The World's Fair and it's effects today

The innovation and what came from the 1893 World's Fair can still be seen and felt today, 130 years later. From the architectural innovations and inventions that we saw for the first time during this fair, such as the elevator and the first electric-powered room ever seen at a World's Fair, to the culmination of much of the Western world into a city on the rise after a deadly fire that destroyed much of the town. This single event can be seen as a turning point in American history as this was the major turning point in other European powers seeing firsthand all that America had to offer since its inception roughly 100 years ago. America showed what it could offer, which became the starting point for the imperialistic age of American history after showing to the rest of the world all the power that it had within its borders. 

On July 12th, historian Frederick Jackson Turner read out his infamous speech that would begin this new imperialism movement outside of the US, Turner spoke about when the western frontier was fully captured and that "American energy" could not be stopped, while also maintaining that "Americans will continually demand a wider field for its exercise". This inspired many within America to spread their ideals with the visitors and eventually led to the idea behind the Spanish-American war, and the capturing of other adjacent land surrounding the area. This speech was the beginning of Americans wanting to spread their way of life, which they were incredibly proud of, to other nations in which they would take over and establish their own governments which they thought was the ideal way to run a nation.