The Second

Industrial
Revolution
Chapter 19 Section 1

Important Vocabulary

The Big Idea

The Second Industrial Revolution led to new sources of
power and advances in transportation and
communication.

Main Ideas
1. Breakthroughs in steel processing led to a
boom in railroad construction.
!

2. Advances in the use of oil and electricity

improved communications and transportation.
!

3. A rush of inventions changed Americans

lives.

Building Background

The first Industrial Revolution in America began in the

early 1800s. It changed the way products were made, from
handwork to machines. It moved the workplace from
cottages to factories. Later, it brought advances in
transportation and communication. The Second Industrial
Revolution built on these changes, introducing new
technology and new sources of power.

The Bessemer Process

Cause

The Bessemer process

made manufacturing
steel much easier and
quicker.

Effect

The Bessemer
process increased
steel production.

Video Link

Steel Prices
Cause

The price of steel

dropped and production
rapidly increased.

Effect

Railroad companies were

able to build thousands of
miles of new steel track.

Growth of Cities
Cause

The major rail lines

crossed into cities.

Effect

Major cities, such as

Chicago, grew rapidly.

Rail Industry
Cause

Rail travel and shipping increased

Effect

Railroads and related industries

began employing more people.

Oil Production
Cause

In the 1850s chemists invented a way to

convert crude, or unprocessed, oil into a fuel
called kerosene.
Effect

The demand for oil increased.

Big Oil
Cause

Oil became big business as states

began producing millions of
barrels of oil a year.
Effect

Oil companies built refineries to

turn the crude oil into finished
products.

Edison, Lightbulb, Electricity

Cause
Thomas Edison saw that
electricity could be used for
practical purposes.

Effect

He invented the lightbulb in 1879.

Electricity and Power Plants

Cause

Few homes and businesses during

Edisons time could get electricity.
Effect

Edison built a power plant that

began supplying electricity to
dozens of buildings in New York.

The Telephone
Cause

Effect

Alexander Graham Bell

patented and invented
the telephone.

Telegraph wires carried only

written messages, and it was
difficult for untrained people to
use them.

Growth of Phone Lines

Cause

Telephone companies
raced to lay thousands of
miles of phone lines.
Effect

By 1880 there were about 55,000

telephones in the U.S.. and by
1900 there was almost 1.5 million.

Engine Technology
Cause

In 1876, a German engineer

invented an engine powered by
gasoline, another fuel from oil.
Effect
By 1893, the first automobiles were
being produced.!
By the 1900s thousands of cars were
being built in the U.S.

Video

Henry Ford, Model T

Cause

Henry Ford implemented

the moving assembly line
for making cars.
Effect

Henry Ford was able to

make cars, like his Model T,
affordable to the average
consumer.

Flight Technology
Cause

New engine technology made air

flight possible.
Effect

Video Link

Orville and Wilbur Wright made

the first piloted flight in a gaspowered plane in 1903.