IndustrializationThe Rise of Industry

Learning Targets:

Know who drilled the first oil well.

Discuss the concept of laissez-faire (leh-say-FAR).

Understand why Northern leaders supported high tariffs.

Know what Alexander Graham Bell invented.

Know where Thomas Alva Edison’s laboratory was located.

Know the causes that contributed to the tripling of the American population between 1860 and 1910, and how did this population growth aid industrialization.

A Growing Population

Two main causes created a population boom between 1860 and 1910: Large families

A flood of immigrants:

Social and economic conditions in China and Eastern Europe convinced many people of those countries to move to the US

The population added to the work force and created a greater need for goods, both of which favored the increase in industrialization: Greater workforce = helped industry increase production

Demand for more goods = factories had a reason to increase production

The United States Industrializes

-Natural Resources

An abundance of raw materials was one reason

for the nation’s industrial success.

Many of the nation’s resources were located in the mountains of the American West.

Even before the invention of the automobile, petroleum was in high demand because it could be turned into kerosene.

Edwin Drake drilled the first oil.

Free Enterprise

Laissez-faire, literally means “let do,” a French phrase meaning “let people do as they choose.” Supporters of laissez-faire believe the government should not interfere in the economy other than to protect private property rights and maintain peace.

Laissez-faire relies on supply and demand.

In the United States, the profit motive attracted people of high ability and ambition into business.

Government’s Role in Industrialism

The United States practiced laissez-faire economics in the late 1800’s.

Northern leaders wanted high tariffs to protect American industry from foreign competition.

The Civil War ended the debate.

The United States industrialized so rapidly in the 1800s because it was one of the largest free trade areas in the world.

New Inventions

-Bell and the Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell, suggested the idea of a telephone to his assistant.

“Come here, Watson, I want you.”

New Inventions

-Edison and Electricity

Inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, his laboratory

at Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Edison first achieved international fame in 1877 with the invention of the phonograph.

In 1882 the Edison Electric Illuminating Company launched a new industry.

Review Questions:

Who drilled the first oil well?

How does the concept of laissez-faire (leh-say-FAR) work?

Why did Northern leaders supported high tariffs?

What did Alexander Graham Bell invent?

Where was Thomas Alva Edison’s laboratory located?

Essay Question and Answer:

What causes contributed to the tripling of the American population between 1860 and 1910, and how did this population growth aid industrialization? The population growth stemmed from two causes—large

families and a flood of immigrants. American industry began to grow at a time when social and economic conditions in China and Eastern Europe convinced many people to leave their nations and move to the United States in search of a better life. The population growth added to the growing industrial workforce, helping factories increase their production. At the same time, an increasing population created greater demand for the consumer goods that the factories produced.