Monday, September 17, 2007

Chapter 14 Section 1 Guided Reading

1) Which natural resources played big roles in industrialization?

Copious ammounts of oil were discovered, and after the steam engine oil drill was invented, there was an oil boom that went to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Texas. Petroeum refining industries were started in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and entrepreneurs rushed to make kerosene from oil. There were also abundant deposits of coal and iron. When the Bessemer process became popular, steel was used to make thousands of miles of railroad tracks. The railroads companies were the most important steel buyers, but other inventors found uses for it. Barbed wire and farm machines helped to make the Great Plains the breadbasket of the nation. It also became important in building; steel was used for bridges and skyscrapers.

2) How did Edwin Drake help industry to acquire larger quantities of oil?

Edwin L. Drake successfully used a steam engine to drill for oil in Pennsylvania in 1859. After this, removing oil from beneath the surface of the earth became easy and practical. Although oil had been used before this to make kerosene for lamps, but it was hard to get to it. After this method of recovering oil was discovered, though, an oil boom which went all through the country, from Kentucky to Texas and beyond. Petroleum-refining industries in Cleveland and Pittsburgh arose as entrepreneurs rushed to transform oil into kerosene.

3) How did the Bessemer process allow the better use of iron ore?

Before the discovery of the Bessemer process, iron was very plentiful in the U.S., but it was impractical to use because of how soft it was, and its tendency to break and rust. It also often contains other elements, like carbon. The Bessemer process allowed the other elements to be lifted out of the iron to make a lighter, more flexible, rust resistant metal out of the iron called steel. The Bessemer process was cheap and efficient, and by 1880, America was making more than 90% of the nation's steel using this process. It was sued for railroad tracks, as well as many other inventions like barbed wire and farming machinery.

4) What new uses for steel were developed at this time?

The railroads soon became the biggest customers to the steel industry, making thousand of miles of track with it, but there were also other inventions that used steel, barbed wire and farm machinery prominent among them. Steel also made innovative construction possible, and was sued to construct the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as skyscrapers. Before steel was used as a frame for buildings, their height was limited because the iron frames and walls supported the weight of the buildings.

5) How did Thomas Edison contribute to the development of the increasing numbers of inventions?

When Edison made a system to harness electrical power, many inventions were made, mostly time saving appliances, that used the new electric system. Among these were many kinds of machines, such as fans and printing presses, as well as numerous other types of factory machines used in various plants. When electricity became available in homes, many time saving appliances were invented, and the electric streetcar was invented. And since plants were no longer required to be located near a river or other power source, industry grew rapidly. Basically, inventors realized that electricity could power pretty much anything, and capitalized on that.

6) How did George Westinghouse contribute to it?

After Edison invented the incandescent light bulb and a system for producing and distributing electrical power, George Westinghouse contributed to it by adding innovations that would make it safer and less expensive. As a result, businesses were more likely to use it, since it cost less, and homes were more likely to have it, since it was now cheaper, and then all of the subsequent inventions followed the wider spread of electricity.

7) How did Christopher Sholes contribute?

Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter in 1867, and this invention created more jobs for women, who by 1910 made up almost 40% of the clerical workforce. His inventions helped make labor more efficient and quick.

8) How did Alexander Graham Bell contribute?

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, which opened the way for a worldwide communications network. This, too opened many more jobs for women.

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