2.  Was the rise of industry good for the United States?

3.  Thomas Edison was arguably America’s most famous inventor.  He invented the light bulb, and a complete electric lighting system to run electricity into people’s homes.  He also invented the phonograph, which allowed for music.

8.  News and information travelled much more rapidly now. Telephone and telegraph lines were being installed at a rapid pace.  It used to take weeks or even months for news to spread across the country.  Now news spread instantly!

10.  Capitalism - an economic system in which factories, equipment, and other means of production are privately owned rather than controlled by the government.  It is the heart of our economy.

11.  Samuel Morse invented the first practical telegraph in 1837.  To send messages by electrical signal, he used a dot-and-dash system called Morse code.  By 1900, nearly a million miles of telegraph wires were installed!

12.  Invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.  The first telephone message was Bell calling out to his lab assistant.  By 1893, over 250,000 phones were in use.  By 1920 that number had grown to 13 million.

13.  The automobile came around the early 1900s from Europe.  Henry Ford invented the Model T.  This car would revolutionize the industry.

14.  In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful powered plane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  That flight led airplane designers to improve upon airplane design.

15.  Out of the inventions mentioned, which had the greatest impact on people, and why?  Over time, which invention do you think has become the most useful, and why?  Work in pairs to come up with your answers.

16.  Iron is a metal used to make steel, but it is brittle and fairly soft in the metal family.  Steel = purified iron mixed with carbon  Steel is lighter, stronger, and harder than iron.  Before the 1850s, it was very expensive to make steel.

17.  The Bessemer process involved blowing air through molten iron.  This process removed the impurities in the iron.  The Bessemer process made making steel a cheaper product.

18.  In order for a business to be successful, it needs three basic factors of production:  Land  Labor  Capital  Capital - any asset that can be used to produce an income.

19.  Small business owners did not have all the capital they needed to expand.  Therefore, they formed corporations.  Corporation - a company recognized by law that exists independently from its owners.  Corporations can: own property, borrow money, sue, or be sued.

20.  People that invest in corporations buy stock.  This makes them part owners of the company.  This is why Bill Gates is so wealthy. He owns a lot of Microsoft stock.

21.  In groups, list five corporations that you would like to own stock in.  Why would you want to own stock in these companies?

22.  Business owners started to try to create monopolies during the 1860s.  Monopoly - a company that completely dominates a particular industry.  Standard Oil was one such company.  In 1890, Standard Oil controlled 90% of the nation’s oil production!

23.  Companies that are monopolies can raise their prices to whatever they want and create great profits.

24.  There are 2 ways that corporations seek to become more powerful:  Horizontal integration: joining together as many companies from the same industry as possible.

25.  Vertical integration: Controlling each step in the production and distribution of a product.  The company would control all the materials, manufacturing, shipping, and packaging of a product.

26.  Answer the following question in your notes:  What is the difference between horizontal integration and vertical integration?

27.  Small business owners were concerned that they couldn’t compete with monopolies and trusts.  Trust - a group of companies that worked together.

28.  In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlawed monopolies, trusts, and any form of business that restricted trade.  Problem: Congress left the law open to interpretation.

29.  This meant that people who preferred laissez- faire type of business practices would get it.  Laissez-faire - “hands off”. This let businesses run themselves.  Do you think that this is a good idea?