The American Revolution
On March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, Patrick Henry shouted this famous speech that would define American ideals of freedom.
What is "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death?"
Brokered by Henry Clay in 1820, this agreement kept the balance of power in the US Senate by admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, while banning slavery north of the 36th parallel line.
What is the Missouri Compromise?
Alongside Thaddeus Stevens in the House, this Massachusetts senator led the Radical Republicans in the Senate and was famously caned on the Senate floor in 1856.
Who is Charles Sumner?
Operating out of his Menlo Park laboratory in New Jersey, this "Wizard" patented the phonograph and the first commercial light bulb.
Who is Thomas Edison?
In 1995, this attack became the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in US history when Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, resulting in 168 deaths, including 19 children.
What is the Oklahoma City Bombing?
On October 17th, 1781, this British general surrendered at Yorktown, effectively forcing the British Parliament to sue for peace.
Who is Charles Cornwallis?
Harriet Beecher Stowe published this novel in 1852, becoming a worldwide bestseller that exposed the horrors of slavery.
What is Uncle Tom's Cabin?
Adopted in 1868, this amendment granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteed "Equal Protection of the Laws."
What is the 14th Amendment?
Founded by John D. Rockefeller in 1870, this company controlled roughly 90% of U.S. oil refineries at its peak before being broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911.
What is Standard Oil?
In 1993, this disastrous US military operation in Somalia caused two Black Hawk Helicopters to be shot down, leading Clinton to reshape US foreign policy towards reluctance, inspiring Al-Qaeda and other groups to escalate terrorist attacks on the US.
What is Black Hawk Down?
In the winter of 1775–1776, artillery commander Henry Knox successfully hauled 55 captured British cannons to Boston from this captured New York fortification.
What is Fort Ticonderoga?
This 1831 slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, resulted in the deaths of over 50 white people and led to much harsher slave codes across the South.
What was Nat Turner's Rebellion?
These three federal laws, passed between 1870 and 1871, authorized the president to use military force and suspend habeas corpus to combat the Ku Klux Klan and protect Black voters.
What are the Enforcement Acts?
Signed into law in 1890, this first federal statute to prohibit monopolies was ironically used more often against labor unions than corporations in its early years.
What is the Sherman Antitrust Act?
This 1992 bipartisan trade agreement, signed by George H.W. Bush and ratified under Bill Clinton, eliminated most tariffs between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
What is NAFTA? (North American Free Trade Agreement)
This battle in South Carolina was the worst American defeat of the Southern Campaign, where General Horatio Gates sustained 1,000 American casualties to 324 British casualties.
What is the Battle of Camden?
He was the Free-Soil Party's first presidential nominee during the election of 1848, despite having previously served as a Democratic US President.
Who is Martin Van Buren?
Passed over Andrew Johnson’s veto in 1867, this law prevented the president from removing Senate-confirmed officials without Senate approval, directly triggering his impeachment.
What is the Tenure of Office Act?
In this 1877 Supreme Court decision, the justices upheld an Illinois law setting maximum rates for grain storage, ruling that private property affecting the public interest can be regulated by the government.
What is Munn v. Illinois?
Passed in 1994, this omnibus legislation included the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the Violence Against Women Act.
What is the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act?
Though Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, this fellow Virginian drafted the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, which directly inspired both the Declaration and the U.S. Bill of Rights.
Who is George Mason?
Coined by Senator James Henry Hammond in an 1858 speech, this three-word phrase encapsulated the Southern belief that its economic dominance over a crucial raw material made it untouchable.
What is "Cotton is King"?
This unwritten agreement settled the disputed 1876 presidential election, awarding Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in exchange for the withdrawal of the last remaining federal troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, effectively ending Reconstruction.
What is the Compromise of 1877?
Passed in 1887, this federal law aimed to assimilate Native Americans by breaking up communal tribal lands into individual family plots and selling the remaining land to white settlers.
What is the Dawes Act? (General Allotment Act)
In 1994, Speaker-to-be Newt Gingrich unveiled this legislative agenda that helped Republicans win control of the House for the first time since 1954.
What is the Contract with America?