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Battle of the Little Bighorn
"In late June 1876, a division of the 7th Cavalry Regiment led by...George Armstrong Custer was sent...into the Black Hills...Custer’s men approached...a river known to the Sioux as Greasy Grass but marked on Custer’s map as Little Bighorn, and they found that the influx of 'treaty' Sioux as well as aggrieved Cheyenne and other allies had swelled the population...beyond Custer’s estimation. Custer’s 7th Cavalry was vastly outnumbered, and he and 268 of his men were killed"(The West, 2019). -
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
"The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 heralded a new era of labor conflict... That year, mired in the stagnant economy that followed the bursting of the railroads’ financial bubble in 1873, rail lines slashed workers’ wages (even, workers complained, as they reaped enormous government subsidies and paid shareholders lucrative stock dividends). Workers struck from Baltimore to St. Louis, shutting down railroad traffic—the nation’s economic lifeblood—across the country" (Capital and Labor, 2019). -
Thomas Edison Invented Electric Power and Lighting
"In September 1878, Edison announced a new and ambitious line of research and development—electric power and lighting" (Life in Industrial America, 2019). "By late fall 1879, Edison exhibited his system of power generation and electrical light for reporters and investors. Then he scaled up production. He sold generators to businesses" (Life in Industrial America, 2019). "Electricity revolutionized the world"(Life in Industrial America, 2019). -
Immigration Act 1882
"State-level control of pauper immigration developed into federal policy in the early 1880s. In August 1882, Congress passed the Immigration Act, denying admission to people who were not able to support themselves and those, such as paupers, people with mental illnesses, or convicted criminals, who might otherwise threaten the security of the nation" (American Empire, 2019). -
First Rodeo
"Rodeos began as small roping and riding contests among cowboys in towns near ranches or at camps at the end of the cattle trails. In Pecos, Texas, on July 4, 1883, cowboys from two ranches, the Hash Knife and the W Ranch, competed in roping and riding contests as a way to settle an argument; this event is recognized by historians of the West as the first real rodeo. Casual contests evolved into planned celebrations" (The West, 2019). -
American Federation of Labor Founded
"The American Federation of Labor (AFL) emerged as a conservative alternative to the vision of the Knights of Labor. An alliance of craft unions (unions composed of skilled workers), the AFL rejected the Knights’ expansive vision of a 'producerist' economy and advocated 'pure and simple trade unionism' a program that aimed for practical gains (higher wages, fewer hours, and safer conditions) through a conservative approach that tried to avoid strikes" (Capital and Labor, 2019). -
Dawes General Allotment Act
"Passed by Congress on February 8, 1887, the Dawes General Allotment Act splintered Native American reservations into individual family homesteads. Each head of a Native family was to be allotted 160 acres, the typical size...that any settler could establish on federal lands under...Homestead Act"(The West, 2019). "Americans touted the Dawes Act as an uplifting humanitarian reform, but it upended Native lifestyles and left Native nations without sovereignty over their lands"(The West, 2019). -
Treaty of Paris 1898
This treaty ended the Spanish-American War (American Empire, 2019). "The two nations agreed to a cease-fire on August 12 and formally signed the Treaty of Paris in December. The terms of the treaty stipulated, among other things, that the United States would acquire Spain’s former holdings of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines" (American Empire, 2019). Photo Credit: Kurz & Allison, [No Date Recorded on Shelflist Card] -
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Spanish-American War
An explosion of an American ship started the war with Spain. War was declared on April 25, 1898 (American Empire, 2019). "Military victories for the United States came quickly" (American Empire, 2019). "As disease began to eat away at American troops, the Spanish suffered the loss of Santiago de Cuba on July 17, effectively ending the war. The two nations agreed to a cease-fire on August 12 and formally signed the Treaty of Paris in December" (American Empire, 2019).