The Industrial Revolution & Changes in American Life

What is an industrial revolution? This was a movement that started in England in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s , and eventually spread to the rest of Europe and then to the United States. This revolution reached America in the early 1800’s and continued on through the 19th Century, and into the early 20th Century. This revolution changed America and world forever. Before the revolution, most people were farmers who grew just enough food to be able to feed themselves. This was extremely hard work that left little or no time for recreation or leisure time activities.

As more and more inventions were thought of, tasks that had been difficult, became easier and less time consuming. Over the 19th century, and into the early 20th century, more and more Americans moved off of farms and into the cities. At the beginning of the 19th century, 85-90% of Americans were farmers. Today less than 2% of Americans are farmers.

Why did the industrial revolution happen? There were seven main reasons: #1-Plentiful natural resources #2-Growing Population #3-Improved Transportation #4-High Immigration #5-New Inventions #6-Investment Capital #7-Government Assistance Now let’s learn about the people that made the Industrial Revolution happen…

Samuel Slater He was from England. He illegally brought British inventions over to the U.S., and started the first spinning mill in 1790. His ideas spread throughout New England because farming was tough in the rocky soil. Employment and money were more of a guarantee than farming.

Eli Whitney Came up with the idea of interchangeable parts for muskets that were used in the army. He also invented the Cotton Gin. The Cotton Gin cleaned cotton quicker and more efficiently than had ever been done before. This invention completely changed the South. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMZ g2kLLs- Q&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_m ode=1&safe=active

Robert Fulton Invented a steamboat that could move against a current or strong wind. This invention allowed boats to move upstream. This invention was mockingly called “Fulton’s Folly” because people did not believe it would work. His steamboat opened up trading routes on rivers that lead to the growth of the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis.

Samuel F.B. Morse He invented the telegram. The telegram sent messages by using long and short pulses of electricity along a wire. The made it so it only took seconds to communicate with someone in another city. He also came up with Morse code, which was the method used to understand telegraph messages.

John Deere He was a blacksmith. During his life most plows used for tilling were made for the light, sandy soil of New England. He invented a lightweight plow that had a steel cutting edge. Deere’s plows were able to break through the rich, heavy mid-western soil. This allowed the Great Plains to be opened up for farming.

Cyrus McCormick He invented a reaper which was used to cut ripe grain. This was valuable because it made it much easier to harvest grain, a crop that is used daily by most people. Later, threshing machines were used to separate wheat from the husks. This allowed farms to become larger and more productive, because harvesting was easier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jhuNDuLaps&s afety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=act ive

Henry Bessemer He developed a more efficient way to make steel called the Bessemer steel process. His process cut the costs of steel and increased the production of steel to 500 times what it had been. Many products began to be made out of steel instead of iron. This greatly increased the rapid growth of the Industrial Revolution.

Thomas Edison Found many different ways to use electricity. Opened a laboratory for research in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Received more than a 1,000 U.S. patents, more than any other individual inventor. He figured out how to make a safe, steady lightbulb.

Alexander Graham Bell He was a Scottish immigrant, who taught deaf students in Boston. At night, he and his assistant tried to invent a device that transmitted human voices using electricity. He demonstrated his new invention at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. This invention called the __________________, was declared as the greatest marvel achieved in electrical science.

Christopher Latham Sholes He worked for a newspaper as a printer. He invented the first practical typewriter in 1867 as a means to make printing more effective. The first typewriters were actually made beginning in the 1870’s. Invented the QWERTY configuration for the keys on a typewriter.

Elias Howe He invented the first practical sewing machine. He had a hard time getting people to invest in his idea. Isaac Singer later improved Howe’s design, and became more famous than Howe. Howe sued Singer over patent violations, and eventually Howe got the credit for making a sewing machine that made sense.

Henry Ford He invented the assembly line approach to manufacturing. He was in the automobile industry. Instead of having one person assemble something on their own, that one person just assembled part of the car as it moved down a conveyor. Cars would take weeks or months to assemble before Ford’s idea. With Ford’s assembly working full force, cars could be completed in a matter of minutes.

Leland Stanford He lead the Central Pacific Railroad in completing their part of the Transcontinental Railroad. The Central Pacific had a hard time because they had to blast a train track through the high, rugged, Sierra Nevada mountain range. His railroad made it across California, Nevada, and part of Utah before meeting up with the Union Pacific at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869. He hired Chinese workers to fill the labor shortage so he could complete his part of the railroad.

John D. Rockefeller He controlled the oil industry. He gained control over most of the oil industry be establishing trusts, where he would buy stock in other oil companies until he got enough to control his competitors. By 1880, he controlled 95% of the oil in the country. He set high prices, and became a billionaire.

Andrew Carnegie He controlled the steel industry in the United States. He beat his competition by making the best and cheapest product. He gained control of almost all of the steel industry by controlling all of the processes that were related to the manufacturing of steel. He became a billionaire because he had a monopoly over the steel industry.

J.P. Morgan He was a financier and a banker. He was arguably the most powerful man in the United States for a decade or so. Because he financed so many businesses, he forced businesses to follow his ideas, which made them more efficient. He was criticized for having a monopoly over the finance industry, and controlling the American economy.

Joseph Pulitzer He started a newspaper called the New York World. He had to produce revenue to pay for the printing of the newspaper, so advertising to the masses was introduced by him. He was also a member of the House of Representatives, and a leading member of the Democratic Party. The Pulitzer Prize is named after him.

William Randolph Hearst He was in competition with Pulitzer’s paper. His newspaper was called the New York Journal. This competition created something called yellow journalism. He started publishing magazines that had a huge influence on the country as well. He was also a member of the House of Representatives.

Jane Addams As more and more people moved into the cities, there was a huge problem with poverty, slums, and child labor. She established a settlement house which provided daycare, education, and health care to the poor who lived in Chicago. Her house was called Hull House and became a model for other settlement houses.

Booker T. Washington He was an early leader in trying to gain equality for African-Americans. He became a teacher after the Civil War, and founded the Tuskegee institute in Alabama. At the Tuskegee Institute he tried to help African-Americans learn trades and gain economic strength. He did not challenge segregation, but believed that blacks and whites could be separate but equal.

W.E.B. Du Bois He encouraged African-Americans to end segregation. He founded the N.A.A.C.P. which played a key role in ending segregation many years later. He wanted to train the “talented tenth” to be scholars. He believed that African-Americans, not whites, had to lead the fight to end segregation.

Ellis Island This is an island in the harbor of New York City. This was the first stop for many immigrants on their way into the U.S. from Europe. This served as a processing station for immigrants into the U.S. Immigrants were checked for good health, and asked about their background. Millions and millions passed through here. Ellis Island

Angel Island Was on the west coast of the United States in San Francisco Bay. This was where many Asian- Americans first entered the United States. They were often held there for weeks because of racism towards them. There were not as many who came through here when compared to Ellis Island.

Jim Crow Laws These laws were meant to enforce segregation. Segregation was the separation of black and white people in public areas. Separate schools, trolley seats, and restrooms were common in the south. The court case Plessy v. Ferguson said “separate but equal” was fair, and did not violate the 14th amendment.

The Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese were not well- received when they came in for the Gold Rush and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. When the economy went bad in the 1870’s there was resentment towards the Chinese because it was thought that they were driving wages down. When this act was passed, no Chinese immigration was allowed for ten years.

Ragtime This was a new type of music that emerged in the late 1800’s. It was a blend of European & African-American music. This genre of music eventually became popular across many cultures in the U.S. Scott Joplin’s tune “Maple Leaf Rag” became the most popular song of the era. Scott Joplin-a famous Ragtime composer

Vaudeville These were shows that were a mixture of song, dance, and comedy. These shows would feature a mixture of acts, leading up to what was called an “exciting finish”. This type of entertainment was less formal than a play, and it appealed to many people.