TRANSITIONS: FROM EUPHORIA TO REALITY

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TRANSITIONS: FROM EUPHORIA TO REALITY

The Second Industrial Revolution had many facets which keyed a major transition from the old way of life based on nature and reason to a new way reliant upon new products and inventions. The Revolution changed people's beliefs. Previously, they had a great propensity to believe in reason to solve their problems whereas now machines and inventions were changing their daily lives. In the First Industrial Revolution emphasis was placed on research and development while in this time frame new items like electricity and steel were the norm. In this report, I'll write about three segments of the Second Industrial Revolution including technological advances, economic struggles and social classes. Henry Bessemer was a key player during this epoch with his process (pictured above) for manufacturing steel in a efficient and economic manner.

The Englishman was so successful that steel production rose from thousands of tons to millions of tons over a fifty year period ranging from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's. Bessemer was used by Napoleon III to build a stronger and better cannon for the French army. (Life, p62) A major transformation took place with the invention of electricity. Electricity became the main source of power. People became dependent on it in almost all aspects of their daily lives. Electricity enabled factories and other buildings to be erected therefore creating more jobs and better standard of living.

The chemical industry played a role in the Second Industrial Revolution. Germany was the leader in scientific research in this area. Among the chemical inventions were novocain, (we all know what that is ) blacktop surface and many new plastics. Laundry soap would also contribute to modernizing living. The internal combustion engine was invented in 1886. This led to the development of the automobile by German Gottlieb Daimler. In the early years of the auto, the referred car was the Benz (forerunner of today Mercedes–Benz) but only the elite could afford it. auto production boomed in Britain, Germany and France until Henry Ford came up with the affordable Model–T which tripled the production and sales of its European counterpart. The automobile lessened man's reliance on nature by providing an alternative mode of transportation. The latter part of the 19th century showed a decline in economic prosperity. Less industrialized countries were losing people due to agriculture problems resulting from bad weather. Migrations to countries such as the United States and Canada numbered over 50 million people over 75 year span.

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