Industrial Revolution

Question 1

Needs for an Industrial Society

Answer 1

Steam powered engine
Growing population
Infrastructure (Roads/Transportation)
Market for sale of goods
Stable financial system
Stable Government
Ability to produce surplus of food

Question 2

Population

Answer 2

Growing at rapid pace

• Natural growth - baby making
• Large families (6-10 kids)
• Death rates declining
• Immigration boom

Question 3

Immigration

Answer 3

Large increase in immigration due to opportunities in US
Irish and Germans main immigrants
Better/Faster ships bring cost down for poorer people to travel to Americas
40% of immigrants are Irish
-Political issues
-Potato famine
Irish too poor to leave port cities and become part of the unskilled workforce
25% of immigrants are German
-Revolutions
-German states are war torn
Germans have more money so most move westward
Immigrants bring new thoughts, foods, and traditions
Lots of Catholics moving into Protestant states and cities
Rise in Nativism
-Anti-immigrant thoughts/discrimination
-Immigrants taking jobs because they will work for cheap

Question 4

Clipper Ships

Answer 4

Fast Sleek sailing ships

Make global trading more effective

Question 5

Canal Era

Answer 5

Canals primarily for transportation
1817 Erie canal in New York
-State funded
-356 miles from Albany to Buffalo
-Largest construction project to date
-Unifies mid-west with east
NYC replaces New Orleans as primary seaport
Animal powered canal boats would be pulled along the waterways

Question 6

Railroads

Answer 6

Slowly replaced canal era
Steam powered engines
1836 +/- 1000 miles of railroad in US
Increased rate goods could be transported
Gauge - width of the rails which varied from company to company making it difficult to move from railway to railway
Major rail companies meet and set standard gauge for majority of the north

Question 7

Telegraph

Answer 7

Electrical signal run through a wire
Samuel Morse develops morse code
Telegraph wires typically run alongside the railroads
Telegraph operators work in train stations
Helps train companies communicate and schedule
Helps journalism and news travel faster

Question 8

Printing

Answer 8

Rotary press helps produce more papers
Major cities start producing daily papers
Moor books, advertising and journals
Increases literacy

Question 9

Wages and Working Conditions

Answer 9

12 hour days/7 days a week
Moving towards 10 hour days/6 days a week
Hard and dangerous work
No Benefits/ low wages/ no job security

Question 10

Leisure and Entertainment

Answer 10

Theater
Bars
Reading
Sports
Music
Art