American History by Decade: The 1880s Quiz

Answer: James Garfield

Garfield was a dark horse candidate at the 1880 Republican convention and won the nomination only after 36 ballots. Garfield carried the northern states in the general election while Hancock carried the southern states and the extreme west. The popular vote was among the closest in U.S. History with Garfield getting only about 2000 more votes than Hancock.

Answer: Charles Guiteau

Guiteau had given two speeches supporting Garfield during the 1880 presidential campaign. He deluged the Garfield administration with letters claiming he was owed the ambassadorship to France or Austria as compensation for his speeches. When his pleas were rejected, he decided to assassinate Garfield. Garfield's vice president, Chester Arthur, served the rest of Garfield's term.

Answer: The Earps were lawmen and the Cowboys were prominent cattle rustlers

The Cowboys engaged in buying and selling cattle illegally at the Clanton Ranch outside of Tombstone. As a result of the gunfight (which only lasted about 30 seconds), three of the Cowboys were killed, and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday were wounded.

Answer: The coward Robert Ford

Jesse James had served as a Confederate guerrilla in the Civil War, and afterwards led a gang that robbed trains, banks, and stage coaches. Robert Ford was allowed to join the James gang in 1882 because his brother was already a member. However, Ford had entered into a secret agreement with the Governor of Missouri to capture James.

Instead, Ford shot the unarmed James in the back of the head and was convicted of first degree murder. The Governor granted him a full pardon for the murder after which he toured the country re-enacting his assassination of James.

Answer: Mugwumps

James G. Blaine, the Plumed Knight of Maine, was considered corrupt by many Republicans because in 1876 some of his letters revealed he had sold his influence in Congress to various businessmen. The Mugwumps' support helped Cleveland become the first Democrat elected president since James Buchanan in 1856. Mark Twain, Thomas Nast, Louis Brandeis, and Henry Adams were all prominent Mugwumps.

Answer: Haymarket Square in Chicago

Four of the labor protesters were hanged for killing the policemen at the Haymarket Riot in a trial that was considered by many to be a miscarriage of justice. May 1 was chosen to be International Workers' Day to commemorate the Haymarket Riot.

Answer: Atlanta, Georgia

The original recipe of Coca-Cola included cocaine because Pemberton was searching for an alternative pain killer to morphine. The famous shape of the Coke bottle is based on the shape of the Cocoa bean.

Answer: He was the grandson of former president William Henry Harrison

The two Harrisons are the only grandfather-grandson duo among the presidents. During his presidency, he raised tariffs on foreign goods to the highest level in U.S. History and signed the Sherman Antitrust act which gave the federal government the power to break up monopolies. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming all became U.S. States during Benjamin Harrison's presidency.

Answer: Boomers were the legal participants, Sooners were the illegal ones

At noon on April 22, 1889, a gunshot was fired and more than 50,000 Boomers legally rushed into Oklahoma to claim a parcel of land. The illegal Sooners were settlers who had crossed the border prior to April 22 and then hid out on the best parcels until the start of the Rush (see, they went "sooner" than they were allowed, get it?).

Answer: The Johnstown Flood

The South Fork Dam above Johnstown, Pennsylvania failed leading to the largest loss of civilian life in U.S. history at the time. The 1880s (assassinations, riots, gun fights, floods) were just one big barrel of fun, weren't they!