1. What is the most important? Why? Typewriter Phonograph Telegraph Telephone

2. MR. MIZAK MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY FALL 2009 Introduction and The Technological Revolution

3. What was going on in the United States in 1865- 1890? The Civil War has ended, the Union has been preserved Reconstruction is in progress and the nation is starting to heal from the devastation caused by the Civil War. With the advances in technology, America was ready for her next stage of growth

4. Life Pre-1870 Life in 1865 was not fun  No indoor electric lighting existed  People would light candles or oil lamps  Think about life without refrigeration  Ice was available, but it was incredibly expensive  Communication was incredible slow  Ten days for a letter to get to the Midwest  Three weeks to get to the West  A month to get to Europe

6. Advances in Technology Technology started to improve at a very fast rate  Example: Between 1790-1860 just 36,000 patents were issued.  Between 1860-1890, 500,000 patents were issued for inventions like the typewriter, telephone, and phonograph

7. U. S. Patents Granted 1790s  276 patents issued. 1990s  1,119,220 patents issued.

8. Electricity is Improved Thomas Edison was able to create a workable light bulb, that made the idea of household electricity practical How do you think electricity changed business?

9. The Light Bulb

10. The Telegraph Samuel F. B. Morse patented his telegraph and sent his first message in 1844. This started a communications revolution => messages could not be sent long distances in the matter of seconds

11. The Telephone Alexander Graham Bell invented the “talking telegraph” or telephone on March 7, 1876 The first commercial telephone exchange began serving 21 people in New Haven, Connecticut in 1878. By 1900, 1.5 million telephones were in use

12. The Transcontinental Railroad The project started in 1862. Private investors did not see the need to invest in railroads that extended past current settlements.  The federal government picked up the tab  Was this a good idea?

13. Questions Why did all of these new inventions happen in such a short period of time? What impact do you think these technological changes had on the United States?