U.S.

History
Top 100
What every student should know
to pass a final exam.

1
 The Great West (1860-1896)
• The learner will evaluate the great
westward movement and assess the
impact of the agricultural revolution on the
nation.

2
Motivation for Westward Movement
• Government • Private Property
Incentives • Miners-49ers
• Pacific Railway Acts • Cattle ranchers
• Morrill Land-Grant Act • Farmers
• Homestead Act

3
Challenges of Westward Movement
• Lack of resources; wood and water
• Severe weather, bugs, floods, prairie fires,
dust storms, drought
• Conflicts with Native Americans

4
 Improvements in Agriculture
• Mechanized reaper – reduced labor force
• Steel plow – cut through dense sod
• Barbed wire – end of open range
• Windmills – powers irrigation systems

5
Transcontinental Railroad, 1869
• Connect east and west

6
 Dawes Act, 1887
• It tried to dissolve
Indian tribes by giving
land to individuals
• Assimilation policy

7
 Helen Hunt Jackson
• A muckraker whose book
exposed the unjust
manner in which the U.S.
government had treated
the Indians. Protested
the Dawes Severalty Act.

8
 Cross of Gold Speech, 1896
• William Jennings
Bryan
• said people must not
be "crucified on a
cross of gold“
• referring to the
Republican proposal
to eliminate silver
coinage and adopt a
strict gold standard. 9
 Becoming an Industrial Society
(1877-1900)
• The learner will describe innovations in
technology and business practices and
assess their impact on economic, political,
and social life in America.

10
 Influence of Big Business
• Business control over
government

11
 Laissez-faire
• A theory that the economy does better
without government intervention in
business.

12
 Credit Mobilier Scandal, 1872
• Union Pacific received a government
contract to build the transcontinental
railroad
• It "hired" Credit Mobilier to do the
actual construction, charging nearly
twice the actual cost of the project.
• The scheme was discovered and the
company tried to bribe Congress
with gifts of stock to stop the
investigation.
• This was the biggest bribery scandal
in U.S. history, and led to greater
public awareness of government
corruption. 13
Jane Addams’ Hull House, 1889
• worked to improve the lives of the working
class.
• founded Hull House in Chicago, the first
private social welfare agency in the U.S.
• Assisted the poor, combat juvenile
delinquency and help immigrants learn to
speak English.

14
 Social Darwinism
• Applied Darwin's
theory of natural
selection and "survival
of the fittest" to human
society -- the poor are
poor because they are
not as fit to survive.
• Used as an argument
against social reforms
to help the poor.
15
 Gospel of Wealth, 1889
• Andrew Carnegie was
an American millionaire
and philanthropist who
donated large sums of
money for public works.
• His book argued that
the wealthy have an
obligation to give
something back to
society.
16
 Labor Practices
• Collective Bargaining - Discussions held
between workers and their employers over
wages, hours, and conditions.
• Labor Unions – organization of workers
• Strikes – refusal to perform work until
demands are met.

17
 Labor Unions
• Knights of Labor • American
• noted as the first Federation of Labor
union of all workers. • 1886
• 869. • It is a federation of
different unions.

18
 Thomas Nast
• Newspaper cartoonist
who produced satirical
cartoons,
• invented "Uncle Sam"
and came up with the
elephant and the donkey
for the political parties.
He nearly brought down
Boss Tweed.
19
 Jacob Riis
• Early 1900's writer who exposed social
and political evils in the U.S. Muckraker
novel.

20
The emergence of the United States in
World Affairs (1890-1914)
• The learner will analyze causes and
effects of the United States emergence as
a world power.

21
 Alfred Mahan
• In order to protect overseas investments
America built the "great white fleet" that
had been requested by Captain Alfred
Thayer Mahan.

22
 Josiah Strong
• One of the leading
proponents of imperialism
was Minister Josiah Strong.
• it was our destiny to acquire
new lands.
• idea sounds a lot like
Manifest Destiny because it
is the same idea.

23
 Seward’s Folly, 1867
• Seward was the energetic supporter of the
Alaskan purchase and negotiator of the
deal
• often called "Seward's Folly" because
Alaska was seen as not fit for settlement
or farming.

24
 Annexation of Hawaii, 1898
• In July 1898, Congress
made Hawaii a U.S.
territory, for the use of
the islands as naval
ports.
• American businessmen
arranged the removal of
the queen from power

25
Causes of Spanish-American War,
1898
• An explosion crippled the warship Maine.
• The U.S. blamed Spain for the incident
and used it as an excuse to go to war with
Spain.
• Yellow Journalism
– Pulitzer
– Hearst

26
Open Door Policy, 1899
• assurance that other nations
would respect the principle of
equal trade opportunities in
the China market.

27
 Roosevelt Corollary, 1904
• U.S. would act as international policemen.
An addition to the Monroe Doctrine.

28
The Progressive Movement (1890-1914)

• The learner will analyze the economic,

political, and social reforms of the
Progressive Period.
 Causes of Progressivism
• Ineffectiveness of government
• Poor working conditions
• Emergence of Social Gospel
• Unequal distribution of wealth
• Immigration
• Urban poor
• Corruption
 Progressive Party Platform
• The platform called for
women's suffrage, recall of
judicial decisions, easier
amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, social welfare
legislation for women and
children, workers'
compensation, limited
injunctions in strikes, farm
relief, revision of banking to
assure an elastic currency.
 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 1911
• A fire in New York's
Triangle Shirtwaist
Company killed 146 people,
mostly women. The doors
were locked and the
windows were too high for
them to get to the ground.
Highlighted the poor
working conditions and led
to federal regulations to
protect workers.
 Muckrakers
• Journalists who
searched for and
publicized real or
alleged acts of
corruption of public
officials,
businessmen.
 Robert LaFollette
• Political leader who
believed in libertarian
reforms, he was a
major leader of the
Progressive movement
from Wisconsin.
 Federal Reserve Act, 1913
• Regulated banking to
help small banks stay
in business. A move
away from laissez-
faire policies, it was
passed by Wilson.
 Plessy v. Ferguson, 1886
• The Supreme Court ruled against Plessy,
saying that segregated facilities for whites
and blacks were legal as long as the
facilities were of equal quality.
 Disenfranchisement
• The Mississippi supreme court ruled that
poll taxes and literacy tests, which took
away blacks' right to vote (a practice
known as "disenfranchisement"), were
legal.
 Booker T. Washington
• Washington believed that African
Americans had to achieve economic
independence before civil rights. In 1881,
he founded the first formal school for
blacks, the Tuskegee Institute.
 W.E.B. DuBois
• DuBois believed that black
Americans had to demand
their social and civil rights
or else become
permanent victims of
racism. Helped found the
NAACP. He disagreed
with Booker T.
Washington's theories.
 New Marketing Techniques
• Advertising
• Mail order catalogs
• Consumerism
 The Great War and Its Aftermath
(1914-1930)
• The learner will analyze
United States
involvement in World
War I and the war’s
influence on
international affairs
during the 1920s.
 U.S. - Neutrality to Involvement
• May 1915 – U-boats sink the Lusitania
• Sept. 1915 – Germany promises not to sink unarmed ships
• March 1916 – Germany sinks the Sussex
• May 1916 – Germany promises not to sink unarmed ships
• Jan. 1917 – Zimmerman note is intercepted
• Feb. 1917 – Germany resumes unrestricted submarine
warfare
• April 1917 – U.S. declares war on Germany
 Russian Revolution, 1917
• Instituted a Communist
government lead by the
Bolshevik party under
Lenin. Lenin pulled
Russia out of WWI.
 Fourteen Points, 1918
• Wilson's idea that he wanted included in
the WWI peace treaty, including freedom
of the seas and the League of Nations.
 League of Nations, 1919
• Devised by President Wilson, it comprised
of delegates from many countries, the
U.S. did not join. It was designed to be
run by a council of the five largest
countries. It also included a provision for a
world court.
 Eugene V. Debs
• Debs repeatedly ran for president as a
socialist, he was imprisoned after he gave a
speech protesting WWI in violation of the
Sedition Act.
 Schenck v. U.S., 1919
• United States Supreme Court
decision concerning the
question of whether the
defendant possessed a First
Amendment right to free
speech against the draft during
World War I. During wartime,
utterances tolerable in
peacetime can be punished.
 Sacco and Vanzetti
• Sacco and Vanzetti were
Italian immigrants charged
with murdering a guard and
robbing a shoe factory.
• Convicted on circumstantial
evidence, many believed
they had been framed for
the crime because of their
anarchist and pro-union
activities.
 Prosperity and Depression (1919-
1939)
• The learner will appraise the economic,
social, and political changes of the decades
of “The Twenties” and “The Thirties.”
 Assembly Line
• Arrangement of equipment and workers in
which work passes from operation to
operation in a direct line until the product
is assembled.
 Impact of Mass Media
• Radio
• Marketing
• Advertising
• Jazz
• Silent & “talkie” films
• “The Jazz Singer”
• “Fireside Chats”
 Lost Generation
• Writer Gertrude Stein told Hemingway,
"You are all a lost generation," referring to
the many restless young writers who
gathered in Paris after WW I. They thought
the U.S. was materialistic and they
criticized conformity.
 Harlem Renaissance, Langston
Hughes
• Hughes was a gifted
writer who wrote
humorous poems,
stories, essays and
poetry. Harlem was a
center for black writers,
musicians, and
intellectuals.
 Flappers, 1920’s
• Women started wearing
short skirts and bobbed
hair, and had more
sexual freedom. They
began to abandon
traditional female roles
and take jobs usually
reserved for men.
 Fundamentalism
• Movement or attitude stressing strict and
literal adherence to a set of basic
principles.
 Scopes Trial, 1925
• Prosecution of school teacher, John
Scopes, for violation of a Tennessee law
forbidding public schools from teaching
about evolution. Scopes was convicted and
fined $100, but the trial started a shift of
public opinion away from Fundamentalism.
 Stock Market Crash, 1929
• On October 24, 1929, panic selling occurred as
investors realized the stock boom had been an over
inflated bubble. Margin investors were being
decimated as every stock holder tried to liquidate.
Millionaire margin investors became bankrupt
instantly, as the stock market crashed on October
28 and 29.
 Dust Bowl, 1930s
• A series of catastrophic dust storms caused
major ecological and agricultural damage to
American prairie lands in the 1930s, caused
by decades of inappropriate farming
techniques.
 Bonus Army, 1932
• Facing the financial crisis of
the Depression, WW I
veterans asked Congress
to pay their retirement
bonuses early. Congress
considered a bill, but it was
not approved. Angry
veterans marched on
Washington, D.C., and
Hoover called in the army.
 Bank Failures
• During the first 10 months of 1930, 744
banks failed. In all, 9,000 banks failed during
the decade of the 1930s. By 1933,
depositors saw $140 billion disappear
through bank failures.
 Causes of Great Depression
• Much debt, speculation,
buying on margin, over-
production and under-
consuming, the stock
market crashed.
Germany's default on
reparations caused
European bank failures,
which spread to the U.S.
 New Deal Agencies-
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Works Progress Administration (WPA)
• Public Works Administration (PWA)
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
• Main GOAL: EMPLOYMENY
 Long Term Effects of New Deal
Programs
• Expansion of the role of federal
government
• Government responsibility for the welfare
of its citizens
• Expanding government role in the
economy
• Deficit spending
 World War II and the Beginning of
the Cold War (1930s-1963)
• The learner will analyze
United States
involvement in World
War II and the war’s
influence on
international affairs in
following decades.
 Lend-lease Act, 1941
• Authorized the president to transfer, lend,
or lease any article of defense equipment
to any government whose defense was
deemed vital to the defense of the U.S.
Allowed the U.S. to send supplies and
ammunition to the Allies.
 Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
• Surprise attack by Japanese on U.S.
Pacific Fleet harbored in Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii. The U.S. declared war on Japan
and Germany, entering World War II.
 D-Day, June 6, 1944
• Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops
(the largest invasion force in history)
stormed the beaches at Normandy and
began the process of re-taking France.
The turning point of World War II.
 War Posters
• The radio, print, and
film industries
reminded Americans
that they were in a
struggle between
dictatorship and
democracy.
 Rosie the Riveter
• Women found jobs,
especially in heavy
industry, that fell
outside the traditional
realm of women’s work.
 Korematsu v. U.S., 1944
• Upheld the U.S. government's decision to
put Japanese-Americans in internment
camps during World War II.
 G.I. Bill, 1944
• Servicemen's
Readjustment Act, also
called the G.I. Bill of
Rights. Granted $13
billion in aid for former
servicemen, ranging
from educational grants
to housing and other
services to assist with
the readjustment to
society.
 Marshall Plan, 1947
• Introduced by Secretary
of State George G.
Marshall, he proposed
massive economic aid to
Europe to revitalize the
European economies
after WWII and help
prevent the spread of
Communism.
 Korean War, 1950
• On June 25, 1950, the
Communist North invaded
the Democratic South. The
United Nations created an
international army, lead by
the U.S. to fight for the
South and China joined the
war on the side of North
Korea. This was the first
time the United Nations had
intervened militarily.
 Post-war Organizations
• United Nations, 1945 - Founded after WWII by
victorious Allied Powers to intervene in conflicts
between nations and avoid war.
• NATO, 1949 - The member nations agreed to fight
for each other if attacked. It is an international
military force.
• SEATO, 1954 - Alliance of non-Communist Asian
nations modeled after NATO. Unlike NATO, it didn't
establish a military force.
 Containment, George F. Keenan
• A member of the State Department, he felt
that the best way to keep Communism out
of Europe was to confront the Russians
wherever they tried to spread their power.
 Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
• After discovering the
Russians were building
nuclear missile launch
sites in Cuba, the U.S.
announced a quarantine of
Cuba. After six days of
confrontation that almost
led to nuclear war,
Khrushchev agreed to
dismantle the launch sites.
 Recovery, Prosperity, and Turmoil
(1945-1980)
• The learner will trace economic, political,
and social developments and assess their
significance for the lives of Americans
during this time period.
 McCarthyism, 1950-1953
• Senator who began sensational
campaign by asserting that the
U.S. State Department had
been infiltrated by Communists.
He accused the Army of
covering up foreign espionage.
The Army-McCarthy Hearings
made McCarthy look so foolish
that further investigations were
halted.
 Domino Theory, 1957
• It stated that if one country fell to
Communism, it would undermine another
and that one would fall, producing a
domino effect.
 Sputnik, 1957
• The first artificial
satellite sent into
space, launched by
the Soviets.
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
• The Supreme Court
overruled Plessy v.
Ferguson, declared that
racially segregated
facilities are inherently
unequal and ordered all
public schools
desegregated.
 Martin Luther King, Jr.
• The leader of the Civil Rights Movement
and President of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, promoted non-
violent protest.
Malcolm X
• Malcolm X expressed the
feelings of many African
American activists who
had grown impatient with
King’s nonviolent
methods. Malcolm X
preached a message of
self-reliance and self-
determination.
 Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan,
1963
• Depicted how difficult a
woman's life is because
she doesn't think about
herself, only her family. It
said that middle-class
society stifled women and
didn't let them use their
talents. Attacked the "cult
of domesticity."
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964
• After a U.S. Navy ship
reportedly was fired on,
Congress passed this
resolution which gave the
president power to send
troops to Vietnam to
protect against further
North Vietnamese
aggression.
 My Lai Incident, 1968
• An American unit
destroyed the village of
My Lai, killing many
women and children.
The incident was not
revealed to the public
until 20 months later.
 War Powers Act, 1973
• Gave any president the power to go to war
under certain circumstances, but required
that he could only do so for 90 days before
being required to officially bring the matter
before Congress.
 Détente
• A lessening of tensions between U.S. and
Soviet Union and China. Besides disarming
missiles to insure a lasting peace between
superpowers, Nixon pressed for trade
relations and a limited military budget.
 Watergate Scandal, 1972-1974
• In 1972, five men were arrested for breaking
into the Democratic National Committee's
executive quarters in the Watergate Hotel.
Nixon admitted to complicity in the burglary.
In 1974, as Nixon's impeachment began, he
resigned.
 Cesar Chavez
• Non-violent leader of the United Farm
Workers from 1963-1970. Organized
laborers in California and in the Southwest to
strike against fruit and vegetable growers.
Unionized Mexican-American farm workers.
 The United States since the
Vietnam War (1973-present)
• The learner will identify and analyze trends
in domestic and foreign affairs of the
United States during this time period.
 Camp David Accords, 1978
• Peace talks between Egypt and Israel
mediated by President Carter.
 Title IX, 1972
• "No person in the United
States shall, on the basis of
sex, be excluded from
participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any
education program or activity
receiving Federal financial
assistance."
 Affirmative Action
• Policy that gives special consideration to
women and minorities to make up for past
discrimination.

• Attacked by the New Right as reverse

discrimination
 Regents of the University of
California v. Bakke, 1978
• Barred colleges from admitting students
solely on the basis of race, but allowed
them to include race along with other
considerations when deciding which
students to admit.
 North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), 1992
• The North American Free Trade Area is the
trade bloc created by the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), whose
members are Canada, Mexico and the
United States.
 Election of 2000
• In the presidential
election of 2000
Republican George W.
Bush was elected over
Democrat Al Gore in one
of the closest and most
controversial presidential
elections in the history of
the United States.
 September 11, 2001
• The September 11, 2001
attacks consisted of a
series of coordinated
terrorist suicide attacks
by Islamic extremists on
the United States on
September 11, 2001.
 New US Foreign Policy
• War on Terror
– Pre-emptive strikes on any nation that
harbors terrorist cells and will not cooperate
with international peacekeeping efforts
 No Child Left Behind, 2002 (ESEA)
• President Bush signed
the No Child Left Behind
Act. The law helps
schools improve by
focusing on accountability
for results, freedom for
states and communities,
proven education
methods, and choices for
parents.