Fredrick Douglass: Slavery, Literacy, Escape, Activism and More

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The Scopes Monkey Trial was a public case in Dayton, Tennessee, regarding the teaching of evolution in schools defying the Christian fundamentalist belief in creationism. While evolutionists lost the legal case, Christian fundamentalists lost in the court of public appeals.

The Middle Passage was a period from the 16th century until 1865, when 12.5 million Africans were forced into unbearable living conditions aboard slave ships destined for the Caribbean and the Americas.

The Empire State Building was built in the midst of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression of the 1930s. It was the world’s tallest skyscraper of its time, measuring 1,250 feet.

Mount Rushmore was a project conceived by Doane Robinson to attract tourism to South Dakota. Designed and sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, the monument was completed in 1941.

Winston Churchill saw action during his service in the British Army, which led him to publish a book chronicling his experiences. Entering politics in 1911, Churchill would ascend to Prime Minister in 1939, leading Britain through World War II.

Since the first Europeans landed on Plymouth Rock, alcohol has been a centerpiece in American culture. In response to the negative side effects of alcohol, the prohibition era outlawed the production and consumption of alcohol, ushering in a period of organized crime and illegal consumption.