Question 3 of 22
How did Thomas Edison change techniques of industrial production?
A. He created a more efficient steel-rolling process, allowing larger
factories to be built.
B. He developed ways to refine oil more efficiently, so trucks could
take goods to market more cheaply.
C. He made electricity available to business owners, so businesses
could run at all hours.
D. He expanded the railroads nationwide, so manufacturers could
ship goods across the country.
SUBMIT

The practices of using engines as substitutes for animal and human muscle power and of using machines to produce goods took on a different character after about 1850. Sometimes called the second Industrial Revolution (or the second phase of the Industrial Revolution), this new phase differed from the original in several ways, and marked an important shift in the progress of the revolution.

With the rapid spread of the Industrial Revolution from Great Britain to the United States and Europe came a wave of inventions, some of which were new, many of which simply improved upon existing machines. Advances in science, particularly in chemistry, led to widespread changes, especially in agriculture and medicine. Petroleum became an important source of energy, leading to a new class of mobile machines (notably automobiles and trucks). Electricity was developed into a new means of delivering energy, leading to the introduction of small motors as well as superior lighting for both factories and houses. A new process of stringing together several inventions to create complex systems revolutionized manufacturing, transportation, and communications, and helped to create new business enterprises that were much larger than anything that had come before.

Taken together, these changes accelerated the impact of the Industrial Revolution on society throughout Europe and North America. Whereas everyday life for most people had changed relatively little from 1700 to 1800, it changed profoundly from 1800 to 1900 and beyond.