Week 5: February 2-8
February 6, 1919
On February 6, 1919, at 10 a.m., the Seattle General Strike begins and paralyzes the city for five days.
Never before had the nation seen a labor action of this kind. Many in Seattle were expecting revolution — and a few wanted it — but when 65,000 laborers walked off the job that day, the result was more an eerie calm.
February 7, 1886
On February 7, 1886, violence broke out in Seattle as a mob started to forcibly expel most of the city’s Chinese population.
Martial law was declared and lasted for two weeks. President Grover Cleveland ordered United States troops to Seattle, where they would remain until summer. Though most of Seattle rebounded quickly from the crisis, it would take the city’s Chinese community 20 years to recover.
February 8, 1887
On February 8, 1887, the Dawes Severalty Act, also called the Indian Allotment Act, divided Indian reservations among individual tribal members in an effort to assimilate Native Americans into the U.S. population as “responsible farmers.”
Reservations were divided into 160-acre allotments and assigned to individual members. Unassigned lands were made available to white homesteaders.
This post is in partnership with HistoryLink, and Warren Seyler, former chairman Spokane Tribe of Indians, the Black Muse Resource Center, and the Living Arts Cultural Heritage.
We encourage you to engage in further research through your local historic societies, museums, archives, and community.
