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Many think that Christopher Columbus discovered America when actually 500 years prior, in 1000 AD, a viking named Leif Erikson came across what we now call Nova Scotia, Canada. He named it Vinland and we celebrate him on October 9th.

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He sailed the ocean blue in 1492....
The goal of the trip (that was financed by King & Queen of Spain) was to find a direct water route from Europe to Asia due west for trading purposes. Of course, that never happened instead, he came across the Americas and found natives living there and then began conquering and colonizing the west in 4 different voyages.

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King James 1 ruled England at the time and demanded that everyone pledge allegiance to the church of England. The Separatists did not like that so they were paid by the Virginia Company to create a settlement on the east coast of the Americas.
Set to land in Virginia, the Mayflower was over crowded, sailing through the stormy seas and ended up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on November 11, 1602. The first winter was brutal as only 53 passengers and half the crew survived the cold, malnutrition, and diseases. After they established the Plymouth Colony, they made an alliance with the native Americans who taught them how to hunt and farm. Together they shared the first Thanksgiving.

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Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

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Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

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This important document officially stated reasons for separation from Britain (reasons for war) and summarized the philosophy of liberty. Signed by 56 delegates.

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The Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 - September 5, 1783)

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The Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 - September 5, 1783)

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Caused by "taxation without representation" the unhappy colonists went to war against Britain. The colonists were forced to pay the debt from the French and Indian war along with excessive taxes such as the Stamp Act (basically everything made of paper was taxed), Sugar Act (taxes on sugar and molasses), and Townshend Act (Taxes on tea, paint, etc.)
The "shot heard around the world" was first fired in Massachusetts. In 1778, France ended up allying with the colonists which helped them to win the war and end it with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Previous to the Revolutionary War, an event known as the Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770 where a group of colonists got into a deadly battle with some British soldiers. It is unclear who started the fight but needless to say, neither side really won.

Another event known as the Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773 where another group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty, raided 3 British ships. They were protesting against the taxes on tea and other items by throwing the tea overboard.

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Held in 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania intended to revise the Articles of Confederation.
George Washington was president of the convention. James Madison is the "Father of the Constitution". Thomas Jefferson was away as an ambassador of Europe.

Virginia Plan
- Bicameral legislature (two houses - house and senate)
- Population-weighted representation
New Jersey Plan
- Each state gets 1 vote

>Compromise<
- Bicameral legislature
- Proportional representation in the house
- Equal representation in the senate
- 3/5 representation in the south

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Manifest Destiny is about the idea that America had a destiny in the west. It sparked progress in technology and gave America hope for growth and survival. Manifest Destiny was also a religious movement believing that "Providence" was guiding them to the new land.
Because of Manifest Destiny we ended up in a war against Mexico (Mexican-American War 1846-1848).
A large topic was whether the new states and territories would be slave-owning states which was a factor leading to the Civil War.

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To start, France (Napoleon Bonaparte) owned the Louisiana Territory and then in 1803 the United States purchased that land for approximately $15 million USD. The U.S. grew in physical size by 827,000 square miles west of the Mississippi River.
Before France had it, the land was given back to Spain by Great Britain but then Spain secretly gave it to France. President Thomas Jefferson found out about this and did not want France so close to the States so he bought the land from them.

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The War of 1812 began because of the impressment of America to join the British Navy and because of all the trade restrictions with France from Britain.
Of course the war was fought between the American and British troops.
On August 24, 1814 the British stormed the White House and all of D.C. to burn it.
At the time, Britain was also fighting France which decreased the number of troops fighting the Americans which was a major reason why America won the war.
The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent.

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Star Spangled Banner (September 14, 1814)

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Star Spangled Banner (September 14, 1814)

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The song "Star Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key in September of 1814, and is the U.S.A's national anthem.
The War of 1812 inspired this song.
Francis was a lawyer sent to a British ship to negotiate for American prisoners when he heard they were planning an attack on Baltimore, Maryland. He was not allowed to leave the ship until the battle was over.
On September 14, 1814 the British attacked Fort McHenry and Francis watched the fierce battle with anxiety that the British would win. As the battle drew into the night, he saw the sky turn red and saw the American Flag in the day's last light. The battle went through the night and because it was so dark, even the bombs and flares could not give enough light for Francis to see which flag was standing over the fort. At first light the next day, Francis was relieved to see the American Flag still standing.
It wasn't until 1889 when the Navy first adopted the song that it became popular and later President Woodrow Wilson declared that it would be played at every military event.
President Herbert Hoover signed the bill that made the Star Spangled Banner the national anthem on March 4, 1931

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Mexico had just gained their Independence from Spain when the Texas fought for their own independence in 1836. Texas applied to become part of the US twice but were denied both times for fear of angering Mexico.
One day in 1846, President James K. Polk heard that Mexicans had opened fire on "American" land and killed American citizens. The US declared war on Mexico and forcibly took Texas while also forcing the President of Mexico to sign a document that gave more than half of Mexico to the US making it possible for Manifest Destiny to be accomplished (The US stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The war ended by Mexico surrendering and signing the Treaty of Hidalgo which meant that any Mexican living on the new US land could become citizens of America and have their rights protected.

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The Civil War was fought between the northern states (Union who was anti-slavery) and the southern states (Confederates who was pro-slavery, led by Robert E. Lee whose farm was in Arlington now the National Cemetery) from 1861 - 1865.
The southern states wanted to succeed from the national Government because of these issues:
1. Slavery
2. Federal and State laws
3. Territorial expansion
4. States Rights
The north was losing the war at the beginning even though they had more factories, railroads, and people so President Lincoln fired all the generals in the Union and put Ulysses S. Grant in charge. That's when the war took a turn in favor of the north.
1863 - The Battle of Gettysburg the North won.
1865 - President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre.

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Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863)

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Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863)

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The Emancipation Proclamation was a law authored and signed by President Lincoln in order to emancipate (free) the slaves. He could bypass Congress's votes on it because he issued it under "President's War Powers".
This allowed the 13th amendment (abolish slavery) to be created.
Freed approx. 3 million slaves from rebellious states.
On November 19, 1863 President Lincoln delivered his famous "Gettysburg Address".
On April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee of the South surrendered, ending the war.

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Cuba and the US were at war with Spain.
Cuba wanted independence from Spain so they were fighting but Americans also lived in Cuba so America sent the U.S.S Maine to help the Americans.
On Feb 15, 1898 the U.S.S Maine was "mysteriously" blown up in the harbor at Havana so, America declares war on Spain right after they had declared war on us.
The "roughriders" were a group of men to make up the FIRST voluntary U.S. calvary.
The war ended with the Treaty of Paris which included the U.S. paying $20 million to Spain to control the Philippines and overseas in general and Cuba gained their freedom.

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The Progressive Era was all about improving the quality of life for many people especially minorities like women, the disabled or mentally ill and people of color.
Things that were done during this time were improving working conditions and making laws about child labor. A lot of the horrors of the workplace and the slums of town were shed light by "Muckrakers".
The amendments that were passed during this time were 16-19.
16- Income tax (1913)
17- Direct election of senators (1913)
18- Prohibition (1919) Amendment 21 ended prohibition (1933)
19- Women get the right to vote (1920)
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton started the National American Women's Suffrage Association in 1890.

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WWI began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife. Austria and Serbia were at war which then pulled various other countries into the war as well.
The U.S. joined the war in 1917 when a German U-boat sank a British Liner Lusitania with 120 Americans on it.
The two sides were called the Allied Forces (U.S., Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Japan) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire).
The war officially ended at the Paris Peace Conference with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty ended up failing because it forced Germany to clean up the mess and they eventually appointed Hitler as their leader because he said he would bring Germany back its glory.
The U.S. also proposed the League of Nations (which they did not join) to create a world that will never go to war again.

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The League of Nations was created to try and keep peace in the world so that we would never have another world war. It was developed after WWI and is the predecessor to the United Nations (U.N.).
It was first suggested by President Woodrow Wilson and was based on his "Fourteen Points" speech.
Even though a U.S. president created this league, the U.S. did not end up joining for fear that they would be unnecessarily dragged into international affairs.
The League of Nations failed during WWII because so much of the world had changed by then that the League was not prepared to withstand them.

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Previous to the Women's Rights movements, women were viewed as wives, mothers, homemakers, etc. Around the 1820's and 1830's women started going against that "norm".
In 1848 the Seneca Falls Convention was held by abolitionist activist groups. Some noteworthy women were Susan B. Anthony (President of the National American Women's Suffrage Association), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (gave a speech at the Seneca Falls Convention), Dorthea Dix, and Lucretia Mott.
The Declaration of Sentiments was created to lay out what the rights of a woman should be. Mostly to be as "free as men are free".
The National American Women's Suffrage Association's goal was to have a new amendment created that gave women the right to vote and that gave them equal privileges as men in society. They achieved their goal on August 18, 1920: the 19th amendment was ratified granting WHITE women the right to vote. Black women still had a while before they were given the same rights.

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The Great Depression(1929-1939)/Black Thursday (October 24, 1929)

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The Great Depression(1929-1939)/Black Thursday (October 24, 1929)

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The Great Depression started on October 24, 1929 AKA Black Thursday. On this day, the stock market had an incredible crash that made America lose billions of dollars. Before this, American's were thriving and investing more money than they had in the stock market. Banks were also using depositor funds in the stock market. When the stock market crashed, people started hearing rumors that the banks had no money. Because of that, EVERYONE ran to the banks to withdraw their deposits at a first come first served basis. Many people did not get their deposits and were forced to make changes to their lives. There was not enough food to go around due to the "Dust Bowl" in the Midwest which wiped out thousands of crops and animals. People were losing their jobs or part of their wages leading to loss of homes, separated families, and often death. It was a bleak 10 years but President Roosevelt brought back trust in the banking system by granting "depositors insurance" and federally backing many banks. The Grapes of Wrath was a controversial book that documented the experiences of Americans living during this time.

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The Holocaust (meaning whole burned in greek) was, in my opinion, the worst event in human history. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany at this time and he forced millions of Jews (and other people that opposed his leadership) into labor camps where he used poison gas to kill the majority of them. This was during the middle of WWII and for a long time, no one knew what was happening to the Jews even much of Hitlers soldiers didn't know what was happening.
The Holocaust came to an end when WWII ended in 1945.

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WWII began when Germany invaded Poland. Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles.
On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii causing the U.S. to declare war on Japan, Germany and Italy. This also caused Americans to fear Japanese-Americans, therefore, the Japanese living in America were put into internment camps.
June 6, 1944 was the battle of Normandy (D-Day) on the beaches of France to fight Germany.
August 6, 1945 America drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan forcing them to surrender.
The two sides were called the Allies (U.S. Great Britain, Russia, etc.) and the Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan).

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A large U.S. Naval Base was located at Pearl Harbor almost as a first defense against any threat that should come from the west.
Well, Japan wanted to expand their territory and take over the South Pacific countries but America didn't like that so we put trade embargos on them. But this made Japan very angry so they of course bombed us. The naval fleet at Pearl Harbor was set up for fighting battleships and because of such formation (all in a row) a Japanese airstrike was the perfect move. Japan was hoping this attack would get the U.S. off their back about expansion.
The devastation of the attack hit hard as the USS Arizona sank with 1,000 alive on the ship. Every other ship and plane were badly damaged.
The U.S. declared war on Japan (and officially entered WWII) the next day and President Roosevelt made a subtle but promising threat to Japan and the world that this would never happen again.

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As a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, the American government (President Roosevelt) put restrictions on and forced moving of Japanese-Americans or anyone with Japanese heritage living in the U.S. to labor camps for fear that they were spies or had other plans to hurt the U.S.
Though these camps were NOTHING like the ones in Germany, many people rioted arguing for equal rights and an apology from the government.
Once the war was over, the 'prisoners' were given $25 and a train ticket to return to where they were from. Some people were able to rebuild their lives but many of the older generations couldn't and became homeless.
Even though the war was over, there was much prejudice against Japanese people and it was hard for them to find work or friendship.

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The term "United Nations" originated from President Roosevelt on January 1, 1942. At the end of WWII the United Nations replaced the League of Nations as the group who promotes world peace. It began with 51 nations pledging to work together to fight against the Axis powers to keep world peace. Today there are 193 nations that are part of the U.N.
Objective: "...to maintain international peace, security, promote human rights, foster social and economic development, protect the environment, and provide humanitarian aide in case of famine, natural disaster and amend conflict."

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President Truman gave his speech March 12, 1947. This was the beginning of the Cold War with Russia.
Turkey needed aid from Russian invasion and Truman said the U.S. was the only country that could provide it. This made Russia upset. Russia's goal was world domination, slowly they would take over country by country and enforce communism on them. America's idea was that if they could take out Russia, they would be saving hundreds of countries in the future from communism.
Foreign Policy must be practiced as well which is, when do we draw the line at avoiding or staying out of another world affair?

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The Cold War was between the U.S. and the Soviet Union but it wasn't like traditional wars where troops were physically fighting but where each side was trying to beat the other in who had better weapons and militia.
It began with the Soviet Union's resentment for America's late entrance into WWII and our failure to recognize them in the international community.
We were in an arms race, that is, to see who had the most powerful weapons which turned out to be the atomic bomb. We first succeeded in that race of course with the terrible bombings of Japan but, Russia was close behind. Once they had developed their own nuclear weapons, Americans prepared by building bomb shelters and running drills that would hopefully protect them.
We were also in a race to the Moon. It was close with the Russians first sending off Sputnik then the U.S with Explorer I. Then Russia sent a man into space and not shortly after the U.S landed on the moon.
After a long time of MAD (mutually assured destruction) holding off Russia and the U.S from pressing the button, the USSR collapsed by its own failure of community farms and that type of Marxist/Communist lifestyle.

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North and South Korea were in a war, divided by the north accepting and practicing communism while the south refused it.
Because of the Truman Doctrine, America's policy was that they would aid any country who opposed communism but was being invaded by it. Such was the case with South Korea. America sent troops and supplies to fight for South Korea's freedom while the north was being supplied by China and Russia.
After 3 years of fighting the war reaches a stalemate, neither side can gain control of the other so, they call truce, America leaves and a small strip of land between the nations have no weapons at all.
In 2018 a formal peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war.

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Plessy V Ferguson was the case that said "separate but equal". Linda Brown took this to court. Her case made it all the way up to the Supreme Court but the justices were split and couldn't decided on what to do. One of the justices died and Earl Warren took his place. He was the catalyst that helped turn the case in the favor of Brown.
The Supreme Court justices eventually unanimously decided that segregation in schools was unconstitutional because it violated the 14th amendments equality clause.
Slowly but surely all schools in the U.S desegregated, allowing colored children to attend school with white children.

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Black people had been fighting for their rights for a while but it really was in full swing from 1954-1968 when Brown Vs. Board of Education ruled that the segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Schools were supposed to desegregate but instead protested the ruling by closing their doors to everyone.
In Little Rock, Arkansas 1957, nine black students had to be escorted to their new school by federal troops for their safety because the governor of Arkansas had state troops blocking the "Little Rock Nine" from entering for the first month of school. All the while people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were fighting on a much scarier level to end segregation and get black people their rights by using nonviolent means of protesting.
In 1965 Alabama State Troops physically harmed and badly injured a crowd of black protesters. This is known as "Bloody Sunday"

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A similar story to the Korean War, North Vietnam was invading South Vietnam and forcing communist policies on them.
Continuing to abide by the Truman Doctrine to stop the spread of communism, America goes over to South Vietnam to fight. This war, however, turns out nothing like the one in Korea.
It began at the Geneva Convention where Vietnam was split and later an anti-communist individual became leader of South Vietnam.
When America gets there, they decided to flood the jungle with a toxic gas so that the enemy cannot hide there. Then they do frequent air raids for 3 years straight on the north. And to dig the hole deeper, American troops started murdering Vietnamese civilians. As the U.S citizens find out about these events, many are disgusted by it, so much so that many Vietnam Veterans return their medals.
Finally Congress changes the policy to where the American troops are no longer fighting the battle for the nation but are still supplying and training native troops to fight. After America took the majority of their presence away, Vietnam had a truce and all was well until America was completely gone, then the North took over the South and are under communist rule.
The toll was great on the U.S. as the war divided American citizens, caused inflation to skyrocket, and changes the lives of soldiers forever.

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The Watergate Scandal (June 1972-August 1974)

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The Watergate Scandal (June 1972-August 1974)

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President Nixon wanted to be re-elected so badly that he had CIA members steal classified info from the Democratic Party and had them bug their phone lines.
Watergate is the name of the building in which this all took place. This scandal is the reason that people have so much distrust in their presidents and the election system.
When Nixon's men got caught he denied everything even though it was clear that he instigated the whole thing. But silly old America believed Nixon was innocent so they re-elected him. Nixon continued the dirt by having the CIA try to impede the FBI's investigation so that he wouldn't be discovered but journalists kept digging and eventually found a reliable source that said Nixon was involved.
Nixon stepped down from office to avoid impeachment and Vice President Gerald Ford became president who soon after pardoned Nixon, raising the question, "Is the president above the law?"

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This war began when President Saddam Hussein of Iraq ordered his troops to invade and occupy Kuwait. Saudia Arabia and Egypt asked the U.S for help.
January 17, 1991 the U.S started air raids and 42 day attacks this was called Operation Desert Storm.
Operation Desert Sabre was on February 24, 1991 when the U.S troops headed into Kuwait and southern Iraq. A few days later President Bush called a cease fire and the war was over.

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On this morning, 19 hijackers who were part of al Qaeda took over 4 westbound planes and flew them into their targets, the twin towers, the pentagon, and likely the white house or the capitol but was over took by the passengers and flew into the ground in Pennsylvania.
Osama Bin Laden said there many reasons why he headed the attack some of the main ones being oppression of Muslim beliefs and people in different parts of the world, trade sanctions and U.S presence in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks claimed about 3,000 lives that day and forced America to take greater security precautions, rebuild and band together. Memorials have been erected to remember those who lost their lives.

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The U.S found out that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam Hussein was a bad dude so they invaded Iraq to capture Hussein, and take control of their weapons.
On December 15, 2011 the U.S declared the end of war but stayed in Iraq to uphold a new government. It wasn't until 2021 when all American troops came home from Iraq.