OPPapers.com

Final His 135

Most Significant Events: America’s Adulthood
Jill Terry
Axia College of the University of Phoenix
HIS 135 The American Experience Since 1945
Elaine Goffas
September 22, 2008

The history of America is by no means short-Many events have lead America to where she is now. When it come to history it is important to have an understanding of prior events so that the knowledge of why the event occurred can be apparent.
Long before setters crossed the Atlantic the Americas had history with her natives, who lived off the land. Their secrets were shared with the pilgrims that settled in the English colonies between 1607 and 1700. The founding fathers did a great deal to establish the political climate for the American government. July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was adopted by congress and on September 17, 1787 the U.S. Constitution was approved (Wiegand, 2001). George Washington was elected the first president in April 1789. The United States continued to grow, gaining land through the French-Indian war and at the end of the Revolutionary war. The Louisiana Purchase, at only 3 cents an acre, added 828,000 square miles to the U.S. when it was bought from France in 1803 (Wiegand, 2001).
The Missouri Compromise struck a balance between free and slave states in March of 1820. Other events followed however in 1844 the telegraph increased the speed of communication and the Gold Rush in 1848 trigged one of the largest migrations in history (Wiegand, 2001). March 6, 1852 the Dred Scott decision, “slaves have no more rights then other property,” seems to mar the balance the Missouri Compromise had taken.
Without a doubt, there is a regularly occurrence in history that greatly impacts the events surrounding it-that is each presidential election. By November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 and by July 4, 1863 the Union defeated the Confederate at Gettysburg. On May 16, 1868 Andrew Johnson was...