Random Maps That Tell Entire History Of United States (25 items)

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  (#11) Western Exploration

  As the United States expanded, it similarly explored its newly acquired territory. Under the auspices of President Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led their Corps of Discovery through the Louisiana Territory for two years. They reported back their findings, with information about flora, fauna, people, and potential resources for settlement. 

  The government established military installations throughout the West, notably along the Columbia River in the Oregon Territory. In 1824, President James Monroe asked Congress to provide "an adequate sum to authorize the employment of a frigate... to explore the mouth of the Columbia River and the coast contiguous thereto."

  Settlers moved west alongside explorers, traversing paths like the famed Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon. The California Trail opened opportunities for gold prospectors and farmers alike, tracing its way over 5,000 miles. 
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  (#3) The Age Of Discovery

  The Age of Discovery, or Age of Exploration, as it's sometimes known, began during the 15th century and extended through the 1600s. Kicking off with Henry the Navigator and the Portuguese venturing into the Atlantic and landing at locations along the African coast, the Age of Discovery also led to Spanish, English, Dutch, and French-supported ventures to the New World.

  Spain dominated activity in North, Central, and South America, claiming large portions of land as its own. With the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, lands outside of Europe were divided between Portugal and Spain, giving the latter control of people, land, and resources west of a line "three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands."
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  (#22) Cuban Missile Crisis

  The United States used atomic devices at the end of WWII - technology the Soviet Union would soon possess, as well. When the Soviet Union installed atomic devices in Communist-led Cuba - a mere 80 miles from the coast of Florida - it resulted in a 13-day standoff between the Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, and President of the United States John F. Kennedy.

  Aware of Soviet plans to send atomic devices to Cuba as early as July 1962, the US carried out reconnaissance missions until October. A blockade, or quarantine, was implemented on October 22, 1962, and Soviet ships en route to Cuba had to change course. One ship, the Bucharest, entered the quarantine zone on October 25, but US naval forces held back from seizing the vessel. Soviet installations continued to be built as Khrushchev called on the US to remove their missiles from bases in Turkey.

  As Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged communication, the US was gripped by the prospect of an atomic attack. Nikita Khrushchev capitulated to the US on October 28, however, indicating that the Soviets would remove weapons from Cuba. Kennedy ended the blockade and removed missiles from US bases in Turkey.
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  (#19) Women’s Suffrage In 1920

  During the mid-19th century, women actively began to advocate for equal rights. At the heart of their platform was the right to vote. At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott addressed crowds of supporters, propelling the women's suffrage movement forward. Twenty-one years later, Stanton and fellow suffragette Susan B. Anthony headed the National Woman Suffrage Association, dedicated to achieving enfranchisement for women.

  Calls for a federal amendment to the Constitution accompanied individual territories and states giving women the right to vote. Wyoming, the first territory to enfranchise women in 1869, was followed by Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. During the first decades of the 20th century, western and midwestern areas followed suit, all before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in August 1920. 
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  (#15) Results Of The 1860 Election

  Slavery, states' rights, economics, and a host of related issues were at the core of the 1860 election. When the Democratic Party gathered to select a nominee in April of that year, the meeting quickly descended into chaos. When Southern delegates were told the group wouldn't support an effort to guarantee slaveholding in US territories, they split off into a separate faction. Northern delegates met later, nominating Stephen Douglas as their candidate, while Southern Democrats selected John C. Breckinridge.

  The Republican Party had a difficult time choosing their nominee, only choosing candidate Abraham Lincoln the third time around. Another contender, John Bell, ran as a member of the Constitutional Union Party.

  In the Northern states, Lincoln and Douglas faced off, while Bell and Breckinridge competed in the South. Ten states in the South didn't even put Lincoln, who openly wanted to prevent the spread of slavery to the territories, on the ballot. 

  Abraham Lincoln won the election, but with less than half of the popular vote. He did secure 180 electoral college votes, exceeding the 152 needed for the win. 
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  (#14) Routes Of The Underground Railroad

  Aspects of the ideological and physical divides between slave-holding and free states in the United States can be seen in the development of the Underground Railroad. As a network of secret places of refuge, the Underground Railroad developed during the late 18th century. With phrasing that resembled the contemporaneous rise of actual railroads, the Underground Railroad featured "depots" and "stations" where "conductors" helped move slaves North to safety. 

  Fugitive slaves were helped by religious groups, especially Quakers, former slaves who had escaped, individual abolitionists, and anti-slavery organizations established in Northern cities. Fugitive Slave Acts as early as 1793 gave local governments the power to capture and return runaway slaves and imposed punishments on individuals who helped escapees. By 1850, a new Fugitive Slave Act attempted to quell the number of slaves going North from Southern states, but Northern states remained defiant. 

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