SSUSH11: Describe the economic, social and geographic impact of the growth of big business and technological innovations after Reconstruction

SSUSH11: a Explain the impact of railroads on other industries, such as steel, and on the organization of big business

Railroads Made Western expansion possible because it allowed those settling West had access to markets and resources in the East They also made it easier for people to travel and settle out west

Steel and Big Business Because of a discovery by Henry Bessemer, called the Bessemer Process, steel was able to be produced much faster and much cheaper than ever before Since steel was now much more affordable, the creation of railroads was very easy and cheap

Steel and Big Business Another reason why the creation of railroads was crucial is because, before railroads were expanded, wagons could only carry a limited amount of things Large quantities of goods and very heavy goods had to be delivered by water, which is very difficult to have a water way accessed by everyone

Steel and Big Business Along with railroad expansion, steel becoming very affordable also allowed big cities like New York to build large high rise buildings to hold more people and industry, even though land was very scarce

SSUSH11b Describe the impact of the railroads in the development of the West; include the transcontinental railroad, and the use of Chinese labor

Transcontinental Railroad There were two separate railroad lines that met in PROMONTORY POINT, UTAH that formed the Transcontinental Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad began in Omaha, Nebraska and was worked on primarily by Irish immigrants

Transcontinental Railroad (cont) Union Pacific = Blue Central Pacific = Red Transcontinental Railroad (cont) The other railroad is the Central Pacific Railroad that began in Sacramento, California. This rail line was worked on mainly by Chinese immigrants Again, these two rail lines connected in PROMONTORY POINT, UTAH

Working on the Railroad Very dangerous jobs as it would take a very long time to lay substantial amounts of rail down Sometimes could cause injury or death using things like dynamite to blow through tough terrain like mountains

c. Identify John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company and the rise of trusts and monopolies

Historical Net Worth #1 Mansa Musa I – Net Worth $400 Billion #3 John D. Rockefeller – Net Worth $340 Billion #4 Andrew Carnegie – Net Worth $310 Billion #9 Henry Ford – Net Worth $199 Billion #10 Cornelius Vanderbilt – Net Worth $185 Billion #12 Bill Gates – Net Worth $136 Billion #24 Sam Walton – Net Worth $65 Billion #25 Warren Buffett – Net Worth $64 Billion

John D. Rockefeller Made it big in the oil business and his company, Standard Oil. Standard Oil was the nation’s first trust. Standard Oil ended up owning 90% of the U.S. refineries and pipelines. Trust - A business agreement under which a number of companies unite under one system. MAIN purpose of a trust is to destroy competition.

Monopoly - A market in which there is only ONE supplier of a product and no competition. What are you able to do if your company is a monopoly? Vertical Integration: One corporation owns not only the company that produces the finished product, but also the companies that provide the materials necessary for production.

d. Describe the inventions of Thomas Edison; include the electric light bulb, motion pictures, and the phonograph, and their impact on American life

Thomas Edison 1877 Edison invented the phonograph- recorded sound. Later, he invented the motion-picture camera- This would make movies possible.

Edison invented the light bulb, right? He actually did NOT invent the light bulb.. But rather improved upon a 50 year old idea. The invention of the light bulb helped transform the way people lived. What did the invention of the light bulb mean for workers? Edison also came up with the idea of central power companies that provided electrical power to large number of customers. Supplied NYC with electricity by 1882.