WWW-VL: HISTORY: UNITED STATES: THE GILDED AGE, 1876-1900

[last updated 11/07]

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Presidents | Timelines | Year-by-Year Chronology | Major Gilded Age Themes

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Go to Major Gilded Age Themes:

General History

• Gilded Age (1890) to World War I
• Kingwood College: American Cultural History
• Touring Turn of the Century America 1880-1920 (Library of Congress photograph collection)
• Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Maps

• Exploration & Settlement: 1850 to 1890
• U.S. Territorial Growth: 1880
• U.S. Territorial Growth: 1900
• The Trans-Mississippi West: Some Posts, Tribes, and Battles of the Indian Wars, 1860-1890
• Indian Territory, Oklahoma: 1884
• California 1895
• Chicago 1886

Internet Portals

• Web sites for the Gilded Age and Progressive Eras
• Gilded Age & Progressive Era Resources
• The Gilded Age 1866-1901 (The Carnegie Library)
• US History Links: Gilded Age and Industrial Revolution

Online Bibliographies

• SHGAPE Bibliographical Essays (an excellent collection of annotated bibliographies on many on many Gilded Age themes)
• The Chinese American Experience 1857-1892 (from Harper's Weekly)
• Pioneering the Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
• Gilded Age Bibliography 1880-1920 (from the Historical Novelists Center)
• 1896 (a thorough and well-organized bibliography)
• America After the Civil War
• Jim Crow History Resources
  

Biographies

• Addams, Jane 1860-1935
• Alger, Horatio 1832-1899
• Altgeld, John Peter 1847-1902
• Barton, Clara 1821-1912
• Bell, Alexander Graham 1847-1922
  • The Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers at the Library of Congress
• Blaine, James G. 1830-1893
• Bly, Nellie 1867-1922
• Bonney, William (aka "Billy the Kid") 1849-1881
• Bryan, William Jennings 1860-1925
• Canary, Martha Jane (Calamity Jane) 1848-1903
  • Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane, by Herself
• Carnegie, Andrew 1849-1919
• Chief Joseph 1840-1904
• Clemens, Samuel (Mark Twain) 1835-1910
• Cody, William F. (aka "Buffalo Bill") 1846-1917
• Crane, Stephen 1871-1900
• Davis, Rebecca Harding 1831-1910
• Davis, Richard Harding 1864-1916
• Debs, Eugene V. 1855-1926
• Dewey, (Admiral) George 1837-1917
• Eakins, Thomas 1844-1916
• Eastman, George 1854-1932
• Edison, Thomas Alva 1847-1931
  • Timeline of Edison's Life
• Gompers, Samuel 1850-1924
• Gould, Jay 1836-1892
• Hay, John 1838-1905
• Hearst, William Randolph 1873-1951
• Homer, Winslow 1836-1910
• Jackson, Helen Hunt 1830-1885
• Jewett, Sarah Orne 1849-1909
• Joplin, Scott 1867-1917
• Moody, Dwight L. 1837-1899
• Morgan, John Pierpoint 1837-1913
• Muir, John 1838-1914
• Nast, Thomas 1840-1902 (1)
• Nast, Thomas 1840-1902 (2)
• Pulitzer, Joseph 1847-1911
• Remington, Frederick 1861-1909
• Riis, Jacob 1849-1914
  • How the Other Half Lives (1890)
• Rockefeller, John D. 1839-1937
  • John D. Rockefeller: A Character Study, by Ida Tarbell (from McLure's Magazine)
• Singleton, Benjamin "Pop" 1809-1892
• Sitting Bull 1831-1890
• Smith, Amanda 1837-1915
  • Her Autobriography
• Sousa, John Philip 1854-1932
• Tarbell, Ida 1857-1944
  • The History of the Standard Oil Company
• Tesla, Nikolas 1856-1943
  • My Inventions. The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
• Turner, Frederick Jackson 1861-1932
  • The Frontier in American History
• Washington, Booker T. 1856-1915
  • Up from Slavery
• Watson, Thomas E. 1856-1922
• Westinghouse, George 1846-1914
• Willard, Frances 1839-1898
• Woods, Granville T. 1856-1910

• Rutherford B. Hayes
  • The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
  • The Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes
• James A. Garfield
  • "From Log Cabin to the White House," by William M. Thayer
• Chester A. Arthur
• Grover Cleveland
• Benjamin Harrison
• William McKinley

Timelines

• Gilded Age: From Frontier to Factory Timeline 1845-1916
• African American Timeline 1852-1925
• Inventions 1868-1898
• 1870s
• A Brief History of American Literature and Events 1870-1879
• American Cultural History 1870-1879
• 1880s
• A Brief History of American Literature and Events 1880-1889
• American Cultural History 1880-1889
• 1890s
• 1890s America: A Chronology
America in the 1890s
• A Brief History of American Literature and Events 1890-1899
• American Cultural History 1890-1899

Year by Year

1876

• The Election of 1876 (1)
• The Election 0f 1876 (2) (from the pages of Harper's Weekly)
  • Electoral Map
• Invention of the Telephone
  • Bell's 1st Patented Telephone
• The Battle of the Little Big Horn
• The Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia
  

1877

• Inaugural Address of Rutherford Hayes 3 March
• The Molly Maguires
  • The Overthrow of the Molly Maguires (a Pinkerton Agent's account from McLure's Magazine, 1894)
• Edison Patents the "Speaking Machine" (phonograph)
• The Iron Horse: The Impact of Railroads on 19th Century American Society
• The Great Strike of 1877: Remembering a Worker Rebellion
• Chief Joseph Surrenders (text of speech)

1878

• Invention of the Light Bulb
• Edison Patents the Electric Light

1879

• Ex Parte Virginia [states may not deny individuals the rights of United States citizens]
• The Exodusters
• James Ritty Patents the First Cash Register

1880

• The Election of 1880
  • Electoral Map
• Testimony of Benjamin Singleton before the Senate Select Committee Investigating
  

1881

• The Assassination of James A. Garfield
  • The Martyred President
  • How Alexander Graham Bell Helped to Kill the President
  • The Charles J. Guiteau Collection at Georgetown University
  • The Ballad of Charles Guiteau [RealAudio]
• The International Cotton Exposition at Atlanta
• The Founding of the Red Cross
• Tuskegee Institute is Founded
  

1882

• Chinese Exclusion Act (summary from NARA - National Archives and Records Administration)
• Chinese Exclusion Act (primary document)
  

1883

• The Pendleton Act
• The Brooklyn Bridge Opens

1884

• The Election of 1884
• Rum, Romanism, & Rebellion: The Making of a President. 1884

1885

• World's Industrial and Cotton Exposition. New Orleans
• The Anti-Chinese Hysteria of 1885-86 (from Harper's Weekly)
• "To This We Dissented": The Rock Springs Anti-Chinese Riot (primary document)
  

1886

• Yick Wo v. Hopkins
• Anti-Chinese Riot in Seattle (from Harper's Weekly)
• The Haymarket Riot
  • Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair 1886-1887 Exellent!
  • The Haymarket Tragedy 1886
  • The Dramas of Haymarket
  • Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair
  • Haymarket Martyr Louis Lingg Says Goodbye
  • Haymarket Martyr Albert Parsons's Last Words to His wife
  • "I am Sorry Not to Be Hung": Oscar Neebe & the Haymarket Affair
  • The Haymarket Martyrs
  • The Haymarket Archive
• Surrender of Geronimo
• American Federation of Labor is Founded
• The Great Southwest Strike
• The Carrollton Massacre
• Statue of Liberty Dedicated
  • The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus
• Coca-Cola Invented

1887

• The Dawes Severalty Act (summary from NARA - National Archives and Records Administration)
• The Dawes Severalty Act (excerpt)
• Looking Backward from 2000 to 1887, utopian novel by Edward Bellamy
  

1888

• The Election of 1888
• Invention of the Kodak Camera
• Edison Invents the Motion Picture Projector
• Nellie Bly's Madhouse Memoirs published
• The Blizzard of '88
  

1889

• The Johnstown Flood
  • A Roar like Thunder
  • The Johnstown Flood 31 May 1889
  • History of the Johnstown Flood, by Willis Fletcher Johnson
• Around the World With Nellie Bly in 72 Days 1889
• Oklahoma Land Rush (a contemporary account)
• Nellie Bly Begins "Around the World" Trek
• Beginning of the Native American Ghost Dance Movement
• Jane Addams Opens Hull House
  • Twenty Years at Hull House, by Jane Addams (excerpt)
  
  

1890

• Jim Crow Laws Become the Law of the Land
  • The Case of the Louisiana Traveler
• 29 September. Wounded Knee Massacre
• The 1890 Census and the Hollerith Machine, from PBS
• The Mississippi Plan (beginning of legal disenfranchisement of Blacks in South)
• The Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• The Death of Sitting Bull (1)
• The Death of Sitting Bull (2)

1891

• Largest Mass-Lynching in U.S. History
• Populist Party Formed
  

1892

• The Homestead Strike
• Election of 1892
• The Lizzie Borden Case
• Ellis Island Opens as Entry-point for Immigrants to U.S.
• First Outbreak of Cholera in U.S.
  

1893

• First Movie Theater
• The Columbian Exposition - Chicago Worlds Fair
  • The Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893, by Melinda Gilpin
  • Guide to the Worlds Columbian Exposition [interactive]
  • The Columbian Exposition
  • Scenes From the Fair
  • Reactions
  • Idea,Experience, and Aftermath
  • The Legacy of the Fair
  • African American Women and the World's Fair of 1893: Documents
  • Links to Relevant Web Sit
• The Haymarket Pardons
  • John Peter Altgeld & the Haymarket Pardons
  • Primary Document: From the Pardon Message of John Peter Altgeld. 26 June 1893

1894

• The March of Coxey's Army
• The Pullman Strike
  • The Pullman Strike
  • The Parable of Pullman

1895

• Cotton States and International Exposition. Atlanta
• Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" Speech
  
  

1896

• The Great Cyclone of St. Louis and East St. Louis, 27 May 1896 (primary document)
• Automobile History. The 1896 Duryea
• Henry Ford's First Automobile
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1) (the case that upheld constitutionality of racial segregation)
• Plessy v. Ferguson (2) (Justice Brown for the court--primary document)
• William Jennings Bryan, "Cross of Gold," 9 July 1896
• The Era of William McKinley
• The People's Party Platform
• The Election of 1896 (1)
• The Election of 1896 (2)
• The Campaign of 1896: Cartoons and Commentary

1897

• Early Radio History, 1897-1917, by Thomas White
  

1898

• The Spanish-American War
  • The Spanish American War. Military Actions ==> The Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt [HTML at Bartleby] The Sinking of the Maine (1)The Sinking of the Maine (2) (from the Naval Historical Center)Stereoscopic Visions of War and EmpireYellow Journalism and the Spanish-American War (excellent PBS site)
  • The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War
  The Alaska Goldrush
  • Documents, from NARA
  • Gold Fever. The Klondike Gold Rush 1898
  Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Omaha Race Riot in Wilmington North Carolina
• Annexation of Hawaii
  

1899

• The First Open Door Note [United States refrains from establishing "treaty ports" in China] The Old Steam Navy
• The Philippine Insurrection. Military History ==>
• Fire Fight During the Philippine Rebellion [sound]

1900

• The Election of 1900
• The Legend of Casey Jones is Born
• The Great Galveston Hurricane

1901

• The McKinley Assassination
  • The Assassination of President William McKinley
  • Murder at the Expo: the Assassination of William McKinley

Major Gilded Age Themes

Arts & Leisure

• Cartoons
  • Cartoons of the Gilded Age
  • Puck's Role in Gilded Age Politics
  • The Yellow Kid (1st Daily Comic Strip)
• Entertainment
  • American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920
  • Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885
  • Popular Music in the 1890s
  • The Origins of Mass Entertainment
  • Buffalo Bill & the Wild West Shows (photographic collection)
  • P. T. Barnum & the Management of Spectacle
• Popular Magazines
  • Godey's Lady's Book Online
  • Harper's Bazar
• Sports
• Baseball's Beginnings
• Baseball's Early History
• Baseball Cards, 1887-1914
• 19th Century Baseball Pictures on the WWW

Consumer Culture

• Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
• Space of Desire: Department Stores in the Gilded Age
• Commodifying Leisure: The Business of Baseball in the Gilded Age

Environment

• The Evolution of the American Conservation Movement 1850-1920

Immigration

• Immigration in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
• Immigration and Disease

Imperialism

• Age of Imperialism
• Anti-Imperialism in the United States, 1898-1935

Labor History

• Labor-Management Conflict in American History

Political History

• The Fall of Third Parties in the Gilded Age
• The Gilded Age and the Politics of Corruption
• Presidential Elections 1860 ~ 1912

Race Relations in the Gilded Age

• Jim Crow The Origin of "Jim Crow"Jump, Jim Crow, or What Difference Did Emancipation Make?The Booker T. Washington Era Lynchings in America
• Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920

Railroad History

• All Aboard: The Role of Railroads in Protecting, Promoting, & Selling Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks

Religion

• Preparing a Way in the Wilderness (the role of religion in the American West)

Rich and Poor

• John D Rockefeller and the Standard Oil CompanyCarnegie and the Gilded Age
• Anti-Carnegie: Scraps and Comments, by M. F. Campbell and J. C. Campbell [HTML at boondocksnet.com]

Technological Advances

• Edison's Miracle of Light (PBS)

The Temperance Movement

• Temperance & Prohibition

Technology

• An Outline of American History: Technology and Change

The Urban Scene

• St. Louis in the Gilded Age
• New York: Observations of Life in Lower Manhattan at the Turn of the Century
• The Rise of the City 1880-1920
• Early Rapid Transit in Brooklyn: 1878-1913

Westward Migration & Settlement

• California as I Saw It: First Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1949-1900
• Discussion on The Closing of the Frontier (PBS)
• Farmhouses in the Heartland (PBS)
• The Near-Extermination of the North American Buffalo, from ICE
• Buffalo Tales, by Shepard Kretch III
• A German Jewish Woman Settles in North Dakota (primary source)
• Kate & Sue McBeth: Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce

Working Conditions

• Coal Mining in the Gilded Age

Youth

• Youth's Educator for Home and Society (a manual of etiquette)