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Invention of the telephone
On March 7th 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented and released the very first telephone. Shortly three days after his patent, Graham said the very first words over the telephone which were "Mr. Watson, come here- I want to see you." After years of working on this invention it was finally accomplished and communication would be changed forever. -
Compromise of 1877
The compromise of 1877 was in result of a argument over who won the election of 1886. In the end the Republican party and Rutherford Hayes won the election but only with a condition from the Democratic party: that they would remove troops from southern states. In result of the removal of troops, the Reconstruction Era ended and racism and segregation become bad again. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed by President Arthur in 1882. It banned Chinese labor immigration for the next 10 years. It also required current Chinese immigrants to go through much more strenuous processes to stay and if their paperwork was not filled out they were at risk of deportation. -
Dawes Act of 1887
In 1877 Grover Cleveland passed the Dawes Act of 1877. This act allowed the government to break up tribal land and sell it to other Americans. This ended up stripping over 90 million acres of land from the tribal Indians. -
Ellis Island Opened
In 1892 Ellis Island opened. This made it easier for the national government to document and keep track of immigrants coming through, prior to this immigration was a state task instead of a national. In its roughly 60 years running, Ellis Island admitted over 12 million immigrants. It reopened its doors in the 1990's as a national museum. -
Explosion of the USS Maine
The sinking of the USS Maine was a large incentive for the United States to declare war on Spain, which they would do just a few months later. It was sunk in the coast of Cuba killing 266 people. -
U.S. Declares War on Spain
Shortly after the sinking of the USS Maine, the United States declares war on Spain. The Spanish-American War was very short lived and it would end later that same year with the Treaty of Paris. -
Treaty of Paris
After a short 6 months of war, the United States and Spain finally met in Paris to negotiate a treaty. In the end, it was decided that America would have possession of Puerto Rico and Guam, and that Spain would have to give up its claim to Cuba.