A Brief History of the United StatesMcMaster, John Bach
History
A Brief History of the United States
McMaster, John Bach
United States -- History
[11] White men eager for land invaded the Indian reservations; acts of
violence were frequent, and shameful frauds were perpetrated by the agents
of the government. The Indians, in retaliation, killed settlers and ran
off horses, mules, and cattle. There were uprisings of the Sioux in
Minnesota (1862) and in Montana (1866); but the worst offenders were the
Apaches of Arizona, and against them General Crook waged war in 1872.
Toward the close of 1872 the Modocs left their reservation in Oregon, took
refuge in the Lava Beds in northern California, and defied the troops sent
to drive them back. General Canby and several others were treacherously
murdered at a conference (1873), and a war of several months' duration
followed before the Modocs were forced to surrender. In 1874 the Cheyennes
(she-enz'), enraged at the slaughter of the buffaloes by the whites, made
cattle raids, and more fighting ensued. An attempt to remove the Sioux to
a new reservation led to yet another war in 1876, in which Lieutenant-
Colonel Custer and his force of 262 men were massacred in Montana. Read
Longfellow's poem _The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face_.
[12] Thus (1869) the New York Central (from Albany to Buffalo) and the
Hudson River (from New York to Albany) were combined and formed one
railroad under one management from New York to Buffalo.
CHAPTER XXXIII
A QUARTER CENTURY OF STRUGGLE OVER INDUSTRIAL QUESTIONS, 1872 TO 1897
THE NATIONAL LABOR PARTY.--The changed industrial conditions of the period
1860-80 affected politics, and after 1868 the questions which divided
parties became more and more industrial and financial. The rise of the
national labor party and its demands shows this very strongly. Ever since
1829 the workingman had been in politics in some of the states, and had
secured many reforms. But no national labor congress was held till 1865,
after which like congresses were held each year till 1870, when a national
convention was called to form a "National Labor-Reform Party."
The demands of the party thus formed (1872) were for taxation of
government bonds (p. 387); repeal of the national banking system (p. 382);
an eight-hour working day; exclusion of the Chinese; [1] and no land
grants to corporations (p. 398). At every presidential election since this
time, nominations have been made by one or more labor parties.
THE PROHIBITION PARTY.--Another party which first nominated presidential
candidates in 1872 was that of the Prohibitionists. After much agitation
of temperance reform, [2] efforts were made to prohibit the sale of liquor
entirely, and between 1851 and 1855 eight states adopted prohibitory laws.
Then the movement subsided for a while, but in 1869 it began again and in
that year the National Prohibition Reform party was founded. In 1872 its
platform called for the suppression of the sale of intoxicating liquor,
and for a long series of other reforms. Every four years since that time
the Prohibition party has named its candidates.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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