This document provides an alphabetized overview of important people, places, events, and concepts in US and world history from A-Z. Some of the key topics covered include the Articles of Confederation, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Gettysburg, the US Constitution, the Civil Rights Movement, the Civil War, the Declaration of Independence, D-Day, the Enlightenment, the Great Depression, the Industrial Revolution, the Liberty Bell, the Reconstruction Era, slavery, the Spanish American War, women's suffrage, World War I, World War II, and more.

1. ABC’s of
Social Studies
by Tammy Kea
ELED 412

2. A is for Articles of Confederation
• During the Revolutionary War
• Defined new government
• Representatives from 13 states with limited
power
• Congress can’t declare war or raise $ for war
• Congress could ask for soldiers
• Printed own $ and taxes on imports
• Common citizenship, uniform weights &
measures, dealt with Native Americans
• Served as government till 1789

3. B is for Boston Massacre
• British sent troops to Boston
• Several colonists were killed
• Boston Tea Party – dumping of tea in harbor
to protest taxation
• Led to American War of Independence

4. B is for Battle of Gettysburg
• 1863 – 50,000 soldiers from North & South died
• President Lincoln’s eulogy the fallen men at the
Gettysburg Address
• 5 years of fighting, millions of $ in property loss
• 1865 – Confederate General Robert E Lee
surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant

5. C is for Constitution
• 6 years after Articles of Confederation
• Met in Philadelphia in 1787
• George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin
Franklin & Alexander Hamilton
• 1788 – ratified
• 1789 – George Washington elected as first
president
• 3 branches of govt. – executive, judicial &
legislative
• A checks & balances system

6. C is for Civil Rights Movement
• Three amendments added to constitution
• Lots of segregation rules
• 1896 – Pless v Ferguson: legal separation
• 1947 – Jackie Robinson: 1st black baseball player
• 1948 – integration of blacks into armed forces
• 1955 – Rosa Parks refused to give up seat on bus
• NAACP, Dr. MLK Jr. speech & assassination 1968,
• JFK proposed new civil rights laws, assassinated in 1963
• 1964 – Civil Rights Act passed prohibited segregation

7. C is for the Civil War
• Slavery topic of presidential election in 1860
• Southern Democrats backed proslavery John
C. Breckinridge of Kentucky
• New Republican backed antislavery Abraham
Lincoln **winner**
• Recession of southern states
• Southern states elected Jefferson Davis as
president

8. D is for Declaration of Independence
• Signed on July 4, 1776 by Thomas Jefferson
• Freedom and independence
• Rights to all people

9. D is for D-Day
• Hitler’s control of Europe
• 1944 - US joined England & French govt. to
invade Europe
• Eisenhower & Allied soldiers crossed English
Channel into France
• This large attack is known as D-Day
• France was freed of German Power
• Axis forces defeated

10. E is for the Enlightenment
• Also know as The Age of Reason
• 17th & 18th centuries questions about religion,
govt., and individual freedom
• Led to American War of Independence, French
Revolution, American Revolution

11. F is for Flag
• 50 stars = 50 states of the union
• Red = hardiness & valor
• White = purity & innocence
• Blue = vigilance, perseverance & justice
• 1777 – 13 stars for colonies, 13 red/white
stripes
• 1818 – set stripes at 13, add a star for each
state

12. G is for the Great Depression
• After WWI
• US prosperity
• October 29, 1929 – stock market crash
• Lasted 10 years

13. H is for (New) Hampshire
• Founded by two groups
• 1623 – # 1 is a fishing village by John Mason
• 1638 – #2 is called Exeter by John
Wheelwright

14. I is for Industrial Revolution & Modern
Technology
• England in mid-18th century
• Inventions, mining of fossil fuels
• Improvement of steam engine & industrial machines
• 1810 – Frederick Koenig invented printing press
• 1836 – Samuel colt invented revolver
• 1856 – Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization
• 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell patents phone
• 1903 – Wright brothers invent gas airplane
• 1914 – Henry Ford first American car
• 1946 – Atomic bomb invented
• 1985 – Microsoft invents Window

15. J is for (New) Jersey
• 1623 – by Dutch
• 1644 – by King George II
• Territory given to King George’s brother, Duke
of York
• Duke gave it to Sir George Carteret and Lord
Berkeley
• 1702 – became an English colony

16. K is for Ku Klux Klan
• Secret society during Reconstruction
• Wanted to enforce & terrorize African
Americans
• Divided South by color
• New laws formed called Jim Crow laws

17. L is for the Liberty Bell
• Symbol of freedom and liberty
• 50th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s original
constitution, the William Penn’s Charter of
Privileges
• Summon the people to hear Declaration of
Independence

18. M is for Middle Colonies
• New York
• New Jersey
• Delaware
• Maryland
• Pennsylvania
• Farming, shipping, fishing, trading

19. N is for New England Colonies
• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• Rhode Island
• New Hampshire
• Farming, fishing, lumber & crafts

20. ˜
O is for (Juan de) Onate
• 1595 – permission from King Phillip II to
colonize New Mexico
• 1598 – founded first European settlement
west of Mississippi

21. P is for Pledge of Allegiance
• Declaration of patriotism
• First time in 1892 for 400th anniversary of the
discovery of America
• 1942 – official recognition by Congress
• 1954 – “Under God” added, stand, remove
hats, right hand over heart

22. Q is for Quakers
• Group that settled in Pennsylvania that were
persecuted for their religion
• William Penn helped create a safe place for
the group

23. R is for Reconstruction Era
• 1865 – 1877: unification
• Primarily fought in South and almost destroyed
• Characterized by hatred and violence
• Lincoln’s assassinated in 1865 – leadership given to Andrew
Johnson (later impeached)
• 14th Amendment enforced to Southern states
• 1870 – TX & FL back in Union

24. S is for Star-Spangled Banner
• National anthem in 1931
• Poem by Francis Scott Key during Battle of
Baltimore/War of 1812

25. S is for Statue of Liberty
• Gift of friendship from France for 100th
anniversary
• Universal symbol of freedom, democracy, and
international friendship

26. S is for Slavery
• 1619 – Dutch brought first slaves
• 1640 thru 1680 - #’s increased
• Eli Whitney’s cotton gin increased slave trade
• 1774 – regulating/prohibiting slavery
• 1798 to 1808 – 200,000 slaves
• 1804 – emancipation laws let to American Civil War
• 1862 – Abraham Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation
• 13th Amendment – slavery abolishment
• 14th Amendment – granted African Americans full
Citizenship (1866)
• 15th Amendment – African American men voting rights
(1866)

27. S is for Spanish American War of 1898
• US established power of Caribbean Sea &
Pacific Ocean
• US gained control of Philippines, Guam &
Puerto Rico
• Then, Philippines became independent and
Puerto Rico & Guam remained US
territories/became citizens

28. T is for Temperance Movement
• 1830’s – began
• 1855 – prohibit alcohol consumption
• 1919 – prohibit alcohol consumption at
national level, never fully enforced
• Al Capone made $$$ selling alcohol
• 1933 – 14 years of prohibition, 21st
Amendment repealed prohibition

29. U is for United States “Great Seal”
• A bald eagle holding an olive branch and a
bundle of arrows
• Olive branch = peace
• Arrows = military strength
• Eagle = holds a scroll with nation’s motto “E
Pluribus Unum” “Out of many, one”

30. V is for Virginia
• 1607 by Cpt John smith
• Natives ordered his death
• Saved by Pocahontas
• Pocahontas didn’t marry Smith, married John
Rolfe

31. W is for World History Encyclopedia
• Ancient World: humans/farmers/civilizations of
Babylon, Egypt, Europe, Greece, Romans, Africa & India
• Middle Ages: Byzantine, rise of Islam, Vikings, China,
Hundred Years’ War
• Age of Discovery: Renaissance, Aztec, Spain, Ming
dynasty
• Revolution & Industry: Russian, China, US, French
Revolution, American Civil War
• Modern World: Women’s rights, WW1, Great
Depression, WW2, Cold War, Korean/Vietnam War,
globalization

32. W is for White House
• Originally called the President’s House
• 1791 – planned for George Washington
• 1800 – completed and first occupied by John
Adams
• 1901 – christened by Theodore Roosevelt

33. W is for Women’s Rights
• 19 Amendment – right to vote
• 1963 – Equal Pay Act = better job/pay
• 1964 – Civil Rights Act = race/gender
• 1966 – The Feminine Mystique by Betty
Friedan & formation of NOW
• 1972 – Equal Rights Amendment = rights for
women

34. W is for World War I
• 1st global war
• Allies: England, France, Russia & Italy
• Central Powers : Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey &
Bulgaria
• Americans tried to remain neutral to benefit from trading
• German submarine destroyed Allied ships and sank
American cargo
• President Wilson asked to declare war on German &
Central Powers
• 1918 – Allies victory
• Treaty of Versailles – ended war, Central Powers had to pay
for war

35. W is for World War II
• German global confrontation from the Treaty of
Versailles after WWI
• Adolf Hitler mad about treatment in WWI
• Axis Powers – Germany, Italy & Japan
• Allies - Russia, France & England
• 1939 - Germany invaded Poland. France & England
declared war on Germany
• Hitler conquered Europe
• US supported Allies with supplies & weapons but not
troops
• 1941 - US joined war when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor

36. X is for TeXas
• 1845 – became the 27th state of American
union
• 1901 – oil discovered in Spindletop Oil Field
near Beaumont
• Second largest state
• Contains 5 geographic regions

37. Y is for (New) York
• 1624 – by Dutch
• 1674 – by British
• 1685 – became a royal colony
• Statue of Liberty is located there

38. Z is for (Lorenzo) Zavala
• Vice President for the republic of Texas before
the Battle of the Alamo