1882 in the United States
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
: Chester A. ArthurChester A. ArthurChester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
(RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
) - Vice PresidentVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
: vacant - Chief JusticeChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
: Morrison WaiteMorrison WaiteMorrison Remick Waite, nicknamed "Mott" was the seventh Chief Justice of the United States from 1874 to 1888.-Early life and education:... - Speaker of the House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
: J. Warren KeiferJ. Warren KeiferJoseph Warren Keifer was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a prominent U.S. politician during the 1880s. He served in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from Ohio from 1877 to 1885 and from 1905 to 1911...
(RRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-Ohio) - CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
: 47th47th United States CongressThe Forty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1881 to March 4, 1883, during the administration...
January–March
- January 2 – John D. RockefellerJohn D. RockefellerJohn Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
unites his oil holdings into the Standard OilStandard OilStandard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
trustTrust (19th century)A special trust or business trust is a business entity formed with intent to monopolize business, to restrain trade, or to fix prices. Trusts gained economic power in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some, but not all, were organized as trusts in the legal sense...
. - February 2 – The Knights of ColumbusKnights of ColumbusThe Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
are formed in New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. - March 22 – PolygamyPolygamyPolygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
is made a felony by the Edmunds ActEdmunds ActThe Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont...
as passed by the U.S. Congress. - March 29 – The Knights of ColumbusKnights of ColumbusThe Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
are established.
April–June
- May 6 – The Chinese Exclusion Act is the first important law that restricts immigration into the U.S.A.
- June 30 – Charles J. GuiteauCharles J. GuiteauCharles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...
, who assassinated President James A. Garfield, is hanged.
July–September
- August 3 – The U.S. Congress passes the 1882 Immigration Act1882 Immigration ActOn 3 August, 1882, the US Congress passed a new Immigration Act that stated that a 50 cents tax would be levied on all immigrants landing at United States ports. The money collected was to be used to defray the expenses of regulating immigration and for the care of immigrants after landing...
. - August 5 – Standard Oil of New Jersey is established.
- September 5 – The first United States Labor DayLabor DayLabor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
parade is held in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
October–December
- October 5 – The Society for Ethical Culture of ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(currently the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago) is founded by Felix Adler. - October 16 – The Nickel Plate RailroadNew York, Chicago and St. Louis RailroadThe New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the Nickel Plate Road, the railroad served a large area, including trackage in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
opens for business.
Undated
- The Personal Liberty LeaguePersonal Liberty LeagueThe Personal Liberty League of the United States was founded in 1882 to oppose the growing strength of the temperance movement.-Source:Catlin, George E. G. Liquor Control. NY: Henry Holt & Co., 1931....
is established to oppose the temperance movementTemperance movementA temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
in the United States. - Carolyn MerrickCarolyn MerrickCarolyn Merrick was described by Frances Willard of the Women's Christian Temperance Union as a 'lady who can make the WCTU a success, even in the volatile city of Mardi Gras." After a ten-year term as president of her local WCTU chapter, Merrick became president of the National WCTU in...
is elected president of the Woman's Christian Temperance UnionWoman's Christian Temperance UnionThe Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." Originally organized on December 23, 1873, in...
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