Gilder Lerhman Bib - "The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The Institute." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History . Home. Web. 04 Oct. 2010
Created by MrPibb132 on Nov 19, 2010
Last updated: 12/03/10 at 01:53 AM
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In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite to go out into orbit. Americans, seeing themselves as superior in technology, was abashed to see themselves outmatched. That's what led John F. Kennedy to challenge the United States to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. 25 billion dollars were invested into the program, and it took all the advances of industrialism and technology to make the rocket ship. In 1969 on July 20th, Apollo 11 landed on the moon, and Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. The soviets were only able to land an unmanned craft on the moon later in 1970, and so America won the Space Race. Besides for the technologies created from space travel, it also created an uplift for Americans losing the Vietnam War. Image: "Sputnik Escalates the Cold War: Key Question." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The Manhattan Project, led by Robert J Oppenheimer and his group of American scientists, created the atom bomb and introduced Nuclear power into the world. In just three years scientists were able to produce the atomic bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945. This power led the scare of the overlaying fear of atomic destruction during the cold war period following World War II. Not only did this technology foster military prowess, it eventually helped the creation of some medicines and it is used to help produce energy. Presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman Info: Bernards, Neal, Nuclear Power, 1990; Dawson, Frank G., Nuclear Power: Development and Management of a Technology, 1976; Murray, Raymond, Nuclear Energy, 1993; Wolfson, Richard, Nuclear Choices: A Citizen's Guide to Nuclear Technology, 1993. Image: "Los Alamos atomic test." Image. National Archives. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
The Model T was created by Henry Ford and revolutionized transportation for society. By use of mass production and assembly lines, he was able to sell a car to the mass's at an affordable rate for the average middle class family. This marked the beginning of mass production, being the first time where 730,000 of something like a car could be sold for as low of a price as $345 dollars. The creation of the car sped up urbanization, and stimulated transport worldwide. "Henry Ford." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. Image:"Ford Model T assembly line." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
A small group of farmers landed in Hawaii in 1893, and with the power of US troops behind them they booted out the native Queen and took control of the isles. The Queen Lydia Kamakaeha Liliukalan tried yielding her power to the United States in order to gain back her position, but to no avail. The businessmen claimed their were getting rid of a corrupt government in the name of democracy, when Grover Cleveland became president he put the revolution under investigation, and found that, "By an act of war...a substantial wrong has been done." He tried to get's Congressional approval to reinstate the Queen, but his suggestion didn't pass and in 1900 America annexed the United States. Image: "Liliuokalani." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The Philippines was America's first attempt to seize territory overseas. Spain ceded the Philippines to America for 20 million, so President William McKinley annexed the Philistines. Though Filipinos living there however, weren't quite too happy with the decision. They tried to declare independence, and so fighting broke out between the Americans and Filipinos. 250,000 people were killed in the war, which lasted officially until 1902, but in reality lasted for years afterwards. Reports of atrocities committed on the battlefield led America to turn over internal control back to the Filipinos, and a promise to grant them independence in 1916. Complications of WWI and WWII however, led to them being granted independence in 1946. Image: "Sitka, Alaska in 1869." Image. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The first invention to revolutionize communication was the telegraph; instead of delivering messages through a postal service like the postal express, the telegraph could send messages through a a wire that cut time down from days and weeks to hours and minutes. Samuel Morse created the first practical telegraph using Morse code. The second major communication was created by Alexander Graham Bell, and on March 10th, in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell said through his telephone "Watson! please come here! i want you!", they became the first words ever to be said through the telephone. Once he obtained his patent, Alexander Graham Bell formed the Bell telephone company, which had the exclusive rights to the telephone patent for many years. Telegraphs had a vital role business; Railroads used it to schedule trains, the stock market used it to make ticker tapes and to keep people informed, and newspapers companies used it to within their reporters at greater speeds. The telephone expanded that role tremendously, to the point where it became a common item in every household. Info: "Alexander Graham Bell." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. "communication revolution of the 19th century." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. Image: "Alexander Graham Bell's design of the telephone." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
In 1866, Russia's fur trading colony in Alaska was having declining profits, and the border with Canada was getting hard to handle because of worsening relations with Britain. So Russia's ambassador offered to sell Alaska to William H. Seward for 7.2 million, approximately 2 cents per acre. This purchase at first was called names like "Sewards Folly," and was given negative response under the already unfavorable administration of Andrew Johnson. At first Congress wouldn't even fund any government programs or buildings there. Besides for some coal and a few gold mines, Alaska wouldn't become important again until WWII, where it had strategic importance. in 1949 it became a state, and finally it had a viable population, with a capital containing over 200,000 people. In 1968, a huge oil deposit was discovered, which brought enormous wealth, jobs, and revenue. Image: "Sitka, Alaska in 1869." Image. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. Info: "Alaska." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
600,000 people died during the Civil War, making it one of the bloodiest wars in history. The lethality of the war was partly due to the fact that the advancement of weapon technology had passed the latest armor or medical advancements. Muskets were replaced with groove barreled rifles, allowing for soldiers to hit each other a quarter of a mile away. Not only was the range further, but instead of having to reload every shot soldiers carried repeating rifles which allowed them to shoot multiple times before reloading. Shrapnel grenades, land mines, and booby traps were used for the first time, and Generals used to using frontal attack strategies had their soldiers quickly obliterated by these new technologies. Image: "Twenty-second New York Infantry during the Civil War." Image. Miller, Francis Trevelyan and Robert Sampson Lanier, The Photographic History of the Civil War, vol 9, 1911. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
Everyone agreed that a transcontinental railroad across the United States would be beneficial - as well as being part of the Westward Expansion movement, it would increase trade and become a feat of technology. Companies like Central Pacific and Union Pacific started laying down track, the former starting from Sacramento, California, and the latter starting from Nebraska. Many immigrants and war veterans worked on the railroad, yet discrimination was quite apparent; white men where paid more to work on easier assignments for less hours. Eventually the railroad was put together with the Golden Spike, and travel between the two coasts became a travel two or three days rather then the months of hiking across the West. Info: "Age of Railroads (Overview)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. Image: "Chinese laborers building the transcontinental railroad." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
After Congress annexed Texas, Mexico expelled the US ambassador and immediately cut off all relations. America tried to negotiate territories from Mexico, but negotiations failed. The United States then sent down 3000 troops to the Rio Grande River, to guard the United States from Mexican troops. Some say that the troops provoked the Mexicans, but Mexican calvary crossed over the river and attacked the soldiers. Then Congress declared war. Supporters of the war blamed Mexico for it's failure to negotiate with America and for its invasion of the United States. Opponents saw the war as an excuse for expansionist grab land they wanted from Mexico. After America won the war, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the United States gave Mexico 15 million in return for California and New Mexico. Info: "Mexican-American War." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. Image: "General Winfield Scott enters Mexico City." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
Their were two conflicting policies regarding the treatment of Native Americans; assimilation or removal. Assimilation would be to encourage native Americans to adopt Christianity and to set up societies in cities similar to the ones in the East coast. The other plan was removal - to encourage Indians to move westward in order to preserve their culture. Eventually when the second policy of removal came into action, president Jackson ended up forcibly removing Indians from their land to make room for white settlement. This led to experiences such as what the Choctaw had in 1831, during their "trail of tears" where they walked many miles west scarce food and supplies, making many die from diseases and malnutrition. Presidents: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson Image: "Forced migration of Native Americans." Image. North Wind Picture Archives. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
After Haiti rebelled, the value of keeping a trading post in New Orleans was decreased to the point where Napoleon offered to sell not only New Orleans, but all of the Louisiana Province. Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of our country for one deal, increasing economic and strategic structure of the country. He then sent Lewis and Clark out west, the first of many pioneers who would eventually settle the West. - This event led to foreign relationships with Britain to worsen -Thomas Jefferson was president Image: "Signing of the Louisiana Purchase." Image. Architect of the Capitol. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.
In 1845, John L. O'Sullivan referred to Manifest Destiny as America's "belief that the citizens and government of the US have a right and duty to bring progress and democracy to the American West and the Western Hemisphere. This belief that it was America's destiny to settle the West motivated many of them to become pioneers. While this idea inspired people to dream big and to go out West, it also inspired policies of Indian removal and the forceful annexation of Mexico. James K. Polk supported Manifest Destiny and so he fought the Mexican American war, which most historians agree was fought mainly for territorial gains. Image: "American Progress (Gast)." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2010.
The people in the colonies were sick of British rule; the abuse of simple rights and the lack of representation from the British Government was becoming to hard to bear. As a result, the American colonies rebelled, creating a new country for themselves under their own Democracy. They tried to expand their territory, leading troops to places like Quebec. Although they failed this battle into Canada, following the war, white American settlers poured into western places like the Ohio River Valley. The Native Americans tried to team up to stop this expansion, but they were unsuccessful and their territory was run over by white settlers. Info: "American Revolution and Ohio River Valley expansion." Video. National Archives. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010. Image: "George Washington Crossing the Delaware (Leutze)." Image. National Archives. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
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