1. A TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION Life after the Civil War

2. Changes in Daily Life  Daily life in 1865  Sunlight dictated life  Ice sawed from frozen ponds  Communication took days or months  Investing in Technology  500,000 patents 30 yrs after Civil War  By 1900, US standard of living was highest in the world

3. New Forms of Energy - Drake Strikes Oil - -Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company is first to successfully DRILL for oil in 1858. - -Investors strike it rich and the oil industry takes off - -Opens the door for the gasoline industry

4. Thomas Edison – Master of Invention -Quit job to focus on invention in Menlo Park, New Jersey -Began experimenting w/ electric lighting in 1879 and succeeded -Not until the power station is invented does electricity reach the masses -By 1898 over 2 million light bulbs were lit in the US

5. How would the invention of electricity impact business and daily life in America? Electric Power is more efficient Cost of production decreases significantly Thousands of jobs created Immigrants and Women flock to the work place Refrigeration Workers can work past sun down

6. Advances in Communication  The Telegraph  Samuel M. Morse perfects the telegraph  1870 over 10,000 miles of wire  The Telephone  Alexander Graham Bell invents “talking telegraph” in 1876  By 1900 over 1.5 million phones in use

7. The Transcontinental Railroad -Railway connecting east and west coasts (Omaha to Sacramento) -Due to lack of interest the government funded much of the project -Built primarily by Chinese and Irish immigrants -Explodes multiple industries….how?

8. The Steel Industry  The Iron Industry  Used for railroads and large buildings  The Bessemer Process  New process for making steel Henry Bessemer  Easier and cheaper  Mass production New age of building begins