The Industrial Revolution

in America

America before the Industrial Revolution…

• Most goods and products were made at home.

• Workers (artisans)produced goods by hand one at a time and often took long to make

• Most Americanslived in RURAL areas (in the country)

What is the Industrial Revolution?• During the late 1800’s there

was an increase in factories

mostly in the Northern states

• Work shifted from hand

made to machine made

• New technology let workers

make more in less time

• New inventions in

agriculture, communication,

transportation, and factory

machines

Effects of the Industrial Revolution• More Americans moved

from RURAL (country) areas

to URBAN areas (cities) for

jobs in factories

– Population in cities

BOOMED!

• Longer work days = 12 hr

days; 6 days a week; year

round

• Boys and girls as young as 7

worked in factories → small

to fit in small places and

paid less

• Increase in immigrants to

the U.S.

Important Inventors and Inventions:

Robert Fulton and the Steam Boat

– Steam power was

more reliable than

water power

– Now people and

goods can travel faster

and cheaper and for

pleasure as well

– Factories also began

using the steam engine

to power factories =

increase in production

Important Inventors and Inventions:

Eli Whitney

• Interchangeable parts:

machines that would

produce exact matching

parts…sped up production

• Cotton Gin: made cotton

cleaning process faster

(good). This led to an

increase in slavery (bad)

Important Inventors and Inventions:

Samuel Morse and the Telegraph and

Morse Code

– Machine that sent long and short pulses of

electricity along a wire

– Morse code was used to identify letters

Summary Response

Explain both the positive and negative effects the Industrial Revolution had on Americans and American society.