Birthplace of Industry from the free library by Farlex, from freelibrary.com the article was about the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, using the new product coke to smelt iron. The Darby family demonstrated the uses of iron by building the first iron bridge. The article showed the inventiveness of people and how they contributed to advancements in technology. Written well and organized conceptually showing the importance of smelting iron with new technology of coke a product of coal.
The old furnace of Abraham Darby (1678-1717) was located in the town of Coalbrookdale the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. In 1709, Darby successfully smelted iron using a new coal product “coke.” The coke was made the same way charcoal was made through the use of heating coal at high temperatures creating a more purified fuel which burnt at higher temperatures. However, a bridge to nowhere built near the town of Coalbrookdale by the Darby’s to demonstrate the importance of iron made from coke. This new method of Darby’s enabled him to make the same items using half as much iron. Darby’s sons would be instrumental in helping other men build steam engines and trains not to mention rails and wheels. According to Reyburn; "Darby's key product was cast-metal iron pots. He found that, with coke, he could make cast-iron pots half the thickness of charcoal-fired pots.” Darby's achievement showed that coke could replace charcoal in iron production (thefreelibrary.com).
This essay from the free library located at (thefreelibrary.com) ; Railroads, Robber Barons, and unbridled Capitalism: the term “Robber Baron” is many times used in history books to be synonymous with “unrestrained capitalist,” but such a definition is overly general and misl...
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Reyburn Ross, It all started here; this year is said to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Industrial Revolution. The Free Library 26 June 2009. 21 February 2011. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/It all started here; This year is said to mark the 300th anniversary...-a0202389677.
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characterizes the capitalists who shaped post-Civil War industrial America and it is valid that they would be properly distinguished as corrupt “robber barons”.
Robber Barons in America What is a robber baron? Webster’s New Dictionary defines him as an American capitalist of the late 19th century who became wealthy through exploitation (as of natural resources, governmental influence, or low wage scales) or a person who satisfies himself by depriving another. In America, we have a lot of these kinds of people. For this report, I am going to tell you about the ones that I found most interesting to me.
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The Gilded Age marked a period of industrial growth in America. Mark Twain termed the period of 1865 to 1896 as the “Gilded Age” to {indicate} the widespread corruption lying underneath the glittering surface of the era. Known as either “captains of industry” or “robber barons,” several prominent figures shaped this time period; these capitalists gained great wealth and success with their industries. Corrupt and greedy are two words associated with the term “robber barons,” which referred to the capitalists who acquired their great wealth in less than admirable and ethical ways. On the other hand, many referred to the capitalists as the “captains of industry” that were celebrated as admirable philanthropists; their way of acquiring extreme
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Iron was easily replaced because it was a weak and brittle element, and steel was a new durable alloy. Steel also opened the doors to the ability to create many new industrial projects for a significantly cheaper price. Two inventions, the Bessemer process and the Siemens-Martin open-hearth method, significantly reduced the cost of the production of steel. The Bessemer converter was the first inexpensive industrial process that converted steel from molten pig iron and the Siemens-Martin open-hearth method was the first open-hearth furnace. Both of these processes kickstarted the steel production in the United States. These inventions significantly dropped the prices of steel and by 1873 the United States was producing nearly 115,000 tons of steel rail, approximately one-eighth of all U.S. steel production. The creation of these new processes ultimately ended the iron age and turned America’s new focus to the steel