Grover Cleveland,
Twenty-fourth U.S. President (second term)
(1893-1897)
Statehood
Utah (45 of 50 States) Admitted 4 Jan 1896, see 1907
for next state...
Education: Segregation
"The practice of segregation (separate schools for blacks) was sanctioned by the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision in
Plessy v. Ferguson, which said that separate railroad cars did not violate the Constitution. From the end of Reconstruction
(after the Civil War) through the turn of the century, a system of racial segregation was established in the south that remained in effect until the
desegregation movement of the 1950s and 1960s." See 1954 for opposite ruling.
Source: Foundations of American Education, Sixth Edition page 149 / L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha. Published by Pearson Education. 2010
see 1900 for next event...
- Natural Resources:
Klondike Gold Strike in Alaska
Technology:
Bicycling Craze 1896-1897
150 bicycle manufactures in the U.S. with over 1,000 different models for enthusiasts to consider.
Automobile Industry Begins
Henry Ford successfully road tests his first car, the Quadricycle after knocking bricks down from the door frame to his shed,
because the car was wider than the door!
The Men Who Built America (Monopolies)
“Vanderbilt stopped at nothing to connect the nation via railroads. Rockefeller (Standard Oil) used his trademark ruthlessness to light homes (with kerosene) from coast to coast"
and the byproduct, gasoline to power the internal combustion engines in his factories. "Cities are expanding to the sky built on the strength of Andrew Carnegie’s steel (Carnegie Steel).
Under JP Morgan’s control, electricity (General Electric) is starting to power the country. In just 35 short years the nation has changed faster than anyone could imagine.
But the incredible advancements come with a price"
as the Titans of Industry mentioned above maximize profit. "Lower wages, longer hours, and dangerous conditions
for the working class cause an undercurrent of anger that is growing, and many are looking to take back control of the country.
Over 90% of Americans survive on less than $100 per month while the average
worker earns less than one dollar a day. In a single year one out of every
eleven steel workers will die on the job. But America’s Titans believe they answer to no one. With the Presidential election on the horizon their next move"
is to buy the election. McKinley received $200k from each of the three Titans (Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Morgan) which was five times what
his opponent William Jennings Bryan had to work with.
Bryan represented the poor in the south and midwest and started a new trend for
Presidential elections of doing "whistle" stops around the country. He gave over
500 speeches. McKinley represented the rich in the northeast. "On election day it's Wall Street vs. Main Street, the Rich vs. Poor. 90% of eligible voters went to the polls on November 3, 1896. McKinley was elected.”
