Turning Points in US History

APUSH Overview

Colonial Period 1607-1763

• Jamestown-1607

• First African Americans, 1619

• French and Indian War 1754-1763

1763-Treaty of Paris ends French/Indian

War • No foreign enemies

• Brits need $ to pay war costsnew TAXES

• Begins clash that leads to Revolution

1776-Dec of Independence

• First colonies to demand independence

• Must win war to make real

• “all men created equal” challenge for future generations

Jefferson

Paine

American Revolution

• 1775-1783

• American Victory or British loss?

• Inevitable?

• Was it really a revolution? Why?

1789-Ratification of Constitution

• No more Articles…

• Federalism

• Separation of powers

• Foundation of growth

• 3/5’s clause

1800-Revolution of 1800

• Jefferson’s victory ushers out Federalists (Business), for Democrat-Republicans (agrarian) w/o violence

• Midnight appoints of Adams’ sets in motion Marbury v. Madison

1803-Louisiana Purchase/Marbury v. Madison

Purchase • Jefferson moves towards ‘loose’

interpretation of constitution • Expands size of union, downfall of

Federalists, control MS Marbury

• Judicial Review • Supreme Court=presidency and Congress

Treaty of Ghent (ends War 1812)

• War increased nationalism-though no war victory

• Encourages American industry and westward movement (Indians lose British allies who may have helped resistance)

• Strengthens isolationist mood-no foreign war for a century

1848-Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (ends Mexican War)

• US gains more land

• Revives debate over slavery

• Lasting resentment towards US in Latin America

1861-Civil War

• Slavery cannot be settled peacefully-“all men created equal?”

• Lincoln expands power of presidency

1865-Civil War ends/Lincoln Assassinated

• (Easy) Presidential Reconstruction gives way to Radical Reconstruction

• Congressional Republicans expand political power (and freedom?) by expanding opportunities for Blacks, before southerners (Democrats all) return

• Increase tension between N and S (all men created equal?)

1877-End of Reconstruction

• Pres. Hayes (R) agrees to remove troops from South

• End of Reconstruction

• Troops leave Jim Crow enters

1914-Great War

• Progressive reform gives way to military readiness

• Great MigrationHarlem Renaissance

1919 Treaty of Versailles

• Failure of US to join League isolationism

• Split between President (D) and Congress (R)

1929-Stock Market Crash

• Signaled start of global Depression

• FDR’s New Deal introduces welfare state-move away from laizze-faire

1941-Pearl Harbor

• US enters global conflict w/ Axis powers

• Military spending ends Depression in US

• Expansion of presidential powers

• Size and scope of federal government expands significantly

1945-end of WWII

• Atomic Age

• Cold War

• Beginning of the end of Colonialism

• US/USSR as sole world powers

1954

• Brown v. Board of Education Plessy overturned…separate but equal

• Direct US involvement in Vietnam begins when French lose Dienbienphu

• 1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott, emergence of King, SCLC

"My activism did not spring from being black...The racial injustice that was present in this country during my youth was a challenge to my belief in the oneness of the human family." - Bayard Rustin

1960-First sit-ins in Greensboro, NC

• Election of JFK (D)

• Rising expectations for African Americans

• Executive branch pushed by Civil Rights movement

1964-Passage of Civil Rights Act

• Outlawed segregation in public facilities

• Banned discriminatory practices in hiring, voting and education

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution-allowing president to use force in Vietnam (blank check)

1968-King and RFK killed

• 500,000 soldiers in Vietnam

• Tet Offensive

• Streets and campuses in a boil

• Nixon (R) electedbeginning of conservative resurgence

1973 Paris Peace Conference

• US out of Vietnam

• Congress passes War Powers Act-attempt to reign in executive branch ability to enter an undeclared war

1989-Berlin Wall dismantled

• Solidarity wins in Poland

• Eastern European economies collapse-signal end of USSR in 1991

• New era in US diplomatic relations w/ world. Uni-polar world?

1994-Republicans win both houses of Congress

• Voters express dissatisfaction w/ long-standing welfare legislation

• Contract with America

• Return of power to state governments (states’ rights?)

September 11, 2001

• World Trade Center and Pentagon attacked

• War in Afghanistan

• Axis of Evil

• 2003: War in Iraq

• Is this a Turning Point in History