President Chester A. Arthur signs the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first significant federal law restricting immigration into the United States based on race and nationality. The law prohibits all immigration of Chinese laborers—defined as “both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese …
Chester A. ArthurU.S. CongressChinese immigrant workersLabor unionsWest Coast employersimmigration-policyracismlabor-suppressiongilded-agescapegoating+1 more
Charles J. Guiteau shoots President James A. Garfield at 9:30 AM on July 2, 1881, at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., less than four months into Garfield’s presidency. Guiteau, a disappointed and delusional office-seeker who distributed copies of a speech …
James A. GarfieldCharles J. GuiteauChester A. ArthurJames Blainesystematic-corruptionpatronage-systempolitical-violenceinstitutional-capture
President James A. Garfield launches an investigation in April 1881 into the Star Route scandal, a massive postal fraud scheme that has defrauded the Post Office of $4 million through rigged bidding on rural mail delivery contracts. The scandal involves a ring of contractors, brokers, and appointed …
James A. GarfieldThomas J. BradyStephen W. DorseyChester A. ArthurBradley Barlowsystematic-corruptiongilded-agepostal-fraudelite-impunity