Ch 6, Sec 1The Expansion of Industry

1. When and where did the Texas oil boom begin?

• 1901, in Spindletop, near Beaumont, Texas

2. Immediately after the American Civil War, the U.S. was still largely what type of nation, economically?• Agricultural

3. By 1920, the U.S. economy had evolved into what type of economy?• Industrial• And after World War One, the U.S. became the world’s leading

economic power, a status that it retains to this day

4. What were some of the factors that led to this explosion of American industrial growth?• Abundant natural resources in the U.S.• Government support for business (Tarrifs)• Property rights and broad-based economic freedom• A growing urban population providing cheap labor and markets for

industrial goods

5. In the 1840s, Americans used what form of petroleum to light lamps?• Kerosene

6. In 1859, Edwin L. Drake used a steam engine to remove what from below ground?• Oil (Petroleum)

7. The initial American oil boom (prior to the Texas boom) began where?• Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana

8. Hence, American entrepreneurs initially refined oil into what?• Kerosene

9. At first, what was done to gasoline (a byproduct of refining oil into kerosene)?• It was thrown away

10. But, in time, it was discovered that gasoline could be used to power what?• Internal combustion engines• Thus the stage was set for the development of

automobiles, airplanes, etc.

• 11. In addition to oil, what other natural resources were abundant in the USA, resources that were important to making the American industrial explosion possible?

• Coal• Iron

12. The removal of carbon from iron ore produces what?• steel

13. What was the Bessemer Process?• A technique using the injection of air into molten iron

in order to remove carbon and other impurities from the iron during the steel-making process

14. At first, who were the biggest customers for American steel?• Railroad companies• Steel: Heavily used in track rails, locomotives, and rail

cars

15. In terms of fencing in the American West, steel was important in what simple invention?• Barbed Wire

16. Steel was also important in what ways for American agriculture?• Farm tools and machines

17. What were some of the most important aspects of the Brooklyn Bridge, a bridge completed in 1883?• It spanned 1595 feet across the East River in New York

City• It’s towers were higher than any man-made load-bearing

structure at the time, except the Egyptian Pyramids• It was a suspension bridge in which steel cables held up

the weight of the bridge roadway• In 1889, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France would eclipse

the Brooklyn Bridge in height.

18. What was the first American steel-framed “skyscraper” building?• The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois• It was designed by William Le Baron Jenney• The steel frame allowed for buildings to be constructed of

unprecedented height.• In the 1930s, the Empire State Building in New York City would

eclipse the Eiffel Tower in height

19. Patented in 1880, what invention of Thomas Edison brightened the world?• The incandescent light bulb

20. Once inventors and engineers were able to produce and regulate electricity in safe and efficient manners, factories no longer had to be located near what?• Rivers (prior sources of power)

21. In 1867, Christopher Sholes invented what?• The typewriter, a device that revolutionized

office and clerical work

22. What did Alexander Graham Bell invent in 1876?• The Telephone• The telephone allowed for voice communication

and served as a big improvement over the telegraph (a device that allowed written communication via electronic pulses)

• Like the typewriter, the telephone expanded the possibilities of office work

23. By 1910, women made up 40% of what type of workers?• Office workers

24. With the expansion of industrial production, American clothing became less home-made and more what?• Store-bought

25. For many, industrialization improved what?• Their standard of living