Notes, 1:00 p.m., Spring 2001, February 12, 2001

KEY DATES TO MEMORIZE

1865 is the year that Abraham Lincoln (R) was assassinated. His vice-president, Andrew Johnson became President of the United States. He was never elected to the office of the Presidency. But he was the first President impeached. Like President Clinton, Andrew Johnson was tried by the Senate and acquitted of the charges against him.

1929 is the year of the Stock Market Crash on Wall Street. Millions of Americans lost all the money that they invested in the stock market. Many jobs across the country were lost. 1929 was the beginning of a period in history known as the Great Depression. It not only affected the economy of the United States, but affected economies in every country around the world. In 1932, the first presidential election after the 1929 Stock Market crash, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D) was elected President. President Roosevelt proposed the New Deal, which were programs to try to fix the economic situation of the United States. After Roosevelt was elected, African-Americans switched their loyalty from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. No other demographic group is as loyal to a political party among registered voters as are African-Americans to the Democratic Party.

1945 is the year that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. He died just before the end of World War II. His vice-president, Harry S Truman became President. World War II ended in 1945 with the unconditional surrender of all Japanese forces in the Pacific.

1954 is the year of the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. A state law in Kansas prohibited the plaintiff, Brown from attending a white school that was much closer to her home. Her lawyer challenged that law, and the Supreme Court decided the matter. It ruled that discrimination on the basis of race was unconstitutional in determining the school one attended and, therefore, separate schools were not equal.