Caren. B
The steel industry was booming in the late 1800's. The production of steel was made easier by such inventions as the Bessemer process and the Siemens regenerative furnace. One of the most influential people during the Technical Revolution was Andrew Carnegie. This steel tycoon was not only a brilliant entrepreneur but someone who gave back to his people.
Caren B. Ashley A.
Andrew Carnegie-The Father of Steel
Mr. Andrew Carnegie was the story of a rag to riches,born to a poor family from Dunfernline, Scotland in 1835. After the job loss of his father they moved to America. As a newly immigrated people to America Mr. Carnegie worked as a bobbin boy in the factory where his father worked. Later he moved to being telegrapher boy delivering the messages from door to door. He had his 1st shot at opportunity when he started to work for Mr. Thomas A. Scott (PBS.ORG) as a private secretary for $35 a month and latter filled the position as superintendent of Pittsburgh Division that Mr. Thomas A. Scott was holding. As he started to earn more money he heavily invested them on new items like oil and steel manufacturing plants. Later in his life he gained control of the steel industry and earned alot of money making him one of the richest men of the late 19th century.
As labor strikes and trouble started in 1892 he preached for labor rights but kept his cost down. His workers endured long hours and followed the motto “watch costs as the profits take care of themselves.” In the 1892’s Homestead Strike Andrew Carnegie ignored those strikers and as a result a riot started killing many of the workers. He also took opportunities to buy out the rivals and created a vertical integration, meaning that the industries controlled all aspect of production from mining to end product. This let the Company to keep the cost down and profit high.
When Mr. Andrew Carnegie started to get old he sold his Steel Company to Morgan (JP Morgan)for $480 million making him one of the richest men in the world. His legacy still stands and it is still strong. He gave funds to many libraries and also wrote the book The Gospel of Wealth. The book says to return the richness back to the society which makes common people have more faith in the wealthy elites of the society . Mr. Andrew Carnegie died in 1919 (84 years old) leaving behind lots of money and giving a lot back to the society which helped him earn it.
Samik B.
The steel industry, along with its products, was one of many on display at the first world fair held in 1876 in the town of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known as the Centennial Exposition, it commemorated the 100 year anniversary of Deceleration of Independence and the accomplishments of the booming Technical Revolution.
Ashley A. Caren B.
The Centennial Exposition
The 1,400-horsepower Corliss steam engine powered all the exhibits in the Machinery Hall through 5 miles of overhead line belts, shafts and pulleys.
The 558,000-square-foot Machinery Hall was a must-see attraction of the Centennial Exposition.
The Torch of The Statue of Liberty (before completion in 1886)
The 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. While the event was officially classified as a world's fair, it actually showcased American manufacturers. It was the first gathering of machine tool builders and assembly equipment vendors in the United States.
Thousands of exhibits and products on display in Philadelphia celebrated the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Centennial Exposition, held from May 10 to Nov. 10, featured more than 30,000 exhibitors spread out in 190 buildings on a 256-acre site in Fairmount Park. Almost 10 million visitors from around the world attended the event.
The Philadelphia fair served as a coming out party for American manufacturers. Mass-produced products on display included sewing machines, typewriters, stoves, lanterns and guns, plus horse-drawn wagons, carriages and agricultural equipment.
One of the highlights of the fair was the first public showing of the arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty (the rest of the giant statue would not be completed in New York Harbor until 1886). The Centennial Exposition also witnessed the debut of the world's first monorail system, which featured a steam locomotive and passenger car straddling a single, elevated iron rail that rested several feet off the ground.
Another young inventor named Thomas Edison also participated in the world's fair. He displayed several new devices, including an "automatic telegraph system" and an "electric pen." Edison's visit to the Centennial Exposition sparked many ideas in his head, including the incandescent light bulb, which was still 3 years away.
The items on display inspired nu-merous inventors and entrepreneurs besides Edison, such as George Eastman and George Westinghouse, who both attended the fair and later achieved widespread fame and fortune. Among other inventions, Eastman created a process for mass-producing dry photographic plates in 1879, while Westinghouse developed alternating current generating equipment during the 1880s.
Today, many of the items on display in the Machinery Hall at the 1876 Centennial Exposition are housed in the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC). The site of the fair, Fairmount Park, still exists and provides an urban oasis in the middle of Philadelphia. In fact, with 4,180 acres, it is the largest landscaped park in the United States.
Kish B.
This celebration of the many inventions and hard work of American citizens was just one of the elements of the second industrial revolution. The petroleum industry was growing and the man at the forefront of this growth was John D. Rockefeller.
Ashley A. Caren B.
The Petroleum Industry and Rockefeller
The Technological Revolution dominated the United States at the end of 19th century. These technological innovations were necessary for urban and social expansions as they improved life socially and urbanely. One man who is known as the richest man in history as his accumulated wealth is greater than any person’s wealth in history. John D. Rockefeller essentially revolutionized the petroleum industry in the United States and over the course of a few decades monopolized the oil industry. Rockefeller began his accumulation of wealth by investing in a company titled Standard Oil with Samuel Andrews, after Rockefeller heard that Samuel found a significantly cheaper way to refine crude petroleum. Soon after Standard Oil grew, Rockefeller bought out Andrew for a million dollars and soon monopolized the oil industry by swallowing its competition. In fact, it was so powerful the Supreme Court had to step in 1911 to dismantle the Standard Oil Company. He was perceived as an evil man, but an in fact he was a philanthropist at heart and donated nearly half a billion dollars to make life better for everyone in the United States.
Although his monopolization of the United States oil industry through the refinement of petroleum can be perceived as malignant by many, Rockefeller’s own expansion was necessary for the expansion of industrial and urban life for each and every individual. Prior to the expansion of a monopoly, crude oil was expensive and certainly the refinement of it was all the more expensive. In addition to these costs, people had to worry about transportation cost; that is transporting the oil to each and every region in the United States. By the time that an American was to purchase oil, there would be so many middlemen that the oil itself was so expensive. Rockefeller changed this completely as his monopoly pushed oil prices down from 58 cents a gallon to 8 cents a gallon. He had oil refineries all over the United States and since it was his corporation that owned these refineries transportation costs were reduced. Americans filled their homes with oil for approximately 1 cent an hour and essentially oil was cheap enough to purchase by each and every American. Oil was everywhere and it was cheaper than ever before, as Rockefeller’s monopoly made life better for people as they were paying so little for such a valuable resource.
Adnan B.
Valuable resources such as petroleum were very important to other industries such as the transportation industry. The railroad industry was very important because it aided in settling the frontier across America.
Caren B. Ashley A.
The Railroad Industry
The railroad industry was a huge success in the 1800’s with the invention of the railroad industry, came expansion. This meant that people from everywhere could leave there oppressive countries and come to the land of the free, promising that there would be life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With the introduction of the railroad industry things could be shipped with less expensive cost and at quicker rates than everyone was accustomed to. Business for those who used this new invention of railroads and there systems were very successful which meant for a happy home and a new class of people flourishing. Race was no longer such an issue, employment was afforded to a larger variety of citizens. Through new jobs provided by the railroad industry, people could develop a trade and work hard at perfecting it as their own. This was a period of new awakening for the United States.
Justina A.
The 1900s was a time of growth and prosperity for America. With a mass load of immigrants bringing new ideas and culture, and inventors on the brink of something amazing the opportunity for entrepreneurs,like Andrew Carnegie and his steel industry, to grab these ideas and run was immense. Easier and cheaper transportation brought on by the expansion of the railroads and large fairs to showcase new works or inventions like those displayed at the Centennial Exposition were making means of life much easier then before. There were no limits on how far America could go at this point, and everyone was taking full advantage of that.
Ashley A.
