Date

Event

Comment

July 4, 1776

The Birth of a Nation

‘Nuff Said

September 17, 1787

Adoption of the Constitution

A living document, still in use today.  The oldest written constitution still in operation today, it adapts remarkably to the times.

March 4,1789

Commencement of government under new Constitution

The beginning of a bold experiment.

December 15, 1791

Bill of Rights ratified by Virginia enacts them into law

The cornerstone of individual rights in the United States

March 4, 1797

Peaceful transition of power

Underappreciated.  Taken for granted today, but not at all a given at the time.

1803

The Louisiana Purchase

Grew our country, gave us the port of New Orleans, expanded the national character

1862-3

The Emancipation Proclamation

The beginning of the end of slavery in the United States

1865-9

Drafting and adoption of the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments

13 – culmination of Abolitionist movement in abolition of slavery;

14—application of 5^th Amendment due process rights to the States

15 – universal suffrage (sort of); race not a bar to right to vote

August 18, 1920

19^th Amendment

Culmination of women’s suffrage movement in the woman’s right to vote

April 15, 1947

Jackie Robinson plays for the Brooklyn Dodgers

The mixing of races on a highly public, uniquely American stage.  It’s not just baseball.

May 17, 1954

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

A 9-0 decision by the US Supreme Court said that “separate but equal is NOT equal.”  Paved the way for integration and empowered the civil rights movement.

July 2, 1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment.

July 20, 1969

Man walks on the moon

One of the great moments in the history of mankind; a massive achievement of science and cooperation; inspired dreams of the whole world, and engineered by the United States.

November 4, 2008

Barack Obama elected president of the U.S.

Anyone in this nation can be anything they want.  Prejudice is no longer a limit.