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As it says on the Library of Congress website, the leaders of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in Promontory, Utah, and put a ceremonial last spike into a rail line that connected their railroads. This was the first transcontinental railroad travel, made possible for the first time in U.S. history. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-10/transcontinental-railroad-completed) -
The Constitution prohibits states from denying citizens the right to vote because of discrimination based on race or color. National archives -
President Ulysses S. Grant declared martial law, imposed heavy consequences against terrorist organizations, and used military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). (https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/hh_1871_04_20_KKK_Act/) -
The United States Army planned to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes from the Southern Plains and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservations in Indian Territory. There was much tension between the groups because in 1867, the U.S. Army began hunting buffalo to sabotage the food sources of the indigenous people inhabiting the plains. (https://www.britannica.com/event/Red-River-Indian-War) -
President Grant signs the bill that creates the nation's first national park. "Many congressmen gave it their support simply because they believed the rugged and isolated region was of little economic value". (https://www.history.com/articles/yellowstone-national-park-origins) -
An armed group of white supremacists "attacks a courthouse guarded by a mostly-Black militia in the town of Colfax, Louisiana". (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-13/colfax-massacre-louisiana) -
The law guaranteed African Americans equal treatment in public transportation and public accommodations, and service on juries. This law also made it a crime to deny any of these accommodations based on the color of skin. (https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilRightsAct1875.htm) -
"Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Lakota Sioux leaders, strongly resisted the mid-19th-century efforts of the U.S. government to confine their people to reservations. The U.S. Army ignored previous treaty agreements and invaded the region"(History.com). The Native Americans defeated the U.S. Army near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. (https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/battle-story.htm) -
The two men running for President were Samuel Tilden (Democrat) and Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican). After the votes were counted, Tilden had more total votes. But Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina claimed they had won and accused the other of fraud. Congress established a 15-member commission to review the disputed returns.
Hayes ended up winning in the end. Many people were upset with the result and thought the process was unfair. (https://guides.loc.gov/presidential-election-1876) -
Thomas Edison's new invention was the phonograph, a device that allowed for the recording and playback of sound. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/february-19/thomas-alva-edison-patents-the-phonograph)