Environmental laws from 1850-1900

Michael Cignarale

Background history between 1850-1900

• 1850: California is turned into a free state and Utah, New Mexico are now territory's.

• 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected president on November 6th, on December 20th South Carolina secedes from the union.

• 1861: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana secede from the union. on April 12th the civil war brakes out.

• 1865: general Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, on April 9th. Lincoln is assassinated on April 14th Five days after the war ends

More Background information from 1850-1900

• 1870: the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving blacks the right to vote on February 3rd.

• 1882: the U.S. adopts standard time on November 18th.

• 1892: Ellis Island becomes chief immigration station of the U.S. on January 1st

• 1897: William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th president March 4th.

First Official Wildlife Refuge.• 1870 the first wildlife

refuge established at lake Merritt California.

• The lake is a tidal lagoon just south of Oakland, California the refuge is approximately 44,800 acres.

• This land was set aside by the United States senate to give natural animals and birds a place to live that wasn’t being turned into a boom town unlike the rest of California in the late 1800s

1880 killer FOG (not FROG)

• The fog in London in 1880 killed 700 people. This fog lasted for three days and effected everyone in the city and especially effected the sick and the elderly. The fog was thought to be caused by coal burning in the houses and factories in and around the city.

Gold Rush 1849 - 1900

• The gold rush started in 1849 with the discovery of gold in American river California. There were many gold rush’s from 1849 – 1900. these gold rushes were broken up into spans of about 8 to 10 years. People came from as fare away as Maine for these gold rushes some even came from Russia and central Asia. The most gold was found between 1849 and 1868 after 1870 the gold seemed to trickle off and most of the miners gave up and went back home. Some leaving with nothing some leaving with millions.

Yellow Stone National Park

• Yellow stone national park was America's first national park. It was first open June 1 5th 1872. this park is home to over 100 different animals including grizzle bears and buffalo. The park is on 2,219,789 acres and has over 1,100 different plants. The park is also home to a hot spring and a geyser called old faithful

Homestead Act of 1862 • This act was put in place

by the U.S. Congress in 1862. It gave 160 acres of land to each settler that paid a fee after five years of living on the land. The land could also be obtained after six months of living on the land at the price of $1.25 an acre. The government established this to gain revenue from the settlers moving west in search of a better life.

1871 Fish and Wildlife • the fish and wildlife

commission was setup on April 4th 1871. this commission was created to manage the fish and wildlife population and the decline of fish that is consumed by the country’s population. This commission has been in affect since 1871 and has been updated and modified four times. It is still in affect today.

Mining Act of 1872• This act was set up in 1872 to

promote settlers moving out west for the westward expiation. It was created to give the settlers the idea that by going west you will become rich. The idea of this plan was that If you owned land and there was a mining source found on it you could mine it or the government would pay you from $2.00 to $5.00’s per acre to buy the land from you. Many people realized that this might be a good idea so they headed was in search of the rich mining sources beneath their feet.

Lacey Act of 1900• This act was created on May

25th 1900.• This law gave aid to animals

and wild birds. The purpose of this law is to create a safe environment for game and wild birds that were being over hunted in some part of the country. This law also protected foreign birds that seasonally migrate into America.

Work Cited page • NPS.gov http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm• Eyewitnesshistory.com

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/californiagoldrush.htm• FWS.gov http://training.fws.gov/history/index.html• EPA.gov http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/index.html• Wilderness.net

http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=timeline4#

• Yellowstonenationalpark.com http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/