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Alaska is purchased from Russia
The United States bought Alaska for $7.2 million. Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl signed and negotiated a Treaty. Russia offered the sale of Alaska in 1859 during the U.S. Civil War. Russia wanted to sell Alaska to achieve the goal of expanding trade to and settlements to the Pacific Coast of the United States. -
The Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The first Transcontinental Railroad was 1,912 miles long stretching from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Oakland Long Wharf. The railroad was built by three companies, the Western Pacific Railroad Company, the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, and the Union Pacific. The railroad was built during the years of 1863-1869. -
Ellis Island Opens
Ellis Island was open for over 60 years before it closed in 1954. Millions of immigrants passed through, there's an estimated 40% of U.S. citizens that can trace an ancestor to Ellis Island. many of the immigrants that came to the United States were either fleeing conflict or hunger. They all wanted a better life. -
Hawaii was Annexed
The Queen of Hawaii, Lydia Kamakaeha Liliuokalani, was overthrown by conspirators in 1893. U.S. soldiers imprisoned the queen and took 1.75 million acres of crown land and wanted to annex the islands to the United States. When the Queen died, Hawaii became a U.S. territory. All of this was spurred by the nationalism created by the Spanish-American War. -
The Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed.
The Pure Food and Drug Act was a key piece of the Progressive Era. The Federal Meat inspection Act made it a crime to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food. Upton Sinclairs book, The Jungle, exposed the conditions of a meat packaging plant. -
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory fire killed 145 workers. Most of the victims died as a result to neglected safety standards and equipment. People jumped to their deaths rather than die from the flames and smoke. The fire brought attention to the dangerous conditions of sweatshops and factories. Laws and regulations were made to prevent a fire like this one to never happen again. -
The Assassination of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The assassination was inn Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The leader of the Black Hand secret society ordered the hit. The political reason was to break off Austria-Hungary's South Slav provinces so they could make a new country, Yugoslavia. After the assassination Austria-Hungary gained support from Germany and made action towards Serbia. Serbia declared war on July 28, 1914. The following week, Germany, Russia, France, Belgium, Montenegro and Great Britain made their way into the war. -
The Panama Canal is Completed and Open.
The desire to build the canal came from the rush of settlers to California and Oregon. Construction began in 1881, many problems were created due to inadequate planning, disease among workers, and financial problems. The first ship to travel in the canal was the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger ship. -
The United States enter WWI
The U.S. joined forces with Britain, France and Russia to fight. Before the U.S. joined they were a neutral country shipping $75 million worth of war supplies every week. After 128 Americans died during the sinking of the passenger ship, the Lusitania, by a German U-boat gave the U.S. a reason to join the war. -
Women get the Right to Vote.
The 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Several generations of women suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied and practiced civil disobedience to get what many people called a radical change of the Constitution. Not many supporters were around in 1920 to see the result of their hard work. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment, 2 weeks later the Senate followed. The ratification changed the face of American electorate forever.
