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Alaska is purchased from Russia
The US, after running out of destiny to manifest, bought this territory from the Russians after a couple of months of negotiations. With the cost being $7.2 million or in modern terms, the cost was equivalent to $132 million in 2019 dollars or $0.37 per acre. This is so low because Russia wanted to get rid of it anyway, as it was hard to defend and very few moved there. -
Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
The completion of this was not easy, many delays due to the harsh conditions and dangerous wildlife in the west. When it was finished it was a huge factor in the settlement of the west and the devolving of towns near it. This was also one of the reasons for time zones due to crazy scheduling required without them. -
Plessy v Ferguson
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John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil
Initially started to be able to supply trains with enough oil, then bloomed into one of the biggest monopolies in history. Success was built on the promise of better oil as a standard, hence the name. This was very big for the US as it light the way for everyone, but later turned sour with profits trying to be maximized. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
Alexander has had this idea for years, but couldn't build something for multiple translating reeds, but an accident in the lab showed the need for only one. It was then a race of who could patent it first between him, his coworkers, and some British person. There are some who say it should have been somebody else, but I could find conclusive evidence pointing to the contrary. -
Thomas Edison brings light to the world with the light bulb
Thomas Edison is no stranger to inventing, he held over 1000 patents in his life. This was the most notable one of all, the ability to generate light with little heat and no flame. This invention took a very long time and he has said hundreds of tries to get it to work, now it is very easy because of our understanding of how he did it. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
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Samuel Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
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Sherman Antitrust Act
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Ellis Island opens
Ellis Island is the island for immigrants east of us. Including the first wave of eastern Europeans, and the second wave of Russians and western Europeans. This island is still used for this purpose today, it was also know to be the gateway of hope for immigrants. -
Carnegie Steel’s Homestead Strike
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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
President Roosevelt was a very big player in the progressive movement. He was considered Republican but was unaffiliated based on his actions, instead of sticking to the middle of the political spectrum he did everything he deemed necessary which was everywhere on the spectrum. Some say he was the greatest president due to these actions that help us even today. -
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 Wesern Hem
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Upton Sinclair releases “The Jungle”
The Jungle is a book that show the horrifying conditions of meat packers and the meat that they pack. It described the conditions the meat we consume go through and the level of vermin and just gross stuff that gets ignored for profits. the US was so appalled they created 2 new government agencies to monitor meat and drug use. -
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 produced his first Model T (car)
The model T was the first mass produced car and it was almost astounding the level it could perform. It could climb dunes better than a Humvee. It could go father than any car, being the first to go across the entire country without breaking down. It was also so cheap it set the standard of having a car no matter the financial situation, allowing more spreading of towns and less pop. density. -
Creation of the NAACP
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The Triangle Shirtwaist 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
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The United States enters WWI
WW1 was inevitable, with the introduction of formal alliance you could step on toes without being bombarded by half of the world. Then someone killed a lynch pin in everything, he wasn't important, but his allies were. Eventually after spiraling out of control the US intervened to try and stop it. -
Ratification of the 18th Amendment - Prohibition
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Women got the right to vote.
