Ms. Maddock’s History of the United StatesSpring 2011

WELCOME!

On our journey, we’ll learn all about the origins of the United States and how we got here!

This is the fast track to United States history. We’ll jump ahead quickly!

Let’s Go!

Hi, I’m Uncle Sam. I’ll be guiding YOU through the history of the United States. Click on me to begin!

18,000 – 12,000 years ago

We start our journey a long time ago, during the Ice Age.

Some of our ancestors migrated from Siberia across a land bridge called “Beringia”.

Can you guess where Beringia might have been located?

I know the answer!

But why?

Why did our ancestors come here from Siberia?

To hunt! They followed animals like wooly mammoths and giant ground sloths across the bridge.

What other animals were around then?

Click me!

Let’s jump ahead a couple hundred years…

Follow me!

The Native Americans

Some of our Native American ancestors have a completely different telling of how North America came to be populated

See a list of some stories here!

Pre 1400

Native American Tribes

What were some Native American Tribe names?

Christopher ColumbusIn fourteen – hundred – ninety – two, Columbus sailed the

ocean blue!

Most of us know:1. Columbus was granted permission to sail in search of a

new world from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, of Spain.

2. He set sail thinking he was going to run in to Asia, and some say that until the day he died, he believed he had landed in India instead of North America.

3. Columbus’s most famous journey was his first, when he sailed with three ships; The Nina, The Pinta, and The Santa Maria.

Let’s keep going!

1492

But did you know…

Columbus actually made four journeys!

He did not land on the east coast of North America, like some may think. He landed on an island just south of present day Florida, and named the island Hispaniola. The island is now home to Haiti and The Dominican Republic!

Columbus was not very nice to the native people of Hispaniola, whom he named the Indians, but were actually called the Taino.

What did Columbus find when he got to Hispaniola?

1620The Thirteen Original

ColoniesWhat was the name of the famous ship that brought the first English settlers to America?

Need Help?Click me!

The first colony established by the English in America was actually in 1585, and was named Roanoke. Plymouth Colony is the most famous because it was the first successful colony.

THE MAYFLOWER

!

Can you name the thirteen original

colonies?

I can help!

Lead up to a RevolutionA time passed in which the newcomers to America lived under the rule of the British government. At first, there were few problems.

After a while, Britain started taxing the people of America on things they should not have been taxed on. The people decided they wanted to be their own country, with their own government!

STAMP ACTS, TOWNSHEND ACTS, INTOLERABLE ACTS, TEA ACTS

The American Revolution1775-1783

During the American Revolution, we fought with Britain to win our independence.

1776The Declaration of

Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a document written by Thomas Jefferson, and signed by the United States Congress, stating our independence from Britain.

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Find out who signed the Declaration!

George WashingtonThe First President of the United States

From 1789 - 1797

Can you name the first five Presidents? Uncle

Sam can help!

1. 1789 – 1797 George Washington

2. 1797 – 1801 ________________

3. 1801 – 1809 ________________

4. 1809 – 1817 ________________

5. 1817 – 1825 ________________

2. John Adams

3. Thomas Jefferson

4. James Madison

5. James Monroe

Growing TensionsThe Years Leading up to The Civil War

NORTH SOUTH

•Does not believe slavery should exist•Was called The Union•Was supported by President Lincoln

•Believed in the use and ownership of slaves•Was called The Confederacy•Seceded from the Union from 1861 – 1865 and formed their own government.

Click here to see which states were

part of the Union!

Click here to see which states were part of the Confederacy!

The Civil War1861 – 1865

The civil war was devastating to both the North and the South, with around 620,000 deaths.

The good outcomes of the Civil War were the abolishment of slavery, and the South’s rejoining of the United States!

Although slavery would now be officially banned, the South was still a tough place for African Americans to live; and would be for a long

time.

The Civil War is over, but another war is not far

behindWhen war is declared in Europe in 1914, America makes the decision to stay neutral.

I’ll show you why the Great War started in the first place!

President Woodrow Wilson made the decision to declare war on Germany in 1917, when the German Navy attacked one of our American submarines.

World War I1914 - 1918

WWI was also called The Great War, because it was so devastating and so many lives were lost.

The Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for almost everything and forced them to pay reparations to certain countries for damages caused

Once the war was over, Americans turned to their own country and started to focus on improving their quality of life

The Great DepressionIn the years after WWI, the whole world experienced an

economic depression, where jobs were hard to find, and it was very hard to make money.

The Stock Market crashed on October 29, 1929 plunging America deeper into poverty. This day came to be known as

Black Tuesday.

What is the Stock Market? Sam knows!

World War II1939 - 1945

The United States entered WWII on December 7, 1941 when our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by the Japanese military.

WWII was started in Germany by Adolf Hitler, who wanted to rid the country of what he considered bad politics and lesser people. He wanted to create a perfect “Aryan” race.

The HolocaustDuring the war approximately six million Jews were killed, most in concentration camps that Hitler established.

Civil Rights Movement1955 - 1968

Remember when we talked about the United States being a tough place for African Americans to live after the Civil War? Well it was not

until a man named Martin Luther King Jr. came along that the hostile attitude toward black

people changed.

I’ll show you a timeline of the important events during Civil Rights Movement!

On December 1, 1965 Rosa Parks, a woman of color, refused to give up her seat on a bus to make room for a white passenger.

Recent US HistoryOn September 11, 2001 a radical group of terrorists called al – Qaeda hijacked four American planes. The first two were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, the third was flown into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and the fourth was flown into a field in Pennsylvania.

In 2003, President George W. Bush launches Operation Iraqi Freedom and sends US troops to Iraq.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Southern coast of the United States, especially the city of New Orleans. Over 1,800 people died, and the cost of damage was over $81 billon.

In 2008, Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States

Thanks for joining me!

Hope you had lots of fun learning about our history!