History Of The USA Lectures PDF

The “beginnings” of the America (you know, it was existing before as a continent, but it was not explored by Europeans yet) 1. Before the 15th century around 25,000 B.C. Paleo-Indians migrated from the Northern Asia to the Northern America through the Beringia land bridge, whic...

The “beginnings” of the America (you know, it was existing before as a continent, but it was not explored by Europeans yet) 1. Before the 15th century around 25,000 B.C. Paleo-Indians migrated from the Northern Asia to the Northern America through the Beringia land bridge, which at the time was a dry land (now it’s under the water I think) Paleo-Indians spread through the North and South America creating the first populations in both Americas; they were natives to the America Indians created three great civilizations: - the Aztecs - the Maya - the Incas Leif Erikson – the first (Norse)man who discovered America c.1000 A.D.; he was banished from Iceland, so he sailed across the ocean to Greenland, as we call it now, where he established the first settlement (he brought there his family!) 2. Expeditions and explorations - reasons Europeans were looking for a different trade-paths to India (do you spice???); first there were only foot trails (expensive – taxes, long duration of such a trip), then they started sailing around Africa, and finally someone thought: “hey, if the world is round, let us try to sail west – trust me bro, we will reach India eventually” (they reached America and thought it to be India??? So, they called Natives Indians???) Once they found out that this new land was not indeed India they wanted to explore it: - the poor wanted to be rich, so they sailed for treasures and idk what else for - the rich wanted to be richer, thus, they sailed for recourses - the Puritans wanted to live in a “pure” society, and they sailed to settle their new, pure settlements (jokes on them, most of them died!) 3. THE explorers Christopher Columbus – Italian explorer; in 1492 he sailed west on a journey sponsored by Spanish monarchs, landed in the Bahamas; he also visited islands such as Cuba and Hispaniola; he established a colony in Haiti Amerigo Vespucci - Italian explorer; joined an expedition in 1499 and 1501 to the so-called “New World” discovered by Columbus; he sailed along the South America’s coast; his crew managed to establish minor trading with friendlier native tribe  Ferdinand Magellan – Portuguese explorer; in 1519-22 his crew sailed around the world, from Spain to East Indies (Magellan died during his voyage in the Philippines) 4. Puritans “a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that sought to “purify” the Church of England of remnants of the Roman Catholic “popery” that the Puritans claimed had been retained after the religious settlement reached early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.” (from Britannica) Protestants were persecuted in the England, so they fled the country (exile, repression, etc.); most of them migrated to Netherlands, later to America where they settled in Plymouth Those who travelled to America often didn’t have money to pay for the voyage, thus they signed the indentures, and they became indentured servants who were easily transformed into slaves (depending on their skin colour ofc, not all of them were originally from the England – British colonies, etc.) Indenture – a contract signed between a labourer and an employer (the owner of the ship) certifying that a labourer will work for a fixed length of time or until the debt is paid 5. The British colonies The first permanent colony to be established in the America was Jamestown; Jamestown was established on May 4, 1607; during the winter of 1609-1610 came a period of starvation (crippled fields, late arrival of a fleet with food) which survived only 60 of the original settlers The Pilgrims were the English settlers who in 1620 came to America from Holland on the ship Mayflower and they established the Plymouth colony in Plymouth Overall, three groups of colonies were established: - The New England Colonies - The Middle Colonies - The South Colonies 6. The New England Colonies Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire Settlements: Massachusetts, Boston, Salem, Plymouth The Mayflower Compact - document signed on the English ship Mayflower in 1620, prior to its landing at Plymouth; it was rather an adaptation of a Puritan church covenant to a civil situation; it bound its signers into a body politic for the  purpose of forming a government and pledged them to abide by any laws and regulations that would later be established “for the general good of the colony.”; although in practice much of the power in Plymouth was guarded by the Pilgrim founders, the compact, with its fundamental principles of self-government and common consent, has been interpreted as an important step in the evolution of democratic government in America. (Britannica) 7. The Middle Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey William Penn – an English Quaker, a protagonist of religious toleration; he received lands in America from the king, Charles II, which he named Pennsylvania; he hoped to provide a refuge for Quakers and other persecuted people and to build an ideal Christian commonwealth (“holy experiment”) Philadelphia – capital city of Pennsylvania; city of “brotherly love” (from Greek) New York – previously New Amsterdam as it was first established by the Dutch, later it surrendered to the British; New Jersey – Dutch explorer, Henry Hudson, established the colony near the Delaware river, later it was brought under English rule 8. The South Maryland, Virginia, Carolina (North and South), Georgia Maryland – Cecilius Calvert, son of the Lord Baltimore, established the colony planned and granted by his father as a place only for the Catholics, however Protestants gradually outnumbered Catholics which led to minor conflicts that were resolved with a peace treaty; it was named after Mary I Virginia – established by the members of the Virginia Company who were settled in the Jamestown enterprise; the beginnings of the colony were harsh due to their lack of profits, when later the plantation of tobacco and discipline training received from a governor saved them; John Smith and Pocahontas are from there Carolina – eight proprietors begun colonizing the area; after the wars with Indians finally came settlers and farming begun; small farmers divided from big planters and thus divided the Carolina into North (farmers) and South (planters, ocean trade); in the South they tried rice plantation, but it attracted mosquitos and with them, diseases, so slaves (recently indentured workers) were working at plantations Georgia – British colony that bordered with Florida, a Spanish colony; due to that many conflicts occurred, and people didn’t want to live there; the British decided to send to Georgia minor criminals due to overpopulation in British prisons to fight the Spanish 9. Nine-years' war/French and Indian War 1754-1763 Fought between France and Great Britain Dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River in Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol. Both the French and the British were supported by the various native tribes, but only the French were mostly depending on them, with their soldiers outnumbered by the British Governor Vaudreuil in Montreal negotiated a capitulation with General Amherst in September 1760. Amherst granted his requests that any French residents who chose to remain in the colony would be given freedom to continue worshiping in their Roman Catholic tradition, to own property, and to remain undisturbed in their homes. The British provided medical treatment for the sick and wounded French soldiers, and French regular troops were returned to France aboard British ships with an agreement that they were not to serve again in the present war 10. Triangular trade Three-legged economic model and trade route that was predicated on the transatlantic trade of enslaved people The three markets among which the trade was conducted were Europe, western Africa, and the New World. The first leg of the triangular trade began in Europe, from which manufactured goods such as metals, brass dishes, knives, tools, textiles, firearms, ammunition, and alcoholic beverages were transported by ship to ports on the coast of western Africa. There these goods were exchanged for enslaved people The second stage of this triangular trade was the shipment of enslaved people westward across the Atlantic Ocean, usually to Brazil or the West Indies The third leg of the triangle which sent raw materials to Europe, where they supplied manufacturing industries. In return, Europe sent manufactured goods and luxury items to the colonies, which themselves exported items such as rum,  gunpowder, iron, tools, and cloth to Africa. The colonies also sent fish, meat, flour, and lumber to the Caribbean islands in exchange for sugar and molasses. 11. Pontiac was an Odawa war chief known for his role in the war named after him, from 1763 to 1766 leading Native Americans in an armed struggle against the British in the Great Lakes region due to, among other reasons, dissatisfaction with British policies. It followed the British victory in the French and Indian War, the American front of the Seven Years' War. The American Revolution and Constitution 1. Before the Revolution Stamp Act - first British parliamentary attempt to raise revenue through direct taxation of all colonial commercial and legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, cards, almanacs, and dice. Salutary neglect - policy of the British government regarding its North American colonies under which trade regulations for the colonies and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loosen as long as they remained loyal and contributed economically In 1767 the British Parliament enacted strict provisions for the collection of revenue taxes in the colonies. The imposition of those taxes—on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea upon their arrival in colonial ports—met with angry opposition from many colonists in Massachusetts. In addition to organized boycotts of those goods, the colonial response took the form of harassment of British officials and vandalism. Boston Massacre – March 5, 1770, a crowd of Bostonians roamed the streets, their anger fuelled by rumours that soldiers were preparing to cut down the so- called Liberty Tree and that a soldier had attacked an oysterman. In the confusion, one of the soldiers discharged his musket. Other soldiers followed suit. Three crowd members were shot and died almost immediately. Two wounded died later. East India Company - English company formed for the exploitation of trade with East, Southeast Asia and India; the company was formed to share in the East Indian spice trade; to omit taxation in England, they sent tea to America, where colonists stored it in damp warehouses, except Boston 2. The War of Independence  Boston Tea Party - December 16, 1773; incident in which 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company were thrown from ships into Boston Harbor by American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians; the Americans were protesting a tax on tea; in 1773 Parliament passed a Tea Act designed to aid the financially troubled East India Company by granting it (1) a monopoly on all tea exported to the colonies, (2) an exemption on the export tax, and (3) a refund on duties owed on certain surplus quantities of tea in its possession Minuteman - American citizens who agreed to be ready for military duty “at a minute’s warning” during the Revolution; April 19, 1775, the beginning of American Revolution Common Sense – a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 advocating the independence from Great Britain to people in the thirteen colonies Patriots - also known as Whigs, were the colonists who rebelled against British monarchical control. Their rebellion was based on the social and political philosophy of republicanism, which rejected the ideas of a monarchy and aristocracy – essentially, inherited power. Instead, the philosophy favoured liberty and unalienable individual rights as its core values. Loyalists - those in the colonies who remained loyal to the British crown during the American war for independence. They were also known as King’s Men, Tories, and Royalists. They considered themselves to be British citizens and therefore believed revolution to be treason. Battle of Bunker Hill - June 17, 1775, first major battle of the American Revolution, fought in Charlestown during the Siege of Boston; although the British eventually won the battle, it was a victory that lent considerable encouragement to the revolutionary cause. Continental congress - the body of delegates who spoke and acted collectively for the people of the colonies; the Congress “adopted” the New England military forces that had converged upon Boston and appointed Washington commander in chief of the American army; it also acted as the provisional government of the 13 colony-states, issuing and borrowing money, establishing a postal service, and creating a navy; it gradually cut ties with Britain until separation was complete Founding fathers - the responsible for the successful war for colonial independence from Great Britain, the liberal ideas celebrated in the Declaration of Independence, and the republican form of government defined in the United States Constitution; members included: Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, who was considered the Founding Father of them all.  Declaration of independence - in U.S. history, document that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain Valley forge - encampment grounds of the Continental Army in Pennsylvania under Gen. George Washington; the site was considered a defensible one, strategically located on leading trade routes and near farm supplies; during the unusually harsh winter, the force of Washington’s leadership held together the dwindling American Army, which was suffering from the bitter cold, lack of clothes, semi-starvation, gross mismanagement in the commissary and transport departments, Congressional neglect, and public criticism; although its ranks were decimated by rampant disease, the Continental Army was reorganized, and it emerged as a well-disciplined and efficient fighting force, largely because of the efficient drilling methods introduced by Frederick William, Freiherr von Steuben. Battles of Saratoga - often considered as a turning point of the war in favour of the Americans; On September 19 Burgoyne moved south and engaged the Continental forces at the First Battle of Saratoga. Early in the battle, many British officers were killed in the open fields; on October 7 Burgoyne launched an attack without the reinforcements - this engagement was called the Second Battle of Saratoga; the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga helped persuade the French to recognize American independence and to openly provide military assistance United States presidential election of 1789 - American presidential election held on February 4, 1789, in which George Washington was unanimously chosen as the first president of the United States by electors from 10 of the 13 extant states. 3. Aftermath Constitution of the United States of America - the fundamental law of the U.S. federal system of government and a landmark document of the Western world; the oldest written national constitution in use, the Constitution defines the principal organs of government and their jurisdictions and the basic rights of citizens; created in 1787 Congress of the United States - the legislature of the United States of America, established under the Constitution of 1789 and separated structurally from the executive and judicial branches of government; it consists of two houses: the Senate, in which each state is represented by two senators, and the House of Representatives, to which members are elected based on population. Among the express powers of Congress are the power to lay and collect taxes, borrow  money on the credit of the United States, regulate commerce, coin money, declare war, raise and support armies, and make all laws necessary for the execution of its powers. Connecticut Compromise - the compromise offered in 1787 to provide a bicameral federal legislature that used a dual system of representation: the upper house would have equal representation from each state, while the lower house would have proportional representation based on a state’s population. The Funding Act of 1790 - passed on August 4, 1790, by the United States Congress to address the issue of funding of the domestic debt incurred by the state governments; by the Act, the newly-inaugurated federal government under the U.S. Constitution assumed and thereby retired the debts of each of the individual colonies in rebellion and the bonded debts of the States in Confederation, which each state had individually and independently issued on its own "full faith and credit" when each of them was, in effect, an independent nation; bonds The beginnings of the independent country 1. The Government of the US Federal government - a division of power between a central national government and local state governments; the Federal Government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the Federal courts Legislative branch: Congress (the Senate and House of Representatives); drafting proposed laws, confirming or rejecting presidential nominations for heads of federal agencies, federal judges, and the Supreme Court, having the authority to declare war President - the president is the head of state, leader of the federal government, and Commander in Chief of the United States armed forces; Vice president - the vice president supports the president. If the president is unable to serve, the vice president becomes president. The vice president also presides over the U.S. Senate and breaks ties in Senate votes; The Cabinet - Cabinet members serve as advisors to the president. They include the vice president, heads of executive departments, and other high-ranking government officials. Cabinet members are nominated by the president and must be approved by the Senate.  The judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and other federal courts; it evaluates laws by interpreting the meaning of laws, applying laws to individual cases, deciding if laws violate the Constitution The ability of each branch to respond to the actions of the other branches is the system of checks and balances - assuring that branches wouldn’t be able to control too much power; created a separation of powers. 2. The Bill of Rights The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, created on December 15, 1791, made changes to the constitution that guaranteed of individual rights and of limitations on federal and state governments. The First Amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. The Second Amendment protects the individual right to keep and bear arms. The Third Amendment restricts the quartering of soldiers in private homes The Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. The Fifth Amendment protects against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and guarantees the rights to due process, grand jury screening of criminal indictments, and compensation for the seizure of private property under eminent domain. The Sixth Amendment establishes several rights of the defendant in a criminal trial: The Seventh Amendment guarantees jury trials in federal civil cases that deal with claims of more than twenty dollars. The Eighth Amendment forbids the imposition of excessive bails or fines, though it leaves the term "excessive" open to interpretation. The Ninth Amendment declares that there are additional fundamental rights that exist outside the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reinforces the principles of separation of powers and federalism by providing those powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states or the people. 3. The rule of Washington and Adams The Cabinet – Hamilton, Jefferson Hamilton wanted to pay off bonds; income taxes – funding the bank Jefferson built the capital city and Hamilton’s state debts paid by federal governments Alien Act/Sedition Act - were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. Kentucky and Virginia Resolution - were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799 in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional; written secretly by Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 4. Thomas Jefferson vs Alexander Hamilton Thomas Jefferson Alexander Hamilton Republicans Federals South and west North, original colonies Everyone could participate in Based on Great Britain political life Farming>industry Industry>farming Poor citizens The rich France Great Britain 5. Thomas Jefferson as a 3rd President The United States secured effective control of the Mississippi river when it bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. This triggered a dispute between Spain and the U.S. on which parts of West Florida Spain had ceded to France in the first place. Due to ongoing U.S. colonization, and U.S. military actions, Spain ceded both West and East Florida in their entirety to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. Luis and Clark Expedition – Oregon - was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country. The Corps of Discovery was a select group of U.S. Army and civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark; starting in Missouri, they went up the Missouri River. The expedition crossed the Continental Divide of the Americas eventually coming to the Columbia River, and the Pacific Ocean in 1805. The return voyage began on March 23, 1806, at Fort Clatsop, Oregon. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition to explore and detail as much of the new territory as possible. Furthermore, he wished to find a practical travel route across the western half of the continent—directly avoiding the hot and  desolate desert southwest—and to establish an American presence in the new lands before European powers attempted to establish claims of their own. Spoils system – rewarding followers with government positions South of the US 1. Florida 1783–1821 Florida was a Spanish colony Settlers in southern Georgia demanded that Spain control the Seminole population and capture runaway slaves, to which Spain declined Americans began moving into northern Florida from the backwoods of Georgia and South Carolina. Though technically not allowed by the Spanish authorities and Americans would continue to migrate into Florida unchecked American settlers, along with some remaining British settlers, established a permanent foothold in the western end of West Florida during the first decade of the 1800s. In the summer of 1810, they began planning a rebellion against Spanish rule which became open revolt in September. On October 27, 1810, most of the Republic of West Florida was annexed by proclamation of President James Madison, who claimed that the region was included in the Louisiana Purchase and incorporated it into the newly formed Territory of Orleans. Spain decided that Florida had become too much of a burden, as it could not afford to send settlers or garrisons to properly occupy the land and was receiving very little revenue from the territory. Madrid therefore decided to cede Florida to the United States. The treaty was signed in 1819 and took effect in 1821, and the United States formally took possession of Florida on July 17, 1821. 2. War of 1812 America’s strangest war; the second war of independence Fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America Trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France; The impressment of seamen on US vessels into the Royal Navy; British military support for American Indians; US motivation and desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults In August 1814, peace discussions began in Ghent  The British strategy for decades had been to create a buffer state in the American Northwest Territory to block American expansion. Britain also demanded naval control of the Great Lakes and access to the Mississippi River. On the American side, Monroe instructed the American diplomats sent to Europe to try to convince the British to cede the Canadas, or at least Upper Canada, to the U.S. At a later stage, the Americans also demanded damages for the burning of Washington and for the seizure of ships before the war began. 3. America in the beginning of the 19th century James Madison became the fourth president of the US in the 1809 Era of good feelings - a period in the political history of the United States that reflected a sense of national purpose and a desire for unity among Americans in the aftermath of the War of 1812. The era saw the collapse of the Federalist Party and an end to the bitter partisan disputes between it and the dominant Democratic-Republican Party during the First Party System. Panic of 1819 - was the first widespread and durable financial crisis in the United States that slowed westward expansion in the Cotton Belt and was followed by a general collapse of the American economy that persisted through 1821. The Panic heralded the transition of the nation from its colonial commercial status with Europe toward an independent economy. The Monroe Doctrine 1823 is a United States foreign policy position that opposes European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act against the United States. The doctrine was central to American grand strategy in the 20th century Andrew Jackson 7th president; 1829-1837 4. Mexico and Texas The Mexican War of Independence 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821; was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. In 1835, in Texas, the 1824 Constitution was overturned; state legislatures were dismissed, militias disbanded The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. 1836 – Texas proclaims itself an independent republic  James Knox Polk was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849; brought Texas to the union in 1846 (annexation begun in 1845) "Manifest destiny" was a phrase that represented the belief in the 19th- century United States that American settlers were destined to expand westward across North America, and that this belief was both obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny"). The belief was rooted in American exceptionalism and Romantic nationalism, implying the inevitable spread of the Republican form of governance. It was one of the earliest expressions of American imperialism in the United States of America West Coast 1. California and Arizona With Mexico gaining independence from Spain, part of California became a Mexican territory (1821-1848) Hostilities between the U.S. and Mexico were sparked in part by territorial disputes between Mexico and the Republic of Texas, and American annexation of Texas in 1845. Several battles between U.S. and Mexican troops in the 1846 led to the Mexican–American War. California was under U.S. control by January 1847, after the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga, and formally annexed and paid for by the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed in 1848. The California gold rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The gold rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and the California genocide. The area north of the Gila River was governed by the Province of Las California under the Spanish until 1804, when the Californian portion of Arizona became part of Alta California under the Spanish and Mexican governments. Starting in 1853, the entirety of present-day Arizona was part of the New Mexico Territory. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden to Mexico City to negotiate with Santa Anna, and the United States bought the remaining southern strip area of Arizona and New Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. A treaty was signed in Mexico in December 1853, and then, with  modifications, approved by the US Senate in June 1854, setting the southern boundary of Arizona and of New Mexico. 2. Missouri Compromise of 1820 and 1850 Sectionalism - devotion to the interests of a region over those of a country (e.g. North and South, Civil War). Henry Clay - an American statesman, U.S. congressman, and U.S. senator who was noted for his American System (a national bank, the tariff) and was a major promoter of the Missouri Compromise (1820) and the Compromise of 1850. Fugitive Slave Acts - statutes passed by Congress in 1793 and 1850 (and repealed in 1864) that provided for the seizure and return of runaway enslaved people who escaped from one state into another or into a federal territory. Underground Railroad - a system existing in the Northern states before the Civil War by which escaped slaves from the South were secretly helped by sympathetic Northerners, in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Acts, to reach places of safety in the North or in Canada. Harriet Tubman - an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War. She led dozens of enslaved people to freedom in the North along the route of the Underground Railroad Kansas-Nebraska Act - critical national policy change concerning the expansion of slavery into the territories. Bleeding Kansas (1854–59) - small civil war in the United States, fought between proslavery and antislavery advocates for control of the new territory of Kansas. Free-soil forces from the North formed armed emigrant associations to populate Kansas, while proslavery advocates poured over the border from Missouri. Dred Scott decision - legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled that a slave, Dred Scott, who had resided in a free state and territory (where slavery was prohibited) was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States; and that the Missouri Compromise (1820) was unconstitutional. November 6, 1860 - presidential elections were held, the Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin won a national popular plurality, a popular majority in the North where states had already abolished  slavery, and a national electoral majority comprising only Northern electoral votes. This marked the first time that a Republican was elected president. Battle of Fort Sumter, (April 12–14, 1861), the opening engagement of the American Civil War. Although Fort Sumter held no strategic value to the North—it was unfinished, and its guns faced the sea rather than Confederate shore batteries—it held enormous value as a symbol of the Union. 3. Ulysses S. Grant vs Roman Lee Hiram Ulysses Grant – since September 1861 he commanded the District of the Southeast Missouri during the Civil War Triumphs at Forts Henry and Donelson and the hard-won capture of Vicksburg made Grant the Union’s premier commander. In March 1864, Lincoln named Grant general-in-chief of the Federal armies and his campaigns in Virginia forced the war’s conclusion. In 1868, Grant was elected the 18th president of the United States. His administration was riddled with corruption and scandal, although apparently the graft did not reach to the Oval Office itself. After losing his fortune to a corrupt bank in 1884, Grant began writing about his wartime experiences. Robert Edward Lee - graduated second in the class of 1829 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was assigned to the Corps of Engineers. Lee accepted a commission in the newly formed Confederate army. In June 1862, Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was able to consistently defeat numerically superior foes; moreover, his integrity earned him the respect and admiration of his men. Despite his considerable efforts, on April 9, 1865, Lee was forced to surrender his weary and depleted army, effectively ending the Civil War. 4. Civil War Emancipation Proclamation - edict issued by U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, that freed the enslaved people of the Confederate states in rebellion against the Union. Battle of Gettysburg, (July 1–3, 1863), major engagement in the American Civil War that was a crushing Southern defeat. It is generally regarded as the turning point of the war and has probably been more intensively studied and analysed than any other battle in U.S. history. The Thirteenth Amendment - abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.  1865-1877 – reconstruction era during the Lincoln’s reign focused on the emancipation of enslaved people that was necessary to secure military victory. Some believed that emancipation would prove a sham unless the government guaranteed the civil and political rights of the freedmen; thus, equality of all citizens before the law became a third war aim for this powerful faction. Andrew Johnson - the 17th president of the United States (1865–69), his lenient Reconstruction policies toward the South embittered the Radical Republicans in Congress and led to his political downfall and to his impeachment, though he was acquitted. Radical Republican - during and after the American Civil War, a member of the Republican Party committed to emancipation of enslaved people and later to the equal treatment and enfranchisement of the freed African Americans. Black Codes - the numerous laws adopted in the states of the former Confederacy that were intended to maintain white supremacy in those places. Enacted in 1865 and 1866 were designed to replace the social controls previously exerted over Black Americans by slavery The Fourteenth Amendment - no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The Fifteenth Amendment - prohibits the federal government and each state from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Tenure of Office Act, (March 2, 1867), law forbidding the president to remove civil officers without senatorial consent. The Radicals gained enough strength in the congressional elections of 1866 to impose their military and civil program upon the defeated territory in the spring of 1867. The act was often taken to have been aimed specifically at preventing President Johnson from removing from office Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the Radicals’ ally in the Cabinet. The Tenure of Office Act was repealed partly in 1869 and entirely in 1887. Freedmen’s Bureau, (1865–72), during the Reconstruction period after the American Civil War, popular name for the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, established by Congress to provide practical aid to 4,000,000 newly freed African Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom. The bureau has built hospitals for, and gave direct medical  assistance to, more than 1,000,000 freedmen. More than 21,000,000 rations were distributed to impoverished Blacks as well as whites. Ku Klux Klan, either of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. One group was founded immediately after the Civil War and lasted until the 1870s. The other began in 1915 and has continued to the present. New South - is a slogan in the history of the American South first used after the American Civil War used for calling for a modernization of society and attitudes, to integrate more fully with the United States as a whole, reject the economy and traditions of the Old South, and the slavery-based plantation system of the prewar period. Sharecropping - form of tenant farming in which the landowner furnished all the capital and most other inputs and the tenants contributed their labour. Depending on the arrangement, the landowner may have provided the food, clothing, and medical expenses of the tenants and may have also supervised the work. The tenants’ payment to the owner was in the form of a share in the product, or in cash, or in a combination of both. 5. Jim Crow Laws Jim Crow law - any of the laws that enforced racial segregation in the South between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s. Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel routine performed beginning in 1828. The term came to be a derogatory epithet for African Americans and a designation for their segregated life. From the late 1870s, Southern state legislatures, no longer controlled by so- called carpetbaggers and freedmen, passed laws requiring the separation of whites from “persons of colour” in public transportation and schools. 20th century 1. Before the 20th century Railroads played a large role in the development of the United States from the Industrial Revolution in the Northeast (1820s–1850s) to the settlement of the West (1850s–1890s). 1828 was the beginning of a long construction heading westward over the obstacles of the Appalachian Mountains eastern chain.  Continuous railway building projects flourished for the next 45 years until the financial Panic of 1873, followed by a major economic depression, that bankrupted many companies and temporarily stymied and ended growth. The Last West, states admitted from 1861 to 1912: Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico The Homestead Act of 1862 - allowed anyone over 21 years of age or the head of a household to apply for free federal land with two simple stipulations: Be a citizen of the United States or legally declare their intent to become one. Did not fight against the United States or aid enemies of the United States. The Timber Culture Act of 1873 - gave homesteaders an additional 160 acres of free land if they agreed to plant trees on 40 acres of this. Trees were important as they were needed to supply wood for fuel and building material and acted as windbreaks. Nearly 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1900. During the 1870s and 1880s, most of these people were from Germany, Ireland, and England. Between the start of the California gold rush in 1849 and 1882 a relatively large group of Chinese immigrated to the United States when federal law stopped their immigration. Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese labourers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for merchants, teachers, students, travellers, and diplomats. Passage of the law was preceded by growing anti-Chinese sentiment and anti-Chinese violence, as well as various policies targeting Chinese migrants. Quota system - a system, originally determined by legislation in 1921, of limiting by nationality the number of immigrants who may enter the U.S. each year. Early labour unions. First labour unions were formed before the Civil War. Several of these craft unions joined together to form the National Labor Union in 1866. Although the organization advocated an eight‐hour workday, it did not support strikes to achieve that goal. The NLU was also concerned with social reform, including equal rights for women, establishing worker cooperatives, and temperance. The Knights of Labor, organized in 1869, is the first industrial union, open to skilled and unskilled workers, women, and African Americans. The program of the Knights of Labor was a combination of reform ideas and specific worker demands (eight‐hour workday, legislation protecting the health and safety of workers, and an end to child labour). The American Federation of Labor founded in 1886 was a federation of skilled workers in national craft unions that maintained their autonomy while working together to promote  labour legislation and support strikes. It focused exclusively on basic labour issues — the eight‐hour workday, higher wages, better working conditions, and the right of workers to organize. The Granger laws were state laws passed in the late 1860s and early 1870s regulating the fees grain elevator companies and railroads charged farmers to store and transport their crops. Granger laws were enacted in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Interstate Commerce Act - enacted in 1887, addressed the problem of railroad monopolies by setting guidelines for how the railroads could do business. William McKinley - was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party, he led a realignment that made Republicans largely dominant in the industrial states and nationwide for decades. He presided over victory in the Spanish American War of 1898; gained control of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines; restored prosperity after a deep depression; rejected the inflationary monetary policy of free silver, keeping the nation on the gold standard; and raised protective tariffs. 2. Beginnings of the 20th century Square Deal - Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program, which reflected his three major goals: conservation of natural resources, corporate law, and consumer protection. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. - the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. As president, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies. Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 - a federal statute which prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace. It outlaws any contract, conspiracy, or combination of business interests in restraint of foreign or interstate trade. The Sixteenth Amendment - The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. New Freedom - political ideology of Woodrow Wilson pledging to restore unfettered opportunity for individual action and to employ the power of government on behalf of social justice for all. Wilson succeeded during his first term in office (1913–17) in pushing through tariff reduction, banking regulations, antitrust legislation, beneficial farmer-labour enactments, and highway construction using state grants-in-aid.  Federal Reserve Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. Panic of 1907 - a financial crisis that took place in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange suddenly fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. The panic occurred during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs affecting banks and trust companies. Many state and local banks and businesses entered bankruptcy. 3. Spanish-American war The Spanish American War - fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the U.S. acquiring sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and a protectorate over of Cuba. The United States not only became a major world power, but also gained several island possessions spanning the globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism. With defeats in Cuba and the Philippines, and its fleets in both places destroyed, Spain sued for peace and negotiations were opened between the two parties. Hostilities were halted on August 12, 1898, with the signing in Washington of a Protocol of Peace between the United States and Spain. After over two months of difficult negotiations, the formal peace treaty, the Treaty of Paris, was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, and was ratified by the United States Senate on February 6, 1899. The United States gained Spain's colonies of the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico in the treaty, and Cuba became a U.S. protectorate. Having been occupied since July 17, 1898, and thus under the jurisdiction of the United States Military Government, Cuba formed its own civil government and gained independence on May 20, 1902, with the announced end of USMG jurisdiction over the island. However, the U.S. imposed various restrictions on the new government, including prohibiting alliances with other countries, and reserved the right to intervene. 4. America after the I World War Roaring Twenties - refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the United States and Europe. Jazz blossomed, the flapper redefined the modern look for American women, and Art Deco peaked.  Jazz Age - a period in the 1920s and 1930s in which jazz music and dance styles gained worldwide popularity. The Jazz Age's cultural repercussions were primarily felt in the United States, the birthplace of jazz. Originating in New Orleans as mainly sourced from the culture of African Americans. A few years after the Model T Ford automobile was introduced in 1908, the Model T truck appeared. Ford began to mass produce the farm tractor in 1917. By the 1920s, motor vehicles were popular in rural areas and were used in transportation of the products to the markets. Transportation costs were lowered and prices of agricultural products in urban areas declined as a result. It was the beginning of the end for the railroad's dominance of transportation of farm products. Charles Augustus Lindbergh - an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris, 3,600 miles (5,800 km), flying alone for 33.5 hours. Although not the first transatlantic flight, it was the longest at the time by nearly 2,000 miles (3,200 km), the first solo transatlantic flight, and set a new flight distance world record. Radio broadcasting has been used in the United States since the early 1920s to distribute news and entertainment to a national audience. In 1923, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one radio receiver, while a majority did by 1931, and 75 percent did by 1937. It was the first electronic "mass medium" technology, and its introduction, along with the subsequent development of sound films, ended the print monopoly of mass media. The Eighteenth Amendment - prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. Alphonse Gabriel Capone - was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1925 to 1931. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33. The Twenty-First Amendment - ratified on December 5, 1933. It repealed the previous Eighteenth Amendment which had established a nationwide ban on the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. Wall Street crash of 1929 - a major stock market crash in the United States which began in late October 1929 with a sharp decline in prices on the New York Stock Exchange and ended in mid-November. The crash marked the beginning of the worldwide Great Depression. October 24, 1929, known as "Black Thursday", was when a record 12.9 million shares were traded on the NYSE in a single day, and October 29, 1929, known as "Black Tuesday", when about 16.4 million shares were traded. Great Depression -  Herbert Clark Hoover - the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. He was a member of the Republican Party. His presidency was dominated by the Great Depression, and his policies and methods to combat it were seen as lackluster. Amid his unpopularity, he decisively lost reelection to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Franklin Delano Roosevelt - was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. The longest-serving U.S. president, he is the only president to have served more than two terms. His initial two terms were centered on combating the Great Depression, while his third and fourth saw him shift his focus to America's involvement in World War II. New Deal - a series of domestic programs, public work projects, and financial reforms and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1938, with the aim of addressing the Great Depression, which began in 1929. 5. II World War Joseph Stalin (the Communist party) vs Adolph Hitler (the Nazis) The Axis Powers – an alliance signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan in 1939-1940 The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - 1939; nonaggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union that was concluded only a few days before the beginning of World War II and which divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. Blitzkrieg (lightning war) – military tactic calculated to create psychological shock and resultant disorganization in enemy forces through the employment of surprise, speed, and superiority in matériel or firepower. November 1940 Roosevelt was reelected for the third time) – he sent supplies to Britain, but German U-boats attacked them; the US debated whether to join the war December 1941 – a fleet of Japanese warplanes bombed Pearl Harbor, that same day the Japanese also attacked the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong, and other points; the US Congress declared war 1944 – allied forces begun the invasion on the coast of Normandy, France April 1945 – General Eisenhower’s troops reach the Elbe River; Hitler committed suicide; May 8, 1945, the V-E Day (Victory in Europe) Harry Truman was elected in 1945 for the next President Manhattan Project – 1942-1945; government research project that produced the first atomic bombs; summer 1945 the first bomb was tested in a New Mexico desert  On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima; on August 9, 1945, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki; the Japanese surrendered 6. 1950s The Cold War - 1947-1991; a period of global geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union; it occurred through the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons; the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. The Korean War - when North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, the United States sponsored a "police action" under the auspices of the United Nations. The Korean War was difficult to fight and unpopular domestically. The war ended without victory, and negotiation was stalled The Civil Rights Movement - mass protest movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the southern United States that came to national prominence during the mid-1950s. Golden age of American Capitalism - the period from the end of World War II to the early 1970s was one of the greatest eras of economic expansion in world history. In the US, Gross Domestic Product increased vastly, and the US economy represented some 35% of the entire world industrial output. Brown v. Board of Education ruling - case in which, on May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution; the decision declared that separate educational facilities for white and African American students were inherently unequal. 7. 1960s John Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States (1961–63), who faced foreign crises in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress; he was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. The Cuban Missile Crisis - a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis lasted from 16 to 28 October 1962. Bay of Bigs Invasion - a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front, consisting of Cuban exiles who opposed Fidel  Castro's Cuban Revolution, clandestinely and directly financed by the U.S. government. The Vietnam War - after World War II ended in 1945, President Harry S. Truman declared his doctrine of "containment" of communism; the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War began in the 1950s and escalated in 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. Civil Rights Act 1964 - a landmark civil rights and labour law in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, and national origin; it prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. “I Have a Dream...” - speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., that was delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. A call for equality and freedom, it became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American history. Voting Rights Act - a landmark piece of federal legislation that prohibits racial discrimination in voting; it was signed on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections Black Power - movement that emerged in mid-1960s from the civil rights movement in the United States, reacting against its moderate, mainstream, and incremental tendencies and representing the demand for more immediate action to counter American white supremacy. Hippies - 1960s and 1970s, a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life; although the movement arose in part as opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, hippies were often not directly engaged in politics 8. 1970s New Right - coalition of American conservatives that collectively led the “Republican ascendancy” of the late 20th century; it consisted of conservative activists who voiced opposition on a variety of issues, including abortion, homosexuality, the Equal Rights Amendment, the Panama Canal Treaty, affirmative action, and most forms of taxation Equal rights amendment - a proposed amendment that would invalidate many state and federal laws that discriminate against women; its central underlying principle is that sex should not determine the legal rights of men or women. Stonewall riots - series of violent confrontations that began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, between police and gay rights activists outside the Stonewall  Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village; as the riots progressed, an international gay rights movement was born. Antiwar Movement - a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term anti-war can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts, or to anti-war books, paintings, and other works of art. Watergate Scandal - a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon; it revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign breaking into and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building, on June 17, 1972, and Nixon's later attempts to hide his administration's involvement. 9. 1980s Reagan revolution - (1) the Reagan Doctrine was a United States strategy implemented by the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in the late Cold War; the doctrine was a centerpiece of United States foreign policy; (2) Reaganomics were the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s; they focused on supply-side economics;