The Opening of the Brooklyn Bridge on May 24, 1883 displayed American ingenuity, ambition, and industrial might to the world Section 1: A Technological Revolution Pages

Main Ideas (make sure you know these!) After the Civil War ( ) the U.S. developed into one of the worlds industrial powers Entrepreneurs funded inventors & scientists leading to an explosion of new products & improvements to many existing ones This 2 nd Industrial Revolution continued to impact & change peoples daily lives at work and home The social problems that accompanied early industrialization & urbanization still existed

Investing in Technology Business leaders in Europe & America began to invest in new inventions, as well as fund scientific research to find the next big thing – How much innovation was going on?? From there were 36,000 patents issued From there were more than 500,000 This investment led to a dramatic rise in Americas industrial productivity – The amount of goods and services created in a country in a given period of time

Growth of the Oil Industry I Old Methods of Obtaining Oil: – Melting whale fat – Digging a huge pit and hoping it seeped through to the surface – Time consuming & expensive Edwin Drakes new idea: – DRILL! – Drake Oil Well Museum, Titusville, Pennsylvania

Growth of the Oil Industry II Drake first struck oil by drilling in 1859 Drilling for oil became a major industry Crude oil was refined to produce kerosene for heating fuel & lighting fuel – A byproduct of this process is ethanol (gasoline), which was thrown away at first but became a separate industry in the early 1900s with the invention of the automobile Oil refineries became a huge part of the industry

Electricity!! Thomas Edison – direct current George Westinghouse – alternating current

Thomas Alva Edison Famous lab located in Menlo Park, NJ 1880 – invented the light bulb! 1882 – opened 1 st central power station that lit dozens of buildings in NYC By 1890 power stations were nationwide – Supplying electric power to new products like: lamps Fans Other new inventions (that means new industries!)

George Westinghouse Used a transformer to boost power levels as the electricity left the station so it could be sent long distances A second transformer at the receiving station reduced the power level so it could be used Made home use of electricity for the masses practical!

Direct vs. Alternating Current Direct – Edison – Expensive – Could only travel 1-2 miles Alternating – Westinghouse – Cheaper to generate than direct current – Could travel very long distances

Impact of Electricity Improved the productivity of business Created new jobs Made refrigeration possible While most urban Americans benefited from electricity, many rural Americans went without the benefits of electricity until well into the 1900s

The 1 st Communication Revolution 1 st message sent by telegraph in 1844 – What hath God wrought? (bonus ?!!) Technology perfected by Samuel Morse, who developed a system of dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet – MORSE CODE

The Telephone (what would you do without your phone??) Invented by Alexander Graham Bell, : American Telephone & Telegraph Co. established to build long distance phone lines By 1900 there were 1 million phones in use in the United States

A National Market is Created Transcontinental Railroad: trans = across; continental = continent (North America, in this case) New rails were to be laid between the existing track in the East and West Coast Federal Govt gave huge loans & grants to two private companies to strengthen the nations infrastructure – Union Pacific: build from Omaha, Nebraska to the West – Central Pacific:from Sacramento, California to the East

Transcontinental Railroad Most workers were immigrants – Union Pacific: Irish & Euros – Central Pacific: Chinese Fiercely proud of the work they did – Moved to America for economic opportunity – Happy to have a job – Proud to contribute to the growth & strength of their new country

Railroad Improvements Steel rails replace iron rails Track gauges became standardized Signals became standardized Westinghouse – developed an improved air braking system Train-specific telegraph patented for communication between trains (early CB radio)

How did the Railroads aid industry? Faster & more practical way to transport goods Lower production costs Creation of a national market A model for other big business Stimulates the growth of other industries Hmmm….this seems important, and there are 5 bullet points… I wonder if this will be an extended response question??

A New Age of Building Bessemer Process: a cheaper, easier way to remove the impurities from steel during the steel making process Advantages of Steel vs. Iron – Lighter – Stronger – Flexible – Could build taller, stronger, more architecturally innovative buildings

The Steel Industry The geography of Pennsylvania soon made it the steel capital of the world Pittsburgh sits at the junction of three rivers, thus a crucial spot for shipping steel… hence the football team PITTSBURGH STEELERS! The Bessemer Process made the mass production of steel possible – Production of any good in a great amount – By the early 1900s the US accounted for more than 80% of the worlds steel production