AHSGE study prep for History portion
Columbus discovery
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Spanish began sending conquistadors to conquer and claim
the land
 To take gold and silver from the natives
 Spanish then forced the natives to work as slaves on large
farms called plantations.
 Disease killed millions of Indians (small pox)
 This caused the Spanish to turn to enslaving Africans in
the late 1600’s
 Most of the slaves came from West Africa
 Approximately 20% died on the voyage to America
 Sugar was a major crop grown in Latin America because
of its value in Europe.
British Defeat Spanish Armada
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1607- Britain set up its first colony at Jamestown.
Colony suffered horribly until a crop was found that
could be sold for a profit. Tobacco (“brown gold”)
The demand for tobacco created a need for more
workers in the colony. (Headright system and
indentured servants)
Triangular trade developed between the
Americas, Europe, and Africa.
This exchange of goods was called the Columbian
Exchange- triangular trade was a huge part of this.
The Columbian Exchange caused new goods to
be introduced to this continent.
Puritans set up Plymouth
The Puritans were very intolerant
 Another group of Puritans arrived ten
years later-Massachustts Bay Colony (
John Winthrop)
 Winthrop envisioned a “city on a hill”
 The Massachusetts Colony never
suffered like Jamestown because they
were hard workers.
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The Protestant Reformation
Began when Martin Luther wrote his 95
Thesis. He criticized such things as
selling of indulgences.
 Those who followed Luther were called
Protestants.
 Also affected the American colonies
because many Protestants fled Europe
to America.
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Additional Colonies
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William Penn set up Pennsylvania.
Roger Williams set up Rhode Island
Duke of York created New York and New Jersey
Northern and Southern colonies developed very
differently
South had a warm climate and good soil- ideal for
farming.
North- colder; developed some farming but also
early industries
Colonies were growing
Mid 1700s- French and Indian
war
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Britain won and got all French Land west to the
Miss. River.
Britain expected the colonies to repay this debt
through higher taxes.
Colonists hated these taxes because they had no
representation in the British government.
Britain passed laws to control trade in the colonies
and raise their taxes.
This would lead directly to the American
Revolution.
American Revolution
Boston Tea Party- Protest against Britain’s
control over the tea trade.
 Boston Massacre- the incident was used
by colonial leaders to try and get people
mad enough to fight Britain.
 Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense- the
purpose of the pamphlet was to argue the
reasons why the colonists would be better
off independent.
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Separate from Britain
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1775- First shots were fired at Lexington and Concord
Largest battle was Bunker Hill
First Continental Congress met and named George
Washington as the head of the Continental Army.
July 4, 1776- Continental Congress signed the
Declaration of Independence- written mostly by
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson used many of the ideas of John Lockenatural rights
French finally agreed to aid the colonies after the
colonial victory at Saratoga.
Won a huge victory at Yorktown.
Treaty of Paris was signed ending the war.
Permanent Government
1st constitution was called the Articles of
Confederation, and it had many
problems.
 By 1787 the 13 states were acting like
13 nations.
 Meeting was held in Philadelphia that
became known as the Constitutional
Convention.
 The U.S. Constitution came out of this
meeting.
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U.S. Constitution
Three branches of government- legislative
(congress), executive (president), judicial
(federal courts)
 Anti-Federalists- feared that the rights of people
would suffer.
 To win support for ratification (approval) of the
Constitution the Federalists who supported this
new constitution promised a Bill of Rights.
 There are now a total of 27 amendments.
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U.S. Constitution (cont.)
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Contains a provision for separation of powers
As well as checks and balances.
Gave the federal government more power, but also preserved
the rights of the people.
George Washington 1st president
First political powers formed over the ratification of the
Constitution- Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
Constitution creates a federal system shares power with the
states.
The Constitution contains an elastic-clause that allows
government to “stretch” its powers in order to keep up with
the times.
The Constitution contains a supremacy clause that states
that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Westward Expansion
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1804- President Thomas Jefferson purchased
Louisiana from France. It doubled the size of the
U.S.
Lewis and Clark expedition was organized to
explore this new land (Sacajawea served as a guide
and interpreter for this expedition.
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2nd war fought with Britain- War of 1812
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U.S. angry over the British policy of impressment
(American sailors were basically being kidnapped
and forced to serve in the British navy.
Jacksonian Democracy
Jackson is responsible for the forced
Indian removal from the South- The Trail
of Tears.
 Jackson is also responsible for the
spoils system where he awarded his
political supports jobs in the
government.
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Major Amendments Relating to Freedom
 13th Amendment-
abolished
slavery
 14th- made slaves citizens
 15th- gave African American
males the right to vote
 19th-gave women the right to vote
Oppose Slavery
Harriet Tubman helped form the
underground railroad to help slaves
escape the South.
 William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick
Douglas formed newspapers that spoke
against slavery.
 Sojourner Truth- an African American
woman spoke out for rights for blacks
and women.
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Manifest Destiny
Attempts were made such as the
Missouri Compromise and the
Compromise of 1850 to prevent war.
 Lewis and Clark explored the west.
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Civil War
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By the 1850s the North and South had grown apart due to the issues of
slavery and states’ rights.
Dred Scott decision (Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property and
that being in a free territory did not make a slave free)
John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry (pushed the nation closer to war)
1861- war broke out when Southern troops fired on Fort Sumter.
Bloodiest war in American history- approximately 600,000 killed
Major battles- Gettysburg, Bull Run, Antietam, Shiloh, Chancellorsville
President Lincoln led the nation through this period.
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which changed the focus of
the war to freeing the slaves.
Jefferson Davis served as President of the Confederate States of America.
South’s major generals- Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson
North’s major generals- George McClellan, Ulysses S. Grant, William
Tecumseh Sherman
Reconstruction
Republicans in the North’s government
used Reconstruction to punish the South
for the war and Lincoln’s assassination
 Reconstruction was intended to be a way
to help give African Americans more rights
in the South.
 Republicans in the South fit into 3
categories- “carpetbaggers” (Northerners
who came to the South after the war;
“scalawags”(Southerners who joined the
Republican Party; and Africans who joined
the Republican Party)
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Reconstruction ended
1877- Southern Democrats regained
control over their government.
 Late 1800s- Plessy vs. FergusonSupreme Court case that legalized
segregation.
 Later in the 1950s- Brown vs. Board of
Education- Supreme Court said that
facilities were not equal and that
America had to integrate
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Indian Wars fought after the Civil
War
Major battle was Little Bighorn where
General George Custer and all his men
were killed.
 Transcontinental Railroad was built
 1848- The U.S. fought a war with Mexico
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U.S. Begin to Industrialize
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Wealthy men called “robber barrens”
Social Darwinism- “survival of the fittest”
Many of these people created monopolies that controlled
entire industries
Examples: Andrew Carnegie (U.S. Steel), John D.
Rockefeller (Standard Oil Company)
Many people flocked to the cities to try and find jobs in
factories
1870-1920- 20 million immigrants came to the U.S.
Many discriminated against immigrants by arguing that
the immigrants were taking their jobs.
Many children were working in factories.
Cities became overcrowded- sanitation was horrible,
diseases spread, little police and fire protection
American Imperialism
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Teddy Roosevelt led the Rough Riders in this war
and became a war hero
U.S, gained Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines
as colonies
Progressives fought child labor and alcohol
(Prohibition), also to improve living conditions.
Journalists who wrote about corruption in society
were called “muckrackers” ex. Upton Sinclair
described condition of the meat packing companies.
Horace Mann fought for public education for children.
Progressives got the 17th amendment passed that
allowed U.S. senators to be elected directly by the
voters in each state.
World War I
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1914- World War I broke out
U.S. stayed out of the war until 1917 when German
subs would help bring us into the war (sinking the
Lusitania)
Russians pulled out of the war in 1917 when the
Russian Revolution broke out
War ended in 1918
After WWI we isolated ourselves to avoid war
Isolationism caused the U.S. not to ratify the Treaty
of Versailles that ended WWI
The Treaty of Versailles would help cause WWII
because of the way it treated Germany (Hitler would
use the treaty to help him come to power)
Roaring Twenties
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People bought cars, loved sports, alcohol was
banned, women were called flappers
Jazz age authors- Ernest Hemingway and F.
Scott Fitzgerald
Came to an end on Oct. 29, 1929 when the
stock market crashed- official beginning of the
Great Depression
25% unemployed at one point
President Hoover received much of the blame
because he refused to get the government
directly involved in helping people
Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR created a huge program to try and
pull us out of the Depression- New Deal
 New Deal tried to put people to work
(WPA,CCC, TVA, etc)
 Ultimately, World War II brought about
an end to the depression
 Factories ran wide open during the wargave people jobs
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World War II
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Sept. 1,1939- WWII began with Hitler’s
invasion of Poland- he quickly took much of
Europe.
We did not become involved until we were
attacked by Japanese at Pearl Harbor (Dec.7,
1941)
Major battle- June 6, 1944- invasion of
Northern France at Germany (D-Day)
After Germany’s defeat the Japanese still
would not surrender
U.S. decided to drop atomic bombs in Japan
to force them to surrender (President Truman)
Alabama Facts
Alabama’s current constitution was written
in 1901- very discriminatory against African
Americans when written
 Booker T. Washington established
Tuskegee Institute as a school for blacks
 George Washington Carver was
Tuskegee’s most famous scientistexperimented with peanuts and sweet
potatoes
 Dr. William Gorgas helped build the
Panama Canal by killing mosquitoes in the
canal zone that was killing workers
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