US History timeline & concept chart: 1860s-1900
US History timeline & concept chart: 1860-1900
Objectives:
- to help students to
- associate timelines with events, persons, themes & concepts
- associate presidents with timelines, themes & concepts
- identify timelines with BIG IDEAS across periods of US history
- find connections and common themes across US history
- easily find relevant details for larger comprehension
- to help teachers to
- quickly review US History content for lesson planning
- provide students with easy and complete reference source for US history
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Index
Page structure & format guide
U.S. History course pages:
1860s: Lincoln * Johnson administrations[edit | edit source]
| PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS
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Election of 1860 Lincoln Republican Party Southern secession Civil War Lincoln war measures (shutting down press, draft, keeping the border states)
Civil War economic impact North wins in war and economics Southern economy in ruins Republican policies enacted CIVIL WAR ERA CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDENTS
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Election of 1860[edit | edit source]Lincoln position on slavery: no expansion but left where it was >> but argued against slavery as unethical = argues against slavery but not its abolition >> Southerners and northern abolitions don’t like Lincoln >> southerners assume he is against slavery >> abolitionists assume he is no strong on the issue - 4-way split election: > Democratic party split between north (Douglas) Southern candidates (Breckenridge) > the 4th candidate was a border-state, pro-Union, pro-slavery but anti-spread of slavery former Democrat, John Bell, who carried border states and Virginia > Lincoln won w/ mostly northern votes which gave him Electoral College majority = clear winner > South Carolina secedes, followed by others up to March 1861 when Lincoln took office Civil War: Lincoln's policies[edit | edit source]
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>> but argued against slavery as unethical = argues against slavery but not its abolition >> Southerners and northern abolitions don’t like Lincoln >> southerners assume he is against slavery >> abolitionists assume he is no strong on the issue - 4-way split election: > Democratic party split between north (Douglas) Southern candidates (Breckenridge) > the 4th candidate was a border-state, pro-Union, pro-slavery but anti-spread of slavery former Democrat, John Bell, who carried border states and Virginia > Lincoln won w/ mostly northern votes which gave him Electoral College majority = clear winner > South Carolina secedes, followed by others up to March 1861 when Lincoln took office Lincoln positions during war - does not recognize secession - U.S. Gov will defend its properties > Ft. Sumter = 1st battle of the war, off coast of Charleston, SC - War is about UNION Meaning of the War - to Southerners: > felt they were defending Constitutional rights > considered the North the aggressors - to Northerners > many but not all were anti-slavery > to save the Union >> the question for Union: can a people rule themselves? (self-government) >> Europeans looked upon Civil War as demonstration that democracy can’t work Both sides started with enthusiasm for war and expectation that it would be short Slavery - Lincoln’s position was originally that slavery should not be expanded > but during the war, he used the issue as a wartime measure > he did not ban slavery in loyal border states >> to keep them loyal to the Union > Emancipation Proclamation was huge diplomatic victory, as it made the conflict about slavery, so Europeans could not support the South = Lincoln ended up using slavery as an issue to give purpose to the war Important Battles: - Antietam, 1862 = Union victory, gave Lincoln excuse to launch the Emancipation Proclamation (1862) > freed slaves in states under rebellion >> he previously abolished slavery in federal territories, including DC - Gettysburg, 1863 > along with losing control of the Mississippi River, Gettysburg ended the southern chances to win the war > Lincoln used battlefield for Gettysburg Address, needed a big victory for impact - Lincoln moves the meaning of the war from just preserving the union and self-government to equality and ending slavery (liberty) in Gettysburg Address Why north wins? - bigger population, bigger army - industrial base - strategies >> Annaconda strategy << to isolate the south by controlling the coasts and Mississippi River (accomplished by Jul 1863) Partisans: - many Democrats in north are anti-war (Esp. immigrant areas, NYC riots) >>critical of Lincoln’s wartime measures to block bad press Radical Republicans – block of senators who are strongly anti-slavery > criticize Lincoln for not doing enough - south destroyed - industrialization in north < ex,. Andrew Carnegie steel industry titan, gained fortune in Civil War - railroads expand: > transcontinental railroad > the country is more connected (markets, politics, economics) - urbanization - presidential powers enhanced > esp via enforcement of Constitutional Amendments and Civil Rights Laws - with the South in rebellion, the Northern states could enact legislation they had been unable to pass otherwise, including: - Transcontinental Railroad via the northern route (Pacific Railroad Act, 1862) - Homestead Act (1862) that gave 160 acres to “homesteaders” who agreed to stay on the land for 5 years (ie, not sell it) >> Morrill Land-Grant Act was part of this legislation: gave proceeds of federal land sales to states for building of state colleges - Confiscation Acts, which allowed for taking property of anyone in rebellion and freeing their slaves - Freedman’s bureau: to lease lands to freed slaves 13. Outlawed slavery 14. a. Citizenship for former slaves b. Protect “privileges & immunities” and “due process”
c. Equal Protection for all citizens
15. Voting rights for black men |
1870s Grant & Hayes administrations[edit | edit source]
| PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
|---|---|---|
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BIG IDEAS subsection
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RECONSTRUCTION Northern occupation of South How to bring South back into union while protecting rights of freedmen? = northern army occupation of the South enforce Civil War outcomes = to enforce the amendments and civil right laws = to bring the south back into the union >> Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address >>> goal is to end war and heal wounds Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South Compromise of 1877 - 1876 election disputed, sent to House for decision - deal cut to elect Hayes in exchange for removing federal troops from south, effectively ending Reconstruction End of Reconstruction - Segregation imposed by whites > “Jim Crow” laws restricted blacks’ rights - Klu Klux Klan gained power and intimidated blacks - sharecropping system grows: > poor farmers, black and white, had to pay rent to farm land and loaned money for seeds and tools at high rates >> indebted them to the landowners - Plessy v. Ferguson, 1883 > court case that created “separate but equal” rule that legalized segregation (until 1950s, when overturned by Brown v. Board of Education, 1954) > overturned Civil Rights Act of 1875 that prohibited discrimination in public businesses and facilities Western frontier Indian Wars Railroads connect to the West
Immigration drives urban growth Political Machines in northern cities Growth of cites, especially New York - rail and trolly networks lead to and through cities = growth - immigration explodes: pay better in the U.S. than home countries > chain migration leads to ethnic neighborhoods > “tenements” = multi-family housing > immigrants compete with blacks for labor - “factory towns” > poor living conditions, reliance on the factories - Political bosses used immigrants for votes to control city governments > “political machines” > bosses provided services to residents in exchange for political support > “Boss Tweed” = corrupt NYC mayor, 1870s, finally jailed in 1878 >> Thomas Nast drew cartoons criticized Tweed & corruption
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1880s .> administrations[edit | edit source]
| PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS subsection
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1870s-1890s concepts, themes & trends[edit | edit source]
| PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
|---|---|---|
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BIG IDEAS subsection
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close of the frontier & Indian wars[edit | edit source]- By 1890, ND, SK, WA, MT were states - Little Bighorn: Sioux tribes opposed western settlements; US Army sent to oppose them, leading to battle of Little Bighorn, which marked the end of Indian resistance to U.S. western expansion - Ghost Dance movement 1890: Indian revivalist movement that preached liberation of Indians from US occupation - Wounded Knee: battle between Federal troops and Indians, many from the Ghost Dance movement, massacre of the Indians who resisted - railroads had connected the West to the East > “standardized time” adopted to manage rail schedules, leading to time zones - Note: Turner Frontier Thesis: a 20th century historian claimed that the “closing” of the frontier, i.e. filling up the country, changed America because the frontier had allowed the country to grow, promoted democracy and gave opportunity to people moving west; and that the “closing” of the frontier reduced those aspects Urbanization
Industrialism Gilded Age Monopolies / Anti-Trust - railroads, trolleys, electricity, telegraphs, etc. spread across country > railroads are “natural monopolies” because they control the railroad they built >> also, railroads require government support to take land to build >>> resentment over rail construction >>> resentment over rail prices along routes, especially to move farm products - rapid economic growth leads to creation of big companies > Andrew Carnegie, steel, John Rockefeller, oil, etc.
> “holding companies” buy multiple companies to control an industry
>> monopolies = “horizontal integration” = controlling an industry
>>> versus “vertical integration” = controlling all aspects of a business (raw materials, supply chains, manufacture, sale)
-Sherman Anti-Trust Law of 1890 passed to outlaw monopolies > made illegal actions “in restraint of trade” , especially “combinations” (holding companies, conglomerates) - “mass production” and “assembly line” production = mechanized, automated factories with thousands of workers - “Social Darwinism” = competition will lead to the survival of the fittest companies - “laissez faire”= “let it be” = let markets run themselves - “Gilded Age” = named by Mark Twain as time of huge wealth and ridiculous displays of the wealth (“gilded”) - “Gospel of wealth” = Andrew Carnegie theory that in exchange for wealth created by markets, the rich should give back to society via philanthropy >> Carnegie built libraries across the country Labor movements Unionization Rights of workers Strikes (and legality of them) - Knights of Labor, started 1869, to organized urban factory workers and demand better working conditions, pay, and prohibition on child labor (under age 14) - Haymarket Square Riot, 1886: labor activists set off bomb that killed police, turned popular support against labor - Homestead Strike, 1892, steel factory strike put down by private army that killed several strikers > Pinkerton Detectives: hired by factory owners to put down strikes, protect strike-breakers (“scabs”) - Pullman Palace Car Factory strike, 1894: first national strike, when one strike was joined by others and rail travel was shut down - Labor movements split between: > socialists, led by Eugene Debs, who wanted to overthrow capitalism > trade unions, especially American Federation of Labor (AFL), led by Samuel Gompers, who denounced revolution and sought to negotiate with industry to raise wages and better work conditions >> AFL restricted union membership to white men, mostly, excluding blacks and many immigrants Populist Movements What about the little guy? Hard v. Soft Money Gold v. Silver Small famers want to pay debts in silver Wm J. Bryan: “Cross of Gold Speech” - as the national economy become more interconnected, railroads, markets, grain prices, etc. become local issues dependent upon national systems > as result, local interests organized into movements to defend the interests of farmers, especially, versus the railroads and industrial companies > key was debt: farmers wanted “soft money” (silver) debt instead of “hard money” debt (gold) - Silver arose as an issue because of huge mines discovered that led to flood of silver into the markets, inflating the price of silver (thus soft money) versus gold, which was more scarce and kept its value - Grange Movement, starting 1867, grew as “cooperatives” and political candidates to represent the interest of farmers - Farmer’s Alliances: grew out of Grange and extended more into politics - People’s Party: grew out of the Farmer’s alliances into a full political party > movement made up of small farmers mostly from the Midwest > 1892 election: Omaha platform called for silver money, government takeover of railroads and telegraphs, income tax, labor reform - Socialists party arose I n1894, but was less influential > leader was Eugene Debs - William Jennings Bryan became Democratic party candidate in 1896, 1900 and 1908, largely by adopting the platform of the Grange/People’s party >> Bryan: “Cross of gold” speech became famous argument for “soft money, ie silver >> 1890s: silver mines in CO & NV Reform movements Women’s rights Urban reform Anti-corruption Workplace reform Child Labor reform - urban reformers, including: > Jane Addams and “Hull House” to help working mothers - newspapers & “yellow journalism” > highlighted social problems > exaggerated or created scandals to sell more papers - Women’s Suffrage movement > movement advances into 1890s > Susan B. Anthony promoted women’s suffrage amendment > American Suffrage Association won victories in various states for participation of women in state elections - beginnings of the Progressive movement Radical movements Socialism, anarchism, radicalism > anarchy, socialism, political agitation campaigns were common during this time, as some segments of society were not able to process changes in the economy and social structure (from farm to industry, from artisan to factory worker) > industrial strikes were sources of agitation and infiltration by radical groups into labor movements > President McKinley was assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist > most Americans were against violence but many Americans did worry about the meaning and impact of social and economic changes going on around them > many Americans blame immigrants for the agitation
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1890s Cleveland & McKinley administrations[edit | edit source]
| PERIOD / TIMELINE | Major Events, Concepts & Themes | Notes & connections: details of issues, concepts, themes & events |
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BIG IDEAS subsection
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Imperialism Expanding Democracy or just capitalism? - Alfred Mahan “Influence of Sea Power” (1890) > argued for need for navy to enforce access to foreign ports for trade > logic is: strong navy allows for imperialism which creates need for strong navy > coaling stations in Hawaii in order to allow boats to cross the Pacific >> to support American commerce w/ Asia - Spanish-American war, 1898 > Cuban revolutionaries appealed to Americans for help for independence from Spain > “remember the Maine” << USS Maine blew up at Havana harbor > Yellow journalism promoted the war, blaming Spanish for blowing up the Maine > US attacked Spanish holdings in Cuba, Puerto Rico & Philippines, turning each into US possessions > “Treaty of Paris” 1898, US agreed to independence for Cuba and possession of Puerto Rico, Philippines and Guam (Pacific islands) === subheading
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Progressive Era[edit | edit source]
- go to next timeline: US History timeline & concept chart: 1900-1940