A canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans had been the dream of several countires for years. Read about how the United States supported Panama's breakaway from Colombia in order to gain access to the isthmus of Panama, the final...

Read about the passage of the bane of the snake oil salesmen, the Pure Food and Drugs Act.

Read a brief description of the National Reclamation Act and its aim of making more agricultural land available in the arid West by financing irrigation projects. Some information is specific to the Klamath Basin project in Oregon.