US National Archives
Nara: Records of the Interstate Commerce Commission
The site for National Archives and Records Administration gives you the Records of the Interstate Commerce Commission, beginning with its history.
US National Archives
Our Documents: Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
Find an image of the original Interstate Commerce Act, passed in 1887, as a remedy to railroad monopolies. Read a transcript of the law, and an explanation of the reasons why such a law was necessary.
Missouri State University
Missouri State University: Lost World of Gilded Age Politics
This extensive look at politics between 1876 and 1896 describes how the Republican Party functioned during this time and how the excesses in politics resulted in reform and the next era in politics, the Progressive Era. A very...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Progressive Movement 1890 1920: Progressivism in the White House
Looks at the Square Deal of Theodore Roosevelt, the Progressive goals of William Taft, and at legislation enacted under the New Freedom agenda of Woodrow Wilson.
Scholastic
Scholastic: The Progresssive Era
This Grolier On-line Encyclopedia article hits the main points of the Progressive Era stretching from the 1890s until just after the end of World War I.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: William Howard Taft: Domestic Affairs
Find out why William Howard Taft's domestic policies were not as progressive as those of his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Binding the Nation by Rail
Read about the explosive growth of railroad track across the United States after the Civil War. Find out about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, the men who made fortunes from the railroads, and the first American regulatory...
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Railroads and the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
Read the history of the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, how it affected the railroads, and the additions made to it over many years.
Digital History
Digital History: To the Heart of Dixie
In the early 1960s civil rights activists put the ban on segregation to the test. In 1961, "Freedom riders," boarded buses headed south to test the federal ban on segregated travel. And in 1962, the University of Mississippi was ordered...