US History From the Civil War Buildup to the 20th Century: 1851 - 1900

1. Minnesota became a US State in 1858. Additional territories followed in statehood --
2. Oregon 1859
3. Kansas 1861
4. West Virginia 1863
5. Nevada 1864
6. Nebraska 1867; USA purchased the Alaskan Territory this year.
7. Colorado 1876
8. North Dakota 1889
9. South Dakota 1889
10. Montana 1889
11. Washington 1889
12. Idaho 1890
13. Wyoming 1890
14. Utah 1896.

Only three Constitutional Amendments were added to the US Constitution between 1851 - 1900.

1. Amendment XIII, 1865 - Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. Some states did not ratify it until the 21st century and some people were slaves into the 20th century - in 1947.
2. Amendment XIV, 1866 - In sort, this amendment was to ensure protection of the Civil rights Act of 1866.
3. Amendment XV, 1869 - Granted the right to vote to African American men.

• Millard Fillmore 1850-1853

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin during Fillmore's administration.

• Franklin Pierce 1853-1857

In 1854, Kansas and Nebraska were named US Territories.

• James Buchanan 1857-1861

In 1857 the Dred Scott case of the Supreme Court found in favor of slave holders and found that slaves were not citizens. These findings were nullified by the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution.

• Abraham Lincoln 1861-1865

The South broke away from the North to form its own nation in December 1860, about seven weeks after Lincoln was elected President.

The 13th Amendment legally ended slavery in 1865, strangling the economy of the Confederacy that was already practically disabled. The Civil War had begun earlier and extended from 1861 through 1865.

The Homestead Act of 1863 allowed settlers in the West to claim lands for their own after living on them for five years. This actually ran some Native Americans off their own lands and became part of the larger Indian Removals within US borders.

• Andrew Johnson 1865-1869

In 1867, USA bought the Alaska Territory from Russia. Many Native Americans and First Nations peoples had lived there for centuries, having migrated from Northern Siberia and Northern Asian countries, evidenced by DNA markers. Later, Russians arrived and settled.

In 1868, the 14th Amendment was accepted to define US Citizenship.

• US Grant 1869-1877

In 1869, a railroad line stretched from coast to coast for the first time.

The 15th Amendment in 1870 was adopted to give and grant African American men the right to vote. Women were still not allowed to vote.

• Rutherford B. Hayes 1877-1881
• James A. Garfield 1881 (died soon after election)
• Chester Arthur 1881-1885

In 1882, the USA adopted Standard Time. See: Daylight Saving Time.

• Grover Cleveland 1885-1889

The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, was dedicated in New York City in 1886.

• Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893

In 1890, women began demanding the right to vote in earnest. An insightful film about this movement is Iron Jawed Angels.

• Grover Cleveland 1893-1897

In 1896, the US Supreme Court found that racial segregation is constitutional.

In 1895, the Baron of Arizona landed in jail for fraud.

• William McKinley 1897-1901

For 8 months in 1898, the Spanish-America War was fought over Cuba. Cuba became independent and USA took, as protectorates, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. We paid 20,000,000 Dollars for the Philippines.

In 1898, USA took the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) as a territory.

In 1899, USA took American Samoa under a treaty with UK and Germany.