The 2nd Industrial Revolution

By Coach Nelms

• The First I.R. saw the rise of

• The Second I.R. gave rise to steel chemicals

electricity and which led to a whole bunch of

other inventions like:

Improvements in Human Life

Europeans could now afford to buy manufactured consumer products because of increased wages & the decreased price in goods

Department stores emerge selling all kinds of goods like clocks, bicycles, electric lights, typewriters, etc…

Improvements in Human Life

Living conditions in the cities improvedStart of building regulations like

requiring running water and internal drainage systems

Gas heaters in the 1860s allowed people to take hot baths

Change in Family LifeBirthrate began to decline as babies started

to live longer and the advances in birth control

Family valuesIdeals of togetherness – Christmas

traditions and family picnicsMarriage remained the only honorable

and available career for most women (lower class women chose to work to support family) Lower class women entered the workforce as

clerks, typewriters, secretaries, and telephone operators

1890-1914 – family patterns begin to change. Husbands start making more money which allows women to become stay at home moms

The Push for Equality

Feminism - movement for women's rights and woman’s suffrage (the right to vote) Inspired by the Enlightenment ideas of natural rights

1830s – argued for right to divorce and own property (not successful)

1870 – English women receive right to vote

*It would take the dramatic upheaval of World War I to make male-dominated governments give in to this basic issue of the rights for women

1920 – American women receive right to vote with the 19th Amendment to US Constitution

The Push for Equality (continued)

Universal Education: School used to be for the wealthy elite class, now governments began to finance (pay for) education => required every boy and girl ages 6-12 to attend school. Saw an increase in literacy rates (# of people who could read/write)

Why would it benefit the country to require their children to receive an education?

Turn to your neighbor and discuss

Leisure Time

This is the first time in history where people actually have “leisure time.”

With so much time at nights and on the weekends, the world starts to see:Amusement parks

Team sports and professional sports leagues (like baseball, soccer, bowling, and croquet) *Football came in the 1860s