern Pacific: New Orleans to Los Angeles

    • The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe: Kansas City to Los Angeles

    • North Pacific: Duluth, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington

  • 1893: the Great Northern: St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle 

  • Negative effects of this was that the location of many railroads were built in areas with few customers (not desirable for businesses), damaged the environment, and hurt the Native Americans

• 1868: a social and educational organization was created by Oliver H. Kelley called the National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry

  • Within 5 years, almost every state had a chapter, growing the National Grange Movement → active in economics and politics to defend members against middlement, trusts, and railroads

  • Cooperatives (businesses owned and run by farmers to save the costs charged by middlemen) were established

  • Other Granger laws made it illegal for railroads to fix  prices 

  • 1877: the Supreme Court case, Munn vs. Illinois, stated that the states had the right to regulate businesses of public nature (hinting at railroads)

• 1890: a national organization of farmers met in Ocala, Florida to address the problems faced in the rural areas of America (the National Alliance) → created the Ocala Platform calling for reform of the following:

  • Direct election of US senators (instead of by state legislatures)

  • Lower tariff rates

  • A graduated income tax (depending on the individual’s wealth)

  • A federally regulated banking system

• 1889: the last effort of Native Americans to resist the US government was tokened as the Ghost Dance movement 

  • December 1890: the US Army killed more than 200 Native Americans in the massacre of Wounded Knee 

• 1887: a new term was made to describe the relations between the US government and Native Americans → the Dawes Act of 1887

  • The purpose of the act was to break up native tribes to prevent them from becoming “civilized” → divided the tribal lands into plots of land (specifically, each was up to 160 acres) 

  • Initially, 47 million acres of land were distributed to Native American families under the Dawes Act → 90 million acres of former reservation land was sold to White settler by the government, speculators, of my natives themself

    • Proved that the policy was a failure → diseases and poverty killed many Native Americans regardless

• During this time, a push for environmental protection began:

  • 1872: the first national park, Yellowstone, was made

    • 1800s: Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz, advocated for forest reserves and a federal forest service to protect land from exploitation

      • Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Grover Clevland reserved 33 million acres of national timber

  • 1891: the Forest Reserve Act of 1891

  • 1897: the Forest Management Act of 1897

    • Both withdrew federal timberlands from development and regulate the usage of them

• Since the Reconstruction Era ended in 1877, the idea of White Supremacy grew rapidly

  • the Supreme Court struct down laws such as the Civil Rights Cases of 1883:

    • Court ruled that Congress could not ban racial discrimination practiced by private citizens and businesses (ie railroads and hotels)

  • 1896: the case Plessy vs. Ferguson was due to a law in Louisiana that required “separate but equal accommodations” for Black and White passengers 

    • Court ruled that Louisiana’s law did not violate the 14th Amendment and waved support for segregation laws (aka Jim Crow Laws)

      • Southern states adopted Jim Crow Laws 

  • Southern states enacted literacy tests, poll taxes, and the Grandfather Clause to create obstacles for African Americans to vote

    • The Grandfather Clause is if the male, African American’s grandfather voted in elections pre-Reconstruction

• In response to the discriminatory policies, numerous people took action:

  • Ida B. Wells: the editor of the Memphis Free Speech newspaper (a Black newspaper); campaigned against lynching and Jim Crow Laws

  • 1894: Bishop Henry Turner formed the International Migration Society which allowed African Americans to emigrate back to Africa

  • 1881: Booker T. Washington established an industrial and agricultural school for African Americans in Alabama which allowed them to learn skilled trades 

• New inventions/milestones were being made:

  • 1867: the typewriter

  • 1876: the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell

  • 1879: the cash register

  • 1879: inventor Thomas Edison tested thousands of inventions and came up with the incandescent lamp (first practical electric lightbulb) 

    • Electric light changed lives (especially in cities) 

  • 1884: Lewis E. Waterman’s fountain pen

  • 1887: the calculating machine

  • 1883: New York’s Brooklyn Bridge; the construction of massive steel suspension bridges

  • 1888: the adding machines

  • 1888: George Eastman’s Kodak Camera

  • 1895: King Gillete’s safety razor and blade

• 1867: Cornelius Vanderbilt used his wealth (earned through the steamboat industry) to merge local railroads into one railroad (the New York Central Railroad); ran from New York City to Chicago → expanded railroads even more

• 1893: a financial panic forced ¼ of all railroad to become bankrupt → bankers such as JP Morgan took action to control the bankrupt railroads and consolidate with them

  • 1900: 7 giant systems controlled â…” of the nation’s railroads 

  • JP Morgan used a holding company (a company created to own and control diverse companies)

• 1870s: Andrew Carnegie began manufacturing steel in Pittsburgh and became a powerhouse for steel production

  • His business strategy was vertical integration (a company controls every stage of the industrial process)

• 1863: John D. Rockefeller founded a company (aka Standard Oil) that would dominate the oil industry and later control the majority of the US’s oil refineries 

  • 1881: his company became a monopoly and owned more than 90% of the oil refineries 

  • Used horizontal integration (when a company takes control of all its competition)

• To defeat unions, employers and the companies themselves utilized the following:

  • Lockout: closing a factory to break a labor movement before it could organize

  • Blacklist: a roster of the pro-union employees that employers would share to prevent future employment

  • Yellow-dog contracts: included a condition stating that employees could not be a part of unions

  • Private guards/state militia: forces used by employers to shut strikes down

  • Court injunction: judicial action used to prevent of shut down a strike

• 1866: the National Labor Union was founded; championed higher wages, 8-hour work days, social program (equal rights for women and African Americans, monetary reform, and worker cooperatives)

  • Main victory: winning the 8-hour workday for federal government workers → lost support due to a depression in 1873 and unsuccessful strikes in 1877

• 1869: the Knights of Labor was a secret society (prevent detection from employers) and was open to all workers (included African Americans and women); 4 missions:

  • (1) form worker cooperatives “to make each man his own employer”

  • (2) abolish child labor

  • (3) abolish trusts and monopolies

  • (4) settling labor disputes by arbitration instead of strikes

  • 1886: Declined due to the Haymarket riot due to public opinion being against the union

• 1886: the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded on what is referred to as “bread-and-butter unonism”; focused on higher wages  and improving working conditions

• 1882: the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed and ended the immigration of Chinese people into the United States after the influx of Chinese migrations during the California Gold Rush

  • Japanese, Korean, and Filipino immigrants worked in Hawaii and California 

    • 1917 and 1924: Congress passed immigration restrictions that stopped immigration from almost all of Asia due to anti-Asian sentiment (except the Philippines)  

  • 1892: the opening of Ellis Island in New York was the immigration center 

• The development of political machines (tightly organized groups of politicians) happened:

  • Each machine had a “boss” (aka the top politician who gave orders to the rank and file and doled out government jobs to loyal supporters) 

• The expansion of the middle class was filled with self-employed doctors, lawyers, merchants, and artisans who were considered above the small farmers and laborers but below the small wealthy elite

  • Growth of large industries and corporations → more jobs for white-collar workers (employees whose work was not manual labor and received salaries)

  • Carnegie later published the “Gospel of Wealth” which pushed for the wealthy class to carry out civic projects to help other members of society 

• 1880s-1890s: Protestant clergy preaches for the appliance of Christian principles to social problems (aka the Social Gospel Movement)

• 1890: Elizabeth Cadu Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to fight for women’s voting rights → 1900: some states allowed women to vote

• 1874: the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) which advocated for abstinence from alcohol

  • Led by Frances E. Willard

• 1887: The Interstate Commerce Act required railroads to be “reasonable and just” in response to the state laws passed to regulate railroad rates (legal problems were deemed with the case of Washburn vs. Illinois (1886))

Unit 7: 1890-1945

• Expanding the United States (Alaska and Hawaii):

  • 1867: Congress agreed to purchase Alaska for $7.2 million from Russia

    • Initially, Americans saw no value in Alaska 

  • 1870: Ulysses S. Grant sought control of Pearl Harbor (in Hawaii) and begin trading with the native kingdom

    • 1875: Hawaiians agreed to a treaty allowed the United States exclusive access to Hawaiian produced sugar

    • 1893: American settlers assist the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarch, Queen Liliuokalani and then petitioned for annexation by the US

      • President Cleveland opposed imperialism and blocked Republican efforts to annex Hawaii

    • July 1898: President McKinley annexed Hawaii → 1959: Hawaii is the 50th state

• Causes of the Spanish American War:

  • Jingoism: an intense, aggressive form of nationalism 

    • 1898: Jingoism, economic interests and moral concerns for the US → war

    • 1868-1878: Cuban nationalists fought to overthrow Spanish colonial rule

      • 1895: they tried to do this again → Spain sent autocratic General Valeriano Weyler and 100,000 troops to settle the revolt and began camps (many Cubans died of starvation and/or disease)

  • Yellow Journalism: was the style of reporting news with bold and exaggerated headlines that involved crime, disaster, or scandals  

  • 1898: the De Lôme Letter was revealed and was highly critical of President McKinley → Americans considered it an insult

  • February 15, 1898: the USS Maine (a US battleship) suddenly exploded while docked in Havana, Cuba → 260 Americans died 

    • Yellow Journalism blamed the Spanish (experts later concluded that it was probably an accident)

• During the Spanish-American War:

  • April 20, 1898: the Teller Amendment was part of a resolution (that authorized war( passed by Congress that states that the US has no intention of taking control of Cuba and that once peace was restored, the Cuban people would control their own government

  • August 13, 1898: Theodore Roosevelt and Filipino rebels captured Manila (Philippines) 

  • August 1898: Spain asked the US for peace talks after invading Cuba

• Result of the Spanish-American War:

  • December 10, 1898: peace treaty signed and it outlined the following

    • (1) recognition  of Cuban independence

    • (2) US acquisition of Puerto Rico and Guam

    • (3) US control of the Philippines and $20 million to Spain

  • 1901: Congress withdrew troops but required the following from Cuba outlined in the Platt Amendment:

    • (1) to never sign a treaty with a foreign power that impaired its independence

    • (2) to permit the US to intervene Cuban’s affairs to preserve independence and maintain law and order

    • (3) allow the US to maintain naval bases in Cuba (aka Guantanamo Bay)

• 1899: to prevent the US from losing access to Chinese goods (via trade), John Hay pushed for an open door policy (all nations have equal trading privileges in China) 

  • In China, xenophobia (fear of foreigners) and nationalism were constantly rising

    • 1900: in response, a secret society of Chinese nationalists (aka the Society of Harmonious Fists/Boxers) attacked foreign settlements and murdered dozens of Christian missionaries → US troops were sent to Peking (Beijing) to stop the rebellion to protect Americans 

  • After the rebellion, Hay was worried that an external force would try to occupy China and ruin its independence 

    • 1900: he wrote the following plan for the US:

      • (1) preserve China’s territorial integrity

      • (2) safeguard “equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese empire”

• 1901: McKinley was shot and his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, became the president 

  • Roosevelt’s take on foreign policy was described to be a “big stick” 

  • Roosevelt attempted to build the legitimacy of the United States → imperialists appreciated this

• 1903: Roosevelt aided a revolt for Panamanian independence with the support of the US Navy 

  • Once independence was achieved, the US pushed for the signing of the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty which granted the US all rights over the 51-mile long and 10-mile long canal zone to keep US protection

  • 1904: the construction for the Panama Canal began

  • 1914: the Panama Canal was complete 

• 1904: European powers were preparing to intervene in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) → the United States declared that they would take action instead (aka the Roosevelt Corollary)

  • This is one of the many examples of Roosevelt’s “big stick” diplomacy

• 1904: imperialist rivalry between Russia and Japan led to a war

  • 1905: Roosevelt got the US involved to end it with a diplomatic conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire → both ends signed the Treaty of Portsmouth

    • Japanese nationalists blamed the US for not giving their country all that they believed was deserved from Russia

• 1907-1909: to display US naval power to Japan (and other countries), Roosevelt sent a fleet of battleships around the world 

• 1908: The US and Japan (via Secretary of State Elihu Root and Japanese Ambassador Takahira) pledged for mutual respect of each nation’s Pacific possessions and support for the Open Door Policy

• William Howard Taft moved away from the “big stick” strategy and relied on expansionist strategies, dependent on investors’ money (instead of the navy’s battleships) → promoted US trade by supporting American enterprises abroad (aka “dollar diplomacy”)

• 1911: the US intervened in Nicaragua’s financial affairs and sent in maries in 1912 during a civil war (marines left in 1933)

• 1912: Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) campaigned for presidency and promised a New Freedom for the country (a new approach to foreign affairs) → opposed imperialism, “big stick”, and dollar diplomacy

• 1916: Wilson got the Jones Act passed which did a few things in the Philippines:

  • (1) granted full territorial status to the Philippines

  • (2) guaranteed a bill of rights and universal male suffrage to Filipino citizens

  • (3) promised Filipino independence once a stable government was established

    • July 4, 1946: Philippine independence 

• 1917: US citizenship was granted to all Puerto Ricans and limited self-government 

• 1914: Wilson persuaded Congress to repeal an act that allowed US ships an exemption from paying the toll to access the canal → angered American nationalists but pleased the British

• 1914: US sailors went ashore at Tampico (Mexico) and were arrested by Mexican authorities 

  • They were released shortly after, however General Victoriano Huerta (dictator; seized power in 1913) refused to apologize → Wilson retaliated and ordered the US Navy to occupy Veracruz 

  • Later 1914: Huerta fell from power → Venustiano Carranza (more democratic) took his spot 

    • Shortly after, the new government was challenged by a rebel group loyal to Pancho Villa → Villa led raids across the US-Mexican porder

    • Troops were sent and withdrew

• Wilson initially opposed legislation that favored a specific group of people → changed and allowed the following:

  • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC): protected consumers by investigations and taking action against any “unfair trade practice” (except banking and transportation which were covered by other agencies)

  • The Clayton Antitrust Act: strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act’s power to break up monopolies and had a clause exempting unions from being prosecuted as trusts

  • The Federal Farm Loan Act: 12 regional federal farm loan banks to provide farm loans at low interest rates

  • The Child Labor Act: prohibited the shipment in interstate commerce of products manufactured by children under 14 years old

    • Supreme Court deemed the Child Labor Act unconstitutional 

• 1908: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had a mission to abolish all forms of segregation and increase educational opportunities for African American children

• Background/Causes for World War I:

  • The Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, and Russia

  • The Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire of Turkey

• During World War I:

  • February 1915: Germany challenged Britain's naval domination and began using the submarine

    • May 7, 1915: US neutrality was challenged when German torpedoes hit and sank a British passenger liner (the Lusitania) → killed 128 Americans

    • August 1915: a German submarine attacked another passenger ship → 2 Americans dead

      • Germany pledged to Wilson that no unarmed passenger ships would be sunk without warning (allow passengers to get into lifeboats)

    • March 1916: a German torpedo struck an unarmed merchant ship, the Sussex → injured several Americans 

      • Wilson threatened to cut off US diplomatic relations with Germany → inching closer to war 

      • Sussex pledge was signed by Germany, promised to not sink merchant or passenger ships without warning

  •  March 1, 1917: German prime minister, Arthur Zimmerman, proposed that Mexico becomes allies with Germany and invade the US; in return Germany would help Mexico get it’s lost territories back (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona)

    • This was intercepted by British intelligence and the US was made aware of it → angered nationalist

  • April 6, 1917: Wilson and Congress declared war and involvement within World War I

  • The American Expeditionary Force (AEF), commanded by General John J. Pershing was sent to plug weaknesses in the French and British lines

  • November 11, 1918: the Germans signed an agreement where they surrendered their arms, majority of their navy, and evacuated occupied territory 

• The conclusion of World War I led to Wilson’s publication of his 14 Points, which outlined the ending of World War I

  • January 1919: every nation that fought on the Allied side in the war was represented and the Treaty of Versailles outlined the following:

    • To punish Germany, they will be stripped of their colonies in Asia and Africa; as long as admit guilt for the war, accept French occupation of the Rhineland for 15 years, and pay money in reparations to Great Britain and France

    • Apply self-determination

    • To maintain peace, signers of the treaty joined a peacekeeping organization (aka the League of Nations)

      • Article 5 of the charter called on each member nation to stand ready to protect the independence and territorial integrity of other nations

  • In America, men were drafted into the military, meaning that women took certain jobs (women entered the workforce!)

• 1914: Henry Ford perfected a system for manufacturing automobiles (aka the assembly line) → increased production and efficiency

• 1930s: the depression hit and lasted longer than any depressions previously → more business failure and unemployment 

  • September 3: Dow Jones stocks reached an all-time high of 381

  • October 1929: collapsed and millions lost their money

  • Black Tuesday/October 29: the stock market crashed 

    • Dow Jones index went from 381 to 198 → then dropped to 41

• 1932: Roosevelt stated in his acceptance speech the three R’s which outlined the New Deal:

  • Relief for people out of work

    • The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) offered outright grants of federal funding to state and local governments that were operating soup kitchens and forms of relief for the jobless and homeless

    • The Public Work Administration (PWA) allotted money to state and local governments for building infrastructure → source of jobs

    • The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employed young men on projects on federal lands and paid their families small monthly sums

    • The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) experimented regional development and public planning

  • Recovery for businesses and the economy

    • The Emergency Banking Relief Act authorized the government to examine the stability of banks on the bank holiday 

    • The Glass-Steagall Act increased regulation of the banks and limited how banks could invest customers’ money

    • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guaranteed individual bank deposits

  • Reform of American economic institutions

  • Formed new laws and agencies: WPA, AAA, CCC, NRA

  • March 6, 1933: ordered the banks closed for a bank holiday and went on the radio to explain that the banks would be reopened but needed enough time for the governments to reorganize them

    • March 9, 1933: Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act

    • March 13, 1933: banks reopened 

  • March 12, 1933: Roosevelt went on the radio and presented fireside chats to Americans which assured listeners that the banks would reopen and be stable → public resumed depositing money into the reopened banks

• 1938: Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act

  • Minimum wage, initially fixed at 40 cents per hour

  • Maximum standard workweek of 40 hours, extra pay (time and a half) for overtime

  • Child labor restrictions on hiring people under 16 years old

• World War II:

  • March 1939: Adolf Hitler broke the Munich agreement (1938: Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France; by which Czechoslovakia must surrender its border regions and defenses (the so-called Sudeten region) to Nazi Germany) and sent troops to occupy all of Czechoslovakia

    • Hitler’s ambitions became clear that there was no limit → hinting towards war

  • Britain and France pledged to fight if Poland was attacked (thought they could rely on Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, to be opposed to Hitler)

  • September 1, 1939: German tanks and planes began a full-scale invasion of Poland → Britain and France declared war against Germany 

    • Poland was the first to fall to Germany’s blitzkrieg (lightning war; an overwhelming use of air power and fast-moving tanks)

      • Denmark and Norway surrendered

      • France later surrendered

  • September 1940: under the Selective Training and Service Act, the registration of all American men ages 21-35 were being trained (1.2 million troops)

  • December 7, 1941: the US fleetin the Pacific was anchored at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) and Japanese planes flew over and bombed every plane in sight → 2,400 Americans dead

    • December 8, 1941: Pearl Harbor led to the declaration of war

  • June 6, 1944: D-Day consisted of British, Canadian, and US forces (under command of General Eisenhower) secured several beachheads on the Normandy coast 

  • April 30, 1945: Hitler committed suicide → May 7, 1945: the Nazi army surrendered

    • US troops advanced through Germany and were exposed to German concentration camps that was the genocide of 6 million people (mainly Jews) 

  • August 6, 1945: an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan

  • August 9, 1945: an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan

    • Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to a Japanese surrender

  • The Big Three (President Roosevelt/US, Prime Minister Churchill/Britain, and Soviet Premier Stalin) arranged to meet secretly to coordinate military strategy and outline peach talks

    • January 1943: Only Roosevelt and Churchill in Casablanca (North Africa)

      • Agreed on a grand strategy including invading Sicily and Italy, demanding “unconditional surrender” from the Axis powers

    • November 1943: All 3 met in Tehran (Iran)

      • Agreed that the British and Americans would begin their drive to liberate France in the spring of 1944 and the Soviets would invade Germany → then they would join the war against Japan

    • February 1945: All 3 met in Yalta (a resort on the Black Sea coast of the Soviet Union)

      • Allies would divide Germany into occupation zones; Germany would lose ¼ of its territories to Poland and the Soviet Union as their boundaries moves westward

      • Liberated countries of Eastern Europe would hold free elections

      • The Soviets would fight against Japan (Happened August 8, 1945)

      • The Soviets would control the southern half of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands in the Pacific and have special concessions in Manchuria

      • Countries would hold a conference in San Francisco to form a new world peace organization (aka the United Nations)

Unit 8: 1945-1980

• 1947: President Truman adopted a containment policy (designed to prevent Soviet expansion without starting a war); was implemented in response to two threats:

  • (1) a Communist-led uprising against the Greek government

  • (2) Soviet demands for control of the Dardanelles (in Turkey)

  • March 1947: the president asked Congress for $400 million in economic and military aid to assist the “free people” of Greece and Turkey against “totalitarian” regimes (aka the Truman Doctrine)

• June 1947: George Marshall outlined an extensive program for US economic aid to help European nations revive their economies and strengthen democratic governments

  • December 1947: Truman requested Congress $17 billion European Recovery Program (aka the Marshall Plan)

• 1949: 10 European nations, Canada, and the US created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance that defended all members from outside attacks

  • 1955: Soviet Union countered by forming the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance for the defense of the Communist states of Eastern Europe

• The Korean War:

  • June 25, 1950: the North Korean army invaded South Korea → Truma applied his containment policy and called for a session of the UN Security Council

    • UN forces destroyed a lot of the North Korean army and got near the Chinese border

      • November 1950: Chinese troops crossed the border into Korea → UN forces retreat

  • Truman used the Korean War to justify the expansion of the military, funded a new jet bomber, and stationed more US troops abroad

• President Dwight D. Eisenhower shaped foreign policy with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles

  • Dulles advocated to rely on nuclear weapons and air power and spending less on conventional military forces → was seen to save money, help balance the federal budget, and increase pressure on potential enemies

  • 1953: the US developed the hydrogen bomb, capable of destroying the largest cities → a year later the Soviets created their own hydrogen bomb

    • Massive retaliation was inflicted (aka mutual annihilation)

  • Eisenhower kept his promise of going to Korea to visit UN forces with a goal of ending the war

  • March 1953: the death of Stalin moved China and North Korea to agree an armistice and an exchange of prisoners in July 1953

• 1955: Eisenhower and Nikolai Bulganin (new Soviet premier) met in Geneva, Switzerland to improve relations

  • Eisenhower proposed an “open skies” policy (open to aerial photography by the opposing nation) in order to eliminate the chance of a surprise nuclear attack → Soviets rejected it

    • The “spirit of Geneva” (as named by the press) produced the first thaw in the Cold War

    • 1956: Nikita Khrushchev (new Soviet leader) gave a speech where he denounced the crimes of Stalin and supported “peaceful coexistence” with the West

• October 1956: an uprising in Hungary succeeded in overthrowing a government (with Moscow backing) → Kruschev sent in Soviet tanks to destroy the freedom fighters (aka the Hungarian Revolt)

• 1957: the Soviet Union launched the first satellites, Sputnik I and Sputnik II → shocked the US (aka the Sputnik Shock)

  • 1958: Congress created the National Defense and Education Act (NDEA) which authorized millions of federal funds for math, science, and foreign language education within schools after critics attacked American education for their failure to produce engineers and scientists

  • 1958: Congress created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to direct the US efforts to build missiles and explore space → received billions of dollars of federal funds to compete against Russia in the space race

• 1959: the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro

  • Castro nationalized American-owned businesses and properties in Cuba → Eisenhower reacted by cutting off US trade with Cuba

  • Castro then leaned more towards the Soviets for support, revealed he was a Marxist, and set up a Communist totalitarian government

    • These developments led to American worries due to Cuba being so close to the US (90 miles off of the shore of Florida) → Eisenhower authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to train anti-Communist Cuban exiles so they could invade the island and overthrow Castro

• 1960: John F. Kennedy was elected president and the first thing done regarded the Bay of Pigs invasion:

  • April 1961: the CIA-trained force of Cubans landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba → failed to set off a general uprising → surrendered after Kennedy rejected to use US forces to save them 

    • Castro used this failed attempt to get more aid from the Soviet Union → strengthened Castro

• Summer of 1961: Kennedy agreed to meet Krushchev in Vienna

  • Krushchev threatened the president by renewing Soviet demands in order for the US to remove troops from Berlin 

    • August 1961: the East Germans (backed by Soviets) build a wall around West Berlin in order to stop East Germans from fleeing to West Germany

      • During the construction of the wall, Soviet and US tanks faced off in Berlin

  • 1963: Kennedy traveled to West Berlin to assure US support

  • The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War → torn down by East Germans in 1989

• 1962: In response to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Castro invited the Soviets to build underground missile sites that could launch offensive missiles with potential to hit the US (aka the Cuban Missile Crisis)

  • US reconnaissance planes discovered this construction → Kennedy responded by announcing that he was setting up a naval blockade of Cuba until the weapons were removed 

    • Krushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba if Kennedy pledged to not invade the island and to (later) remove some US missiles from Turkey 

• 1963: the Soviet Union, the US, and 100 other nations signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, ending the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere 

• July 1968: the US, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, agreeing to not help any nation develop or acquire nuclear weapons 

• January 1969: President Richard Nixon promised to bring Americans together with his priority being international relations

  • With his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, Nixon developed a realist/pragmatic foreign policy that ended the war in Vietnam and reduced Cold War tensions 

  • Nixon and Kissinger’s diplomatic policy was praised for bringing about détente (a deliberate reduction of Cold War tensions)

• The Red Scare:

  • 1947: the Truman administration set up a Loyalty Review Board which investigated the background of an estimated 3 million federal employees

  • Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act:

    • (1) which made it unlawful to advocate/support the establishment of totalitarian governments 

    • (2) restricted the employment/travel of those joining Communist-front organizations

    • (3) authorized the creation of detention camps for subversives

  • 1939: the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was originally established to seek out Nazis → was reactivated to seek out Communists 

    • Investigated government officials, organizations, and the Hollywood film industry

  • 1950: Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, gave a speech claiming to have a list of 205 Communists who were working for the State Department → McCarthy became a strong leader in America (aka McCarthyism)

    • McCarthy relied a lot upon unsupported accusations to keep the media focused on himself, discrediting the Truman administration

  • 1954: the truth behind McCarthy was revealed after a Senate committee held televised hearings  → The red scare declined

• People began moving to the Sun Belt (states from Florida to California) due to warmer climate, lower taxes, and more economic opportunities 

  • The transfer of tax dollars financed the shift of industry, people, and political power from one region to another

• 1953: Eisenhower create the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) 

• 1956: Eisenhower influenced the passing of the Highway Act which allowed the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways

• 1947: baseball player, Jackie Robinson, was the first African American to play on a major baseball team since the 1880s (played for the Brooklyn Dodgers) → influenced/inspired many

• 1946: Truman established the Committee on Civil Rights, strengthened the civil rights division of the Justice Department, and aided the efforts of Black leaders to end segregation in schools

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) worked through cases for decades, working to overturn them:

  • 1950s: a team of NAACP lawyers (led by Thurgood Marshall) argued in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka that the segregation of Black children in public schools was unconstitutional (they said it violated the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws”) 

    • 1954: the Supreme Court agreed with Marshall → overturned the Plessy decision 

• 1955: a bus in Montgomery, Alabama had more White passengers → the driver ordered a Black woman (aka Rosa Parks) to move, she refused

  • Rosa Parks was a member of the NAACP; police arrested her for violating the segregation law → massive African American protest (boycotted city buses)

  • Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (minister of a Montgomery Baptist church) began the nonviolent movement to end segregation

    • Led to the Supreme Court deeming segregation laws as unconstitutional 

• Organizations made to push for the end of segregation:

  • 1957: Martin Luther King Jr. formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which organized ministers and churches in the South to grt behind the civil rights struggle 

  • The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) promoted voting rights and pushed for the ending of segregation

• 1963: Martin Luther King Jr. and some followers were jailed in Birmingham, Alabama for what local authorities considered an illegal march → the writing of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” → moved President Kennedy to support a tougher civil rights bill

  • 1963: the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King, was one of the largest and most successful demonstrations (200,000 people) 

    • Was where the famous “I Have a Dream” Speech was delivered

• Elijah Muhammad preached Black nationalism, separatism, and self-improvement → leaded the Black Muslims (new cultural identity based on Africa and Islam)

  • 1952: after leaving prison, Malcolm X acquired a reputation as the movement’s most controversial voice (he criticized MLK and advocated for self-defense to counter White violence)

    • He left the Black Muslims → 1956:  was assassinated by the Black opponents

• General Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt) asked the US to fund the building of the Aswan Dam project on the Nile Riler → US refused because Egypt violated Israel’s security

  • Nasser went to the Soviet Union for help → they agreed

  • July 1956: Nasser seized the British and French owned Suez Canal → threatened Western Europe’s supply line to Middle Eastern oil

    • Britain, France, and Israel carried out a surprise attack against Egypt and took the canal back

• 1957: the US pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism (aka the Eisenhower Doctrine)

• 1960: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela joined to form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with hope to expand political power by coordinating oil policies → Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil, Arab nationalism, and the Israel-Palestine conflict

• October 6, 1973: Syrians and Egyptians attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, attempting to recover the lands lost in the Six-Day War (1967) 

  • Nixon ordered US nuclear forces on alert and airlifted $2 billion in arms to Israel → Israel victory

  • Due to the US support for Israel, the Arab members of OPEC placed an embargo on oil sold to Israel’s supporters → worldwide shortage; inflation, loss of manufacturing jobs, and lower standard of living in the US

• 1979: Islamic fundamentalists in Iran, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, overthrew the shah → escaped the country by Iranians demanded his return to stand trials for crimes against his people

  • November 1979: US allowed the shah into the US for medical treatment → Iranian militants seized the US embassy in Teheran and held an estimated 50 American staff members as prisoners and hostages 

    • April 1980: Carter approved a rescue message → unsuccessful due to the breakdown of helicopters in the Iranian deserts 

• Vietnam War:

  • 1955-1961; The US gave over $1 billion to Southern Vietnam to form a stable, anti-communist state (government emerged under Ngo Dinh Diem)

    • Eisenhower’s domino theory was that if South Vietnam fell under Communist control → one nation after another in Southeast Asia would also fall (maybe even Australia and New Zealand)

    • 1954: To prevent South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from becoming communist, Dulles put together a regional defense pact (aka the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)) which made the nations agree to defend one another in case of an attack; backed by the US, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan

  • 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson became president and persuaded Congress to approve the Tonkin Gulf Resolution (gave the president, as commander-in-chief, a blank check to take “all necessary measures” to protect US interest in Vietnam)

  • 1965: Johnson authorized Operation Rolling Thunder (a prolonged air attack using B-52 bombers against targets in North Vietnam)

  • 1969: Nixon began Vietnamization (the gradual removal of US troops from Vietnam and gave South Vietnam money, weapons, and training needed to take over the war)

    • The Nixon Doctrine outlined that future Asian allies would receive US support with extensive use of US ground forces

  • 1973: the Paris Accords promised a cease-fire and free elections

  • 1970: the Pentagon Papers (a secret government study documenting the mistakes and deceptions of government policymakers about Vietnam); The papers were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg

  • April 1975: the US backed government in Saigon fell to the enemy → Vietnam reunification under Communism (Hanoi/North Vietnam capital)

  • 1975: the US backed government in Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge (radical Communists) → killed 1-2 million of its own people to rid the country of Western influence

• 1972: Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which stated: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” → was not ratified 

• 1969: police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City → sparked a riot and led to the gay rights movement

  • Gay activists encouraged homosexuals to be open about their identity with the goal of ending discrimination and abuse 

  • 1993: President Bill Clinton attempted to end discrimination and enacted the “don’t ask, don’t tell” 

    • People would not be asked or expected to describe their sexual identity, however the military could still expel people for being gay or lesbian

• 1970: Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce federal regulations; was given the responsibility for regulating and enforcing federal programs and policies on air/water pollution. Radiation issues, pesticides, and solid waste

• 1972-1974: A break-in at the Democratikc National Committee offices in the Watergate complex → investigation of White House employees 

  • 1974: Nixon was on trial for impeachment (reveal of Watergate tapes as well) → Nixon resigned

Unit 9: 1980-Present

• 1980: Ronald Reagan, a well known movie and television actor, gained fame among Republics as being an effective political speaker

  • Same day as Reagan was inaugurated, Iran released 52 American hostages → good look for the Reagan administration

  • Reagan administration advocated for supply-side economics (tax cuts and reduced government spending → increase investment by the private sector → increased production, jobs, and prosperity)

    • Became known as “Reaganomics” and was often compared to the “trickle-down:” economics of the 1920s (wealthy Americans prospered and their spendings benefitted the middle class and the poor)

• 1981: Congress passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act which got a 25% decrease in personal income taxes over 3 years

  • Cuts in corporate income tax, capital gains tax, and gift/inheritance taxes → tax relief went to upper-income taxpayers 

  • Small investors were helped by a provision that allowed them to invest up to $2,000 a year in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) without paying taxes on this money until it was withdrawn

• The Reagan administration spent billions building up new weapon systems (like the B-1 bomber, MX missile, and expanding the US Navy’s ship supply)

  • Increased funding on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (a plan for building high-tech lasers and particle beams to destroy enemy missiles before they could reach the US); aka “Star Wars”

• 1979: a Marxist movement, the Sandinistas, overthrew Nicaragua’s dictator → US provided military aid to the Contras (a group trying to dislodge the Sandinistas)

  • 1985: Democrats opposed to the policies being used in Nicaragua passed the Boland Amendment (prohibited further aid to the Contras)

  • 1986: the profits of the arms deal with Iran was being used to fund the Contras 

    • Reagan denied the knowing of the illegal diversion of funds 

• October 1983: Reagan ordered a small force of marines to invade Grenada to prevent the establishment of a strategic Communist military base in the Americas → pro-US government was established

• 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev (new Soviet leader) attempted to change the troubled Communist political and economic system:

  • (1) glasnost: openness to end political repression and move towards greater political reform for its citizens

  • (2) perestroika: restructuring of the Soviet economy by introducing free-market practices

  • Reagan and Gorbachev held 3 summit meetings:

    • (1) November 1985: cultural, scientific, and environmental issues

    • (2) October 1986: in Reykjavik, Iceland (less successful)

    • (3) 1987: in Washington DC, both sides compromised on removing and destroying all intermediate-range missiles (aka the INF agreement)

  • Gorbachev pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan and aided the US in ending the Iran-Iran war

• 1988: the election was between George H. W. Bush (Republican; Reagan’s vice president) and Michael Dukakis (Democrat) → H.W. Bush won after promised to not raise taxes 

• 1982: Israel (with US backing) invaded southern Lebanon to stop the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters from raiding Israel 

  • April 1983: an Arab suicide squad bombed the US embassy in Beirut → 63 people killed; few months later another Arab terrorist drove a bomb-filled truck into the US Marines barracks → 241 soldiers killed

• August 1990: Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait → threatened Western oil sources in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf 

  • January 1991: 500,000 American troops, in addition to military units from 28 other countries invaded and defeated the Iraqi army (aka Operation Desert Storm)

• 1990: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declared their independence 

  • Gorbachev attempted to stage a coup → failed → Gorbachev had no country

  • Boris Yeltsin (president of the Russian Republic) joined with 9 former Soviet republic to form a loose confederation (aka the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)) 

    • Yeltsin disbanded the Communist Party in Russia

• 1992: the election was between Bill Clinton (Democrat), Bush (Republican), and Ross Perot (third-party) → Clinton won

  • Passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (required businesses to allow workers to take unpaid leave for specific medical reasons)

  • Passed the “motor voter” law which enabled citizens to register to vote, as long as they had their driver’s licenses

  • The Brady Bill mandated a 5-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns

  • 1994: Congress enacted Clinton’s Anti-Crime Bill

    • Provided $30 billion for more police protection and crime-reduction programs; banned the sale of most assault rifles → angered the gun lobby led by the National Rifle Association (NRA)

• 1992: Clinton’s administration passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); free-trade zones with Canada and Mexico

  • 1994: the World Trade Organization (WTO) emerged to oversee trade agreements, enforce trade rules, and settle disputes

  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank made loans to and supervised the economic policies of poorer nations with debt issues

• The Group of 8 (G8) consisted of the world’s largest industrial powers: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

  • These 8 nations were responsible for â…” of the world’s wealth 

• 2002: 15 European nations came together and formed the European Union

  • 12 of the 15 adopted the same currency (the Euro)

  • 2007: the EU grew to 27 countries 

• 2012: President Barack Obama took executive action to protect undocumented young people that were brought to the US as children (aka “Dreamers”) from deportation to allow them to continue their education and apply for work permits (aka the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA))

• 2016: President Donald Trump promised to be tougher on immigration and asylum seekers

  • Claimed that he would force Mexico to build a 2,000-mile border wall, require Mexico and Central American countries to stop migrants at their order, and end the DACA program

  • He also restricted immigration by limiting the number of green cards granted 

• Islamic extremists, such as supporters of al-Qaeda, preached jihad and defined holy war against the “Jews and Crusaders”

  • The goal behind al-Qaeda was to restore an Islamic caliphate from North Africa to East Asia

  • 1993: a truck bombed the World Trade Center in New York City → 6 people dead

  • 1998: US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed → 200 people dead (12 Americans) 

    • US responded by bombing al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Sudan

  • 2000: two suicide bombers nearly sank the USS Cole docked in Yemen

• September 11, 2001: the coordinated attacks by al-Qaeda terrorists in commercial airliners on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington DC; A fourth plane crashed into Pennsylvania → nearly 3,000 lives lost 

• 2001: The USA PATRIOT Act gave the US government power to obtain information and expand surveillance and arrest powers

• 2002: Bush administration created the Department of Homeland Security → Secret Service, Coast Guard, and agencies dealing with customs and immigration

• 2002: Bush administration claimed that Iraq was developing nuclear or biological weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) → Iraq (under Hussein) was investigated by the UN

  • 2003: Saddam Hussein was captured 

• 2008: the election consisted of John McCain (Republican) and Barack Obama (Democrat) → Obama won (first African American president)

  • May 2011: Osama bin Laden (al-Qaeda leader) was killed in Pakistan