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The Battle of Little Big Horn
With high tensions between Americans and Native Americans, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th Calvary into the Black Hills to confront the Sioux tribe. However, Custer and his Calvary were not expecting as many Sioux as there were, not to mention other tribes allied with the Sioux. Custer was significantly outnumbered, and he and 298 of his men died in the battle that ensued. -
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U.S. History 1876-1900
Following the Reconstruction era, the U.S. slowly moved away from thinking about the post civil war and the wild west era that also took place around the same time, and slowly start on the road to increased innovation in technology, as well as the introduction of new political ideas and ideals. -
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, was where in 1877, rail road companies all over the country significantly cut their workers wages, while shareholders in the companies continued to get the same amount from their investments and did not see a decrease, thus causing many of the railroad workers to go on strike. The strikers rioted all over the country and destroyed much railroad property. State militias killed 100 people while trying to contain the riots, which lasted six weeks. -
The Invention of the Lightbulb
Thomas Alva Edison invented the lightbulb, a glass bulb that has components inside of it that when hooked up to a specific amount of electricity from a generator, (which Edison also invented) creates light without the sun or fire. Edison’s invention was a huge success, and could even be said to have changed the world, and so Edison started mass producing electric lamps for the lightbulbs for people to buy. -
The Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was a workers union group that sought to better their pay and working conditions, and shorten their working hours to eight hours a day by banding together against the production companies for which they worked. In 1886, workers struck all across the country and riots broke out in multiple places, forcing state militia to get involved. After multiple strikers were killed by the militias during the riots, the Knight of Labor movement was ended. -
The Farmers' Alliance
The Farmers’ Alliance was where farmers all across America formed a union to seek better treatment. Business wasn’t doing so well for many farmers, because the farming equipment they needed was overpriced and the market value of the food they sold was cheap. The Farmers’ Alliance sought to lessen the prices of tools they needed and raise the prices of the food they grew to feed everyone in the cities all over the country. They eventually entered politics and became the Populist Party. -
The Frontier Thesis
Fredrick Jackson Turner presents his Frontier Thesis, Turner presented the idea that the American West always was in the backs of peoples minds as a sort of backup plan. If things did not go as planned or something bad happened in the cities of the east people could just always move out west and make a new life for themselves. When westward expansion ended with land not being anywhere near accessible as it used to be, and because that fresh start option ended America would never be the same. -
William Jennings Bryan and the Gold Standard
William Jennings Bryan was one of the first in America to suggest inflation of the currency, by legalizing unlimited production of silver currency rather than sticking to the gold standard that the currency system was founded upon. Bryan was very persuasive and turned many to his side, partially by irreverently using Jesus' crucifixion to make a point. Bryan started the movement that would eventually lead to mass inflation in modern day America, significantly decreasing the dollars value. -
The Spanish-American War
After a U.S. naval ship blew up in Spanish ruled Cuba, due to at the time unknown circumstances, America blamed the Spanish and declared war. There was much fighting, but America won most of the battle quite easily, because of how unprepared the Spanish were. America won the war, freeing Cuba of Spain’s rule and gaining the formerly Spanish owned Philippines as U.S. territory, thus officially making America a world power.