Summary of Industralization

This information talks about a big change in history called the Industrial Revolution. This was a time when new inventions (new machines) and innovations (new ideas) changed how everyone lived, not just rich people.

Trains and Coal

• Trains were a very important invention. They could travel faster than boats.

• Trains used coal to run. Coal is a raw material, which means it's a natural resource from the earth. People had to dig for coal.

• Trains helped deliver products (things you buy) faster.

• Today, coal is used to make electricity.

Before and After Electricity

• Before electricity, people used candles or oil lamps for light. To talk to someone far away, they wrote letters. For emergencies, they lit a beacon (a bright fire) to tell the town.

• Electricity made new things possible, like phones, lightbulbs, and the telegraph (a way to send messages far away).

Oil

• Oil (also called petroleum or gas) is a raw material made from plants that lived millions of years ago. It's sometimes called "Liquid Gold".

Buying and Getting Rich

• People started to want and buy many new things. This focus on buying and selling goods is called consumerism.

• During a time called the Gilded Age, some people became rich very fast and became millionaires.

• But making many new things also hurt nature. For example, a big hill in St. Louis was destroyed to build railroads.

Moving West and Native Americans

• The government gave free land in the western part of the country to people who wanted to farm it. This was called the Homestead Act. Women and African Americans could also get this land.

• Cowboys moved cows across the land to be sold for meat.

• The government gave land to settlers that Native Americans had lived on for thousands of years. This caused a lot of fighting and death, known as the "Indian Wars".

• Native Americans were forced to leave their homes and move to special areas called reservations. This land was often not good for farming.

• The government even burned Native American villages.

• Young Native American children were sent to boarding schools to try and make them live like white Americans. This was a very bad experience for them.

Big Companies (Monopolies)

• Sometimes, one company became so big that it controlled almost all of a market (all the buying and selling of a certain product). This is called a monopoly.

• Rich business owners who gained a lot of power were sometimes called Robber Barons.

• The government later made a law to break up these big monopolies.

Unions and Strikes

• A union is a group of workers who work together to make their jobs better and keep good conditions.

• When workers want changes, they sometimes strike. This means they stop working together to ask their bosses for things like better pay or fewer hours.

• Collective bargaining is when a union talks with bosses to agree on changes.

• Bosses usually do not support strikes. A scab is someone who takes a striking worker's job.

• There have been many important strikes, like a streetcar strike in St. Louis where people died.

• Today, groups like the United Auto Workers (UAW) are strong unions. Workers on strike often carry picket signs to show what they want.

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Definitions of Important Terms (Level 2 and 3 Terms)

Here are some important words from the sources with simple definitions:

• Product: A good or service that you buy.

    ◦ Example: A new phone is a product.

• Invention: A new device or machine that someone makes.

    ◦ Example: The lightbulb was an important invention.

• Strike: When many workers stop working together to try and make their bosses agree to better working conditions or more pay.

    ◦ Example: The workers went on strike because they wanted more money.

• Innovation: A new idea or a new way of doing something.

    ◦ Example: Faster ways to deliver goods were an innovation.

• Monopoly: When one company controls almost all the business for a certain product or service, so no other company can compete.

    ◦ Example: If only one company sold all the food in a city, that would be a monopoly.

• Industry: The process of using raw materials to make products.

    ◦ Example: The car industry makes cars.

• Raw Material: A natural resource from the earth, like coal or oil, that is used to make other products.

    ◦ Example: Wood is a raw material used to build houses.

• Union: A group of workers who join together to protect their jobs and keep good working conditions.

    ◦ Example: The teachers' union helps teachers get fair pay.

• Industrial Revolution: A time in history when new machines and ideas greatly changed how people lived, worked, and made things.

    ◦ Example: During the Industrial Revolution, trains and electricity changed daily life.

• Consumerism: A focus on buying or selling many goods and services.

    ◦ Example: Because of consumerism, many people wanted to buy new products.

• Gilded Age: A period in history when many people became rich very quickly, but there were also hidden problems in society.

    ◦ Example: During the Gilded Age, there were many new millionaires.

• Robber Barons: Very rich and powerful business owners during the Gilded Age who sometimes used unfair ways to get their wealth and control.

• Homestead Act: A law from the government that gave free land in the western part of the country to people who promised to farm it.

    ◦ Example: The Homestead Act encouraged many people to move west.

• Reservations: Special areas of land that the government forced Native Americans to live on, away from their traditional homelands.

    ◦ Example: The Native Americans did not want to be forced onto reservations.

• Assimilate: To make someone change their culture and way of life to be like the main culture of a country.

    ◦ Example: The government tried to assimilate Native American children in boarding schools.

• Collective Bargaining: When a union (group of workers) talks together with bosses to agree on better working conditions, pay, or other changes. They act as one strong voice.

    ◦ Example: Through collective bargaining, the union got higher wages for all the workers.

• Scab: A person who takes the job of a worker who is on strike.

    ◦ Example: The striking workers were angry at the scabs who took their jobs.

• Picket Signs: Signs that striking workers carry to show their demands or message to the public and their bosses.

    ◦ Example: The workers held up picket signs that said "Fair Pay Now!".