HIST 1302 Life in Industrial America

What was the Bessemer Process and what did it enable?

Removal of impurities from iron with air, enabling mass steel production for rails, skyscrapers, and tall buildings.

Who won the Current War and what was the outcome?

Nikola Tesla’s Alternating Current (AC) won over Direct Current (DC).

Who patented the telephone and in what year?

Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.

What was the first message sent by telephone?

“Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”

Who built the first car in Germany and when?

Karl Benz in 1886.

Who built the first gasoline motor vehicle in the U.S.?

Charles & Frank Duryea in 1893.

What was Henry Ford’s first car and later innovation?

Ford Quadricycle (1896); revolutionized production with assembly line; Model T (1908–1927).

Who achieved the first sustained powered flight and when?

Wright brothers, 1903 at Kitty Hawk.

Which country led early aviation innovations after the Wright brothers?

France (Europe).

What famous flight did Charles Lindbergh complete in 1927?

Solo New York to Paris flight, boosting U.S. aviation.

What made skyscrapers possible?

Steel, elevators, and fireproofing.

What was the first skyscraper and where?

Home Insurance Building in Chicago, 1884.

What major event prompted Chicago’s rebuilding with skyscrapers?

The Great Fire of 1871.

What fires led to new fireproofing and professional fire departments?

Chicago and Boston fires of 1871.

What were Dumbbell Tenements (1879)?

Overcrowded, poorly sanitized apartments; 4,000+ residents per block; banned in NY in 1901.

What epidemics spread due to poor sanitation?

Cholera and typhoid fever.

How did poverty and overcrowding affect crime rates?

U.S. murder rate quadrupled between 1880 and 1900.

What was the Public Health Service (1912)?

Federal agency with limited enforcement of sanitation rules.

What were the first forms of mass transit?

Elevated trains (1870), San Francisco cable car (1873).

What new transit systems developed in the late 19th century?

Electric trolleys (1880s), Boston subway (1897), NYC subway (1904).

What social effect did mass transit have?

Led to suburbanization and income-based residential segregation.

What was the Brooklyn Bridge and when was it built?

World’s longest suspension bridge, completed in 1883.

What was Old Immigration?

Pre–Civil War immigrants from Northern/Western Europe (Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia).

What was New Immigration?

From 1880s onward: Southern/Eastern Europe (Jews, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Russians, Turks).

What year did Ellis Island open?

1892

How many immigrants arrived between 1815–1865 and 1865–1915?

6.25 million (1815–1865); 25 million (1865–1915).

What were typical factory conditions in the late 19th century?

10 hrs/day, 6 days/week, unskilled wages $1–$1.50/day, unsafe, little compensation for injuries.

What was the average yearly income, and how much was needed for decent living?

$400–$500 income vs. ~$600 needed.

What role did women, children, and African Americans have in factories?

Paid less than men for labor.

What did mass production lead to?

Cheaper goods and wider access.

What was the first mail-order catalog and when?

Montgomery Ward, 1872.

Which company dominated mail-order catalogs?

Sears, Roebuck & Co.

What was Rural Free Delivery (1896)?

Postal service that expanded access to mail-order goods.

What were Sears Kit Homes?

Prefabricated houses sold by mail (1908–1940).

What were early department stores and examples?

Large urban stores; example: Marshall Field in Chicago.

How did shopping change culturally?

Became a glamorous urban experience.

What role did women play as consumers?

Drove clothing trends, primary food shoppers, accessed new products (e.g., California oranges, Wyoming beef).

What major brands emerged in the 1890s?

Campbell’s Soup, Nabisco, Coca-Cola.

How was leisure redefined during industrial America?

Seen as valuable, not laziness.

What sports did middle/upper classes enjoy?

Golf, tennis, and bicycling (1890s craze).

What sports did working-class Americans enjoy?

Baseball (National League 1876, American League 1901, first World Series 1903).

What was Coney Island?

Amusement park in NYC with rides, sideshows, cheap food.

What major world’s fairs showcased innovation?

Philadelphia Centennial (1876), Chicago Columbian Exposition (1893).

Who pioneered early motion pictures?

Thomas Edison in the 1880s (short films in penny arcades, pool halls).

What literary movement rose in this era?

Realism.

Who was Mark Twain and what were some of his works?

Samuel Clemens; wrote Tom Sawyer (1876) and Huckleberry Finn (1884).

What forms of popular reading emerged?

Ethnic newspapers (French, German, Greek, Italian, Yiddish) and women’s magazines like Harper’s Bazaar (1867), Ladies Home Journal (1883).