Some additional events to consider:
The Monroe Doctrine; named for president James Monroe who delivered it in a speech to congress in 1823, it was the most important assertion to date of United States' foreign policy in history. This statement of position would dictate the policy of the United States in international affairs for years to come.
The Lousiana Purchase The U.S. purchased Louisiana from France in 1803. It had several significant economic and political implications. From an economic perspective it doubled the size of the United States at a price of only fifteen million dollars. for a territory that was rich in minerals and natural resources. It gave the midwest access by boat to the sea, increasing trade and reducing our dependance on European ports. Jefferson, carefully deliberated whether the Constitution granted him the right to acquire territory for the purpose of expanding the Union. His action established the power of the president to expand the borders of the United States under the existing powers of the Constitution.
The New Deal; The New Deal had three main purposes. First, it provided relief for the needy. Second, it aided nationwide recovery by establishing jobs and encouraging business, and third, it tried to reform business and government so a severe depression would never happen in the United States again. Some of the results of the New Deal were important and long lasting. Even after the depression, reforms such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Social Security Act continued to exist. After the New Deal, the government's role in banking and welfare would continue to grow steadily. It allowed the U.S. to recover and steady itself to grow into the economic powerhouse it is today.
The Civil War; The Civil War had significant economic, political, and social implications. The Civil War, preserved the Union by settling the slavery issue once and for all and readmitting the states that had succeeded from the Union. The impact of the Civil War on the U.S. economy was dramatic. The war devastated the economy of the South. Not only were agricultural resources of the region destroyed, but slave labor, on which the economy was based, was eliminated. The Civil War also marked the transformation of the U.S. from what had been mainly an agrarian society into an industrial society. This shift in the economy resulted from rapidly changing technology which came as a direct response to wartime needs. The emergence of the U.S. as an industrial society also resulted in the North replacing the South as the economic center of the country. As a result of the Emancipation Proclamation and passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments along with the momentous events of the Civil War, we had a permanent solution to the issue of slavery and the beginning of civil rights for all people.
Brown v. Board of Education; It was a significant to the amendments to the Constitution, the civil rights movement, the Supreme Court's power of judicial review, and the American ideal of equality and diversity within our society. The case stands as a historical and contemporary example of the rule of law. Marking the start of the modern civil rights movement, the decision for Brown v. Board of Education was based on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and was the basis for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
