Secondary Source: The Second Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution had changed so much that by 1850, that many historians today find it necessary to divide the Industrial Revolution into two phases. During the First Industrial Revolution, the main product being produced was textiles, and energy to run these early factories relied on wind and water power. Because many of the factory owners were able to make large amounts of money, this money, or capital, could then be spent on opening new factories and buying machines. Men and women could then invest their money, or capital, in new technologies and ideas in order to improve production to make a profit. This led to a boom in inventions, causing the First Industrial Revolution to spread, changing the way people lived at an even faster rate. This new period of industrialization occurring around 1850 quickly became known as the Second Industrial Revolution. The Second Industrial Revolution was the next phase in industrialization that included advances in steel production, petroleum, and electricity.

As the Industrial Revolution intensified new inventions began to make work easier for Americans, especially farmers. Farming still made up the majority of jobs that people performed, so simple inventions for farmers had a drastic impact on our nation. In 1825, Jethro Wood developed an iron plow with replaceable parts that made it easier for farmers to repair their plows. Replaceable Parts are parts of a tool or machine that are identical, allowing for easy repair and replacement. In Illinois, John Deere improved this design and created a lightweight steel plow that was stronger and could be pulled through a field more quickly. By 1847, Cyrus McCormick opened a factory in Chicago that manufactured horse-drawn reapers that could cut wheat and other grains much more quickly. McCormicks Mechanical Reaper could do the same work that five people using hand tools could do.

Like today, communication was essential for many businesses and farms. In 1844, Samuel F.B. Morse submitted a patent for a "talking wire" or telegraph. A patent is a government document giving the rights to one person ownership of a design of an invention for a set period of time. The Telegraph uses a code of dots and dashes which translated to short and longer electrical signals. Soon telegraph lines stretched between towns all across the nation, and numerous telegraph companies opened. As a result of the telegraph, the news could travel in just a few seconds across the nation, and eventually the world. The telegraph allowed merchants, farmers, and factories to thrive. Information on where a product is needed, where there is a shortage of food, or who is willing to pay the most for something is easily obtained.

In time the steam engine invented by James Watt was improved and used to power the first trains. At first, railroads were expensive to build and were built on short tracks that led to canals and rivers. Over time the railroad would become an incredibly popular way to transport and carry goods to and from markets. By 1863, two companies began constructing a transcontinental railroad, which would be a railroad connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Although the Civil War would disrupt its construction, it would be eventually completed on May 10, 1869. By the late 1800s, numerous railroad companies had built their own railway connecting the nation. Cities that were once small and insignificant suddenly boomed in growth due to the railroad. Cities like Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, San Francisco, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati became railroad hubs. Because of the railroad, travel to the western territories became easier, and many new states began applying for Statehood in the United States government.

Slowly factories began to use steam engines to power the machines, meaning factories no longer needed to be built near streams and rivers. Burning coal to power steam engines meant that factories could be built anywhere. Soon many cities began to see new factories appear on nearly every street. Coal powered steam engines were much more reliable than water or wind power, and its mobility meant that factories could be built closer to workers and markets where products would be sold. The only problem was that the large number of factories, railroads, buildings, and tools being made was being limited by the availability of cheap iron. The United States had the power, but it lacked the most important building material. The United States needed more iron and steel.

During the Industrial Revolution farmers and workers would build bloom furnaces, which looked like a small a chimney. Iron, and especially steel, were incredibly expensive and as a result, it was difficult to use by factories, farmers, and in construction projects. What was needed was mass produced iron or steel. Mass Production is the process of making large quantities of a product quickly and cheaply.

Businessmen began investing huge amounts of capital into their factories in an effort to discover a new way to make steel faster and cheaper. There were some successes, but none as important as the discovery made by Henry Bessemer. Henry Bessemer developed a way to remove these impurities and transform the iron into a stronger more rust resistant metal called steel. This Bessemer Process allowed factories to melt down raw iron in massive crucible pots, and then at the right moment, and when the molten iron is at the right temperature, a blast of air was forced into the iron. The result was a spectacular explosion as impurities were burned out of the iron, leaving behind a purer form of iron, commonly referred to as steel. The Bessemer Converter oven allowed the United States and other countries to begin producing massive amounts of iron and steel.

Cheaper steel that was easier to make meant that cities could develop skyscrapers, large bridges, and larger and more efficient factories. This was an advantage for many nations like the United States since many cities were becoming overcrowded as more and more people began moving to the cities in search of factory jobs. The Second Industrial Revolution would continue to expand the development of petroleum (oil), and electricity. By the early 1900s, the Second Industrial Revolution would lead to the development of a combustion engine, which could be used as an automobile motor, or to power other small machines.