Graphing America’s Rising Industrialism

US History Honors

Directions for Completing Activity…

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Look carefully at the image and the graph

Respond to the questions on the chart

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Miles of Telegraph Wire Installed

Approximately 850,000 miles of telegraph wire were installed in 1896

In the period between 1901 and 1906 the amount of telegraph wire installed increased the most

How do you think the expansion of railroads and the expansion of telegraph services affected one another?

Population in Urban & Rural Territory

In 1880, the rural population was approximately 36 million. The urban population was approximately 14 million.

Between the years 1840 and 1920 the urban population increased more

What does this graph reveal about changing population patterns during these years?

Immigration to the United States

In the years 1880, 1890, 1900, 1905 and 1910 more than 400,000 immigrants came to the United States.

In the period between 1900 and 1905 immigration increased the most. In the period between 1910 and 1915 immigration decreased the most.

What does this graph reveal about changing population patterns during these years?

Total Number of WorkersThe numbers of workers in agricultural and

nonagricultural jobs were the closest in 1880.The years in which the number of laborers in

agricultural jobs was greater than the number in nonagricultural jobs were 1860, 1870, 1880.

Which type of workers are pictured in the photograph? Describe how the line graph reveals their importance to the US economy.

Farm Income50 years are represented on the

horizontal axisIn the period between 1870 and 1895

farm income remained steady. In the period after 1895 (between 1896 and 1920) farm income constantly increased.

In what ways do you think new technology affected farm income after 1895?

Total Raw Steel ProducedIn the years 1880, 1885, and 1890

more than one million tons of steel were produced.

In 1885 approximately 1 million more tons of steel were produced than in 1865.

How did the steel production contribute to the growth of other key industries in this time period?

Miles of Railroad Track in Operation

The horizontal axis shows years (between 1835 and 1890). The vertical axis shows railroad track in operation in thousands of miles.

The indicator line shows a steady increase in the number of miles of railroad track in operation.

How do you think the expansion of railroads contributed to the rise of industrialism in the United States?

Total Value of Exports from the USThe horizontal axis shows years (between

1850 and 1900). The vertical axis shows the value of exports in millions of dollars.

Exports declined in three periods. Those periods were between 1860 and 1865, between 1880 and 1885, and between 1890 and 1895.

What was the overall trend in the value of exports between 1850 and 1900? What does the picture suggest were some of the factors that contributed to this trend?

Patents Issued for Inventions

In 1845, approximately 500 patents were issued. In 1880, approximately 13,000 patents were issued. In 1900, approximately 25,000 patens were issued.

The overall trend in patents issued between 1845 and 1900 was an increase.

Why do you think the trend in the number of patents issued was so important to the rise of industrialism?

Use of Electric EnergyApproximately 6 billion kilowatt-hours of

electric energy were uses in 1902. Approximately 53 billion kilowatt-hours of electric energy were used in 1920.

25 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity wee used in 1912.

The first electric power station was installed in 1882 in NY. In this picture of NY, what important uses of electricity do you see? How do you think the use of electric energy changed city life?