The most significant 3 events in American History since 1865

Adam Bourque

Professor Jill Legare

U .S . History II

January 25 , 2008

THE GREAT DEPRESSION , WORLD WAR II AND

SEPTEMBER 11 , 2001 : IMPACT ON AMERICA

Since the Civil War , there have been several events in the history of the United States which can be said to have had an impact on role of America in the world as well as the psyche of its citizens . Of that myriad of events , have had a more profound and direct effect than the Great Depression , World War II , and the attacks by the

terrorist organization known as Al Qaida against the cities of New York and Washington D .C . on September 11 , 2001

The Great Depression brought sobriety to a nation wherein confidence in the stock market was overwhelming . The Roaring Twenties would be silenced abruptly and class lines would become even more pronounced From the depths of the Depression would emerge government programs that still exist today such as the social security system

World War II was an event wherein participation was something Americans were trying to avoid like the Black Plague until there was no choice left for the country except to fight . Entry into this conflict would create what Tom Brokaw refers to as The Greatest Generation Isolationism would become a thing of the past as the United States would become a world leader and active participant in world affairs . A new piece of legislation commonly known as the GI Bill would enable many veterans coming home from war to educate themselves and serve as the breeding ground for the middle class in America

September 11 , 2001 , shocked a nation which had grown callous about terrorism in other parts of the world , never considering something so horrible could happen on its own native soil . After this date the way Americans traveled would change , Homeland Security would be created , and a worldwide hunt for one man and his followers would commence

The Great Depression

In October 1929 , the New York Stock Exchange crashed , launching the beginning of what would become known as The Great Depression ( Stock Market . The Great Depression would continue all through the end of the 1920 's , the entire decade of the 1930 's and finally subside in the early 1940 's . The direct impact of the nation falling into depression was the loss of employment by millions of Americans . The President who was to serve during the majority of time during the depression was Franklin Delano Roosevelt and in 1933 , his first full year in office the Great Depression reached a point in time considered to be its height . More than 15 million Americans , a number representing one quarter of the American workforce , were jobless in 1933 ( Great Depression

With things looking so bleak , Roosevelt sprung to action during the first one hundred days of his term , announcing the New Deal , a complex series of governmental programs improvised to fight the Great Depression (Beschloss 364 . Although the New Deal had many acts of congress passed in...