Lizzie Borden lived in Fall River, Massachusetts with her parents up until 1892. Several members of the household grew violently ill, which at first was attributed to food that was left out on the stove for a few days. A couple of days later, August 4th, 1892, Lizzie called for her maid (by the wrong name) to "...come quick! Father's dead, somebody came in and killed him." Andrew Borden had been struck 10 or 11 times with a hatchet like weapon and one of his eyeballs was split in half, leading investigators to believe the crime had been done in his sleep. Abby Borden, Lizzie's stepmother, had been found upstairs. Her skull had been crushed by 19 blows to the head. Police arrested Lizzie on August 11th. The Grand Jury started hearing evidence on November the 7th and then Borden was indicted on December 2nd. During the trial, key points were that:
No bloody clothes were found, but Lizzie burned a dress in the stove a few days after the murders, saying she ruined it by brushing against some paint.
The evidence that Borden went to buy prussic acid (colorless, extremely poisonous liquid) from a local druggist the day before the murders was excluded.
The contents of Abby and Andrew's stomachs were tested for poison at autopsy but were negative. The autopsy was done on their dining room table.
Lizzie fainted at the sight of her parent's skulls, which were used as evidence in the trial.
The jury deliberated for half an hour on June 20th. In the end they acquitted. Lizzie went on to live in the same town with her sister, facing speculation everywhere she went. Her court case has been compared to the later trial O. J. Simpson "as a landmark in publicity and public interest in the history of American legal proceedings."
The Panic of 1893
At the time of this depression, the United States had never before seen a sink in the economy of this magnitude. Argentina was a main investor in wheat crops. In 1893 when crops failed to produce their quota an Argentinian bank, Baring Brothers, sold all of their investments, which caused a mass withdrawal of gold from the U.S. treasury. Additionally; there was a military takeover of the Buenos Aires government in the same year, which ended further investments. New mines of silver rapidly came about, meaning the price of silver declined suddenly. Railroads were very popular at the time, and soon many people found that they were spending more many than receiving from them. As people realized financial crisis was on the way, they hurried to withdraw their money from banks, which caused bank runs. The Panic of 1893 caused stock prices to fall, 600 banks to close, and 15,000 businesses to close. The economy of the United States began to recover in 1897.
Stockbrokers in New York during the panic.
Railroad building.
Expansion
Throughout this decade the United States is constantly seeking to grow and expand as a country. They do achieve these goals and gain three new states and one new territory as a result.
Wyoming became a state July 10th, 1890.
Idaho was made a state July 3rd, 1890.
Utah joined the union in January 4th,1896.
The United States annexed Hawaii July 6, 1898.
The Klondike Gold Rush
In July of 1897 word spread by press and mouth of gold in Klondike. The miners, called "stampeders" rushed to the area, dreaming of gold. Within six months 100,000 people had started the journey, but only 30,000 made it all the way to their destination. Trails were very dangerous, but if you had money you could take other routes. The stampeders who survived were mostly met with disappointment the locals of the area had already claimed most of the gold. Even if you arrived early enough to find some gold still left, you still had a lot of work left ahead of you. The gold was found 10 feet or more below the ground in some cases. When the ground is permanently frozen, this is not an easy task. Digging during the winter was impossible because they had to wait for the ground to thaw out. The only people who made any money out of the Klondike gold rush are the people who sold supplies to the stampeders.