• What are the three most important
innovations, or inventions, in your
lifetime?
• In your notebook make a quick
sketch of each
innovation/invention. Then write a
one or two sentence description
explaining how each innovation
has affected or changed your life.
A New Industrial Age
• Causes
• Nation has wealth of natural resources
• Explosion of inventions and innovation
business and manufacturing efficiency
• Growing urban population provides workers
and consumers
• Railroads establish new markets
Edwin L. Drake
• Edwin L. Drake used a steam engine to drill
for oil
• began the oil “boom”
• refined crude oil into kerosene, gasoline, and
other petroleum-based products
Drake and Titusville, PA
Henry Bessemer
• Henry Bessemer turned iron into steel
by melting iron and removing carbon.
• Steel was used for farming equipment, cans for food,
bridges, and the new buildings called skyscrapers.
US resources for steel production?
In 1887 large amounts of iron was discovered in
Minnesota. At the same time coal production increased
from 33 million tons in 1870 to more than 250 million
tons in 1900. Great timing for making steel in the US!
Inventions and Change
• Thomas Alva Edison established world’s first
research laboratory in Menlo, Park NJ and
“invents” the light bulb.
• Edison helps design the first power plants in
the world to distribute electricity.
• Electricity was used to power light bulbs,
motors, fans, streetcars, printing presses.
• What else did Edison invent?
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2012/10/25/
10712/hear-thomas-edison-sing-rare-1878audio-restored-f/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant)
http://mentalfloss.com/article/52585/17world%E2%80%99s-oldest-films-capturedthomas-edison
Inventions and Change
• Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1867.
• In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson
invent the telephone. “Watson, come quick!”
• New inventions allow for faster and efficient
communication and production.
• More and more women entered the workforce.
• New inventions led to a shorter work week. People had
more leisure time to enjoy new products like
phonographs, cameras, and bicycles.
Just a quick word on railroads…
• The transcontinental railroad was completed at
Promontory Point, Utah in 1869.
• Railroads gave the US time zones and
standardized ways of keeping time across the
country.
• Helped bring goods and people from coast to
coast. Led to the creation of new towns.
• Railroads had a monopoly on delivering farm
goods to market. Farmers resented high prices
charged by railroads.
A New Industrial Age
• Effects
• Big business emerges
• Business grows powerful with monopolies and
trusts
• Workers endure harsh conditions
• Labor unions develop