Chapter 13: American Industry

By Eguthrie

  • Drake Strikes Oil

    Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company sent Drake to Titusville, Pennsylvania, to drill for oil. He came up with a new method of striking oil that was cheaper and more effectient.

  • The Knights Labor of Union

    The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor formed in Philadelphia. This is important because they hoped to organize working men and women skilled and unskilled. It recruited 60,000 people.

  • Edison with Electrical Power

    Thomas Edison, with help from other scientists, found resource to replace oil lamps. Because of this he built a power plant that lit dozens of buildings across the country providing electricity for lamps, fans, printing presses, and other appliances.

  • The Transcontinental Railroad

    The Transcontinental Railroad extended from coast to coast. This railroad was important because before the Civil War, most of the nation's railways were short lines and not every train could travel on the tracks. Goods and passengers would have to move to different trains, which caused costly delays.

  • Brooklyn Bridge Completed

    New York grew in population after the Civil War. This bridge is important because people would have to ferry from Brooklyn to Manhattan across the East River, but in the winter it would sometimes have to shut down. The Brooklyn Bridge solved this problem.

  • The Telegraph

    Samuel F. B. Morse created the code of short and long electrical impulses to represent the letters of the alphabet. This is important because his success signaled the start of a communications revolution; companies were born, messages were transmitted, and over 900,000 miles of wire were sending 63 million telegraph messages per year.

  • The Great Railroad Strike

    Baltimore and Ohio had 10 percent wage cuts. This is important because it sparked uprisings with workers and began a new and violent era in labor relations.

  • The Sherman Antitrust Act

    This act was made to limit the amount of control that a business could have over the industries. This is important because it would have outlawed companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce. The law proved ineffective in many cases.