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John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller started out as a struggling oil man. Once he made a deal with the trains to transport his oil he started booming. Eventually, he had a near monopoly and became one of the richest and most successful man to ever live. -
Alaska is purchased from Russia
The united states agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for a total of 7.2 million. Everyone thought this purchase was a bad idea and because of this there was a lot of criticism for it. However, as years past the United States quickly made their money back from oil and other substances in Alaska. -
Completion of Transcontinental Railroad
The completion of transcontinental railroad signified that railroads covered all of the United States. This was a significant point of time because now goods could be transported much easier. This also helped a lot with travel because you could get to any state by train. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
Alexander Graham Bell was credited with the invention of the telephone although he had many co-workers who helped with the invention. The invention was revolutionary however at the time the telephone wasn't very popular. With the invention, Alexander also founded the company American Telephone and Telegraph Company which later became known as AT&T -
Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
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Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb
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Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited all Chinese laborers from coming to the United States. At this time in history, Americas were not fond of people who did not look like them. Add this to the fact that gold was becoming harder and harder to find during the gold rush because lots of Chinese people were coming over also looking for gold, Chinese people were disliked. -
Sherman Anti-trust Act
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Ellis Island opens
Ellis Island would become the location where eventually 12 million immigrants would be processed. This process included being tested to see if you were fit enough to live in the United States. The immigrants would go through a short physical test and if they did not pass they would get sent back. -
Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike
Workers of Carnegie's went on strike because they believed they were not being paid fairly. In order to solve the problem, Carnegie hired private security agents to resolve the issue. However, things got very violent and things were escalated and led to a gunfight where several casualties occurred. -
Plessy v Ferguson
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Hawaii is annexed
The United States was very interested in making Hawaii a territory of the USA. There are two reasons for this, the first being money. There was a lot of natural resources there that the United States could profit off of. The second reason was for military bases. Hawaii was a great location to put a military base because it could be the USA's first line of defense if they were supposed to get attacked from the west. -
The U.S. declares war on Spain
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Rudyard Kipling published “The White Man’s Burden” in The New York Sun
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The start of the Boxer Rebellion
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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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Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle”
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The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Wesern Hem
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Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed
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Henry Ford produces his first Model T (car)
Henry Ford was credited with building the first car. At the time nothing was even imaginable. Everyone was still traveling in covered wagons so you got to think that the invention of the car was a big step up. -
Creation of the NAACP
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The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire
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The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
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The Panama Canal is completed and opened for traffic
The Panama Canal is a little passage in south Panama that boats can pass through. This passage is very helpful for a quicker way to deliver good from east America to the west. Before the Panama Canal people would have to travel around Cape Horn (the tip of South America) to deliver goods. -
The United States enters WWI
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Women got the right to vote.
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Ratification of the 18th Amendment - Prohibition
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Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
