Industrialization

America 1865 – 1905

The Second Industrial Revolution

• Cause: The abundance of STEEL

Bessemer Steel Process

• Henry Bessemer (Great Britain)

• Steel could be produced very quickly

• Iron ore is used for steel production

Steel Producing Centersin U.S.

• Gary, Indiana

• Cleveland, Ohio

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Iron Ore was mined in Mid west

• Coal: West Virginia and Pennsylvania-needed for fuel

Impact of Steel Production

• RR’s began using steel instead of iron for its rails because they were longer lasting and stronger

• Steel became a major component in bridge building and building construction.

• Many storied buildings were now possible since steel could make the skeletal structure

• Wire and nails were now made of steel

Oil

• Became a major component in industrial development

• Kerosene for light

• Refineries began making waxes and lubricating oils

Elijah Mc Coy

• Invented the lubricating cup which enabled machinery to run more efficiently and smoothly

The Oil and Steel Industries

Railroads

• With the advent of cheap steel, railroad companies were able to lay thousands of miles of new and improved track

• Transcontinental railroad was complete by 1869 (East and West of US connected)

• George Westinghouse: compressed air brake – rail safety

• Provided jobs and stimulated growth of other industries

Horseless Carriage

• 1876 first internal combustion engine was develop

• 1893 – first motor car

• 1900 – wealthy Americans owned cars and the automobile became a commercial industry

Airplanes

• The development of the internal combustion engine enabled the Wright brothers to construct a working airplane

• Numerous patents and inventions related to flight were designed by engineers

Communications

Telegraph

• Telegraph is a means oc communication over wires with electricity

• Inventor: Samuel Morse

• 1866 – Western Union had over 2,000 offices

Telephone

• Alexander Graham Bell invented the talking telegraph

• Late 1880’s - over 1 million telephones

• ATT became one of the major and longest lasting monopolies in the United States

Typewriter

• Invented by Charles Sholes 1867

• Revolutionized communications by allowing legible documents to be easily produced

• Business developed" typing pools”, clerical workers whose job it was to type

• Gave working class women a skilled profession

Thomas Edison

• Pioneer in communications technology

• Electronic vote recorder

• Telegraphic stock ticker

• Phonograph

• Motion picture cameras

• Light bulb

• First electric power plant in NYC

• The end