Chapter 19, Section 1
The Second Industrial Revolution
Second Industrial Revolution
• The first industrial revolution started in America in the
early 1800s
• The first major industry was in the New England states
producing textiles (cloth)
• It brought workers to cities to work in factories
• Technological advances led to the second industrial
revolution in the late 1800s
• By the mid-1890s the US was the world’s industrial leader
Bessemer Process
• Who? – Henry Bessemer
invented it and Andrew
Carnegie dominated the steel
industry using it
• What? – a way to
manufacture steel quickly and
cheaply by blasting hot air
through melted iron to
quickly remove the impurities
• When? – mid-1850s
• Where? – US (particularly PA)
• Why important? –
• Story of US: Carnegie
Factors Affecting Industrial Growth
• Greater ability to use natural resources
• A growing population and rising
immigration created large work force
and more consumers of goods
• Inventions and innovations (like the
Bessemer process and the assembly line)
increased production
• Increasing business investment (capital
from business people and the sale of
stock)
• Govt. policies that assisted businesses
(such as protective tariffs and providing
land grants to railroad companies)
Impact of Railroads on
Society and the Economy
• Manufacturers sent
products to market faster
• Cities where rail lines
crossed grew rapidly
• Spurred western growth
and development
• Employed large numbers
of people in the railroad
industry
• Sleeping cars improved
passenger service
• Refrigerated cars
increased the nation’s
food supply
Production of Oil
• In the 1850s chemists
invented a way to
convert crude oil into
kerosene, which was
then used in cooking,
heating, and lighting
• Edwin Drake proved it
was possible to drill for
oil underground in
Titusville, PA
Patents
• Patent – a document that
gives inventors exclusive
rights to make or sell
inventions (or sell use of
them) for a set amount of
time
• Patents allow inventors to
protect their inventions
from being manufactured
by others so they alone
can profit off of their
ideas
POTATO MASHER PATENT DRAWING
Thomas Edison
• Who? – inventor who
was interested in the
uses of electricity
• What? – had over 1,000
patents including the
electric light bulb,
phonograph, and motion
picture projector
• When? – late 1800s
• Where? – research lab in
Menlo Park, NJ
• Why important? –
Henry Ford
• Who? – businessman
who produced cars
• What? – first to use the
assembly line in
manufacturing when
producing the Model T
car (1908)
• When? – early 1900s
• Where? – Detroit, MI
• Why important? –
Wright Brothers
• Who? – brothers Orville
and Wilbur who were
inventors
• What? – built a lightweight airplane with a
small gas engine that made
the first piloted flight
• When? – 1903
• Where? – Kitty Hawk, NC
• Why important? –
Alexander
Graham Bell
• Communication over
distances improved with
Bell’s invention of the
telephone
• Previously they relied on
the telegraph
• Telegraph carried only
written messages and
required trained people
to operate it
• Anyone could use the
telephone
Other Inventions
Important in the
Late 1800s
• Sewing machine – Elias Howe
and Isaac Singer
• Typewriter – Christopher
Sholes (of Milwaukee)
• Air-brake for trains –
George Westinghouse
(allowed trains to have more
cars to ship more goods and
made them safer)
• Power system to send
electricity across many miles
– George Westinghouse