The Iron RoadCultural
The Transcontinental Railroad
The joining of the rails at Promontory Summit links the coasts, binding the nation together and accelerating settlement of the West — often at Native peoples' expense.
American History · Chronicle VII of X
The Gilded Age & Progressive Era
Industry & Reform · 1869-1914
Railroads, immigration, big business, and the age of reform.
- Span
- 1869 – 1914
- Entries
- 9
Entry 1 of 9
Captains of IndustryCultural
Rockefeller, Carnegie, and big business
Industrialists like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie build vast oil and steel empires, amassing enormous fortunes as trusts come to dominate the economy.
Labor RisesCultural
The Haymarket affair and organized labor
As workers demand the eight-hour day, a bombing at Chicago's Haymarket Square sets back the labor movement even as unions like the American Federation of Labor grow.
The Closing FrontierMilitary
Wounded Knee and the end of the frontier
The massacre at Wounded Knee marks the tragic close of the Indian Wars; the census declares the frontier settled, ending an era of continental expansion.
The Golden DoorCultural
Ellis Island and mass immigration
Ellis Island opens as millions of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe arrive, transforming American cities and industry and reshaping the nation's identity.
An Overseas EmpireMilitary
The Spanish-American War
Victory over Spain gives the United States Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, launching the country as an imperial power on the world stage.
The Progressive EraPolitical
Theodore Roosevelt and reform
President Theodore Roosevelt battles the trusts, champions conservation, and pushes consumer protections, embodying the Progressive drive to tame industrial capitalism.
An Age of InventionCultural
The Wright brothers take flight
At Kitty Hawk the Wright brothers achieve the first powered flight; within a generation the automobile and the airplane will remake daily life and industry.
Reforming the SystemPolitical
Income tax and the Federal Reserve
The Sixteenth Amendment creates a federal income tax and the Federal Reserve is founded, reshaping the government's role in the economy on the eve of world war.
1 more entry, to 1913