2/12/1809 – 4/15/1865
Party: Republican
Timeline; 1861-1865
Lincoln lived a quiet life working various traits. He volunteered in the Illinois Mafia and shortly after was elected captain in the Black Hawk War (1832). After the war he aspired to be a legislator but kept falling short, although he did hold a position on the Illinois House of Representatives (1834-1842) he also studied law where he passed his bar exam (1836) and started practicing. While working in the legal field, he worked for the Illinois Central Railroad (and sued them for his pay) as well as handled many other cases for other railroads, banks, insurance companies, and manufacturing firms. He also served on the U.S house of representatives (1847-1849). One of his finest accomplishments that helped solidify his fame as a lawyer was saving the Rock Island Bridge (1857) from the threat of the Mississippi river transportation interests, that demanded the bridge’s removal. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War, which was its bloodiest and an event often considered its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. His administration setup the Confiscation Acts through the war (1861-1864) liberating slaves in seceded states.
LINCOLN PAINTING (BLACK HAWK WAR)
1861;
- Lincoln becomes the 16th President of the United States at the age of 52. Hannibal Hamlin was his Vice President.
- The Confederate Congress unanimously adopt the Confederate Constitution
- Jefferson Davis wanted Fort Sumter surrendered to the Confederacy since it was on South land. Negotiations failed
- Confederate President Davis orders General P.G.T. Beauregard to open fire on federal
arsenal in response to Lincoln trying to resupply Fort Sumter; one of the last federal stations remaining in the South. - Lincoln calls for 70+ thousand volunteers to join the U.S. Army as militia men against the rebellion
- Lincoln declares an insurrection, marking the beginning of the bloodiest war in America history; The U.S. Civil War
CIVIL WAR
- In response to Lincoln’s decision to use force in South Carolina, Virginia secedes from the Union
- Lincoln orders a blockade of Confederate ports to disrupt the importation of supplies to the Confederacy
- Arkansas secedes from the Union
- House of Representatives pass the Morrill Tariff Act to help pay for the war
- North Carolina secedes from the Union
- The capital of the Confederacy moves from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia since Virginia had the higher population
- Tennessee secedes from the Union
- The Battle of Bull Run takes place near Manassas, Virginia. Confederate General Beauregard defeats the Union forces under General Irvin McDowell.
BATTLE OF BULL RUN
- Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson receives the nickname “Stonewall” here, after his firm stand during the battle. The Stars and Bars flag was confused with the Union flag during battle which inspired the Confederacy to create a new Battle Flag.
NEW BATTLE FLAG OF CONFEDERACY
- Union offers $100 bonus to volunteers offering two years of service to the U.S. Army
- General Winfield Scott retires as head of the Union army, Lincoln promotes General George B. McClellan
1862;
- Lincoln loses his son William Wallace Lincoln to typhoid fever
- The Virginia (formerly Merrimack) gunship battles the Union’s Monitor to a stand off, but eventually the Union establishes Naval superiority and gets the Confederates to abandon Norfolk
MERRIMACK VS MONITOR
- Secretary of the treasury under Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase passes the Legal Tender Act and issues 150 million “greenbacks”, ordering that “In God We Trust” be printed on them to encourage people to accept money at face value.
- Former President Tyler is laid to rest in Richmond, VA
JOHN TYLER’S TOMB
- Slavery is abolished in the District of Columbia
- Major General David Hunter organizes the first set of black troops that were former slaves. Confederates threaten they will execute captured black troops and Lincoln responds they will execute a confederate soldier for every black troop executed.
- Former President Van Buren is laid to rest in Kinderhook, NY
VAN BUREN’S GRAVE
- General Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson‘s Confederate army dominate the 2nd Battle of Bull Run which lead to huge Union losses
2ND BATTLE OF BULL RUN
- The Battle of Antietam takes place and becomes the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM
- Battle of Shiloh takes place in Tennessee
BATTLE OF SHILOH
- General Lee invades the North in attempt to isolate Washington D.C. but fails. McClellan does not chase after the retreating Lee, frustrating President Lincoln and causing him to remove McClellan from command.
- Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, to go into effect the following year where all Confederate and opposing state’s slaves were considered Free men. Union state slaves were not included in this.
- Battle of Fredericksburg takes place, marking a huge defeat to the Union.
BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG
- Union ironclad Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
USS MONITOR SINKING
1863;
- Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect, making black slaves in the South “forever free”. It did not include occupied portions of the South like parts of Tennessee, Virginia, and Louisiana, nor the loyal slave states, just rebellion portions.
- The Battle of Murfreesboro occurs
BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO
- Salmon P. Chase orchestrates the first income tax in 1863.
- Congress passes Conscription law, requiring military service, or draftees can pay $300 to hire a substitute, which angers some, referring to that as “aristocracy legislation.”
- Battle of Chancellorsville takes place where Stonewall Jackson is wounded by his own troops, requiring his arm to be amputated, short time later, dying from pneumonia. General Lee wins the battle and it is dubbed a brilliant victory, prompting him to invade the North again.
BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
- Richmond Bread Riot takes place, becoming largest civil disobedience for the Confederacy
- West Virginia becomes the 35th state of the Union (Although Southern states seceded from the Union, Lincoln still counted them as Federal property, knowing they would not give up the fight to unify them all again)
- On Lee’s way to invade the North again and try to take Washington D.C., General George G. Meade (whom replaced McClellan) accidentally ran into him in Gettysburg, staging the biggest engagement of the Civil War with the Battle of Gettysburg.
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
- Lee makes huge mistake sending General George Picket and 15,000 men on a suicidal run of Cemetery Ridge, causing Lee and his men to retreat. Meade does not pursue, frustrating Lincoln.
LEE’S RETREAT FROM GETTYSBURG
- General Ulysses S. Grant captures Vicksburg, Mississippi, a confederate stronghold. Shortly after, Lincoln promotes Grant as his Lieutenant General.
- Angry over the draft, rioters in New York protest the conscription act prompting Lincoln to send troops from Gettysburg to end the fighting in New York
- Lincolns makes the Gettysburg address on the bloodstained battlefield and dedicates a National cemetery for it.
- Lincoln offers pardons to those in the South that take the oath and come back to the Union.
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
1864;
- General Grant continues his Spotsylvania campaign, hammering through Lee’s forces.
GENERAL GRANT INVASION
- Lincoln opens peace negotiations and sends Horace Greeley to Canada to meet with Davis’s emissaries but without proper authority there, negotiations fail.
- Democrats deem the war a failure and nominate General McClellan as their candidate to run against Lincoln for his 2nd term.
- Confederates under General John Hood evacuate Atlanta Georgia as Union forces led by General William Tecumseh Sherman come in to occupy the city. Sherman, being a close friend to General Grant, used Grant’s same tactics of total warfare to occupy areas of the Atlanta Campaign
- Nevada becomes the 36th state of the Union
- Following decisive Union victories by Admiral Farragut in Alabama and General Sherman in Atlanta, Abraham Lincoln is reelected as President of the United States, with Andrew Johnson as his new Vice President. He chose Johnson, a racist and uneducated Southerner from Tennessee, to balance the ticket.
- Salmon P. Chase is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after his Legal Tender Act of 1862 helped keep the nation out of financial ruin.
1865;
- House approves the Thirteenth Amendment, with Lincoln’s influence.
- Confederate Congress gives Robert E. Lee full command of Confederate Army
- Federal Congress creates Freedmen’s Bureau to help Southern blacks affected
by the war - Confederate Congress approves recruitment of 300,000 slaves for military involvement. President Davis declares that all volunteers and their families would be given freedom
- Richmond, Virginia is evacuated
- Union forces capture Confederate’s much-needed supplies at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, prompting Confederate General Robert E. Lee to surrender to General Grant, marking the end of the Civil War.
GENERAL GRANT AND GENERAL LEE
- 5 days after the conclusion of the war, President Lincoln was shot in the head at Ford’s theater by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth, dying the following morning.
John Wilkes booth had accomplices who were supposed to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and General Ulysses S. Grant but Booth was the only one to follow through. The accomplices were hanged for taking part in the plot or having known about it in advance and doing nothing. Booth was discovered in a barn in Virginia by the Army and Secret Service but as they attempted to capture Booth, the barn was set on fire and Booth either shot himself or was killed in a shoot-out trying to flee.
BOOTH ACCOMPLICES HANGED
Lincoln’s death stunned the country and wiped away any celebration that was to come of the ending of the Civil War. Polls show that Lincoln is the most admired President. Lincoln is the face of the five-dollar bill, and the penny. The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. was made dedicated to him, as well as his face being one of the 4 on Mount Rushmore
LINCOLN MEMORIAL
MOUNT RUSHMORE
Famous quotes:
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.”
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.“
12/29/1808 – 7/31/1875
Party: National Union
Timeline; 1865-1869
Before running with Lincoln, Johnson served in the U.S. house of representatives (1843-1853), was the governor of Tennessee (1853-1857) and in the Tennessee Senate (1875). As Southern slave states, including Tennessee, seceded to form the Confederate States of America, Johnson remained firmly with the Union. He was the only sitting senator from a Confederate state who did not resign his seat upon learning of his state’s secession.
1865;
- At the age of 56, Johnson becomes the 17th President of the United States after Lincoln’s assassination.
- Johnson declares that terms agreed on between Union General Sherman and Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston were too lenient to the Confederates. Johnston surrenders to Sherman later, on harsher terms
- Johnson issues a proclamation offering rewards for the arrests of Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Jacob Thompson, and Clement C. Clay, Jr.
- After Lincoln’s funeral train departs D.C. for Illinois, D.C. celebrates the Civil War win as Johnson presides over a series of reviews from the Army of Potomac and Army of Tennessee
LINCOLN FUNERAL
- Johnson appoints provisional governors of the South to look over his reconstruction plans
- Lincoln is laid to rest in Springfield, IL
LINCOLN’S TOMB 1865
- Mississippi enacts a Black Code which restricts newly won rights of African Americans in attempts to still keep them inferior. Other ex-Confederate states do the same.
- Johnson orders provisional governors to hand over their positions to the elected successors. Newly elected government are filled with numerous ex-Confederate officials.
1866;
- Johnson vetoes a bill calling for the extension of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The bill is a response to the black codes of the South and would expand the power of the Bureau, the organization formed for the freedmen’s protection.
- Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act, a second attempt by Congress to provide freedmen with federal citizenship after the failed Freedmen’s Bureau bill, but The Senate overrides Johnson’s veto and three days later, the House of Representatives overrides it as well.
- The Fenian Raid and the Battle of Ridgeway in Canada takes place between Canadian militiamen and members of the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish-American organization lobbying for a free Ireland. Many of the Fenian participants are Civil War veterans.
FENIAN RAID
- Congress passes and sends the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, to the states for ratification. Not only does the amendment seek to prevent ex-Confederates from holding office, it also establishes the citizenship of African Americans, affirming that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The amendment, when passed, will overturn the Dred Scott decision of 1857.
- Congress readmits Tennessee to the Union after the state ratifies the Fourteenth Amendment
1867;
- Nebraska becomes 37th state in the Union
- Despite Johnson’s veto, Congress passes the First Reconstruction Act as well as the Army Appropriations Act. Congress also passes, over Johnson’s veto, the Tenure of Office Act, prohibiting Johnson from removing cabinet officers without the Senate’s consent.
- Johnson vetoes the Seconds Reconstruction Act but Congress overrides that too.
- Johnson vetoes the Third Reconstruction Act, but again, Congress overrides it.
- Johnson and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton disagree on Southern Reconstruction,
Stanton refuses to resign at Johnson’s request so Johnson suspends him and promotes Ulysses S. Grant as interim Secretary of War.
1868;
- Johnson submits his reasons for suspending Stanton to the Senate but the Senate refuses to concur
- Grant informs Johnson that he will vacate his spot for Stanton per the Senate
- Former President Buchanan is laid to rest in Lancaster, PA
BUCHANAN’S TOMB
- Johnson removes Stanton and gives control of the War Department to General Lorenzo Thomas but Stanton barricades himself in his cabinet office for a couple months. Johnson’s actions violate the Tenure of Office Act and begin the impeachment crisis.
- The House appoints seven managers to go before the Senate with eleven articles of impeachment. Eight of these articles relate to the Tenure of Office Act and the removal of Secretary of War Stanton.
- Senate begins impeachment trials
- The Senate votes 35-19 to convict President Johnson, falling one vote short of the necessary two-third majority. Seven moderate Republicans vote against impeachment. The vote serves as a precedent for standard necessary to convict in impeachment hearings.
- The Senate votes to acquit President Johnson on impeachment charges two and three. The Senate then adjourns and fails to vote on the remaining eight articles of impeachment.
- President Johnson vetoes bills that would have readmitted several ex-Confederate states to the Union. Congress overrides these vetoes.
- Johnson submits the Burlingame Treaty between the United States and China
- President Johnson delivers his final annual message to Congress, again requesting the repeal of the Reconstruction Acts.
Succeeding Lincoln, Johnson found himself in bitter battles with Congress over Reconstruction. Congress tried to impeach him and he was tried by the Senate, but was acquitted by one vote. After Presidency he won another seat on the Senate in 1875 but died later that year due to complications of multiple strokes.
Famous quotes;
“Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide”
“There are no good laws but such as repeal of other laws”
“I am sworn to uphold the Constitution as Andy Johnson understands
it and interprets it”
#18 Ulysses S. Grant 1869-1877
4/27/1822 – 7/23/1885
Party: Republican
Timeline; 1869-1877
Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but an error on his application to West Point changed his name to Ulysses Simpson Grant. He liked the initials so much that he kept the name. Not only was Grant the top Union military hero of the Civil War era (1861-1869), before that, he played a big part in the Mexican-American war era (1839-1854) under both General Taylor, and later General Scott.
1869;
- Grant becomes the 18th President of the United States at the age of 46. Schuyler Colfax was his Vice President.
- Former President Pierce is laid to rest in Concord, NH
PIERCE FAMILY TOMB
- First Transcontinental railroad is completed
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD COMPLETED
- Black Friday financial panic takes place
1870;
- Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins
BROOKLYN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
- Grants vetoes Private relief bill
- Virginia is readmitted to the Union after completing reconstruction
- U.S. Weather bureau is established
- Mississippi is readmitted to the Union after completing reconstruction
- Texas is readmitted to the Union after completing reconstruction
- Fifteenth Amendment ratified
- Congress makes it a federal crime to interfere with voting as a first Enforcement Act to prevent people from stopping blacks from voting.
- Congress creates a Department of Justice, reporting to Attorney General
1871;
- Federal Election Law passes as the second Enforcement Act to prevent people from stopping blacks from voting.
ENFORCEMENT ACTS
- Indian Appropriation Act is passed
- Treaty of Washington passes
- Ku Klux Klan Act is passed to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment in
the South and suppress Klan activities. It was the third, and strongest
Enforcement Act to prevent people from interfering with Blacks voting. - City of Chicago is nearly burned to the ground, the rise of skyscrapers comes from the reconstruction
CHICAGO FIRES
- Grant issues a proclamation against KKK in South Carolina
1872;
- Grant vetoes Private Pension Bill
- Henry Wilson runs as Grant’s VP for re-election
1873;
- The House of Representatives investigates the relations of Credit Mobilier and the Union Pacific Railroad as a scandal surfaces in which UPR directors used the Credit Mobilier to pay themselves from the Railroad Treasury. Additionally, they had bribed congressmen to avoid an investigation. Thirteen Senators were involved, although only two received censure.
CREDIT MOBILIER SCANDAL
- Coinage act passed, also know as the “Crime of 73“
- Congress passes appropriations Bill, raising senior government salaries with 2 years back paid… also known as the salary grab bill.
- Grant starts 2nd term with Henry Wilson as the new VP
- The failure of brokerage firm Jay Cooke & Company starts the
Panic of 1873 - A Spanish cruiser captures the U.S. ship, the Virginius, thinking that it was sent to provide armaments for an invasion. Before Spain’s can order instructions not to impose the death penalty , fifty-three of the men captured on the ship were executed. Tensions were calmed when Secretary of State Fish and the Spanish minister to the United States signed an agreement providing for the return of the remaining prisoners and the payment of an indemnity.
VIRGINIUS AFFAIR
1874;
- The salary grab bill is repealed
- Former President Fillmore is laid to rest in Buffalo, NY
FILLMORE’S GRAVE
- Grant vetoes Currency inflation bill
- Lincoln’s Tomb is dedicated
LINCOLN TOMB 1874
- Grant issues a proclamation calling for the dispersal of the rebellious “White League” in Louisiana. Grant sends five thousand troops and three gunboats to New Orleans; the resistance ends two days later, although, Grant and the Republicans were criticized for the intervention in the Battle of Liberty Place
BATTLE OF LIBERTY PLACE
1875;
- The Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty is signed, making the islands a virtual protectorate of the United States.
- The Specie Resumption Act is passed
- Former President Johnson is laid to rest in Greenville, TN
JOHNSON’S TOMB
- Two-hundred thirty-eight people are indicted in connection with
the “Whiskey Ring Scandal,” in which distillers conspired with Treasury
Department officials to defraud the government of millions of dollars
in liquor taxes. - VP Henry Wilson dies
- Grant signs the Civil Rights Act of 1875, guaranteeing blacks
equal rights in public places and prohibiting the exclusion of blacks
from jury duty
1876;
- General George A. Custer and 265 men of the Seventh Cavalry are
killed in a battle with Sitting Bull’s Sioux Indians at Little Big Horn
BATTLE OF LITTLE BIG HORN
- Colorado is admitted to the Union as the 38th state
- Presidential election result is inconclusive, a team is put together to look at the electoral votes
1877;
- Ohio Republicans and Southern Democrats meet in D.C. to forge the
Compromise of 1877 - Senate and House accept the report from the electoral commission.
Grant had a solid two terms even though they were marred with scandals. He would have won a third had he ran but he showed no interest. After office, he and his wife Julia traveled around the world before settling in New York to run a business and write his memoirs, which he signed a contract with his friend Mark Twain to complete. Grant died in 1885 after battling with throat cancer.
Famous quotes;
“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.”
“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.“
“Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.“
#19 Rutherford B. Hayes 1877-1881
10/4/1822 – 1/17/1893
Party: Republican
Timeline; 1877-1881
Hayes was an attorney and city solicitor of Cincinnati (1858-1861) but when the Civil War began he left politics to join the Union Army, as an officer. He was wounded a few different times, the worst being the Battle of South Mountain (1862) where he earned a reputation for bravery in combat and earned the rank of major general. After the war he went back to politics and served in the U.S. Congress (1865-1867) and then as Governor of Ohio on two separate occasions (1868-1872, 1876-1877).
BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN
1877;
- Hayes becomes the 19th President of the United States at the age
of 54. He secures only 48 percent of the popular vote and 164 electoral votes to Tilden’s 184. However, voter fraud and unclear results are reported in several states. A controversial decision of a special electoral commission ultimately proclaims Hayes President, with some Democrats referring to Hayes as “Rutherfraud.” - In return for the presidency, the Republicans make various concessions, including the removal of federal troops from the South in what was known as the Compromise of 1877 or the Great Betrayal as African-Americans referred to it as.
- Troops depart the statehouse in South Carolina following a meeting at the White House.
- As in South Carolina, Hayes officially withdraws soldiers from Louisiana. Governor Packard has no choice but to submit, declaring, “One by one, the Republican
state governments of the South have been forced to succumb to force, fraud or policy.” Hayes’s withdrawal of troops from the South marks the end of Reconstruction.
- Hayes sends troops to patrol the nearly lawless Mexican border and cross it if necessary to pursue bandits. Mexican president Diaz protests and sends troops to the border as well. Ultimately, economic concerns motivate both parties to work towards a settlement.
- Hayes issues an Executive Order that forbids the involvement of federal employees in political activities. The President takes such action in the hope that it will curtail corruption; the Executive Order stipulates that those in office can no longer be dismissed for political reasons. Congress rejects additional proposals. These events testify to Hayes’s interest in civil service reform.
- The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 begins on the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) line at Camden Junction, Maryland; additional strikes will follow, lasting a month, but lacking organization, the strikes frequently degenerate into mob activity. Hayes sends federal troops to protect mail and quell the riots that take place in numerous cities, angering many workers.
GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE
1878;
- Founded in 1869 by Uriah S. Stephens, a tailor in Philadelphia, the Knights of Labor is
established as a national organization. It is the first labor union to attempt to organize all workers and hopes to establish a worker-owned factory system. - A U.S.-Samoan treaty is signed in Washington which gives the United States the right to establish a naval and coaling station at the port of Pago Pago; it also pledges American assistance to Samoa if a third country interferes with Samoan chiefs. The Senate ratifies the treaty
U.S.-SAMOA TREATY
- Hayes vetoes the Bland-Allison Act, advocated by farmers and debtors, but Congress passes the measure over his veto. The act calls for the resumption of silver coinage at a rate between $2 and $4 million per month.
- Hayes vetoes a bill which bans incoming vessels from carrying more than fifteen Chinese passengers. Hayes then works to negotiate changes to the Burlingame Treaty with China in order to set limits on Chinese immigration.
- America recognizes the Diaz regime in Mexico in an effort to avoid greater conflict.
- House Democrats begin an investigation of the controversial presidential election of 1876, much to the chagrin of Hayes, who fears that the investigation may be an attempt to replace him with Tilden.
- Following congressional midterm elections, the Democratic Party controls both houses of Congress for the first time since the Civil War. Consequently, Hayes will have little sway in Congress.
1879;
- Hayes allows the resumption of gold payments for Civil War greenbacks, paper money not backed by specie, silver, or gold. This is a continuation of the Specie Act begun under President Grant. During the Hayes administration, as the government’s gold supply grows and the issuance of silver coins increases, the economy begins to recover. By the spring of 1879, the government has retired all Civil War bonds.
- After a political struggle between Hayes and Senator Conkling, the Senate approves Hayes’s appointments for the New York Customhouse. Although these fail to end inefficiency in the civil service system, the country largely supports Hayes’s commitment to reform.
- Congress passes the Army Appropriations Bill. The law includes a “rider” which forbids the use of federal troops at polls, which many regard as an attempt to nullify black
voting rights. Hayes vetoes the bill, but the House sustains the veto. Hayes again vetoes the rebuffed version, and many Republicans feel the veto secures the election of 1880. - Hayes vetoes a version of the appropriations bill for the third time; a later bill excludes “certain judicial expenses” forbidding the army to “police the polls”; Hayes will agree to this language.
- The appropriations designated by Democrats exclude implementation of election law funds; Hayes vetoes the bill.
- In a speech to Congress, Hayes continues to support a Central American canal to unite the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
1880; The United States and China sign a treaty which repeals a section of the 1868 Burlingame treaty. The move gives the United States the power to “regulate, limit or suspend” but not completely prohibit Chinese immigration. The treaty also includes a clause banning the opium trade. In return, the United States grants China trading privileges.
Hayes kept his pledge not to run for re-election, retired to his home in Ohio, and became an advocate of social and educational reform. He died from complications after a heart attack.
Famous quotes;
“One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals.” “He serves his party best who serves his country best.” “Do not let your bachelor ways crystallize so that you can’t soften them when you come to have a wife and a family of your own.”
#20 James A. Garfield 1881
11/19/1831 – 9/19/1881
Party: Republican
Timeline; 1881
Garfield worked various jobs in his younger years entering politics in 1857. He served on the Ohio Senate
(1859-1861) and then joined the Union Army where he helped recruit the 42nd Ohio Volunteer infantry and became its colonel. After commanding a brigade at the Battle of Shiloh (1862) he served as chief of staff in the Army of Cumberland, where he was promoted to major general after his part in the Battle of Chickamauga (1863). He served on the U.S. house of representatives (1863-1880) where he also held titles as chairman on the house committees on Military affairs (1867-1869), Financial services (1869-1871) and Appropriations (1871-1875).
1881;
- Garfield becomes the 20th President of the united States at the age of 49. Chester A. Arthur was his Vice president.
- New York senators Roscoe Conkling and Tom Platt resign to protest
Garfield’s removal of New York nominees to secure Robertson’s confirmation. - The Senate confirms Robertson as collector of customs for the port of New York.
- Clara Barton organizes the American Association of the Red Cross, modeled after the International Red Cross, in Washington, D.C.
- Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally unstable Stalwart attorney who had
been denied a consular post, shoots Garfield in a Washington railroad
station. “I am a stalwart,” Guiteau proclaims. “Arthur is now President
of the United States.”
GARFIELD SHOT IN THE BACK
- Established in 1880, the Normal School for Colored Teachers, now Tuskegee University, officially opens its doors in Tuskegee, Alabama.
- President Garfield dies from blood poisoning and complications after surgeons search endlessly to find the lost bullet in Garfield’s back, lodged in his pancreas. He was laid to rest in Cleveland, OH
GARFIELD’S TOMB
Garfield set out to reform the “spoils system” by which politicians gave their friends low-level political offices. He never paid a great deal of attention to securing himself, likening the possibility of being assassinated to the same chance of being struck by lightning; impossible to prevent, pointless to worry about. Even after he was shot he didn’t seem too concerned by those around him.
Famous quotes;
“If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written
upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old.”
“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you
miserable.”
“History is philosophy teaching by example, and also warning;
its two eyes are geography and chronology.”