Gilded Age, 1876-1900

  • Phonograph and electric lighting was created

    The phonograph was created by Thomas Edison at Menlo Park, New Jersey, along with an electric lighting system.
  • Telephone was created

    On March 7, 1876,Alexander Graham Bell got the first patent for the telephone and on March 10, 1876, the first message was passed through the telephone.
  • Battle of Little Big Horn

    Sitting Bull and his men killed all 256 of Lt Colonel Custer men at the battle of Little Big Horn in Montana.
  • Farmers Alliance

    First official meeting in Lampass, Texas. They wanted to return some power back to the famers of America. This group later became the People's (populist) party.
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    Rutherford Hayes becomes president

    Rutherford Hayes won the presidential election of 1876 against Samuel J. Tilden.
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    Railroad strike of 1877

    This revolt started after the wages were cut once again and the pay for shareholders increased. The workers shut down the railroad lines from Baltimore to St. Louis, because they refused to work. Once the State militia arrived, everything erupted into chaos and many were killed or injured and a huge amount of railroad property was destroyed. After 6 weeks the federal police got involved to break up the strikes across the country and start the railroads up again.
  • First Elevated Railroad

    The railroad was expanding, but so was the city, they created the elevated railroad and eventually the underground railroad (subway).
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    James Garfield becomes president

    James Garfield wins the presidential election of 1880 against Winfield Hancock and James Weaver. Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881 and died on September 19,1881, making his Vice President, Chester Arthur, the president until the end of the term.
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    Chester Arthur becomes President

    Chester Arthur becomes president after James Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881 and died on September 19, 1881. Arthur completed Garfield's term as president.
  • Immigration Act of 1882

    The government limited the who could and could not come into America because they did not want 'unfavorable' people coming in.
  • Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

    Buffalo Bill started his Wild West Show by playing off peoples idea of what the West was like by having Indians, Sharpshooters, Rangers, Cavalrymen and many others.
  • First Skyscraper

    The first Skyscraper was created in in Chicago, it was ten stories high.
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    Grover Cleveland becomes president

    Democrat Grover Cleveland wins the election against Republican James Blaine in the election of 1884
  • Haymarket Square Incident

    Labor protest in Chicago near Haymarket Square because of the police action taken at McCormick the day before. It started peacefully but someone threw dynamite into the crowd and started the riot, both of these actions killed eight people and injured many more.
  • Dawes Act

    The Dawes act of 1887, carved the tribal lands of the native Indians into 160 acre plots for the Indian families to live on, any land not given to the natives was sold.
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    Edison creates motion pictures

    In 1888 set out to create phonograph for the eyes. In 1889 he designed rolling film. In 1891 he had made the rolling film and the device to see it also. By 1894, he had 76 different films for people to see. In 1896, people started going to theaters to view these films.
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    Benjamin Harrison Becomes President

    Republican Ben Harrison won the 1888 election against Grover Cleveland
  • Battle of Wounded Knee

    The Wovoka revelation spread like wildfire through the Natives, making many practice the Ghost Dance. This uprising of the Natives scared the Americans and the battle of Wounded Knee broke out in December, leading to the death of 25 U.S. troopers and 147 Natives Americans.
  • Ellis Island Opens

    Ellis Island opened and the flood of immigrants came in. Ellis Island's busiest year was 1907
  • Homestead Strike

    In Homestead Pennsylvania, workers lead a strike that resulted in a bloody battle between the workers, who had shut down the plant in protest, and the Pinkerton Agents who had been called in to get the workers to open the plant again. The battle finally ended when the Governor of Pennsylvania called in the Militia. The strike began on July 1, and the battle began July 6.
  • Jack Turner's Frontier Thesis

    Jack Turner was a historian from Wisconsin who presented his thesis about westward expansion at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.
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    Depression of 1893

    Phil and Reading railroad goes bankrupt and caused deflation. Railroad was overbuilt, Europe pulled investments, Agriculture was overworked, all led to depression and job/wage cuts. Full rebound did not come until 1897
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    Cleveland becomes president again

    Cleveland becomes president once again after he won the election against Ben Harrison and James Weaver.
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    William McKinley Becomes President

    William McKinley wins 1896 election against William Bryan.
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    War of 1898

    America intervened with the Cubans revolution for freedom from Spain. America got involved after the USS Maine exploded on February 15,1898. After this American recognized Cuba's independence on April 20, and because of this Spain declared war on the U.S. on April 22. Congress decided to go to war on April 25, 1898. On Spain signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, ending the war. American occupation remained for four years, because they did not believe Cuba was capable of self rule.