A TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

Life after the Civil War

Changes in Daily Life

Daily life in 1865 Sunlight dictated life Ice sawed from

frozen ponds Communication took

days or months Investing in

Technology 500,000 patents 30

yrs after Civil War By 1900, US

standard of living was highest in the world

New Forms of Energy

-Drake Strikes Oil

--Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company is first to successfully DRILL for oil in 1858.

--Investors strike it rich and the oil industry takes off

--Opens the door for the gasoline industry

Thomas Edison – Master of Invention

-Quit job to focus on invention in Menlo Park, New Jersey

-Began experimenting w/ electric lighting in 1879 and succeeded

-Not until the power station is invented does electricity reach the masses

-By 1898 over 2 million light bulbs were lit in the US

How would the invention of electricity impact business and daily life in America?

Electric Power is more efficient

Cost of production decreases significantlyThousands of jobs created

Immigrants and Women flock to the work place

Refrigeration

Workers can work past sun down

Advances in Communication The Telegraph

Samuel M. Morse perfects the telegraph

1870 over 10,000 miles of wire

The Telephone Alexander Graham

Bell invents “talking telegraph” in 1876

By 1900 over 1.5 million phones in use

The Transcontinental Railroad

-Railway connecting east and west coasts (Omaha to Sacramento)

-Due to lack of interest the government funded much of the project

-Built primarily by Chinese and Irish immigrants

-Explodes multiple industries….how?

The Steel Industry

The Iron Industry Used for railroads

and large buildings The Bessemer

Process New process for

making steel Henry Bessemer

Easier and cheaper Mass production

New age of building begins