Technology and Industrial/Business Changes

  • 1492

    Columbian Exchange

    technology (like sextant, horses) spread
  • Invention of factories

    lowell farm girls. factory system was created by Samuel Slater. Goods could be produced much quicker
  • Cotton gin & mechanical reaper

    cotton gin reinvigorated slavery. mech. reaper made farming more profitable
  • Market Revolution

    change in labor system, united country. bc of transportation revolution
  • Invention of steamships

    enabled trade
  • Invention of RRs

    led to westward expansion
  • Clipper Ships

    used for trade. quick but inefficient
  • Laissez faire economics

    hands off approach of government in Gilded Age
  • Creation of labor unions

    AF of L, Knights of Labor. Made bc of businesses taking advantage of workers
  • Invention of automobiles

    people could travel much farther (trucks/shipping easier). more mobility
  • Invention of radio

    united country (FDR's fireside chats)
  • TR & Taft Trust Busting

    sherman & Clayton antitrust act, glass steagall act
  • Invention of TV

    advertising. info could be displayed quickly, united country, portrayed "traditional" US life
  • Weapons of Mass Destruction

    WWII and Cold war. (nuclear weapons)