What would you consider to be the most important history event that has happened in the US?

Question

I need your help with homework...

My history teacher wants us to write any essay over an event in history that had an impact on the American Governement

Answer 1

I'll give you an answer which may seem strange. The most important event in US history didn't happen on the North American continent. It was the English Civil War and it's aftermath. The reasons why it was so important:

1) It flooded American shores with English refugees.
2) It created American homelands for an assortment of splinter religious groups, effectively establishing religious liberty defacto rather than a national church.
3) It exposed the English colonies to Dutch ideas of commerce and religious tolerance, after England over ran the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in 1666.
4) It established a pattern of territorial conquest (that would later become manifest destiny) at the expense of the native population (research the career of John Underwood).
5) In brought to America a fairly uniform system of laws, based on English law.
6) It brought to America concepts like civil rights and limited govenment. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are rooted in English laws including the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights of 1689, and the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679.
7) As one key example, the English Bill of Rights prohibits taxation by without the consent of Parliament, and establishes the right to bear arms. These concepts provided the trigger for the American Revolution.
8) It demonstrated that a nation could survive without a monarch.

Answer 2

Well, if we hadn't won the revolution we wouldn't be talking about the United States, so I will say that.

Men who had so much to lose risked signing the declaration, it was treason--we all seem to forget that. It was pretty much guaranteed that we would not be able to beat the well armed British, but through the determination of many, lots of diplomacy and the secured help of the French we pulled off the impossible.

The other factor involved in winning that war was that many colonist didn't support the war. They wanted to stay part of "mother England" and thought it was insane to even try. Many end up leaving the US for Canada or going back to England after the war as it's hard to stay when you've been on the losing side.

Even those that supported the effort didn't imagine that the new government would be very stable or be able to endure.

Civil war is arguable, but it's not the starting point. Really, wasn't the most significant thing that ever happened to you your birth? Without that nothing else is possible.

Answer 3

The Civil War. More than just the Americans fighting (which we do a lot of), it shows a diversity of thought and ideals, which still stands today.

If you see it this way, America still has a lot of the problems now than it did before - taxes, slavery, Civil Rights, problems with the government.

Every event before and after the Civil War had less significance than the actual War itself. It set a precedence for the importance of fighting for ideas. It also set the precedence for the problems that America still faces.

It's also important to note that the government, for the first time (really), was held accountable for the punishment the South received. The War, and the aftermath, is directly responsible for the South becoming wholly Republican (if you don't know what I'm talking about, think Texas and the governorship that was positioned after the War).

Most of our ideals and the way the States is divided between Democrat and Republican is a direct consequence of the Civil War.

Hopes this helps...

-E

Answer 4

United States Constitution

Adopted in its original form on September 17, 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later ratified by the people in conventions in each state in the name of "We the People."

Most people would describe a war (Civil War, American Revolution), a tragedy (9-11, Pearl harbor), a victory (V-E day, V-J day, first man on the moon) or a moment of greatness (Lincoln Gettysburg speech, Martin Luther King's «I had a dream speech»).

I disagree. Following the Revolution, the founding fathers could have created a monarchy as was the standard (practically) everywhere else in Europe. Instead they created through what is now known as the oldest written constitution in use.

Several of the ideas in the Constitution were new, and that a large number of ideas were drawn from the literature of Republicanism in the United States, from the experiences of the 13 states, and from the British experience with mixed government. The most important influence from the European continent was from Montesquieu, who emphasized the need to have balanced forces pushing against each other to prevent tyranny.

To it, would be added the United States Bill of Rights. It requires jury trials, contains a right to bear arms, and prohibits excessive bail as well as “cruel and unusual punishments”. Many liberties protected by state constitutions and the Virginia Declaration of Rights were incorporated into the United States Bill of Rights.

Misinterpretations of the Constitution caused the Civil War. Many events have influenced the US but this document IS the USA.

Every deed, commercial and business action, legal action, nay everything that proclaims itself as being of America or being American has as its ultimate source the United States Constitution.

Answer 5

World War 2
Brought us out of the "great depression"
Brought women to the forefront of the workplace for the first time.
Many new developments in industry and technology due to and during the war. After the war the returning soldiers help in regenerating the US economy and growth in both physical and financial were unprecedented.

Answer 6

Thats a hard one, but at the moment I am thinking The Emancipation Proclamation (I hope I spelled that right!). I didn't put the revolutionary war or declaration because your question asked what the most important thing was that happened to the USA and technically we would not have been the USA when they happened.

Andrea

Answer 7

Without the Revolutionary war, the United States would not exist, but it all depends on your perspective.

This is an opinion question. Those more logically minded would say what I have said above. Those with a more creative mentality would say something about assassinations, and the slaves, etc.

It would help if you specified.

Answer 8

The Convention for the Current Constitution.

Answer 9

That would be the Declaration of Independence, because without it, there would not be a United States of America

Answer 10

To tell you the truth..every one was important in its own right...this is an opinion paper write about what YOU think..and why.
For me I would state revolutionary war because thats what made our contry what it is...it was the final cut between us and Britian.