The Expansion of Industry Chapter 6, Section 1

Black Gold It all started around 1900 Pattillo Higgins speculated that oil was under Texas With help from investor Anthony F Lucas they hit it big in 1901

60 Years After the Civil War America was an agricultural based economy By 1920 the U.S was the leading industrial power Why? Wealth of natural resources Government supported business Growing urban population

Black Gold Oil There was little to no uses for oil before the 1840s In 1859 Edwin L. Drake made the first successful drill that could remove oil from the ground This created a boom that spread through KY, OH, IL, IN, and TX Typically it was refined into kerosene and the byproduct was discarded, what was the byproduct?

Steel Process Coal and iron was everywhere in the U.S. Iron in it’s natural form is not a good product to build with However, if you remove the carbon from iron you produce steel The Bessemer Process, named after it’s inventor Henry Bessemer, inject air to molten (liquid) iron to remove impurities (like carbon) By 1880 this method was used to produce over 90% of the nation’s steel

Steel Railroads consumed the most steel Other uses: Barbed wire – Joseph Glidden Farming equipment - McCormick and Deere Structures were also made of steel The Brooklyn Bridge, 1883 it was the second highest structure in the world and became a wonder William Jenney created the first skyscraper in Chicago America was not only growing out but up as well

The Power of Electricity 1876, Thomas Edison created the first research laboratory He perfected the incandescent light bulb 1880 He then created the electrical grid Electricity ran business from machines to providing light Soon it would make it’s way into homes Now business could locate themselves where ever. WHY?

Invention Changes Lifestyle Christopher Sholes – created the typewriter in 1867 Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson – create the telephone These two innovations opened the world of work to woman 1870 – 5% of office workers were female 1910 – 40% of office workers were female

Catch 22 Pros: Cons: Standards of living increased More work was done in less time Industry moved all over the country Woman enter the workforce Time spent at work was reduced Cons: Industrial centers (cities) became crowded Machines took some jobs Pollution Self-worth of the worker (declined)