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Still under Construction

Supreme Court Cases

Major Cases

:Marshall Court (1801-35): Federalist appointed by John Adams, very nationalist.

:Marbury v Madison (1803): Established Judicial Review.

:Fletcher v. Peck (1810): Georgia legislature attempted to void a land grant, Court upheld property rights by ruling that the state's action would "impair the obligation of contract".

:McCulloch v Maryland (1819): National laws have precedense over State laws.

:Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819): Established Sanctity of contracts.

:Gibbons v Ogden (1824): Affirmed congressional power over interstate trade.

:Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831): States could not seise lands without consent of the "domestic dependent nation". Georgia and President Andrew Jackson ignored this case.

:Taney Court (1835-61): Jacksonian Democrats did all they could to overturn Marshall Court decisions.

:Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837): Interests of the community are more important than corporate rights.

:Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857): Declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820 unconstitutional.

:Ex parte Merryman (1861): Ruled that Lincoln had acted unconstitutionally in imposing martial law in Baltimore after an anti-union riot.

:End of Taney Court

:Ex parte Milligan (1866): Court struck down wartime convictions of a civilian by military tribunal.

:Texas v White (1869): Ruled in favor of President Johnson in dealing with Reconstruchion as the Court ruled the Union was "indestructable".

:Plessy v Ferguson (1896): Separate but equal is constitutional.

:Muller v. Oregon (1908): Upheld Oregon law allowing the limitation of working hours for women.

:Schenk v. US (1919): Freedom of speech and press can be limited if a "clear and present danger" existed. A reaction to the Sedition and Espionage Acts.

:Brown v Board of Education (1954): Separate but equal is unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v Ferguson.

:Engel v. Vitale (1962): Outlawed state led prayer in public schools and eventually other public events.

:Baker v Carr (1962): Established one man, one vote.

:Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): Persons who could not afford counsel (lawyer) must be appointed one by the state.
:Miranda v Arizona (1966): Under due process, suspects in custody must be read their rights.

:Roe v Wade (1973): Legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy.

:Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978): Ruled affirmative action violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but race may be considered as one of many factors.

Minor Cases

Major Wars

:French and Indian War (1754-63)

:Revolutionary War (1775-81)

:War of 1812 (1812-15)

:Mexican-American War (1846-48)

:Civil War (1861-65)

:Spanish-American War (1898)

:World War I (1917-18)

:World War II (1941-45)

:Korean War (1950-53)

:Vietnam War (1956-73(75))

:Gulf War (1991)

Presidents and Elections

:George Washington (1789-1796):

::-Did not believe in party politics

::-Unanimously elected

::-Set much precedent: 2-term presidency

::-Farewell address called for neutrality

:John Adams (1797-1801):

::-Federalist

::-Followed Washington's neutrality proclamation

::-Passed acts suppressing Jeffersonian-Republicans

::-"Midnight Judges"

:Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809):

::-Democratic-Republican

::-Attacked taxes

::-Peaceful transition between party control

::-Louisiana Purchase

::-Embargo Act

::-Hamilton (Federalist) follows Jefferson's ideals

:James Madison (1809-1817):

::-Democratic-Republican

::-War of 1812

::-Macon's Bill No. 2

::-Eventually re-chartered the Bank of the United States

:James Monroe (1817-1825):

::-Democratic-Republican

::-"Era of Good Feelings"

::-Monroe Doctrine- protection of Western Hemisphere, Europe restricted from Western Hemisphere

::-Missouri Compromise- prohibited slavery north of 36⁰30'

:John Quincy Adams (1825-1829):

::-Democratic-Republican

::-Corrupt Bargain: Henry Clay convinced the House of Reps to elect Adams in return for Clay becoming vice-president

:Andrew Jackson (1829-1837):

::-Democratic

::-"Jacksonian Democracy": very Jeffersonian

::-Reduced national debt

::-Wanted Electoral College abolished

::-Spoils System- giving executive jobs to election winner's party

::-Against national bank

::-Indian Removal

:Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

::-Democratic

::-Inherited economic downturn

:William Harrison (1841):

::-Whig

::-Died one month after inauguration

:James K. Polk (1845-1849):

::-Democratic

::-Very expansionist

::-Lowered tariffs

::-Mexican-American War

:Zachary Taylor (1849-1850):

::-Whig

::-Dies in office, possibly murder

::-Compromise of 1850

:Franklin Pierce (1853-1857):

::-Democratic

::-Ostend Manifesto (Cuba)

::-Kansas-Nebraska Act- Repealed the Missouri Compromise, Admitted Kansas and Nebraska as states with or without slavery at choice of the citizens

:James Buchanan (1857-1861):

::-Democratic

::-Bleeding Kansas

::-Economic troubles

::-Dred Scott case

:Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865):

::-Republican (Union in 2nd term)

::-His election sparks Civil War via Southern succession

::-Emancipation Proclamation

::-Lincoln's liberal re-admittance policy (10% of population)

:Andrew Johnson (1865-1869):

::-Impeached over reconstruction, he wanted fast restoration, congress wanted stricter re-admittance

:Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

::-Republican

::-Corrupt administration

::-Indian wars in West

::-Panic of 1873

::-Reconstruction ended

:Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881):

::-Republican

::-Hayes-Tilden Controversy: Dispute over 20 electoral votes, led to Compromise of 1877

:James A. Garfield (1881):

::-Republican

:Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897):

::-Democratic

:Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893):

::-Republican

:William McKinley (1897-1901):

::-Republican

::-Front porch campaign

::-Assassinated 1901

:Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909):

::-Republican

::-Trust buster

::-Square Deal

:William Howard Taft (1909-1913):

::-Republican

::-Busted more trusts than T.R.

::-"Dollar Diplomacy"

::-Income tax created

:Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921):

::-Democratic

::-"New Freedom"

::-World War I and Wilson's 14 points

::-Women's rights movement

::-Influenza epidemic

:Warren G. Harding (1921-1923):

::-Republican

::-Very corrupt administration

::-"Return to Normalcy"

:Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929):

::-Republican

::-"Roaring Twenties"

:Herbert Hoover (1929-1933):

::-Republican

::-Progressive and reformist

::-Expanded civil service

::-Humanitarian

:Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945):

::-Democratic

::-New Deal

::-22nd Amendment passed- limits president to 2 terms

:Harry S. Truman (1945-1953):

::-Democratic

::-World War Two

::-Fair Deal: "Great Society" Legislation, welfare, social services

:Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961):

::-Republican

::-Created the interstate highway system

::-Preached Dynamic Conservatism

::-Continued New Deal programs, particularly Social Security

:John F. Kennedy (1961-1963):

::-Democratic

::-Cold War

::-Cuba- Bay of Pigs Invasion

::-Cuban Missile Crisis

::-"Great Society" Legislation

::-T.V. was a major factor in the election

:Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969):

::-Democratic

::-Vietnam War

::-Major Civil Rights advocate

::-Civil Rights Act of 1964- outlawed most forms of racial segregation

:Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974):

::-Republican

::-Racial integration

::-NASA formed

::-SALT I Treaty

::-Watergate Scandal

:Gerald Ford (1974-1977):

::-Republican

::-Pardoned Nixon

::-Rising Inflation

::-Equal Rights Amendment

:Jimmy Carter (1977-1981):

::-Democratic

::-Humanitarian

::-1979 Energy Crisis

::-Major inflation

::-"Stagflation"

::-Arab-Israeli Conflict, Camp David Accords

::-SALT II

::-Iran Hostage Crisis

:Ronald Reagan (1981-1989):

::-Republican

::-End of Cold War

::-Trickle-down economics, "Reaganomics"

::-War on Drugs

::-Iran-Contra Affair

:George H. W. Bush (1989-1993):

::-Republican

::-Raised Taxes

::-Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

::-Persian Gulf War

::-NAFTA created

:William Clinton (1993-2001):

::-Democratic

::-Impeached

:George W. Bush (2001-present)

::-No Child Left Behind

::-pro-Social Services and Social Security

Political Parties

Mostly Everything

1607-1763

:Indentured servant

:Navigation Act

:Mayflower Compact

:Roger Williams

:Great Migration

:New England Confederation

:Johnathan Edwards

:Halfway Covenant

:Salem Witch Trials

:City on a Hill

:William Penn

:Proprietary Colonies

:Royal Colonies

:Charter Colonies

:Peter Zenger

:King Philip's War

:George Whitefield

:Great Awakening

:Thomas Hobbes

:Mercantalism

:Bacon's Rebellion

:Harvard College

:Middle Passage

:Phyllis Wheatly

:Puritans

:Pilgrims/Separatists

:House of Burgesses

:Anne Hutchinson

:William Bradford

:French and Indian War

:John Locke

:Iroquios Confederacy

:Headright System

:Salutary Neglect

:Albany Plan

:James Ogelthorpe

1763-1775

:Proclamation of 1763

:Thomas Paine- Common Sense

:Crisis Papers

:Stamp Act Congress

:Olive Branch Petition

:Pontiac's Rebellion

:Quartering Act

:Townshend acts

:Boston Tea Party

:Intolerable Acts

:Coercive Acts

:Loyalists/Tories

:Sons of Liberty

:First Continental Congress

:Second Continental Congress

:Boston Massacre

:Paxton Boys

:Tea Act

:Battle of Saratoga

:Stamp Act

:Non-Importation agreements

:No Taxation without Representation

:Virtual Representation

:Gaspee Affair

:Sugar Act 1764