What is the most important? Why?

Typewriter

Phonograph

Telegraph

Telephone

MR. MIZAKMODERN AMERICAN HISTORY

FALL 2009

Introduction and The Technological Revolution

What was going on in the United States in 1865-1890?

The Civil War has ended, the Union has been preserved

Reconstruction is in progress and the nation is starting to heal from the devastation caused by the Civil War.

With the advances in technology, America was ready for her next stage of growth

Life Pre-1870

Life in 1865 was not fun No indoor electric lighting existed

People would light candles or oil lamps Think about life without refrigeration

Ice was available, but it was incredibly expensive Communication was incredible slow

Ten days for a letter to get to the Midwest Three weeks to get to the West A month to get to Europe

Advances in Technology

Technology started to improve at a very fast rate Example: Between 1790-1860 just 36,000 patents

were issued. Between 1860-1890, 500,000 patents were issued for

inventions like the typewriter, telephone, and phonograph

U. S. Patents GrantedU. S. Patents Granted

1790s 276 patents issued. 1790s 276 patents issued.

1990s 1,119,220 patents issued. 1990s 1,119,220 patents issued.

Electricity is Improved

Thomas Edison was able to create a workable light bulb, that made the idea of household electricity practical

How do you think electricity changed business?

The Light BulbThe Light Bulb

The Telegraph

Samuel F. B. Morse patented his telegraph and sent his first message in 1844.

This started a communications revolution => messages could not be sent long distances in the matter of seconds

The Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell invented the “talking telegraph” or telephone on March 7, 1876

The first commercial telephone exchange began serving 21 people in New Haven, Connecticut in 1878.

By 1900, 1.5 million telephones were in use

The Transcontinental Railroad

The project started in 1862.

Private investors did not see the need to invest in railroads that extended past current settlements. The federal

government picked up the tab

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Questions

Why did all of these new inventions happen in such a short period of time?

What impact do you think these technological changes had on the United States?