-
Starting in 1874, the Baltimore Ohio Railroad cut its workers' wages significantly. Eventually, the company cut back so much money that the workers could not live on their wages, leading them to strike. All trains were inoperable, and eventually, enough workers across the country joined the movement. It became the first nationwide uprising of workers. -
The Bannocks tribe had been living on the Snake river in Idaho for hundreds of years before settlers arrived. Treaties required the Bannocks to stay on the reservation by law but by 1877 many of the Bannocks left feeling the U.S. hadn't fulfilled their share of the treaty leaving living situations nearly uninhabitable for Natives. The Bannocks went on a series of attacks along the snake river raiding settlements. -
Thomas Edison creates the first light bulb known to human kind and begins selling them in 1880. -
President Author passed an act that prohibited Chinese laborers from migrating to the United States. This was signed twice for ten years until being made permanent until WW II. The few Chinese people that did make it into the U.S. at this time were required to get a certification from the Chinese government but this did not guarantee their entry either. Those who were already in the country would have to obtain a certificate to re enter the country if they ever left. -
In 1875, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which banned racial discrimination in public spaces. This largely ended segregation and was a huge step forward for African Americans. But then, after several African Americans sued white people for discriminating against them, the Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act, thus eliminating the only federal law protecting African Americans against discrimination. -
After being built in France and shipped over to the U.S. the Statue of Liberty is finished on Liberty Island in New York City. -
The Dawes act focused on breaking up reservations and tribal lands in exchange for land allotments to individual Native Americans and encouraging them to take up agriculture. The land allotted to these individuals were desert or near desert plots of land that were unsuitable for farming while not offering any assistance in farming tools. Over the next 40 years Native Americans lost over 90 million acres of land resulting in 2/3rds of their land at the time this act was signed. -
Following the Dawes act over 2 million acres of previously owned land by tribal communities became available on April 22. At noon over 50,000 people came to stake their land and at the end of the day all 2 million acres of land had been staked. Among the settlers were a good handful of African Americans seeking to create communities free of racism. -
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed through a merger of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. This became the largest volunteer association of the time, and it was essential in the fight for women's rights. It had nearly 2 million followers at this time. -
Natives were participating in a religious dance known as the “Ghost Dance” While peaceful the U.S. government took this as a threat of war. This dance they believed would bring back their old way of life. The U.S government killed what they thought to be the leader of this "movement". The Natives set off to seek safety at the Pine ridge reservation with Redcloud. On the way they intercepted killing over 250 Native Americans including women and children -
The wages of steelworkers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, were dramatically cut, leaving them without enough money to make ends meet. The company sent men to break down and end the strike, but the Governor of Pennsylvania sent the National Guard to fight them off. This led the strikers to win the strike and was a turning point in U.S labor relations. -
Utah was admitted as an official state. -
-
The U.S. gains Puerto Rico and Guam as U.S. territories along with Spain giving up the Philippines to the U.S. Leading to the Philippine American war. -
On September 8th 1900 Galveston Texas was hit with a level 4 hurricane. The town situated 9 feet below sea level was hit with 15-20 waves flooding the town and destroying it, killing over 8,000 citizens and vacationers. This to this day is the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history in terms of death count. -
In 1901, McKinley had his second inauguration. He served as president from 1897 till his assassination on September 14th, 1901. He was shot by an anarchist, and Theodore Roosevelt took over for him. President McKinley led us to win the 100-day Spanish-American War to liberate Cuba, where we also seized Manila, Philippines, and occupied Puerto Rico.
-
In 1903, the Wright brothers made their first controlled and sustained flight, which lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. This began man flying, and would lead to many technological developments in later years. In 1905, they successfully flew the first practical airplane. Flight is now an important aspect of our modern-day life, and we would be hard-pressed without it. -
The 1906 San fransisco earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 rupturing roughly 270 miles. The earthquake caused part of the city to be engulfed in flames for days while the rest was damaged badly by the severity of the quake. The earthquake damaged over 28,000 buildings killing around 2,000 people. This would have been much worse if the quake occurred a few hours later when everyone was working. The quake left over 250,000 people to be homeless. -
In 1913, the 17th Amendment was passed, allowing for direct election of senators through popular vote, rather than by state legislators. The people were dissatisfied with the original method of electing our senators, and they felt that it should be further in the hands of the people. With more evidence coming forward about misaligned elections, more of the population was for this amendment. -
In 1914, the conflict for WW1 began. Archduke Francis Ferdinand was killed, and a month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning WW1. Tensions rise, and nations begin to clan together against Germany, and eventually would include Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia, Romania, Greece, France, Belgium, the United States, Canada, Serbia, India, Portugal, Montenegro, and Poland.