Time Line



1888 -  Utopian science fiction with Looking Backward, 2000–1887, published in January
              1888, captured the public imagination and catapulted Bellamy to literary fame.
             Bellamy, a cousin and friend of Francis Bellamy, would establish the Nationalist
             Clubs the same year.
  
             Nationalist Clubs were an organized network of socialist political groups which
             emerged at the end of the 1880s in the United States of America in an effort to make
              real the ideas advanced by Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel, Looking 
             Backward.  At least 165 Nationalist Clubs were formed by so-called "Bellamyites,"
             who sought to remake economy and society through the nationalization of industry.

1892 - Proposal of a Pledge of Allegiance to displace teaching of founding documents in 
            schools by Francis Bellamy, a socialist minister,  (1855-1931).  
           The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892.  It was originally published in
           The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892.

1903 - Federal Government converts state militias to National Guard.  Militia (Dick) Act.

1909 - Publication of "The Promise of American Life," by Herbert Croly, founder of The New

        Republic, in 1909. This book opposed aggressive unionization and supported economic
        planning to raise general quality of life. After reading this book, Theodore Roosevelt
        adopted the New Nationalism.  Teddy had become a Republican Progressive.

        The book is said to "offer a manifesto of Progressive beliefs" that "anticipated the
        transition from competitive to corporate capitalism and from limited government to the
        welfare state."
 
1910 - Bankers from New York arrive by train at Jekyll Island.  Many try to dismiss the 
        introduction of the Federal Reserve System as necessary; but this marks the point in time
       when those in control of banking and corporations begin to em mass enormous wealth.
       What was missed until recently was the change in the kind of financing tool routinely used 
      from long-term purchases.  This changed from a percentage of what the borrower earned
      so a protection from erratic income was allowed, to the Rigid Installment Payment, which 
      guarantees the theft of equity from the borrower in approximately 30% of loans. 
      See PAYEhome.org
 
1911 - August - John Muir takes ship in New York, believing he has saved the Hetch 
           Hetchy, after a series of lectures across the United States.
 
1912 - March 27 - Muir disembarks to learn the battle had been lost.  

1912 -  - The First Lapse-Time Camera - Built by Arthur C. Pillsbury as the beginning of his
              campaign to persuade Americans to preserve the Wildflowers.
     
             Spring - Horace M. Albright attends a lecture for the Phi Beta Kappa by Woodrow
             Wilson, then governor of  New Jersey, at Berkeley. Fascinated by Wilson he studies
             his work and votes for him in November.

              May 15 - Horace M. Albright graduates from Berkeley.  Now in law school he
              becomes very friendly with Professor William E. Colby, who is his professor of law
              for mines and water. Albright accompanies Colby to a meeting of the Sierra Club
              where he meets John Muir, who he describes as looking like a shaggy dog.  The issue
              of the Hetch Hetchy is discussed as a campaign issue for California.  This was one of                 the pork barrel issues which elected Woodrow Wilson. 

              August 28 - Albright begins working as a reader for Professor Adolph Miller.  
         
              October 14 - 16 - Superintendents Conference, Yosemite - First showing Lapse-Tie
              flowers by Pillsbury results in a move to begin preservation.

              November -  Secretary Fisher convenes a hearing on Hetch Hetchy, with advocates
             for both sides testifying. At the conclusion of the hearing, Secretary Fisher turns over
             all the testimony to his advisory board, all professional engineers. Woodrow Wilson
             is elected President, and would appoint former San Francisco City Attorney Franklin
             Lane as Secretary of the Interior. Lane supports damming Hetch Hetchy, though he
             never visited it. San Francisco renews its campaign to dam Hetch Hetchy; hires
             Michael M. O'Shaughnessy as city engineer.

1913 -  February -  the Interior secretary's engineer's report recommends damming Hetch
            Hetchy, though acknowledging other options existed. On March 1, three days before
            leaving office, Secretary Fisher decides that he lacks the statutory authority to grant a
            permit to San Francisco, thus throwing the decision to Congress. Over the rest of the
            year, Congress holds hearings, and the City lobbies hard. The New York Times
           repeatedly opposes damming of Hetch Hetchy, along with most other newspapers in
           the country. Senators receive thousands of letters opposing destruction of Hetch
           Hetchy Valley.
           December 19 - Congress  passes the Raker Bill, allowing flooding of Hetch Hetchy
           Valley. The bill stipulates that the city could not sell water or power for resale.
                                      President Woodrow Wilson signs the bill.
 
Federal Reserve Act is passed by Congress under the administration of Woodrow
        Wilson as part of a deal cut by the corporations.

        16th Amendment, passed by Congress in 1909, is ratified.

1914 - Last Sierra Club outing to Hetchy Hetchy Valley.
            December 24 - John Muir dies. 

1933 - Business Plot - Corporate interests solicit Lt. General Smedley Butler to lead a
            military action and remove FDR from office. 


1934 - Investigative Committee - Butler tells Congress of the plot and a congressional
            investigative committee is  formed. Headed by John W. McCormack and Samuel
            Dickstein, the committee was  called the “McCormack-Dickstein Committee,” later
            known as the “Special Committee on Un-American Activities.”

           November 24  - The McCormack-Dickstein Committee  released a preliminary report
           stating they are hearing Butler’s testimony on the plot and that it heavily relied on
           hearsay thus far.[5] The alleged plot came under fire in the press, most notably by The
           New York Times[6] and Time Magazine[7].


1935 - Publication of "War is a Racket," by Lt. General Smedley Butler

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