What happened in the US between 1800 and 1900?

Answer 1

The biggest event of the 1800s was likely the US Civil War (1861-1865). But a lot happened before and after! Here are some highlights:

• Ownership arguments between different countries and land companies over The Ohio Territory had been settled by 1790. But people from New England States and other areas were afraid to buy land and then find that the fights were not settled; they could lose their lands. Though some people went to Ohio before 1800, many waited. But by 1800, the push began into Ohio settlements. This opened the push westward under beliefs in Manifest Destiny.
• Native American Indians were not happy. Whites had made treaties to keep settlers on the east side of the mountains, but Whites broke their promises as people moved into Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
• 1808 - slave trade was ended.
• 1812 - War of 1812
• 1814 - Burning of Washington, D.C.
• Different groups of people and families were constantly migrating during every decade between 1800 and 1830s.
• People pushed into Indiana, which continued through the 1830s.
• From Ohio and Indiana, people pushed south, west, and southwest (examples: Kentucky, Kansas, and westward).
• When people migrated, it could be whole families, or partial families. Example: In a family of 4 adult children, 2 might have stayed put while 2 with their wives and children moved west. Or, grandparents might have stayed behind while 1 adult child and his family moved. In other words, larger family units split up, depending on who wanted to move and who wanted to stay. For many families who moved before 1840, cousins in families left behind never knew they had cousins or Aunts and Uncles in other States. By 1880, people "forgot" they had extended family members elsewhere in the country.
• Rivers - People often used rivers in the East to travel west. They also used horses, wagons, and eventually, the railroad.
• Coal - Native Americans already knew of and used bituminous coal. With Whites moving across the PA mountains, Whites quickly learned about its uses as a source of heating. Small coal mines began immediately in SW PA and the area now known as West Virginia. The geological area known as The Pittsburgh Coal Field extends from SW PA, WVA, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Coal Mining in each of these states was performed every day from 1800-1900. There were many mine collapses,roof collapses, mine explosions,etc. with hundreds of injuries and deaths during that century.
• Natural Gas - 1821 - William Hart in Fredonia, New York made the first well to pump natural gas from underground. Hart is regarded by many as the ‘father of natural gas’ in America.But gas wasn't easy to transport and there were no pipes to transfer natural gas into homes. So it was not widely used until after 1900.
• 1820s - 1820s and 1830s The Baltimore and Ohio is incorporated in 1827 and begins operating 1830. Building of RR tracks underway 1830s–1860s.
• 1837 - Samuel Morse developed and patented an electrical telegraph in the United States in 1837. But most ordinary people relied on US Mail which had been used in the colonies since 1691. However, there was no "mail service". Private persons or the Stage Coach often transported a single or few letters (grew over time). Newspapers up through the 1840s published "List of Letters remaining at the Post Office" to notify people they had mail. Newspaper subscriptions had started around 1800 west of the PA mountains but people picked up their copy when they came to town; later these were mailed.
• Gold - The California Gold Rush was one result of migrations in earlier decades, and it unleashed a new but massive push west.
• Oil - Native American Indians always knew about petroleum which laid in puddles on the ground. As Whites migrated into SW PA, they learned about the medicinal uses for petroleum. For example, petroleum healed dry, cracked skin. Of course, petroleum was black so people only used it when at home. Col. Edwin Drake pioneered the first oil drilling in Titusville PA (northwest part of the State). The Drake Well is 69.5 feet in depth. It produced 25 barrels (4.0 m3) of oil a day. By 1872, the entire area was producing 15.9 thousand barrels (2,530 m3) a day. Small, medium, and large oil derricks sprang up everywhere in Western PA, often covering whole hillsides with dozens of derricks each pumping oil 24 hours a day. People's identities were being shaped by how many barrels their wells produced, and thus, how much money they earned from oil. Newspapers publishing barrel amounts and owners produced lively competition between people. In the 1880s, the US experienced a mini economic Depression. Many people went bankrupt. Soon after, many oil wells played out. More companies took over private oil wells.
  
• Land Deeds from the early 1800s show separate ownership (often companies) for the mineral rights, coal, oil and gas underground. The person who owned the land rarely held rights to what was under their land.
• After the Civil War, soldier returning home often felt dissatisfied with their lives. Many disappeared, made an alias name, and moved, never to be heard from again. When the gov't made a Pension Fund (around 1907), many of these men wanted to claim their pensions! So they had to prove that they were really the soldier-- many were unable to prove this, since family never heard from the men after 1865 (from 1865 to 1907). Others were able to prove their identities, but the gov't wasn't happy about investigating every case and sometimes found reasons to NOT give them pensions. These records, kept still today by NARA, shows many men never divorced their first wives but married a 2nd woman in another State. When soldiers died, the 2nd "wife" tried to get the Widow's pension and were denied because the man never divorced his first wife so the 2nd "marriage" was not recognized.
• Many men were amputees after the US Civil War.
• The Civil War brought changes in the medical field to how surgeons performed surgeries.
• People across the US were "inventing" and requesting patents. This never brought riches to them.
• 1880s - a national economic mini Depression. Many people went bankrupt.
• 1880s - New York - The first society to prevent cruelty to animals.
• 1890s - First advocacy against the mistreatment of children!
  
• 1898 - Spanish-American War
• 1900 - The United States population exceeded seventy-five million.