Important Events in US History from 1880 to 1914 By isodom09 Period: 1877 to 1881 Rutherford B. Hayes is President 1881 James Garfield is President Period: 1881 to 1904 Construction of the Panama Canal The French first started building it in 1881 and the Americans finished it in 1904 Period: 1881 to 1885 Chester Arthur is President Jul 4, 1881 Founding of the Tuskegee Institute Period: 1885 to 1889 Grover Cleveland is President Dec 18, 1886 Founding of the AFL (American Federation of Labor) Period: 1889 to 1893 Benjamin Harrison is President Jul 1, 1892 Homestead Strike Period: 1893 to 1897 Grover Cleveland is President again May 18, 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson Period: 1897 to 1901 William McKinley is President Period: Apr 21, 1898 to Dec 10, 1898 Spanish American War Jul 12, 1898 Annexation of Hawaii Period: 1899 to 1902 The Phillipino American War Period: 1901 to 1909 Theodore Roosevelt is President Jun 30, 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act Period: 1909 to 1913 William H. Taft is President 1913 Creation of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage 1913 Woodrow Wilson is President He is President from 1913-1921.