By John Doerner
Webmaster's Note: This fascinating look back at
what life was like in the United States in 1876 was
provided by Chief Historian of Little Bighorn Battlefield National
Monument, John Doerner.
• U.S. Population: 46
million
• 38 STATES
CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION: OPENS IN FAIRMOUNT
PARK, PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA ON MAY 10, 1876:
• President Ulysses S. Grant and Dom Pedro,
Emperor of Brazil, start off the exposition by starting the Colossus 1,500
horsepower Corliss Engine.
• Mr. Fukui, Japanese Centennial Commissioner
to the Centennial Exposition described the opening day: “The first day
crowds come like sheep, run here, run there, run everywhere, one man
start; one thousand follow.”
• Alexander Graham Bell’s new invention the
“telephone” displayed in public for the first time.
• Farbers Sarsaparilla cost an outrageous .03
cents a bottle. Boycotts are discussed.
• Coffee sells for an outrageous .05 cents a
cup.
• Philadelphia rooms let for $3.00 a day.
• White Ties are offered for only .75 cents a
half-dozen.
• Ladies Corsets are on sale from .40 cents
to $6.00.
• STOLEN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: Disputed
presidential election between Democratic Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New
York, and Republican Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. Hayes entered
the White House by only one electoral vote.
• Washington Monument is under construction in Washington D.C.
• 20 Irish Coal Miners (Molly Maguires)
executed in Pennsylvania.
RAILROAD FARES: CENTRAL PACIFIC/UNION
PACIFIC:
• one-way fare Chicago, Illinois to San
Francisco, California cost $118.00
• Sleep Car cost an additional $3.00 per
night.
• Wealth was the obsession of the Age.
• America embarking On the Industrial Era.
• Women Suffrage: Republicans call for
“respectful consideration of women”. Women in America would not be granted
the right to vote until passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
• 35,000 miles of railroad tracks throughout
the continental United States interconnect America from coast to coast.
• France presents the U.S. with a gift of the
Statue of Liberty. The detached arm and torch of Lady Liberty arrives
first and is publicly displayed at the Centennial Exposition in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Tanned Buffalo Robes and Carriage Robes
sell in the eastern U.S. for $7.00 - $20.00.
• The Great Centennial Show put on in New
York City by P.T. Barnum.
• McCORMICK HARVESTER AND WIRE BINDER OF 1876
SHORTENS PROCESS OF GRAIN HARVESTING IN FARMING, MAKING LARGE SCALE
FARMING POSSIBLE.
• August 1st: James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok
murdered by Jack Mc Call while playing poker at the Number 10 Saloon in
Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
• September 7th: Jesse James Gang Robs Bank
at Northfield, Minnesota.
• January 18th: Commissioner of Indian
Affairs in response to army pressure, imposes an embargo on the sale of
arms and ammunition to Sioux.
• December 1875: American Indian runners carry U.S. Government ultimatum
issued by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Sitting Bull and his
non-treaty followers in the unceeded territory: report at the agencies by
January 31, 1876, or be branded hostile and driven in by the Army.”
• “January 31st: U.S. Government ultimatum
deadline passes without result. Many refuse to move their camp in the dead
of winter. Others took the ultimatum with disdain and had no intention of
giving up their homeland, or nomadic way of life.
SOLDIERS FALLING INTO CAMP:
• June - Tananka-Iyotanka (Sitting Bull)
receives sacred vision of soldiers falling into camp; signifying a great
pending victory over the bluecoats.
FACTORY LIFE:
• Skilled workers earned $1.50 - $2.00 a day.
•Unskilled workers only $1.00 a day.
•Child labor law passed in Massachusetts.
•Child Labor still widespread.
POVERTY IN AMERICA:
•The life of children of the poor was
appalling. Many had no home or place to sleep.
•In New York City alone, some 20,000 to
30,000 “Homeless Vagrant Youth” and 60,000 persons over age 10 could not
read or even write their names.
•“THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER” BY SAMUEL “MARK TWAIN” CLEMENS IS
PUBLISHED IN DECEMBER AND SOON BECOMES AN AMERICAN LITERARY CLASSIC.
U.S. Army Pay: Enlisted men, $13.00 a month (.50 cents a day).
BASEBALL: Becoming one of America’s most
popular sports.
Tenement House Life: Irish and other urban poor were often forced to live
in over crowded tenement houses, ranked with disease and crime.
On Citizenship for Black American’s: Frederick Douglas, famous African
American author and orator spoke in March, 1876 of the plight of Black
American’s: “But one thing I know…we must either have all the rights of
American citizens, or we must be exterminated, for we can never again be
slaves.”
IRISH NEED NOT APPLY: Like other early immigrants to the United States,
the Irish sought a better life for themselves and their families, only to
find discrimination and prejudice. Irish Need Not Apply signs were a
familiar sight at many factories and business’.
Chinese Americans: By 1876 there were 100,000 Chinese in the U.S.. Chinese
Americans were prime targets for prejudice and hostility from the resident
workforce who were afraid of being priced out of the labor market.
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