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THE GILDED AGE AND THE COPPER

REVOLUTION: A BIOGRAPHY STUDY

GUIDED QUESTION

•  Guiding Question: What significance did Montana play in the electrification of the nation?

•  Thinking back to what we have discussed over the course of this week, there are MANY ways we can connect our local history to what is happening nationally and globally.

•  In fact, Montana was essential.

…MOVING FORWARD FROM YESTERDAY

After the Civil War, the United States underwent a massive economic and social transformation that involved the maturing of its industrial economy, the rapid expansion of big business, and the development of large-scale agriculture. The unintended consequences related to Gilded Age industrialization, immigration, urbanization, and labor conflicts between 1870 and 1900 indeed led to Progressive Era movements that sought to address the problems that arose out of this transformation.

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GILDED AGE TIMELINE 1876 End to Reconstruction. 1877 Thomas Doolittle invents copper

wire strong enough to be strung overhead.

1880 Thomas Edison invents 1200 hour light bulb

1881 Marcus Daly begins the Anaconda Copper Mining Company.

1882 Pearl Street Generator brings electricity to 85 customers in lower Manhattan (used 64 tons of copper for wire and equipment).

1882 Rich copper veins discovered in Butte.

1886 Westinghouse patents transformer which uses pre-wound copper coils

1889 First A/C hydroelectric plant delivers electricity to Portland, OR

1892 The World's Columbian Exhibition opens in Chicago. Westinghouse wins bid for electrifying—A/C current.

1896 Use of Niagara to generate electricity for Buffalo, NY

1899 Daly teams up with Rockefeller’s Standard Oil to create the giant Amalgamated Copper Mining Company.

1906 General Electric patents tungsten filament light bulbs

1910 Butte’s population peaks at 100,000 people

1913 Electric refrigerator invented 1914 Beginning of World War I. 1917 The Russian Revolution. The United

States declares war on the Central Powers. Flu epidemic kills nearly 500,000 Americans.

1917 Copper production from the Butte mines peaks.

1917 Speculator Mine (Granite Mountain) fire kills 168 miners. Greatest hard rock mining disaster in U.S. history.

MINERALS, SPECIFICALLY COPPER

•  During the early half of the 19th century, copper was used for utensils and sheathing on the bottoms of ocean-going wooden ships, for art, in coins, plumbing, roofing and alloys such as brass, bell metal, and gun metal. •  However, Edison's invention of the electric light in

the 1870s created the biggest market for copper. After the 1870s, over half of copper output was used in products for the electrical industry, and despite copper’s 10,000 year history of use by humans, 75% of all copper EVER consumed has been since World War II!

HISTORY

•  Evidence that people were aware of electricity in 600 BC—Thales of Miletos did some experiments with amber rods (electricity comes from the Greek word for amber).

•  1600—William Gilbert studies electricity and argued that electricity and magnetism were not the same thing.

•  1752—Ben Franklin and his kite experiment •  1879—Thomas Edison and the light bulb •  1882—Pearl Street Power Station in Manhattan •  1895—Westinghouse A/C power plant •  1930—about 90% of people living in cities had electricity •  1935—Rural Electric Administration sought to bring

electricity to rural areas

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VISUAL IMPACT

•  What significance did Montana play in the electrification of the nation? •  Take a look at the map handouts. Can you reach a

preliminary thesis based on what you already know?

POPULATION DENSITY 1900-1910

ETHNICITY DISTRIBUTION

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PERCENT INCREASE IN POPULATION 1900-1910

"WITHOUT MINERALS, WE COULD NOT TILL OUR SOIL, BUILD OUR MACHINES, SUPPLY OUR ENERGY, TRANSPORT OUR GOODS, OR MAINTAIN ANY SOCIETY BEYOND THE MOST PRIMITIVE. OUR HORN OF PLENTY STARTS WITH A HOLE IN THE GROUND.”

FROM CNET, “HOW MINING NEARLY KILLED THE RICHEST HILL ON EARTH.” HTTP://NEWS.CNET.COM/8301-13772_3-10290159-52.HTML

THE WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY

•  "Those who saw this [nighttime illumination] declared that the nineteenth century is indeed the century of progress and enlightenment." (Eggleston, 42)

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ACTIVITY AND DISCUSSION

•  Institute EQ: How did the U.S. reconstruct itself after the Civil War? •  Split into grade-level groups that includes teachers

from all three communities. •  Discuss ways to incorporate what we have done

over the course of this week. What people might you use to incorporate biography? How would you teach this in your classroom? Did we challenge or expand your understanding of American history during this period? •  Report out: Share with all of us your grade level and

discussion ideas.

EXTENSION

•  Formative Assessment •  Concept Maps •  Opinion/Proof Paragraphs

•  Activities •  Genealogy of Industrialization

Annotated Map •  Genealogy of minerals (how

minerals are used in the products we buy, where they come from, and possible consequences for their continued use)

•  Music •  Glen Campbell, Wichita

Lineman (1968)

•  Projects •  Research local/state EPA sites •  Mining community simulation •  Research minerals used today •  Superfund research (connect

to what was happening historically when the site was created/used)

•  Industrialization and consequences in historical context and an analysis to today (common threads; positive and negative consequences)

•  Genealogy