Industrialization
The 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.