Unit 1 The World in 1900 Urban Life

Essential Questions 1.What was urban life like in 1900 in America? 2.What is mass culture and what affect did it have on the lives of Americans?

Technology and City Life Skyscrapers - made possible by 2 factors: 1) invention of elevators 2) development of steel skeletons to bear the weight of tall buildings -E-Examples – Wainwright Building in St. Louis Flatiron Building in NYC - Allowed cities to expand upward as well as outward

Flatiron Building New York City, NY 285 ft Daniel Burnham Wainwright Building St. Louis, MO 10 stories Louis Sullivan

Transportation 1. Electric street cars Driven by electric motors powered by an overhead wire 2. Railroads “El trains” (elevated trains) and subways emerged to ease congestion on crowded city streets 70,000 commuted to Chicago from suburbs and 100,000 commuted to NYC every day 3. Steel cable suspension bridges Example: Brooklyn Bridge

Communication 1. Airplanes and mail delivery Orville and Wilbur Wright designed a biplane with a 40 foot wingspan, propeller, and 4 cylinder internal combustion engine 1 st successful flight on December 17, 1903 –  Distance: 120 feet  Flight time: 12 seconds Within 2 years, they increased their flight distance to 24 miles, which attracted the interest of US gov’t  Established 1 st transcontinental airmail service in 1920  Took 1 ½ days for mail to go from NYC to San Francisco by 1925

What impact did the advances made in transportation have on American culture? How did these things change American life? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

Printing 1.Web-Perfecting Press High speed electronic press that printed both sides of a continuous roll of paper and then cut and fold it Invented by William Bullock 2.Linotype Machine Streamlined the process of typesetting **Factors: II mproved public education raised literacy rate to 90% by 1890 CC heaper more durable paper made out of wood pulp

Photography 1.George Eastman Kodak camera – eliminated need for heavy glass plates (film) and immediate development Made photography possible for the masses Cost $25 and came with 100 picture roll of film For $10 the camera was sent to Kodak, the pictures were developed and sent back with the camera reloaded with film Helped create the field of photojournalism – events could be recorded as they happened

Which development is science/technology that we covered had the greatest impact on American culture? Explain why. __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________