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A concise overview of key events and figures in american history, covering a wide range of topics from the compromise of 1850 to the watergate scandal. It offers brief descriptions of significant historical moments, individuals, and movements, serving as a valuable resource for students seeking a quick reference guide to major events and figures in american history.
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Anaconda Plan (1861) - ANS-Military strategy proposed by Union Heneral Winfield Scott in the Civil War. Plan called for a naval blockade to prevent the confederate states from exporting or importing. Before the Civil War, slavery expanded in the South rather than in the North because... - ANS-The geography of South encouraged the development of large cotton plantations. Why did South Carolina and the deep South Secede from the union? - ANS-Believed Lincoln as new president would be hostile to slavery Following the civil war, why did many southern states enact Black codes? - ANS-To restrict the rights of formerly enslaved persons. Compromise of 1850 (Omnibus Bill) - ANS-Ends the slave trade in Washington, D.C. at the compromise of the Fugitive Slave Act. Admitted California as a free state and Utah and New Mexico to decide for themselves whether to be a slave state or a free state. End of the Atlantic Slave Trade - ANS- 1808 Fred Scott Decision (1857) - ANS-Decided that Scott was not a citizen and therefore could not sue in a federal court. It also decided that having lived in a free state and territory did not entitle an enslaved person to freedom. Emancipation Proclamation (1863) - ANS-Declared all slaves in rebelling states to be free but did not affect slavery in non-rebelling Border States. The Proclamation closed the door on a possible compromise with the South and encouraged thousands of Southern slaves to flee to Union lines. Freeport Doctrine (1858) - ANS-States that a territory could determinewhtehrr to allow or not allow slavery based on popular sovereignty, where the authority of the government is based on the consent of the people. Douglas believed this was a compromise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery positions. Popular Sovereignty - ANS-A government in which the majority people rule by their own consent. Gettysburg (1863) - ANS-A battle of the American Civil War that was a major victory for the Union after Robert E. Lee's invading confederate army failed. Gettysburg Address (1863) - ANS-speech by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War at the dedication of a national cemetery on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln spoke id how humans were equal as it has been said in the Declaration of
Independence. Said the Civil War was a fight not simply for the Union but a new birth of freedom that would make everyone truly equal in a reunited nation. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) - ANS-Created Nebraska and Kansas as states & gave the people in those territories the right to chose to be either a free or slave state through popular sovereignty.; repealed Missouri Compromise; destroyed Whig party & led to emergence of Republican party. Missouri Compromise of 1820 - ANS-Maine enters as free state, Missouri as slave state, prohibited slavery in Louisiana Territory north of 36°30′ , Bleeding Kansas (1856) - ANS-A series of violent conflicts in the Kansas territory between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions over the status of slavery. Ostend Manifesto (1854) - ANS-A document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. States Rights - ANS-the rights and powers held by individual US states rather than by the federal government. Vickburg - ANS-Last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River where Grant captured after sealing off the city. Slavery - ANS-A system of enforced servitude in which some people are owned by other people. Reconstruction - ANS-the period after the Civil War in the United States when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union. territorial claims - ANS-possession or control of land, usually between a new state and the occupying power. Abolitionist Movement - ANS-The movement for the end of slavery Abolitionist - ANS-A person who wanted to end slavery Andrew Johnson - ANS-17th President of the United States, A Southerner form Tennessee, as V.P. when Lincoln was killed, he became president. He opposed radical Republicans who passed Reconstruction Acts over his veto. The first U.S. president to be impeached, he survived the Senate removal by only one vote. Jefferson Davis - ANS-President of the Confederate States of America Fredrick Douglass (1817-1895) - ANS-American abolitionist and writer, he escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer.
Lincoln's 10% Plan - ANS-states could return to the union after 10% had signed allegiance to the U.S. following the state to select a state government and write a new constitution (must include end to slavery) Johnson's Restoration Plan - ANS-Plan to require southern states to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, disqualify wealthy ex-Confederates from voting, and appoint a Unionist governor. Congressional or Radical Republican Reconstruction - ANS-process and period of Reconstruction during which the Radical Republicans in the U.S. Congress seized control of Reconstruction from Pres. Andrew Johnson and passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867-68, which sent federal troops to the South to oversee the establishment of state governments that were more democratic. Homestead Act (1862) - ANS-An act that allowed a settler to acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years, improving it, and paying a nominal fee of about $30 - instead of public land being sold primarily for revenue, it was now being given away to encourage a rapid filling of empty spaces and to provide a stimulus to the family farm, turned out to be a cruel hoax because the land was given to the settlers usually had terrible soil and the weather included no precipitation, many farms were repo'd or failed until "dry farming" took root on the plains, then wheat, then massive irrigation projects Morill Land Grant Act - ANS-Provide states 30,000 acres for each member of Congress to support state agricultural colleges. Agricultural colleges - ANS-caused west to become the breadbasket of the nation; taught animal husbandry and how to farm What was the main effect of the system of debt peonage that emerged in the south during the late 19th century? - ANS-African Americans had to work for low wages to pay off their emancipation costs. What was the Freedmen's Bureau greatest accomplishment? - ANS-Providing clothing, medical care, food, and education to ex-slaves. What was a key problem with the sharecropping system? - ANS-Landowners could lie about expenses to keep sharecroppers in debt. The Radical Republicans were angered by President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction because it required what? - ANS-Wealthy planters and confederate leaders to apply for pardons. What did the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments have in common? - ANS-They were intended to correct the injustices created by slavery.
During Reconstruction, what did groups such as the Ku Klux Klan do? - ANS-Used violence to intimidate newly freed people The most direct effect of poll taxes and literacy tests on African Americans was to - ANS-Prevent them from voting Black Codes laws were established in the South after the Civil War in an effect to - ANS-Limit the rights of newly freed slaves What were an important effect of the sharecropping system and debt peonage? - ANS- Freedmen often remained slaves of economic dependence on their former masters. 13th Amendment (1865) - ANS-abolished slavery 14th Amendment (1868) - ANS-Grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the US"; it forbids any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws." Most important law ever passed besides original Constitution and Bill of Rights. It has been the vehicle for the expansion of civil rights, women's rights, gay rights among other movements. It also allowed for the "incorporation doctrine" which means the application of the national Bill of Rights to the states. 15th Amendment (1870) - ANS-U.S. cannot prevent a person from voting because of race, color, or creed Suffrage - ANS-the right to vote Jim Crow Laws - ANS-Limited rights of blacks. Literacy tests, grandfather clauses and poll taxes limited black voting rights Black Codes - ANS-Laws denying most legal rights to newly freed slaves; passed by southern states following the Civil War The Dawes Act - ANS-An act that removed Indian land from tribal possesion, redivided it, and distributed it among individual Indian families. Designed to break tribal mentalities and promote individualism. Assimilation of Native Americans - ANS-When Native Americans were expected to take on the American culture; become "more American" Social Darwinism - ANS-The belief that only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle. Nativist - ANS-a person who favors those born in his country and is opposed to immigrants
Selective Service Act - ANS-act passed by Congress in 1917 authorizing a draft of men for military service Red Scare - ANS-A period of general fear of communists Sacco and Vanzetti - ANS-Italian radicals who became symbols of the Red Scare of the 1920s; arrested (1920), tried and executed (1927) for a robbery/murder, they were believed by many to have been innocent but convicted because of their immigrant status and radical political beliefs. Scopes Trial (1925) - ANS-Tennessee legal case involving the teaching of evolution in public schools. Scopes, a biology teacher, was tried for teaching Darwinism in public school. Clarence Darrow was one of Scopes' attorneys, while William Jennings Bryan, a leading Christian fundamentalist, aided the state prosecutor. Darrow put Bryan on the stand and sharply questioned Bryan on the latter's literal interpretation as appropriate for science class. Bryan was humiliated and died a few days after the trial. Scopes was convicted. Harlem Renaissance - ANS-A period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished Great Depression - ANS-A time of utter economic disaster; started in the United States in 1929. New Deal - ANS-A series of reforms enacted by the Franklin Roosevelt administration between 1933 and 1942 with the goal of ending the Great Depression. Social Security Act (1935) - ANS-guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health Isolationism - ANS-A national policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs Lend-Lease Act (1941) - ANS-The program under which the US supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, France and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material between 1941 and 1945. Pearl Harbor (1941) - ANS-Military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan bringing the United States into WW II Hiroshima and Nagasaki - ANS-Two Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs to end World War II. Final Solution to the Jewish Question - ANS-A Nazi code phrase referring to their systematic plan to murder every Jewish man, woman, and child in Europe.
Nuremberg trials (1945-1946) - ANS-Nazi leaders put on trial for Holocaust and "crimes against humanity". Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. Warsaw Pact (1955) - ANS-An alliance between Russia and Eastern communist countries against Western capitalist countries United Nations (UN) - ANS-an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security Marshall Plan (1947) - ANS-A plan for aiding the European nations in economic recovery after World War II, proposed by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall in 1947 and implemented in 1948 under the Economic Cooperation Administration. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - ANS-military alliance formed to counter Soviet expansion Truman Doctrine (1947) - ANS-stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to resist communism and prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. Early example of application of "containment" doctrine - that the US would take action to stop spread of communism. Some see this as beginning of Cold War. Senator Joseph McCarthy - ANS-1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have list of communists in American government, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential; "McCarthyism" was the fearful accusation of any dissenters of being communists McCarthyism - ANS-The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee. Brown v. Board of Education - ANS-court found that segregation was a violation of the Equal Protection clause "separate but equal" has no place sit-ins, boycotts, and freedom riders - ANS-bringing the fight for civil rights to the national stage. Its use of nonviolence inspired the Freedom Riders and others to take up the cause of integration in the South, furthering the cause of equal rights in the United States. What did the Sit-ins accomplish? - ANS-The sit-in movement produced a new sense of pride and power for African Americans. By rising up on their own and achieving substantial success protesting against segregation in the society in which they lived, Blacks realized that they could change their communities with local coordinated action.
Medicaid - ANS-Federal program that provides medical benefits for low-income persons. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) - ANS-an authorization by Congress empowering President Johnson "to take all necessary measures" to protect U.S. forces in Vietnam; it was issued following reported attacks on U.S. destroyers off the Vietnam coast. Congress later regretted this action as the Vietnam War escalated, and questions emerged about the legitimacy of the attacks. Tet Offensive (1968) - ANS-A massive, coordinated Communist assault against more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. Credibility Gap - ANS-a term that came into wide use with journalism, political and public discourse in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, it was most frequently used to describe public skepticism about the Lyndon B. Johnson administration's statements and policies on the Vietnam War. Vietnamization - ANS-President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces Kent State Massacre (1970) - ANS-four college students killed during protests on university campus by the national guard Hippies - ANS-Believed in anti-materalism, free use of drugs, they had a casual attitude toward sex and anti-conformity, (1960s) practiced free love and took drugs, flocked to San Francisco- low rent/interracial, they lived in communal "crash pads", smoked marijuana and took LSD, sexual revolution, new counter culture, Protestors who influenced US involvement in Vietnam Generation Gap - ANS-a cultural separation between parents and their children Black Panther Party - ANS-A group formed in 1966, inspired by the idea of Black Power, that provided aid to black neighborhoods; often thought of as radical or violent. Caesar Chavez - ANS-Mexican-American farm worker who organized a union for California's Spanish-speaking farm workers UFW (United Farm Workers) - ANS-labor union of farm workers that used nonviolent tactics, including a workers' strike and a consumer boycott of table grapes Clean Air Act (CAA) - ANS-the federal law that provides the government with authority to address interstate air pollution Clean Water Act (CWA) - ANS-Regulates and enforces all discharge into water sources and wetland destruction/construction.
Silent Spring (1962) - ANS-Book written by Rachel Carson, a Marine biologist who warned of the misuse of pesticides and their negative affects on the environment. The book is credited with starting the modern environmental movement. Watergate Scandal - ANS-a political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice during Nixon's presidency Camp David Accords (1978) - ANS-Peace treaty between Egypt and Israel; hosted by US President Jimmy Carter; caused Egypt to be expelled from the Arab league; created a power vacuum that Saddam hoped to fill; first treaty of its kind between Israel and an Arabian state OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) - ANS-An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the production and sale of petroleum. petroleum - ANS-Another name for oil Trickle Down Economics - ANS-Hoover's strategy battling the Great Depression in which the money is given to the big corporations and eventually they will pay their workers more, and then the workers will spend their money and save the economy. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) - ANS-An agreement for free trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico 9/11 Terrorist Attacks - ANS-four airplanes were highjacked: three hit their targets, the fourth plane's passengers rushed the cockpit and forced the plane to crash into the ground. Osama bin Laden was identified as the person responsible for the terrorist attack. Al Qaeda - ANS-a radical Islamic group organized by Osama bin Laden in the 1990s to engage in terrorist activities. Osama Bin Laden - ANS-(1957-) Founder of al Qaeda, the terrorist network responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001, and other attacks. Saddam Hussein - ANS-President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. Waged war on Iran in 1980 - 1988. In 1990 he ordered an invasion of Kuwait but was defeated by United States and its allies in the Gulf War (1991). Defeated by US led invasion in 2003. WMD (weapons of mass destruction) - ANS-nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons intended to kill or harm on a large scale Affordable Care Act (ACA) - ANS-A federal law passed in 2010, which prohibits insurers from denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions, sets minimum
Old Immigrants - ANS-immigrants who had come to the US before the 1880s from Britain, Germany, Ireland, and Scandenavia, or Northern Europe New Immigrants - ANS-immigrants who had come to the US after the 1880s from southern and eastern europe Immigration Act of 1924 - ANS-Also known as the Johnson-Reed Act. Federal law limiting the number of immigrants that could be admitted from any country to 2% of the amount of people from that country who were already living in the U.S. as of the census of 1890. American Federation of Labor (AFL) - ANS-a national organization of labor unions founded in 1886 by Samuel Gompers Socialist Party - ANS-People who support community ownership of property and the sharing of all profits Labor Laws - ANS-Laws which regulated how workers could be paid and treated Knights of Labor (1869) - ANS-Nationwide labor union that was open to all workers. The union reached its peak in 1886 before beginning a decline in membership. Labor unions - ANS-organizations formed by workers to strive for better wages and working conditions Government regulation - ANS-the act of controlling business behavior through a set of rules or laws Haymarket Riot (1886) - ANS-Violent uprising in Haymarket Square, Chicago, where police clashed with labor demonstrators in the aftermath of a bombing. Homestead Strike (1892) - ANS-It was one of the most violent strikes in U.S. history. It was against the Homestead Steel Works, which was part of the Carnegie Steel Company, in Pennsylvania in retaliation against wage cuts. The riot was ultimately put down by Pinkerton Police and the state militia, and the violence further damaged the image of unions. Pullman Strike (1894) - ANS-A staged walkout strike by railroad workers upset by drastic wage cuts. The strike was led by socialist Eugene Debs but not supported by the American Federation of Labor. Eventually President Grover Cleveland intervened because it was interfering with mail delivery and federal troops forced an end to the strike. The strike highlighted both divisions within labor and the government's continuing willingness to use armed force to combat work stoppages.
Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) - ANS-First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust- busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1894) - ANS-Act that was a compromise between the western silver agitators and the eastern protectionists. The Westerners agreed to support a higher tariff and the protectionists, this bill. It ordered the Treasury to buy 4. million ounces of silver monthly. Capitalism - ANS-an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. Socialism - ANS-a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. Communism - ANS-a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. Anarchy - ANS-a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority. Political Machines - ANS-Corrupt organized groups that controlled political parties in the cities. A boss leads the machine and attempts to grab more votes for his party. Progressivism (1900-1920) - ANS-Government became more responsible to the people. Several amendments were passed during this time to show more support for Americans. YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) - ANS-Provided temporary residences mainly to native-born, white, self-supporting men and women; established in the 1850s Women's Christian Temperance Union - ANS-The Woman's Christian Temperance Union is an active international temperance organization that was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." National Women's Suffrage Association - ANS-worked for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. National Women's Party - ANS-American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. Robert La Follette - ANS-Progressive Wisconsin governor who attacked machine politics and pressured the state legislature to require each party to hold a direct primary
Armistace - ANS-A temporary peace agreement to end fighting. Big Four (Paris Peace Conference) - ANS-British Prime Minister, US President Woodrow Wilson, French Premier, and Italy Premier Entangling Alliances - ANS-1 of the 7 causes of WWI, Bismark formed alliances: Triple Alliance-Germany, Austria, Italy; Triple Entante: France, England, Russia Fourteen Points (1918) - ANS-A statement given on January 8, 1918 by Wilson declaring that WW I was being fought for a moral cause and calling for postwar peace in Europe. The speech laid out a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. Point 14 advocated for the League of Nations to be established that would keep world peace. Most of these points would not be realized, and the US would fail to join the League of Nations. However, it served as a model for the more successful Atlantic Charter after WWII Lusitania (1915) - ANS-was a British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U- Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The unrestricted submarine warfare caused the U.S. to enter World War I against the Germans. Propaganda - ANS-Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause. Sussex Pledge (1916) - ANS-Wilson demanded that the US would break diplomatic relations if the Germans didn't stop sinking merchant ships without warning. In return, the US had to persuade the Allies to modify the blockade on Germany. War Bonds - ANS-Short-term loans that individual citizens made to the government that financed two-thirds of the war's cost. War Industries Board (WIB) - ANS-created by Wilson to oversee the production and distribution of goods made by the country's war industries