American leads the second Industrial Revolution
American leads the second Industrial Revolution
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American leads the second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution
Life in the West
when the US added lands from Mexico it also added Mexican residents to the US
after annexation many more Mexicans moved across the border (which was unregulated until WWI)
many Mexicans lost their land some due to fraud and coercion
Chinese immigrated in large numbers to the US many as "coolies" (indentured servants/ slaves)
Many Americans began to resent the Chinese - anti-Chinese agitation and violence spread combining economic and racist resentments
Chinese workers formed 90% of the labor force for construction of the Central Pacific
The scale of westward migration after the civil war dwarfed everything that preceded it
Completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 encouraged settlement
Homestead Act of 1862 also encouraged settlement - settlers could buy plots of 160 acres for a small fee if they occupied the land for 5 years and improved it
Followed by the Timber Cultural Act (1873) and Desert Land Act (1877) - fraud ran rampant in the administration of these acts
Labor shortages in the West led to higher wages (mostly in temporary ventures) which was a "pull factor" for migration. Working conditions and job security were poor.
The Western Economy
Three major industries of the west: mining, ranching, and commercial farming
Life span of the mining boom was relatively brief (1860-1890)
While gold and silver got lots of attention it was the less glamorous natural resources that proved more important to the development of the West (cooper, lead, tin, quartz, and zinc)
Men greatly outnumbered women in mining towns
Railroads gave birth to the range cattle-industry and also led to its downfall
Mexican ranchers had developed the techniques and equipment that the cattlemen and cowboys of the Great Plains later employed
Frenzied and speculative expansion of cattle ranching combined with shrinking ranges meant there wasn't enough grass to support the herds
The long drives disappeared but cattle ranches remained
Rise of farming on the Plains due to railroads and climate
Subsidiary lines to the transcontinental railroad made transportation easier
Many railroads encouraged settlement (to provide themselves with customers and increase the value of their land holdings)
1870s saw above average rainfall which made farming easier on the Plains
two problems faced by plains farmers : water (even w/ above average rain) and fencing
barbed wire fence developed to solve the fencing problem and created a revolution in fencing practices
arid years of 1880s + farmer debt led to reverse migration
commercial farmers were not self-sufficient but grew specialized crops that they sold to national or international markets
C. farmers were dependent on bankers, interest rates, railroads and freight rates, national and European markets
1880s worldwide overproduction led to a drop in prices for most agricultural goods
The East
Movement to the Cities
Availability of jobs
Opportunity for successful business opportunities
Fleeing bad situations
Social Class In the Cities
The Poor
new immigrants were coming to US to escape poverty and oppression at home and/or by expectations of new opportunities
housing shortages
substandard/tenement apartments
overcrowded
no electricity
many cases poor plumbing
poor ventilation
Children working and not going to school ( more about child labor, later)
The Result of extreme poverty
Breeding grounds for disaster
Diseases
Fires
Crime
Middle Class
Doctors
Small business
Factory workers
Office personnel
They were not wealthy, but for the most part comfortable
The Wealthy
Had successful businesses
Expanded existing successful businesses
Made profits from investments
Some amasses vast fortunes and lived extravagant life styles
Industry in the Late 1800
Factors which attributed to the United States becoming an Industrial Giant
abundant raw materials
gold
silver
coal
a large and growing labor supply
a surge in technological innovation
entrepreneurs
federal government eager to assist growth of business
great and expanding domestic market
Railroads
May have been one of the most significant elements in the development of the US economy
Were an industry in themselves
Railroad Barons
Some of the wealthiest people in the United States
Had enormous mansions
Entertained on a grand scale
In some cases were more powerful than the government
Trunk line:
Feeder lines to draw business into their main lines
Like a tree draws water into it’s trunk
Land Grant Lines
Land Grants Congressional grants allowed them parcels of land which they could sell immediately upon completion of their lines
Encourages immigration by offering reduced rates to people buying RR land
Occasionally got whole colonies to immigrated to the US
Mennonites
From Russia Went to Kansas Settled on land from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
Important Because They brought with them a more resistant line of wheat: The Result: We became the breadbasket of the world
Oklahoma Sooners
March 1889
President Harrison
Proclamation for Free Homesteads in the West
Available at and after 12:00 noon on April 22,1889
thousands line up on the Oklahoma boarder
Gun shot and they rushed across the border to stake their claims
Some had snuck across the border before time
Oklahoma Sooners
Railroads and the economy
Added employment
Building railroad cars and lines created job encourages technological advances
Air Brake
Invented by George Westinghouse 1872
Now all the railroad cars could stop at the same time
Granville Woods invented improvements to electric railways and patented air brakes patented air brakes System.
the railroad telegraph, a device that transmitted messages between moving trains
Device for letting engineer of a train know how close they were, which cut down on accidents. improvements to electric railways with a device which allowed engineers to communicate with each other so they would know how close they were to each other to reduce accident
He invented a chicken egg incubator.
Apparatus for an amusement park ride.
The Railroad sleeping Car
George Pullman
Abraham Lincoln
Body taken back to Springfield IL
Women inventors
In 1870, Eliza Murfey patented 16 devices for improving the packing of journals and bearings for railroad-car axles.
These packing were used to lubricate the axles with oil which reduced derailments caused by seized axles and bearings.
In 1879, Mary Walton developed a method of deflecting smoke stack emissions through water tanks and later adapted the system for use on locomotives. (In the 1880s, many cities developed a mass transit system using noisy elevated trains.)To reduce the noise, Walton invented a sound-dampening system that cradled the track in a wooden box lined with cotton and then filled with sand. She received a patent for the system on February 8, 1881, and later sold the rights to the Metropolitan Railroad of New York City.
Mary I. Riggin
railway crossing gate
In addition, several patents for the construction of railway track by Catherine L. Gibbon.
Iron Oil and Electricity
Steel
is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon
The Beemer Process
Sir Henry Bessemer (January 19, 1813 – March 15, 1898
The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation through air being blown through the molten iron. The oxidation also raises the temperature of the iron mass and keeps it molten
The Result
Increased production in the amount of steel
Railroads
Sky scrapers
Andrew Carnegie - (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919)
founder of the Carnegie Steel Company
Later became U.S. Steel.
He is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in United States history
The first Billion dollar corporation
Sold the company to J.P Morgan\
1901
$400-500 million dollars
later in his life, giving away most of his riches to fund the establishment of many libraries, schools, and universities in Scotland, America and worldwide
Petroleum –
Gasoline, also called petrol, is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzenes to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines.
The early development of petroleum industry can be divided into two time period
The First
The first oil venture was Seneca Oil
Samuel Kier
Learned about medical benefits from the 1850s Native American
Kier found petroleum on his property
then called rock oil
He marketed it, with little success as Seneca Oil: “The Natural Remedy”
Kerosene
Alternative created because of high whale and vegetable oil prices
Canadian Abraham Gesne
Developed process to make lamp oil, “kerosene from coal.
Along with kerosene, other petroleum products came to the market.
petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
hair grease
petroleum fuels
steam ship
Oil stoves.
paints
varnishes
polishes
glues
rubber solvents
waterproofing material
The Second phase of the oil industry
When people learned how to drill for crude oil in large quantities, it became a booming industry.
John D. Rockefeller
Standard Oil Company of Ohio
Today it is BP
British petroleum
Rockefeller dominated the industry in the second period
Trust
Separate businesses under the control of one board of Trustees
Is a synonym for monopoly
The Sherman Anti Trust Act 1890
Outlawed Trust
Vertical Integration
Ownership of businesses involved in each step of a manufacturing process.
Vertical monopoly
Horizontal integration
Ownership of several companies that make the same product.
Horizontal monopoly
The Telephone Industry
Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922
Telephone 1876
Looking for a way to improve speech for the deaf
Father taught speech to the deaf
Key developments in telephone history
1903 Telephone booth
1927 Transatlantic calls between England and the US
1949 Telephone answering machine ( wither more than 300 lbs (Switzerland)
1951 Direct dial
1963 push button system
1964 Fax machine
1968 911
1970 International direct dial
1973 first wireless phone
1977 area code
Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931)
Laboratory in Menlo Park New Jersey
Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light.
Improved the telephone in 1877 and 1878
Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s.
Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.
In April 1896, motion pictures (Thomas Armat's Vita scope) manufactured by the Edison factory and Marketed in Edison's name, were used to project in public screenings in New York City.
Later he exhibited motion pictures with voice soundtrack on cylinder recordings, mechanically synchronized with the film.
In 1908, Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company, which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust).
Edison is given credit for inventions developed by his staff
Granville T. Woods took Edison to court about his invention of the railroad telegraph
After Woods beat Edison Twice: Edison decided to work with Woods
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