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Alaska is Purchased from Russia
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Completion of Transcontinental Railroad
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John D. Rockefeller starts Standard Oil
John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil which then led to one of the biggest monopolies in history. Standard Oil assured consumers that its products were safe and would not burn down their houses. Rockefeller began producing so much oil that Vanderbilt's trains could not take all of them, so disputes began to break out when Rockefeller turned to other companies to transport his oil. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
The telephone was a way of faster communication which contributed to the advancement in technology for the US. Instead of getting news with weeks in between through mail, an owner of the telephone could get in touch with a person within seconds, and get answers that same day instead of waiting. This sped up communication and the way we lived out lives. -
Thomas Edison invents 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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Carnegie Steel's Homestead Strike
The strike at Carnegie's homestead was a fight for better work conditions. Workers were required to work long hours in very dangerous conditions. Often men died at work from being exhausted or burned to death. The strike resulted in many dead men and unresolved wage cuts and working conditions. Many of these problems began occurring when Andrew Carnegie hired Henry Frick and left the country. -
Ellis Island opens
The opening of Ellis Island brought big changes into New York; for example, the population blew out of the water and businesses began to boom. Annie Moore of Ireland was the first immigrant to go through the new port. The immigrants traveling through Ellis Island are known as the old immigrants. -
Plessy v Ferguson
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The U.S. declares war on Spain
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Hawaii is annexed
Businessmen located in Hawaii were very upset they had to pay a tax to transport their goods from Hawaii to the United States. They overthrew the Queen in Hawaii and started to rule it themselves. Hawaii has since played an important role in the US as a military base. -
Rudyard Kipling published "The White Man's Burden"
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The Start of the Boxer Rebellion
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Tenement Act
The tenement act banned the construction of poorly built homes. Tenements were dark, poorly ventilated, and had no bathrooms/ windows. They were often crammed together and had too many people living in one space at a time. The houses broke many health codes. -
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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The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine declares the U.S. right to intervene in the Western Hem
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Upton Sinclair releases "The Jungle"
"The Jungle" exposed the meat packing industry. Upton Sinclair got a job in the meat packing industry to get an inside glance at what it was like. He was then able to expose the industry's health code violations and bring sanitation into the food industry--mainly meat. Some of the health code violations were rotten meat was dyed and repackaged to sell and blood, rats, poop, or anything else that wound up in the meat grinder were then in meat that was sold. -
Pure Food & Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act are passed
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Peak year of immigration through Ellis Island
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Henry Ford produces his first Model T
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Creation of the NAACP
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The Triangle Shirt Waste Fire
This event led to safer work areas, first starting in NYC, and then spread everywhere. The triangle shirt waste fire brought the unsafe working conditions to the public eye. Safety inspections, working fire escapes, and ventilation were required after this event. -
The Assassination of Austria’s archduke Franz Ferdinand-- starts WWI
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Panama Canal is completed and open for traffic
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The United States enters WWI
The United States tried to remain neutral with the war going on between Germany and GB and France. Germany then began to sink our merchant ships and killing innocent Americans traveling on boats. The US entered into WW1 and trained in France for 12 months. The US helped France save Paris and hold off the Germans. -
Ratification of the 18th Amendment - Prohibition
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Women receive the right to vote
Women used Pres. Wilson's words while protesting to receive equal rights. They were fighting a war inside the US while the US was fighting outside of the country in WW1. Women were treated very poorly during this fight and were punished unlawfully.
