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Alaska is purchased from Russia
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Completion of Transcontinental Railroad
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John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
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Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
Alexander invents the 1st telephone and revolutionized communication forever. Before hand the closest thing was telegram, and it was much harder and tedious to use. After his invention, people could talk among themselves across countries. -
Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb
The light bulb is just as it name explains, but before hand the world used mostly kerosene. This was terrible for they could combust and burn down homes. The light bulb lead to much safer, less ashy, homes. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
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Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
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Sherman Anti-trust Act
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Ellis Island opens
Ellis island was where most European immigrants entered the U.S. Immigrants would have to pass an inspection and then were released into the U.S. The conditions were much easier here than in Angel Island. -
Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike
Carnegie's workers felt like they were not treated well and were forced into poor working conditions. They went on to form a strike and were met resistance with the Pinkertons, who were a private military force. Many workers were killed and then the strike ended, but the public view of Carnegie Steel forever. -
Plessy v Ferguson
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Hawaii is annexed
The U.S. annexed Hawaii because we feared Europe would grab it first due to their close economic relations. It provided a great place for docking ships and resupplying. Only way later on did it become a state. -
The U.S. declares war on Spain
Due to a conflict considering Cuba, we went to war with Spain and ended very quickly. Afterwards we took many of their islands and colonies. The Philippines were not happy when they learned the U.S. was not there for their freedom, but for cash. -
Rudyard Kipling published “The White Man’s Burden” in The New York Sun
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The start of the Boxer Rebellion
In the late 1800s the peasants revolted to try and push foreigners out of the country. They practiced a form of boxing that they believed to make them invisible. It was stopped quickly, for they didn't use too many weapons. -
Tenement Act
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Pres. McKinley is assassinated and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt becomes President
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The Philippine Insurrection comes to an end
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The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Western Hemisphere
Europe didn't take the Monroe Doctrine very seriously and Roosevelt wanted to change that. After the Venezuela crisis he issued his Corollary to prove U.S. might. After the Spanish-American war Europe took it a little more seriously. -
Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle”
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Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed
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Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
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Henry Ford produces his first Model T
With Ford's revolutionary invention he was able to make people go from taking carriages to taking their own car places. He made a huge profit from this because the common person could afford a Model T. You could say the car made such a profound impact on american culture, due to the fact that we drive everywhere here compared to Europe. -
Creation of the NAACP
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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was a massacre, with 146 casualties from it. The women were not allowed to leave because they were thought to be not trusted, so the doors were locked, and when the fire started the women were forced to try jumping out of the building to survive....many didn't. This event caused many of the safety codes we know today. -
The Panama Canal is completed and opened for traffic
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The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
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The United States enters WWI
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Ratification of the 18th Amendment - Prohibition
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Women got the right to vote.
