6.0 Unit 6 Overview: Contextualization

Period 6 spans from 1865-1898. It includes everything from the tail end of Reconstruction after the Civil War to major labor and immigration developments. This period of American history may not have a lot of fanfare or get a lot of attention for having wars or conflict, but it sets the stage for a lot of rapid political and social development. So, make sure to pay attention!

1877: Compromise of 1877 officially ends Reconstruction

1877: Great Railroad Strike

1877: Munn vs. Illinois decides the state governments can regulate private industries

1881: Pendleton Act establishes a merit-based system of selecting public officials

1882: Immigration Act of 1882 & Chinese Exclusion Act limit immigration

1886: Haymarket Affair & American Federation of Labor (AFL) founded

1887: Interstate Commerce Act & Dawes Severalty Act

1890: Sherman Antitrust Act attempts to control corrupt business tactics

1890: NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association) is formed

1890: Massacre at Wounded Knee

1892: Homestead Strike

1893: Panic of 1893

1893: Turner writes “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”

1894: Coxey’s March to Washington

1896: William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” Speech

1896: Plessy v. Ferguson