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labor unions
First national labor union was founded as the National Trades Union, open to workers from all trades. It only lasted a few years and no unions formed in the wake of the depressions of the late 1830s. -
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"Honest Abe" v. "The Little Giant"
This was a series of debates between two men who were running for Senate. Abraham Lincoln, "Honest Abe," and Stephen Douglas, "The Little Giant", had different views on political situations, so Lincoln challenged Douglas to debates. Douglas ultimately won the Senate seat. -
Compromise of 1850
Califormia was admitted as a free state, but in the other territory aquired from Mexico, voters would decide the slavery issue for themselves (popular sovereignty). -
Safety elevator
Elisha Otis developed a safety elevator that woudl not fall if teh lifting rope broke. This increased work in skyscrapers because people felt safer going up in high buildings. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin was published
This book, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a powerful condemnation of slavery. Her main character, Uncle Tom, put a human face on slavery for readers who had never witnessed slavery firsthand. It increased antislavery sentiment in the North but angered southerners who argued that the book presented a false picture of slavery and the South. -
Attack on Kansas
Southern proslavery forces attacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas. They looted homes, burned down the hotel, and destroyed the presses of The Kansas Free State newspaper. This sparked John Brown's midnight raid on the proslavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek. -
Dred Scott case
Dred Scott sued for his freedom after having moved to free states then back into a slavery state. He lost the case, but this fired up abolitionists. -
Macy's
Macy's was the first ever department store. It became the largest single store in America. its sale methods became the standard in large urban stores. -
Charles Darwin published "On Origin of Species"
This led to the thoughts of "Social Darwinism" which were that wealth was a measure of one's inhereit value and those who had it were more "fit". -
Lincoln is elected president
This is significant because this causes the southern states to go into a sucession and create the Confederate States of America. They do this because Lincoln is an abolitionist. -
South Carolina legistlature held a convention
The convention declated, without taking a vote, that South Carolina is now a suceded state. -
Confederate forts
Buchanan tried to send troops and supplies to the forts in the suceded states but failed because the confederates attacked the ships. -
Confederate States of America
Seven suceded states created this new country. They created a new constitution which was designed to get the support of Britain and France. Some southerners didn't want the sucession and hoped for a compromise. -
Civil War Begins
The civil war started because the South was capturing the ships that were trying to go from the North to the South and bring supplies to the military forts. The suceded states' slaves were freed, helping the Northern army. -
Suspension of Habeas Corpus
Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus which meant that the military could make arrests without providing a civil reason. This was to prevent disloyalty to the Union. -
Emancipation Proclamation
This was the document that freed all of the slaves in the territories of suceded states. This significantly helped the Northern military because many freed slaves enlisted. -
Homestead Act
This along with aid from railroad companies made western farmland inexpensive. This helped with employment issues. -
Congress passes draft law
This stated that any abled person under certain conditions could be pulled into the army at any time. This caused riots and protests to break out. -
Total War begins
Sherman uses the total war method which destroyed all resources necessary in order to sustain an army -
Lee surrenders
The Union wins the civil war and reconstruction in the south begins. -
Lincoln is assassinated
Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson (VP) takes office and passes 13th amendment which abolishes slavery. -
Labor Movement
The labor movement was the increase of city workers. This was helpful in the U.S.'s economy because mass production was possible and industry was booming. -
KKK forms
KKK was a secret society that tried to scare blacks away. They wore hoods to conceal their identity. -
14th and 15th amendments are passed
14th amendment gave citizenship to all US-born people. 15th amendment gave voting rights to all males. -
Knights of Labor
Uriah Smith Stephens founded this labor union. he included all workers of any trade, skilled or unskilled. They actively recruited African Americans. The union functioned largely as a secret society, devoted to broad social reform such as replacing capitalism with workers' cooperatives. -
Free Market formed
The Free Market indicated that businesses could operate with little government involvement. -
Protective Tariffs
Protective tariffs were issued to encourage the purchase of US-made goods as opposed to imported goods. -
technology helps businesses develop
railroads and the telegraph allowed the number of corporations in America to increase dramatically. -
Yellowstone Park formed
Yellowstone park was formed to preseve land from effects of pollution and industry. -
Election of 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes wins election under the condition that troops will be pulled from the South. This causes the end of reconstruction. -
Thomas Edison made lightbulb
This helped industry in cities because they could work later since there was efficient lighting. -
Business mergers created powerful empires
People who invested in steel, railroads, meat, farm equipment, sugar, lumber, and a number of other enterprises had powerful epires -
first roller coaster
Lamarcus Thompson opened the world's first roller coaster at ten cents a ride. He averaged more than $600 per day in income. -
ICC formed
the Interstate Commerce Commission monitored US businesses -
advances in street cars
Streetcars powered by overhead cables was a revolutionary invention. It led to mass transit. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
This monitored trusts and put a stop to monopolies by making them illegal. -
child labor
By the end of the 1800s, nearly one in five children between the ages of 10 and 16 worked rather than attending school. Conditions were harsh for chlidren. social workers were beginning to get chlidren out of factories nad into child care of schools. -
large immigrant populations
San Francisco and Chicago had over 40% of their population consisting of immigrants. -
Jacob Riis
Jacob Riis wrote a book called "How the Other Half Lives." This was a book that brought the dangers and sanitary effects of tenaments to the attention of the public eye. -
Ellis Island
European immigrants arrived here in America and were Americanized. -
Homestead strike
Strike occured at one of Carnegie's steel plant. The union immediately called the strike. Pinkertons were brought in and killed several strikers, wounding many others. on July 23, an anarchist who had joined the protesters tried to assassinate Frick. Strikers won, but Carnegie shut down the plant. -
underground streetcars
Boston solved the problem of cables blocking traffic by moving them underground. Many other major cities followed. -
Angel Island
Chinese and other Asian immigrants crossed at the Pacific Ocean, arriving in San Francisco Bay. They were processed at Angel Island which was formidable and seemingly designed to filter out Chinese immigrants. -
Newspaper variety
in 1910, there were six Italian-language papers. Over 10000 copies were sold daily. This was a result of Pulitzer wanting newspapers to appeal to a variety of different readers. -
booming high schools
in 1910, there were over 5000 high schools as opposed to a few hundred in 1870. This was due to social workers wanting children to be in school as opposed to working in dangerous factories.
