Chapter 19-2

Inventions

Communication Changes• Inventions in communication improved and transformed American

life. They helped unify different regions and encouraged economic growth.

• Samuel Morse introduced the telegraph in 1844. By 1860 the Western Union Telegraph Company controlled the thousands of miles of lines. Telegrams offered instant communication. They were used by: shopkeepers to place orders, reporters to send stories to their newspapers and people to send personal messages.

• Cyrus Field in 1866 laid a telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean , linking the United States and Europe with his new transatlantic telegraph.

• Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. It changed communication more than the telegraph did. By the 1890’s he sold hundreds of thousands of telephones first to businesses and then to homes.

The Genius of Invention• Between 1860 and 1890, the United States government granted more than

400,000 patents for new inventions. Among these were thee typewriter in 1868, the adding machine in 1888, and the vacuum cleaner in 1899.

• Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, the Motion Picture projector, the telephone transmitter, the storage battery, and the most important invention, the electric light bulb in 1879. he designed power plants that could produce electric power and distribute it to light bulbs. He built the first central electric power plant in 1882 in new York City that lit 85 buildings.

• In 1885 George Westinghouse built transformers that could send electric power more cheaply over longer distances. Electricity was used to power factories, trolleys, streetlights, and lamps all over America.

• Inventions by African Americans helped improve industry. Some of these inventions are: Lewis Howard Latimer developed an improved filament for the light bulb and joined Edison’s company, Granville Woods patented dozens of inventions such as the electric incubator, electromagnetic brake for the railroad, and an automatic circuit breaker. Elijah McCoy invented a mechanism for oiling machinery and Jan E. Matzeliger developed a shoe-making machine that revolutionized the shoe industry in America and overseas.

A Changing Society• In 1903 Henry Ford established an auto-making company and

began designing cars. He had experimented with an automobile engine powered by gasoline. He and his general superintendent, Charles Sorenson, worked on an idea for a new type of car, and in 1908 introduced the Model T.

• The Model T was a car that anyone could afford, that could be driven anywhere, and that was easily maintained. It became very popular. In the next 18 years, 15 million were sold.

• Ford also pioneered the assembly line as a less expensive way to manufacture cars. The assembly line revolutionized industry because the concept was used in manufacturing other goods, too. It enabled manufacturers to mass- produce large quantities of good more quickly.

Discussion Questions• How did the Model T revolutionize transportation in the early

1900’s?• The Model T offered a new way for people to get from place to

place. It was practical, affordable and sturdy.• What do you think spurred people on to create new inventions?• America was transforming into an industrial nation. Opportunity

existed in America. These inventors probably liked to tinker and create ways to improve things or make things work more efficiently.

• How did the telegraph and telephone change America?• They provided faster ways of communicating. People in different

regions could communicate almost instantly. This improved communication promoted industrial and economic growth. Eventually they became commonplace in people’s everyday lives.