American History Timeline

  • Alaska is purchased from Russia

  • Completion of Transcontinental Railroad

  • John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil

    John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
    Standard Oil, whilst abusing it's workers, helped America become a world power. As the name applies, it gave us oil to use for lighting and heat. This was what first caused the industrial revolution. It was also the first American monopoly.
  • Alexander Graham Bell creates the telephone

  • Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb

  • Chinese Exclusion Act

  • Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

  • Sherman Anti-trust Act

  • Ellis Island opens

    Ellis Island opens
    Ellis Island created a place for Europeans to immigrate to the US easier. They took in Russians, Italians, Slavs, Jews, Greeks, Poles, Serbs, and Turks. "Old" immigrants discriminated against them, saying that they will take their jobs, and cause cities to be overpopulated.
  • Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike

  • Plessy v Ferguson

  • The U.S. declares war on Spain

  • Hawaii is annexed

  • Rudyard Kipling published “The White Man’s Burden” in The New York Sun

    Rudyard Kipling published “The White Man’s Burden” in The New York Sun
    The White Man's Burden tried to push imperialism for the US. It was pushing to help the Filipinos to control the Philippines from the Spaniards. This shows the racism part of imperialism used, claiming the white man should rule over other races.
  • Start of Boxer Rebellion

  • Tenement Act

  • Pres. McKinley is assassinated and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt becomes President

  • Creation of the NAACP

    Creation of the NAACP
    This was created for an attempt at fighting against the discrimination of people of color. W.E.B DuBois and Ida B Wells (and many others) were the creators of the NAACP. African Americans were being lynched and killed, for the color of their skin, commonly at the time.
  • The Philippine Insurrection comes to an end

  • The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Wesern Hem

    The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Wesern Hem
    This helped American Imperialism since we could only go into the countries in our hemisphere. It helped us become a world power. This also influenced countries in South America (especially socialist or communist countries) by starting coups. This also influences a lot of the propaganda we spread against communism and socialism today.
  • Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle"

    Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle"
    The Jungle attacks food industry and it's safety measures. People would have their fingers cut off and put into the meat. This caused the Food and Drug act to be passed, saying you need to say what's in the food and/or drug, and caused inspections of food.
  • Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island

  • Henry Ford produces his first Model T (car)

  • The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire

    The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire
    Killed 146 people. Reformed the work place (Windows, ventilation, fire escapes, etc.). Also caused workplaces to have inspections, and be sanitized.
  • The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI

    The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
    As the name states, this is the first worldwide war. War World One starts the second World War, 20 years later, with the Versailles Treaty. World War One is how Russia became the USSR. Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary fell and became Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Turkey.
  • The Panama Canal is completed and opened for traffic

  • The United States enters WWI

    The United States enters WWI
    The US hastens World War One. Workers and unions become more recognized in America, improving conditions, giving 8 hour days, and getting more pay. Women start working in factories, which pushed feminism. WW1 helped create the Draft for men.
  • Ratification of the 18th Amendment - Prohibition

  • Women got the right to vote.

    Women got the right to vote.
    Women gained more influence in the government, although they're still oppressed today. This helped keep males from being dominant politically, and kept them in check. Women ended up getting more rights out of it, along with World War 1.