30 Days: The Preliminaries and Stating the Obvious

I've got 30 days that changed American history picked out. Here's how it will work:

* The basic premise is presented in the post two down from here. But in brief, I have chosen 30 days that had a huge impact in some way on our history. A background (what happened) will be given and then the impact will be discussed.

* I decided not to rank them in order of importance, that was just too difficult and too arbitrary. They are all freakin' important. So they will be listed chronologically. Also, this will allow you to criticize my choices as we go, if I pass up a date that you feel is too crucial to pass up.

* I tried to represent and address most of the broader themes throughout our history with these days, such as economic, military, cultural, racial, expansion, immigration, etc.

* You can't capture everything in 30 days. So of course some crucial things are left out. Part of the fun and discussion, I hope, will be in my dear readers pointing out days they think I should have included, or agreeing and disagreeing with my choices or analysis.

* At the end of the list, I will list the "runners-up," the ones that did not make the cut but almost did. In part so you don't think I'm an idiot and to show that, yes, I did think of that one.

* Finally, to keep it interesting, I want to avoid the very obvious. Yet, some very obvious ones are really important. So let's get those out of the way right here. So, here are days that I had on the shortlist, but that you probably already know everything you need to know about them, so why discuss them again? I will not be listing and discussing, yet I acknowledge their importance, the following...

-Thomas Paine writes Common Sense (convinced many colonists that we should be fighting for independence, not just redress of grievances);

-7/2-4/1776;

-the Battle of Saratoga (would not have won Revolutionary War without French help, this battle convinced the French we could win);

-the Marbury vs. Madison (1803) Supreme Court decision (establishes power of judicial review, turning the Judicial Branch from the weakest to at least an equal Branch with the other two, unless the Court is facing Andrew Jackson, in which case they are still powerless);

-the Louisiana Purchase (not only doubles our size, but is the most expansive use of presidential power in our history, ironically exercised by Thomas Jefferson, who often argued for a weak Executive);

-the Missouri Compromise (1820) (postponed the Civil War by decades, and ensured a Union advantage by the postponement);

-Seneca Falls Convention (real birth of the women's rights movement);

-Battle of Antietam (prevented possible European aid to the Confederacy, allowed Lincoln to issue Emancipation Proclamation);

-Lincoln's assassination (ANCIANT already addressed this);

-the Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) Supreme Court case (establishes legal basis for segregation);

-10/29/1929;

-the first 100 days of the New Deal;

-12/7/1941;

-Lend Lease during WWII (allows the British to remain standing, prevents Hitler from creating Fortress Europe);

-Hitler invading the USSR (yes, that had a huge impact on us too);

-events related to the creation of the atomic bomb;

-Cuban Missile Crisis; or

-9/11/2001.

All crucial, but all should be familiar to you already. I will argue that my 30 days are just as important, but perhaps less familiar. Or at least, their far reaching impact may be less obvious than those above. This should be fun.