A nationwide railroad strike begins in Martinsburg, West Virginia on July 14 against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and ends 45 days later when federal troops are used against the striking workers.
The results of the November 7 election between Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) and Samuel Tilden (Democrat) are contested. The uncertainty leads to a political compromise which gives Hayes the Presidency with his promise to end Reconstruction in the South.
The Union Pacific Railroad, which began construction at Omaha, Nebraska and the Central Pacific, which first broke ground at Sacramento (both in 1863), meet at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory on May 10.
On July 9, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the rights of citizens and makes citizens of ex-slaves, becomes law with its ratification by South Carolina.
