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Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
His theory of evolution argued that higher forms of life had evolved from lower forms of life via random mutation and survival-of-the-fittest. At first, scientists rejected Darwin's views. By the 1920's, Darwin's view was largely accepted by scientists. Darwin's review thus rejected divine creation. -
Homestead Act
Homestead Act (1862) offered 160 acres of free land. Settlers only had to pay a small fee and improve the land, meaning build a small cabin on it. Alternately, the land could be purchased flat-out for $1.25 per acre. Either way, the Homestead Act was a great deal. Some 500,000 settlers took up the offer and headed west. -
Congress authorizes a transcontinenta railroad
The ultimate goal for the rails was a transcontinental railroad (from coast to coast). Congress commissioned the Union Pacific Railroad to push westward from Omaha, Nebraska to California. For their efforts, the Union Pacific got pay, free land, loans for more land or building. The Central Pacific Railroad started in California and pushed eastward. The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 near Ogden, Utah. -
National Labor Union organized
The National Labor Union (1866) lasted 6 years and had 600,000 members—skilled, unskilled, and farmers. Par-for-the-times, blacks and women were only slightly sought after and Chinese immigrants were excluded. Their goals were arbitration (settlement by a mediator) of worker complaints and an 8 hour workday (which was granted to government workers). The 1873 depression ruined the National Labor Union. -
National Grange organized
The Grange was a national farmers' organization aimed at advancing farmers' agenda. The initial goal was social in nature—to have "get-togethers" for isolated farmers. By 1875 it had 800,000 members. The Grange then added helping the farmers' lot in life to their goals. Especially, the Grange wanted to get the trusts off of farmers' backs. On the good side, in 1878, they elected 14 members of Congress. On the bad side, in 1880, Greenback Party nominated Granger James B. Weaver for president. -
Grant defeats Seymour for the presidency
His main technique was to "wave the bloody shirt," meaning to constantly remind voters of his military record and that he'd led the North to victory. The close victory signaled a couple of things for the future: tightly run and hard-fighting political parties and narrow election margins of victory -
Fisk and Gould corner the gold market
Corruption became all too common in the post-Civil War years. "Jubilee" Jim Fisk and his partner Jay Gould came up with, and nearly pulled off, a scheme in 1869 to corner the gold market to themselves. They tried, unsuccessfully, to get President Grant involved as well as his brother-in-law. -
Knights of Labor organized
The Knights of Labor began in secrecy and then came out in 1881. It welcomed skilled and unskilled, women and blacks. The only people banned were "non producers": liquor dealers, professional gamblers, lawyers, bankers, and stockbrokers, The Knights sought workers' cooperatives (to pool their money and resources), better working conditions, and the 8 hour workday.
They had some success, led by Terence V. Powderly. They got the 8 hour day in several places and pulled off a successful strike RR. -
Tweed scandal in New York
In New York City, Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall, a local political district. Boss Tweed used bribes, graft, and rigged elections to mooch money and ensure continual power for himself and his buddies. Thomas Nast was a cartoonist who relentlessly attacked Tweed's corruption. Tweed despised Nast because, although many people in Tweed's district couldn't read about the corruption, they could understand those "them damn pictures." Nast's cartoon's brought down Tweed. -
Crédit Mobilier scandal exposed Liberal Republicans break with GrantGrant defeats Greeley for the presidency
President Grant was an honest man but there was much corruption underneath his administration. He either wasn't aware of it or failed to properly deal with it. One of the worst situations was the Crédit Mobilier scandal. The company was constructing the trans-continental railroad and effectively sub-hired itself to get paid double. They also gave stock to Congressmen in order to avoid getting busted. A newspaper finally exposed the scandal, two Congressmen went down, and the VP took payments. -
Panic of 1873
It was started by over-spending with borrowed money, this time in railroads and factories. Debtors wanted paper money ("greenbacks") printed to create inflation and thus make it easier to pay off debts. Opponents, usually bankers and the wealthy, favored hard money policies.the Resumption Act was passed to actually start to lower the number of greenbacks in circulation and to redeem paper money at face value starting in 1879. Under Grant's lead, the nation entered into a period of "contraction" -
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union(WCTU) organized
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (1874) was more aggressive. It was led by Francis E. Willard and Carrie A. Nation whose trademark was to literally walk into a bar and chop it up with a hatchet. -
Whiskey Ring scandal Civil Rights Act of 1875 Resumption Act passed
The Resumption Act was passed to actually start to lower the number of greenbacks in circulation and to redeem paper money at face value starting in 1879. 3.The so-called "Whiskey Ring" was where folks stole whiskey tax money from the government. -
Hayes-Tilden election standoff and crisis
The Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. The Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden. Tilden got 184 electoral votes; he needed 185 to win. "Which branch of Congress would count the states' votes?" Congress passed the Electoral Count Act that set up a commission to resolve the crisis. 2.8 men were Republicans, 7 were Democrats. -
Bell invents the telephone
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Compromise of 1877, Reconstruction ends, Railroad strikes paralyze nation
The North got Rutherford B. Hayes elected as a Republican president. The South got a pledge that Hayes would removal of military occupation in the South. This did happen, thus ending Reconstruction. Southern blacks were now effectively left alone to fend for themselves. The 4 largest railroads got together and decided to cut employee wages by 10%. The workers fought back by going on strike. This failed strike showed the weaknesses of the labor movement at the time. -
Edison invents the electric light
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Garfield defeats Scott for presidency
The Republicans nominated James A. Garfield and, as his running mate, Stalwart Chester Arthur. The Democrats nominated Gen. Winfield Scott, the Civil War hero. Garfield won the election. -
Garfield assassinated; Arthur assumespresidency
Garfield was assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau in September of 1881. As vice president, Chester Arthur became president. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. It forbade the immigration of Chinese to America. This was the first immigration restriction America passed; until this point in history, immigrants simply came to America without hindrance. -
First immigration-restriction laws passed
The first law restricting immigration to America was passed in 1882. It banned paupers (a very poor person), criminals, and convicts. Another law in 1885 forbade importing workers under contract at substandard wages. Other laws banned more "undesirables" and literacy tests kept many immigrants out until 1917.
4.A red-letter law was passed in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act. It banned the immigration of Chinese. This was the first immigration law to specifically target and ban a specific et -
Civil Rights Cases; Pendleton Act sets up Civil ServiceCommission
Pendleton Act was the height of political reform. It was called the "Magna Carta of civil service reform" meaning it required merit to get jobs, not simply knowing someone in a high position. 3.The Civil Service Commission awarded jobs based on performance rather than on how much "pull" a person had (how many buddies they had in high places). The Pendleton Act first affected only 10% of federal jobs, but it stopped giving jobs to buddies and it set the tone for civil service reform in the future -
Cleveland defeats Blaine for presidency
The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine for president in the 1884 election.The Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland as their candidate. A popular topic was Cleveland's affair and the child it had produced some 8 years earlier. 3.Despite the drama, Cleveland won the election. -
Local chapters of Farmers’ Alliance formed
Their goals were the same also: to socialize and to push the farmers' agenda. The Alliance swelled to over 1,000,000 by 1890, but could've been even bigger. It excluded tenant farmers, share-croppers, farm workers, and blacks. A separate Colored Farmers' National Alliance was started for black farmers. It gained 250,000 members. -
Statue of Liberty erected in New York harbor
the Statue of Liberty (1886) was given to the U.S. by France during the days of such anti-foreigner feelings. -
Haymarket Square bombing; Wabash case;
Strikers were intermingled with a handful of anarchists calling for overthrow of the government. A bombing took place and a handful of bystanders, including police, were killed or injured. The anarchists were the likely culprit, but the public placed blame on the Knights and unions. In the Wabash case, the supreme court said that states cannot regulate interstate trade, only congress can. This meant that if any regulation were to be done, it would have to be by the U.S. Congress, not the local g -
Dawes Severalty Act
In 1887 the Dawes Severalty Act was passed. Its overall goal was to erase tribes and set the Indians on the road to "becoming white." It was a very insulting law… Although the Indians were truly "Native Americans" and the whites were the immigrants, the law said that Indians could become U.S. citizens after 25 years if they behaved as the U.S. government preferred (like "good white settlers"). -
Harrison defeats Cleveland for presidency
Cleveland was up for re-election by the Democrats, Benjamin Harrison was up as the Republican.
Harrison won in a very close race in 1888. Cleveland became the first president voted out of office since Martin Van Buren. -
Thomas B. “Czar” Reed becomes Speaker ofthe House of Representatives
The Republicans found their leader in Speaker of the House Thomas "Czar" Reed. Reed was a tall man, super debater, and had an acid-sarcastic tongue that cut at opponents. He ran the House of Representatives like a dictator. -
Jane Addams founds Hull House in Chicago
\Addams founded Hull House in Chicago (1889). It was a "settlement house"—immigrants came there for counseling, literacy training, child care, cultural activities, and the like. -
Oklahoma opened to settlement
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“Billion-Dollar” Congress; McKinley Tariff Act; Sherman Silver Purchase Act
The first "Billion Dollar Congress" was where the U.S. government doled out that much money for the first time. The McKinley Tariff (1890) hiked rates to roughly 48%, the highest peacetime rate ever. The tariff was a double-edged sword: business folks loved the protection it gave, but farmers disliked the fact that manufactured goods were now more expensive.
1.The Sherman Silver Purchase Act: the government had to buy silver and print paper money to pay for it, turn in the paper money for gold -
National American Woman SuffrageAssociation formed
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Populist party candidate James B. Weaver pollsmore than 1 million votes in presidential election
In 1892, the Populists won several seats in Congress. Their candidate, again James B. Weaver, earned over 1,000,000 votes. They were hindered by racial tensions in the South. Their challenge was to join the North and join up with city workers to make a political party with a rural/urban one-two punch. -
Depression of 1893 begins
It was the first recession or depression during the industrial age. This completed the almost predictable, every-20-year cycle of panics during the 1800s (panics occurred during 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, and 1893). Nearly 8,000 U.S. businesses went out of business in 6 months. Railroads went under too and soup kitchens popped up to feed wandering hoboes. -
Wilson-Gorman Tariff
1.Democrats had promised lower tariffs. The Wilson-Gorman barely changed the McKinley Tariff at all. Worse, the Wilson-Gorman law allowed for a 2% income tax on income over $4,000. The Supreme Court struck this down, but it looked like Cleveland and the government was giving in to the rich "fat-cats." -
J. P. Morgan’s banking syndicate loans $65million in gold to federal government
Morgan and his banker-friends agreed to lend the U.S. government $65 million in gold (of course the bankers made $7 million in profit). This deal restored confidence and largely stemmed the problem. -
Utah admitted to the Union; McKinley defeats Bryan for presidency
"Will the U.S. base its money on gold, silver, or both?" McKinley won the election 1896 easily, 271 to 176 electoral votes. Bryan carried the South and West, McKinley carried the Northeast, Midwest, and far West. The election was important in that (a) gold was decided upon as America's economic basis, (b) it was a victory for business, conservatives, and middle class values (as opposed to the working class), and (c) it started 16 years of Republican presidents (and 8 of the next 36 years). -
Charlotte Perkins Gilman publishesWomen and Economics
Feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman published Women and Economics, a classic of feminism. She (1) shunned traditional femininity, (2) said there were no real differences between men and women, and (3) called for group nurseries and kitchens to free up women. -
National Association for the Advancement ofColored People (NAACP) founded