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Pike's Peak
Gold was discovered at Pike's Peak,Colorado. Many of the 'fifty-niners" who came to dig for their fortunes didn't find much gold but stayed and began mines used for digging for silver or began farming in Colorado. -
Evolution Of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin published a volume On the Origin of Species. He set forth in lucid form the sensational theory that humans had slowly evolved from lower forms of life "survival Of the fittest" -
Transcontinential Railroad
Congress commissioned the Union Pacific Railroad to push westward from Omaha, Nebraska to California. The Central Pacific Railroad started in California and pushed eastward. By 1900, four more transcontinental lines had been constructed. The Northern Pacific Railroad from Lake Superior to Puget Sound. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe from Kansas to California. The Southern Pacific line went from New Orleans to San Francisco. The Great Northern linked Duluth, MN to Seattle. -
Morrill Act
Gave public land for Education -
Homestead Act
he Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land. Settlers only had to pay a small fee and improve the land, meaning build a small cabin on it. Alternately, the land could be purchased flat-out for $1.25 per acre.Either way, the Homestead Act was a great deal. Some 500,000 settlers took up the offer and headed west. -
Union Pacific Railroad
nion Pacific Railroad is formed. For each mile of railroad constructed the company was granted 20 square miles of land, altering in 640 acre sections on either side of the track. For each mile the builders received a generous federal loan rangign from $16,000 on flat prairie land to $48,000 for mountainous country. -
National Labor Union Formed
Led by William H. Sylvis,The National Labor Union followed the unsuccessful efforts of labor activists to form a coalition of local trade unions across the nation. -
Ulysses Grant is elected President
General Grant was elected President due to his "Bloody Shirt" method due to his fighting in the Civil War -
The Carnival Of Corruption
Many of Grants closest friends and family begin stealing from the govt nd Grant, Grant wasnt involve, this involved the Credit Mobilier scandal nd the Whiskey ring -
Womens Get the right to Vote
Womens right to vote in the Oregon Territory helped paved the way for the Nineteenth amendment which was passed in 1819 allowing women to vote in the United States. -
Standard Oil Company
John D. Rockefeller nearly monopolized the oil industry. Rockefeller was very successful. The Standard Oil Company controlled 90-95% of the oil in the U.S. To get that large, he was ruthless in his tactics. It was said that his unofficial motto was "let us prey" (on the little companies). -
Boss Tweed played New York
In New York City, Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall, a local political district. Boss Tweed used bribes, graft, and rigged elections to mooch money and ensure continual power for himself and his buddies. Thomas Nast was a cartoonist who relentlessly attacked Tweed's corruption. Tweed despised Nast because, although many people in Tweed's district couldn't read about the corruption, they could understand those "them damn pictures." Nast's cartoon's brought down Tweed. Samuel J. Tilden gained fame in -
Credit Mobilier Scandal
One of the worst situations was the Crédit Mobilier scandal. The company was constructing the trans-continental railroad and effectively sub-hired itself to get paid double. They also gave stock to Congressmen in order to avoid getting busted. A newspaper finally exposed the scandal, two Congressmen went down, and the Vice President of the U.S. had even taken payments. Though uninvolved, Grant's name was scarred. -
Election of 1872
Grant vs Liberal Republican Horace Greeley Grant wo 286 to 66 even tho the Liberal Republicans lost they still got there proposals passed for the South nd to stop corruption of Grants ppl -
Panic of 1873
Depression, Deflation, nd Inflation it was started bc of over-spendinng,to easy credit given by banks, nd the Freedmans Saving nd Trust Co.Started the debate over Soft money vs Hard money -
WCTU
Women's Christian Temporance Union (WTCU) organized. The Chautaugua education movement launched this women's organization. It was founded by reformer Frances Willard and others to oppose alcohol consumtion. -
Whiskey Ring
The so-called "Whiskey Ring" also looked bad for Grant. Folks stole whiskey tax money from the government. Grant's own secretary was involved and, despite him saying "Let no guilty man escape," Grant helped let the thief off the hook. -
The Telephone was invented
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone as a part-time hobby -
Election of 1876
{Hayes vs Tilden} republicans nominated Hayes nd Democrats nominated Tilden the election didnt go as plan with o winner but the Hayes got elected but Tilden got the compromise of 1877 for the South -
Electoral Count Act
On Inaguration day the danger booomed that there would be no president. With a president needed, Congress passed the Electoral Count Act that set up a commission to resolve the crisis. There were 15 men on the commission: 8 republicans and 7 democrats. The republicans had the upper hand and were heading toward victory among the disputed states. -
Compromise Of 1877
It was a give nd take compromise for the South nd North the orth got Hayes as Pres. the South got the plea to end reconstruction for the south this was a negative affect on the african americans -
Dawes Severalty Act
In 1887 the Dawes Severalty Act was passed. Its overall goal was to erase tribes and set the Indians on the road to "becoming white." It was a very insulting law Although the Indians were truly "Native Americans" and the whites were the immigrants, the law said that Indians could become U.S. citizens after 25 years if they behaved as the U.S. government preferred "good white settlers" -
Railroad Strikes
As ending Reconstruction, 1877 was a year of other conflicts…The 4 largest railroads got together and decided to cut employee wages by 10%. The workers fought back by going on strike. This railroad shut-down crippled the nation and President Hayes called in federal troops to stop the unrest amongst the striking workers. The trouble went on several weeks but eventually ended with the workers losing on the losing side.This failed strike showed the weaknesses of the labor movement -
Resumption Act
this act lower the numbers of grrenbacks in circulation nd to redeem paper money at face value -
Edison Invention
Thomas Edison came up with the light bulb along with many other inventions. -
Election of 1880
The Republicans nominated James A. Garfield and, as his running mate, Stalwart Chester Arthur.Garfield was a "dark horse" candidate but he came from the critical state of Ohio.The Democrats nominated Gen. Winfield Scott, the Civil War hero.Garfield won the election, -
Tuskegee!!!!
Booker T. Washington becomes head of Tuskegee Institute to provide training in agriculture and crafts. -
They Banned the Chineses
Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. It forbade the immigration of Chinese to America.This was the first immigration restriction America passed until this point in history, immigrants simply came to America without any problems -
Pendleton Act
With Garfield's death came the Pendleton Act. With the reform of the spoil system,the Pendleton Act made campaign contributions from federal employees illegal. It also established the Civil Service Commission, to make it where federal jobs were given ased on competitive exams rather than pull of who the person knew. -
The Four Time zones
The major rail lines decreed that the continent would be divided into four time zones. -
Election of 1884
The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine for president in the 1884 election.Reform-minded Republicans didn't like this choice and went over to the Democrats. They were called "Mugwumps", supposedly with "their mug on one side and their wump on the other".The Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland as their candidate.The mudslinging reached the worst level. A popular topic was Cleveland's affair and the child it had produced some 8 years earlier. Cleveland still win -
New York Statue Of Liberty
Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. by France during the days of such anti-foreigner feelings. -
Haymarket Square Bombing
The "Haymarket Square Incident" occurred in Chicago in 1886. There strikers were intermingled with a handful of anarchists calling for overthrow of the government.A bombing took place and a handful of bystanders, including police, were killed or injured. The anarchists were the likely culprit, but the public placed blame on the Knights and unions.Eight anarchists were arrested; five were given the death sentence and the other three were given hefty sentences. They were eventually pardoned -
Wabash Case
In the Wabash case, the supreme court said that states cannot regulate interstate trade only congress can. This meant that if any regulation were to be done, it would have to be by the U.S. Congress, not the local states. -
Interstate Commerce Act
Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act. It prohibited rebates and pools and required the railroad to publish their rates openly. It forbade unfair discrimination against shippers and outlawed charging more for a short haul than for a long haul over the same line. It set up the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) which administered and enforced the new legislation. -
Election of 1888
Cleveland was up for re-election by the Democrats, Benjamin Harrison was up as the Republican.Harrison won in a very close race in 1888. Cleveland became the first president voted out of office since Martin Van Buren. -
Populist Party
Farmers' Alliance a new party was spawned—the People's Party, also known as the Populist Party. They agreed on the following:To fight the "money trust" on Wall Street.To nationalize railroads, telephone, and the telegraph.To start a graduated income tax (graduated meaning steps or levels, where the tax rate is higher the more a person earns).To start a "sub-treasury" to provide loans to farmers.To call for the unlimited coinage of silver. -
McKinley Tariff Act
To keep revenue up Congress passed the Tariff Act to boost rates to the highest they had ever been. The tariff caused many debt ridden farmers and rural voters, who were forced to buy goods from high priced industries and sell their agricuktural supplies, to rise in wrath and even caused republicans to lose seats in Congress. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) was enacted in attempt to outlaw trusts or monopolies. The law forbade "combinations" such as…"pools" or cartels, interlocking directorates, holding companies.The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was not effective because proving combinations exist, especially with pools, can be difficult, and it lacked real teeth in enforcement.In 1914 the anti-trust movement finally gained real muscle to enforce its provisions. -
Panic of 1893
With splurges of overbuilding,labor disorder, and downward spiral of agricultural depression, the Panic of 1893 became the worst economic downturn of the nineteenth century. -
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike in Chicago, led by Eugene Debs, was more dramatic.Debs helped organize the workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company.The company was hit hard by the depression and cut wages by about 1/3.Workers went on strike, sometimes violently.U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney called in federal troops to break up the strike. His rationale: the strike was interfering with the transit of U.S. mail.Debs went to prison for 6 months and turned into the leading Socialist in America. -
Election of 1896
The presidential election of 1896 was an important one. It essentially asked, then answered, the question, "Will the U.S. base its money on gold, silver, or both?" McKinley won the election 1896 easily, 271 to 176 electoral votes. Bryan carried the South and West, McKinley carried the Northeast, Midwest, and far West. The election was important in that gold was decided upon as America's economic basis,it was a victory for business, conservatives, and middle class values -
Plessy vs Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson stated that "separate but equal" facilities for the races were legal.In reality, however, the races were indeed separate, but the facilities were hardly equal.Segregation was carried out in nearly all public facilities such as schools, theaters, transportation, and restrooms. -
Gold Standard Act
Congress passed the Gold Standard Act saying people could trade in paper money for gold. Just knowing and trusting that meant there was no need to do that. This brought economic calm and stability. -
Steel Corporatioin founded
Carnegie U.S. Steel Co. became dominant in steel largely because of his administrative abilities and knack for hiring excellent people.By 1900, U.S. Steel produced 1/4 of the nation's Bessemer steel. Carnegie made $25 million, tax free. -
DuBois Starts the NAACP
DuBois help starts the "NAACP"(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and called for the "talented tenth" of the black community to be given full access and equality.