Today, Leah continued with her powerpoint:
Natural Resources:
- After the Civil War, the U.S. was still lagely an agricultural nation.
- By the 1920's we became the leading industrial power in the world
- This was because of the wealth of natural resources, government support for businesses, and the growing urban population. ***(Test Question)***
- All of this provided cheap labor and markets for new products to come out.
Oil or Black Gold:
- Native Americans used oil before we even came over here.
- Originally we didn't really have any use for it
- In the 1840's we started using kerosene for light in lamps
- Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner discovered how to distill the fuel fro oil or coal
- In 1859 Edwin Drake used a steam engine
- This started the oil boom in Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and later in Texas
- Petroleum refining industries arose in Cleveland and Pittsburg as entrepreneurs rushed in to transform oil into kerosene
- Gasoline was a bi-product and was originally thrown away
- After cars were invented, gasoline became the leading form of oil
Iron:
- Iron and coal were also plentiful in the U.S.
- In 1887 prospectors
- At the same time the coal production sky rocketed from 33 mil in 1870 to more than 250 mil in 1900
- Iron is a dense metal but is soft and tends to break and rust
- Also contains carbon
- Supplies needed to make steel were ready and it was a fairly cheap and efficient process
- The Bessemer Process: injects air into the molten iron to remove carbon and any other impurities
Bessemer Process
- By 1880 American manufacturers were using this method to produce more than 90% of the nation's steel
- Was eventually replaced by the open-hearth process which enabled producers to provide quality steel from scrap metal and raw materials
Then Chelsea continued with her part of the presentation:
Steel:
- The railroads were the biggest consumers of steel
- Joseph Glidden developed barbed wire
- McCormick and John Deere created farm machines and changed the plains into the food producer of the nation
- The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 adn spanned 1595 ft. of the East River in New York City
- Steel cables were supported by towers that were higher than any man-made weight-bearing structure except for the pyramids in Egypt
- William Le Baron Jenney built the first skyscraper with a steel frame called the Home Insurance Building located in Chicago
- Allowed for taller buildings that took up less space
Electricity:
- George Westinghouse helped make electricity safer and cheaper
- Electric power ran many machines by 1890
- Became available to homes and used by time-saving appliances
- Before electricity, homes were lit with kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood or coal-burning stoves
- Made urban travel cheap and efficient
- Promoted the outward spread of cities
- Manufactures could locate plants whereever they wanted
Light Bulb
- Thomas Edison created the world's first research lab, created in Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1876
- He created the first incandescent light bulb and patented it in 1880
- Before the light bulb, electricity was used in arc lights for outdoor lighting
- Light bulb allowed electricity to be used indoors
Typewriter
- Invented by Christopher Scholes in 1867
- Reduced time and expense involved in creating documents
- Encouraged the spread of systematic management
- Allowed a system of communications that shaped the business world
Telephone
- Invented by Alexander Grahm Bell
- Invented on March 10, 1876
- Bell Telephone Company (AT&T)
- Only the wealthy could afford phones at first
- No longer had to rely on mail, which took weeks/months/years
Changes in the Workforce
- Jobs for women were created
- Typwriters encouraged the feminization of office work
- From 1870 to 1910, the amount of female office workers went from 5% to 40%
- Clothing could be mass produced in factories
- Average workweek wa reduced by about 10 hours in 1890
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