TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRIAL GROWTH13.1

OBJECTIVES

Analyze the factors that led to the industrialization of the United States in the late 1800s.

Explain how new inventions and innovations changed Americans’ lives.

Describe the impact of industrialization in the late 1800s.

KEY PARTS

Encouraging Industrial Growth Innovation Drives the Nation The Impact of Industrialization

INTRODUCTION

Read section 13.1 Answer Questions 2 & 5

ENCOURAGING INDUSTRIAL GROWTH

The Civil War challenged industries to make products more quickly and efficiently than they had been made before.

Factories became innovative in designing and methods of producing things in large numbers.

The food industry transformed during this time as well, they developed new ways to process food and ship them over long distances.

CONT.

Coal was a major factor in industrial growth; the mines were along the eastern seaboard.

Coal provided fuel to power steam locomotives and factory machines.

Thick forests were cut down to aid in the construction of these new factories and homes.

In 1859 Edwin Drake drilled what became the world’s first oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvannia.

CONT..

Before the first drilling of oil, they used to boil down whale fat, devastating the whale population.

The workforce during this time began to grow dramatically, Europeans and Asians flooded into the United States.

From 1881 to 1905 the immigrants poured into the United States at roughly 1 million per year.

CONT…

Entrepreneurs during this time had opportunities to make a large profit if they were willing to take the risk of initial investment.

Congress enacted protective tariffs that would make imported goods cost more than those made locally, thus helping out the Entrepreneurs.

CONT…

The third thing that helped Entrepreneurs was the laissez-faire policies which allowed businesses to operate under minimal government regulation.

These policies, along with a strong legal system that enforced private property rights, provided the predictability and security that businesses and industries needed to encourage investment and growth.

INNOVATION DRIVES THE NATION

By the late 1800s the drive for innovation and efficiency seemed to touch every sphere of life in the United States.

Patents increased rapidly, which are grants by the federal government giving an inventor the exclusive right to develop, use, and sell an invention for a set period of time.

In 1876 electricity begins to transform life.

CONT.

Inventor Thomas Edison supported by wealth industrialists like J.P. Morgan, established a research laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Edison only had a few months of formal education but was a genius in creativity and would end up receiving over 1,000 patents for new inventions. (He set the basis of all electricity we use today)

CONT..

In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone thus revolutionizing communications.

By 1900 there were more than 100,000 miles of telegraph wire linked across the United States.

In 1896 Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless Telegraph. Ultimately leading to the development of the radio.

CONT…

In the 1850s a man named Henry Bessemer in England developed a process for purifying iron, resulting in a strong, but lightweight, steel.

By 1890 the United States was out producing British steel manufacturers.

This allowed the development of skyscrapers and suspensions bridges.

The first suspension bridge was the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City which was completed in 1883.

CONT….

Technology and Transportation began to allow consistent delivery of goods. However creating a system to keep the railroads on time was difficult due to the fact each city set their own clocks.

In 1884 delegates from 27 countries divided the globe into 24 time zones. One for each hour of the day.

CONT…..

The first factory production of automobiles with gas-powered engine began in 1902.

In 1903 the first successful airplane flight was done by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, two bicycle manufacturers. (this marked the birth of new industry)

Four main factors lead to the start of successful mass production; efficient factories, development of fast mass transportation, reliable communication, and the development of time zones.

THE IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

Industrialization touched every aspect of American life.

By the 1880s American exports of grain, steel, and textiles dominated international markets with as many miles of railroad track as the rest of the world combined.

The massive changes in industry altered how Americans lived and worked.

CONT.

In the early 1800s few worried about how industry might affect the environment.

By the late 1800s industrial waste had risen dramatically and mining had begun to destroy the land.

The increased agricultural production in the mid-west led to soil erosion and dust storms.

People began to raise concerns about protecting natural resources.

The government developed protected lands and the National Park Service created Yellowstone in 1872.