1. Industrialization and the “Gilded Age”

2. America Industrializes: Technological Innovations
The Bessemer Process
Made production of steel more economical (cheaper)
Steam Power – Usually came from burning coal
Textile Mills
Sewing machines

3. America Industrializes: Importance of Electricity
Used in communication along telegraph lines
Alexander Graham Bell
Telephone 1876
Take away #1: Both allowed people to communicate over long distances
1879 – Thomas Edison
Light bulb
Take-away #2: Made it possible to work longer hours

4. America Industrializes: The Growth of Railroads
Transcontinental Railroad
Completed in 1869
Trip across the U.S. was reduced from several months to a few weeks
Take away #3: Brought American closer together than ever before

5. America Industrializes: Development of National Market
Railroads, canals, telegraphs and telephones linked together different parts of the country
Shipping raw materials and finished goods became less expensive
Take away #4: New marketing and advertising gave manufacturers the ability to expand across the nation.

6. America Industrializes: The Impact of Population Growth
Between the population more than tripled
High birth rate
European immigrants
Take away #5: This created favorable conditions for business expansion.

7. America Industrializes: New Types of Business Organizations
Corporations
A company chartered by a state and recognized in law as a separate “person”
Stocks
Owners of stock share in corporation’s profits in form of dividends
Take away #6: Corporate form of business made it possible for many people to pool their money together and for corporations to raise large amounts of money to buy railroad lines, coal and iron mines, steel mill and large mass-production factories.