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Grant defeats Seymour for the presidency
Grant was the republican candidate. The party's platform sounded a clarion call for continued Reconstruction of the South under the glinting steel of federal baronets. Grant won with 214 electoral votes to Seymour's 80. -
Fisk and Gould corner the gold martket
They created a plan in 1869 to corner the gold market. The key to their plan was if the federal Treasury refrained from selling gold. They worked on President Grant directly, as well as, through his brother-in-law. On Black Friday, they madly bid the price of gold skyward, while scores of honest businesspeople were driven to the wall. The Treasury was compelled to release gold. -
Tweed Scandal in New York
This scandal vividly displayed the ethics typical of the age. Burly Tweed employed bribery, graft, and fraudulent elections to rob the metropolis of as much as $200million. Tweed's luck finally ran out when the New York Times secured evidence and published it. Tweed died in jail from his crimes. -
Grant defeats Greeley for the presidency
Greeley was nominated by the Liberal Republicans.Democrats backed up Greeley. The Republicans renominated Grant. The count in the electoral college came to 286 to 66. The popular column results were 3,596,745 to 2,843,446. -
Panic of 1873
This panic roller-coastered through the economy in this age of unbridled capitalist expansion. It was caused by promoters who had laid more railroad track, sunk more mines, erected more factories, and sowed more grainflieds than existing markets could bear. This caused bankers to make too many imprudent loans to finance those enterprises, which ended up failing leaving loans unpaid. -
Resumption Act Passed
The Resumption Act pledged the government to the further withdrawl of greenbacks from circulation and to the redemotion of all paper currency in gold at face value, beginning in 1879. -
Civi Rights Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of1875, sometimes referred to as the Force Act, guaranteed African Amerians equal treatment in public accomodantions, public transportation, and prohibited exclusion from jury service. -
Hayes-Tilden election standoff and crisis
Tilden had 184 electoral votes of the needed 185, but he had polled 247,448 more votes than Hayes. The two parties hurried to send "visiting statesmen" to the contested southern states of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. All three state submitted both a Republican and a Democratic return. The crisis was who was to open and count the votes. The Compromise of 1877 was the solution. Hayes came out the winner. -
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 was the solution to the Hayes-Tilden crisis. The Compromise stated that the elecrtion deadlock would be broken by the Electoral Count Act, which passed Congress early in 1877. It set uo an electoral commission consisting of fifteen men selected frm the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court. -
Garfield defeats Hancock for presidency
Hayes was a man denounced and repudiated by the Republican Old Guard. The Republicans nominated James A. Garfield. The third candidate was the Democratic candidate Winfield Scitt Hancock. Hancock actually came very close to deafeating garfield in the popular votes, but in the electoral college it was 214 votes to 155. -
Garfield assassinated: Arthur assumes presidency
Garfield was shot in the back at a Washington railroad station by Charles J. Guiteau. After living in agony for eleven weeks, Garfield died on September 19, 1881. Arthur became president and surprised his critics by prosecuting several fraud cases and giving his former Stawart pals the cold shoulder. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This act closed the door on Chinese immigrant laborers. It prohibited all further immigration from China. This stayed in affect until 1943. -
Civil Rights Cases
This act pronounced that much of the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional. This is because the Fourteenth Amendment only prohibite government violations of civil rihts, not the denial of civil rights by individuals. -
Cleveland defeats Blaine for Presidency
The Republicans nominated Blaine and the Democrats nominated Cleveland. Even with the truth ccming out about his affair the Democrati candidate Grover Cleveland still pulled out the victory. Cleveland had 219 electoral votes to Blaine's 182. -
Harrison defeats Cleveland for presidency
Democrats seeing no other choice once again nominated Grover Cleveland. Republicans tured to Benjamin Harrison. The tariff was the prime topic. On election day Harrison emerged victorious with 233 electoral votes to Clevelands 168. However, Cleveland actually polled more in the popular vote. -
Thomas B. Reed is elected Speaker of the House of Representatives
Reed was a Republican master debater from Maine. Reed intimidated the House into his way. With his ways Reed dominated the "Billion Dollar" Congress, which was the largest sum yet. -
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
This act did not authoriza the free and unlimited coinage of silver that the Free Silver supporters wanted, but it did increase the amount of silver the government was required to purchase on a recurrent month to 4.5million ounces. -
Mckinley Tariff Act
Thomas B. Reed's "Billion Dollar" Congress passed this act. This act brought fresh woes to farmers. This Tariff boosted rates to their highest peactimes level ever. However, it outraged many rural voters. -
Cleveland defeats Harrison and Weaver for Presidency
The newly formed Populist Party nominated General James B. Weaver. The Republicans nominated Harrison. And finally the Deocrats nominated Grover Ceveland. Cleveland once again emerged victorious. He was the only president reelected into office after defeat. This was due to the Populist Party's division and the Republican Party's discredit. -
Plessy V.Ferguson Legitimizes "separate but equal" doctrine
The Supreme Court validated the South's segregationist social order in this case. The Supreme Court ruled that "separate by equal" facilities were constitutional under the "equal protection" clause of the fourteenth amendment.
