Timeline 1870-1940

Presidents

Ulysses S. Grant

1869 - 1877

Republican

Rutherford B. Hayes

1877 - 1881

Republican

Chester A. Arthur

1881 - 1885

Republican

James A. Garfield

March 1881 - September 1881

Republican

Grover Cleveland

1885 - 1889

Democrat

Benjamin Harrison

1889 - 1893

Republican

Grover Cleveland

1893 - 1897

Democrat

William McKinley

1897 - 1901

Republican

Theodore Roosevelt

1901 - 1909

Republican

William Howard Taft

1909 - 1913

Republican

Woodrow Wilson

1913 - 1921

Democrat

Warren G. Harding

1921 - 1923

Republican

Calvin Coolidge

1923 - 1929

Republican

Herbert Hoover

1929 - 1933

Republican

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1933 - 1945

Democrat

Senate

Republican

1869 - 1871

Republican

1871 - 1873

Republican

1873 - 1875

Republican

1875 - 1877

Republican

1877 - 1879

Democratic

1879 - 1881

Republican

1881 - 1883

Republican

1883 - 1885

Republican

1885 - 1887

Republican

1887 - 1889

Republican

1889 - 1891

Republican

1891 - 1893

Democratic

1893 - 1895

Republican

1895 - 1897

Republican

1897 - 1899

Republican

1899 - 1901

Republican

1901 - 1903

Republican

1903 - 1905

Republican

1905 - 1907

Republican

1907 - 1909

Republican

1909 - 1911

Republican

1911 - 1913

Democratic

1913 - 1915

Democratic

1915 - 1917

Democratic

1917 - 1919

Republican

1919 - 1921

Republican

1921 - 1923

Republican

1923 - 1925

Republican

1925 - 1927

Republican

1927 - 1929

Republican

1929 - 1931

Republican

1931 - 1933

Democratic

1933 - 1935

Democratic

1935 - 1937

Democratic

1937 - 1939

Democratic

1939 - 1941

House of Representatives

Republican

1869 - 1871

Republican

1871 - 1873

Republican

1873 - 1875

Democratic

1875 - 1877

Democratic

1877 - 1879

Democratic

1879 - 1881

Republican

1881 - 1883

Democratic

1883 - 1885

Democratic

1885 - 1887

Democratic

1887 - 1889

Republican

1889 - 1891

Democratic

1891 - 1893

Democratic

1893 - 1895

Republican

1895 - 1897

Republican

1897 - 1899

Republican

1899 - 1901

Republican

1901 - 1903

Republican

1903 - 1905

Republican

1905 - 1907

Republican

1907 - 1909

Republican

1909 - 1911

Democratic

1911 - 1913

Democratic

1913 - 1915

Democratic

1915 - 1917

Republican

1917 - 1919

Republican

1919 - 1921

Republican

1921 - 1923

Republican

1923 - 1925

Republican

1925 - 1927

Republican

1927 - 1929

Republican

1929 - 1931

Republican

1931 - 1933

Democratic

1933 - 1935

Democratic

1935 - 1937

Democratic

1937 - 1939

Democratic

1939 - 1941

Legislations, Amendments, and Supreme Court

Reconstruction in the South

1865 - 1877

15th Amendment is ratified

1870

This amendment prohibits the denying of a person the right to vote based on race.

Ku Klux Klan Act is passed

1871

This act is successful in limiting the Klan as a terrorist force.

Chinese Exclusion Act is passed

1882

Congress denies citizenship and voting rights to Chinese Americans.

Congress passes the Dawes General Allotment Act

1887

Grants citizenship only to Native Americans who give up their tribal affiliations.

Indian Naturalization Act is passed

1890

Grants citizenship to Native Americans by an application process.

Sherman Anti-Trust Act is passed

1890

The Court decides Plessy v. Ferguson

1896

"Separate but equal."

The Supreme Court decides Lochner v. New York

1905

Baker in Utica, New York, argued against state laws that created boundaries of when he could run his business.

The Court decides Muller v. Oregon

1908

Oregon state laws on the working hours of women are constitutional.

16th Amendment is ratified

1913

Allows the federal government to collect income tax.

17th Amendment is ratified

1913

Establishes the direct election of the United States Senators by popular vote.

18th Amendment is ratified

1919

Establishes the prohibition of alcohol.

19th Amendment is ratified

1920

Establishes woman's suffrage.

Indian Citizenship Act is passed

1924

Declares all non-citizen Indians born within the United States to be citizens, giving them the right to vote.

20th Amendment is ratified

1933

Fixes the dates of term commencements for Congress (January 3) and the President (January 20); known as the "lame duck amendment"

21st Amendment is ratified

1933

Repeals the 18th Amendment and prohibits violations of state laws regarding alcohol.

Wars and World Events

Franco-Prussion War unifies Germany

1870 - 1871

Trade Unions legalized in Great Britain

1871

Charles Stewart Parnell begins movement for Irish independence

1875

15 European nations partition Africa for "Spheres of Influence"

1884 - 1885

France adds Laos to "protectorate" of Indochina

1893

Dreyfus case splits France

1894

Cuba occupied by U.S and released

1898 - 1902

Spanish American War

April 1898 - August 1898

Russia and Japan at war

1904 - 1905

Mini- Revolution in Russia

1905

British empire covers 1/5 of world land area

1910

World War 1

1914 - 1918

Russian revolutions

1917

During World War 1

League of Nations

1919

Versailles Peace Treaty

1919

Italy becomes first fascist state

1923

Civil War in China

1927

Worldwide depression begins

1930

Spanish Civil War

1936 - 1939

World War 2

1939 - 1945

Technology

Chewing Gum

1870

Invented by Thomas Adams

Toilet Paper

1877

Invented by Seth Wheeler

Christmas Lights

1882

Invented by Edward Johnson

Automobile

1889

Invented by Karl Benz

Wireless Telegraph

1895

Invented by Guglielmo Marconi

Aspirin

1897

Invented by Felix Hoffman

Hershey Bar

1900

Invented by Milton Hershey

Theory of Relativity

1905

Invented by Albert Einstein

Mass Production

1913

Invented by Henry Ford

The Toaster

1919

Invented by Charles Strite

The Television

1927

Invented by Philo T. Farnsworth

Penicillin

1928

Invented by Alexander Fleming

Toll House Cookies

1930

Invented by Ruth Wakefield

Multiplane Camera

1936

Invented by Walt Disney

Society and Culture

National Baseball League founded

1876

Women lawyers now allowed to argue cases before the Supreme Court

1879

Civil Service established

1883

Haymarket Square labor riot

1886

Killed 11 people in Chicago

Strike at Carnegie Steel

1892

Killed 10 people

President McKinley shot by anarchist

1901

Roosevelt begins conservation of forests

1902

Wright brothers fly a plane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

1903

Black migrate to the North and West

1917

Selctive Service act begins draft

1917

Stock Market crashes

1929

Roosevelt begins "New Deal"

1933

Social Security Act provides retirement insurance

1935