The Second Industrial Revolution

Iron & Steel The Second Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid growth in U.S. manufacturing Industry = part of the economy made up by manufacturing It took place in the late 1800s Thanks to technological advances the U.S. became the world industrial leader The country, especially in the North, shifted from agriculture to industry Some of the most important improvements took place in the steel industry Steel is iron that has been made stronger by heating it and adding other metals Skilled workers once produced steel in small batches, but it was expensive & challenging

Bessemer Process In the late 1850s Henry Bessemer of Britain developed a new way to make steel quickly More importantly it was cheap Hot air was blasted through melted iron to remove waste It once took a day or more to turn several tons of iron into steel With the Bessemer process it took only minutes This helped increase steel production At first the steel was mostly used for railroads But it also started to get used for buildings and bridges Soon the price of steel dropped so much it was found in everyday items like nails, wires, & pipes

Railroads As steel dropped in price… So did the cost of building railroads Companies bought miles of new track In 1860 there were 30,000 miles of track…By 1900 there was 193,000 The stronger, longer-lasting track could carry heavier loads Passenger service also improved Travel became safer when George Westinghouse designed improved air brakes George Pullman designed more comfortable sleeping and passenger cars (Pullman cars) It used to take several days and many line changes to get from NY to Chicago By 1870 the trip could be made in one day without changing trains

Railroad Leads to Improvement Railroads strongly affected the nation’s economic development Manufacturers and farmers could get their products to market faster Cities where major rail lines crossed (i.e. Chicago/Kansas City) grew rapidly It also increased settlement in the West because it was faster, cheaper, & safer As rail travel & shipping increased, railroads & related industries began employing more people

Oil Leads to Energy Another important technological advance in the late 1800s was the use of oil as an energy source People had known about oil for many years, but had few ways to use it The situation changed in the 1850s Dr. Benjamin Stillman discovered how to convert crude (unprocessed) oil into fuel called kerosene Kerosene could be used for cooking, heating, & lighting As demand grew, people began searching for a reliable source of it In 1859, Edwin Drake discovered how to pump crude oil from the ground Oil became a big business as it was being produced in millions of barrels/year in some states Companies also built refineries to turn crude oil into kerosene

Edison & Electricity Electricity became another source of light & power during the 2 nd Industrial Revolution Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb He held thousands of other patents for inventions Patent = exclusive right to make or sell an invention Edison built a power plant, but it couldn’t supply over long distances so it mainly focused on big cities George Westinghouse built an improved power system that could send electricity over long distance Electricity soon lit homes, businesses & powered factories in the cities Streetcars also ran on electricity

Communication There were also great advances in communication technologies in the late 1800s Edison and others continued to improve the telegraph By 1861, telegraph wires connected East & West Five years later a cable on the floor of the Atlantic connected the US with Britain The telegraph had disadvantages It carried only written messages & was difficult to operate The problem was solved in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone

Telephone Revolution Like electrical lighting, telephones depended on large networks or wires Telephone companies raced to lay thousands of miles of phone lines By 1884 Boston and NYC were linked by phone The # of telephones in American homes & businesses increased quickly There were about 55,000 telephones in 1880 & almost 1.5 million by 1900 Bell became wealthy as a result of his companies success Eventually Bell Telephone Company became American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T)

New Energy Source The 2 nd Industrial Revolution also brought breakthroughs in transportation In 1876, Nicholas Otto invented an engine powered by gasoline Gasoline was another fuel made by oil By the early 1900s thousands of cars were being built in the U.S. Most of the early cars were too expensive for anyone but the wealthy to afford However, as automobiles gradually became more common… States began improving roads, passing traffic laws, & requiring car owners to pass driving tests

Wright Brothers Change the World New engine technology also helped make another transportation breakthrough possible The breakthrough was air flight Orville & Wilbur Wright were bicycle makers Fascinated with flying, the Wright brothers built a lightweight plane powered by gasoline In Kitty Hawk, N.C. Orville Wright made the first piloted flight in a gas powered plane on 12/7/1903 The plane traveled about 100 feet in about 12 seconds Those few seconds made the Wright brothers a lot of $ They patented their airplane in 1906

Inventions Lead to a New Future Inventions such as the motorcar and airplane brought great excitement However, the inventions were not widely used at first Part of it was because of high cost The car and plane would eventually join other inventions of the late 1800s… in changing the way that Americans worked, traveled, & lived