The Industrial RevolutionAim: How has the industrial revolution developed and changed the landscape for America?

Overview (Don’t copy)

The late 1800’s was a time of invention and advances in technology. These breakthroughs combined with railroad expansion and new business practices to launch an age of industry. Government policies encouraged growth, and large corporations became an important part of the economy. Meanwhile, poor pay and working conditions led workers to form unions in an attempt to improve their lives.

What is the industrial revolution

A period of rapid growth in using machines for manufacturing and production that began

The Growth of Railroads

Question: How did railroads pave the way for growth and expansion?

The expansion of railroads powered a growing economy. In 1860, the United States had about 30,000 miles of railroad track and by 1900 the total grew to about 193,000.

Why is this important

Combining Railroads

Along with the expansion of railroads came consolidation-the practice of combining separate companies. Large railroad companies bought smaller companies or drove them out of business.

Why did the larger companies do this?What examples can you give of this taking

place?

Railroad Barons

Individuals who control the nations’s railroads. They were very competitive and worked in an age when few laws limited their business practices.

(Cornelius Vanderbilt-NY City to the Great Lakes)

Progress Check

What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of consolidation?

Railroads Aid Economic Growth

Railroads carried raw materials such as iron, coal (fuel), and timber(tie tracks) to factories. These factories moved them to the markets.

Demand for iron was high so the iron industry grew. However, around 1880, railroads began using steel for their tracks.

Question: What do you think happened to the iron and steel industries?

**thousands of jobs were created because of the railroad company

Making a National Rail System

The first railroads covered only a small area. Different railroads used tracks of different gauges, or distances between the rails. Trains of one railroad COULD NOT use another line’s tracks

Question: How did this slow the manufacturer?

New Technology Improves Railroads

Question: What type of new technology improved the railroads?

What type of new technology improved

the railroads?Air brakes created Janney car couplers-links the train carsRefrigerated cars (ship meat and crops)Sleeping cars (luxury railway car-seats

changed into beds)

Railroads Compete for Customers

Large railroads offered rebates (discounts) to their biggest customers. Smaller railroads were forced out of business.

Railroad barons made secret agreements with one another to form pools. The companies in a pool divided up business among themselves and set identical rates. This eliminated competition and gave the barons a lot of leverage.

Railroads Change America

The growing railroad network helped American industry expand into the West.

Ex. Farm equipment was moved from New York to Illinois and Wisconsin…which led to…

Changing where people lived. Trains transported people into the Great Plains and the West.

(Also, rural areas to cities)

1. Examine the two words below. Then write a sentence explaining what the terms have in common.

A) ConsolidationB) Railroad Baron

2. Write a sentence about railroads that use the following terms.

A) PoolB) Rebate

3. In what ways did railroads help the nation’s economy grow?

4. How did railroads affect where people settled in the United States?