Expansion of Industry

Chapter 14 section 1

Main Idea and Key Terms

• At the end of the 19th century, natural resources, creative ideas, and growing markets fueled an industrial boom

• Edwin Drake• Bessemer Process• Thomas Alva Edison• Christopher Sholes• Alexander Graham Bell

Natural Resources Fuel Industrialization

• After the Civil War, the U.S. is still very much an agricultural nation

• By the 1920’s (60 years later), it had become the leading industrial power in the world

• Factors leading to this included – a growing urban population

• Cheap labor• New markets

– a wealth of natural resources– Government support for business

Black Gold

• In the 1840’s, Americans began using kerosene to light lamps

• In 1859 Edwin L. Drake successfully drills for oil with a steam engine

• This oil boom spread to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas

• Cleveland and Pittsburgh become refinery towns

Bessemer

• Henry Bessemer (GB) and William Kelly (US) develop the Bessemer process– Removes impurities such as carbon from

molten iron to make steel– Cheap and efficient method

• Steel– Railroads, barbwire, farm equipment,

construction, the Brooklyn Bridge

Inventions

• Refer to worksheet 1 for this slide

Section 2The Age of Railroads

• Main Idea and key Terms – Page 442• The growth and consolidation of railroads

benefited the nation but also led to corruption and required government regulation

• Transcontinental railroad• George M. Pullman• Credit Mobilier• Munn v. Illinois• Interstate Commerce Act

Railroads Span Time and Space

• Rails made local transit reliable and westward expansion possible

• The government made huge land grants and loans to RR’s to move west

• On May 10th, 1869, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads met at Promontory Point to complete the county’s first transcontinental railroad

A Dose of Reality

• All the dreams that came with moving west came on the backs of the railroad employees

• Railroads employed immigrants and Civil War vets to lay track

• In 1888, the first year of statistics for railroads, reported 2,000 dead and 20,000 injured

• Despite the conditions, the trains united the country

• Railroad time is soon adopted

Opportunity

• The growth of the railroads influenced the industries and businesses to grow quickly

• Industries Included:– Iron– Coal– Steel– Lumber– Glass

• Rails opened new markets, and business boomed!

Pullman

• George Pullman invents sleeper cars for trains• He also created a town to house the employees• Maintained tight control• Cut pay, but not rent• A violent strike was the result• He had the desire to control profit, which often

times leads to corruption• Read about Credit Mobilier, The Grange, and

the Interstate Commerce Act in your text, pages 444-446