1. Industry and Immigration

2. Inventions In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the 1 st working “talking telegraph” or telephone. The telephone would forever change the way the world communicated with each other.

3. Inventions Thomas Edison invented the first phonograph machine that could record a voice and play it back. Edison also invented a light bulb that would work long enough to be used in homes. Wanting to get electricity to people’s homes, Edison invented an electric power station that could carry electricity to buildings.

4. Inventions Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the first airplane to take flight. After several years of attempts the brothers’ airplane “Flyer” took off at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903. The flight lasted 12 seconds.

5. Big Business Andrew Carnegie figured there would be a need for steel in the growing nation and began making steel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

6. Carnegie helped steel become a “big business” or major industry in the U.S. By the 1900’s the U.S. was producing more steel than any other country. Carnegie became one of the richest men in the world.

7. Many corporations were formed during this time in the U.S. In a corporation, the business is owned by investors that buy stocks (shares) in the company. Corporations use the $ from the stocks to buy equipment for the company.

8. John D. Rockefeller started refining oil and turning it into useful products at an early age. He started buying other oil refineries. By the 1880’s he gained control of the U.S.’s oil industry, creating a Monopoly.

9. Big business in the late 1800’s changed the U.S. Before the Civil War, most American’s lived and worked on farms. By 1900, most Americans worked in industries. The U.S. had become the biggest producer of manufactured goods (goods made in factories). The U.S. economy was one of the strongest and fastest growing in the world.

10. Immigrants Immigrants came to the U.S. for different reasons: ◦Escaping poverty, hunger, or lack of jobs. ◦The hope of an income, food and work. ◦Escaping violence, war, or injustice.

11. They came hoping for chances to make better lives for themselves and their families.

12. Most ships carrying immigrants from Europe landed in NY. Most immigrants were taken by ferry boat to Ellis Island in NY harbor before getting permission to enter the U.S.

13. Many immigrants moved to neighborhoods where there were other people from their homeland. Many found jobs on railroads, in factories, and mines. Some started their own businesses.

14. By the early 1900’s, more than half of the people in most big cities were immigrants or immigrant’s children. In 1924, the U.S. passed new laws to limit the number of immigrants who could enter the country each year.

15. Labor Immigrants and Americans found hard times working in factories and mines.

16. Workers barely made enough money to survive Women operated sewing machines in hot, cramped workshops called sweatshops Children often had to work to help support their families

17. Children worked 12 or more hours a day for just 10-20 cents a day There was no time for school and working conditions were unhealthy and dangerous

18. Labor unions were started to gain improved working conditions and better wages, and to end child labor. People like Samuel Gompers helped organize labor unions to protect workers. Workers organized strikes, refusing to work until owners met their needs.