Section 1 The Age of Invention

Industrial Innovations a surge of industrial growth Coal and steam made possible the first Industrial Revolution in America In the late 1800s steel helped spur a second period of industrialization

Steel 1850s Henry Bessemer and William Kelly developed a method of steelmaking that burned off the impurities in molten iron with a blast of hot air Bessemer Process-could produce more steel in one day than the older techniques could in one week Bessemer Process Uses-railroad, bridges, buildings, new multistory buildings, nails and wire

Oil 1850s chemists and geologists made huge improvements to refine crude oil Uses: kerosene lamps and fuel

Oil boom in Western, PA Edwin L. Drake used a steam engine to drill for oil near Titusville, PA Drake’s Folly 20 barrels a day This encouraged prospectors to search for “black gold” 1880s-oil wells dotted Ohio, PA and WV 1880s-25 million barrels of oil 1901-engineer Anthony Lucas struck oil in Texas and began the TX oil boom (1904 it was drained)

Other uses for oil Kerosene remained a primary product of oil refining until 1880 Other petroleum products that increased the industrial uses of oil were discovered Waxes and lubricating oil for use in new industrial machines Elijah McCoy, a former slave, invented a lubricating cup that fed oil to parts of a machine while it was running McCoy received a patent McCoy's patentMcCoy's patent

Transportation-Railroad Steel and oil innovations led to a boom in transportation Cheaper steel encouraged RR companies to lay more track More efficient railroad system Transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads were joined

Railroad advancements George Westinghouse- compressed air-brake Increased RR safety Granville T. Woods-improved the air-brake Created a communications system Track design-double sets of tracks Standard gauge, or width between the rails, made rail transportation faster and cheaper

Effects of the railroad Increased western settlements Travel was affordable and easy Stimulated urban growth New towns Existing towns grew into cities Provided many jobs Spurred growth of older industries Refrigerated freight cars Shaped American popular culture and folk music

Horseless carriage A self-propelled vehicle and forerunner to the automobile (1770) Nikolaus A. Otto invented the first internal combustion engine powered by gasoline in s more Americans began using a horseless carriage (usually only the wealthy)

Airplanes Internal combustion engine led to advances in flight Orville and Wilbur Wright of Dayton, OH developed one of the first working airplanes

Communications Telegraph-Samuel F. B. Morse Telephone-Alexander Graham Bell Typewriter-Christopher Sholes Thomas Edison-automatic typewriter Bell's telephone