INDUSTRIAL AGE CH.6 SEC.1. NATURAL RESOURCES FUEL INDUSTRIALIZATION Post Civil War the U.S. was primarily agricultural By 1920s it was the leading industrial.

INDUSTRIAL AGE CH.6 SEC.1

NATURAL RESOURCES FUEL INDUSTRIALIZATION • Post Civil War the U.S. was

primarily agricultural • By 1920s it was the leading

industrial country in the world • Natural resources• Government support for

business• Growing urban population =

labor force & market

BLACK GOLD • Native Americans were the 1st to use

crude oil for fuel/medicine • 1840s- Americans used kerosene (refined

from oil) to light lamps• Edwin L. Drake

• Used steam engine to drill for oil (Pennsylvania)

• Spread to KY, OH, IL, IN and TX

• Refining industries near Pittsburg & Cleveland • Transformed oil to kerosene

• Gasoline was by-product thrown away initially until the automobile

BESSEMER STEEL PROCESS

• Oil wasn’t the only resource to be found • Also rich in iron ore & coal

• Bessemer Process- 1850 • Henry Bessemer (British) & William Kelley

(American) • Injecting air into the molten iron to remove

carbon• 1880- used to produce 90% of world’s steel

NEW USES FOR STEEL • Industries• Railroads- largest customers• Barbed wire• Farm machinery

• New construction• Completely changed the construction

industry • Brooklyn Bridge (1883)- spanned 1,595 ft.

• William Le Baron Jenney----skyscrapers----Home Insurance Building in Chicago

POWER OF ELECTRICITY • Thomas Edison • Established the world’s first research

laboratory (1876---NJ)

• Invented light bulb (1880)

• Invented a system for producing/distributing electricity

• Effects• Ran numerous machines

• Cities spread outwards

• Manufacturing grew---no longer had to be near power sources

CHANGING LIFESTYLES • Christopher Sholes- invented

typewriter in 1867• Changed world of work• More jobs for women

• Alexander Graham Bell- invention of telephone• Opened door for world wide

communication