The history of America can be said to be the history of the struggles of black people in America. Out of the many symbolic items out there, none can be as symbolic as the southern cotton fields, which served as the social and economical prison for many black slaves for generations.
On August 6th and 9th of 1945, United States dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 15th, Japan had announced its surrender to the Allied Powers.
Women fought a long and hard battle to gain the right to vote. It wasn’t until 1920 that women were guaranteed the suffrage with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
The Vietnam War cost American taxpayers about $150 billion (historic). Over 2 million men and women served during the war and about 58,000 were killed as a result of the war. Many soldiers came home disabled for life, some lost limbs and some were poisoned by chemicals like Agent Orange. Others returned from the war addicted to drugs and many suffered mental problems as a result of their participation in the war.
The stock market crash on October 24, 1929 is remembered as one of the most devastating event in Wall Street history. In the weeks leading up to the crash, the market was very unstable.A record of 12.9 million shares were traded on that day .The Dow Jones Industrial Average partially recovered in November- December 1929 and early 1930; however reversed and crashed again.The crash began a 12 year depression that would plague the nation. People came to remember this day as Black Thursday in America and Black Friday in Europe. Combined the stock market crash and the Great Depression caused the biggest financial crisis of the 20th century.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of most important presidents in American history. His New Deak saved American people from the great depression in 1940, because of that he became the only one president who had three presidency in American history.
Barack Obama who is the 44th and current President of the United States. Also he is the first African American President in the history of United States.
In 1961, the United States enters the Vietnam War allied with Southern Vietnam to fight off the communistic Northern Vietnam. The United States wanted to contain and stop communism from expanding. This later goes in history as America’s first loss in a war.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed this bill , which brought huge numbers of new immigration from non-European nations and changed the ethnic make-up of the US.
The United States gained Puerto Rico and Guam form the Spanish-American War, and emerged from the Spanish-American War with new international power.
In Sept 11, 2001 the clash of the Twin Tower marked an important turning point of American History. Not only it took away about 3000 civilians’ life, it also led to the invasion of Iraq; the War of Terror; nation’s recession and many other indirect results.
The war was “cold” only in the sense that because they had nuclear weapons the two superpowers never confronted one another directly in open warfare. however, their global competition led to frequent world crises and regional confrontation on every continent.
Civil Rights Movement was an important turning point in American history because it resulted in significant changes for minority groups, such as passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 and others.
The Great Depression is an important turning point in American History because it had an heavy impact on all American lives. Unemployment,starvation, lack of shelter affected many people in America both mentally and physically.
The surprise attack on Peral Harbor carried out by Imperial Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941 dragged the US into the World War II, in which US led the Allies to defeat the Axis and eventually became the super power of the world.
1) Read Foner, Chapter 15
2) Post an image that represents an important turning point in American history anytime between 1865 and the present. It can represent a person, place, or event. BUT, do not repeat a topic that is already covered. This requires that you look through the posts already made. If possible, find an image that is wider than it is tall so that it will serve well as a rotating header on our course blog. Write a 1-2 sentence caption for your image explaining why it is important.
This image represents a turning point in American history. Before September 11, 2001, America was a more lax nation, and discriminated against race much less. After September 11, “middle-east” people continue to be discriminated against, and every move made by Americans is scrutinized like never before.
