History Fact Sheet

American Revolution Start: Lexington, Massachusetts on the morning of April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. End: Battle of Yorktown in 1781 American Civil War Start: Fort Sumter 1861 End: Appomattox Court House April 5th, 1865 Amendments 1 Freedom of speech, religion, press, assemble, and petition 2 right to bear arm 3 - quartering soldiers 4 - search and seizers 5 due process, self-incrimination, and double jeopardy 6 fair and speedy trial and representative 7 trial by jury 8 excessive fines and bails and cruel and unusual punishment 9 unlisted constitutional rights 10 - Limits the powers of the federal government to those delegated to it by the Constitution 11 States cant be sued 12 revised presidential election process 13 No more slavery 14 Citizenship 15 voting rights (all men) 16 income tax 17 US senators elected by direct election 18 prohibition of alcohol 19 Women voting 20 - Fixes the dates of term commencements for Congress (January 3) and the President (January 20); known as the "lame duck amendment" 21- no more 18th amendment 22 2 presidential terms 23 - Provides for representation of Washington, D.C., in the Electoral College 24 no poll tax 25 - presidential succession 26 voting at 18 27 - Prevents laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until the beginning of the next session of Congress

Court Cases
Marbury v. Madison (1803, Marshall). The court established its role as the arbiter of the constitutionality of federal laws, the principle is known as judicial review Fletcher v. Peck (1810, Marshall). The decision stems from the Yazoo land cases, 1803, and upholds the sanctity of contracts. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819, Marshall). The Court ruled that states cannot tax the federal government, i.e. the Bank of the United States; the phrase "the power to tax is the power to destroy"; confirmed the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819, Marshall). New Hampshire had attempted to take over Dartmouth College by revising its colonial charter. The Court ruled that the charter was protected under the contract clause of the U. S. Constitution; upholds the sanctity of contracts. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824, Marshall). Clarified the commerce clause and affirmed Congressional power over interstate commerce. Johnson v. McIntosh (1823, Marshall). Established that Indian tribes had rights to tribal lands that preceded all other American law; only the federal government could take land from the tribes. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831, Marshall). "The conditions of the Indians in relation to the United States is perhaps unlike that of any two people in existence," Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, "their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian. . .(they were a) domestic dependent nation." Established a "trust relationship" with the tribes directly under federal authority. Worcester v. Georgia (1832, Marshall). Established tribal autonomy within their boundaries, i.e. the tribes were "distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries within which their authority is exclusive." Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837, Taney). The interests of the community are more important than the interests of business; the supremacy of societys interest over private interest. Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842). Declared that labor unions were lawful organizations and that the strike was a lawful weapon. Scott v. Sanford (1857, Taney). Speaking for a widely divided court, Chief Justice Taney ruled that Dred Scott was not a citizen and had no standing in court; Scotts residence in a free state and territory had not made him free since he returned to Missouri; Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in a territory (based on the 5th Amendment right of a person to be secure from seizure of property), thus voiding the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Ex parte Milligan (1866). Ruled that a civilian cannot be tried in military courts while civil courts are available. Civil Rights Cases of 1883. (A single decision on a group of cases with similar legal problems). Legalized segregation with regard to private property. Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (1886). Declared state-passed Granger laws that regulated interstate commerce unconstitutional. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Co. v. Minnesota (1890). Found that Granger law regulations were violations of the 5th Amendment right to property. Pollock v. The Farmers Loan and Trust Co. (1895). Declared the income tax under the Wilson-Gorman Tariff to be unconstitutional. U. S. v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895). Due to a narrow interpretation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Court undermined the authority of the federal government to act against monopolies. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Legalized segregation in publicly owned facilities on the basis of "separate but equal." "Insular Cases" / Downes v. Bidwell (1901). Confirmed the right of the federal government to place tariffs on good entering the U. S. From U. S. Territories on the grounds that "the Constitution does not follow the flag." Northern Securities Co. v. U. S. (1904). Re-established the authority of the federal government to fight monopolies under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Lochner v. New York (1905). Declared unconstitutional a New York act limiting the working hours of bakers due to a denial of the 14th Amendment rights. Muller v. Oregon (1908). First case to use the "Brandeis brief"; recognized a 10-hour work day for women laundry workers on the grounds of health and community concerns. Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918). Declared the Keating-Owen Act (a child labor act) unconstitutional on the grounds that it was an invasion of state authority. Schenck v. U. S. (1919). Unanimously upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 which declared that people who interfered with the war effort were subject to imprisonment; declared that the 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech was not absolute; free speech could be limited if its exercise presented a "clear and present danger." Adkins v. Childrens Hospital (1923). Declared unconstitutional a minimum wage law for women on the grounds that it denied women freedom of contract.

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History Fact Sheet

Schechter v. U. S. (1936). Sometimes called "the sick chicken case." Unanimously declared the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) unconstitutional on three grounds: that the act delegated legislative power to the executive; that there was a lack of constitutional authority for such legislation; and that it sought to regulate businesses that were wholly intrastate in character. Korematsu v. U. S. (1941). The court upheld the constitutionality of detention camps for Japanese-Americans during World War 2. Ex parte Endo (1944). The court forbade the internment of Japanese-Americans born in the U. S. (Nisei) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954, Warren). Unanimous decision declaring "separate but equal" unconstitutional. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963). Extends to the defendant the right of counsel in all state and federal criminal trials regardless of their ability to pay. Escobedo v. Illinois (1964). Ruled that a defendant must be allowed access to a lawyer before questioning by police. Miranda v. Arizona (1966). The court ruled that those subjected to in-custody interrogation be advised of their constitutional right to an attorney and their right to remain silent. Roe v. Wade (1973). The court legalized abortion by ruling that state laws could not restrict it during the first three months of pregnancy. Based on 4th Amendment rights of a person to be secure in their persons. U. S. v. Richard Nixon (1974). The court rejected Richard Nixons claim to an absolutely unqualified privilege against any judicial process. Bakke v. Regents of the University of California (1978). Ambiguous ruling by a badly divided court that dealt with affirmative action programs that used race as a basis of selecting participants. The court general upheld affirmative action, but with a 4/4/1 split, it was a very weak decision. Clinton v. Jones (1997). Rejecting an appeal by Pres. Clinton in a sexual harassment suit, the Court ruled that a sitting president did not have temporary immunity from a lawsuit for actions outside the realm of official duties. Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000). The Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America could dismiss a troop leader after learning he was gay, holding that the right to freedom of association outweighed a New Jersey anti - discrimination statute. Bush v. Gore (2000). The court ruled that manual recounts of presidential ballots in the Nov. 2000 election could not proceed because inconsistent evaluation standards in different counties violated the equal protection clause. In effect, the ruling meant Bush would win the election. Portuguese start voyages down the west coast of Africa Columbus arrives in Western Hemisphere Henry VII rules England Protestant reformation begins in England Reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Ireland conquered by England. Jamestown founded Tobacco made a profitable crop by John Rolfe First group of blacks brought to Virginia First legislative assembly meets in Virginia First Pilgrims in Plymouth Indian attacks in Virginia end hopes of becoming a bi-racial society Great Puritan migration to Massachusetts Bay Harvard founded Bacon's Rebellion Creation of Dominion of New England Glorious Revolution in England 250,000 settlers in English colonies First colonial newspaper Colonial economic life quickens Great Awakening French and Indian War Proclamation Line established Pontiac's Rebellion Sugar Act and Stamp Act Controversies Declaratory Act Townshend Act, New York Assembly suspended Boston Massacre Committees of Correspondence formed Boston Tea Party Coercive Acts, First Continental Congress convenes Revolution begins with fighting at Lexington and Concord Declaration of Independence British defeated at Saratoga French join the war against the British Battle of Yorktown Articles of Confederation ratified Peace signed in Paris Northwest Ordinance of 1784, 1785, and 1787 Annapolis Convention Shays' Rebellion Constitutional Convention Federalist Papers written Constitution ratified George Washington inaugurated as President of the United States French Revolution begins Capital placed on the Potomac River Citizen Genet Whiskey Rebellion Indians defeated at Fallen Timbers Jay Treaty, Pinckney Treaty Un-declared war with France

Miscellaneous Dates
1430 1492 1509-1547 1558-1603 1607 1612 1619 1620 1622 1629 1636 1676 1686 1688 1700 1704 1720s 1739-1744 1756-1763 1763 1763-1764 1764-1765 1766 1767 1770 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1781 1783 1784-1787 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1793 1794 1795 1798

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1800 1803 1807-1809 1808 1809 1812 1814 1820 1820s 1823 1828 1830s 1831 1832 1834 1835 1840s 1846 1848 1849 1850 Alien and Sedition Acts Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions Jefferson elected Louisiana Purchase Embargo in effect Slave trade ended Non-intercourse Act War with England Treaty of Ghent Missouri Compromise First labor unions formed Romanticism flourished in America Monroe Doctrine Andrew Jackson elected Railroad era begins Nat Turner's rebellion Liberator founded Nullification crisis Whig party formed Texas Revolution, Republic of Texas established Manifest Destiny Telegraph and railroads create a communications revolution Mexican War begins Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo ended Mexican War. U. S. acquires California and territory of New Mexico which includes present-day Nevada, Utah, Arizona, new Mexico, and part of Colorado. Gold discovered in California Compromise of 1850 California admitted to the union Fugitive Slave Law strengthened Gadsden Purchase Kansas-Nebraska Act Republican Party formed Violence in Kansas Senator Sumner attacked in the Senate Lincoln-Douglas Debates John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry Democratic Party splits apart Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States Lower South secedes Confederate States of America formed Civil War begins at Fort Sumter Upper South secedes North is defeated at the first battle of Bull Run Battle of Antietam Morill Tariff, Homestead Act Emancipation Proclamation issued (effective January 1, 1863) Grant's wilderness campaign Sherman takes Atlanta Sherman's "March to the Sea" Sherman takes South and North Carolina Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery Lincoln assassinated Andrew Johnson becomes President KKK formed First Reconstruction Act launches Radical Reconstruction Alaska purchased Fourteenth Amendment guarantees Civil Rights Johnson impeached Fifteenth Amendment forbids denial of vote on racial grounds Terrorism against blacks in South, flourishing of Darwinism and ideas of racial inferiority End of Reconstruction Battle of Little Big Horn Munn v. Illinois: Court rules states may regulate warehouse rates Stand Oil Trust formed Big Business emerge Railroad companies divide nation into four time zones Pendleton Civil Service Act Haymarket Riots Interstate Commerce Commission Davies Act Sherman Anti-Trust Act Massacre at Wounded Knee

1853 1854 1856 1858 1859 1860

1861

1862

1864

1865

1867 1868 1870 1870s 1876 1877 1879 1880s 1883 1886 1887 1890

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1890-1920 1893 1895 1898 1899 1900 1901 1904 1904-1914 1906 1912 1913 Sherman Silver Purchase Act Fifteen million "new" immigrants Repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act Pollock v Farmers Court strikes down income tax War with Spain Hawaii annexed Peace with Spain, U. S. receives Philippines, Samoa, Guam, and Puerto Rico Gold Standard Theodore Roosevelt becomes President Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine Panama Canal built Hepburn Act, Pure Food and Drug Act The Jungle Election of Woodrow Wilson Sixteen Amendment authorizing income tax ratified Seventeenth Amendment providing for direct elections of Senators ratified Federal Reserve System begun Wilson broadens segregation in civil service World War 1 begins U. S. troops occupy Vera Cruz U. S. troops sent to Haiti Lusitania sunk, U. S. intervened KKK revived Germany issues Sussex pledge Russian Revolution U. S. enters WW1 WW1 ends Treaty of Versailles Eighteenth Amendment prohibits alcoholic beverages Red Scare Nineteenth Amendment gives women the right to vote First radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh Washington Naval Conference Revenue Act slashes income tax on wealthy and corporations Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic Stock market crashes Franklin Roosevelt elected Bank holiday, "Hundred Days" NRA, AAA, FDIC, TVA, FERA, CCC Twentieth Amendment changes inauguration day to January Twenty-first Amendment repeals prohibition Hitler comes to power in Germany Gold standard terminated SEC Social Security Act, WP, NLRA CIO formed U. S. Begins neutrality legislation FDR re-elected FDR attempts to pack Supreme Court Japan invades China United States Housing Authority Fair labor Standards Act Hitler takes Austria, Munich Agreement World War 2 begins Roosevelt makes destroyers-for-bases deal with the British Fall of France First peacetime draft Lend-Lease, Battle of Britain, Hitler attacks USSR Atlantic Charter Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Allied year of disaster U. S. interns Japanese U. S. halts Japanese at Coral Sea and Midway Tide turns against Axis Russia wins at Stalingrad, unconditional surrender demanded Italy invaded France invaded Bombing of Japan begins Russia sweeps through Eastern Europe Philippines liberated Yalta FDR dies

1914 1915

1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1924 1927 1929 1932 1933

1934 1935

1936 1937 1938

1939 1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

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Germany surrenders Atom bombs End of WW 2 U. S. - USSR relations worsen "Iron Curtain" speech Cold War begins Marshall Plan Containment Berlin Airlift Taft-Hartley Military integrated NATO Russia explodes the bomb Communists control China Korean War Joseph McCarthy Twenty-second Amendment limits the President to two terms Dwight Eisenhower elected President Industries agree on guaranteed annual wage Brown v. Board of Education, Supreme Court strikes down "separate but equal." Vietnam divided Montgomery Bus Boycott, emergence of Martin Luther King, Jr. Sputnik Eisenhower Doctrine Little rock Crisis Civil Rights Act First U. S. satellite and ICBM NASA U. S. occupies Lebanon U-2 shot down over Russia Soviet and Chinese split John F. Kennedy elected President non-violent protests against segregation Freedom rides Twenty-third Amendment gives District of Columbia the right to vote for President Berlin crisis Peace Corps Bay of Pigs 16,000 in Vietnam University of Mississippi integrated Cuban Missile Crisis Civil Rights march on Washington JFK assassinated Feminine Mystique Free speech movement at Berkeley Beatles Twenty-fourth Amendment outlaws the poll tax War on poverty Gulf of Tonkin Great Society Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam Malcolm X assassinated Black Power France withdraws from NATO N. O. W. formed Detroit Riot Peace movement in the U. S. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther Kin murdered Tet Offensive Johnson won't seek re-election Richard Nixon elected President Vietnamization First man on the moon Nixon proposed New Federalism Massacre at Kent State EPA established Cambodian invasion creates anti-war turbulence SALT talks begin Nixon opens talks with China Wage-price controls My Lai massacre revealed Pentagon Papers published Intensive bombing of North Vietnam

1946 1947

1948-1949

1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957

1958

1960

1961

1962 1963

1964

1965

1966

1967 1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

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Watergate Nixon re-elected GNP over 1 trillion Cease-fire in Vietnam U. S. forces withdraw Spiro Agnew resigns Watergate tapes Nixon resigns, Ford's pardon Serious inflation and recession Vietnam falls 44% of married women employed Bicentennial Jimmy Carter elected President Human rights Camp David Accords Panama Canal treaties ratified SALT 2 completed U. S. recognizes china American Embassy in Iran occupied USSR invaded Afghanistan U. S. boycotts Olympics, withdraws from SALT 2 Reagan elected President Equal Rights Amendment dies CIA Organizes contra war against Nicaragua's Sandinista government 239 U.S. Marines die in Beirut terrorist attack U.S. Invasion of Grenada Reagan proposes Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) Geraldine Ferraro chosen as vice presidential running mate on Democratic ticket Reagan defeats Walter Mondale in landslide Congress bars military aid to contras William Rehnquist becomes chief justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia joins the Supreme Court Oliver North, John Poindexter, and other Iran-contra figures indicted Reagan signs INF Treaty in Moscow George Herbert Walker Bush elected President Anthony Kennedy joins the Supreme Court Oliver North convicted of Iran-contra role Massive Alaskan oil spill by Exxon Valdez U.S. Invasion of Panama; Manuel Noriega overthrown China's rulers crush prodemocracy movement Berlin Wall is opened Iraq invades Kuwait Recession begins Germany reunited; Soviet troops start withdrawal from Eastern Europe David H. Souter joins the Supreme Court Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) U.S. and U.S.S.R. sign treaty reducing strategic nuclear arms by 25% Soviet Republics declare independence Clarence Thomas joins the Supreme Court Recession recovery Supreme Court upholds Roe v. Wade Bill Clinton elected President Congress approves NAFTA treaty Recession Ends Ruth Bader Ginsberg joins the Supreme Court World Trade Center bombed Republican victory in Mid-term Elections Stephen G. Breyer joins Supreme Court Bill Clinton re - elected President Monica Lewinsky Scandal breaks Operation Desert Thunder House Judiciary Committee sends 4 articles of Impeachment Bill Clinton is Impeached by the United States House of Representatives Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate George W. Bush elected President of the United States Sen. Jeffords of Vermont leaves the Republican Party, thus upsetting Republican majority in the Senate World Trade Center, and Pentagon attacked by Terrorists, along with a plane crash in rural Pennsylvania Operation Enduring Freedom and War against Terrorism begins George W. Bush's approval ratings soar to 94% Bi - Partisan Education Reform Bill signed into law

1973

1974

1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980 1982 1983

1984

1986 1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994 1996 1998

1999 2000 2001

2002

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