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Homestead Act of 1862
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed a settler to acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years, improving it, and paying a nominal fee of about $30. Instead of public land being sold primarily for revenue, it was now being given away to encourage a rapid filling of empty spaces and to provide a stimulus to the family farm. The Homestead Act turned out to be a cruel hoax because the land given to the settlers usually had terrible soil and the weather included no precipitation. -
Morrill Act of 1862
The Morrill Act of 1862, passed after the Southern states had seceded, provided a generous grant of the public lands to the states for support of education. -
National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry
The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry (also known as the Grange), organized in 1867, was led by Oliver H. Kelley. Kelley's first objective was to enhance the lives of isolated farmers through social, educational, and fraternal activities. -
The "Bloody Shirts" Elects Grant: The Election of 1868
The Republicans nominated General Grant for the presidency in 1868. The Republican Party supported the continuation of the Reconstruction of the South, while Grant stood on the platform of "just having peace." The Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour. Grant won the election of 1868. -
National Prohibition Party
Liquor consumption had increased in the days of the Civil War and had continued to flourish afterwards -
The Era of Good Stealings
Jim Fisk and Jay Gould devised a plot to drastically raise the price of the gold market in 1869. On "Black Friday," September 24, 1869, the two bought a large amount of gold, planning to sell it for a profit. In order to lower the high price of gold, the Treasury was forced to sell gold from its reserves. "Boss" Tweed employed bribery, graft, and fraudulent elections to milk New York of as much as $200 million. Tweed was eventually put into prison. -
A Carnival of Corruption
The Credit Mobilier scandal erupted in 1872 when Union Pacific Railroad insiders formed the Credit Mobilier construction company and then hired themselves at inflated prices to build the railroad line, earning high dividends. When it was found out that government officials were paid to stay quiet about the illicit business, some officials were censured. -
The Liberal Republican Revolt of 1872
In response to disgust of the political corruption in Washington and of military Reconstruction, the Liberal Republican Party was formed in 1872. The Liberal Republican Party met in Cincinnati and chose Horace Greeley as their presidential candidate for the election of 1872. The Democratic Party also chose Greeley as their candidate. The Republican Party continued to put its support behind President Grant. Grant won the election of 1872. -
Panic of 1873
Over-speculating was the primary cause of this panic.. Too much expansion had taken place. Too many people had taken out loans of which they were unable to pay back due to lack of profit from where they had invested their money. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1875
Guaranteed equal accommodations in public places and prohibited racial discrimination in jury selection. The Supreme Court ended up ruling most of the Act unconstitutional, declaring that the 14th Amendment only prohibited government violations of civil rights, not the denial of civil rights by individuals. -
Miracles of Mechanization
The telephone was created in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. This invention revolutionized the way Americans communicated. Thomas Alva Edison invented numerous devices; the most well-known is his perfection of the electric light bulb in 1879 -
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, maintained the nation's first high-grade graduate school. -
The Election of 1876
Congress passed a resolution that reminded the country, and Grant, of the two-term tradition for presidency after Grant was speculating about running for a 3rd term. The Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes as their presidential candidate for the election of 1876. The Democrats chose Samuel J. Tilden. In the election, Tilden won the popular vote, but was 1 vote shy from winning the Electoral College. -
The Compromise of 1877
The Electoral Count Act (Compromise of 1877), passed by Congress in 1877, set up an electoral commission consisting of 15 men selected from the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court. It was made to determine which party would win the election. The committee finally determined, without opening the ballots from the 3 disputed states, that the Republicans had been victorious in the disputed ballots from the three states, giving the Republicans the presidency. -
Resumption Act of 1875
Required the government to continue to withdraw greenbacks from circulation and to redeem all paper currency in gold at face value beginning in 1879 -
The Election of 1880
Because President Hayes was despised by his own Republican Party, James A. Garfield was chosen as the presidential candidate for the election of 1880. His vice president was Chester A. Arthur, a former Stalwart. The Democrats chose Civil War hero, Winfield Scott. Garfield won the election, but was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau at a Washington railroad station. Guiteau shot the president claiming that Conklingites would now get all the good jobs now that Chester Arthur was president. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
People of the West Coast attributed declining wages and economic trouble to the hated Chinese workers. This halted Chinese immigration to America. -
The Pendleton Act of 1883
This made campaign contributions from federal employees illegal, and it established the Civil Service Commission to make appointments to federal jobs on the basis of competitive examination. It was basically made to stop politicial corruption. The civil-service reform forced politicians to gain support and funds from big-business leaders. -
Revolution by Railways
The railroad stimulated the industrialization of the country in the post-Civil War years. It created an enormous domestic market for American raw materials and manufactured goods. Railroad companies also stimulated immigration. At this time, every town in the United States had its own local time. In order to keep schedules and avoid wrecks, the major rail lines stated, on November 18, 1883, that the continent would be divided into 4 times zones - most towns accepted the new time method. -
The Election of 1884
The Republicans chose James G. Blaine as their presidential candidate for the election of 1884. The Democrats chose Grover Cleveland. Grover Cleveland was a very honest and admirable man. Cleveland won the election of 1884. -
American Federation of Labor
Founded in 1886 and was led by Samuel Gompers. The federation consisted of an association of self-governing national unions, each of which kept its own independence. It sought for better wages, hours, and working conditions. The federation's main weapons were the walkout and the boycott. The greatest weakness of organized labor was that it still embraced only a small minority of all working people. Labor Day was created by Congress in 1894. -
American Protective Association (APA)
Created in 1887, it urged to vote against Roman Catholic candidates for office. -
Hatch Act of 1887
The Hatch Act of 1887 extended the Morrill Act and provided federal funds for the establishment of agricultural experiment stations in connection with the land-grant colleges. -
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 dissolved many tribes as legal entities, wiped out tribal ownership of land, and set up individual Indian family heads with 160 free acres. If the Indians behaved like "good white settlers" then they would get full title to their holdings as well as citizenship. The Dawes Act attempted to assimilate the Indians with the white men. The Dawes Act remained the basis of the government's official Indian policy until the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. -
The Election of 1888
The Republicans chose Benjamin Harrison as their presidential candidate for the 1888 election. During the election, the first major issue between the two parties had arisen: tariffs. Cleveland won the popular vote, but Harrison still won the election. -
McKinley Tariff Act of 1890
This act raised tariffs yet again and brought more troubles to farmers. Farmers were forced to buy expensive products from American manufacturers while selling their own products into highly competitive world markets. The Tariff Act caused the Republican Party to lose public support and become discredited. In the congressional elections of 1890, the Republicans lost their majority in Congress. -
American Tobacco Company
Throughout the industrial strive in the North, the South produced a smaller percentage of the nation's manufactured goods. Southern agriculture received a boost in the 1880s when machine-made cigarettes replaced earlier methods of producing cigarettes. This caused tobacco consumption to shoot up. James Buchanan Duke took advantage of the growing tobacco business and formed the American Tobacco Company in 1890. Numerous obstacles lay in the path of southern industrialization. -
National American Woman Suffrage Association
In 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded. The re-born suffrage movement and other women's organization excluded black women. Ida B. Wells helped to launch the black women's club movement, which led to the establishment of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
The Act forbade combinations in restraint of trade without any distinction between "good" trusts and "bad" trusts. The law proved ineffective because it contained legal loopholes and it made all large trusts suffer, not just bad ones. -
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
This act was created by the administration of Benjamin Harrison in order to increase the amount of silver in circulation. The drastic rise in silver caused the American people to believe that the less expensive silver was going to replace gold as the main form of currency. The American people therefore began to withdraw their assets in gold, depleting the Treasury's gold supply. Cleveland was forced to repeal the Sherman Silver Act Purchase in 1893. -
The Election of 1892
The Populists nominated General James B. Weaver for the presidential election of 1892. In 1888, Cleveland had won the popular vote over Harrison but lost in the electoral college, thus losing the election. Cleveland won both the popular and electoral vote. -
The Panic of 1893
The worst economic downturn for the United States during the 19th Century. It was caused by overbuilding and over-speculation, labor disorders, and the ongoing agricultural depression. The Treasury was required to issue legal tender notes for the silver bullion that it had purchased. Owners of the paper currency would then present it for gold, and by law the notes had to be reissued. This process depleted the gold reserve in the Treasury to less than $100 million -
Panic of 1893
The panic of 1893 strengthened the Populists' stance that farmers and laborers were being mistreated by an oppressed economic and political system. -
Pullman strike of 1894
The Pullman strike of 1894 was started when the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages. Debs was imprisoned for not ceasing the strike. -
Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894
The Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894 lowered tariffs and contained a 2% tax on incomes over $4,000. The Supreme Court ruled income taxes unconstitutional in 1895. The Wilson-Gorman Tariff caused the Democrats to lose positions in Congress, giving the Republicans an advantage. Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, and Cleveland were known as the "forgettable presidents." -
Election of 1896
The Republican candidate for the election of 1896 was William McKinley. Marcus Alonzo Hanna led the Republican presidential campaign. Hanna felt that the prime function of government was to aid business. The Republican platform supported the gold standard. The Democratic candidate was William Jennings Bryan. The platform demanded inflation through the unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold; meaning that the silver in a dollar would be worth 50 cents -
Dingley Tariff Bill
The Dingley Tariff Bill, passed in 1897, proposed new high tariff rates to generate enough revenue to cover the annual Treasury deficits. The panic of 1893 had passed and Republican politicians claimed credit for bringing prosperity to the nation. -
Gold Standard Act of 1900
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 provided that paper currency be redeemed freely in gold.