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Declaration of Independence (1776)
This event marked the formal break of the colonies from Great Britain. -
U.S. Constitution Ratified (1788)
This created a stronger government, introducing checks and balances to ensure one governing person didn’t have too much power (tyranny). There would be the three equal branches of the government: legislative, executive, and judicial. -
Louisiana Purchase (1803)
The United States acquired approximately 828,000 square miles of land from France for around $15 million (less than 3 cents an acre). -
The War of 1812 (1812-1815)
This was a conflict between the United States and Great Britain. President James Madison declared war in June of 1812, despite strong opposition from many in congress. The military of the U.S. was ill prepared. -
Indian Removal Act & Trail of Tears (1830)
A deeply controversial piece of legislation that authorized the president of the United States to relocate Native American Tribes to lands more westward. Present day Oklahoma was previously known as Indian Territory. The most infamous consequence from this act was the Trail of Tears, which forced marches of thousands of Native Americans to be uprooted from their sacred ancestral lands. -
Mexican-American War & Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1846-1848)
The war was a cause of the Manifest Destiny, which was the belief that the United States were destined to span from the Atlantic to the Pacific. After the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845, tensions rose. The war ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, wherein Mexico gave up 525,000 square miles of land to the U.S. The treaty claimed to protect the property and civil rights of Mexicans in these newly acquired territories, but they were later ignored in reality. -
Compromise of 1850 & Fugitive Slave Act
The compromise was designed to ease tensions between the North and the South over the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired territories. It confirmed California as a free state, allowing the settlers in Utah and New Mexico to decide on whether they would have slaves or not, gave Texas a proper boundary, abolished slave trade in Washington, D.C., and (controversially) enacted the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Dred Scott Decision (1857)
The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision is regarded as one of the most infamous rulings in U.S. legal history. Dred Scott was an enslaved man who had lived with his owner in free states (Illinois and Wisconsin) before returning to Missouri, a slave state. Scott sued for his own freedom, arguing that his residence on free soil made him a free man. -
Civil War (1861-1865)
The American Civil War is the most devastating conflict of U.S. History. This was between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South). The war lasted four years that claimed more than 750,000 lives (about 2% of the population at the time). This included the Battle of Antietam (1862), Emancipation Proclamation (1863), Battle of Gettysburg (1863), and Sherman’s March to the Sea (1864). -
Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
On January 1st, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln declared the executive order that all enslaved people in Confederate-held territories were to be forever free. -
Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)
Following the Civil War, the U.S. had to rebuild the nation and redefine citizenship and freedom. These amendments were ratified to address slavery and to lay the foundation for civil rights in America. -
Industrial Revolution (Late 1800s)
This was a period of rapid economic growth, technological evolution, and social transformation. The U.S. saw the shift from becoming a mostly agrarian society to a more modern and industrial powerhouse. -
The Progressive Era (1890s-1920s)
This dynamic period introduced social, political, and economic reform for the United States. It emerged in response to the Gilded Age, when rapid industrialization and urbanization created inequalities and widespread corruption. The Progressives aimed to lower the power of large businesses and address the social injustices affecting women, workers, immigrants, and the poor. -
World War I (1917-1918)
Though the war actually began in 1914, the U.S. only became involved in 1917. Initially the country was determined to remain neutral, but later were provoked by Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare. -
Great Depression (1929-1939)
This era began with the stock market crash of ‘29 following the roaring 20s. Banking failures, global trade disruptions, and consumer demand are mainly what caused it. Unemployment soared beyond 20%. Millions of Americans were out of work. Many banks failed and destroyed the public’s confidence in the financial system. -
The New Deal (1933-1939)
U.S. president FDR created the new deal with the basis of the three R’s: relief, recovery, and reform. The idea was to give immediate aid to the suffering of Americans and begin to rebuild the economy. -
World War II (1941-1945)
The U.S. entered the war in 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Over 2,400 Americans were killed during the attack. The war had been raging in Europe and Asia for some time, but America changed the course of the war. -
Civil Rights Movement (1950s-1960s)
This transformative era aimed to dismantle racial segregation, discrimination, and systemic abuse and inequality. After the second world war, Black veterans demanded the rights they had fought to defend for their country abroad. Many figures of the movement, including but not limited to, Rosa Parks, MLK Jr, and Malcolm X, are some of the vital voices in this movement for justice. -
Vietnam War (1955-1975)
This war marked the turning point of the citizen’s trust in their government. Many did not want this war to start or even continue. The drafts were unfair toward the working class and youths. Veterans of previous wars were against involvement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tied the war to racial and economic injustice. -
Anti War Movement (1975)
After the war ended, it left a lasting imprint on American politics and civic activism.