KEY TERMS. patent productivity transcontinental railroad Bessemer process mass production. Setting the Scene

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1 READING FOCUS Why did people's daily lives change in the decades following the Civil War? How did advances in electric power and communication affect life for people and businesses? What effects did the development of railroads have on industrial growth? What was the impact of the Bessemer process on American culture? KEY TERMS patent productivity transcontinental railroad Bessemer process mass production TARGET READING SKILL Understand Effects As you read, complete this table listing some of the major technological innovations of the decades following the Civil War and their impact on American life. Technology A Technological Revolution Examples Impact on Daily Life and Business Electric power Refrigerator Reduced food spoilage MAIN IDEA In the years after the Civil War, new technology revolutionized American life. Below, Samuel Morse sends the first successful telegraph message, using Morse code, from the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Morse code (inset) is still used today in amateur radio. A x U l',.--. -' D-" E o-~--. j'.--' 1". Q--'- Li-- R ~ u. S - 1- w- X- - y--- 'l.-- Co Setting the Scene Samuel Morse had worked for years on improving the telegraph and finally began to run out of money. Nearly broke, he anxiously awaited a bill to pass through Congress, which would provide him with funds to complete his work. The bill narrowly passed, to the surprise of many. Morse was greatly relieved. The next year he reached the climax of his success ~ s- Q---- " And now at last the supreme moment had arrived. The line from Washington to Baltimore was completed, and on the 24th day of May, 1844, the company invited by the inventor... assembled to witness his triumph. True to his promise to Miss Annie Ellsworth, he had asked her to indite the first public message which should be flashed over the completed line, and she... chose the now historic words... 'What hath God wrought!'... Calmly he seated himself at the instrument and ticked off the inspired words in the dots and dashes of the Morse alphabet... the electromagnetic telegraph was no longer the wild dream of a visionary, but an accomplished fact. " -Samuel F. B. Morse Little did Americans know as they entered the second half of the nineteenth century what other ",vild dreams" would become reality. Samuel Morse's first successful telegraph message sent in 1844 marked the beginning of a second industrial revolution. The United States was on the verge of a major transformation. In the years after the Civil War, the United States developed into an industrial powerhouse. Inventors and scientists, backed by business leaders, created an explosion of inventions and improvements. Their eftorts brought about a technological rev' olution that energized American industry and forever changed people's daily lives. I Ii. 456 Chapter 13 The Expansion of American Industry

2 Investing in Technology By 1900, this picture of daily life had changed dramatically for millions ofamericans. The post-civil War years saw tremendous growth in new ideas and inventions. Between nd 1860, the Patent and Trademark Office of the federal gov ernment issued just 36,000 patents-licenses that give an inventor the exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention for a set period of time. In contrast, 500,000 patents were issued between 1860 and 1890 for inventions such as the typewriter, telephone, and phonograph. European and American business leaders began to invest heavily in these new inventions. The combination of financial backing and American ingenuity helped create new industries and expand old ones. By 1900, Americans' standard of living was among the highest in the world. This achievement was a result of the nation's growing industrial productivity-the amount of goods and services created in a given period of time. ng sly to (as Changes in Daily Life Most Americans today can flip a switch for light, turn a faucet for water, and talk to a friend a thousand miles away just by pressing a few buttons. It is hard for us to imagine life without these conveniences. In 1865, however, daily life was vastly different. Daily life in 1865 Indoor electric lighting did not exist in Instead, the rising and setting of the sun dictated the rhythm of a day's work. After dark, people lit candles or oil lamps if they could afford them. Ifthey could not, they simply went to sleep, to rise at the first light of dawn. Think about summers without the benefits of refrigeration! Ice was available in 1865, but only at great cost. People sawed blocks of ice out of frozen ponds during the winter, packed them in sawdust, and stored them in icehouses for later use. By modern standards, long-distance communication was agonizingly slow. In 1860, most mail from the East Coast took ten days to reach the Midwest and three weeks to get to the West. An immigrant living on the frontier would have to wait several months for news from relatives in Europe. New Forms of Energy The blossoming ofamerican inventive genius in the late 1800s had a profound effect on millions of people's lives. For example, scientists began developing he new uses for petroleum, including fuels that would help power new machines. ne Electricity proved to be another productive energy source. It led to many in important advances in the nation's industrial development and changed people's eating, working, and even sleeping habits. m. m. Drake Strikes Oil In 1858, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company sent Ito Edwin L. Drake to Titusville, Pennsylvania, to drill for oil The idea to drill by for oil was new and many were skeptical of the project. Previously, oil had nd been obtained by either melting the fat from a whale or by digging large pits ev and waiting for oil to seep above ground-both of which were time ;ed consuming and expensive. If the new method worked, it would be cheaper and more efficient. T7'.I' [) D)J, S U'f!,.'!: t-,.d. J\J)J. 11]":J t Buying Stock The surge in inventions and patents could not have been possible without the money to finance them. How did inventors and entrepreneurs get the money they needed to develop their products and start their businesses? This country's free enter prise system provided the economic framework that could support these projects. The hopes of gaining substantial profits made business leaders more willing to take financial risks. They began to invest heavily in new inventions and businesses that they thought would be successful. One way they did this was to buy stock in a company: A stock is a share representing a portion of ownership in a corporation. If a company sells shares of stock, and an investor buys 100 of them. he or she owns 10 percent of the company. By purchasing a company's stock, an investor buys the right to receive a fraction of the company's profits. READING CHECK What were the benefits of Drake's new method of oil extraction? Chapter 13 Section 1 457

3 After spending nearly a year ramng money and building the equipment needed for the project, Drake finally set up an oil well and began drilling using a steam-powered engine. In 1859, just as nervous investors had decided to call off the project, Drake struck oil. Oil quickly became a major industry. As new uses for oil began to appear, the oil business grew rapidly. Titusville soon became one of several boom towns in northwestern Pennsylvania. Oil refineries, which transformed crude oil into kerosene, sprang up around the country. A byproduct of this process, gasoline, would eventually make oil even more valuable. Until the invention of the automobile in the late 1880s, however, gasoline was seen as a waste product and simply thrown away. Edison's favorite invention, the phonograph, shown above, recorded sounds on metal foil wrapped around a rotating cylinder. The first words Edison recorded and then replayed on his phonograph were "Mary had a little lamb: This wondrous machine, introduced in 1877, gained Edison the nickname the "Wizard of Menlo Park." Edison, a Master of Invention Thomas A. Edison helped make another new source of energy, electric power, widely available. Born in 1847, Edison grew up tinkering 'With electricity. While working for a New York company, he improved the stock tickers that sent stock and gold prices to other offices. When his boss awarded him a $40,000 bonus, the 23-year-old Edison left his job and set himself up as an inventor. In 1876, Edison moved into his "invention factory" in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The yoting genius, who had never received any formal science training, claimed that he could turn out "a minor invention every ten days and a big thing every six months or so." Edison then began experimenting with electric lighting..his goal was to develop affordable, in-home lighting to replace oil lamps and gaslights. Starting around 1879, Edison and his fellow inventors tried different ways to produce light within a sealed glass bulb. They needed to find a material that would glow without quickly burning up when heated with an electric current. The team experimented with various threadlike filaments with little success. In 1880, they finally found a workable filament made of bamboo fiber. This filament glowed, Edison said, with "the most beautiful light ever seen." Until the early 1880s, people who wanted electricity had to produce it with their own generator. Hoping to provide affordable lighting to many customers, Edison developed the idea of a central power station. In 1882, to attract investors, Edison built a power plant that lit dozens of buildings in New York City. Investors were impressed, and Edison's idea spread. By 1890, power stations across the country provided electricity for lamps, fans, printing presses, and many other newly invented appliances. Electricity Is Improved Other inventors later improved upon Edison'S work. Lewis Latimer, the son of an escaped slave, patented an improved method for producing the filament in light bulbs. He worked in Edison's laboratories, where he helped develop new advances in electricity. Latimer later wrote a landmark book about electric lighting. Another major advance for electric lighting came from inventor George Westinghouse. In 1885, 'Westinghouse began to experiment with a form ofelectricity called alternating current. Edison had used direct current, which was expensive to produce and could only travel a mile or two. Alternating current could be generated more cheaply and travel longer distances. 458 Chapter 13 The Expansion of American Industry

4 Westinghouse also used a device called a transformer to boost power levels at a station so that electricity could be sent over long distances. Another transformer at a distant substation could reduce power levels as needed. These aspects ofwestinghouse's system made home use of electricity practical. By the early 1890s, investors had used Edison's and Westinghouse's ideas and inventions to create two companies, General Electric and Westinghouse Electric. These companies' products encouraged the spread of the use of electricity. By 1898, nearly 3,000 power stations were lighting some 2 million light bulbs across the land. Electricity's Impact on Business and Daily Life Electricity helped to improve the productivity of the business world and transform the nature of the workplace. Electric power was cheaper and more efficient than some previously existing power sources. For example, the electric sewing machine, first made in 1889, led to the rapid growth of the ready-made clothing industry. Before the electric sewing machine, workers had to physically push on a foot pedal to generate power. With electricity, a worker could produce more clothing in less time. As a result, the costs of producing each item of clothing decreased. Rapidly growing industries, such as the ready-made clothing industry, opened up thousands of jobs for Americans looking for employment. Many of the country's new immigrants, especially women and children, found work making clothing in factories powered by electricity. Household use of electric current revolutionized many aspects of daily life. To take but one example, electricity made the refrigerator possible. This invention reduced food spoilage and relieved the need to preserve foods by timeconsuming means, such as smoking or salting. Yet all Americans did not receive the benefits of electricity equally. Rural areas, especially, went without electricity for many decades. Even where electric power was available, many people could not afford the home appliances or other conveniences that ran on electricity. Advances in Communications In the late 1800s, thousands of people left their homes in Europe and the eastern United States to seek a new life in the West. One of the greatest hardships for these immigrants was leaving their loved ones behind. Would they ever hear from family and friends again? By 1900, thanks to many advances in communications, such fears ofisolation had diminished. The Telegraph The idea of sending messages over wires had occurred to inventors in the early 1700s. Several inventors actually set up working telegraph systems well before an American, Samuel F. B. Morse, took out a patent on telegraphy. Morse may not have invented the telegraph, but he perfected it. He devised a code of short and long electrical impulses to represent the letters of the alphabet. Using this system, later called Morse code, he sent his first message in His success signaled the start of a communications revolution.... I VIEWING HISTORY Here, visitors marvel at the electricity building, on display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The building boasted more than 18,000 electric light bulbs and hosted other exhibits that showed the practical and entertainment value of electricity. Drawing Conclusions Why do you think expositions such as this one were important? Who attended them? Chapter 13 Section 1 459

5 ~Forward ~ to Today The World Wide Web The growth and influence of the Internet in the second half of the 1990s was a turning point in the nation's economy, similar in scope to the vast economic changes brought about by the telegraph and railroads in the late 1800s. Estimates show that from 1996 to 2001, the number of people using the Internet worldwide skyrocketed from 45 million to over 400 million. Also during that time, the amount of revenue generated by the Internet jumped from $2.9 billion to over $700 billion. Just as in the late 1800s, the world of business and daily life at the end of the twentieth century changed drastically with the advent of new technoloresulting from the Internet. The Internet became the next step in a process that began with the telegraph and the railroads to connect people and ideas in faster, more efficient ways. Moving beyond telegraph wires and railroad tracks, the United States, and indeed the world, is now connected through an infinite and invisible World Wide Web.? What other recent technological innovations have changed the world of communications? What do you think will be the next step in this process? Explain. After the Civil War, several telegraph companies joined together to form the Western Union Telegraph Company. In 1870, Western Union had more than 100,000 miles of wire, over which some 9 million telegraph messages were transmitted. By 1900, the company owned more than 900,000 miles of wire and was sending roughly 63 million telegraph messages a year. The Telephone In 1871, Alexander Graham Bell of Scotland immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, to teach people with hearing difficulties. After experimenting for several years with an electric current to transmit sounds, Bell patented the "talking telegraph" on March 7, He had just turned 29. In 1885, Bell and a group of partners set up the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to build long-distance telephone lines. The earliest local phone lines could connect only two places, such as a home and a business. Soon central switchboards with operators could link an entire city. The first commercial telephone exchange began serving 21 customers on January 28, 1878, in New Haven, Connecticut. The next year President Rutherford B. Hayes had a telephone installed at the White House. By 1900, 1.5 million tele phones were in use. Railroads Create a National Network In 1850, steam-powered ships still provided much of the nation's transportation. Over the follo~1.ng decades, however, improvements in train and track design, plus the construction of new rail lines, gave railroads a big boost. Before the Civil War, most ofthe nation's railroad tracks were in short lines that connected neighboring cities, mainly in the East. Since there was no standard track width, or gauge, each train could only travel on certain tracks. As a result, goods and passengers often had to be moved to different trains, which caused costly delays. To make matters worse, train travel was dangerous. No system of standard signals existed, and train brakes were unreliable. The Transcontinental Railroad The rail business expanded greatly after the Civil War. The key event was the completion of the transcontinental railroad, a railway extending from coast to coast. When the project began in 1862, rail lines already reached from the East Coast to the Mississippi River. Now new rails were laid between Omaha, Nebraska, and Sacramento, California. Because private investors did not see any likelihood of profit in building railroads beyond the line of settlement, the federal government stepped in to fund the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Members of Congress believed that the completion of a coast-to-coast railway would strengthen the country's economic infrastructure. Thus the federal government awarded huge loans and land grants to two private companies. The Central Pacific Railroad began laying track eastward out of Sacramento. The Union Pacific Railroad began work toward the west in Omaha. Scholars disagree as to whether it was a good idea for the government to provide funds for this project. Many believe that the government gave a much needed boost to 460 Chapter 13 The Expansion of American Industry

6 r 1 ) II e {. y, '. VIEWING HISTORY Workers from the Union and Central Pacific Railroads met at Promontory Summit, Utah, in The driving of the golden spike (inset) marked the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Synthesizing Information Some have caljed this the greatest historical event in transportation in this country. Why was it such a joyous and momentous occasion? l- k ly the railroad industry when the private sector was hesitant to invest. However, others argue that the government should not have gotten involved. One reason is that railroads built with federal aid did not operate as efficiently and profitably as some built )r with little government assistance. For example, James J. Hill's Great Northern a Railroad in the and had both lower rates and higher profits than r- railroads built with federal aid. Most of the workers on the transcontinental railroad were immigrants. Is Irish workers on the Union Pacific line used pickaxes to dig and level rail beds across the Great Plains at the rate of up to 6 miles a day. Chinese workers brought to the United States by the Central Pacific chiseled, plowed, and dynass mited their way through the Sierra Nevada. Workers took pride in their labor. Ie One work crew set a record for putting down track-an amazing ten miles in ly one day. in Finally, after seven years of grueling physical labor, the two crews Ie approached each other in what is now Utah. On May 10, 1869, at a place a, called Promontory Summit, Central Pacific president Leland Stanford raised his hammer to drive the final golden spike into position. A telegraph operator It, beside the track tapped out a message to crowds throughout the country: "Almost ready now. Hats off. Prayer is being offered... Done!" The nation )fi ss had its first transcontinental railroad. ay Railroad Developments By 1870, railroads could carry goods and pase. sengers from coast to coast, but they still had problems. Trains were often Id noisy, dirty, and uncomfortable for travelers. The huge engines, spewing lc smoke and cinders as they thundered through the countryside, sometimes o. aroused fear and distrust. :st In spite of the problems, train travel continued to expand and improve. The various new technologies emerging at this time all aided in the developor ment of the national railroad system. Steel rails replaced iron rails, and track rry gauges and signals became standardized. Railroad companies also took steps to to improve safety. In 1869, George Westinghouse developed more eflective air READING CHECK What types of problems did railroads have in the late 1800s? Chapter 13 Section 1 461

7 VIEWING HISTORY Citadel Rock looms over the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad through Wyoming Territory in Identifying Central Issues In what ways did the nation's growing transportation system help promote industrial growth? brakes. In 1887, Granville Woods patented a telegraph system for communicating with moving trains, thus reducing the risk of collision._ The growth of 'railroads also led to the development of many towns throughout the western part of the United States. Railroad owners, looking to expand their businesses and increase profits, began building towns near their railroads on land granted to them by the government. Railroads and Time Zones Scheduling proved to be another problem for railroads. Throughout much of the 18005, most towns set their clocks independendy, according to solar time. But when trains started regular passenger service, time differences from town to town created confusion. So, in 1883, the railroads adopted a national system of time zones to improve scheduling. As a result, clocks in broad regions of the country showed the same time, a system we still use today. Rail improvements such as this made life easier not only for passengers but also for businesses that shipped goods. By the end of the century, some 190,000 miles of rails linked businesses and their customers. Shipping costs dropped enormously. In 1865, shipping a barrel of flour from Chicago to New York cost $3.45. In 1895, it cost just 68 cents. Railroads and Industry Although the development of canals, turnpikes, and steam-powered ships in the first half of the century had improved transportation, the transport of goods over long distances was still cosdy and inefficient. Railroads played a key role in revolutionizing business and industry in the United States in several ways. A faster and more practical means oftransporting goods Railroads were less limited by geographic and natural factors, such as poor weather conditions, than water transport was. Trains could travel at higher speeds and transport larger items in much greater quantities. Lower costs ofproduction Railroads were a cheaper way to transport goods..as shipping costs dropped, more goods could be sent at lower prices..as a result, businesses were able to receive the raw materials and resources needed to produce their products at much lower costs and in much less time. Creation ofnational markets Higher speeds and lower costs now allowed a business to market and sell its finished products to locations nationwide, rather than 462 Chapter 13 The Expansion of American Industry

8 just in a local region. Also, the resources needed to produce these goods could be obtained from anywhere in the country. These advances in commerce helped to link distant regions of the United States, furthering the national network of business, transportation, and communication. A model for big business Because of the complexity and size of the railroad companies, with railroads came new administrative techniques for handling large numbers of workers and large quantities of materials and money. New methods ofmanagement also arose. The professional manager and the specialized department grew out of the railroad business. Stimulation ofother industries The growth of the railroad industry encouraged innovation in other industries. The replacement of iron rails with steel rails, for example, promoted the growth of the steel industry. The Bessemer Process Through the mid-1800s, the nation depended on iron for railroad rails and the frames of large buildings. But in the 1850s, Henry Bessemer in England and William Kelly in Kentucky independently developed a new process for making steel. In 1856, Bessemer received the first patent for the Bessemer process. Steel had long been produced by melting iron, adding carbon, and removing impurities. The Bessemer process made it much easier and cheaper to remove the impurities. Locomotives, such as this Erie Locomotive from 1903, were an impressive sight to many Americans at the turn of the century.

9 READING CHECK How did the Bessemer process make steel more affordable? Steel is lighter, stronger, and more flexible than iron. The Bessemer process made possible the mass production, or production in great amounts, of steel. As a result, a new age of building began. A majestic symbol ofthis new age that endures is the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge Mter the Civil War, New York City grew in size as well as population. Many people who worked on the island ofmanhattan lived in nearby Brooklyn. The only way to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan was by ferry across the East River. In winter, ice or winds often shut down the ferry service. Could a bridge high enough to clear river traffic be built across such a large distance? Engineer John A. Roebling, a German immigrant, thought it could. Roebling designed a suspension bridge with thick steel cables suspended from high towers to hold up the main span. That span, arching 1,595 feet above the The upper floors were used for offices. The ground floor held stores. The Chicago Reliance Building Bay windows let in light and air. This was important at a time when few buildings had electric lights and no one had even dreamed of air conditioning. Clay tile walls protected the building from fire. The steel frame carried the weight of the building. Elevators made it practical for buildings to have more than five or six stories. VIEWING HISTORY The Bessemer process paved the way for the use of steel in building construction. Before steel, frameworks consisted of heavy iron. Steel acted as a much lighter framework and allowed the construction of taller buildings. The Reliance Building in Chicago, shown here, was built 16 stories high in the 1890s. At the time, 16 stories was enough to make a building a "skyscraper." Analyzing Information How did various technologies combine to make skyscrapers possible? 464 Chapter 13 The Expansion of American Industry

10 ss ~l. at as :d Id ::n fic an 'm he river, would be the longest in the world. Roebling died shortly after construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began in 1869, so his son Washington took over the project. In 1872, after inspecting a foundation deep beneath the river, Washington became disabled by a severe attack of decompression sickness ("the bends"). Other disasters followed, from explosions and fires, to dishonest dealings by a steel-cable contractor. A 5mbol of American Success Despite these problems, the Brooklyn Bridge was completed and opened with a ceremony on May 24, In the keynote address, congressman and future New York City mayor Abram Hewitt remarked on this great triumph:,,;, It is not the work of anyone man or anyone age. It is the result of study, of the experience, and of the knowledge ot many men in many ages. It is not merely a creation; it is a growth. It stands before us today as the sum and epitome of human knowledge; as the very heir of the ages; as the latest glory of centuries of patient observation, profound study and accumulated skill.... " -Abram Stevens Hewitt At nightfall, crowds gasped as electric light bulbs, which had been strung along the bridge, lit up the darkness and shimmered on the river below. The city celebrated with a magnificent fireworks display. Indeed, the entire United States celebrated, its inventive genius and hard work plainly visible for all the world to see. VIEWING HISTORY This 1883 lithograph by Currier and Ives reveals the atmosphere of triumph and celebration that accompanied the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Demonstrating Reasoned Judgment How do you think images such as this influenced people's perceptions of the changes taking place in society? 1 READING COMPREHENSION CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING 1. Why did the nation's industrial 6. Determining Relevance How did productivity rise in the late 1800s? the system of patents encourage 2. Why did the oil business change after innovation and investment? Drake found oil in Pennsylvania? 7. Making Comparisons Think of a i 3. How did inventions such as the light modern convenience that you rely on. bulb and the telegraph change daily What benefits does this item bring to life in the late 1800s? your life? Are there any drawbacks associated with this item? 4. What were the advantages of building the transcontinental railroad? 8. Writing a List Create a list that compares the changes in business 5. What innovations did the Bessemer and daily life resulting from the teleprocess encourage? graph and the railroad in the late 1800s with the changes resulting from the Internet in the late 1900s. Go ~~nline e -----I'PHSchool.com For: An activity on the Central Pacific Railroad Visit: PHSchool.com Web Code: mrd-5131 Chapter 13 Section 1 465