STUDENTS GUIDE for American Civilization & Culture

Columbus Voyages Italian-born explorer Christopher Columbus broke with tradition in 1492, sailing west in an attempt to find a shorter route to India and China. Columbus based his calculations for the journey on Biblical scripture, specifically the books of Esdras in Apocrypha. On August 3, 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on the first of several voyages to what he later called the ''New World''. On October 12, 1492, two worlds unknown to each other met for the first time on a small island in the Caribbean Sea. While on a voyage for Spain in search of a direct sea route from Europe to Asia, Columbus unintentionally discovered Americas. However, in four separate voyages to the Caribbean from 1492 to 1504, he remained convinced that he had found the lands that Marco Polo reached in his overland travels to China at the end of 13th century. To Columbus it was only a matter of time before a passage was found through the Caribbean islands to the fabled cities of Asia. He made four voyages from Spain to lands he later called the ''New World''. On his first voyage, he explored parts of Cuba and Hispania in 1492 and 1493. From 1493 to 1496, he continued to explore those regions and also ventured to Puerto Rico and Jamaica. On his third voyage, from 1498 to 1500 he sailed along the northern coast of South America. On his final journey in 1502, Columbus explored the coast of Central America. Columbus was not the only European to reach Americas Vikings from Scandinavia had briefly settled on the North American coast, in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in the late 10thor early 11th century. However, Columbus' explorations had a profound impact on the world. They led directly to the opening of the western hemisphere to European colonization; to large-scale exchange of plants, animals, cultures, and ideas between the two worlds; and on a darker note, to the deaths of millions of indigenous American peoples from war, forced labor, and disease. Roanoke and Jamestown Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement in America, explored in 1584 by English navigators Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, who were subsidized by Sir Walter Raleigh. Amadas and Barlowe found Roanoke Island between Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound in present day North Carolina and considered it suitable for a colony. Raleigh obtained a grant land from Queen Elizabeth I and sent out a colonizing expedition under Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Ralph Lane. They landed at Roanoke in August 1585, but encountered hostility from native Americans and suffered from serious food shortages. They abandoned the colony and returned to England with Sir Francis Drake. Raleigh organized a second expedition in 1587 commanded by John White. Unlike Grenville and Lane, whose primary interest in the Americas was the discovery of riches, Raleigh and White sought a permanent English colony in America. More than 100 colonists, including several families, accompanied White. They had intended to land on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, but the sailors refused to take them farther than Roanoke Island, where they arrived in July 1587. On August 18, White's daughter Eleanor, wife of Ananias Dare, gave birth to the first English child born in America. Roanoke colony was situated in the colony of Virginia, which was named in honor of Elizabeth, the virgin queen, and so the baby was named Virginia Dare. Soon after his granddaughter's birth, White returned to England for additional supplies. Fighting between England and Spain delayed him, however, and when he returned to Roanoke in 1590, there was no sign of the colonists. All White found were the letters ''CRO'' carved in a tree near the beach and the word ''Croatoan'' on the post of a palisade. The colonists' houses were also gone. Opinions on the fate of the ''lost colony'' of Roanoke vary widely. Disease, Native American attacks, or even a hurricane may have killed the settlers, but no evidence that they actually died on Roanoke Island has been found. Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, began as a business venture that failed. The Virginia Company of London, a joint stock company organized much like a modern corporation, sent 104 colonists to Chesapeake Bay in 1607. The company wanted to repeat the success of the Spanish: the colonists were to look for gold and silver, for a passage to Asia, and for other discoveries that would quickly reward investors. If the work was heavy, the colonists were to force indigenous people to help them. The composition of the group sent to Jamestown reflected the company's expectations for life in the colony. Colonists included silversmiths, goldsmiths, even a perfumer, and far too many gentlemen who were unprepared for rugged colonial life. The colonists found a defensible spot on low ground and named it Jamestown. None of their plans worked out, and the settlers began to die of dysentery and typhoid fever. At the end of the first year, only about one third remained alive. The Native Americans were troublesome, too. Organized into the large and powerful Powhatan confederacy, they grew tired of demands for food and launched a war against the settlers that continued intermittently from 1609 to 1614. In 1629 the Virginia Company reorganized. The colony gave up the search for quick profits and turned to growing tobacco. Under the new plan, colonists received 50 acres from the company for paying a person's passage to Virginia. The new settlers were indentured servants who agreed to work off the price of their passage. Thus settlers who could afford it received land and labor at the same time. In 1624 king James I of England made Virginia the first royal colony. He revoked the Virginia Company's charter and appointed a royal governor and council, and established a House of Burgesses elected by the settlers. Despite fights with the Powhatan confederacy, the Virginia colony began to prosper. It had found a cash crop, a source of labor, and a stable government.

Why Colonists left England

English migrants came to America for two main reasons. The first reason was tied to the English Reformation. King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in the 1530s. Through a series of political and religious twists and turns, the new Church of England, radical Protestants, later called Puritans, wanted to suppress the remaining Catholic forms. Within the Church of England, radical Protestants, later called Puritans, wanted to suppress the remaining Catholic forms. The fortunes of the Puritans depended on the religious preferences of English monarchs. Queen Mary I, who ruled from 1553 to 1558, was a committed Catholic who tried to roll back the tide of religious change; she executed hundreds of Protestants and chased many more into exile: Her successor, Elizabeth I, invited the exiles back and tried to resolve differences within the English church. The Stuart kings who followed her, James I and Charles I, again persecuted Puritans. As a result, Puritans became willing to immigrate to America. The second reason for English colonization was that land in England had become scarce. The population of England doubled from 1530 to 1680. In the same years, many of Englands largest landholders evicted tenants from their lands, fenced the lands, and raised sheep for the expanding wool trade. The result was a growing number of young, underemployed, and often desperate English men and women. It was from their ranks that colonizers recruited most of the English population of the mainland colonies. From New Amsterdam to New York The Dutch East India Company established the first permanent European settlement in what is now New York City in 1624. The city of New Amsterdam, as it was soon called, operated as part of the colony administered by the Dutch West India Company. It was moderately successful and attracted settlers and merchants from a variety of nations. At least 18 different languages were being spoken in the city as early as 1650. Germans, Swiss, Moravians, French, English, and Portuguese joined the Dutch, and New Amsterdam quickly became a cosmopolitan center. The Dutch period ended in 1664 when a European conflict between the Dutch and English spread to the American colonies. A fleet of four English warships and 500 professional soldiers arrived in the harbor on August 18. Stuyvesant wanted to fight and he prepared Fort Amsterdam for battle. But the citizens, surrender. The English renamed the community New York, in honor of the Duke of York, the brother of Kind Charles II of Britain. The city then gave its name to the entire colony. Wars with Indians and their Reasons The English and French fought frequently: in King Williams War (1689-1967; known in Europe as the War of the League of Augsburg), in Queen Annes War (1702-1713; the War of the Spanish Succession), in King Georges War (1744-1748; War of the Austrian Succession), and in the French and Indian War (the Seven Years War), which began in America in 1754 and ended in Europe in 1763 (the name Seven Years War isnt related to its duration). In all of these wars, the French had the assistance of most Native Americans of the interior. During the course of these wars, the English gained strength in relation to their French and Spanish rivals, and in the French and Indian War, with strong help from colonial militias, they expelled the French from mainland North America. In 1763 Britain became the lone European imperial power in North America between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River. (The Spanish, allies of the French, gave up Florida but took over French claims in New Orleans and in lands west of the Mississippi as compensation). Within 20 years the British would lose most of what they had gained. The Currency Act, the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts The Currency Act of 1764 prohibited the colonial assemblies from using paper money as legal tender for payment of debts. Another revenue measure, the Sugar Act of 1764, lowered the duties imposed by the much-evaded Molasses Act of 1733, but sought to insure that the new tariffs would be diligently collected. The law placed tighter administrative controls on coastal shipping. More important, it provided that violations of the Sugar Act would be prosecuted in the vice-admiralty courts, in which cases were heard by British-appointed judges whit no local juries. Another innovation was the Quartering Act of 1765, which obliged the colonial assemblies to provide housing and supplies for British troops. In addition, wellpublicized discussions werw taking place in London about taxing the colpnies for the support of British troops in Canada and in frontier outpost. Reform of the empire was clearly underway. Coming after more than 50 years of salutary neglect, the new regulations alarmed the colonists. Then, in 1765 the British government headed by George Grenville acted to raise revenue by levying, for the first time, a direct tax n the colonists. The Stamp Act required them to buy and place revenue stamps on all official legal documents, deeds, newspapers, pamphlets, dice, and playing cards. Colonist strongly opposed the Stamp Act. In part, the colonists were alarmed by the economic costs imposed on them by the reforms. Ordinary people had always been lightly raxed in America and did not want their money to be used to support British officials. Townshend Acts,, measures passed by the British Parliament in 1767, affecting the American colonies. The first measure called for suspension of the New York Assembly, thus penalizing it for not complying with a law, enacted two years earlied, requiring the colonies to provide adequate quartering of British troops in the New World. The second measure, called the

Revenue Act, imposed customs duties on colonial imports of glass, red and white lead, paints, paper, and tea. A subsequent legislative act established commissioners in the colonies to administer the customs services and to make sure the duties were collected. The Townshend Acts were tremendously unpopular in America. In response to a published criticism of the measures, the British crown dissolved the Massachusetts legislature in 4768. Subsequently, the Boston Massacre occurred in March 1770, when British troops fired on America demonstrators. These events brought the colonies closer to revolution Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance Articles of Confederation is the first constitution of the United States. The articles were in force from March 1, 1781 to June 21, 1788, when the present Constitution of the United States went into effect. The Articles were written in 1777 during the early part of the American Revolution by a committee of Second Continental Congress of the 13 colonies. The head of the committee, John Dickinson, presented a reported a report on the proposed articles to the Congress in July 12, 1776, cigh days after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Dickinson initially proposed a strong central government with control over the western lands, equal representation for the states, and the power to levy taxes. Because of their experience with Great Britain, the 13 states feared a powerful central government; consequently, they changed Dickinson's proposed articles drastically before they sent them to all the states for ratification in November 1777. the Continental Congress had been careful to give the states as much independence as possible and to specify the limited functions of the federal government. Despite these precautions, several years passed before all the states ratified the articles. The delay resulted from preoccupation with the revolution and form disagreements among the states. These disagreements included quarrels over boundary lines, conflicting decisions by state courts, differing tariff laws, and trade restrictions between states. The small states wanted equal representation with the large states in Congress, and the large states were afraid they would have to pay an excessive amount of money to support the federal government. In addition, the states disagreed over control of the western territories. The states with no frontier borders wanted the government to control the sale of these territories so that all the states profited. On the other hand, the states bordering the frontier wanted to control as much land as they could. Eventually the states agreed to give control of all western lands to the federal government, paving the way for final ratification of the articles on March 1, 1781. Northwest territory, in American history, region that constitutes the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wwisconsin, and the eastern part of Minnesota, a total area of about 688,621 sq km (about 265,878 sq mi). The area was ceded by Britain to the United States in 1783. on the basis of their early characters, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut claimed the greater part of it. The other states refused to recognize these claims and insisted that the territory should belong to the country as a whole. New York ceded its claims in 1781; Virginia, in 1784; Massachusetts, in 1785; and Connecticut, in 1786. all of these colonies, however, reserved for special purposes certain lands from the cession. Virginia retained a considerable area in southern Ohio known as the Virginia Military district, and Connecticut retained approximately 1,315,230 hectares (3,250,000), known as the Western Reserve, in northern Ohio. The Connecticut Compromise On the key question of congressional representation, the convention eventually agreed on a compromise between Edmund Randolphs Virginia Plan and William Paterson's New Jersey Plan. Randolph proposed that members of both houses of Congress be apportioned (divided) according to the population of each state. Because the population in three states alone Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts made up nearly half the country, Randolphs plan would have given these populous states of the nation. Patterson's New Jersey Plan favored small states, giving all states equal representation in a one-chamber Congress regardless of population. Under the New Jersey Plan, the more numerous small states could unify against the larger ones. Not until mid-July did the delegates adopt a compromise originally put forth by Rofes Sherman of Connecticut: Let the states have it both ways. Give the states an equal voice in the upper house, the senate, and representation apportioned by population in the lower house, the House of Representatives. This bargain became known as the Great Compromise. The Bill of Rights Because the Constitution of the United States granted the federal government so much power, as compared with the earlier Articles of confederation, several states demanded a list of amendments to guarantee individual rights against intrusion by the federal government. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights; the amendments protect such rights as freedom of speech (First Amendment), right against unlawful search and seizure(Fourth Amendment), and the right to a public criminal trial by jury (sixth Amendment)

The Power and Function of Supreme Court The Supreme Court is the only court mentioned by name in the Constitution. Article III establishes the court as the top of the country's judicial branch, making it equal to the executive branch (the president) and the legislative branch (Congress). Article III also gives the court jurisdiction (authority to review) over broad classes of cases. In 1803 in Mabury v. Madison the court interpreted its own authority, ruling that the Constitution gave it the power to strike down unconstitutional acts of government that is. Laws or other government conduct that violate the Constitution. This decision created the power of judicial review, an essential component in the American system of checks and balances, a system that is intended to safeguard Americans from government abuses of power. Article III gives the Supreme Court two types of jurisdiction. The Court's most important jurisdiction is appellate, the power to hear appeals of cases decided in lower federal courts and state supreme courts. Under Article III, the Court's appellate jurisdiction extends to even classes of cases: (1) cases arising under the Constitution, federal law, or treaty; (2) those involving admiralty and maritime matters; (3) those in which the United States itself is a party; (4) cases between two or more states; (5) cases between citizens of different states or foreign countries; (6) cases between a state and individuals or foreign countries; and (7) cases between citizens of the same state if they are disputing ownership of land given by different states. The first category is the most important. In these cases, part of the federal question jurisdiction, the Court issues its most far-reaching constitutional decisions and other major rulings involving federal law. The Supreme Court has a far les important authority known as its original jurisdiction, which includes cases that have not been previously heard in other courts. This gives the court the power to sit as a trial court to hear cases affecting ambassadors and other foreign officials, and in cases which a state is a over most these cases to the lower courts. Only disputes between two or more states must be heard initially in the Supreme Court. In 1997 and 1998, for example, it heard dispute between New York and New Jersey over the ownership of Ellis Island. Congress cannot alter the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction, but Article III of the Constitution gives it power to control the Court's appellate jurisdiction. The Court may not exercise any of its appellate jurisdictions without congressional authorization, and Congress may limit the appellate jurisdiction however it chooses. Congress has authorized the court to use its full appellate jurisdiction, except on rare occasions. Explain the Monroe Doctrine Monroe Doctrine, statement of United States policy of the activities and rights of European powers in the western hemisphere. It was made by President James Monroe in his seventh annual address to Congress Of the United States on December 2, 1823; it eventually became one of the foundations of U.S. policy in Latin America. Because it was not supported by congressional legislation or affirmed in international law, Monroe's statement initially remained only a declaration of policy; its increasing use and popularity elevated it to a principle, specifically termed the Monroe Doctrine after the mid-1840s. * The American continents are not to be considered as subject for future colonization by any European powers * The political system of the allied powers is essentially different from that of America * With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. What was happening during Andrew Jackson's two terms? Andrew Jackson's term as president from 1829 to 1837 reshaped American political life. He successfully pushed for a more democratic political process, and he asserted the supremacy of the federal government over the states. With Jackson's administration, national political parties took control of the selection of presidential candidates, marking the end of congressional control of the process. Jackson stood at the head of the new Democratic Party, and his election in the era of modern political parties. As president, Jackson generated widespread popular support by fighting the Bank of the United States, an institution identified with privileged interests. Jackson spoke for aspiring businessmen, farmers, and urban workers, rather than the will-to-do. His veto blocking the recharger of the bank in 1832 struck a chord with these constituencies and helped assures hi reelection later on the year. He called the bank a privileged monopoly and pledged his opposition to the prostitution of our government to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many.

Jackson also asserted the authority of the federal government and the president over the states. South Carolina claimed that states could nullify federal laws at their own discretion and refused to collect a federally mandated tariff. Fearing for the integrity of the country, Jackson fought South Carolina's stance, forcing the state to compromise on the tariff and to dispense with the nullification doctrine. Another landmark in Jackson's administration came in 1832 when the president defied an explicit order of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote a majority opinion barring Georgia from removing the Cherokee Indians from the state. Jackson supported Georgia's effort to remove the Indians and reportedly said, John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it. Jackson secured congressional funding for the massive removal program, which forced 18,000 to 20,000 Native Americans to move west, taking the lives of about 4000 along the way. His defiance of the Supreme Court's ruling on the issue showed that the constitutions formal separation of powers would nor irjelf rein in a determined president. Was the Underground Railroad, Conductors, Passengers and Stations Underground Railroad, loose network of antislavery northerners mostly blacks than illegally helper fugitive salves reach safety in the free states or Canada in the period before the American Civil War; it was also called the Liberty Line. Begun in the 1780s under Quaker auspices, the activity aquired legendary farme after the 1830s. It was once thought that more than 60,000 slaves gained freedom in this way, but that stimate is probably an exaggeration. Because of its proximity to the North, the upper South supplied a big proportion of the fugitives. They were usually young adults, male, unattached, and highly skilled; family flights were rare. Traveling by night to avoid detection, escapees the North Star for guidance. Usually they sought isolated stations (farms) or vigilance committee agents in towns, where sympathetic free blacks could effectively conceal them. When possible, conductors met them at such border points as Cincinnati, Ohio, and Wilmington, Delaware. The lake ports of Detroit, Michigan; Sandusky, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York; were terminals for quick escape to Canada. Hattiet Tubman, called the Moses of the blacks, and Levi Coffin, a Cincinnati quaker, were among the famous rescuers. Professional slave characters and vigilant officials often seized refugees to gain rewards. More important than the number arriving safely was the publicity given to this clandestine work, which helped to make northern whites conscious of the evils of slavery. The federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 became difficult to enforce as Yanke judges and legislators restricted masters' rights of recovery. A new law, part of the compromise of 1850, was more stringent, but the activities of the Underground Railroad continued. Outraged at northern defiance of the law, southerners grew increasingly provoked. Antagonism over fugitives and the publicity accorded them were crucial in fueling the flames of sectional mistrust that eventually led to the American Civil War. The Dred Scott Disaster. Dred Scott Case, landmark case of the 1850s in which the Supreme Court of the United States declared that African Americans were not U.S. citizens. The Court also determined that portion of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that banned slavery in U.S. territories north and west of the state of Missouri was unconstitutional. Officially titled Scott v. Sandford, the decision intensifed ongoing debates over slaverythat futher polarized the AMerican North and South and eventually gave rise to the Smerican Civil Was in 1861. In 1846 Dred Scott, aslave living in St. Louis, Missouri, sued to prove that he, his wife, Hrriet, and their two daughters were legally entitled to their freedom. After being tried in Missouri state xourts and in a federal corcuit cout, the case went before the U.S. Superme Court in 1856. The following year, the co-urt rejected Scott's claim. Spaking for the Court , Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taneyconcluded that blacks, even when free, could never become citizens of the United States and thus did not have a right to sue in federal courts. Taney also declared that Congress lthe power to prohibit slavery in federal territories, a ruling that invalidated the part of the Messouri Compromise that banned slavery in the western territories. What happened in the Mexican war? Mexican War, conflict between the United States and Mexico, lasting from 1846 to 1848. The war resulted in a decisive U.S. victory and forced Mexico to relinquish all claims to approximately half its national territory. Mexico had already lost control of much of its northeastern territory as a result of the Texas Revolution (1835-1836).this land, combined with the territory Mexico ceded at the end of the war, would form the future U.S. states of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, as well as portions of the states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.

Mexico' territorial losses signified the end of any likelihood that Mexico, rather that United States, would become the predominant power in North America. As the first conflict in which U.S. military forces fought almost exclusively outside of the country, the Mexican War also marked the beginning of the rise od United States as a global military power. Many Mexicans, meanwhile, deeply resented their loss to the Colossus of the North, viewing the conflict as an unnecessary war that had been thrzst upon Mexico by a land-hungry United States. This nurtured a fear of the United States sometimes bordering on hatred among some Mexicans that has been kept alive and populatized trough corridor, the flok ballads of Mexico. More positively, the war also generated a new feeling of patriotism and national pride in the young ntion, evidenced today by the pilgrimages to Chapultepec Park in Mexico City every September 13 to honor the young military cadets (Ninos Heroes) who chose to die rather than surrender to U.S. troops at the end of the war. Mormons and the great Gold Rush connection In January 1848 James W. Marshall, a carpenter building a seamill in partnership with John A. Sutter in California's Sacramento Valley, discovered gold. Sutter made his workers promise to keep the discovery a secret. However, the news leaked out. Within a few months, a shrewd merchant, hoping to increase his business, set off the gold rush in ernest. Samuel Brannan, one of the early Mormon settlers in San Francisco, owned a store near Sutter's fort. In early May, he returned to San Francisco from a visit to the diggings and spread the world of gold. Within a few days, boats filled with townspeople were heading up the Sacramento River to look for god. Brannan, of course, had stocked his store with mining supples and was doing a thriving business. San Francisco soon was a ghost town, as almost everyone was off to the gold sites During the summer of 1848, the news spread up and down the West coast, across the border to Mexico, and even to the Sandwich Island (now Hawaii). World also reached the Mississippi Valley and the Eastern states. Newspapers were filled with the accounts of men who claimed to have become rich overnight by picking gold out of California's wondrous earth, then, in a message to the Congress of the United States in December, President James K. Polk confirmed the presence of gold in California. That winter people from all walks of life set out for California. Many pawned their possessions to get there. The gold seekers, also known as Forty-Niners or Argonauts, joined the rush form as far off as Europe and Australia. Many Chinese also flocked to San Francisco to join in the gold rush. Explain briefly the cause and the course of the Civil War The American Civil War is sometimes called the War between the States, the War od Rebellion, or the War for Southern Independence. It began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and lasted until May 26, 1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered. The war took more than 600,000 lives, destroyed property valued at $5 billion, brought freedom to 4 million black slaves, and opened wounds that have not yet completely healed more than 125 years later. The chief and immediate cause of the war was slavery. Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy. Southerners used slave labor to produce crops, especially cotton. Although slavery was illegal in the Northern states, only a small proportion of Northerners actively opposed it. The main debate between the North and the South on the eve of the war was whether slavery should be permitted in the Western territories recently acquired during the Mexican War (1846-1848), including New Mexico, part of California, and Utah. Opponents of slavery were concerned about its expansion, in part because they did not want to compete against slave labor. Explain the Homestead Act. Homestead Laws, is a collective name for a series of enactments by the United States Congress allowing settlers without capital to acquire homesteads. Although sentiment supporting the idea of free land for homesteaders existed from the early days of the U.S., the law was not passed until the American Civil War had begun. The South was antagonistic to the free-land movement, because it feared homesteaders would be against slavery. When the Republican Party was formed in 1854 it absorbed the free-land sentiment of the Free-Soil Party. The secession of the Southern states left the way open for enactment of the complete and satisfactory homestead measure called for in a Republican preelection declaration of 1860. The homestead law was enacted by Congress in 1862. It provided that anyone who was either the head of a family, 21 years old, or a veteran of 14 days of active service in the U.S. armed forces, and who was a citizen or had filed a declaration of intent to become a citizen, could acquire a tract of land in the public domain not exceeding 65 hectares (160 acres, equal to a quarter section). The public domain, or federally owned land, included land in all states except the original 13 and Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. To acquire title to the land, the homesteader was obliged to settle on or cultivate the homestead for five years. The law expressly declared that no land so acquired could be levied against by creditors for the satisfaction of debts contracted prior to the issuance of the land grant.

Other federal homestead laws, enacted by subsequent congresses, were essentially modifications of the act of 1862. The federal homestead laws provided an incentive, in the form of easily obtainable, for the settlement of the West. Largely because the supply of suitable public land was exhausted, remaining public lands were withdrawn from homesteading in 1935. Occasionally since then, small areas in Alaska have been opened to veterans for homesteading. Homestead National Monument of America, northwest of Beatrice, Nebraska, is the site settled by Daniel Freeman and his family, who were the first to make a claim under the act on January 1, 1863, when the law went into effect. The Battle of the Little Bighorn Little Bighorn, Battle of the, commonly known as Custer's Land Stand, American military engagement fought on June 25, 1876, in what is now Montana, between a regiment of the Seventh United States Cavalry led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and a force of Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors. The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills in 1874 had led to an influx of white prospectors into Native American territory and to attacks on the prospectors by the Sioux, under Chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Gall. In 1876 the army planned a campaign against the hostile Native Americans, then centered in southeastern Montana Territory. Custer's regiment of 655 men formed the advance guard of a force under General Alfred Howe Terry. On June 25 Custer's scouts located the Sioux on the Little Bighorn River. Unaware of the Native American strength, between 2500 and 4000 men, Custer disregarded arrangements to join Terry at the junction of the Bighorn and Little Bighorn rivers and prepared to attack at once. In the hope of surrounding the Native Americans, he formed his troops into a frontal-assault force of about 260 men under his personal command and two flanking columns. The center column encountered the numerically superior Sioux and Cheyenne. Cut off from the flanking columns and completely surrounded, Custer and his men fought desperately but all were killed. Later Terry's troops relieved the remainder of the regiment. The battlefield, now knows as the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, was established as a national monument in 1886 and was known, until 1991, as the Custer Battlefield National Monument. Cowboys Cowboys, mounted herders hired by cattle owners in the United States to look after their stock. Cowboys keep the cattle together, guide them to pasture, prevent their being mixed with other droves, protect them from rustlers, brand them, and drive them to the shipping point. The cowboy chooses his attire and equipment to suit his particular tasks and environment. The ten-gallon, or broad-brimmed, hat shields his head from sun and rain, a kerchief pulled over the lower part of his face, protects it from dust, tight pants faced with leather chaps protect his legs from insects and brush, and boots with high heels prevent his sheet from slipping out of the stirrups. His saddle has a high horn and cantle for maximum comfort on horseback. Traditionally he carries a revolver and a lariat, or lasso, made fast to the saddle horn for roping cattle. The cowboy figured most significantly in American history during the period extending roughly from the end of the American Civil War through the 1890s, when transportation facilities were scanty in the western and southwestern U.S. Cattle had to be driven to shipping points over long distances, and the cowboy needed great strength, endurance, and often ingenuity to complete the treks. Because of the lack of adequate law enforcement, his duties extended to providing security for his ranch and its stock. The cowboy's arduous way of life tended to develop rough-and-ready virtues, as well as extraordinary skill in horsemanship and marksmanship. These qualities have acquired an almost legendary character in numerous tales and songs, making the cowboy a symbol of manliness both in the U.S. and abroad. The unending stream of Western fiction based on the life of the cowboy includes the Virginian, by the American writer Owen Wister, and the many novels by Zane Grey. Cowboys are also depicted extensively in motion pictures and on television. The term cowboys was also applied during the American Revolution to bands of marauders organized by and loyal to the British cause. These cowboys stole cattle and sometimes other property, mainly in what is now Westchester Country, New York. Similar but unorganized bands called Skinners operated during the same period in New Jersey. AFL The AFL was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886, during period of widespread strikes by workers seeking an eight-hour day. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, established in 1881 to encourage labor legislation, and several unaffiliated trade unions merged to form the AFL. Its primary objectives were unionization of skilled workers, support of legislation beneficial to labor, reduction of working hours, and improvement of working conditions and wages. The American labor leader Samuel Gompers was elected president, and under his leadership, the AFL adopted a policy of supporting political candidates considered friendly to labor, regardless of party affiliation. The AFL welcomed groups with various political and economic philosophies. The AFL started out with 25 unions with a total of about 140.000 members. By 1900 the organization had about one million members. The main function of the AFL-CIO is to provide its member unions with assistance in a broad spectrum of programs in such areas as economic research, workers' education, legislative and political lobbying, civil right, community and health services, and industrial safety. Under the AFL-CIO constitution, the AFL-CIO, as the parent body, can require that affiliates remain in

good financial standing; maintain democratic, honest procedures; and outlaw all forms of discrimination. Within these limits, individual unions have full autonomy-that is, the AFL-CIO cannot determine their policies. The main governing body of the AFL-CIO is the group of representatives from member unions that meet for a convention every two years. The number of members in a union determines its number of representatives at the AFL-CIO convention. Smaller committees and boards consisting of union officers meet more frequently. The AFL-CIO maintains a strong interest in the political process. Through its Committee on Political Education (COPE), the organization encourages members to register to vote and to go to the polls on Election Day. Financial contributions to political candidates may not be drawn from regular union funds, but separate collections for this purpose can be made on a voluntary basis. The AFL-CIO's International Department oversees a broad range of relationships with unions in other countries. It provides assistance to unions in developing nations. It also appoints representatives to international trade unions and intergovernmental bodies. Explain the progressive movement progressivism The growth of industry and cities created problems. A small number of people held a large proportion of the nation's wealth while others fell into poverty. Workers faced long hours, dangerous conditions, poor pay, and an uncertain future. Big business became closely allied with government, and political machines, which offered services in return for votes, controlled some city governments. As the United States entered the 20th century, demand arose to combat these ills. Progressive reformers sought to remedy the problems created by industrialization and urbanization. To progressives, economic privilege and corrupt politics threatened democracy. Never a cohesive movement, progressivism embraced many types of reform. Progressives strove, variously, to curb corporate power, to end business monopolies, and to wipe out political corruption. They also wanted to democratize electoral procedures, protect working people, and bridge the gap between social classes. Progressives turned to government to achieve their goals. National in scope, progressivism included both Democrats and Republicans. From the 1890s to the 1910s, progressive efforts affected local, state and national politics. They also left a mark on journalism, academic life, cultural life, and social justice movements. Crusading journalists helped shape a climate favorable to reform. Known as muckrakers, these journalists revealed to middle class reader the evils of economic privilege, political corruption, and social injustice. Their articles appeared in McClure's Magazine and other reform periodicals. Some muckrakers focused on corporate abuses. Ida Tarbell, for instance, exposed the activities of the Standard Oil Company. In the Shame of the Cities (1904), Lincoln Steffens dissected corruption in city government. In Following the Color Line (1908), Ray Stannard Baker criticized race relations. Other muckrakers assailed the Senate, Novelists, too, revealed corporate injustices. Theodore Dreiser drew harsh portraits of a type of ruthless businessman in the Financier (1912) and the Titan (1914). In The Jungle (1906) Socialist Upton Sinclair repelled readers with descriptions of Chicago's meatpacking plants, and his work led to support for remedial legislation. Leading intellectuals also shaped the progressive mentality. In the Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Thorstein Veblen attacked the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy. Educator John Dewey emphasized a child-centered philosophy of pedagogy, known as progressive education, which affected schoolrooms for thee generations. The Spanish American War United States involvement in Cuba began in 1895 when the Cubans rebelled against Spanish rule. The Cuban revolution of 1895 was savage on both sides. Americans learned of Spanish atrocities through sensational press reports as well as from Cuban exiles who supported the rebels. Humanitarians urged the United States to intervene in the revolution, and U.S. businesses voiced concern about their large investments on the island. However, President Cleveland sought to avoid entanglement in Cuba, as did President McKinley, at first. A well-publicized incident drew the United States into the conflict. On February 15, 1898, an American battleship, the Maine, exploded in Havana harbor, killing 266 people. Most Americans blamed the Spanish and Remember the Maine became a call to arms. McKinley began negotiations with Spain for a settlement with Cuba. McKinley then sent a message to Congress, which adopted a resolution recognizing Cuban independence and enouncing any intent to annex the island, but Spain refused to withdraw, In April 1898 Congress declared war on Spain, and the Spanish-American War began. The four-month war ended in August with a victory of the United States. The first action occurred thousands of miles away from Cuba in the Philippines, another Spanish colony. There Commodore Gorge Dewey surprised the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay and sank every vessel in it. Next, the United States sent an expeditionary force to Cuba. The U.S. Navy blockaded the Spanish fleet, and the Americans landed unopposed. After a bloody battle, in which a regiment of soldiers called Rough Riders were led by Theodore Roosevelt, the Americans captured San Juan Hill outside the strategic city of Santiago de Cuba, and Spanish land forces surrendered. American troops also occupied Puerto Rico and Manila Harbor. In August 1898 the United States signed an armistice, and later that year, a peace settlement. The Senate narrowly ratified the peace treaty with Spain in February 1899. The treaty provided that Spain would cede the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the United States; the United States would pay Spain $20 million. In addition,

Spain would surrender all claims to Cuba and assume Cuba's dept. No wonder the Spanish-American War struck Secretary of State John Hay as a splendid little war. In a few months, the United States had become a major world power with an overseas empire. The Zimmermann note World War I broke out in Europe in the summer of 1914. The war set Germany and Austria-Hungary (the Central Powers) against the United Kingdom, France, and Russia (the allied Powers), and eventually involved many more nations. The United States declared itself a neutral nation, but neutrality proved elusive. For three years, as the Europeans faced war on an unprecedented scale, the neutrality so popular in the United States gradually slipped away. At the outset, Germany and Britain each sought to terminate U.S. trade with the other. Exploiting its naval advantage, Britain gained the upper hand and almost ended U.. trade with Germany. Americans protested this interference, but when German submarines, known as U-boats, began to use unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915, American public opinion turned against Germany. Then on May 7, 1915, a German submarine attacked a British passenger liner, the Lusitania, killing more than a thousand people, including 128 Americans. Washington condemned the attacks, which led to a brief respite in German attacks. In the presidential race of 1916, President Wilson won reelection on the campaign slogan He kept Us Out of War. In February 1917, however, Germany reinstated the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. Ending diplomatic ties with Germany, Wilson till tried to keep the United States out of the war. But Germany continued its attacks, and the United States found out about a secret message, the Zimmermann telegram, in which the German government proposed an alliance with Mexico and discussed the possibility of Mexico regaining territory lost to the United States. Resentful that Germany was sinking American ships and making overtures to Mexico, the United States declared war on Germany on April6, 1917. The Great Depression of the 1930s The Great Depression in the United States is the worst and longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s. Beginning in the United States, the depression spread to most of the worlds industrial countries, which in the 20th century had become economically dependent on one another. The Great Depression saw rapid declines in the production an sale of goods and a sudden, severe rise in unemployment. Businesses and banks closed their doors, people lost their jobs, homes, and savings, and many depended on charity to survive. In 1933, at the worst point in the depression, more than 15 million Americans (one-quarter of the nations workforce) were unemployed. The depression was caused by a number of serious weaknesses in the economy. Although the 1920s appeared on the surface to be a prosperous time, income was unevenly distributed. The wealthy made large profits, but more and more Americans spent more than they earned, and farmers faced low prices and heavy dept. The lingering effect of World War I (1914-1918) caused economic problems in many countries, as Europe struggled to pay war debts and reparations. These problems contributed to the crisis that began the Great Depression: the disastrous U.S. stock market crash of 1929, which ruined thousands of investors and destroyed confidence in economy. Continuing throughout the 1920s, the depression ended in the United States only when massive spending for World War II began. The depression produced lasting effects on the United States that are still apparent more than half a century after it ended. It led to the election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who created the programs known as the New Deal to overcome the effects of the Great Depression. These programs expanded government intervention into new areas of social and economic concerns and created social-assistance measures on the national level. The Great Depression fundamentally changed the relationship between the government and the people, who came to expect and accept a larger federal role in their lives and the economy. The programs of the New Deal also brought together a new, liberal political alliance in the United States. Roosevelts policies won the support of labor unions, blacks, people who received government relief, ethnic and religious minorities, intellectuals, and some farmers, forming a coalition that would be the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades to come. On personal level, the hardship suffered during the depression affected many Americans attitudes toward life, work, and their community. Many people who survived the depression wanted to protect themselves from ever again going hungry or lacking necessities. Some developed habits of frugality and careful saving for the rest of their lives, and many focused on accumulating material possessions to create a comfortable life, one far different from that which they experienced in the depression years. The depression also played a major role in world events. In Germany, the economic collapse opened the way for dictator Adolf Hitler to come to power, which in turn led to World war II. The New Deal New Deal is the name given to the peacetime domestic program of United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt, and especially to the innovative measures taken between 1933 and 1938 to counteract the effects of the great Depression. Both

Roosevelt and the Congress of the United States, in trying to reduce unemployment and restore prosperity, endorsed a wide spectrum of new federal programs and agencies, most popularly identified by acronym titles. Roosevelt, a skillful political leader, helped win support for an unprecedented array of new services, regulations, and subsidies. Yet no single political philosophy or set of coherent goals ever unified these disparate programs, most of which he developed with the aid of an informal group of advisers known as the Brain Trust. These individuals from outside government included professors, lawyers, and other who came to Washington to advise Roosevelt, in particular on economic affairs. The central legacy of the New Deal was increased government involvement in the lives of the people. Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl Harbor (called the Hawaii Operation or Operation Z by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and the Battle of Pearl Harbor by some Americans)[6] was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941. The next day the United States declared war on Japan resulting in their entry into World War II. The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war that the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia, against Britain and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. in the Philippines. The base was attacked by Japanese aircraft (a total of 353, in two waves) launched from six aircraft carriers. Four U.S. Navy battleships were sunk (two of which were raised and returned to service later in the war) and all of the four other battleships present were damaged. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an antiaircraft training ship and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, 2,402 personnel were killed and 1,282 were wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light, with 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured. The attack was a major engagement of World War II and came as a profound shock to the American people. Domestic support for isolationism, which had been strong, disappeared. Germany's ill-considered declaration of war on the U.S., which was not required by any treaty commitment, moved the U.S. from clandestine support of Britain (for example the Neutrality Patrol) into active alliance and full participation in the European Theater. Despite numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action, the lack of any formal warning by Japan, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led to President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaiming December 7 "a date which will live in infamy". Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11. D-Day On June 6, 1944, D-Day, the day of invasion for Overlord, the U.S. first Army, under General Omar N. Bradley, and the British Second Army, under General Miles C. Dempsey, established beachheads in Normandy (Normandie), on the French channel coast. The German resistance was strong, and the footholds for Allied armies were not nearly as good as they had expected. Nevertheless, the powerful counterattack with which Hitler had proposed to throw the Allies off the beaches did not materialize, neither on D-Day nor later. Enormous Allied air superiority over northern France made it difficult for Rommel, who was in command on the scene, to move his limited reserves. Moreover, Hitler became convinced that the Normandy landings were a feint and the main assault would come north of the Seine River. Consequently, he refused to release the divisions he had there and insisted on drawing in reinforcements from more distant areas. By the end of June, Eisenhower had 850.000 men and 150.000 vehicles ashore in Normandy. United Nations-birth and function United Nations (UN) international organization of countries created to promote world peace and cooperation. The UN was founded after World War II ended in 1945. Its mission is to maintain world peace, develop good relations between countries, promote cooperation in solving the worlds problems, and encourage respect for human rights. The UN is an alliance of countries that agree to cooperate with one another. It brings together countries that are rich and poor, large and small, and have different social and political systems. Member nations pledge to settle their disputes peacefully, to refrain from using force or the threat of force against other countries, and to refuse help t any country that opposes UN actions. The UN is the result of a long history of efforts to promote international cooperation. In the late 18 th century, German philosopher Immanuel Kant proposed a federation or league of the worlds nations. Kant believed that such a federation would allow countries to unite and punish any nation that committed an act of aggression. This type of union by nations to protect each other against an aggressor is sometimes referred to as collective security. Kant also felt that the federation would protect the rights of small nations that often become pawns in power struggles between larger countries. Kants idea came to life after World War I (1914-1918). Horrified by the devastation of the war, countries were inspired to come together and work toward peace. They formed a new organization, the League of Nations, to achieve that goal. The League would last from 1929 to 1946 and have a total of 63 member nations through its history, uncluing some of the worlds greatest powers: France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

But the League had two major flaws. First, several of the worlds most powerful countries were not members, most notably, the United States. Second, League members proved unwilling to oppose aggression by Japan, Italy, and Germany in the 1930s. This aggression ultimately led to World War II (1939-1945). In the end, the League failed in its most basic mission, to prevent another world war. Despite this failure, the idea of a league did not die. The first commitment to create a new organization came in 1941, when U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, in which they pledged to work toward a more effective system to keep world peace and promote cooperation. In 1942 representatives of the Allies (the World War II coalition of 26 nations fighting against Germany and Japan) signed a declaration by United Nations accepting the principles of the Atlantic Charter. The Declaration included the first formal use of the term United Nations, a name coined by President Roosevelt. A year later, four of the Allies (United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China) agreed to establish a general international organization. The four countries met in 1944 at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington, D.C., and drafted a charter for the new organization. They called the new league the United Nations. But they still could not agree to certain details, such as membership and voting rights. The four countries met again in early 1945 at a summit in Yalta. There, they settled their differences and called for a conference of nations to complete their work. On April 25, 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organization convened in San Francisco, with delegates from 50 countries attending. The delegates worked for two months to complete a charter for the UN that included its purpose, principles, and organizational structure. The charter contained a formal agreement committing all the world0s nations to a common set of basic rules governing their relations. The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945. Like the League of Nations, the UN was founded to promote peace and prevent another world war. The UN recognized it would not be successful unless it had the ongoing support of the worlds most powerful countries. The organization took several steps to ensure that support. To encourage continued U.S. involvement the UN placed its headquarters in New York City. To reassure the worlds most powerful countries that it would not threaten their sovereignty, the UN gave them veto authority over its most important actions. Five countries received this veto power: the United States, Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China (Russia inherited the Soviet Unions veto after the breakup of that country in 1991). Another major strength of the UN, unlike the earlier League of Nations, s that virtually every territory in the world is a member, or a province, or a colony of a member. Switzerland is an exception, maintaining only an observer mission status, meaning it can participate in UN deliberations but cannot vote. Switzerland has considered becoming a full UN member. Over the years that nations voters have rejected observer status. Some nonmember political entities, such as the Vatican City and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), also have permanent observer mission status at the UN. The Truman Doctrine Although the United States and the USSR had been allies against Germany during the war, this alliance began to dissolve after the end of the war, when Stalin, seeking Soviet security, began using the Soviet Army to control much of Eastern Europe. Truman opposed Stalins moves. Mistrust grew as botch sides broke wartime agreements. Stalin failed to honor pledges to hold free elections in Eastern Europe. Truman refused to honor promises to send reparations from the defeated Germany to help rebuild the war-devastated USSR. This hostility became known as the Cold War. In 1947 British Prime Minister Attlee told Truman that a British financial crisis was forcing the United Kingdom to end its said to Greece. At the time the USSR was demanding naval stations on the Bosporus from Turkey, and Greece was engaged in a civil war with Communist-dominated rebels. The president proposed what was called the Truman Doctrine, which had two objectives: to send U.S. aid to anti-Communist forces in Greece and Turkey, and to create a public consensus so Americans would be willing to fight the Cold War. Truman told Congress that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. Congress fulfilled his request for $250 million for Greece and $150 million for Turkey. Joseph R. McCarthy McCarthy, Joseph Raymond (politician) (1908-1975), American politician, who led a campaign against Communist subversion in the early 1950s. McCarthys charges were often not well substantiated, and the United States Senate voted to censure him for the tactics he used. McCarthy first attracted national attention in February 1959, with the charge that the Department of State had been infiltrated by Communists. Although this accusation was never substantiated, during the next three years he repeatedly accused various high-ranking officials of subversive activities. In 1953, as chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigations, McCarthy continued his probe of alleged Communist activities, and in April 1954 he accused the secretary of the army of concealing foreign espionage activities. In rebuttal the secretary stated that members of the subcommittee staff had threatened army officials in efforts to obtain preferential treatment for a former unpaid consultant of the subcommittee who had been drafted. During the ensuing Senate investigations, which were widely publicized in the press and given nationwide radio and television coverage, McCarthy was cleared of the charges against him but was ensured by

the Senate for the methods he had used in his investigations and for his abuse of certain senators and Senate committees. His influence both in the Senate and on the national political scene diminished steadily thereafter, although he remained in the Senate until his death in Bethesda, Maryland, May 2, 1957. Korean War Japan had occupied Korea during World War II. After Japans defeat, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel into the Communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north and the U.S.-backed Republic of Korea in the south. After June 1949, when the United States withdrew its army, South Korea was left vulnerable. A year later, North Korean troops invaded South Korea. Truman reacted quickly. He committed U.S. forces to Korea, sent General Douglas MacArthur there to command them, and asked the United Nations to help protect South Korea from conquest. MacArthur drove the North Koreans back to the dividing line. Truman then ordered American troops to cross the 28th parallel and press on to the Chinese border. China responded in November 1959 with a huge counterattack that decimated U.S. armies. MacArthur demanded permission to invade mainland China, which Truman rejected, and then repeatedly assailed the presidents decision. In 1951 Truman fired him for insubordination. By then, the combatants had separated near the 39th parallel. The Korean War did not officially end until 1953, when President Dwight Eisenhower imposed a precarious armistice. Meanwhile, the Korean War had brought about rearmament, hiked the U.S. military budget, and increased fears of Communist aggression abroad and at home. Executive Order 9981 Executive Order 9981 is an order issued on July 26, 1948 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. It expanded on Executive Order 8802 by establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services for people of all races, religions, or national origins. In 1947, Randolph, along with colleague Grant Reynolds, renewed efforts to end discrimination in the armed services, forming the Committee Against Jim Crow in Military Service, later renamed the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman abolished racial segregation in the armed forces through Executive Order 9981.The order also established a committee to investigate and make recommendations to the civilian leadership of the military to realize the policy. Among the order's effects was the elimination of Montford Point as a segregated Marine boot camp (the camp became a satellite facility of Camp Lejeune). The last of the all-black units in the United States military was abolished in September 1954. Fifteen years after Truman's order, on July 26, 1963 Robert S. McNamara issued Directive 5120.36 obligating military commanders to utilize the economic might of the military against facilities used by soldiers or their families that discriminated based upon sex or race. Rosa Parks Parks Rosa Lousine, African American civil rights activist. In 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. Her action led to the Montgomery bus strike, which was the first large-scale, organized protest against segregation that used nonviolent tactics. Rosa Parks personal act of defiance opened a decisive chapter in the civil rights movement in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement and its Moral and Spiritual Leader Civil Rights Movement in the United States was a political, legal, and social struggle to gain full citizenship rights for black Americans and to achieve racial equality. The civil rights movement was first and foremost a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites that whites used to control blacks after slavery was abolished in the 1860s. During the civil rights movement, individuals and civil rights organizations challenged segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities, including protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregation laws. Many believe that the movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, though there is debate about when it began and whether is has ended yet. The civil rights movement has also been called the Black Freedom Movement, the Negro Revolution, and the Second Reconstruction. The Vietnam War Vietnam War, also knows as the Second Indochina War, military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence from France during the First Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and who aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. The South was controlled by non-Communist Vietnamese. The United States became involved in Vietnam because American policymakers believed that if the entire country fell under a Communist government, Communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia. This belief was known as the domino theory. The U.S. government, therefore, helped to create the anti-Communist South Vietnamese government. This governments repressive policies led to rebellion in the South, and in 1960 the NFL was formed with the aim of overthrowing the government of South Vietnam and reunifying the county.

In 1965 the United States sent in troops to prevent the South Vietnamese government from collapsing. Ultimately, however, the United States failed to achieve its goal, and in 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Communist control; in 1976 it officially became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During the conflict, approximately 3.2 million Vietnamese were killed, in addition to another 1.5 million to 2 million Lao and Cambodians who were drawn into the war. Nearly 58.000 Americans lost their lives. Its considered as the dirtiest war in history, where people were abused, raped, tortured and more than 5 millions killed. The Space Race Space exploration requires more than just science-it requires one enormous amount of money. The amount of money that a country is willing to invest in space exploration depends on the political climate of the time. During the Cold War, a period of tense relations between the United States and the USSR, both countries poured huge amounts of money into their space programs, because many of the political and public opinion battles were being fought over superiority in space. After the Cold War, space exploration budgets in both countries shrank dramatically. Who was Richard Nixon? Nixon, Richard Milhous (1913-1994), was the 37th president of the United States (1969-1974), and the only president to have resigned from office. He was elected president of the United States in 1968 in one of the closest presidential elections in the nations history and in 1972 was reelected in a landslide victory. Nixons second administration, however, was consumed by the growing Watergate scandal, which eventually forced him to resign to avoid impeachment. Nixon was the second youngest vice president in U.S. history and the first native of California to become either vice president or president. The Womens Liberation Movement Like the civil right movement, the womens movement used various means to end discrimination. Activists created pressure groups, adopted confrontation tactics like sit-ins and marches, and tried to capture media attention. By the end of 1960s, feminists created an energetic campaign that called both for legal equity and for the restructuring of gender roles and social institutions. In 1961, Kennedy established the first presidential Commission on the Status of Women. In 1963 the commission issued a report citing employment discrimination, unequal pay, legal inequality, and insufficient support services for working women. The same year, a new book by journalist Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, challenged the notion that women could find fulfillment only as wives and mothers. A final catalyst of the early 1960s was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned race discrimination in employment and set up the EEOC to enforce the law. Unexpectedly, perhaps accidentally, and after heated debate, legislators amended the bill to bar sex discrimination in employment as well. When the EEOC ignored gender-based charges, women formed the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. Betty Friedan led the new civil rights group, which urged equal opportunity and an end to sex discrimination. Meanwhile, another wing of feminism developed. Young women who had been active in the civil rights and other protest movements began to form small consciousness-raising groups, which rapidly expanded in number. In these groups, women met to discuss the inequity of sexism, a counterpart to racism; to strive for womens liberation; and to start feminist projects, such as health collectives or rape crisis centers. The two wings of feminism often clashed. NOW focused on legal change and womens liberation urged revolutionary transformation. But the two factions served comp complementary functions and sometimes joined forces, as in The Womens Strike for Equality in August 1970. With parades and marches, women celebrated the 50th anniversary of woman suffrage and pressed for new cause-equal employment opportunity, an equal rights amendment, and more liberal state abortion laws. In the early 1970s, the womens movement achieved extensive results. In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to provide for equality of the sexes under the law. However, the states failed to ratify the amendment. Still, the fact that Congress passed the ERA signified feminisms new legitimacy. In Roe V. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Finally, women made astounding gains in education and employment. Editors scoured elementary and high school textbooks to remove sexist elements. In 1972 Congress passed Title IX of the Higher Education Ac, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program receiving federal funds, including athletic programs. At the college and university level, one all-male colleges and military academies began to accept women students. In employment, state and federal courts overturned labor laws that curtailed opportunities for women, such as laws that barred women from night work or overtime. The courts supported legal actions against employers that discriminated against women in their hiring or promotion policies. Women also entered new business, and government. The proportions of women in the professions (as lawyers, doctors, and engineers) increased as well. One of the most enduring movement to emerge in the 1960s, the womens movement left strong institutional legacies-pressure groups, professional organizations, and womens studies programs in colleges.

Strategic Defense Initiative Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), United States military research program for developing an antiballistic missile (ABM) defense system, first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in March 1983. The Reagan administration vigorously sought acceptance of SDI by the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. As initially described, the system would provide total U.S. protection against nuclear attack. The concept of SDI marked a sharp break with the nuclear strategy that had been followed since the development of the armaments race. This strategy was based on the concept of deterrence through the treat of retaliation. More specifically, the SDI system would have contravened the ABM Treaty 1972. For this reason and others, the SDI proposal was attacked as a further escalation of the armaments race. Many experts believed the system was impractical. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the signing of the START I and II treaties, and the election in 1992 of Bill Clinton as president, the SDI, like many other weapons programs, was given a lower budgetary priority. In 1993, Les Aspin announced the abandonment of SDI and the establishment of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), a less costly program that would make use of ground-based antimissile systems. The SDI system was originally planned to provide a layered defense employing advanced weapons technologies, several of which were only in a preliminary research stage. The goal was to intercept incoming missiles in midcourse, high above the earth. The weapons required included space- and ground-based nuclear X-ray lasers, subatomic particle beams, and computer-guided projectiles fired by electromagnetic rail guns-all under the central control of a supercomputer system (The space-based weapons and laser aspects of the system gained it the media name Star Wars, after the popular 1977 science-fiction film). Supporting these weapons would have been a network of space-based sensors and specialized mirrors for directing the laser beams toward targets. Some of these weapons were in development, but others (particularly the laser systems and the supercomputer control) were not certain to be attainable. The total cost of such a system was estimated at between $100 billion and $1 trillion. Actual expenditures amounted to about $30 billion. The initial annual budget for BMDO was 3.8 billion. Cost was not the only controversial issue surrounding SDI. Critics of SDI, including several formed government officials, leading scientists, and some NATO members, maintained that the system (even if it had proved workable) could have been outwitted by an enemy in many ways. Also, other nations feared that the SDI system could have been used offensively. Wall Street-Definition and Function Wall Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. It is the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies. Over time, Wall Street became the name of the surrounding geographic neighborhood and also shorthand (or a metonym) for the "influential financial interests" of the American financial industry, which is centered in the New York City area. Anchored by Wall Street, New York City vies with the City of London to be the financial capital of the world. Several major U.S. stock and other exchanges remain headquartered on Wall Street and in the Financial District, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, NYMEX, NYBOT. The name of the street derives from the 17th century when Wall Street formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement. It was constructed to protect against English colonial encroachment. In the 1640s basic picket and plank fences denoted plots and residences in the colony. Later, on behalf of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Stuyvesant, using both African slaves [12] and white colonists, collaborated with the city government in the construction of a stronger stockade. In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade. The wall started at Pearl Street, which was the shoreline back then, crossing the Indian path Broadway and ending at the other shoreline (today's Trinity Place), where it took a turn south and ran along the shore until it ended at the old fort. Because Wall Street was originally called "de Waal Straat", another explanation is that it could refer to Walloons (one translation for Waal is a Walloon). Among the first settlers that embarked on the ship "Nieu Nederlandt" in 1624 were 30 Walloon families. In the late 18th century, there was a buttonwood tree at the foot of Wall Street under which traders and speculators would gather to trade informally. In 1792, the traders formalized their association with the Buttonwood Agreement. This was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1789, Federal Hall and Wall Street was the scene of the United States' first presidential inauguration. George Washington took the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall overlooking Wall Street on April 30, 1789. This was also the location of the passing of the Bill Of Rights. In 1889, the original stock report, Customers' Afternoon Letter, became The Wall Street Journal. Named in reference to the actual street, it is now an influential international daily business newspaper published in New York City. For many years, it had the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, although it is currently second to USA Today. It has been owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. since 2007.