1. The Expansion of American Industry

2. What forced the U.S’s transformation?
3 major factors push the U.S. from an agricultural society to an industrial nation
Wealth of natural resources
Explosion of inventions
Growing urban population that provided new markets

3. How did natural resources impact the U.S.?
Black Gold
Abraham Gesner creates kerosene which is distilled from crude oil
Edwin Drake creates the steam engine for oil drilling
Gasoline is extracted from petroleum and used for the newly created automobile
Bessemer Steel
Coal and iron are abundant enough to produce steel cheaply
Air injected into molten iron created stronger steel

4. How did inventions impact the U.S.?
The Power of Electricity
1876 = Thomas Alva Edison establishes the Menlo Park research laboratory
The incandescent light bulb is created and mass produced
Cities, shops, and homes receive electricity
Electric streetcars are invented
Inspired Inventions
1867 = Christopher Sholes invents the typewriter
1876 = Alexander Graham Bell (and Thomas Watson) invent the telephone
Seen as inventions to assist women in joining the workforce
New Products/Lifestyles
New inventions lead to longer hours for laborers
Consumerism and advertising becoming important
Recreational inventions increase
Camera, bicycle, and phonograph

5. How did growing populations impact the U.S.?
City populations rapidly expand
Chicago, New York, and Boston all reach a million inhabitants
Workforces double, triple, and even quintuple in major urban centers…including women workers
1870 = 5% of the workforce is female
1920 = 40% of the workforce is female