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Battle of Little Bighorn
Colonel Custer thought that he was simply scouting in front of the bigger army following me, but instead he walked right up to a huge band of Lakota, Arapaho and rebel Cheyenne warriors. Of the 700 men in the 7th regiment, 268 including Colonel Custer, died and 55 were severely wounded. -
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Rutherford B. Hayes as President
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Farmer's Alliance Organized
The Farmer's Alliance was organized in an attempt to restore some economic power to farmers as they dealt with railroads, merchants, and bankers. The Farmer's Alliance claimed 1,500,000 members in its prime. It eventually organized the Populist Party which sought to counter the scale and power of monopolistic expression with a strong, engaged, and modern federal government. -
Great Railroad Strike
The Great Railroad Strike began when rail lines slashed salaries. Already barely surviving on their current pay, reduction was simply not feasible for many. From St. Louis to Baltimore, railroad were shut down because of striking workers. Business owners responded quickly by requesting local police and state militia involvement.The strike was crushed six weeks after it began, but it held significance because it was the first time that workers had united by the masses against an unjust policy. -
McCormick Production Changes
Up until this point, Cyrus McCormick manufactured his reapers individually. In 1880, he hired a new production manager who employed new systems of management. Production rates doubled that year, tripled the next, and were quadrupled by the 1990's. This demonstrates the evolution of production and manufacturing methods taking place during this time. -
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James A. Garfield as President
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Chester A. Arthur as President
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Grover Cleveland as President
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Haymarket Riot
The day after policemen killed several workers that were striking at a McCormick reaper works, protesters gathered in Haymarket Square. Once again police officers proceeded to break them up, but a bomb went off killing seven police officers. The police fired into the crowd, killing four protesters. The publicity that resulted from bomb, resulted in the association of unionism with radicalism. The Knights of Labor union fell in the aftermath of this event. -
Dawes General Allotment Act passes Congress
The passage of this act through Congress divided Native American reservations into individual family homesteads. -
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Benjamin Harrison as President
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Turner Thesis Introduced
Frederick Jackson Turner presents his "Turner Thesis" to the American Historical Association. -
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Grover Cleveland as President
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The Great Merger Movement
The Great Merger Movement happened between 1895 and 1904. During this time 4,000 companies folded into 257 corporations. Oftentimes these corporations were the only ones in their market. Monopoly had arrived. -
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William McKinley as President
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Spanish-American War
On April 25, 1898, Congress declared war with Spain over Cuban atrocities. After a quick victory, the Treaty of Paris was signed in December. Secretary of State John Hay declared it to be a "splendid little war" because less than 400 American soldiers died. This war fueled the thought of American Destiny, or American Supremacy. -
Open Door Policy
Secretary of State John Hay articulated the Open Door Policy. It called for all Western powers to have equal access to Chinese Markets. -
Gold Standard
Congress passed the Gold Standard Act which put the country on the gold standard which effectively ended the debate over whether or not the nation should have a silver standard.