A Technological Revolution Chapter 6, Section 1

Daily Life in 1865 indoor lighting did not exist people worked around sunlight There was no refrigeration; people chipped ice out of ponds in the winter and put in sawdust in icehouses to save for summer It took mail 10 days to get from New York to Michigan and several months to get from New York to the west

Investments in Technology By 1900 life had changed drastically millions was being spent on new inventions American’s standard of living was among the highest in the world Productivity was growing constantly (how does productivity drive growth?)

Industrial Growth

Oil oil had previously been obtained by melting it from fat from a whale or by melting it from fat from a whale or by digging a hole and waiting for oil to digging a hole and waiting for oil to seep into it seep into it drilling was a new method but people were skeptical Edwin Drake was sent to Pennsylvania in 1858 to drill Drake struck oil in 1859 at 69.5 feet and many new uses were discovered for the inexpensive energy source

Thomas A. Edison in Menlo Park, New York, Edison developed a working light bulb in 1880 In 1882, to attract investors, Edison built a power plant and lit dozens of buildings in New York City By 1890, electricity was spreading across the country “We will make electricity so cheap only the rich will burn candles.”

Electricity Improved Lewis Latimer (the son of an escaped slave) improved filament and worked for Edison George Westinghouse used alternating current and transformers to send electric current further The companies General Electric and Westinghouse Electric were created and by 1898, 3,000 power stations and were lighting 2 million light bulbs across the nation

Impact on Life Electric power was cheaper than other power sources the invention of the electric sewing machine in 1889 led to the rapid growth of the ready-made clothing industry thousands of jobs were created the refrigerator changed the lives of americans as well rural people still did not have access to electricity

The Telegraph Samuel F. B. Morse took out a patent on telegraphy He did not invent it, but he did perfect it he developed Morse Code and sent the first successful message in 1844 after the Civil War, several companies joined together to form Western Union Telegraphy Company by 1900, the company owned 900,000 miles of wire and sent 63,000,000 messages a year

The Transcontinental Railroad extended from coast to coast The Federal Government funded the completion because they thought the infrastructure would further the nation economically Most of the workers were immigrants and many of them Chinese it took seven years to blast through all the mountains

Railroad Construction

Railroads and Time Zones most towns set their clocks individually by solar time; the train schedules were always off in 1883, the railroads adopted a national system of time zones eventually, everyone adopted this system

Railroads and Industry faster transportation of goods lower cost of production due to cheaper transport of inputs national markets to sell to a model for big business stimulated other industries (iron rails were replaced with steel rails; stimulated the steel industry)

The Bessemer Process The Bessemer Process made it much cheaper to remove impurities from steel The Bessemer Process made it much cheaper to remove impurities from steel Steel is lighter, stronger and more flexible than iron The process made mass production of steel available and buildings were made with it (the Brooklyn Bridge) Steel > Iron