Download Lesson 10: Important Historical Events 1800

Lesson 10: Important Historical Events 1800-2001
Objectives
1. Become familiar with the timeline of significant historical events of the past 200 hundred
years. Highlights include:
Louisiana Purchase and expansionism;
Slavery, the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation;
The Great Depression; and
The modern day civil rights movement and Martin Luther King.
2. Learn about various wars the United States has fought—who we fought and why.
3. Learn about the “Cold War.”
4. Learn about 9/11.
Vocabulary
Territory
A large area of land owned by the United States but not part of any state.
Expansionism
A continuing desire of the United States during the 1800s to expand its
borders westward, sometimes displacing Native Americans or going to
war with other countries.
Secede
To secede means to withdraw or separate from an organization. At the
time of the Civil War, the southern states wanted to secede or separate
from the Union to form their own country.
The Union
During the Civil War, this term was used to refer to the federal
government of the United States and was intended to reinforce that the
northern states represented all of the unified United States.
Confederacy
A short name for the Confederate States of America (the southern states)
after they seceded from the Union.
States Rights
This refers to the belief that individual states have the right to create their
own laws and that these laws cannot be overruled by federal laws created
by Congress. This term was used by the South prior to the Civil War to
legitimize the practice of slavery.
Emancipate
To emancipate means to free or to make free.
Suffrage
This refers to the right to vote or to the exercise of the right to vote. This
term is commonly used to refer to the social and political movement that
fought for women’s right to vote.
FDR
These are the initial of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only
president to be elected to four terms, FDR served through the Great
Depression and World War (WW) II.
Great
Depression
New Deal
This refers to the economic collapse triggered by the stock market “crash”
in October, 1929. Banks failed and many people lost their savings.
Unemployment was more than 25%. The Great Depression lasted until
just before we entered WW II.
The series of social and economic programs proposed by FDR to create
jobs and help get the United States out of the Great Depression. The
creation of Social Security was one of the major reforms of the New Deal.
The Allies
The 38th
Parallel
This refers to the United States, Britain, Russia, together with the many
other countries which fought against the Germans, Italians and Japanese in
WW II.
This is the geographic latitude that separates North and South Korea.
Civil Rights
This term refers to the movement that fought to end discrimination against
African Americans and women.
Cold War
This term refers to the war of words and political ideas between the United
States and the Soviet Union and China, often described as the struggle
between Capitalism and Democracy and Communism and dictatorship.
Iron Curtain
The metal fence an differences in political and economic beliefs
separating Western Europe from several countries in Eastern Europe
which came under Soviet control following WW II. These countries
included Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania and East
Germany.
Pentagon
This very large five sided building in Washington houses the US
Department of Defense.
Timeline of significant historical events 1803-2001
1803 – Louisiana Purchase - President Thomas Jefferson negotiates the purchase of the
Louisiana Territory from France (for $15 million), more than doubling the size of the United
States. The Louisiana Territory stretched the length of the Mississippi River allowing farmers to
ship their goods north and south without having to get permission from other countries.
Eventually Meriweather Lewis and Thomas Clark would lead an expedition to explore and map
the new territory.
1812-1815 – The War of 1812 – In response to the stopping and seizing of ships by England,
the US Congress declares war on England. Although the Capitol and White House were burned,
America won this second war with England, thus defending its independence. This was also the
war which inspired the writing of our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner.
1846-1848 - The Mexican-American War – Fought between the US and Mexico, this war was
one consequence of US expansionism. When it was over, Mexico agreed to give Texas and
parts of California to the US, thus extending our national borders to the Pacific Ocean.
1861-1865 – Civil War – This was also known as the War Between the States or between the
North and the South (or the Confederacy). Although mostly a war over the practice of slavery,
the South also viewed this as a war about “states rights.” The practice of slavery was also
defended as an economic necessity. Slaves allowed southern plantation and business owners to
have an unlimited source of free labor.
This was the only war in our history that put Americans against Americans and in some cases,
family member against family member. The war was fought in both the north and south but with
most of the battles in the south. When it was over, 3 million people had fought and more than
600,000 people had died.
The war began when confederate guns fired upon Union ships off the coast of Ft. Sumter, South
Carolina. It ended with General Robert E. Lee surrendering to General Ulysses S. Grant at the
Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia in April, 1865.
1863 – The Emancipation Proclamation – By issuing this proclamation, President Lincoln
declared all slaves living in southern states to be free.
April 15, 1865 – President Lincoln is assassinated just days after the end of the Civil War. He is
shot by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and supporter of the Confederacy.
December, 1865 – The 13th Amendment to the Constitution – For only the third time since the
passing of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution was amended so that the abolition of slavery was
now officially a part of the “Law of the Land.”
1870-1900 – Birth of the Industrial Society – Following the Civil War, settlers continued their
migration to the western territories, establishing many new towns and paving the way for
statehood. In the East, cities grew rapidly as more and more factories were built. Jobs were
plentiful and workers were in demand. It was at this time that the US began to change from an
agricultural society to an industrial society.
1898 – The Spanish American War – Some saw this war as another example of US
expansionism. With strategic and business interests in Cuba (just 90 miles from Florida), this
war was fought to help Cuba gain its independence from Spain. This war began after it was
reported that the Spanish attacked an American ship. In addition to helping Cuba gain its
independence, the United States acquired the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippine
Islands.
1914-1918 – World War I (WWI) – In 1914, a group of countries, including England, France
and Russia, went to war in Europe against Germany and Austria-Hungary. England and France
were both friends of the United States, and many people believed we should help them out. At
the same time, many others believed we should not be involved in a war so far away and one that
did not directly threaten us. President Woodrow Wilson, who was an educator before he held
public office, campaigned on the slogan, “He kept us out of war.”
In 1917 however, after American ships were fired upon by German submarines, Wilson asked
Congress to declare war. This war, also known as “The War to end all Wars,” officially ended in
1919 with the Treaty of Versailles (France) on November 11, at 11:11 a.m. That day is
commemorated in the holiday we now observe as Veterans Day.
1920 – the 19th Amendment to the Constitution – In the 1800’s Susan B.Anthony, a woman
raised in New York as a Quaker, began speaking out publicly against slavery. After the Civil
War, she spoke out for equal treatment of woman in the workplace and eventually for women
having the right to vote. She was a champion of the women’s suffrage movement. Fourteen
years after her death, the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote.
1929-1940 – The Great Depression – In late October, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange
stock marked ‘crashed.” As a result, many business, banks and employers went out of business.
This caused many people to become unemployed and homeless.
In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected President. His policies, known as the
New Deal, included the formation of Social Security, the building of bridges, roads and dams
and helped put many people back to work. The Depression however did not fully end until the
beginning of WW II when the country converted many of its factories and businesses into the
production of weapons, tanks, trucks and so many other things necessary to support the war
effort.
FDR was re-elected in 1936 and again in 1940. At that point, he became the only president
elected to a third term. In the midst of WW II in 1944, FDR was elected to a fourth term. He
died in office in April, 1945.
1941-1945 – World War II (WW II) – This war began in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland
after occupying other European countries that offered no resistance. At that time England and
France declared war on Germany.
On December 7, 1941, planes from Japan launched an early morning sneak attack on the US
naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This was the first time there had been an attack on US soil
since the War of 1812. Later that day, FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan and its
allies Germany and Italy, thus bringing the United States into WW II.
WW II was fought on several fronts, primarily in Europe (fighting Germany and Italy) and in the
south Pacific, against Japan. In California, there was much discrimination against Japanese and
Asian Americans, many of whom were American citizens. Many of them were put into
“internment camps,” or open air prison farms, where they remained until the end of the war.
After struggling to defeat the Germans, the Americans and their European allies (England,
France and the Soviet Union (Russia), eventually began to win the war. In June of 1944, the
Allies began to liberate Europe after landing on the beaches of Normandy, France. One year
later, Germany and Italy surrendered.
In August, 1945, the US dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Almost
250,000 people were killed. This kind of destruction and bomb had never been seen before.
Four days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered almost immediately
and WW II came to an end.
1950-1953 – the Korean Conflict (War) – This war is sometimes referred to as a “conflict”
because Congress never officially declared war. It was, however, a war with tens of thousands
of U.S. military casualties.
This began in 1950 when the Korean Army from the north, moved south of the 38th parallel
which divided North and South Korean territories. Northern Korea was operating under a
communist government while the southern Korean government was allied with the United States.
North Korea was also heavily supported by the communist government of Mainland China. The
Korean conflict was the first time a communist government was directly and forcibly confronting
a non-communist government. A truce in 1953, officially established the countries of North and
South Korea.
1945-1989 - The Cold War – This refers more to a war of words and ideas between the
dominant superpowers—the United States, England, France and the world’s democracies vs. the
Soviet Union (Russia), the Iron Curtain countries of Eastern Europe under Soviet control, the
People’s Republic of China and other countries run under the communist system of government.
Except for the conflicts in Vietnam and Korea, the Cold War was mostly based on using the
threat of nuclear bombs to enhance one’s political ideas. In October, 1962, the Cold War almost
turned hot with the Cuban Missile Crisis. That is when Soviet missiles with nuclear bombs were
assembled in Cuba and aimed at the US. After several tense days, the Soviets withdrew their
missiles, choosing not to risk the threat of nuclear war.
1959-1973 – the Vietnam Conflict (War) – There are many similarities between Vietnam and
Korea—communist north vs. non-communist south; two bloody wars but with no official
declaration of war; two wars very far away that posed no direct threat to the United States; two
wars that did not enjoy the popular support of WW II.
From 1959-1964 American support for South Vietnam was limited to a small number of
advisors. In 1964 however, President Lyndon Johnson began to commit tens of thousands of
American soldiers to this war in the Vietnamese jungles. By 1968, the US would have almost
half a million troops in South Vietnam. Before it was over in January, 1973, almost 60,000
United States soldiers were killed along with many more civilians and North Vietnamese
soldiers.
The Vietnam War became a rallying point for a new generation of American youth, who were
unwilling to support and fight in a war so far from home and for reasons not understood. The
anti-war movement became a powerful force for social change in the 1960s and early 1970s.
August, 1963 – The March on Washington – the Civil Rights Movement gained tremendous
momentum when a half million people came to Washington DC and marched on the Capitol.
This is where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
January/February, 1991 – The Persian Gulf War – After Iraq invaded the oil rich country of
Kuwait (and very close to Saudi Arabia, also oil rich), the United States sent troops into both
countries. After pushing the Iraqis out of Kuwait and well back into Iraq, a cease fire was
declared. The conflict lasted less than two months but again led many to question the idea of
going to war in a land so far away.
September 11, 2001 – For the first time since Pearl Harbor, America was attacked on its own
soil as Islamic extremists hijacked four different airplanes, crashing two into the World Trade
Center Towers and one into the Pentagon. A fourth plane, feared to be heading towards the
White House, went down in western Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to take the plane
back. This was the worst attack on American soil in our history and has given rise to the socalled “war on terrorism.”
Lesson 10 Citizenship Questions Quiz
Timeline of significant historical events 1803-2001
1. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? (71)
2. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s? (72)
3. Name the U.S. War between the North and the South. (73)
4. Name one problem that led to the Civil War. (74)
5. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did? (75)
6. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do? (76)
7. What did Susan B. Anthony do? (77)
8. Name one War fought by the United States in the 1900s. (78)
9. Who was the President during World War I? (79)
10. Who was president during the Great Depression and World War II? (80)
11. Who did the United States fight in World War II? (81)
12. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in? (82)
13. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States? (83)
14. What movement tried to end racial discrimination? (84)
15. What did Martin Luther King Jr. do? (85)
16. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States? (86)
17. What is the economic system in the United States? (11)
Discussion Questions
1. Can you think of examples when American Citizens of foreign origin have been
discriminated against?
2. What civil wars are you aware of that have been fought in other countries? Do you know
what they were fighting about?
3. Aside from the internment of Japanese Americans, can you think of other examples of people
being held captive in their own countries without the benefit of a trial?
4. Why might expansionism not be a good thing?