American Industrialization

What is Industrialization? the large-scale introduction of manufacturing, advanced technical enterprises, and other productive economic activity into an area, society, country, etc. During the Gilded Age new inventions and innovations increased our rate of industrialization

who changed the way Americans live Inventors and innovators who changed the way Americans live

Samuel F. B. Morse Perfected the telegraph (did not invent it) 1844 – sent first telegraph message Morse Code – short & long electrical impulses to represent letters of the alphabet Began a communication revolution

The Telegraph

Morse Code

Edwin L. Drake 1859 Titusville, PA Drilled for oil using steam powered engine Cheaper and more efficient way to obtain oil

Drake’s Well Titusville, Pennsylvania 1859 Produced 10 barrels per day

Thomas Edison 1880 improved the filament in light bulbs (bamboo fiber) 1882 built first power plant that lit dozens of buildings in NYC Used direct current which could only travel short distances Received over 1090 patents from U.S. Govt. for his inventions

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Nikola Tesla Inventor who was born in Croatia Pioneered discoveries in the generation and transmission of electricity Developed the idea of the alternating current induction motor (1886) –a way of generating electrical power 

George Westinghouse 1885 Used alternating current (AC) Cheaper & traveled longer distance than direct current (DC) Invented the transformer to boost or reduce the power level as needed Made home electricity use practical

Alexander Graham Bell 1876 – Patented the “talking telegraph” 1885 – Set up the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) to build long distance telephone lines 1900 – 1.5 million telephones in use in America

The earliest “talking telegraphs”

The latest “talking telegraphs”

Henry Bessemer 1856 – England - received first patent for the “Bessemer process” Made production of steel from iron faster and cheaper Mass production of steel allowed the building of skyscrapers, railroad rails, and large suspension bridges (Brooklyn Bridge 1883)

Gustavus Swift Founder of the meat-packing firm Swift & Company Competed against Phillip Armour of the Armour Meat Packing Company Took the invention of Thaddeus Lowe’s Ice Machine and created the refrigerated railroad car (1870s) to ship his meat

Orville and Wilbur Wright The Wright brother’s are responsible for the word’s first successful airplane They made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft on December 17, 1903 Marked the birth of “aeronautics” as an industry

Orville's brother Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet.