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Alaska is Purchased from Russia
The purchase of Alaska from Russia sparked America's interest in controlling other places. This can be seen as the start of imperialism in America. -
Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad connected the entire country, making a journey that can last months to only a few days. People and goods can now travel faster, expanding markets and lowering the price. -
Plessy v Ferguson
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John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
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Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
The telephone allows people to talk to each other from across the world. It vastly decreased communication time, letting people stay connected. -
Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb
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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
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Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
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Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike was one of the most known strikes in American history. The death of several workers at the hands of the owner, Carnegie, painted a bad picture for big business owners and turned the public against them. -
The U.S. declares war on Spain
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Hawaii is annexed
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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
Theodore Roosevelt was very aggressive in attacking monopolies and protecting the natural resources. He set up national parks. He fought to protect the consumer and not big businesses. -
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
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Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle”
This book describes events and processes so terrible that people thought it was fiction. The meat packing industry was focused more on profit than sanitation that they ignored basic health guides and got many people sick. The meat was nearly always bad and filled with rats, rat feces, and rope. The Jungle led to the formation of the FDA and raised health concerns across the nation. -
Henry Ford produced his first Model T (car)
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Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed
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Creation of the NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was a group founded to help African Americans get their rights. Segregation and racism still ran rampant until the 1960's where segregation was declared illegal. -
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
A lot of people burned to death. The New York State government set up safety measures such as a fire escape and unlocked doors. These measures quickly became a country model, used all over. -
The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
WWI was one of the most brutal and horrible war in history. Trench warfare forced countries to through men at the front, which left them with PTSD after the war. An entire generation of men was nearly wiped out and the rest were left to deal with their mental problems. -
The Panama Canal is completed and opened for traffic
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The United States enters WWI
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Ratification of the 18th Amendment
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Women got the right to vote
Letting women vote made America hold up to its promise of freedom and partially eliminated its hypocrisy. Women played a major role in the war effort and kept the country functioning.
