CH A PT E R 7

Streetcars
powered by
electricity criss-
crossed city
streets with
sparks flying.

The automobile revolutionized

life. New roads connected
cities, and owning a car
became an all-American goal.

With new inventions came

something wonderful—time for
fun. Freed from daily drudgery,
people could enjoy new pastimes
102
such as bike riding.
 We took to the roadways and reached for
the sky as brilliant inventors dreamed the
almost-impossible, then made
those dreams come true.

T H E A G E O F I N V E N T I O N

AMERICA ON
THE MOVE
1 8 7 6 - 1 9 2 0

“When everything seems to be going

against you, remember that the airplane
takes off against the wind, not with it.”
—Henry Ford, inventor of the Model T Ford

The increased availability of telephones led

to a new job—telephone operator. This
woman wears a special headset to speed 103
the connecting of phone calls.
 Technology extended
Bicycles inspired Ever since the 1860s, people had been experimenting
many progress into all areas of
with vehicles that did not need animals to pull them. American life, including
inventors. They tried using steam, coal, and even gunpowder to neglected rural areas.
make these contraptions move. All that changed in
the 1890s.

Henry Ford’s
Bright Idea
The first gasoline-powered cars moved at a whopping six miles per
hour—not much faster than a person out for a brisk walk. The cars broke
down constantly, but that did not stop people from becoming obsessed
with these temperamental, clanking, often-dangerous new vehicles. One
of those “obsessed” people was young Henry Ford.
THE HORSELESS CARRIAGE
Henry Ford grew up on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan,
but farm life held no appeal for him. Ford loved engines
and motors. By 1896 he had built his first car, which he
called the Quadricycle, and he spent the next few years
experimenting, tinkering, and constantly trying to
improve its designs.
Other carmakers were having far greater success. By
1900 the Europeans were building far more advanced
cars. In America a man named Ransom
Ford’s first quadricycle could only Olds started selling sturdy Oldsmobiles,
go forward and steered like a which were America’s first mass-
ship, using a tiller, but by 1920 produced gasoline-powered cars. But
his cars ruled the roads!
Ford loved cars, and came up with a
better idea of how to build them.
A WILD RIDE
Driving a car in the very early
1900s was an adventure. Cars had
no roofs or windshields. Goggles,
hats, and long coats were needed
to protect against bugs in the
teeth and dust or mud on the
body. Dirt roads were all that
existed.
By 1910 the first paved streets
began to appear, and soon people
were all too happy to replace their
animal-drawn vehicles (and their
smelly piles of horse manure) with
horseless carriages.
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 But events

A CAR FOR EVERYONE HOW AFFORDABLE

AUTOMOBILES CHANGED
In 1903, after two failures, the Ford Motor Company opened
OUR LIVES
its headquarters in a small brick building in Dearborn, Social changes affected how
Michigan. At first, the tiny company could make only a few and where we lived.
cars a day in its factories in nearby Detroit, but Ford had big
plans. He wanted to build a car that everyone—not just rich GREATER MOBILITY
Getting from place to place without being
folks—could afford. He wanted it to be easy to run and
dependent on train schedules made life easier
maintain using
for car owners.
simple, standard
parts. Ford’s Model
T, introduced in
1908, did just that,
and it transformed
America. By 1920
half the cars on The Ford
the road were assembly line OFF TO THE SUBURBS
Model Ts. The car made it possible to move out of the
overcrowded cities and into new housing
ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE developments.
Ford’s genius lay in the mechanization of car manufacturing.
His rival, Olds, used moving assembly lines—where each Economic changes affected
worker stayed put and added a piece to each car as it moved how we made money.
past him—to build his Oldsmobiles. When that worker ran out NEW JOBS
of his pieces, he had to stop the assembly line and get more Building and selling cars,
supplies. Ford had a better idea. He built conveyor belts to selling gasoline, making
bring workers a steady supply of the parts they needed— tires, and repairing cars
things like steering wheels, wheel spokes, and seats—which were some of the new,
kept his assembly line moving constantly. It took far less time car-based industries.
to build a car his way—just 93 minutes—so his cars cost less.
Owning a Model T was an achievable, affordable dream, and
TRANSPORTATION-
soon Ford was the largest carmaker in America.
RELATED INDUSTRIES
Roads and highways had to
By the early 1920s, Ford owned a huge auto plant that
be built. More and more oil
made everything needed to make a car, including a steel was needed to make
mill to make axles, springs, and car doors, a glass factory gasoline. Steel mills thrived.
for windows, and leather workshops to make car seats.
Almost every step in the making of an automobile took
place in Ford’s massive factory.

WHERE’S THE GAS STATION?

Cars changed America’s economy. People
needed places to buy gasoline to run their cars.
They needed rubber tires when they got a flat.
Paved roads and highways were needed to handle all
the new vehicles. Other new carmakers followed on the heels of Words to Know
Ford’s success, and by 1920 there were almost 200 American car
Mechanization
companies. Just as the railroads had transformed our nation in the (mek-uh-niz-ay-shun)
1860s, the automobile completely changed the way we lived. The use of machines to replace human
America’s great love affair with the car had begun!
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and animal labor.
 The Wright Brothers
For centuries, people had looked to the sky and wondered what it
might feel like to fly like a bird. Many tried. Most died. Who could have
guessed that mastering the secrets of flight would begin with an
ordinary bicycle?

Have you ever ridden a bike down a hill? It feels a bit like flying, doesn’t
Otto Lilienthal’s glider it? Orville and Wilbur Wright built and repaired bicycles for a living and
experiments in Europe inspired loved to ride them, but they had no scientific training. How did these two
the Wrights. A crash ended brothers solve a problem that had stumped so many great minds?
Lilienthal’s life in 1896.
RIDING WITH THE WRIGHTS A Wright-built bike and
The Wright Brothers believed there was a link between building a bike the storefront of their
and building a flying machine—the importance of balance, the need for a shop in Dayton, Ohio
strong, yet lightweight frame, and an awareness of the wind.
By the late 1800s people were successfully flying gliders—basically
very large kites that depended on the wind to keep them aloft.
A flyer named Otto Lilienthal was very much in the news at the
time, especially after he died in a crash. The Wright Brothers heard
all about Lilienthal’s exploits and believed they knew where he had
gone wrong.
SLOWLY, STEADILY
The brothers read all they could about flying—especially
Wilbur, the brainier brother. They started building gliders but had
little success, so they tried experimenting with an odd-looking
extra-wheel bike. They built a wind tunnel and studied how wind
affected 200 different wing shapes. They never rushed, and always
worked carefully and patiently.

TWO BROTHERS: SIBLINGS WITH NO RIVALRY

When Orville and Wilbur Wright’s dad brought them
a toy top shaped like a helicopter, the boys played
with it so much they broke it. Undaunted, they quickly
built a replacement. That little toy sparked a lifelong
interest in flight.
Wilbur was the older of the two brothers—smart and
curious. He was also athletic, until a hockey accident cost
him his front teeth. Orville loved gadgets and tinkering
with machines. He was also a daredevil, especially when
racing his bike. The brothers shared in successes
and failures. They always took turns flying and
only flew together once, in 1910, with permission from
their dad. They had promised him they would Wilbur Wright
Orville Wright
never risk both their lives by flying together.
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1871-1948 1867-1912
 Technology extended
progress into all areas of
American life, including
neglected rural areas.

THE PATH TO THE SKIES

In 1899 the brothers began their first experiments with flight.
They traveled to a place called Kill Devil Hills, in North Carolina’s
Outer Banks. They chose it because of steady breezes off the
Atlantic Ocean and lots of soft, sandy places where they might
“safely” crash.
After flying many kite designs, they moved on to an unmanned
1901: Wind tunnel
glider, tethered to the ground, with the brothers holding ropes.
1902: Glider test They tested it by launching it off some tall sand dunes. Wilbur did
most of the flying, but the flights were short, and he often
complained to Orville that man would not fly in their lifetime.
But still, they kept on trying. Each time they figured out another
crucial step in the flight process, from turning to landing safely. In
one month’s time they made almost 1,000 glides. By 1903 they were
ready to add something new: a motor and propeller.
1903:
Success! TWELVE AMAZING SECONDS
On December 17, 1903, a day that would go down in aviation
history, it was Orville’s turn to pilot. He stayed aloft for 12 seconds.
He and his brother took turns that first day. Each flight was a bit
longer, until Wilbur stayed up for one second shy of a full minute.
Over the next two years, the brothers kept working, refining, and
improving their flying machine. By 1905, on their third airplane
design, they could dependably fly for long periods. The age of air
travel had arrived and the world would never be the same. Sadly,
1912: The
Wilbur died of typhoid fever just as
army’s first airplane
the great Aviation Age “took off.” IN HIS OWN WOR DS
Orville Wright describes his famous flight:
HOW DID FLYING CHANGE LIFE? “That flight lasted only 12 seconds, but
The ability to fly allowed people to cover long distances quickly. it was nevertheless the first time in the
The Model T Ford in 1912 had a top speed of 45 miles per hour, but history of the world in which a machine
poorly paved roadways made that almost impossible. A 1912 carrying a man had raised itself by its
airplane could travel at more than 100 miles per hour in any own power into the air in full flight,
direction. No roads were needed! had sailed forward without reduction of
Air travel was a major milestone in history. In just a few short speed, and had finally landed at a point
years, the world would go to war, and in the coming decades the as high as that from which it started.”
airplane would play a profound role in both war and peace.

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Technology extended
progress into all
areas of American
life, including
neglected rural areas.

Nikola Tesla was a true genius.

His experiments with generating
electricity in the 1890s paved the
way for today’s electronic era.

Have you ever watched waves rolling onto the shore? There are other

Turn kinds of waves too. Waves of sound and light are all around us, but they
cannot be seen by the human eye. If you have ever heard an echo in a
cave or tunnel, you have heard a sound wave. By the late 1800s a group of

on the people had figured out it was possible to use electromagnetic waves to
carry sounds.
SENDING AND RECEIVING

Radio! Morse’s telegraph and Bell’s telephone used wires to carry sounds. But
wiring the entire world is impossible. “Wireless telegraphy” would solve
that problem. Today, we call that invention the radio.
The radio owes is existence to several people, beginning with German
Imagine a world without
radios, TVs, cell phones, scientist Heinrich Hertz, who experimented with radio waves in the 1880s.
microwave ovens, remote- By the 1890s, Nikola Tesla, a Serbian-born immigrant to the U.S., had
control toys, or GPS figured out a way to send radio signals. A Russian, Alexander Popov, built
systems. And to think all the first receiver in 1895—a machine to “catch” and play sound waves.
these things became An Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, improved upon these inventions
possible because someone and became world famous for his experiments. Commercial radio
discovered something no programming came along in time to broadcast the 1920 presidential
one could see. elections returns. Thanks to the genius of these people from both Europe
and America, progress was being made.

Flick
of a
Switch
GREAT ELECTRICAL
TELEGRAPH: 1844
The first official Morse code message
is sent from the U.S. Capitol. The
telegraph used long wires to send
TELEPHONE: 1876
Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates
the first successful transmission of the
human voice over a telephone wire in
codes of short and long dashes. his Boston laboratory.
INVENTIONS
108
 THE FIRST
RADIO BROADCAST
Many believe the real inventor of the radio was a
man named Reginald Fessenden, though he never
gained much fame for his work. A Canadian who
worked for Thomas Edison and later for George
Westinghouse, he did pioneering work in designing
transmitters and receivers.
On Christmas Eve, 1906, in a coastal town near Plymouth, Massachusetts,
Fessenden turned on his latest transmitter. An Edison phonograph played a song
by Handel, then Fessenden sang and played “O Holy Night” on his violin. Men
on ships all over the Atlantic Ocean reported having heard his broadcast. Marconi
had become famous for sending wireless Morse code. Fessenden had sent music!
This brilliant man also developed an instrument for measuring ocean depths,
which was adapted to detect German submarines during World War I.

Along with the RADIO UNITES THE NATION

first movies came The invention of the radio changed life. News
the first movie could be spread instantly. Urgent messages could
stars. Charlie be sent over great distances—even to rural areas.
Chaplin was
But best of all, beautiful music, wonderful comedies, Early radios were huge
one of the
and nail-biting adventures could be shared by millions and bulky and took a long
greatest.
of people. Our nation now had a new national culture. time to warm up.
COMMUNICATION CHANGES
By the 1920s a person in Virginia could pick up a telephone and call a friend in
Maryland. The first regularly scheduled radio broadcasts were beginning to fill
the airwaves, and “motion pictures” were delighting audiences everywhere.
Americans loved movies and soon a vast motion picture industry grew.
The first movies had no sound. Someone in the movie theater
played a piano or a violin, while printed captions on the screen
explained what the actors were saying or thinking. In spite of
that, a good movie was a delight. Sitting together in darkened
theaters as the projector click-clacked, we shared tears and
joyous laughter as the movies united our nation in a whole new way.

PHONOGRAPH: 1877 MOTION PICTURES: COMMERCIAL RADIO

Thomas Edison invents a machine
that will play recorded sounds from a
wax cylinder. Bell improves Edison’s
design with his graphophone.
1895
Louis Lumière, a Frenchman, invents a
camera that captures moving images.
Edison invents the projector, and
movies are born.
BROADCASTS: 1920s
The power of radio broadcasting
begins to reach America’s homes, with
programs of music, news, comedy,
sports, and drama.
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 Technology extended progress into all areas of
American life, including neglected rural areas.

Before there was electricity these were some of the things a person had to do to
make breakfast: Collect firewood, gather eggs from the hens, go milk a cow,
build a fire in the stove, and pump water from a well or tote it from a stream.
By the early 1900s, all that was a distant memory. Machines had arrived!

Home Sweet
1914 Home
Electrification totally changed American life.
It’s that simple. So much of what we take for granted—
cold milk in the fridge, clean clothes in the washing machine, unburnt
toast—would not have been possible without the clever electrical
devices that inventors began to dream up.

A PROFOUND CHANGE IN LIFE

Keeping food from spoiling
The arrival of electricity in America’s homes and
was a challenge before
refrigerators. An iceman businesses gave the United States a big push. In work-
brought blocks of ice cut places, bright lights enabled workers to remain
from frozen lakes in the productive long after the sun had set, especially in the
winter, stored underground, winter months with their shorter days.
and delivered every few days. In the home, too, electricity had a huge impact. The
Ice chests held the block and
physical drudgery of life consumed so much time and
kept food cool.
energy, especially for women. Cooking and cleaning
without the help of electricity was a dangerous task. Open
cooking flames in kitchens led to burns and worse—house
fires. It took, on average, about four hours a day just to
keep the stove working. Laundry was an even more
dreaded task, involving vats of boiling water and irons
heated on stove tops.
THE ON/OFF
SWITCH
The arrival of electricity
brought Americans all
sorts of home helpers—
washing machines, electric
stoves, and water pumps
Words to Know —so houses could now

Electrification have indoor running water.
(Eh-lek-trif-uh-kay-shun) Lights that turned on with
Bringing electricity to the flick of a switch took
homes and businesses. the place of smokey
kerosene lamps and
dangerous candles.
An early refrigerator
110
 THE LABOR SAVERS
Even though food still had to be
cooked and laundry washed and
ironed, these labor-saving devices
freed up a few hours a week. What
a pleasure to have even an extra
hour a day to talk to friends or go
to the movies! Many folks believed
that harnessing electricity was as
great an invention as the wheel.

Why is this woman

smiling? She had
running water and a
stove that did not
need firewood!

An electric washing machine

An electric
cooktop

IMPROVED
COMMUNICATION
AND TECHNOLOGY
While newfangled electrical appliances made life easier, the
increased availability of the telephone and the use of wireless
systems like telegrams made it easier to stay in touch with friends
and family. New types of entertainment, such as movies, made life
more fun. Cars and airplanes made travel swifter. The early 1900s
had seen tremendous change all across America, but that can-do
era was about to end.
In Europe in 1914 a series of tragic events set the world on the path
to war, eventually dragging our nation into the fight. These new
technologies, while changing peacetime life at home in so many
ways, would be put to work in wartime to stop a determined enemy.
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 Great Inventions Timeline

1844 The telegraph allows 1876 The telephone allows 1877 The phonograph records
people to send short, coded people to speak by means of a sounds on a cylinder that can be
messages long distances. wire over a great distance. played back.

1880 Edison gets a patent for 1895 Nikola Tesla and George 1895 The first motion pictures
an improved lightbulb that burns Westinghouse build the first are shown to the viewing public
for a longer time. hydroelectric power plant. and become a huge hit.

1896 Henry Ford demonstrates 1903 Ford opens his first Ford 1903 The Wright Brothers make
his quadricycle vehicle—his first Motor Company factory and the first successful machine-
attempt at building a car. builds a new kind of assembly line. powered airplane flight.

1905 The first electric toaster 1906 The first music and 1912 The Wright Brothers
makes it debut. Soon other electric spoken-word radio broadcast begin building airplanes for the
household appliances follow. takes place, paving the way for a U.S. military.
112 new era.
 Explore and Review
Use pages 104–105 to answer questions 1 and 2 in complete sentences.
1. Affordable automobiles changed life in America. What are four results of this improved
transportation?
2. How did Henry Ford’s use of mechanization of car manufacturing and an assembly line
increase factory and labor productivity?
Use pages 106–107 to answer questions 3 and 4 in complete sentences.
3. Copy and complete the timeline by explaining how the Wright Brothers aided in the
invention of the airplane at each of the dates listed.

1899 1900 1903 1905

4. How did flying change American life?
Use pages 108–109 to answer question 5.
5. Copy and complete the chart by describing how communication changes impacted the
social and economic life of everyday Americans.

Communication Changes Impact on Life

Increased availability of
telephones

Development of the radio

and broadcast industry

Development of the
movies

Use pages 110–111 to answer question 6.

6. Write a paragraph explaining how electrification changed American life. Use the words and
phrases listed below in your paragraph.
• labor-saving products • electric lighting • entertainment • improved communications

Apply Your Learning

• Of all the inventions and progress made from 1865 to 1910, which one do you think most
impacts American life today? Why?
• Some of your teachers can remember when cordless telephones, cell phones, computerized
special effects in movies, and laptop computers were first introduced. Each of these had an
impact on American life. What do you remember as a technological advancement during your
lifetime? How did it impact your life?
• The use of the assembly line changed the way many industries built and distributed their
products. Assembly lines are still used today. Do you think they are used the same way or
differently? What do you see as some positive and negative factors of assembly line work?

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