1. Industrialization Era

2. What do you know about the Industrial Revolution?

3. What is the American Dream?
Step 1: Two ways to present this:
Ask the question and allow students to answer.
Have students pair up. Give each student a minute to quietly think of the answer. Direct the first student they will have up to one minute to answer the question while the second student will just listen (no talking/asking questions, etc.) Then, give the second student a minute to answer the question while the other student remains quiet. Once done, allow a few students to answer the question.
Step 2:
Tell the students to listen to the video about “The American Dream”.
Video:

4. #86 1. The American Dream
The American Dream depends on the individual.
Historically, the American Dream is the opportunity for all people in America to have
a choice
basic freedoms
civil rights
protection
a chance toward success in whatever one chooses to do.
During the Industrial Era, the American Dream was alive and well.
Possible Class Questions:
What is your American Dream? (Allow students to write their answer on their notes.)
Is the American Dream still attainable today? Why or why not?
Transition to:
“The growth and eventual reform came from these American dreamers.”

5. 2.The Early Industrial Revolution
From colonial days to the early 1800s, America was an agricultural society. Raw resources such as cotton and wood was either processed into goods such as clothing or furniture by hand or sent to England.
England had the mechanized tools to process these goods fast; however, these processed goods were expensive.
Samuel Slater also called the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution” emigrated to America in 1789 with the secret plans of a power-generated cotton spinning machine.
Video: Provides an overview of the Industrial Revolution. Tell students this will briefly introduce the Unit.
Possible Questions After Video:
What did you learn from this video?
What questions do you have?
Talking Points:
Slater also called “Slater the Traitor”
It was illegal in England to give invention/technology plans or bring inventions to other countries.
Slater knew that he could become successful in America with the invention and further inventions regarding cotton mills because American grew more than 2/3 of the world’s cotton.
Andrew Jackson coined the name, “Father of the American Industrial Revolution”
Additional Information about Samuel Slater:
Video:

6. Morse revolutionized telecommunications.
Slater wasn’t the only early industrialist in America in the early 1800s.
Eli Whitney’s patented cotton gin invention in 1794 quickly changed the cotton industry. The cotton yields doubled every decade.
However, Whitney’s invention of interchangeable parts revolutionized American manufacturing.
Video:
Samuel Morse, invented the telegraph in 1837 and with his assistant’s help, the Morse Code in 1837.
Morse revolutionized telecommunications.
Video:
North Carolina native, Richard Gatling, patented in 1862 his Gatling gun. This crank- operated machine gun helped changed the course of fighting in the Civil War and future wars.
Eli Whitney Possible Questions:
What did you learn about Eli Whitney?
Why would he be called a “pioneer of American manufacturing”?
Telegraph Possible Questions:
How did the telegraph revolutionized telecommunications? (Students will complete this question on their notes.)
How did the telegraph help the North during the Civil War?
Gatling Gun Possible Questions:
How did the Gatling gun make a difference in the Civil War?
What further inventions were influenced by the Gatling gun?

7. Cotton Gin: Actual cotton gin; picture taken at the African American History and Culture Smithsonian in Washington, DC; 2016

8. 3. Early Railroad Systems in America
“The Golden Age of the Railroads” basically began in the 1880s and lasted to the early 1920s when cars and trucks use increased.
The first railroad system, the New Jersey Railroad Company was constructed in 1832 by Colonel John Stevens
From then on, small investors throughout the Northwest and some areas in the West and South built railroad systems. Railroads rapidly linked the free states, less so the South, and increased trade dramatically.
Several systems were not connected; making it difficult to transport goods cheaply. The mass production of steel and monopolies made the RRs profitable.
Possible Questions:
Why was the North successful in the Civil War in regards to railroads?
Why was the railroad systems not connected?
Why would the transportation of goods sometimes difficult?