A Technological Revolution

 What do you need when you come up with a great idea and want to become an inventor or entrepreneur? 1. Money/Capital- But how do you get money quickly when your job doesn’t pay enough and the bank says no? 2. Investors- A person who gives money in exchange for Equity or other financial compensation 3. Equity- Percentage of a company

 How do you keep others from stealing your idea?  1. You file for a Patent (license that give an inventor that exclusive right to make, sell or use an item)

 Oil- Use to be made by boiling whale fat Edwin L. Drake- Was sent to try and drill for oil. Spent a year raising money and in 1859 he struck oil The Oil Business boomed and Mr. Drake and his investors became rich. Gasoline the by product of oil was thrown out.

 Thomas Edison- Helped make electricity widely available.  Worked for a stock company and earned a $40,000 bonus. Left the company and became a inventor/entrepreneur.  Built a power plant that could light a small town with electricity.  M

 Lewis Latimer and George Westinghouse- Used Alternating Currents. This was cheaper and could travel further. Used transformers.  Two companies emerged General Electric and Westinghouse Electric.

 Electricity helped change the world and other businesses as well.  Lead to rapid growth of machines  Lead to the ability to work longer days  Increased Productivity- Amount of goods and services that could be created in a period of time.  Lead to new inventions such as the refrigerator.

 The Telegraph- Samuel Morse perfected the telegraph and took out a patent on it. Created the Morse code. Different taps represent different letters.

 Alexander Graham Bell created the “talking telegraph” aka Telephone.  Bell and a group of partners created American Telephone and Telegraph Company also known as AT&T to create long distance phone lines.  First commercial telephone was set up in New Haven Connecticut in 1978.

 Transcontinental Railroad- railway extending from coast to coast.  Government had to give tax money to railroad companies to encourage them to expand west.  Most of the workers who laid down the track were immigrants  After 7 years of hard labor they met in Utah.  They hit the Golden Spike in to finish the job.

 Trains were often very dirty and uncomfortable but improved.  Trains began to have telegraphs inside them.  Lead to the need of Time Zones

The Railroads Provide A Faster and more practical means of transporting goods Lower cost of production Creation of national markets A model for big business Stimulation of other industries

 Henry Bessemer and William Kelly develop a new process to make steel called the Bessemer Process.  This allows for steel to be made easier and more cheaply.  With more steel buildings can now be built higher and bridges longer  This directly leads to the creation of the Brooklyn Bridge.  g

 Write a paragraph on which invention you think was most important for to America moving forward. Make sure that you explain why you picked what you picked.  Possible Ideas: Light bulb, railroad, steel, time zones, telephone, telegraph