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Samuel Slater built America's first water-powered, cotton spinning mill in Rhode Island.
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Founded by Samuel Slater and his brother, Slatersville was a mill village. Known as a factory system, the village included the mill, housing for workers, and a company store.
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Robert Fulton was the first to create both a functional and economically feasible steamboat. His steamboat, Clermont, went from New York City to Albany. The steamboat reigned as the main mode of transportation until railroads expanded later in the century.
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First railroad chartered in the United States.
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Samuel Morse, with the help of others, created the telegraph, which sent electrical signals over a wire laid between stations. This made possible communication over long-distances, and it was relatively quick. Along with this was Morse code, a series of dots and dashes representing the alphabet.
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This act chartered the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad Companies, who were to build a railroad that connected the United States from east to west. The development made it easier for raw materials and manufactured goods to be transported.
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In 1881, Thomas Edison discovered that carbonized bamboo could be used as a filament, creating a long-lasting, affordable light bulb. This made it possible to work after sundown, increasing production.
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Wilbur and Orville Wright made four brief flights with their first aircraft, which became the first functional airplane.
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Henry Ford was not the first to invent a car; he was, however, the first to make an affordable car. In 1908, the Model T was $825.00. A few years later, the price dropped to $575.00.
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Ford wanted to make his cars more affordable, and he knew that do this he had to make production more efficient. He recognized four things that needed to be improved: identical parts, continuous flow, division of labor, and and reduction of wasted effort. Finally, in 1913, Ford & his team put together the first assembly line, drastically increasing production and simultaneously lowering cost.
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Grain Elevator, John Marin. 1910-1915. Oil on canvas.
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The Steel Mill, Thomas Hart Benton. 1930. Oil on canvas mounted on board.
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Coca-Cola, Andy Warhol. 1962. Casein on canvas. Consumerism, a by-product of Industrialism.
