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The End Of The Civil War
Confederate General Robert E. Lee triggers the end of the civil war by delivering articles of surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox court house with the Northern Army of Virginia. This served as a domino effect that modeled peaceful surrenders by other Confederates. -
The Assassination of Lincoln
Victory does not come without a price. President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. This would lead to now-president Johnson giving leniency and softer terms than recommended to the South during Reconstruction. -
Abolition
Despite the Thirteenth Amendment technically getting passed 1/31/1865, it was not formally ratified into the Constitution until 12/6/1865. This is the Amendment that formally abolished slavery and, along with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, solidified the basis of legal rights for newly freed black americans. -
The Transcontinental Railroad: workers' legacy
The Transcontinental Railroad is finished, connecting both sides of the US, a marked starting shift into what we now call the Industrial Era. The Knights of Labor are established to advocate for workers' rights and better conditions, a starting trigger for the labor movement. -
The Battle Of Little Bighorn
Following white miners settling sacred Sioux lands looking for gold and the government refusing to uphold the Second Treaty Of Fort Laramie, native chieftains Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led their people against forced reservation housing, ultimately resulting in the death of General Custer and all of his men. -
The "Compromise" of 1877
This is an event that ultimately showed the full failure of Reconstruction; using threats of filibusters and with reported discrimination against newly vested black voters, the Southern states got Rutherford B. Hayes into office with the North agreeing to take a step back in state government interference. This led to open segregation and acts of terrorism against black citizens in the South. -
Haymarket Affair
After a peaceful protest against police brutality that resulted after a confrontation the day before causing casualties during a strike to secure an eight hour workday, an unknown person detonated a bomb that led to further police fire- this resulted in widespread mistrust of the Knights Of Labor, roughly 60 people injured or killed, and discrimination against immigrant workers. -
Sherman Antitrust Act
This act served as a way to limit new large corporations from illegally controlling all aspects of their industry to the detriment of free market enterprise; while loosely defined, it still carried weight and has been used over the past hundred years to cap industry heavyweights and their ability to overshadow smaller companies. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court rules "separate but equal" facilities for black americans are legal and do not infringe on their rights as citizens. This isn't rectified until nearly 60 years later, with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision in 1954 agreeing these facilities were in fact unequal and violated the constitutional rights of black americans. -
the Spanish-American War
The US defeats Spain, gaining control of territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines through the Treaty Of Paris, signaling the emergence of the U.S. as a global power. Their involvement was triggered by Cuba vying for independence from Spain, which jeopardized US financial interests in the Caribbean and made Puerto Rico a continued territory- but notably, not a formal state. This also remains one of the most blatant examples of yellow journalism our history has to offer. -
Ku Klux Klan
In 1915, the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan arose, a Southern resitance to equal rights for black americans after the Civil War. Their outfits granted anonymity and served as intimidation at night, while during the day they stymied Reconstruction efforts and launched harmful offensives again black citizens. Often, these resulted in death or false imprisonment. -
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The Great Migration
Finally legally free, black americans fled the southern states en masse over this period seeking freedom from violent oppression and financial security in the northern states. -
Red Summer
Black veterans in the Midwestr returning from WWI suffered mistreatment from white counterparts, who were both resentful at less job opportunities and fearful of the abstract idea that trained black servicemen would try and overthrow white citizens. Bolstered by the reemergence of the KKK, white acts of violence included unprecedented amounts of lynchings and days long riots over false accusations of assault. -
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The Roaring Twenties, Harlem Renaissance, and Jazz Age
this was an unprecedented era of finacial security and a blossoming of culture in multiple directions- women's fashion, musical experimentation, and an emergence of famous black entertainers and writers all made marks in the history books. -
Women's Suffrage
On this day, bolstered by the efforts of women leaders like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, women gained for formal right to vote when the Nineteenth Amendment was passed. -
Black Thursday- the stock market crashes
Over 2 days, the stock market loses roughly twenty five percent of its value, a major financial blow after an unprecendeted decade of financial optimism and stability across the country. It would not fully recover for over two decades. -
The Scottsboro Boys
When 9 young men were falsesly accused of raping 2 young white women on a train in the Jim Crow South, the unusual pairing of the american Communist Party and NAACP worked to get them exonerated, bringing national attention to an unfair set of trials fired up by racism. The events inspire Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. -
The New Deal
After taking office in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt sets forth reforms to help curb the financial blows caused by the Depression- notably financing the economy through the government, formalizing minimum wages, and bolstering unions and working conditions. -
the US enters the fray- Pearl Harbor
After Hawai'i is bombed by hundreds of Japanese pilots in a coordinated attack, the US is forced to enter the conflict as an Allied power during WWII. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The US drops Fat Man and Little Boy on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Exact death tolls are estimated at over a hundred thousand, with a far reaching nuclear impact that devastates the population with injuries, illnesses, and birth defects. Japan surrenders. -
the United Nations is formed
After the San Francisco Conference, with the goal of “certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they based their hopes for a better future for the world”- in essence, peace and cooperation instead of wear, and agreeance in how citizens of countries should be treated.