United States History

Seventeenth Amendment

Allowed for the direct election of Senators

Pequot War (1937)

An armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the English colonists of the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their Native American allies (the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes). The war concluded with the decisive defeat of the Pequot. At the end, about seven hundred Pequots had been killed or taken into captivity. Hundreds of prisoners were sold into slavery to the West Indies; their survivors were dispersed as captives to the victorious tribes. The primary cause of the Pequot War was the struggle to control trade in today's SE CT. English efforts were to break the Dutch-Pequot control of the fur and wampum trade, while the Pequot attempted to maintain their political and economic dominance in the region.

Midwest climate

Cold, dry winters. Humid in summer, yet moist in SE part of region. Winters in MI and WI are considerably colder and summers milder than KY and MO.

High plains climate

Coldest winters and mildest summers of any US region. Climate is dry and very cold in winter and dry/mildly warm in summer.

Sixteenth Amendment

Established a federal income tax during the Progressive era.

Monroe Doctrine

Expressed during President Monroe's seventh address to Congress in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was the United States' way of preventing European countries from encroaching on the "backyard." Monroe stated, ". . . that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . ." This policy was the basis for the United States taking the strong stance against the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961.

Trail of tears

In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, placing federal observers at polls to ensure equal voting rights.

SE climate

Mild and moist. January average around 47 interior to 72 in Florida. Summer average in entire region is in low 90s, can be hot and humid with plentiful rainfall, although usually short and intense downpours rather than all day.

Between circa 1820 and 1840, the growing economy of the United States relied primarily on which of the following for transportation of goods between regions?

Privately built roads and railroads as well as water transport, including canals

Open Door Policy

Secretary of State John Hay first articulated the concept of the "Open Door" in China in a series of notes in 1899-1900. These Open Door Notes aimed to secure international agreement to the U.S. policy of promoting equal opportunity for international trade and commerce in China, and respect for China's administrative and territorial integrity. British and American policies toward China had long operated under similar principles, but once Hay put them into writing, the "Open Door" became the official U.S. policy towards the Far East in the first half of the 20th century.

NE climate

Temperate that averages about 15 degrees colder in Maine than in Virginia in the winter and 10 degrees warmer in VA than ME in summer. Summers in southern part tend to be humid with thunderstorms. Winters getter colder and snowier the farther north you are

Missouri Compromise of 1820

Tensions began to rise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions within the U.S. Congress and across the country. They reached a boiling point after Missouri's 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state, which threatened to upset the delicate balance between slave states and free states. To keep the peace, Congress orchestrated a two-part compromise, granting Missouri's request but also admitting Maine as a free state. It also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave regions that remained the law of the land until it was negated by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower, consisting of separatist Congregationalists who called themselves "Saints", and adventurers and tradesmen, most of whom were referred to by the Separatists as "Strangers". Later both groups were referred to as Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers. The Separatists were fleeing from religious persecution by King James of England. The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship on November 11, 1620 by the Pilgrims.

Powhatan Confederacy 1622-44

The Powhatan Confederacy was a cultural and political union of over 30 Algonquian speaking Native American tribes residing in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, Southern Maryland. It was formed to deal with the encroachment of settlers and loss of native land. There was a 22-year war between settlers and natives, which resulted in the adoption of the extermination policy towards natives.

The Spanish-American War (1895)

The Spanish-American war lasted only six weeks and resulted in a decisive victory for the United States. Future US president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt rose to national prominence due to his role in the conflict. The Cuban movement for independence from Spain in 1895 garnered considerable American support. When the USS Maine sank, the United States believed the tragedy was the result of Spanish sabotage and declared war on Spain. Although the United States promised it would not annex Cuba after victory, it did require Cuba to permit significant American intervention in Cuban affairs. As a result of the war, the United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines as territories.

Summer of Love

The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood Haight-Ashbury. Many were suspicious of the government, rejected consumerist values, and generally opposed the Vietnam War. A few were interested in politics; others were concerned more with art (music, painting, poetry in particular) or religious and meditative practices.

Progressive era

The period of US history from the 1890s to the 1920s is usually referred to as the Progressive Era, an era of intense social and political reform aimed at making progress toward a better society. Progressive Era reformers sought to harness the power of the federal government to eliminate unethical and unfair business practices, reduce corruption, and counteract the negative social effects of industrialization. Protections for workers and consumers were strengthened, and women finally achieved the right to vote.

Southeast

There is no official Census Bureau definition of the southeastern United States. However, the Association of American Geographers defines the southeastern United States as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The OSBO uses the same states, but includes Arkansas and Louisiana. Florida is most populated state, followed by Georgia and then North Carolina. The predominant culture of the Southeast has its origins with the settlement of the region by British colonists and African slaves in the 17th century, as well as large groups of English, Scots and Ulster-Scots, Germans, French, and Acadians in succeeding centuries. Many rivers irrigate this region including, the Potomac, James, Roanoke, Savannah, Chattahoochee, Mississippi and Red rivers.

Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919)

World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Negotiated among the Allied powers with little participation by Germany, its 15 parts and 440 articles reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations. After strict enforcement for five years, the French assented to the modification of important provisions. Germany agreed to pay reparations under the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan, but those plans were cancelled in 1932, and Hitler's rise to power and subsequent actions rendered moot the remaining terms of the treaty.

Great Society

political slogan used by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (served 1963-69) to identify his legislative program of national reform.

"Common Sense"

published in January 1776, argued that the time had come to sever colonial ties with England and that it was in the American interest to do so. This pamphlet sold 120,000 copies in the first three months and was instrumental in convincing many colonists that the time had come for independence.

The American Revolution

(1775-83) is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence. The conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting would not formally end until 1783.

Chief Justice John Marshall

(September 24, 1755 - July 6, 1835) was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1801-1835). His court opinions helped lay the basis for United States constitutional law and many say made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches. He also made it clear that federal law is superior to state law and that the decision of the Supreme Court is the last word. One of Marshall's most significant legacies was the idea of judicial review. A court with judicial review power may invalidate laws and decisions that are incompatible with a higher authority; an executive decision may be invalidated for being unlawful or a statute may be invalidated for violating the terms of a written constitution. Judicial review is one of the checks and balances in the separation of powers: the power of the judiciary to supervise the legislative and executive branches when the latter exceed their authority.

Scott v. Sandford 1857

1857 decision from Supreme Court that citizens possessed unlimited rights to hold slaves as property throughout the Union. The political culture following decision split the country and became extremely polarized. Made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

In the late nineteenth century, economic development in the southern United States was largely characterized by

A continued reliance on agriculture and related enterprises

High Chinese immigration to USA

A relatively large number of Chinese immigrated to the United States between the start of the California gold rush in 1849 and 1882, when federal law stopped their immigration.

1400s: 15th Century

At the beginning of the fifteenth century, many native peoples populate North America. They speak countless languages and follow diverse patterns that are adapted to, and vary with, their environments. In some areas—such as the Northeast—they begin to group into more centralized political structures, while in the South, with the weakening of the important Mississippian centers, populations disperse into smaller communities. The arrival of Europeans at the end of the century, followed by the coming of fishermen, fur traders, gold seekers, and colonists, alters Native American lifeways forever. Contacts between Europeans and Native Americans increase during the following century, particularly in the Northeast, where trade expands and the arts of the region begin a period of integration of foreign elements into objects of everyday use. Such integration, in one measure or another, occurs throughout the continent, the specifics varying with time, place, and groups involved. New diseases, too, arrive with the Europeans, beginning a cycle of decimation that will last until the nineteenth century.

Harriet Tubman

Born into slavery in Maryland, in 1849 Tubman her life of slavery and her husband for Pennsylvania, a free state at the time. In the late 1850s, Tubman found out her niece and her children were to be sold at a slave auction. Dressing as a man, Tubman travelled back to Baltimore, MD to rescue her family. Over the next few months, Tubman returned to Maryland to rescue more of her family members and soon after, she began helping other slaves to freedom in the north and Canada through the Underground Railroad. Through 1851 - 1860, Harriet made 19 trips into Maryland and other slave states. She brought more than 300 slaves to freedom. During the Civil War, Harriet became a nurse for the Union in the North, in addition to helping the army as a spy and a scout. After the Civil War, Tubman helped former slaves begin new lives and told her story about her journeys on the Underground Railroad. This included opening the Harriet Tubman Home in June 1908 in New York. She died in Auburn on March 10, 1913.

the process by which bureaucrats interpret the meaning of laws and decide how they should be implemented?

Bureaucrats in federal agencies interpret and implement laws through the rulemaking process.

Colonial period (1607-1765)

Colonial America spans the period from the first European contacts with the Native Americans to the Revolutionary War. This is a time of hardships and victories. Disease and environmental challenges decimated populations, leaving some early settlements to fail. The colonists who survived adapted to the regions where they settled, and laid the foundation for an economy dependent on slavery. During this period wars were fought, treaties made and the roots for a new republic were forged. At the start of this period, the new nation had less than 4 million people, but by the end of it had more than 8 million. 13 states had become 18 states. The USA had created a new government, with a written constitution and a bill of rights and it had extended its territory to the Pacific Ocean. It had established a working monetary system and a strong judiciary and had survived another war with England. American ships sailed all the way to China to trade. The country had its first system of roads and highways. American ingenuity had produced the steamboat, the cotton gin, and the world's first mechanized flour mill.

Three types of European colonies established in the Americas

Corporate, proprietary, royal

SW climate

Driest climate in the region, although CA coast gets more precipitation than interior areas and winter snows in mountains can be quite heavy. Winters are mild - with warmest in AZ and CA desert areas. Summers mild in San Fran 71 average to over 100 in Phoenix.

Nineteenth Amendment

Guaranteed women the right to vote. Ratified on August 18, 1920.

Marbury v. Madison

In Marbury v. Madison (1803) the Supreme Court announced for the first time the principle that a court may declare an act of Congress void if it is inconsistent with the Constitution. William Marbury had been appointed a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia in the final hours of the Adams administration. When James Madison, Thomas Jefferson's secretary of state, refused to deliver Marbury's commission, Marbury, joined by three other similarly situated appointees, petitioned for a writ of mandamus compelling delivery of the commissions. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for a unanimous Court, denied the petition and refused to issue the writ. Although he found that the petitioners were entitled to their commissions, he held that the Constitution did not give the Supreme Court the power to issue writs of mandamus. Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 provided that such writs might be issued, but that section of the act was inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore invalid. Although the immediate effect of the decision was to deny power to the Court, its long-run effect has been to increase the Court's power by establishing the rule that 'it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.' Since Marbury v. Madison the Supreme Court has been the final arbiter of the constitutionality of congressional legislation.

Daylight Savings in USA

In the US, "Fast Time", as it was called then, was first introduced in 1918. The initiative was sparked by Robert Garland, a Pittsburgh industrialist who had encountered the idea in the United Kingdom. Only 7 months later, DST was repealed. However, some cities, including Pittsburgh, Boston, and New York, continued to use it. Reintroduced by FDR in 1942 and has been used, though adapted, ever since. Down to states to decide whether they want to use the nationwide DST.

Southern climate

Includes TX, OK, AK, MS, LA - hot and humid in the summer with mild winters. Average high of 90s in summer; winter wider range from 47 in OK and 62 NOLA.

King Phillips War (1675-1676)

King Philip's War marked the last major effort by the Native Americans of southern New England to drive out the English settlers. With tensions spilling over following the collapse of trade partnerships and aggressive expansion of colonist territories, Pokunoket chief Metacom — a.k.a. King Philip — led a bloody uprising of Wampanoag, Nipmuck, Pocumtuck and Narragansett tribes. The fighting lasted fourteen months and destroyed twelve frontier towns, ending shortly after Metacom was captured and beheaded. Some of his supporters escaped to Canada, while others who surrendered were sold into slavery.

NW climate

Noticeable difference between coast and interior climate. Winters along Pacific coast are cool and wet, whereas interior are colder and drier, except for snow which can be heavy in the high elevations. Summers are generally dry/mild on coast - warmer/dry in the interior.

Marshall Plan

Officially known as the European Recovery Program (ERP), the Marshall Plan was intended to rebuild the economies and spirits of western Europe, primarily. Secretary of State George Marshall was convinced the key to restoration of political stability lay in the revitalization of national economies. Further he saw political stability in Western Europe as a key to blunting the advances of communism in that region. Sixteen nations, including Germany, became part of the program and shaped the assistance they required, state by state, with administrative and technical assistance provided through the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) of the United States. European nations received nearly $13 billion in aid, which initially resulted in shipments of food, staples, fuel and machinery from the United States and later resulted in investment in industrial capacity in Europe. Marshall Plan funding ended in 1951. Marshall Plan nations were assisted greatly in their economic recovery. From 1948 through 1952 European economies grew at an unprecedented rate. Trade relations led to the formation of the North Atlantic alliance. Economic prosperity led by coal and steel industries helped to shape what we know now as the European Union.

Which strategies did the Union attempt as it sought to defeat the South during the American Civil War?

One of Abraham Lincoln's first steps in pursuit of war against the Confederacy was to blockade ports to deny the government of Jefferson Davis the ability to raise money for the military through the sale of cotton. A second important strategy, part of what was known as the Anaconda plan, was a march through the Mississippi River valley to sever the Confederacy in two. Finally, throughout the war, both the Confederacy and the Union tried to capture their opponent's capitals, which were a mere 90 miles apart, an endeavor at which both sides nearly succeeded more than once.

Martin Luther-King (1/15/1929 - 4/4/1968)

Remembered as one of America's greatest heroes, Martin Luther-King helped bring about some of the most important changes in American history. At Crozer Theological Seminary, he learnt about the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi - how he encouraged his followers to peacefully disobey unfair laws, organized marches and other events to protest British rule in India. As a pastor, King had remarkable speaking skills and delivered thoughtful sermons - which helped him build a movement for social change in America. Despite being arrested over 30 times throughout his life and being subject to violent and/ or threating attacks from white people, King never backed down. After the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott which led to the Supreme Court declaring that segregation on buses was unconstitutional, King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and began giving speeches across the world. His example inspired others - such as the sit-in in Greensboro, NC (Feb 1960) where a group of black students sat in a "whites only" lunch counter and refused to leave until they received service. By 1963, an organized nationwide civil rights movement was in full swing across the United States - where people across the nation were working to desegregate their cities. In 1964, segregation was outlawed thanks to the Civil Rights Act, which was signed on July 2 by President Johnson. For his role in the movement for civil rights, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that year. From this, King focused on voting rights, spoke out against the Vietnam War, supported workers' rights and fought against poverty. King was murdered in Memphis, TN on April 4, '68.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Repealed the Missouri Compromise in 1854, established popular sovereignty (local choice) regarding slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, though both were north of the compromise line. Three years later, the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, on the ground that Congress was prohibited by the Fifth Amendment from depriving individuals of private property without due process of law.

Truman Doctrine

Set forth by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, the Truman Doctrine stated that the United States would provide economic and military support to Greece and Turkey to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. This policy marked one of the earliest attempts at containing communist expansion throughout Europe and the world.

Manifest Destiny

Slogan created in 1845 by journalist, John L. O'Sullivan: 'our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.' The term and the concept were taken up by those desiring to secure Oregon Territory, California, Mexican land in the Southwest, and, in the 1850s, Cuba. Controversial idea when created and still to this day. It represents an attitude, not a policy.

Diversity of Native American Tribes

Some were domestic while some were nomadic, most engaged in war, most were patriarchal but some were matriarchal, and languages, dwellings, and cultures varied from region to region.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination for reason of color, race, religion, or national origin in places of public accommodation covered by interstate commerce, that is, restaurants, hotels, motels, and theaters. Besides dealing with the desegregation of public schools, the act, in Title VII, forbade discrimination in employment. Title VII also prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 dealt with housing and real estate discrimination.

The main goal of the Civilian Conservation Corps was to provide...

The Civilian Conservation Corps was created during the Great Depression in 1933 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The program was designed to provide relief to unemployed young men and their families by offering jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources on state and federal government lands.

Eighteenth Amendment

The Eighteenth Amendment made the sale of alcohol illegal, which led to a burgeoning bootlegging industry in which the Mafia played a major role. The amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933.

Grandfather clauses

The original grandfather clauses were contained in new state constitutions and Jim Crow laws passed by white-dominated state legislatures from 1890 to 1908 in most of the Southern United States to restrict voter rolls and effectively prevent blacks, Mexican Americans (in Texas), and poor whites from voting.

The Embargo Act of 1807

The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general embargo enacted by the United States Congress against Great Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars. The embargo was imposed in response to violations of the United States neutrality, in which American merchantmen and their cargo were seized as contraband of war by the belligerent European navies. The British Royal Navy, in particular, resorted to impressment, forcing thousands of American seamen into service on their warships. This law halted all trade with other nations. Both England and France were interfering with American business and trade in Europe. Hundreds of American merchant ships were taken, along with the timber, cotton, or corn they were carrying. The embargo turned out to be impractical as a coercive measure and was a failure both diplomatically and economically. As implemented, the legislation inflicted devastating burdens on the U.S. economy and the American people. The issue vastly increased support for the Federalist Party and led to huge gains in their representation in Congress and in the electoral college in 1808. Thomas Jefferson's doctrinaire approach to enforcing the embargo violated a key Democratic-Republican precept: commitment to limited government. Sectional interests and individual liberties were violated by his authorization of heavy-handed enforcement by federal authorities. The embargo had the effect of simultaneously undermining American citizens' faith that their government could execute its own laws fairly, and strengthening the conviction among America's enemies that her republican form of government was inept and ineffectual. At the end of 15 months, the embargo was revoked on March 1, 1809, in the last days of Jefferson's presidency.

Founding Fathers

The Founding Fathers of the United States are those individuals of the Thirteen Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of the British Crown in word and deed and contributed to the establishment of the United States of America. Though more men were present during conception of the new nation, the following 10 are consistently viewed as the "Founding Fathers" --George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe and, of course, Benjamin Franklin. The term Founding Fathers is a plural noun, which in turn means that the face of the American Revolution is a group portrait. To be sure, Washington was primus inter pares within the founding generation, generally regarded, then and thereafter, as "the indispensable figure." But unlike subsequent revolutions in France, Russia, and China, where a single person came to embody the meaning of the revolutionary movement—Napoleon I, Vladimir Ilich Lenin/Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong—the revolutionary experience in the United States had multiple faces and multiple meanings that managed to coexist without ever devolving into a unitary embodiment of authority. If one of the distinctive contributions of the American political tradition was a pluralistic conception of governance, its primal source was the pluralistic character of the founding generation itself.

Lewis and Clark Expedition May 1804 - Sept 1806

The Lewis and Clark Expedition from May 1804 to September 1806, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States. It began near St. Louis, made its way westward, and passed through the continental divide to reach the Pacific coast. The Corps of Discovery comprised a selected group of U.S. Army volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend, Second Lieutenant William Clark. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired territory, to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area's plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local Native American tribes. With maps, sketches, and journals in hand, the expedition returned to St. Louis to report its findings to Jefferson.

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 added 823,00 square miles to the United States - which doubled the size of the United States at the time. When President Thomas Jefferson learnt that the Louisiana Territory might pass again from Spanish to French control, he worried what that might mean for American trade of the Mississippi River. New Orleans was vital to commerce - cotton, corn, tobacco and other goods - were sent down the Mississippi so they could be loaded onto ships for the East Coast and foreign ports. Jefferson sent James Monroe to join the French Ambassador to France to negotiate the sale of the territory with Napoleon. Wanting to focus on defeating the British, Napolean agreed to sell the entire Louisiana Territory for 60 million Francs ($15 million). The Louisiana territory included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The territory contained land that forms Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; a large portion of North Dakota; a large portion of South Dakota; the northeastern section of New Mexico; the northern portion of Texas; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; Louisiana west of the Mississippi River (plus New Orleans); and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Its non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves. The purchase was a massive extension of presidential power.

The Treaty of Paris (Signed September 3, 1783)

The Treaty of Paris was the official peace treaty between the United States and Britain that ended the American Revolutionary War. It was signed on September 3, 1783. The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784. King George III ratified the treaty on April 9, 1784. The first point, and most important to the Americans, was that Britain recognize the Thirteen Colonies to be free and independent states. That Britain no longer had any claim on the land or government. The second major point was that the boundaries of the United States allowed for western expansion. This would prove important later as the US continued to grow west all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Other points in the treaty had to do with agreements on fishing rights, debts, prisoners of war, access to the Mississippi River, and the property of Loyalists. Both sides wanted to protect their citizen's rights and possessions. Each of the points is called an article. Today the only article that is still in force is article 1, which recognizes the United States as an independent country.

Twenty-sixth Amendment

The Twenty-sixth Amendment was proposed by Congress on March 23, 1971, upon passage by the House of Representatives, the Senate having previously passed an identical resolution on March 10, 1971. It states: Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early-to-mid 19th century, and used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. At its peak, nearly 1,000 slaves per year escaped from slave-holding states using the Underground Railroad - more than 5,000 court cases for escaped slaves were recorded - many fewer than the natural increase of the enslaved population. The resulting economic impact was minuscule, but the psychological influence on slaveholders was immense. Under the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, officials from free states were required to assist slaveholders or their agents who recaptured runaway slaves, but citizens and governments of many free states ignored the law, and the Underground Railroad thrived. With heavy lobbying by Southern politicians, the Compromise of 1850 was passed by Congress after the Mexican-American War. It stipulated a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law; ostensibly, the compromise addressed regional problems by compelling officials of free states to assist slave catchers, granting them immunity to operate in free states. Because the law required sparse documentation to claim a person was a fugitive, slave catchers also kidnapped free blacks, especially children, and sold them into slavery. Southern politicians often exaggerated the number of escaped slaves and often blamed these escapes on Northerners interfering with Southern property rights. The law deprived suspected slaves of the right to defend themselves in court, making it difficult to prove free status. In a de facto bribe, judges were paid a higher fee ($10) for a decision that confirmed a suspect as a slave than for one ruling that the suspect was free ($5). Many Northerners who might have ignored slave issues in the South were confronted by local challenges that bound them to support slavery. This was a primary grievance cited by the Union during the American Civil War, and the perception that Northern States ignored the fugitive slave law was a major justification for secession

California Gold Rush

The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 sparked the Gold Rush, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figure of less than 1,000). A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852.

The enactment of the New Deal programs in the 1930s could best be characterized as reflecting a popular belief that

The federal government should provide assistance to people in times of economic distress The New Deal provided federal assistance to those in need and was popular largely because of the very high rates of unemployment during the Depression.

What allowed early factories in the United States to appear outside the mill towns of New England?

The innovation of the steam engine and the use of coal as a source of energy allowed for the expansion of manufacturing beyond the mill towns of New England and reduced the dependency on water-powered machinery.

Cuban Missile Crisis

This crisis is generally regarded as the moment when the Cold War came closest to escalating into a nuclear war. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. In a TV address on October 22, 1962, President John Kennedy (1917-63) notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. Following this news, many people feared the world was on the brink of nuclear war. However, disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's (1894-1971) offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.

Immigrants who settled in large cities in the United States between 1890 and 1914 primarily came from

Unlike the previous waves of German, Irish, or Chinese immigration to cities in the United States during the nineteenth century, the groups arriving from the period 1890 to 1914 were primarily from nations such as Italy, Poland, and Russia; southern and eastern Europe

War on Poverty

expansive social-welfare legislation introduced in the 1960s by the administration of U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson and intended to help end poverty in the United States. It was part of a larger legislative reform program, known as the Great Society, that Johnson hoped would make the United States a more equitable and just country. The War on Poverty and its associated reforms became a lightning rod for conservative criticism as well as an idealistic touchstone for liberals for generations. The rhetoric of the War on Poverty quickly found its way into law and the creation of new federal programs and agencies. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 was passed by Congress and became law in August 1964. The act created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), which provided funds for vocational training, created Job Corps to train youths in conservation camps and urban centres, and established VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), a domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps, and Head Start, an early-education program for children of poor families, among other programs. Conservatives frowned at the tremendous number of programs that President Johnson's Great Society sought to undertake in Johnson's "War on Poverty." Conservatives argued that the programs created a dependency among America's poor.

Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were all advocates for the claim that

women should be granted the same voting rights as men

Northeast

is a geographical region of the United States bordered to the north by Canada, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Southern United States, and to the west by the Midwestern United States. The Northeast is one of the four regions defined by the Census Bureau for the collection and analysis of statistics.The Census Bureau-defined region has a total area of 181,324 sq mi (469,630 km2) with 162,257 square miles (420,240 km2) of that being land mass. Though lacking a unified cultural identity, the Northeastern region is the nation's most economically developed, densely populated, and culturally diverse region.Of the nation's four census regions, the Northeast is the second most urban, with 85 percent of its population residing in urban areas, led by the West with 90 percent. The Census Bureau has defined the Northeast region as comprising nine states: from northeast to southwest, they are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The region is subdivided into New England (the six states east of New York) and the Mid-Atlantic States (New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania). Bordered by 2/5 Great Lakes - Erie and Ontario. All states in NE were amongst the original 13 colonies belonging to England and then Great Britain.

Midwest

is one of the four geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, occupying the northern central part of the United States of America. Although the region is often defined in a number of ways, the Census Bureau's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Midwest is divided by the Census Bureau into two divisions. The East North Central Division includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which are also part of the Great Lakes region. The West North Central Division includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, all of which, except for Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota, are located, at least partly, within the Great Plains region of the country. Major rivers in the region include, from east to west, the Ohio River, the Upper Mississippi River, and the Missouri River. Economically the region is balanced between heavy industry and agriculture (large sections of this land area make up the United States' Corn Belt), with finance and services such as medicine and education becoming increasingly important. Its central location makes it a transportation crossroads for river boats, railroads, autos, trucks and airplanes. Politically the region swings back and forth between the parties, and thus is heavily contested and often decisive in elections.

Form of resistance by slaves prior to Civil War

passive resistance, including breaking tools and deliberately slowing the pace of work.

Industrial Revolution

took place from the 18th to 19th centuries, was a period during which predominantly agrarian, rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. There were many major changes resulting from the rapid industrial development in the United States from 1860 through 1900. The most significant, however, was the attention to speed.By the early 20th century, the U.S. had become the world's leading industrial nation.

West

traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because European settlement in the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time. Prior to about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier. Since then, the frontier generally moved westward and eventually lands west of the Mississippi River came to be referred to as the West. Though no consensus exists, even among experts, for the definition of the West as a region, the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the 13 westernmost states includes the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin to the West Coast, and the outlying states of Hawaii and Alaska. The West contains several major biomes. It is known for arid to semi-arid plateaus and plains, particularly in the American Southwest - forested mountains, including the major ranges of the American Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains - the massive coastal shoreline of the American Pacific Coast - and the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. The Western U.S. is the largest region of the country, covering more than half the land area of the United States. It is also the most geographically diverse, incorporating geographic regions such as the, the temperate rainforests of the Northwest, the highest mountain ranges (including the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada, the Great Plains, and all of the desert areas located in the United States (the Mojave, Sonoran, Great Basin, and Chihuahua deserts). Given this expansive and diverse geography it is no wonder the region is difficult to specifically define. Mountain States: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. Pacific States: Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii. The entire Western region has also been strongly influenced by European, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Native Americans; it contains the largest number of minorities in the U.S. While most of the studies of racial dynamics in America such as riots in Los Angeles have been written about European and African Americans, in many cities in the West and California, Whites and Blacks together are less than half the population because of the preference for the region by Hispanics and Asians. African and European Americans, however, continue to wield a stronger political influence because of the lower rates of citizenship and voting among Asians and Hispanics. The West also contains much of the Native American population in the U.S., particularly in the large reservations in the Mountain and Desert States. The largest concentrations for African Americans in the West can be found in San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, Tacoma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, and Colorado Springs. The Western United States has a higher sex ratio (more males than females) than any other region in the United States.[6] Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when conservation became a national issue, agencies of the federal government own and manage vast areas of land. (The most important among these are the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management within the Interior Department, and the U.S. Forest Service within the Agriculture Department.) National parks are reserved for recreational activities such as fishing, camping, hiking, and boating, but other government lands also allow commercial activities like ranching, logging, and mining. In recent years, some local residents who earn their livelihoods on federal land have come into conflict with the land's managers, who are required to keep land use within environmentally acceptable limits.

Articles of Confederation

was the first written constitution of the United States. Stemming from wartime urgency, its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states before was it was ratified on March 1, 1781. Under these articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. Congress was also given the authority to make treaties and alliances, maintain armed forces and coin money. However, the central government lacked the ability to levy taxes and regulate commerce, issues that led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 for the creation of new federal laws.

Yalta Conference (Feb 1945)

was the second wartime meeting of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the conference, the three leaders agreed to demand Germany's unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-war world. Stalin also agreed to permit free elections in Eastern Europe and to enter the Asian war against Japan, for which he was promised the return of lands lost to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Although most of these agreements were initially kept secret, the revelations of the conference particulars became controversial after Soviet-American wartime cooperation degenerated into the Cold War.