Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1791
Bill of Rights is adopted as 10 constitutional amendments articulating citizens' rights, including
freedom of speech, a free press and the right to bear arms.
1803-06
President Thomas Jefferson sends Meriwether Lewis and William Clark west. Guided by the
Shoshone tribeswoman Sacajawea, they trailblaze from St Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Ocean
and back.
1812
The War of 1812 begins with battles against the British and Native Americans in the Great Lakes
region. Even after the 1815 Treaty of Ghent, fighting continues along the Gulf Coast.
1861-65
American Civil War erupts between North and South (delineated by the Mason-Dixon line). The
war's end on April 9, 1865, is marred by President Lincoln's assassination five days later.
1870
Freed black men are given the vote, but the South's segregationist 'Jim Crow' laws (which re-
main until the 1960s) effectively disenfranchise blacks from every meaningful sphere of daily
life.
1880-1920
Millions of immigrants flood in from Europe and Asia, fueling the age of cities. New York, Chica-
go and Philadelphia swell in size, becoming global centers of industry and commerce.
1896
InPlessy v Ferguson,the US Supreme Court rules that 'separate but equal' public facilities for
blacks and whites are legal, arguing that the Constitution addresses only political, not social,
equality.
1908
The first Model T (aka 'Tin Lizzie') car is built in Detroit, MI. Assembly-line innovator Henry Ford
is soon selling one million automobiles annually.
1917
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