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Alaska is purchased from Russia
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John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
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Completion of Transcontinental Railroad
The transcontinental railroad had been a goal for people living in the West. There was a lot of railways built in the eastern part of the U.S. in the 1830s and ’40s, but there were few in the West and none of those connected to eastern rail ways. Though when the gold rush started the need for rail ways in the west became apparent. -
Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb
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Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
Alexander Graham Bell was originally born in Edinburgh, Scotland and years later he made the decision to immigrate to the United Sates. Later in life Alexander became a founding member of the "National Geographic Society" and served as its president from 1898 and 1903. Fun Fact: Bell refused to have a telephone in his study because he feared it would distract him from his work. -
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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Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike
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Ellis Island opens
Ellis Island was a port for immigrants to come in from the European counties. Over 12 million immigrants came in through this port. Fun Fact: the statue of liberty is here, and was a present from another country. -
Plessy v Ferguson
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The U.S. declares war on Spain
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Hawaii is Annexed
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The Philippine Insurrection comes to an end
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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
This was a reform during the progressive era to ensure that the tenement building were properly kept up. Many of these buildings were poorly kept up and had many family's living in one space. Most the people living in tenements were immigrants that had came over. -
Pres. McKinley is assassinated and Progressive, Theodore Roosevelt becomes President
McKinley was the 25th President until his assassination. He was assassinated six months into his second term. Roosevelt was sworn in on the same day. -
The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Wesern Hem
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Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle”
A novel written by Upton Sinclair to portray the harsh conditions and lives of immigrants in the United States. His book was so gross that it caused the government to look into it to see if what he wrote was right. After they discovered it was new laws were set in place to prevent unsafe food from being made or sold. -
Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed
This was a ban on manufacture, sale, or transportation of dangerous food. Big company's use to have no rules for safety or for making food properly. This law was passed after a book came out about the real truth behind the food industry. -
Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
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Henry Ford produces his first Model T
The model T was the first affordable car in America. For the first time a car was affordable for average Americans and not just the upper class citizens. More than 15 million Model T's were built in Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan. -
Creation of the NAACP
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The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaste Fire was a huge deal and was the reason for the most of the safety laws in company. There were 146 deaths in that fire and 71 non fatal injury. There were so many deaths because they use to have to lock the women in the room as a way to force them to work with no breaks. -
The Assassination on Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand starts WWI
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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 - Prohibition
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Women got the right to vote.
This was a huge movement called women's suffrage. Women felt as though they should have the same rights as the man and be able to have a say in their government too. It didn't come easy to get this right as women had to petition the government for years before finally being able to vote.
