U.S. History – Exit Level Study Guide
11th Grade
Edited by Hans G. Friedel
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Important Themes in American History
American Diversity | The diversity of the American people and the relationships among
different groups. The roles of race, class, ethnicity, and gender in the history of the United
States.
American Identity | Views of the American national character and ideas about American
exceptionalism. Recognizing regional differences within the context of what it means to be an
American.
Culture | Diverse individual and collective expressions through literature, art, philosophy,
music, theater, and film throughout U.S. history. Popular culture and the dimensions of cultural
conflict within American society.
Demographic Changes | Changes in birth, marriage, and death rates; life expectancy and
family patterns; population size and density. The economic, social, and political effects of
immigration, internal migration, and migration networks.
Economic Transformations | Changes in trade, commerce, and technology across time. The
effects of capitalist development, labor and unions, and consumerism.
Environment | Ideas about the consumption and conservation of natural resources. The
impact of population growth, industrialization, pollution, and urban and suburban expansion.
Globalization | Engagement with the rest of the world from the fifteenth century to the
present: colonialism, mercantilism, global hegemony, development of markets, imperialism,
cultural exchange.
Politics and Citizenship | Colonial and revolutionary legacies, American political traditions,
growth of democracy, and the development of the modern state. Defining citizenship; struggles
for civil rights.
Reform | Diverse movements focusing on a broad range of issues, including antislavery,
education, labor, temperance, women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, war, public health, and
government.
Religion | The variety of religious beliefs and practices in America from prehistory to the
twenty-first century; influence of religion on politics, economics, and society.
Slavery and Its Legacies in North America | Systems of slave labor and other forms of
unfree labor (e.g., indentured servitude, contract labor) in Native American societies, the
Atlantic World, and the American South and West. The economics of slavery and its racial
dimensions. Patterns of resistance and the long-term economic, political, and social effects of
slavery.
War and Diplomacy | Armed conflict from the precolonial period to the twenty-first century;
impact of war on American foreign policy and on politics, economy, and society.
(Source: Lincoln Nebraska Public Schools, 2012)
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How Historians Study the Past
What Historians Do | History is more than just studying what happened in the past. When
you study a historical event, you also study a society’s culture, religion, politics, and economics.
Historians look for causes and effects that help to explain how and why events happened. They
try to see the past through the eyes of the people who lived it. When they study the past,
historians ask themselves questions. The answers to the questions help historians draw
conclusions about the past. For example, historians ask questions such as how societies are
similar and different. They also ask how leaders governed societies.
HISTORICAL THEMES AND BIG IDEAS
(Ask yourself the following)
Geography | Is your town or city near a lake, an ocean, or mountains? What is the weather
like? How do the landscape and the weather affect the way you live?
Culture | Have you ever met someone from another place—another country, another state, or
another city? In what ways did that person act differently from you? In what ways did he or she
act like you?
Economics | Are you always able to buy all the things you want? How do you decide what to
buy when you don’t have enough money for everything?
Government | In your school, what would happen if every student could come to class at
whatever time he or she wanted? Leave class whenever he or she wanted? Talk out loud
anytime, even during tests?
Belief Systems | When you were growing up, how did you learn what were the right and
wrong ways of behaving? What people or groups taught you those things?
Science & Technology | Think about a time when you wanted to share important news with a
friend or relative who lived in another city or state. How did you share your news with them?
HISTORIAN’S TOOLS
Primary Source | Something written or created by a person who witnessed a historical event
Secondary Source | Something written after a historical event by a person who did not
witness the event
Oral History | All the unwritten verbal accounts of events
Historians use evidence from primary, secondary, and oral sources to answer their questions.
They have to choose what information is most important and trustworthy as evidence. Historical
evidence is not always simple. Sometimes what historians thought to be true turns out to be
false. Sometimes historians come to different conclusions using the same evidence.
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HOW TO RECOGNIZE BIAS
Bias | Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another,
usually in a way considered to be unfair.
Signs of Bias | Bias has tell-tale signs. Several of the common forms of bias include:
A strong point of view that may or may not include criticism of other perspectives.
Information can be easily distorted or made to show only one perspective. For example,
this blog from a 2007 incident at a wedding in Gaza:

"Hamas kills innocent Palestinians because they were singing."

This is a strong point of view about strong content: murder. Other perspectives are
missing, including ones based on reports that, while Hamas apparently broke up a
wedding party because several Fatah leaders were in attendance. No one was killed.
(Reuters, Jerusalem Post)
Strong, even unnecessary, language and use of words. Information that includes strong
sentiments often makes use of strong language or words chosen for a specific impact.
For example:

"A woman named Doris stood to ask the president [Obama] whether it was a "wise
decision to add more taxes to us with the health care" package. "We are over-taxed
as it is," Doris said bluntly. The response she got was simply silly, confusing liberal
clap-trap. " Source: http://www.conservapedia.com/ 9 April 2010.

The language here is likely to have different effects depending on an individual's
personal bias. If you have a liberal bias, this account reads like an attack on Obama.
If you have a conservative bias, this account may sound pretty reasonable. If you
are neither liberal nor conservative, the snippet may come across as an argument
intended to provoke a response. "Simply silly" and "liberal clap-trap" are emotionladen words chosen on purpose.
A specific or unique sense of style, presentation or content. Information with a unique
perspective or slant is moderately biased. It doesn't go so far as to be prejudicial or to
become propaganda, but the author's point of view is neither balanced nor objective.
For example, this passage from Save the Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus:

"How You Can Help: Participate in tree octopus awareness marches. You can
demonstrate their plight during the march by having your friends dress up as tree
octopuses while you attack them in a lumber jack costume."

The idea of parading around in costumes to depict the plight of the Tree Octopus
seems more light-hearted than serious. Here the content is surprising. It just could
be a joke.
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Detecting Bias | As you read, pay attention to words, pictures and emotions, but don't lose
sight of the big picture.
Speak the words outloud. Who do you imagine would be comfortable saying these words?
Someone speaking fairly? Someone with a cause to promote? If the words or reasoning sounds
odd or feels uncomfortable coming from your mouth, they could be biased.
Watch for words like always, never, obviously and words that 'jump out at you.' A balanced
point of view gives readers options. Biased points of view tend to have only one option: the one
being presented. Biased points of view may include words that seem out of place.
Pay attention to images. Biased arguments are often accompanied by pictures, charts, tables,
etc. that support only one conclusion. Remember, a picture may be worth a thousand words. Is
the picture real? Is it taken out of context? Is the information in the chart accurate?
Be on the outlook for the author's purpose. Ask: why did the author write this? What point does
the author want to make? Is the author trying to persuade readers to agree with a specific
point of view?
Three things you can do if you suspect bias
See who agrees or disagrees with the author.
 Use the link: command to get a list of pages that link to the author's page
 If it's a blog, check out other readers' comments
Use fact-checking to see if the information is accurate, exists elsewhere on the
Internet and who else uses it.
Don't believe everything you see or read. If the information seems biased or
surprising, be skeptical.
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1.
The Revolutionary Era
Benjamin Franklin | Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 - April 17, 1790)
was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading
author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician,
inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he
was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics
for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He invented the
lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, and a carriage odometer. He
facilitated many civic organizations, including a fire department and a university. As a writer, he
is known for Poor Richard's Almanac and his autobiography. He was the oldest figure of the
American Revolution. Franklin also was the only person to sign the three documents that
established the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the peace treaty with Britain
that ended the Revolutionary War, and the Constitution. He convinced France to help the
colonists during the American Revolution. He was also a member of the 2nd Continental
Congress.
Thomas Paine | Thomas Paine (January 29, 1737 – June 8, 1809) was an
English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary.
As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American
Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from
Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment era rhetoric of transnational human
rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession,
and a propagandist by inclination. He wrote the Pamphlet “Common Sense”
and argued that the colonists should separate from England.
George Washington | George Washing (February 22, 1732 – December
14, 1799) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States,
commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American
Revolutionary War, and the first President of the United States. He also
presided over the convention that drafted the Constitution, which replaced
the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution established the position of
President of the United States, which Washington was the first to hold.
Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826)
was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United
States (1801–1809). At the beginning of the American Revolution, he
served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia and then served
as a wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781). Just after the war ended,
from mid-1784 Jefferson served as a diplomat, stationed in Paris. In May
1785, he became the United States Minister to France.
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Causes of the American Revolution
The British taxed the colonies for revenue to pay for the French and Indian War
“No taxation without Representation!” – Colonists resented being taxed without
having a voice in British Parliament
Tax acts passed by the British included the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and Tea Act
The Boston Massacre
The Intolerable Acts
Declaration of Independence (1776) | It listed grievances against King George III and
justified the American colonies breaking away from England. It was adopted by the Continental
Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war
with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the
British Empire. Instead they now formed a new nation - the United States of America.
Unalienable Rights | Rights that cannot be taken away: life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
Loyalists | Americans who supported Great Britain during the revolution
Patriots | Americans who favored independence from Great Britain during the revolution
Boston Tea Party (1773) | The Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, took place when a
group of Massachusetts Patriots known as the Sons of Liberty, protesting the monopoly on
American tea importation recently granted by the British Parliament to the East India Company,
seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into Boston,
Massachusetts harbor.
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2.
The Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
The Battle of Saratoga (1777) | The turning point in the American revolution. The French
entered the war as allies to the colonists. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the
same ground, 9 miles (14 km) south of Saratoga, New York (September 19 and October 7,
1777). The battles conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the
American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war.
The Battle of Yorktown (1781) | Major British defeat that effectively ended the war.
General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops,
began a siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis
and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia. It was the most important battle
of the Revolutionary War. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, it proved to be the last
major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender by
Cornwallis of his army prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Treat of Paris (1783) | The British formally recognize American independence.
3.
The War of 1812
War of 1812 | In the War of 1812, the United States took on the greatest naval power in the
world, Great Britain, in a conflict that would have an
immense impact on the young country's future.
Causes of the war included British attempts to
restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy's impressment of
American seamen and America's desire to expand its
territory. The United States suffered many costly
defeats at the hands of British, Canadian and Native
American troops over the course of the War of 1812,
including the capture and burning of the nation's
capital, Washington, D.C., in August 1814.
Nonetheless, American troops were able to repulse
British invasions in New York, Baltimore and New
Orleans, boosting national confidence and fostering
a new spirit of patriotism. The ratification of the
Treaty of Ghent on February 17, 1815, ended the
war but left many of the most contentious questions
unresolved. Nonetheless, many in the United States
celebrated the War of 1812 as a "second war of
independence," beginning an era of partisan
agreement and national pride. It was during this
conflict that Francis Scott Key, while trapped aboard a British ship, penned the lyrics to our
national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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4.
The United States Constitution
INFLUENCES
Magna Carta (1215) | Limited the King of England’s powers; provided for a trial by jury.
English Bill of Rights (1687) | Influenced the Constitution by laying down limits on the
powers of the crown and sets out the rights of Parliament and rules for freedom of speech in
Parliament, the requirement to regular elections to Parliament and the right to petition the
monarch without fear of retribution. It also outlawed cruel and unusual punishment. It
reestablished the liberty of people to bear arms for their defense within the rule of law. These
ideas about rights reflected those of the political thinker John Locke.
Virginia House of Burgesses | The first form of representative government in the colonies.
Thomas Jefferson was a member.
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
Declaration of Independence (1776) | The Bill of rights and the Constitution addressed
grievances from the Declaration of independence. It also listed the unalienable rights: life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Articles of Confederation (1781) | First form of government established bythe 13
states. The United States Constitution replaced it because it was a weak form of central
government. Specific weaknesses included:
No executive branch to enforce laws
Congress could not collect taxes
No national court system
Each state only one vote in Congress, regardless of population
Federalist papers (1787 – 1788) | Were a series of essays written to encourage ratification
of the constitution. The authors included Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.
IMPORTANT FACTS
1781 | Delegates from the 13 states drafted the United States Constitution.
Ratification | Means to formally approve something. Before it could go into effect, the votes of
9 out of 13 states were needed to ratify the Constitution.
Preamble to the Constitution (Introduction that states its purpose) | “We the people
of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for
the United States of America.”
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IMPORTANT IDEAS IN THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
Separation of Powers | Divides the powers of government into three branches
1. Legislative Branch – Makes the laws
2. Executive Branch – Executes the laws
3. Judicial Branch – Interprets the laws
Checks and Balances | Make sure no branch of the government becomes too powerful. For
example, the President can veto a bill, Congress can impeach a president, and the Supreme
Court can rule a law unconstitutional.
Federalism | Power is shared between the state and national government
Limited Government | Power of the government is restricted by the U.S. Constitution.
“No one is above the law.”
Republicanism | A system where people vote for elected representatives to run the
government.
Popular Sovereignty | The people hold the ultimate power and are the source of the
government’s legitimacy, power, and authority. “We the people”.
Constitutional Republic | A republic form of government where powers are limited by law or
a formal constitution, and chosen by a vote amongst at least some sections of the populace.
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THE BILL OF RIGHTS
First 10 amendments to the Constitution
Protect individual rights and liberties
The Bill of Rights was necessary in order for some states to ratify the
Constitution
1st Amendment
| Freedom of speech, religion and press; right to assemble; right to petition
2nd Amendment
| Right to bear arms
3rd Amendment
| No quartering of troops during peace time
4th Amendment
| No unlawful search and seizure
5th Amendment
| No double jeopardy, do not have to testify against yourself
6th Amendment
| The right to a fast and public trial
7th Amendment
| Trial by jury
8th Amendment
| No cruel or unusual punishment
9th Amendment
| Rights reserved to the people
10th Amendment | Powers reserved to the states
Full text of the Bill of Rights
Full text of the United States Constitution
The Founding Fathers
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5.
The Civil War & Reconstruction (1861-1877)
Nullification Crisis | Argument between South Carolina and the federal government over the
role of the national government:
South Carolina opposed a high tariff (tax on imports) implemented by the
national government to promote American manufacturing over European
manufacturing
The tariff benefitted the industrial north while adversely affecting the Southern
states who depended on cheap imports that they themselves could not produce
South Carolina claimed that states had the right to reject (or nullify) any national
law that was to its disadvantage
The federal government disagreed and threatened military action
A compromise was reached through Kentucky Senator Henry Clay
Causes of the Civil War
Differences between the North and South over slavery, taxation, and states’
rights, particularly the right to own slaves in the South
Increased anti-slavery sentiment in the North and activities of abolitionists (those
who proposed ending slavery)
Abraham Lincoln was elected president
THE EVENTS THAT CAUSED THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
(http://www.historynet.com/causes-of-the-civil-war, 2013)
Introduction | The Northern and Southern sections of the United States developed along
different lines. The South remained a predominantly agrarian economy while the North became
more and more industrialized. Different social cultures and political beliefs developed. All of this
led to disagreements on issues such as taxes, tariffs and internal improvements as well as
states rights versus federal rights.
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Slavery | The burning issue that led to the disruption of the union, however, was the debate
over the future of slavery. That dispute led to secession, and secession brought about a war in
which the Northern and Western states and territories fought to preserve the Union, and the
South fought to establish Southern independence as a new confederation of states under its
own constitution.
The agrarian South utilized slaves to tend its large plantations and perform other duties. On the
eve of the Civil War, some 4 million Africans and their descendants toiled as slave laborers in
the South. Slavery was interwoven into the Southern economy even though only a relatively
small portion of the population actually owned slaves. Slaves could be rented or traded or sold
to pay debts. Ownership of more than a handful of slaves bestowed respect and contributed to
social position, and slaves, as the property of individuals and businesses, represented the
largest portion of the region’s personal and corporate wealth, as cotton and land prices declined
and the price of slaves soared.
The Dred Scott Decision | Dred Scott was a slave who sought citinzenship through the
American legal system, and whose case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court. The famous
Dred Scott Decision in 1857 denied his request stating that no person with African blood could
become a U.S. citizen. Besides denying citizenship for African-Americans, it also overturned the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, which had restricted slavery in certain U.S. territories. Learn
more about Dred Scott
States’ Rights | States’ Rights refers to the struggle between the federal government and
individual states over political power. In the Civil War era, this struggle focused heavily on the
institution of slavery and whether the federal government had the right to regulate or even
abolish slavery within an individual state. The sides of this debate were largely drawn between
northern and southern states, thus widened the growing divide within the nation. Learn more
about States’ Rights.
Abolitionist Movement | By the early 1830s, those who wished to see that institution
abolished within the United States were becoming more strident and influential. They claimed
obedience to "higher law" over obedience to the Constitution’s guarantee that a fugitive from
one state would be considered a fugitive in all states. The fugitive slave act along with the
publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped expand the support for
abolishing slavery nationwide. Learn more about the Abolitionist Movement.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin | Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel
Uncle Tom’s Cabins was published in serial form in an antislavery newspaper in 1851. Within
two years it was a nationwide and worldwide bestseller. Depicting the evils of slavery, it offered
a vision of slavery that few in the nation had seen before. The book succeeded at its goal,
which was to start a wave of anti-slavery sentiment across the nation. Upon meeting Stowe,
President Lincoln remarked, "So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this
great war." Learn more about Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Toms Cabin
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The Underground Railroad | Some abolitionists actively helped runaway slaves to escape via
"the Underground Railroad," and there were instances in which men, even lawmen, sent to
retrieve runaways were attacked and beaten by abolitionist mobs. To the slave holding states,
this meant Northerners wanted to choose which parts of the Constitution they would enforce,
while expecting the South to honor the entire document. The most famous activist of the
underground railroad was Harriet Tubman, a nurse and spy in the Civil War and known as the
Moses of her people.
The Missouri Compromise | Additional territories gained from the U.S.–Mexican War of
1846–1848 heightened the slavery debate. Abolitionists fought to have slavery declared illegal
in those territories, as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had done in the territory that became
the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Advocates of slavery feared that if
the institution were prohibited in any states carved out of the new territories the political power
of slaveholding states would be diminished, possibly to the point of slavery being outlawed
everywhere within the United States. Pro- and anti-slavery groups rushed to populate the new
territories.
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John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) | Brown
was an American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection
was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the
United States. In 1859, Brown led an unsuccessful raid on the
federal armory at Harpers Ferry that ended with his capture.
Brown's trial resulted in his conviction and a sentence of
death by hanging.
The Raid On Harper’s Ferry | On the night of October 16,
1859, Brown and a band of followers seized the federal
arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in what
is believed to have been an attempt to arm a slave
insurrection. They were dislodged by a force of U.S. Marines
led by Army lieutenant colonel Robert E. Lee. Brown was
swiftly tried for treason against Virginia and hanged. Southern reaction initially was that his acts
were those of a mad fanatic, of little consequence. But when Northern abolitionists made a
martyr of him, Southerners came to believe this was proof the North intended to wage war
against white Southerners. Brown’s raid became a step on the road to war.
The Election Of Abraham Lincoln | When the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won
the 1859 presidential election, Southern fears that the Republicans would abolish slavery
reached a new peak. Lincoln was an avowed opponent of the expansion of slavery but said he
would not interfere with it where it existed.
Southern Secession | Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia seceded from the Union and formed
the Confederate States of America.
Confederate Attack on Fort Sumter | On April 10, 1861, knowing that resupplies were on
their way from the North to the federal garrison at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston,
South Carolina, provisional Confederate forces in Charleston demanded the fort’s surrender.
The fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused. On April 12, the Confederates opened
fire with cannons.
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) | Lincoln was the 16th President
of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He was the
first Republican President and his election encouraged the South to secede
from the Union. Lincoln successfully led the United States through one of its
greatest constitutional, military, and moral crises—the American Civil War—
preserving the Union. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln
was mostly self-educated, and became a country lawyer, a Whig Party
leader, Illinois state legislator during the 1830s, and a one-term member of
the United States House of Representatives during the 1840s.
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Emancipation Proclamation (1863) | Was an order issued to all segments of the Executive
branch (including the Army and Navy) of the United States by President Abraham Lincoln on
January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. It was based on the president's constitutional
authority as commander in chief of the armed forces; it was not a law passed by Congress. It
proclaimed all those enslaved in Confederate territory to be forever free.
Gettysburg Address | It was a speech given by Lincoln after the battle of Gettysburg.
KEY GENERALS OF THE CIVIL WAR
The Union (North):
Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) | was the 18th
President of the United States (1869–1877) following his highly successful
role as a war general in the second half of the Civil War. Under Grant, the
Union Army defeated the Confederate military; having effectively ended the
war and secession with the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army at
Appomattox. As president he led the Radical Republicans in their effort to
eliminate Confederate nationalism and slavery.
William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891) | Sherman was an
American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General
in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–65), for which he
received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well
as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched earth" policies that he
implemented in conducting total war against the Confederate States. Some
declared that Sherman was "the first modern general".
The Confederates (South):
Robert E. Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) |was an American career military
officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of
Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. He is best known for his victories
in the Battle of second Manassas (second Bull Run), and the Battle of
Chancellorsville. Named General-In-Chief of all Confederate Armies on
February 6, 1865, his tenure in this position was cut short by his surrender to
General Grant at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) | Jackson
was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, and one of the best-known
Confederate commanders after General Robert E. Lee.
Civil War (1861-1865) | War between the North (The Union) and South (Confederate States
of America)
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IMPORTANT BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR
The First Battle of Bull Run (1861) | On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate armies
clashed near Manassas Junction, Virginia, in the first major land battle of the American Civil
War. It was a Confederate victory that gave the South a surge of confidence and shocked many
in the North, who realized the war would not be won as easily as they had hoped.
Shiloh (1862) | Just as Northerners were shocked into reality by the First Battle of Bull Run,
so too were Southerners by the Battle of Shiloh. In April 1862, Union General Ulysses S. Grant
engaged Confederate forces at Shiloh, Tennessee, in an incredibly bloody battle. Tens of
thousands of men died. By the end of the bloodbath, Grant had won and demonstrated to the
Confederates that Lincoln was serious about maintaining the Union.
Antietam (1862) | Lee made an aggressive push into the border states to try to defeat the
Union on its own turf. In September 1862, Lee’s army met General George McClellan’s troops at
the Battle of Antietam, which resulted in more than 23,000 casualties—the bloodiest single day
of battle of the entire war. Lee was forced to retreat back to Confederate territory.
The War at Sea | While the armies battled on land, the Union and Confederate navies clashed
on the high seas. At the very beginning of the war, Lincoln bypassed Congress and ordered a
naval blockade of all Southern ports. The South’s economy relied almost entirely on cotton
trade with Britain, so Lincoln hoped the blockade would strangle the Confederacy financially.
The Confederate navy, though small, proved a formidable adversary.
Gettysburg (1863) | Undaunted by his failure at Antietam, Lee marched into Northern
territory again in the summer of 1863, this time into Pennsylvania. There, he met Union forces
at the Battle of Gettysburg in early July. At the end of a bloody three-day struggle in which
more than 50,000 died, Lee was once again forced to retreat. The battle was a resounding
victory for the North and a catastrophe for the South.
Vicksburg (1863) | At the same time Lee was losing in the North, Grant was besieging the
city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in the West. Eventually, the trapped Confederates caved in to
Grant’s demand for an unconditional surrender. This major victory at the Battle of Vicksburg
gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and thus split the Confederacy in half.
Union Victory at Appomattox (1865) | In April 1865, Ulysses S. Grant’s forces broke
through Robert E. Lee’s defenses and forced the Confederates to retreat. The Confederate
forces burned their capital city, Richmond, behind them as they retreated in order to render it
useless to the Union armies. His men malnourished and heavily outgunned, Lee chose to
surrender. Several days later, on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant formally and
unconditionally at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Grant accepted the surrender and provided
the Southerners food for their march home. Jefferson Davis and other ranking Confederates,
meanwhile, had been captured fleeing Virginia. The Civil War was over.
18
Lee surrenders to Grant at
Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia
19
RESULTS OF THE CIVIL WAR
Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse and the South loses the war
Lincoln was assassinated five days after the war
The Southern economy was devastated while the Northern economy became
stronger than before the war
Reconstruction began
RECONSTRUCTION
Reconstruction (1865-1877) | The period after the Civil War in the U.S. when the southern
states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union.
CIVIL WAR/RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS
13th Amendment | Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except for a
crime
14th Amendment | Made former slaves citizens, gave equal protection under
the law for all citizens
15th Amendment | African-American males were given the right to vote
19TH CENTURY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
Steam Engine | In 1781 James Watt patented a steam engine that produced continuous
rotative motion. These 10hp engines enabled a wide range of manufacturing machinery to be
powered. The engines could be sited anywhere that water
and coal or wood fuel could be obtained. By 1883, engines
that could provide 10,000 hp were feasible. Steam engines
could also be applied to vehicles such as traction engines
and the railway locomotives. Steam engines powered
locomotives (trains) and steam ships. The stationary steam
engine was an important component of the Industrial
Revolution, overcoming the limitations imposed by shortage
of sites suitable for water mill and allowing factories to
locate where water power was unavailable.
Rifles | Rifling is the cutting of spiral grooves on the inside of a firearm's barrel to improve
range and accuracy. The first American military rifl to be mass-produced was the 1861
Springfield Rifled Percussion Musket. The average soldier could load and accurately fire the
long-arm three times per minute. The development of a conical projectile that was smaller than
the gun barrel, but expanded when fired to meet the gun's rifling made the weapons easier to
load. Over one million Springfields were produced from 1861-1873.
References
Sparknotes. (2013). The Civil War. Available from
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/civilwar/section7.rhtml
20
6.
Westward Expansion
Manifest Destiny | The belief that America had the God-given right and duty to expand
across the continent: ”From sea to Shining Sea.”
California Gold Rush (1849) | After gold was discovered in California, over 40,000
people migrated from the East to “strike it rich.”
Great Plains | Grassland of Central North America that extends from the Mississippi River
to the Rocky Mountains.
Homestead Act (1862) | Was a law that provided 160 acres to anyone who was willing to
settle land in the west.
Cattle Drives | As a demand for beef increased, cowboys drove herds of cattle along trails
to be shipped to the east by railroad. Famous trails include the Chisholm, Western, and
Goodnight-Loving.
21
TECHNOLOGY OF THE GREAT PLAINS
Sod home or “soddy” | A house built of mud and grass what was settled in because of a lace
of wood on the Great Plains.
Barbed Wire | Used to fence in land on the Great Plains, eventually leading to the end of the
open frontier.
Windpump | Allowed dry arming by bringing up underground water to irrigate crops on the
Great Plains. They are often called windmills.
Steel Plow | It was a farm machine perfected by John Deer that
allowed the plains settlers to break up the tough plains soils for
agriculture.
22
Sod House
NATIVE AMERICANS AND A WAY OF LIFE
Buffalo | The Great Plains Indians relied on the Buffalo to continue their way of life. When the
buffalo were killed off, so was the lifestyle of the Plains Indians.
Reservations | Plots of land given to Native Americans to live on as white settlers moved
west. They are managed by Native American tribes under the United States Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are about 310 Indian reservations in the United States.
Many tribes ignored the relocation orders at first and were forced onto their limited land
parcels. Enforcement of the policy required the United States Army to restrict the movements of
various tribes. The pursuit of tribes in order to force them back onto reservations led to a
number of Native American massacres and some wars including the Sioux Wars on the northern
Great Plains, between 1876 and 1881, which included the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Dawes Act (1887) | U.S. law that attempted to assimilate Indians by giving them individual
plots of land. It authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and
divide it into allotments for individual Indians.
Battle of Wounded Knee | U.S. soldiers massacred 300 unarmed Native Americans in 1890.
This ended the Indian Wars.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
Laura Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) | She
was an American author who wrote the Little House on the Prairie series of
books based on her childhood in a pioneer family. Laura's daughter, Rose,
inspired Laura to write her books. Wilder was five times one of the runners-up
for the annual Newbery Medal, the premier ALA book award for children's
literature.
23
7.
The Gilded Age (1877-1900)
OVERVIEW
Gilded Age | In United States history, the Gilded Age was the period following the Civil War,
roughly from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 to the turn of the twentieth century. The term
was coined by writers Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in The Gilded Age: A Tale of
Today, satirizing what they believed to be an era of serious social problems hidden by a thin
layer of gold. The Gilded Age was a time of enormous growth that attracted millions from
Europe. Railroads were the major industry, but the factory system, mining, and labor unions
also gained in importance. The growth was interrupted by major nationwide depressions known
as the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893. Most of the growth and prosperity came in only the
former Union states of North and West. The South remained economically devastated; its
economy became increasingly tied to cotton and tobacco production, which suffered low prices.
African Americans in the south experienced the worst setbacks, as they were stripped of
political power and voting rights. The dominant issues were rights for Black Americans, tariff
policy and monetary policy. Reformers worked for civil service reform, prohibition and women's
suffrage, while philanthropists built colleges and hospitals, and the many religious
denominations exerted a major sway in everyday life.
BUSINESS DURING THE GILDED AGE
Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) | Carnegie
was Scottish-American industrialist business tycoon and philanthropist who
controlled most of the steel industry. Known as the “Captain of Industry” and
a”robber baron.” Carnegie wrote “The Gospel of Wealth”
John D. Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) | Rockefeller was an
American industrialist business tycoon and philanthropist who owned Standard
Oil and controlled 90% of the oil industry in the late 1800s. He controlled the
industry by making Standard Oil a trust.
Monopolies | Situation in which one company controls an entire industry
Trusts | Small companies join together to form one large company.
Laissez-Faire | The idea that government should not interfere with business practices.
Social Darwinism | The belief that the rich succeed because they are superior to the poor.
This belief was applied to big business during the Gilded Age.
24
REACTION TO BIG BUSINESS
Sherman Antitrust Act | Outlawed business monopolies, but was not very effective at limiting
the power of big business.
Labor Unions | Organizations that protected the interests of the worker. They created the 40hour work week
and dealt with dangerous working conditions. They also organized
strikes.Famoius labor unions included Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor. Their
activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for
their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over
violations of contract provisions.
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND URBANIZATION
Industrialization | The rise of a manufacturing economy and decline of an agriculture
economy.
Bessemer Process | was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of
steel from molten iron prior to the open hearth furnace. The process is named after its inventor,
Henry Bessemer.
Urbanization | The large growth of cities. With urbanization came a large range of urban
problems including sanitation, transportation, and crowded living conditions.
Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) | She was the founder of Hull House
in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world
peace. She was one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era and helped turn
the nation to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health, and
world peace. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift
their communities. She became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Settlement Houses | Community centers that helped immigrants address the problems of
horrible living conditions, disease, illiteracy, and unemployment.
Tenements | Apartments built in city slums to house large numbers of people. Many
immigrants were forced to live in these “slum” neighborhoods.
Sweat Shops | A small factory where workers were paid low wages in bad working conditions.
Immigrants were considered cheap labor.
Child Labor | This was a major problem during the Gilded Age.
25
POLITICS DURING THE GILDED AGE
Populism | A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their
struggle against the privileged elite. Based among poor, white cotton farmers in the South
(especially North Carolina, Alabama, and Texas) and hard-pressed wheat farmers in the plains
states (especially Kansas and Nebraska), it represented a radical crusading form of agrarianism
and hostility to banks, railroads, and elites generally. It sometimes formed coalitions with labor
unions, and in 1896 the Democrats endorsed their presidential nominee, William Jennings
Bryan. The terms "populist" and "populism" are commonly used for anti-elitist appeals in
opposition to established interests and mainstream parties. Populists wanted:
Government ownership of railroads
Lower protect tariffs on industrial goods
Silver-backed as opposed to gold-backed currency to cause inflation
High Voter Turnout | The Gilded Age was marked by high voter turnout.
Political Machines | Corrupt organized groups that controlled political parties in cities. A boss
led the machine and attempted to grab more votes for their party.
Tweed Ring Scandal | Political scandal involving
“Boss” William Marcy Tweed and the Tammany Hall
machine in New York City. It was the Democratic Party
political machine that played a major role in controlling
New York City and New York State politics and helped
immigrants, most notably the Irish, rise up in American
politics from the 1790s to the 1960s.
Pendleton Service Act | Ensured that appointments
to government jobs were based upon merit and
qualifications. It was designed to prevent the “spoils
system” and patronage.
26
Election of 1896 | Republicans nominated William McKinley while the Democrats joined with
the Populists in nominating William Jennings Bryan. Bryan gave the famous “Cross of Gold”
speech at the Democratic National Convention.
“You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify
mankind upon a cross of gold” William J. Bryan from the “Cross of Gold” speech.
Political Cartoons | The political cartoons of Thomas Nast raised awareness of political
corruption.
The Tammany Tiger Loose—"What are you going to do about it?", by Thomas Nast,
published in Harper's Weekly in November 1871, just before election day
27
IMMIGRATION
About 20 million European immigrants arrived in
the U.S. between 1870 and 1920
Before 1890, most immigrants came from Western
and Northern Europe and were known as “Old
immigrants.”
An increase of Southern and Eastern immigrants
occurred after 1890 and were known as “New
Immigrants” and their arrival increased tensions
Most of these “New Immigrants” were
processed at Ellis Island
300,000 Chinese immigrants arrived between 1851
and 1883
Chinese Immigrants Work on the Railroad
28
8.
The Progressive Era (1890-1920)
GOALS OF PROGRESSIVISM
Progressivism |was a general political philosophy advocating or favoring gradual social,
political, and economic reform. Modern Progressivism emerged as part of a more general
response to the vast social changes brought by industrialization.
Protect social welfare
Create economic reform
Political reform of government
IMPORTANT TERMS
Muckraker | Reporters and writers who exposed corruption and the abuses of big business.
Suffrage | The right to vote
IMPORTANT LEGISLATION
16th Amendment |Established the federal income tax
17th Amendment | Established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The
amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators
were elected by state legislatures. Made government more responsive to the people.
18th Amendment | Prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic
beverages (Prohibition)
19th Amendment | Established the right to vote for women.
Initiative | Procedure by which citizens can propse a law to be placed on a ballot.
Recall | Procedure by which a public official may be removed from office by popular vote.
Referendum | Procedure by which voters can vote for a proposed initiative on a ballot.
Prohibition | Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and
transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The dry movement was led by rural
Protestants in both political parties, and was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League. The ban
was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set
down the rules for enforcing the ban and defined the types of alcoholic beverages that were
prohibited. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol was not made illegal. Prohibition
ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth
Amendment, on December 5, 1933.
29
The photographs of Jacob Riis raised awareness of
working and living conditions of immigrants in the factories and tenements
THEODORE ROOSEVELT’S IMPACT
Trustbuster | Term used to describe Roosevelt’s attempt to reform big business by breaking
up trusts.
Conservation | The preservation of wilderness areas.
Meat Inspection Act (1906) | Provided government inspection of meat.
Muckrakers | Roosevelt’s term for crusading journalists of the time period who sought to bring
about reform in American society, industry, and politics.
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) | Regulation of thepreparation of foods and the sale of
medicines.
Bull Moose Party | Roosevelt’s political party in the election of 1912. Roosevelt ran as a thirdparty candidate.
IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Susan B. Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) | She
was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role
in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's
suffrage into the United States.
30
Robert LaFollette a.k.a. “Fighting Bob” (June 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) | Wisconsin
senator who helped reform government at the state level.
W.E.B. Du Bois (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) | Early civil
rights leader and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. After graduating from Harvard, where he
was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he became a professor of
history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. He demanded equality
for African Americans.
Eugene V. Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) | Labor leader who attempted
to form a labor union of skilled and unskilled workers. In 1912, he ran for President under the
Socialist Party as a third party candidate. He won 6% of the popular vote.
Upton Sinclair (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) | Sinclair was the author of
The Jungle, a book that described the terrible conditions of the meat packing industry and the
struggles of immigrants who worked at them. His book led to the Meat Inspection Act and Pure
Food and Drug Act.
Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) | He was
the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921, and a leader of
the progressive movement. He passed the Clayton Antitrust Act, which
continued to crack down on monopolies. Wilson was the last president of the
Progressive Era.
“Let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle rooms, and he might have
a sore that would put him out of the world; all the joints in his fingers might be eaten by the
acid, one by one. Of the butchers and floorsmen, the beef-boners and trimmers, and all those
who used knives, you could scarcely find a person who had the use of his thumb; time and time
again the base of it had been slashed, till it was a mere lump of flesh against which the man
pressed the knife to hold it. The hands of these men would be crisscrossed with cuts, until you could no longer pretend to count them or to
trace them. They would have no nails, – they had worn them off pulling
hides; their knuckles were swollen so that their fingers spread out like a
fan. There were men who worked in the cooking rooms, in the midst of
steam and sickening odors, by artificial light; in these rooms the germs of
tuberculosis might live for two years, but the supply was renewed every
hour. There were the beef-luggers, who carried two-hundred-pound
quarters into the refrigerator-cars; a fearful kind of work, that began at
four o'clock in the morning, and that wore out the most powerful men in
a few years.” Excerpt from Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle.
31
9.
U.S. Imperialism
INTRODUCTION
Imperialism | The process of a stronger nation controlling a weaker territory through political,
economic, and/or military means.
American Imperialism | Is a term referring to the economic, military, and cultural influence
of the United States on other countries. The concept of an American Empire was first
popularized during the presidency of James K. Polk who led the United States into the Mexican–
American War of 1846, and the eventual annexation of California and other western territories
via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden purchase.
Alfred Thayer Mahan (September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) | He was a U.S.
Admiral who encouraged the U.S. to strengthen its naval power to a become a world power.
EXPANSIONISM
Alaska | Purcahsed in 1867 from Russia. Alaska was known as “Seward’s Folly” and was
initially considered a bad purchase.
Hawaii | Purchased in 1898. Queen Liliuokalani was removed from power and Hawaii was
annexed by the U.S. in 1898.
32
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
The Spanish–American War | began in April 1898, two months after the sinking. Advocates
of the war used the rallying cry, "Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!"
Causes of the Spanish American War
Spanish Cruelty | Spain’s military abused power and mistreated Cubans.
Yellow Journalism | News that exaggerated the truth in order to get a
reaction. Key editors were William Randolph Hearst U.S. and Joseph Pulitzer.
De Lome Letter |Letter intercepted from a Spanish ambassador criticizing U.S.
President McKinley.
U.S.S. Maine | The Maine was a warship that blew up in Havana Harbor off the
coast of Cuba. The Spanish were blamed and war was declared.
Results of the Spanish American War
Spain loses most of its empire
The Platt Amendment (1901) | allows the U.S. to control Cuba
The U.S. acquired the territories of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico
The U.S. increases its strength as a world power
“Remember the Maine”
became the popular
rallying cry for U.S.
intervention in Cuba
33
TEDDY ROOSEVELT AND IMPERIALISM
Rough Riders | Volunteer cavalry unity led by Teddy
Roosevelt that gained fame at the battle of San Juan Hill in
Cuba
Roosevelt Corollary | Teddy Roosevelt declared that the
U.S. would act as an international police power in Latin
America. This was a later development of the Monroe
Doctrine.
Monroe Doctrine | Was a policy of the United States
introduced on December 2, 1823 named after President James Monroe. It stated that further
efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America
would be viewed as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. intervention. The Doctrine was issued at
a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved
independence from the Spanish Empire (except Cuba and Puerto Rico) and the Portuguese
Empire. The United States, working in agreement with Britain, wanted to guarantee no
European power would move in.
Panama Canal (1914) | Man-made
waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean to
the Pacific Ocean. Workers faced problems
with mosquito borne diseases and hazardous
working conditions.
Open Door Policy | Ensured that the U.S.
could trade with China. When the partition of
China by the European powers and Japan
seemed imminent, the United States felt its
commercial
interests
in
China
were
threatened. U.S. Secretary of State John Hay
sent notes to the major powers (France,
Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia),
asking them to declare formally that they
would uphold
Chinese territorial and
administrative integrity and would not interfere with the free use of the treaty ports within their
spheres of influence in China. The open door policy stated that all European nations, and the
United States, could trade with China. In reply, each nation tried to evade Hay's request, taking
the position that it could not commit itself until the other nations had complied. However, by
July 1900, Hay announced that each of the powers had granted consent in principle.
Competition among the various powers for special concessions within China for railroad rights,
mining rights, loans, foreign trade ports, and so forth, continued unabated.
34
10. World War I (1914-1918)
CAUSES OF WWI
Militarism | Nations built large armies to help them secure their empires.
Alliances | European nations signed treaties with each other that created a system of alliances.
Imperialism | Competition between European countries to create empires.
Nationalism | Strong feelings of pride for one’s country.
IMPORTANT DATES
1914 | WWI begins in Europe
1917 | The U.S. Enters WWI on the Allied side
1918 | The allies win WWI when Germany surrenders
Allied Powers
Great Britain
France
The United States
Russia
Serbia
Central Powers
German
Austria-Hungary
The Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
35
IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Archduke Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 - 28 June 1914) |
Archduke of Austra-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian in 1914. His murder
was one of the causes of WWI. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated AustriaHungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers
(including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries
allied with Serbia or Serbia's allies) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.
Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) | Was President of
the U.S. during WWI. Wilson wanted to fight the war to “make the world safe for
democracy.”
General John Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948) |
The commander of the American expeditionary force during WWI.
Under his leadership, American forces helped end the stalemate and led the Allies
to victory.
Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 – November 9, 1924) | U.S. Senator
who opposed the League of Nations. Lodge demanded Congressional control of
declarations of war; Wilson refused and the United States Senate never ratified
the Treaty of Versailles nor joined the League of Nations.
KEY TERMS
New weapons introduced during the war | Machine guns, poison gas, tanks, and airplanes
were introduced. Airplanes engaged in “dog fights” in the skies over Europe.
Trench Warfare | Opposing side’s attacked from the ditches instead of an open battlefield.
Stalemate | A situation where neither side could gain an advantage in combat.
Battle of Argonne Forest | The battle that led to the surrender of the Germany army and the
end of WWI.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points | President Wilson’s proposal for peace after WWI. Wilson called
for the freedom of the seas, ending secret treaties, a League of Nations, and other peaceful
measures.
League of Nations | International organization formed after WWI to help solve disputes
between countries. The U.S. did not join and it was considered a failure.
Treaty of Versailles | The treaty that officially ended WWI. It blamed Germany for WWI and
handed down harsh punishment. Germany was forced to pay reparations to the Allies for the
cost of the war. The treatment of Germany in the treaty helped lead to the rise of Adolph Hitler
and WWII.
36
Sedition Act of 1918 | During WWI, the U.S. Government had stifled freedom of speech with
the Sedition Act of 1918 in an effort to silence anti-war protests.
REASONS FOR U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN WWI
Close ties with the Allies | Americans and British spoke the same language. We shared the
notion of democracy. Many Americans traced their ancestry to Great Britain.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare | German policy of sinking any ships in the water,
including merchant and passenger ships.
Sinking of the Lusitania (1915) | British passenger ship that was destroyed by a German
submarine. 128 Americans were killed.
Zimmerman Note | Telegram sent by Germany, proposing that Mexico ally itself with
Germany if the U.S. entered the war. In return, Mexico would receive land that it had lost to the
U.S. in the Mexican-American War.
37
THE RED SCARE
After WWI, Americans became very fearful of radical political theories. The Communist
Revolution had occurred in Russia in 1917, and Americans were afraid communism might
spread in the United States. Workers were going on strike to protest the rising cost of living
after the war. After a series bombings, U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchel Palmer led a series of
raids – Immigrants were blamed for the violence, and the Palmer Raids targets immigrants’
homes and businesses. Other examples of Nativism include the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial, antiimmigration laws (Emergency Quota Act and National Origins Act), and the rise of the
“new KKK.”
Sacco and Vanzetti | Anarchists and Italian
immigrants accused of murder. They were sentenced to
death. Because of their political stance and nationality
they were not given a fair trial. After a controversial
trial and a series of appeals, the two Italian immigrants
were executed on August 23, 1927. Since their deaths,
critical opinion has overwhelmingly felt that the two
men were convicted largely on their anarchist political
beliefs and unjustly executed. In 1977, Massachusetts
Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried
and convicted and that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names." The case is
still officially open.
WWI was the first war
that saw the use of tanks
38
11. The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929)
IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) |
Auto manufacturer who created the Model T and
began to mass produce the automobile. He used
the assembly line to speed up producton and
satisfy demand. This lowered prices and made
autos affordable to the average American.
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 –
July 26, 1925) | The prosecutor in the Scopes
Trial. He supported creationism in school. He was Ford Model T
also famous e was also famous as the Populist and
Democratic presidential candidate in 1896 who gave the “Cross of Gold” speech that argued
against using the gold standard to back money.
Clarence Seward Darrow (April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) | Defended John Scopes
during the Scopes Trial. He argued that evolution should be taught in schools.
Charles Lindbergh | American pilot who made the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic.
F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 24,
1896 – December 21, 1940) | was an
American author of novels and short
stories, whose works are the paradigm
writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined
himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of
the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost
Generation" of the 1920s. He is best remembered for writing the famouse
American novel, The Great Gatsby.
POLITICAL ISSUES
Red Scare | The fear that Communists were going to take over the U.S. It included the Palmer
Raid, the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial, and the rise of nativism.
Teapot Dome Scandal | The prime example of corruption during Warren G. Harding’s
Presidency; involved Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall leasing U.S. naval oil
reserves in Wyoming to private interests in exchange for bribes.
39
ECONOMIC ISSUES: REASONS FOR PROSPERITY OF THE 1920s
Government policies that favored big business (e.g. laissez-faire economics)
The growth of automobile industry
Efficient production techniques such as the assembly line
Mass media such as radio, film, and advertising led to a consumer culture
SOCIAL ISSUES OF THE 1920s
Women’s Issues in the 1920s
Flappers | embraced the urban attitudes and fashions
Women began to demand more freedom and assert
their independence
However – a double standard between men and women
still existed
19th Amendment (1920) | Prohibits any U.S. citizen
to be denied the right to vote based on sex.
Prohibition | Reform movement that banned the sale and
consumption of alcohol. It also increased organized crime.
18th Amendment
(1920) | Prohibited the
manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic
beverages.
21st Amendment
(1933) | Repealed the 18th
Amendment and ended Prohibition.
The Scopes Trial (1925) | The famous “Monkey Trial” that
pitted the teaching of creationism against Darwin’s theory of
evolution in Tennessee public schools. The trial represented the
clash between both science and fundamentalist religion and
rural and urban Americans. John Scopes, a high school teacher
was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it
unlawful to teach evolution in state-funded schools. The trial is
perhaps best known for serving as the inspiration for the play,
and later movie, Inherit the Wind. Scopes was found guilty and
fined $100, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.
CULTURAL ISSUES
Jazz | Jazz is a popular musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in
black communities in the Southern U.S. It was born out of a mix of African and European music
traditions. Famous jazz composers included Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. The Jazz Age
was a term coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald to describe the 1920s
The Great Migration | The mass migration of African-Americans to Northern
cities from 1910 through both World Wars. They left the segregated south for
industrial jobs in northern cities.
The Harlem Renaissance | Period of African-American cultural creativity in
music, art, and literature centered in Harlem, New York. Langston Hughes was a famous poet.
40
12. The Great Depression (1929 - 1940)
OVERVIEW
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic
depression in the decade preceding World War II. The
timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but
in most countries it started in 1930 and lasted until the
late 1930s or middle 1940s. It was the longest, most
widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century.
In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly
used as an example of how far the world's economy can
decline. The depression originated in the U.S., after the
fall in stock prices that began around September 4, 1929,
and became worldwide news with the stock market crash
of October 29, 1929 (known as Black Tuesday).
The Great Depression had devastating effects in countries rich and
poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while
international trade plunged by more than 50%. Unemployment in the
U.S. rose to 25%, and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all
around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy
industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming
and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60%.
Facing plummeting demand with few alternate sources of jobs, areas
dependent on primary sector industries such as cash cropping, mining
and logging suffered the most. Some economies started to recover by
the mid-1930s. In many countries, the negative effects of the Great
Depression lasted until the end of World War II.
CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Decline in world trade
High protective tariffs
Overproduction of consumer
goods
Buying stock on margin
(borrowing) and market
speculation for quick profit
Very unequal distribution of
wealth
Decline in agriculture prices
Severe drought in the southern
plains (dust bowl)
Stock Market Crash of 1929 (“Black Tuesday)
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PRESIDENTS
Herbert Hoover (President from 1929-1933) | President when the Great
Depression began. Hoover is criticized for allowing the Depression to continue.
He was defeated when voters looked to the federal government for help.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (President from 1933 -1945) | Defeated Hoover in
1932. Implemented the New Deal to help with the Great Depression. He gave
fireside chats on the radio to communicate with the American public.
LIFE DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Unemployment | Unemployment rose as high as 25% during the Great Depression
“Hoovervilles” | Was the popular name for shanty towns built by homeless people during the
Great Depression. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United
States during the onset of the Depression and widely blamed for it.
Bread lines and soup kitchens | Methods by which the needy could obtain food.
Dust Bowl | Term used to describe the area of the Great Plains where heavy droughts and had
dried up the farmland. The phenomenon was caused by severe drought combined with farming
methods that did not include crop rotation, fallow fields, cover crops, soil terracing and windbreaking trees to prevent wind erosion. Extensive deep plowing of the virgin topsoil of the Great
Plains in the preceding decade had displaced the
natural deep-rooted grasses that normally kept
the soil in place and trapped moisture even
during periods of drought and high winds. Rapid
mechanization of farm implements, especially
small gasoline tractors and widespread use of
the combine harvester were significant in the
decisions to convert grassland (much of which
received no more than 10 inches (250 mm) of
precipitation per year) to cultivated cropland.
John Seinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath | Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses
on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought,
economic hardship, and changes in financial and agricultural industries. Due to their nearly
hopeless situation, and in part because they were trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out
for California. Along with thousands of other "Okies", they sought jobs, land, dignity, and a
future.
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HOOVER’S PROGRAMS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION
Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) | Dam built on the Colorado
River near Las Vegas, Nevada to help stimulate business and
provide jobs.
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) | Hoover’s
program to provide loans to struggling businesses.
ROOSEVELT’S NEW DEAL
The New Deal | Roosevelt’s program to fight the Great Depression. It was a series of
economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They involved
presidential executive orders or laws passed by Congress during the first
term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were in response to
the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call the "3 Rs": Relief,
Recovery, and Reform. That is, Relief for the unemployed and poor;
Recovery of the economy to normal levels; and Reform of the financial
system to prevent a repeat depression.
Fireside Chats | Roosevelt used the radio to speak to the American people and give them
hope and confidence.
FDR’s First “100 Days”| FDR was inaugurated on March 4, 1933. Two days later, he issued
a proclamation ordering the suspension of all banking transactions, in effect closing the banks
for a "bank holiday." This step was made to stop bank runs in which people would panic and
suddenly try to take all their money out of the bank. After closing the banks, Roosevelt asked
Congress to pass legislation which would guarantee that savers would not lose their money if
there was another financial crisis. Banks that passed an audit for fiscal health were allowed to
re-open on March 9, 1933. Also, President Roosevelt frequently turned for help to what was
called the Brain Trust, which was made up of individuals from outside of government including
professors, lawyers, and others who came to Washington to advise him on economic affairs.
Roosevelt liked to learn through listening to experts and then questioning them. In doing so, he
became familiar with different points of view. He considered their input when making decisions.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) | Insurance for people’s bank accounts.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) | Government agency that regulated stock
market.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) | Law that attempted to raise crop prices by lower
production.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) | Public works program that gave jobs to young men.
The workers planted trees, fought forest fires, and built public parks.
Works Progress Administration (WPA) | Created jobs by hiring writers and artists.
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Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) | Program that built dams in the Tennessee Valley area
in order to control flooding and provide electrical power.
Social Security Act | The most important act of the New Deal. Social Security provides
unemployment insurance, aid to the disabled, old age pensions, and insurance for familes.
FDR Battles the Supreme Court | The Supreme court had declared several New Deal
programs unconstitutional. FDR tried to add more members to the Supreme Court to pass his
programs. This was known as court packing.
HOW DID THE GREAT DEPRESSION END?
New Deal Influence | Each New Deal program had its own success. Some programs
regulated wages and prices, which helped most families buy things they needed, like food and
clothing. Others employed people as conservation workers, artists, writers, and laborers. Social
Security helped the elderly who could no longer work and whose savings were gone.
Most historians agree that though the New Deal programs helped alleviate some of the
problems during the Great Depression, they did not end the economic downturn; World War II
was really responsible for the change in the economy. WWII brought us out of the Great
Depression by creating jobs in industry and the military.
Civilian Conservation Corp Workers, 1930s
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13. World War II (1941-1945)
IMPORTANT DATES
1939 | Adolf Hitler invaded Poland beginning WWII.
1941 | Japan attacked Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. The United States entered the war as
a result.
1945 | Germany was defeated to end the war in Europe. The United States dropped atomic
bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war in the Pacific.
Allied Powers
Great Britain
United States
Canada
Soviet Union
France
Axis Powers
Germany
Italy
Japan
IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Franklin D. Roosevelt | President of the U.S. during WWII and declared war on
Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He died while in office in 1945.
Harry S. Truman | President of the U.S. during the last months of WWII. He
made the decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan to end the war sooner and
save U.S. service member lives.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower | U.S. General in Europe during WWII. He was
in charge of the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day). He later served as the 34the
President from 1953 until 1961.
General Douglas McArthur | U.S. General in charge of the Allied forces in the
Pacific Ocean.
General George Patton | Outspoken U.S. General who led the U.S. Third Army
and helped to liberate Paris.
General Omar Bradley | U.S. General who led the US 1st Army during the
Invasion of Normandy.
General George Marshall | Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army during WWII. He
oversaw all the military operations in the War in Europe. After the war, he was
responsible for the Marshall Plan to help rebuild war-ravished Europe after WWII.
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CAUSES OF WORLD WAR II
The main causes of World War II were nationalistic tensions, unresolved issues, and
resentments resulting from World War I and the interwar period in Europe, in addition to the
effects of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The culmination of events that led to the outbreak
of war are generally understood to be the 1939 invasion of Poland by Germany and Soviet
Russia and the 1937 invasion of the Republic of China by the Empire of Japan. These military
aggressions were the result of decisions made by the authoritarian ruling Nazi elite in Germany
and by the military leadership of Japan. World War II started after these aggressive actions
were met with an official declaration of war and/or armed resistance.
CAUSES OF WWII SUMMARY
Harsh treatment of Germany after WWI
The rise of dictators, fascism, extreme
nationalism, and totalitarianism in Europe and
Japan (Nazi Party in Germany)
Germany’s invasion of Poland
Germany’s aerial attacks on Great Britain
Japans’ invasion of China
Japans’ attack on Pearl Harbor
THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
Attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) | On December 7th 1941, Japan attacked the U.S. naval base
at Pearl Harbor forcing the U.S. to enter the war.
Battle of Midway (1942) | Major turning point in the war in
the Pacific. This pivotal battle dealt a severe blow to the
Japanese Navy.
Island Hopping | Allied naval strategy to reach Japan by
taking one island at a time.
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)| Part of the island hopping
campaign and major battle in which the U.S. fought for and captured the
island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The American invasion had the
goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields, to provide a
staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This month-long battle
included some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific
of World War II.
The Atomic Bomb (1945) | Powerful weapon dropped on
the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Harry Truman
made the decision to drop the bomb in an effort to reduce
American casualties. WWII ended as a result.
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THE WAR IN EUROPE
Germany occupied and controlled
most of Europe prior to the Allied
invasion on D-Day.
The Holocaust | The mass murder
of 6 million Jews and others in Nazi
concentration camps.
Two-front War | Germany was
forced to fight British and American
troops from the West and Russian
from the East.
This divided
Germany’s army in two and helped
the Allies gain the advantage in
Europe.
Invasion of Normandy (D-Day,
June 6th 1944) | General Dwight D.
Eisenhower led the Allied invasion of
Axis-controlled France across the
English Channel. The landings, were
part of the Allied invasion of
Normandy, in Operation Overlord,
during World War II and the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Battle of the Bulge (December, 1945) | Was the last major German offensive in Europe.
German forces in a surprise attack pushed past U.S. forces through the forested Ardennes
mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, and France and Luxembourg on the Western Front.
Soviets Occupy Berlin (1945) | The Soviets captured Berlin, German in Spring 1945. Hitler
committed suicide rather than face capture and WWII ended in Europe. Many senior Nazis were
convicted in the Nuremburg Trials of crimes against humanity for the holocaust and executed.
THE HOME FRONT
Entering WWII helped the U.S. end the Great Depression through massive wartime production.
Many new opportunities were created for women and minorities to enter the work force.
Rationing | restricting the supply of items used by the
public during wartime
Internment of Japanese Americans | Over 100,000
Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to crowded
prison camps were they were detained during WWII.
“Double V Campaign” | African-Americans continued to
face discrimination at home and pledged to fight for victory
over Hitler in Europe and an end to racism.
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14. Post-War America (1945-1974)
LIFE UNDER HARRY TRUMAN (1945 – 1952)
GI Bill | A 1944 law that gave military veterans financial and education benefits.
Taft-Hartley Act | Law passed in 1947 that struck a blow to the power of the labor unions.
The bill overturned many rights won by unions under the New Deal. Among other things, it The
outlawed closed shops which were contractual
agreements that required an employer to hire
only labor union members and put restrictions on
strikes.
Suburbanization | Many people moved to
communities built on the outskirts of major cities
known as suburbs. Levittown, New York was the
first suburb community.
The Baby Boom | The period from the end of
WWII through mid-1960s was marked by
unusually high birth rates.
LIFE UNDER DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (1953 - 1960)
Interstate Highway Act (1956) | Authorized the building of a
national highway system. The new roads encouraged the development
of suburbs away from the city.
Rock N’ Roll | A form of music that became popular in the 1950s –
sometimes seen as rebellion against the conformity of the decade.
LIFE UNDER JOHN F. KENNEDY (1961 – 1963)
First Televised Presidential Debate | Kennedy and Richard Nixon were involved in the first
televised debate durign the Election of 1960.
Peace Corps | Kennedy’s program that addressed social and international
concerns.
National Aeronaotics and Space Administration (NASA) | The United
States’ space agency that sent Americans into outer Space. In 1969, the U.S.
landed the first man on the moon.
Kennedy Assassination (November 22nd, 1963) | JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
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LIFE UNDER LYNDON B. JOHNSON (1963 – 1968)
Great Society | LBJ’s program that addressed America’s social problems including health care,
civil rights, and urban decay.
The War on Poverty | LBJ’s agenda designed to help poor American’s.
This included the Head Start program and Job Corps Training.
Medicare (1965) | Federal program that provides health insurance to
American’s over the age of 65.
Medicaid (1965) | Program that provides health insurance for people
on welfare.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) | The federal department
responsible for the major housing programs in the U.S.
Johnson’s Civil Rights Record | Civil rights was a focal point during the Johnson
administration and many laws were passed during his Presidency including:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 | Made discrimination based on race, religion, or
national origin in public places illegal
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 | Eliminated literacy tests for voters
24th Amendment | Abolished the poll tax
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 | Prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of
housing
LIFE UNDER RICHARD NIXON (1969 – 1974)
26th Amendment | Gave voting rights to Americans 18 years and older, largely due to the fact
that 18 year-olds were eligible for the draft during the Vietnam War.
Nixon’s Trip to China | In 1972, Nixon visited China, a Communist
nation, to open up diplomatic and economic relations. Many
Americans saw the trip as successful.
Watergate | The Watergate scandal was a political scandal that
occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June
1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters
at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon
administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. The scandal
eventually led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, the President of
the United States, on August 9, 1974, the only resignation of a U.S. President. The scandal also
resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration of 43 people, including dozens of
Nixon's top administration officials. The investigative reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein for the Washington Post in 1972 opened up the scandal. Watergate and the Teapot
Dome scandal were the worst corruption scandals in U.S. Presidential history.
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15. The Cold War Era (1945-1975)
IMPORTANT TERMS AND EVENTS
The Cold War |Often dated from 1947 to 1991, was a
sustained state of political and military tension between
powers in the Western Bloc, dominated by the United States
with NATO among its allies, and powers in the Eastern Bloc,
dominated by the Soviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact.
This began after the success of their temporary wartime
alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and the US
as two superpowers with profound economic and political
differences. The Cold War was so named because the two
major powers—each possessing nuclear weapons and thereby threatened with mutual assured
destruction—never met in direct military combat. Instead, in their struggle for global influence
they engaged in ongoing psychological warfare and in regular indirect confrontations through
proxy wars. Cycles of relative calm would be followed by high tension, which could have led to
world war. The tensest times were during:
Berlin Blockade (1948–1949)
Korean War (1950–1953)
Suez Crisis (1956)
Berlin Crisis of 1961
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Vietnam War (1959–1975)
Yom Kippur War (1973)
Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979–1989)
SOVIET UNION (U.S.S.R) AND COMMUNISM
Communism | Is a revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless and
stateless social order structured upon common ownership
of the means of production, as well as a social, political
and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of
this social order. This movement, in its Marxist–Leninist
interpretations, significantly influenced the history of the
20th century, which saw intense rivalry between the
"socialist world" (socialist states ruled by communist
parties) and the "western world" (countries with capitalist
economies).
Government owns all property
One political party
Government controls the economy and wealth is distributed equally
Command Economy | An economy in which economic decisions (supply, prices, etc.) are
made by the government rather than by market forces (Cuba, Soviet Union)
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UNITED STATES AND FREE ENTERPRISE ECONOMY
Capitalism | Is an economic system based on the private
ownership of capital goods and the means of production,
with the creation of goods and services for profit. Elements
central to capitalism include capital accumulation,
competitive markets, and a price system.
Free Enterprise | A system by which people can conduct
business free of government control except for reasonable
regulations made for the public good. Free enterprise
advocates belief that the economy can regulate itself in a
freely competitive market through the relationship of supply and demand with a minimum of
governmental intervention.
Containment | The policy that the U.S. should prevent the Communism from spreading to
other nations
United Nations (1945) | International organization formed after WWII to serve as a
peacekeeper in world conflicts. The U.S. and Soviet Union used the U.N. to promote their
beliefs during the Cold War.
Truman Doctrine (1947) | U.S. policy that gave military and economic aid to countries
threatened by communism.
Marshall Plan (1948) | Program proposed by General George Marshall to help European
countries rebuild after WWII. The U.S. offered economic aid to the war-torn countries.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1959) | A military alliance formed between
the U.S., Canada, and ten western European countries.
Warsaw Pact (1955 – 1991) | As a mutual defense treaty between eight communist states
of Central and Eastern Europe in existence during the Cold War. It was a response to NATO.
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Berlin Airlift (June 1948 – May 1949) | U.S. operation that flew food and supplies into
West Berlin after the Soviet Union set up a blockade in 1948.
Korean War (1950 – 1953) | The Korean War was between the Republic of Korea (South
Korea), supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North
Korea), supported by the People's Republic of China. It was primarily the result of the political
division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at
the end of World War II. The Korean Peninsula was ruled by the Empire of Japan from 1910
until the end of World War II. Following the surrender
of the Empire of Japan in September 1945, American
administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th
parallel, with U.S. military forces occupying the
southern half and Soviet military forces occupying the
northern half.
The failure to hold free elections throughout the
Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division
between the two sides; the North established a
communist government, while the South established a
democratic government. The 38th parallel increasingly
became a political border between the two Korean
states. Although reunification negotiations continued
in the months preceding the war, tension intensified.
Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel
persisted. The situation escalated into open warfare
when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25
June 1950. In 1950, the Soviet Union boycotted the
United Nations Security Council, in protest at
representation of China by the Kuomintang/Republic
of China government, which had taken refuge in
Taiwan following defeat in the Chinese Civil War. In the absence of a dissenting voice from the
Soviet Union, who could have vetoed it, the United States and other countries passed a Security
Council resolution authorizing military intervention in Korea.
The United States of America provided 88% of the 341,000 international soldiers which aided
South Korean forces in repelling the invasion, with twenty other countries of the United Nations
offering assistance. Suffering severe casualties within the first two months, the defenders were
pushed back to a small area in the south of the Korean Peninsula, known as the Pusan
perimeter. A rapid U.N. counter-offensive then drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel
and almost to the Yalu River, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the
side of North Korea. Chinese intervention forced the Southern-allied forces to retreat behind the
38th Parallel. While not directly committing forces to the conflict, the Soviet Union provided
material aid to both the North Korean and Chinese armies. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953,
when the armistice agreement was signed. The agreement restored the border between the
Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0
km)-wide fortified buffer zone between the two Korean nations. Minor incidents continue to the
present day.
52
The Rosenberg’s (1951) | Were an American couple who were accused of Communism and
helping the Soviet Union obtain information about the atomic bomb. They were found guilty and
sentenced to death.
Nuclear Weapons | In 1952, the U.S. successfully detonated the first H-Bomb (Hydrogen), a
more powerful type of nuclear weapon than dropped on Japan. The Soviet Union exploded a
nuclear weapon in 1953. The arms race followed as both countries amassed more nuclear
weapons.
Nuclear Arms Race | The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear
warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies during the Cold War.
Mutually Assured Destruction | Doctrine that the use of nuclear weapons would result in
the complete destruction of both sides (attacker and defender).
Joseph McCarthy | Senator from Wisconsin who became famous by accusing people of being
Communists without providing evidence.
McCarthyism (1954) | McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty,
subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means "the practice of
making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict
dissent or political criticism. It was named after Joseph McCarthy.
Sputnik (1957) | The first man-made satellite to be launched into outer
space. Sputnik was a success for the Soviet Union and a symbolic success for
Communism. This caused the U.S. to increase interest in its space program
and a space race developed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Space Race | was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet
Union (USSR) and the United States (USA) for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957
and 1975, the Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space
exploration, which were seen as necessary for national security and symbolic of technological
and ideological superiority.
U-2 Incident (1960) | A U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union and the pilot,
Francis Gary Powers, was captured. This increased tension between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.
Berlin Wall | A wall built by the Soviets to separate East and West Berlin. The wall stood until
1989 when Communism collapsed.
Bay of Pigs (1964) | A failed invasion of Cuba planned by the U.S. government. The U.S.
used Cuban exiles to invade Cuba but they were soundly defeated by the Cuban military.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) | A standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union when it was
discovered that the Soviets were installing nuclear missiles pointed at the U.S. In May 1962
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba
to deter any future invasion attempts like the Bay of Pigs. After a tense 13-day standoff, the
U.S. pledged not to invade Cuba when the Soviet Union removed the missiles.
53
Vietnam War (1954 – 1975) | The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that
occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30
April 1975. At home, the American public was
deeply divided over U.S. involvement in the
war. This war was fought between North
Vietnam, supported by its communist allies,
and the government of South Vietnam,
supported by the United States and other
anti-communist countries. The Viet Cong, a
lightly armed South Vietnamese communist
common front directed by the North, largely
fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist
forces in the region. The Vietnam People's
Army (North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a
more conventional war, at times committing
large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and
overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces,
artillery, and airstrikes.
The U.S. government viewed involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover
of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese
government and Viet Cong viewed the conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against France,
backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state.
American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina beginning in 1950. U.S.
involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in
1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned international
borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. American involvement in the war peaked in
1968, at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were gradually withdrawn
as part of a policy known as Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all
parties in January 1973, fighting continued.
U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case–Church Amendment
passed by the U.S. Congress. The capture of Saigon by the Vietnam People's Army in April 1975
marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.
The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities. Approximately 1,000,000 Vietnamese
soldiers and civilians were killed. Some 200,000–300,000 Cambodians, 20,000–200,000
Laotians, and 58,220 U.S. service members were killed in the conflict.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964) | Congressional approval that gave LBJ the power to escalate
the war in Vietnam.
The Tet Offensive (1968) | Was a military campaign during the Vietnam War that was
launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnam against South
Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks that were
launched against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam,
during a period when no attacks were supposed to take place. It caught the U.S. by surprise
and when the American public learned about it on television, it challenged the belief that the
U.S. was winning the war.
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Domino Theory | The belief that if a nearby nation became communist, then surrounding
nations would do the same.
Flexible Response | Was a defense strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to
provide the U.S. alternatives to the policy of Massive Retaliation. Flexible response called for
mutual deterrence at strategic, tactical, and conventional levels, giving the United States the
capability to respond to aggression across the spectrum of warfare, not limited only to nuclear
arms.
Kent State Shooting (May 4th 1970) | Was a shooting that occurred
at Kent State University in the U.S. city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the
shooting of unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War by
the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. The guardsmen fired
67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and
wounding nine others
“Hawks” | Supporters of the Vietnam War who believed the U.S should increase military force
in order to win the war.
“Doves” | Critics of the Vietnam War who believed the U.S. should withdraw.
The Draft | During 1969 through 1972, the Selective Service used a lottery system to
determine the order in which to draft men for service in Vietnam. Many who received a low
number were drafted or chose to enlist. Others went to any extreme to avoid being sent to fight
in the unpopular war. People who avoided the draft were called “Draft Dodgers.” During the
early years of the war, men could avoid being drafted by enrolling in college.
Pentagon Papers (1971) | The Pentagon Papers were a classified United States Department
of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to
1967. The papers were first brought to the attention of the public on the front page of The New
York Times in 1971. The papers among other things, demonstrated that a series of U.S.
Presidents including the LBJ Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but
also to Congress, about the Vietnam War – especially that the U.S. was winning.
Escalation | Term used to describe the growing U.S. presence in Vietnam, including build-up
of U.S. troops.
War Powers Resolution of 1973) | A law passed in 1973 that limited the President’s right to
send troops into battle without Congressional approval.
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Cold War-Era Map
of the World
Master Sergeant Raul (Roy)
Perez Benavidez (August 5,
1935 – November 29, 1998)
was one of the Vietnam War’s
most decorated soldiers. He
received the Medal of Honor
for his actions in combat near
Lộc Ninh, South Vietnam on
May 2, 1968. He was born in
Lindenau near Cuero, Texas.
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16. The Civil Rights Movement
THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
Slavery | Bound in servitude as the property of another person. The slave trade brought slaves
from Africa to the colonies and the United States.
Abolition Movement | The movement to end slavery. Famous abolitionists included Frederick
Douglas, William Lloyd Garrison, and John Brown.
Emancipation Proclamation (1863) | During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln freed all
salves in the Confederate States. Slave states loyal to the Union were allowed to keep their
slaves.
CIVIL WAR/RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS
13th Amendment | Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except for a
crime
14th Amendment | Made former slaves citizens, gave equal protection under
the law for all citizens
15th Amendment | African-American males were given the right to vote
EARLY STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY
Segregation | The separation of races.
Jim Crow Laws | Southern race laws that encouraged segregation and discrimination against
African-Americans. They were state and local laws in
the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965.
They mandated de jure (by law) racial segregation in
all public facilities in Southern states of the former
Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but
equal" status for African Americans. The separation in
practice led to conditions for African Americans that
tended to be inferior to those provided for white
Americans, systematizing a number of economic,
educational and social disadvantages. De jure
segregation mainly applied to the Southern United States. Northern segregation was generally
de facto (by fact), with patterns of segregation in housing enforced by covenants, bank lending
practices, and job discrimination, including discriminatory union practices for decades.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) | Supreme Court decision that upheld segregation and said that
“separate but equal” facilities were legal.
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TECHNIQUES USES TO PREVENT VOTING
Poll taxes
Literacy tests
The Grandfather clause | Laws in southern states stated that all descendants of
men who were voters before 1867 did not have to meet the educational,
property, or tax requirements for voting then in existence
Racial violence with the Ku Klux Klan and others
EARLY AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS
W.E.B. Du Bois (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) | Early civil rights leader and cofounder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909.
After graduating from Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he
became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. He demanded
equality for African Americans.
Booker T. Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) | was an
African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to Republican presidents.
He was the dominant leader in the African-American community in the United
States from 1890 to 1915. He believed African-Americans should achieve
economic independence before social equality.
IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) | Refused to give up her seat to a
white passenger. After she was jailed, the Montgomery bus boycott was organized.
Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) | The first African-American
women elected to the U.S. house of representatives for New York in 1969.
Malcolm X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965)| Black Muslim leader who
argued for separation, not integration, and influenced the Black Power movement.
He later changed his views, but was assassinated in 1965.
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) | Civil Rights leader from the
1950s – 1960s who helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott to protest segregation. He
orgazized the March on Washington where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
He was assassinated n 1968. King advocated peaceful protest and passive resistance.
Cesar Chavez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) | Was an American
farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, who, with Dolores Huerta,
co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm
Workers union, UFW). He pushed for greater rights for migrant farm workers.
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IMPORTANT TERMS
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) | Was a landmark Supreme Court decision that
overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in which the Court declared state laws establishing
separate public schools for black and white students were unconstitutional.
The Little Rock Nine (1957) | A group of nine
African-American students that were integrated
into an all-white school in 1957 by order of
President Eisenhower despite the resistance of
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 | Made discrimination
based on race, religion, or national origin in public
places illegal and required employers to hire on
an equal opportunity basis.
Reynolds v. Sims (1964) | Supreme Court
ruling that state legislature districts had to be
roughly equal in population.
Affirmative Action | Sometimes known as positive discrimination, refers to policies that take
factors including race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin into
consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group in areas of employment, education,
and business. The term "affirmative action" was first used in the United States in Executive
Order 10925 and was signed by President John F. Kennedy on 6 March 1961; it was used to
promote actions that achieve non-discrimination. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted
Executive Order 11246 which required government employers to take "affirmative action" to
hire without regard to race, religion and national origin.
Civil Rights Protesters in the 1960s
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17. Science & Technology
in the 19th and 20th Centuries
TRANSPORTATION
Transcontinental Railroad | Completed in 1869, it helped connect the West and East coasts.
It made transportation of people and goods faster and helped jumpstart industry.
Automobile | The automobile transformed the American landscape. It made the biggest
impact on the economy from the 1920s until the 1970s.
Airplane | In 1903, the Wright Brothers conducted the first
successful flight of an airplane. Since then, the airplane has been
used for military purposes and the transportation of people and
goods.
Space Exploration | In 1961, the Soviets put the first man in
space. In 1969, the Americans put the first man on the moon.
Today, astronauts travel to the International Space Station on spacecraft. Several private
companies are working towards flying astronauts to space on private space craft.
COMMUNICATION AND ENTERTAINMENT
Telegraph (1844) | Invented by Samuel Morse, the telegraph was the first machine to enable
long-distance communications with electricity. The telegraph used the Morse code to translate
codes.
Telephone (1876) | Invented by Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone allowed people to
transmit spoken messages from long distances.
Radio | Radio is the wireless transmission of signals
through free space by electromagnetic radiation. It
allowed communication through wireless sound waves
making voice transmission possible. By the 1930s, the
radio was major source of entertainment, news, and
advertising.
Television | The television became popular in the 1950s.
By 1960, 90% of American households had a television.
The television became the main source of entertainment,
news, and advertising.
Computer | Computers were developed in the late 1940s and are the most important invention
of the last half of the 20th Century. Computers have transformed life at home, at the worklace,
and militarily.
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Internet | The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the
standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of
networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government
networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and
optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of information
resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web
(WWW) and the infrastructure to support email. Most traditional communications media
including print, telephone, music, film, and television are being reshaped or redefined by the
Internet. Newspaper, book and other print publishing are adapting to Web site technology, or
are reshaped into blogging and web feeds. The Internet has enabled and accelerated new
forms of human interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social
networking. Online shopping has boomed.
MEDICINE
Penicillin (1928) | Penicillin is an antibiotic used to cure or stop the spread of certain
infections. The development helped people survive infections that would normally kill.
Polio Vaccine (1955) | In the early 1950s, Jonas Salk invented the vaccine for polio, a
crippling disease. The most famous person affected by polio was President FDR.
AGRICULTURE
Barbed Wire | Used to fence in land on the Great Plains, eventually leading to the end of the
open frontier.
Windpump | Allowed dry arming by bringing up underground water to irrigate crops on the
Great Plains. They are often called windmills.
Steel Plow | It was a farm machine perfected by John Deer that allowed the plains settlers to
break up the tough plains soils for agriculture.
OTHER REVOLUTINARY DEVELOPMENTS
Steel | Steel is a light, flexible and rust-resistant metal that helped in the development of
structures such as bridges, cars, and skyscrapers.
Bessemer Steel Process | The technique used to convert iron-ore
into steel.
Electricity | In 1880, Thomas Edison invented and patented the first
light bulb. This helped change business. In the 1920s, electricity was
widespread in American homes and businesses, and household
appliances made life easier.
Petroleum-based products | These products are used in everyday
life and include gasoline, oil, plastics, and asphalt.
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Disclaimer
This document is not intended to be an all-inclusive outline of U.S. History, but rather a broad
overview for review and testing purposes. The information included in this document generally
follows the main ideas emphasized in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Title 19, Part II,
Chapter 113, Subchapter C, High School, §113.41, United States History Studies Since 1877
(One Credit), Beginning with School Year 2011-2012. This document is intended to be “open
source,” that is no claim to
copyright is made. It contains a
wide variety of hyperlinks,
artwork, content, and other
information gleaned off the
Internet and the Manor High
School U.S. History – Exit Level
11th Grade Study Guide. No
claim is made as to the
accuracy of the information
contained, however, being a
broad overview, most of it
would fall under common
knowledge and verifiable facts.
However, every reasonable
effort was made to verify the
general
accuracy
of
the
information contained. While
bias
takes
many
forms,
including bias by omission and
inclusion, every attempt was
made to provide a neutral interpretation of the facts presented. In the interest of brevity, much
was left out.
REFERENCES
This document is intended to be dynamic, changing, open source review guide for U.S. History.
It is something like a collage of different content found on the web. Therefore, many references
were included in the creation of this document. The following are a few of the prominent ones:
Manor High School. (Date?). U.S. History-Exit Level 11th Grade TAKS Study Guide. Unpublished.
U.S. Library of Congress. Online Archives. Available from http://www.loc.gov/index.html
Wikipedia. (2013). Available from http://www.wikipedia.org/
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