Becoming an Industrial
Nation
1865 - 1905
What are some inventions
that have recently come
out that have changed the
way people live their
lives?
New Ideas & New Inventions
 The late 1800’s was a time when new
inventions and technology spurred rapid
industrial expansion in the U.S.
 This time period is also known as the
Second Industrial Revolution.
 This era of industrial change dramatically
altered manufacturing, transportation, and
the way Americans lived their lives.
Steel
 Steel was not an unknown metal during the 1800’s.
 It is created through the transformation of iron ore and
was extremely expensive to make.
 This all changed when Henry Bessemer developed the
Bessemer process, which burned off the impurities in
molten iron with a blast of hot air.
 Steel is much stronger than iron.
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So Pittsburgh was the steel capital of
the U.S……what now makes sense to
all the sports fans?
Oil
 The existence of crude oil was known for
hundreds of years.
 Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in the U.S. in
1859 near Titusville, Pennsylvania.
 In the late 1800’s, crude oil began to be refined.
 Oil could be used to make kerosene for lamps
 The main industrial use of oil came with the creation
of petroleum.
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Horseless Carriages & Engines
 Advancements in oil refinement led to the
development of motorized vehicles.
 These innovations led Nikolaus A. Otto to
invent the first internal combustion engine
in 1876.
 These engines were powered by gasoline and
led to more advanced horseless carriages,
which were previously powered by steam
engines.
Airplanes
 Internal combustion engines also led to
advances in flight.
 Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first to create
a working airplane.
 Their maiden flight on December 17, 1903 in
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina was only a mere 12
seconds long covering only 120 feet; however,
their achievement ushered in the “Age of Flight.”
Telegraph
 The telegraph, developed by Samuel
Morse, offered a means of communicated
over wires with electricity.
 Morse filed for a patent in 1837.
 A patent is a guarantee to protect an
inventor’s right to make, use, or sell the
invention.
 Telegraphs soon grew to be an important
means of communication in the 1800’s.
Telephone
 Alexander Graham
Bell patented the
“talking telegraph” in
March 1876.
 By the end of the
1800’s, more than a
million telephones
had been installed in
homes and business
across the U.S.
Typewriter
 The typewriter was
designed by Christopher
Sholes in 1867.
 Businesses created
whole departments
whose sole job was to
type.
 Women made up the
majority of these workers,
making the typewriter an
extremely important
reason why women were
able to joined the
workforce.
Thomas Edison
 Thomas Edison was a very important
inventor during the Second Industrial
Revolution.
 In 1876, he set up a workshop in Menlo
Park, New Jersey.
 He was nicknamed the “Wizard of Menlo
Park.”
 By the time he died, Edison held over
1,000 patents.
Hypothetical Situation
 A group of computer hackers have successfully
hacked into all the electric companies across the
United States and have halted the flow of
electricity across the country. In a panic,
millions of Americans flood the stores in search
of batteries and portable generators. You and
your family are not one of the lucky families to
acquire a generator or extra batteries. You are
informed that it is going to take approximately
one month for the electric companies to reboot
their computer systems and restore the flow of
electricity to the country. Essentially you and
your family are going to go through a month long
blackout.
 Your assignment is to work in groups of 3
and discuss what life would be like for that
month. Try to think of things you use in
your everyday life that require any amount
of electricity. Also, try to think of things
“outside the box” that you use that require
electricity. For example, cars would not be
able to fill up with gasoline because the
pumps are run electronically. Make a list
of 10 things and be ready to discuss them.
Working Class
 The industrialization of America caused a
huge demand for laborers.
 Many jobs were filled by immigrants
hoping to build a better life.
 Other positions were filled by Southern
African Americans, women, and children
 In the late 1800’s, 20% of American children
between ages 10 – 15 worked for wages
Working Conditions
 Working conditions in factories were
extremely horrible.
 Workers worked 10-12 hour shifts, 6 days
a week, for less than $10 a week.
 Laborers were often fatigued due to such
long hours, which caused the risk of injury
or death to increase.
 In 1881, approximately 30,000 railroad
workers were killed or injured.
Company towns
 Employers sometimes set up company
towns in order to gain more control over
workers.
 In these towns the company controlled the
housing and the retail businesses workers
used.
 Workers who lived in these towns were
paid in currency that could only be used in
the company town.
Laissez-faire
 Even though the government had passed
the Sherman Antitrust Act, little was being
done to stop the mistreatment of workers.
 As a result of the government’s neglect of
the worker, the gap between the wealthy
and poor was widening.
 By 1890, 10% of the population controlled
75% of the nation’s wealth.
Workers Organize
 Workers knew that the only way to stop their
plight was by organizing.
 Uriah Stephens led a group of nine Philadelphia
garment workers to form the Knights of Labor,
one of the earliest national unions.
 In 1879, Terence Powderly became its leader
and membership skyrocketed.
 Under Powderly, the Knights saw membership
by skilled & unskilled workers, AfricanAmericans (although not at first), and women.
The Great Upheaval
 In 1886, economic depression and other factors
led to a time of intense strikes and violent labor
confrontations that became known as the Great
Upheaval.
 During the year, there were roughly 1,500
strikes involving approximately 400,000 workers.
 Some of these like the Haymarket Riot turned
deadly.
 Chicago workers were striking ensure a 8-hour work
when a bomb went off among the police. When it
was all over, 70 officers were wounded and 8 people
were dead.
Employers fight back
 Employers used different methods to combat
unions
 Blacklists: lists of union supporters, who would not
be allowed to work.
 Lockouts: if workers did strike, many employers
locked the union members out and brought in
nonunion workers, also known as scabs, to perform
their jobs.
 These measures alarmed skilled laborers an as
a result they broke away and joined the
American Federation of Labor, founded by
Samuel Gompers in 1886.
Infamous Strikes
 Homestead Strike
 In 1892, workers of Carnegie’s Steel Company plant
in Homestead, Pennsylvania struck to protest a wage
cut. In the end 16 people were killed.
 Pullman Strike
 In 1894, workers of the Pullman sleeping-car factory
in Pullman, Illinois struck because George Pullman
cut wages but did not lower prices in the company
town.
 As head of the American Railway Union (ARU),
Eugene Debs supported the strikers.
 The government stepped in an ended the strike and
essentially ended the ARU.