Heather Kronemeyer Sault Area Middle School Fall Conference 2006 The American Industrial Revolution.

Heather Kronemeyer

Sault Area Middle School

Fall Conference 2006

The American Industrial Revolution

Agenda

Background information– Pre-Industrial Revolution– Early Industrial Revolution– Late Industrial Revolution

Relationship to the Upper Peninsula Lesson Plan

Background Information

Pre-Industrial Revolution

Get into a Mindset– Demographics– Age Structure– Goals– Diet– Sickness– Social Class– Gender Roles

1750 - 1820

Demographics

90% of the population lived in independent farms– This included owners, family, and servants

These farms were self-sufficient– They made what they needed to survive or they

traded goods to get what they needed

Pre-Industrial Revolution

Age Structure

Infant Mortality Rate 1-10 est. (1800) Low Life Expectancy

– 1750 – 30 (South), 40 (North)– 1800 – 36 (East Coast)– 1850 – 39 (East Coast)

Most children would experience death of a family member Remarriage was common

– http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~shammas/hist350/u_s.htm

Pre-Industrial Revolution

Goals

#1 Goal was to KEEP FAMILY ALIVE!– Must provide every need independent of others

Food Shelter Clothing

Pre-Industrial Revolution

1770’s log cabin in Pennsylvania

Diet

Pre-Industrial Revolution

•Lack of Food was common

•Food sources dependent on weather and outside forces

•Diet was repetitive

•People ate bread, cheese, butter, porridge, eggs, raw fruits and veggies (in season) and canned ones out of season. Meat either fresh or preserved was consumed when available.

Sickness

Illness was a normal part of life What medicine there was, was not available to

most of the population Standard of living increased illnesses

– Dirty homes, bodies– Physicality of work– Dangers of environment

Pre-Industrial Revolution

Social Class

Pre-Industrial Revolution

•Majority of population was poor

•Small middle class

•Small elite upper class

Gender Roles

MEN– Firewood (for heat and

cooking)– Farming– Making of tools– Wood, leather, and metal

working– Animal husbandry

WOMEN– Cooking– Cleaning– Clothing– Raising of children– Education (if any) of

children

Pre-Industrial Revolution

•CHILDREN were taught gender skills by parents. Their work included carrying water, wood, simple cloth mending and harvest activities.

Roles were gender specific unless injury or death occurred.

Early Industrial Revolution

The Reason for the Industrial Revolution Key Inventions -“Age of Steam” Transportation Changes in the home Negative effects

of the Industrial Revolution

1800 - 1900

The Reason for the Industrial Revolution

War of 1812– The war of 1812 with

Britain created a need for Industrialization in America. We were unable to trade for the things we needed, and therefore had to start manufacturing them ourselves.

Early Industrial Revolution

Key Inventions – The Age of Steam

STEAM ENGINE– Used in almost every new

invention of this time period.

– Argued to be the single most important invention of the 19th century.

– Improved manufacturing, transportation, mining

Textile Mills Flour Mills (1860 –the

leading Industry in U.S.) Steamboats Railroads Specialized tools and

machines were created to make engines and keep them running

Early Industrial Revolution

Transportation

Steamboats - 1809– Appalachian MTS

separated the country– After invention, goods and

information travel faster and prices decrease

120 days to 9 days (New Orleans to St. Louis)

90% decrease in transportation prices

Railroads – 1820’s– Early RR were unsafe,

uncomfortable & slow– 1820-1850 – 30,000 miles

of track were laid– By 1850 RR had replaced

canals as transportation of goods and people

– RR fueled Industrial Revolution – wood, steal, coal, oil must be supplied, this spurs other industries.

Early Industrial Revolution

Changes in the Home

Early Factories produced things for ordinary people – flour, textiles (plain cloth) and household items.

Men’s work was moving outside of the household for wages. The wages then would be used to buy produced goods.

Women’s work actually increased. Children’s labor was replaced. Instead children started

to go to school. Education was encouraged and Women picked up the excess work.

Early Industrial Revolution

Negative Effects of Industrial Rev.

Factories– Dangerous (3%-5% of workforce killed or injured on the job)– Pushed employees and machines to the limit

Ways of life threatened– RR eliminate small towns that were not along lines– Cultures became more homogenized from area to area– Native Americans ways of life threatened – buffalo killed by

trains and hunting expeditions (decline of 10’s of millions)– Farmers hated RR and progress through their lands

Early Industrial Revolution

Late Industrial Revolution: Development and Impact of the Assembly Line

Mass Production and “Fordism” Labor Experience Impact of Mass Production

1900 - 1940

Mass Production and “Fordism”

Interchangeable Parts Large volume production

of a single model Low-priced goods; low

margin of profit Economies of sale Special purpose

machines

Low skill requirements of workers

“I prefer immigrants right off the boat that don’t know how to build a car”

-Henry Ford Moving assembly line

Late Industrial Revolution

Impact of Mass Production – National and Global Impact

Mass Consumption German and Russian Industrialization Cultural Influences

– Art– Music– Film (ie. Charlie Chaplin – Modern Times)– Architecture

Late Industrial Revolution

Labor Experience

Clock vs. Task Orientation

Working along with the machine

Working on only one small piece

Two competing experiences / Demands

Labor Problems– Workers response to

mass production– Consequences– Ford’s $5 a day– “Forditis”

Late Industrial Revolution

Relationship to the Upper Peninsula

Ford’s Sawmill L’Anse 1930’s

Industries Increase

Mining –iron ore, limestone, copper, etc. Shipping – large freighters Logging – more demand for lumber

1920's PICTURE OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY'S GREAT LAKES FREIGHTER, "HENRY FORD II", AT THE LOADING DOCK OF THE FORD SAWMILL IN L'ANSE.

Ford’s desire to be Independent

Ford didn’t want to depend on anyone else for his automobile industries

He set out to own all aspects– Lumber – Upper Peninsula– Iron ore, copper, limestone – U.P., Minn.– Coal – Kentucky, West Virginia– Rubber Plantation – Brazil (2.5 million acres)– Railroads and Shipping

Ford in the Upper Peninsula

Ford’s demand for natural resources grew

Bought mines, ships, and built railroads

Acquired 500,000 acres of forest in U.P

– Proper resource management

– Worked with U.S Forest service

By 1950’s wood was no longer needed in auto industry

Ford died in 1947 Company management

began closing down U.P. operations down around 1955

Ford creates “Village Industries”

Kingsford (1923)– Built homes, schools,

hospital– 14 assembly plants,

sawmill, steam power plant, dam, hydroelectric facility, chemical charcoal plant

– Built “Woodie” station wagon and Glider for WWII

Alberta– Built as a result of more

demand for resources– Built homes, schools,

social buildings

Henry Ford in Alberta with school children 1930’s

Lesson Plan

The American Revolution in the Upper Peninsula

Lesson Plan

Michigan Curriculum Framework (S.S.)– I.1, I.2, I.3, I.4, II.2, IV.2

Goals / Objectives Resources Needed

– Primary Sources, Guiding Questions

Procedure Reflection

Special Thanks to:

The Henry Ford Greenfield Village National Endowment for

the Humanities– Landmarks of American

History Teacher Workshop

Influential Texts– “More Work for Mother”

Ruth Cowan– “The Rational Factory”

Lindy Biggs– “Working at Inventing”

William S. Pretzer– “Technology & American

Society a History” Gary Cross & Rick

Szostak– “Passage to Union: How the

Railroads transformed American Life”

Sarah H. Gordon