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Period: to
The Development of Modern America (1877-1920)
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The Compromise of 1877
After the election of 1876 had a disputed outcome, a commission of 5 US representatives, 5 US senators and 5 Supreme Court Justices were brought together to debate the results of the election. This group had seven democrats and eight republicans. In March, they voted, along party lines, to award all the disputed votes to Hayes with the knowledge that he would name a republican to his cabinet and withdraw federal troops from the south along.This effectively ended the Reconstruction. -
Rutherford B. Hayes becomes the 19th President
Hayes presidency came after one of the most disputed presidential elections in the history of our country. The election of 1876 was between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden won the popular vote by 3% but Hayes won the electoral college by 1 vote. Tilden without a doubt won 184 electoral votes but 20 of the votes that Hayes eventually won were up for debate in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina. It was eventually ended with the Compromise of 1877. -
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
This was the first law that restricted immigration to the US. The act stopped chinese immigration for 10 years and said that Chinese immigrants were not eligible to become naturalized American citizens.
The Geary Act of 1892 soon followed which, required chinese to carry certificates of residence.
This act lead to other groups to be restricted and it wasn't until 1943 that chinese immigrants, including American-born, were allowed to become citizens. -
The Dawes Act of 1887
This act was mean to push Native Americans to assimilate into white America by annihilating their cultures and traditions. It broke up reservations and granted allotments of the land to individual people on tribal rolls and age. This act caused many problems including the fact that some allotments given out were on land that was unsuitable for farming and after the death of parents, children who were sent to boarding schools were given land they were not taught how to farm. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
Prior to this event, the reservation police arrested Sitting Bull, a famous Sioux chief and killed him. In this massacre, 150 natives were killed, half of them women and children, and 25 cavalry men were also killed. It was first considered a battle, but it was then changed to a massacre due to the heavily armed militia and the amount of women and children killed. The massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major confrontation in the deadly war against the Plains Indians. -
Ellis Island opens as an immigration station
This island in the Hudson River is estimated to have had almost 40% of US citizens ancestors enter the US through the island. Ellis Island was a US immigrant inspection station. Medical and primary inspections were given and people were rejected based on medical ailments and based on the questions they were asked during the primary inspection. One could also be turned away because of moral defects. The first immigrant to enter through Ellis Island was a 15 year old Irish girl named Annie Moore. -
Plessy vs Ferguson
This case began when a black man sat in the white only car of a train and was arrested and jailed after refusing to leave the car. In court, the judge ruled against him. Plessy filed a petition against the judge, Ferguson, because he believed it violated the 14th amendment. It was taken to the Supreme Court where they declared "separate but equal" facilities didn't go against the 14th amendment because it applied only to political/civil rights, not social rights. Jim Crow was fueled by this case -
The Star Spangled Banner is Introduced
This masterpiece created by the march king himself, John Philip Sousa. Sousa wrote it while he was on a holiday in Italy. The song was born of homesickness and from his time as leader of the Marine Band. He also thinks that the inspiration came from the big difference that he saw in the American people and the country itself and the people and countries of the world.
The march wouldn't become the official National March of the United States of America until 1987. -
Charles Curtis- 1st Native American elected to the US Senate.
Charles Curtis was the first Native American to be elected to the US Senate. Along with the accomplishment, he is also the only non-european to be the senate majority leader. In 1929, he also served as Vice President of the United States under Herbert Hoover. -
Springfield Race Riot of 1908
The riot was started when two black men were taken into custody for the rape of white women. A heated crowd gathered to lynch the men to find that the sheriff had moved them from the jail. The mob instead lynched two other black men, then attached homes of black families, businesses and businesses that served black patrons. Eight black people were killed in the riot and thousands of blacks were driven out of the city. This riot showed race was not only an issue in the south. -
NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples founded
The NAACP is the oldest and largest civil rights organization. It was started as a response to the Springfield race riots in 1908. The NAACP has achieved its goals through lobbying and peaceful protests. It helped overturn the grandfather clause which restricted the black vote in Oklahoma. It boycotted popular media that portrayed the KKK in a positive light. And in this era, anti-lynching became the central focus of the group. in 1917, there was a silent march in NYC protesting black violence. -
Jeannette Rankin elected to US House of Representatives
Jeannette was the first woman to hold federal office in the US. She was elected a Representative from Montana twice and during her first race, she was the first woman to be on a federal election ballot. Throughout her terms she voted against declaring war on Germany during WWI and on Japan during WWII. She also was a leading representative in the legislation that became the 19th amendment. She is still the only woman from Montana to be elected to Congress. -
Passage of the 19th Amendment
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This came after a century of protest referred to as Women's Suffrage. Although the amendment was ratified in 1920, it took 60 more years for the remaining 12 states to ratify it, the last state to do so waited until 1984.
