Freedman's Bureau
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
1865
Oliver Otis Howard
Set up by congress to help recently freed slaves;
distributed food, rebuilt communities, eased disputes between blacks
and whites
White southerners as an �unnecessary imposition of federal power�,
helped black laborers from being exploited by overseeing their labor
contracts with white employers
Black Codes
Date:
What:
Significance:
1865
Federal forces withdrew from South which allowed them to regain
power; restricted rights of blacks (could sue but not serve on jury);
way of White Southerners to circumvent Freedman's Bureau; lead to
unfair laws (Vagrancy laws: arrested for no employment; if found
unemployed, fined, then forced to word off fine on plantation;
Apprenticeship laws: if black parents were deemed unable to support
their children, county would assign child to be �apprentice� on
plantation); basically "legal slavery"
Lead to Civil Rights Bill and 14th Amendment
14th Amendment
Date:
What:
Significance:
1866, ratified 1868
It opens the door to citizenship through naturalization; going
through a legal process, you can gain citizenship, if you were not
born in the U.S.
Through the process, the natives could receive citizenship
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Date:
What:
Significance:
1865
Members hid identity, targeted black & Republican homes &
communities to intimidate, threat and murder; openly supported by many
white southerners;
Severely limited black political and social standing through
violence and threat
Compromise of 1877
What:
Significance:
1877
Election of 1876 was undecided between Samuel J. Tilden (Dem) and
Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep). Republicans and some Democrats met up and
agreed that Dem would support Hayes for president if Hayes pulls Union
troops out of the South.
Marked end of Reconstruction and blacks began losing all political
and social advances that had made during Reconstruction
US vs. Cruikshank
Date:
What:
Significance:
1876
Supreme Court ruling after Colfax massacre
Redefined 14th Amendment saying it doesn�t protect people
from private organizations
Battle of Little Bighorn
Date:
What:
Significance:
1874
Gold discovered in Black Hills, which was Native's territory. US
government ignored prior treaties and tried to claim that territory.
Lt. Col. Custer brought his men to the area and was outnumbered and
defeated by Crazy Horse and his troops consisting of men from Sioux
and Cheyenne tribes.
Word of Custor's total defeat spread, reinforcing view of Natives as
savages; after following years, Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined
to reservations.
Dawes Act
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
1887
Henry Dawes
Divided Indian lands into 160-acre plots for each house hold;
Indians didn�t believe in owning the land which ended tribal rule; US
forced their own culture and practices (Christianity); Forced
citizenship and Children had to be sent to the boarding schools to
avoid being arrested
Private land ownership as key to citizenship; tried to assimilate
Natives but ended up breaking apart the tribal communities
Wounded Knee
Date:
What:
Significance:
1890
Around 250 Lakota (Natives of Great Plains) killed and 25 soldiers
killed; bodies were not buried for 3 days because of snow storm
Marked the end of organized armed Natives resistance on the western plains
Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
1883
Buffalo Bill Cody
Show featured real natives; they recreated battles like Little Big
Horn. General William T. Sherman thought it was wonderful because you
could see facts of the past.
Contributed to American identity and manifest destiny of
cultivating/spreading to the west; Romanticized the western culture
Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis"
Date:
What:
Significance:
1890
The U.S. census Bureau declared the frontier closed 1893; �The
Significance of the Frontier in American History�- Tuner; they already
went �coast to coast� it was a physical space but not confined place
Turner pointed out importance of frontier in American history and
closing the frontier would be a turning point.
2nd Industrial Revolution
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
Late 19th century
Alexander Graham Bell (telephone and AT&T); Thomas Edison (DC
electricity, electric light bulb, 1,093 patents); Nikola Tesla (AC
electricity, Tesla Electric Company); Westinghouse (AC electricity)
Followed the expansion of railroads and mass steel production; a
period of inventors that contributed to technological &
communicational advances
Produced technological advances that contribute to modern day appliances.
War of Currents"
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
Late 1880s
Tesla, Westinghouse & Edison
Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse developed AC (alternating current) and
competed against former employer, Thomas Edison, who developed DC
(direct current); both parties competed against the opposing form of
electricity, understanding that the winner would lead the nation in
the use of electricity; Germany began converting to AC, which is a
more efficient form; US eventually adopted AC, which is still the form
used today; Used dirty methods ex: Edison publicly electrocuted
animals using AC to demonstrate how dangerous DC is
City life changed, with street lights now possible; drew more people
to cities
Sherman Antitrust Act
Who:
What:
Significance:
Outcome:
1890
Intention was to break up trusts (monopolies) to promote competition
It was an attempt by congress to limit the monopolization of the
market by a company or few companies
US v. EC Knight Company, 1895; court ruling said government can�t
control local production, since federal government can only control
interstate commerce (between different states); this shot down Sherman
Antitrust Act
Ragged Dick
Date:
What:
Significance:
Published 1868
Novel written by Horatio Algier; taught and promoted the idea of
going from rags to riches
Contributed to the notion of the �American Dream� and social Darwinism
The Great Railroad Strike
Date:
What:
Significance:
1877
following 1873 financial panic the economy collapsed which lead to
railroad companies cutting wages; Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
(B&O) issued the second pay cut in 8 months, this time up to 10%;
workers refused to work, developed into strike; bosses called in
militia, who actually joined the strike b/c many were workers or were
connected to workers; strike from Maryland to California; they
destroyed rails and no movement of goods was possible; federal troops
were finally called in; after fighting and rioting (45 days), strikers
lost and gained nothing; failed b/c no bargaining power, no central
voice, no representative; contributed to the rise of unions
Knights of labor become a national organization with membership
skyrocketing and a central voice
The Haymarket Affair
Date:
What:
Significance:
1886
In 1884, Knights of Labor gave managers until May 1st,
1886 to set 8 hour work day; after deadline passed and few managers
did comply, over 40,000 workers went on strike; bomb was thrown in the
crowd and police began firing into crowd; many laborers arrested, 4
hanged, 1 suicide, 2 life sentences
Public was angry towards unions (blamed bomb on Knights),
associating it with violence, and ultimately the Knights of Labor died
out with such negative publicity
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Date:
What:
Significance:
1911
147 workers (mostly women) killed as factory caught on fire and
women were trapped on their floor with fire escape stairs locked and
elevator too small; factory managers charged but not prosecuted,
leading to public outrage at no accountability;
Created Factory Investigation Commission (FIC) in June
30th, 1911, which passed over 30 statutes of work reform;
brought about safety reform and regulations for businesses
Ellis Island and Angel Island
Dates:
What:
Significance:
Ellis (1892); Angel (1910)
Ellis Island served as immigration processing center in New York Bay
for immigrants coming in from Europe; checked for diseases and
unwanted physical traits, as justified by eugenics; Angel Island
served as the West Coast (San Francisco Bay) counterpart to Ellis
Island, processing Asian, primarily Chinese immigrants using similar
selection notions.
served as physical boundaries that would filter immigrants based on
desirable traits (as justified by eugenics) and lead to cities that
served as transitional communities for immigrants (ex: Irish and
Italian heritage of Boston and Chinatown)
Eugenics
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
1883
Francis Galton (cousin of Darwin)
Galton published Hereditary Genius in 1883; coined the term �good in
birth�; contributed to notion of �social Darwinism� which promotes
that those of higher socioeconomic status are more fit (financially,
and morally) to be in that status; created new racial categories,
criteria for racial categorizations, and more rules to separate based
on �race� (ex: one drop rule was that if you had just one drop of
black in you, you were black)
Justified and contributed to American imperialism, White Man's
Burden, and racism abroad (viewing Philippines as savages) and at home
(lynching at all time high, vast majority of victims were black)
Birth of a Nation
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
1915
Film directed by D.W. Griffith in 1915
Film glorifies KKK; considered one of great U.S. classic movies; set
in Reconstruction U.S., depicted ignorant and incompetent black
politicians (white actors in blackface) with KKK members saving the
day as heroes;
Contributed to eugenics and reinforced white supremacy
Conquest of Hawaii
Date:
What:
Significance:
1875-1898, Annexation in 1898
American planters controlled Hawaii economy
Reciprocal Trade Agreement (1875) � America agreed to import
Hawaiian sugar tax free; sugar production grew in Hawaii and economy
boomed Americans in Hawaii forced democracy, exerting control
over Hawaiian king in 1887 Queen Liliuokalani ascended
throne in 1891 and was against the implemented democracy
Queen was deposed in 1893, with forced annexation of Hawaii
islands 1898
First step in overseas growth of American empire
Yellow Journalism
Date:
What:
Significance:
1898
USS Maine docked on Havana Harbor in 1898; ship served as safe haven
for Americans but blew up; journalists blamed explosion on Cuba,
presenting the sensationalism over the actual facts of the event;
contributed to public�s growing tension with Cuba
Gained US public support of war and promoted the idea of US
expansion past the border of the land; international land interest
Cuba Libre
Date:
What:
Significance:
Spanish American War (1896-1899); Cuban Independence (1898)
Cuba revolts against Spain, US helps Cuba and conflict becomes
Spanish-American war (1896-1899); part of US imperialism; 1898
Congress declared Cuba independent;
New era of US as global power since it defeated Spain; US also
acquires Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico
The White Man's Burden"
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
1899
Rudyard Kipling
Poem (he also wrote The Jungle Book); written in response to
Philippine-America War; urged white America to join Europe (namely
England) in imperializing Africa and Asia
Contributed to notion white superiority over minorities
Philippine-American War
Date:
What:
Significance:
1899-1902
Philippines fought U.S. for its independence after U.S. acquired it
from Spain in Spanish-American War.
Contributed to American imperialism, eugenics, and the white man's
burden since Philippine people were depicted as uncivilized savages.
The Jungle
Date:
Who:
What:
Significance:
Written by Upton Sinclair
Written to draw attention to hardships of American immigrants, but
the public (and then president, Theodore Roosevelt) reacted to graphic
depiction of the meat packing and processing industry
Roosevelt soon pushed for the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the
Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, both of which helped regulated meat
and food processing and packaging for consumers