Important Dates in American History Essay

Mayflower Compact When the pilgrims first arrived to America, the Mayflower Compact, as it is known now, was created. This was the foundation for the Plymouth colonies. To establish colonies, they would first need to obtain a patent from the King of England. However, the need to maintain a society was of great importance, therefore, the Mayflower Compact was established as a social contract. It was signed by all 41 men on the Mayflower. Revolutionary war The revolutionary war is a story that surrounds America’s founding concept; freedom. America, from 1775 – 1783, fought a vicious battle against England. The English sought to control America; they did everything they could to weaken America, such as placing soldiers in their homes and expecting them to provide for him. Eventually, the war broke out. However, after a fierce battle, we were granted our freedom, and our forefathers tale and sacrifice is one that we acknowledge with pride. WWI World War I started as a spark and ended as an explosion like no other. After the assassination of Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria declared a strike against Serbia. However, sticking with the theme of American History, America did not enter the war until later when Germany began sinking American submarines. the U.S. Congress declared war on the sixth of April, 1917. The Great Depression On October of 1929, the stock market crashed, devastating 40% of the value of common stock. The stock market continued to fall until people lost their jobs and life-savings. During this period, Franklin Roosevelt took the lead as president and introduce the policy known as the ‘New Deal’. This policy created intuitive legislative ideas and helped production of goods and prices, however, this was not enough to end the depression. The WPA was created in order to provide jobs; 9 million people gained positions from this program, and later, the Social Security Act of 1935. Both the New Deal and WWII are ideas of how the Great Depression came to a halt. McCarthyism McCarthyism is a shameful period of American History. A fear of the spread of communism led to blackmail. During the 1940’s, McCarthy, a senator, claimed to know the names of over 200 card-carrying communist in the U.S.. This began a hunt for infiltrators. Writers were often named communist sympathizers and were often unable to continue working. However, in more serious cases, some were jailed for refusing to give the names of communists. The media could not stand-up to McCarthy in fear that they, like three-hundred others, would be blacklisted. Resources: Plymouth.org – Mayflower Compact CIA.gov – Revolutionary War PBS.org – WWI Historylearningsite.co.uk – America and WWI