INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION SOL 8b

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY FROM A PRIMARILY AGRARIAN TO A MODERN INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY AND IDENTIFYING MAJOR INVENTIONS THAT IMPROVED LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES. ■During the period from the Civil War to World War I, the United States underwent an economic transformation that involved the development of an industrial economy, the expansion of big business, the growth of large- scale agriculture, and the rise of national labor unions and industrial conflict.

Reasons for economic transformation: ■Technological change spurred growth of industry primarily in northern cities Laissez-faire capitalism and special considerations (e.g., land grants to railroad builders) The increasing labor supply (from immigration and migration from farms) America’s possession of a wealth of natural resources and navigable rivers

Inventions/Innovations ■Corporation (limited liability) ■Light bulb (Thomas Edison) and electricity as a source of power and light ■Bessemer steel process ■Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell) ■ Airplane (Wright brothers) ■Assembly-line manufacturing (Henry Ford) ■Sewing Machine/Type Writer

Industrial leaders ■Robber Barons= They became wealthy by creating monopolies in their industries. Two types of monopolies were called vertical integration (owned all parts of production from start to finish) and horizontal integration (owned all of one part of production of a good). ■Andrew Carnegie (steel) ■J. P. Morgan (finance) ■John D. Rockefeller (oil) ■Cornelius Vanderbilt (railroads)

Impact of labor unions ■– Organizations & Strikes ■Knights of Labor/Haymarket Square Riot ■American Federation of Labor (Samuel Gompers) /Homestead Strike ■American Railway Union (Eugene V. Debs) /Pullman Strike ■International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union /Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

– Gains ■Limited work hours ■Regulated working condition