USII.5a  Early 20th Century -Transportation, Communication, Electrification

The student will demonstrate knowledge of the social, economic, and technological changes of the early twentieth century by
a) explaining how developments in transportation (including the use of the automobile), communication, and electrification changed American life.

How was social and economic life in the early twentieth century different from that of the late nineteenth century?

Technology extended progress into all areas of American life, including neglected rural areas.

Results of improved transportation brought by affordable automobiles
• Greater mobility
• Creation of jobs
• Growth of transportation-related industries (road construction, oil, steel, automobile)
• Movement to suburban areas

Invention of the airplane
• The Wright brothers

 


Use of the assembly line
Henry Ford








Communication
changes
• Increased availability of telephones



Alexander Graham Bell (1880)

• Development of the radio (role of Guglielmo Marconi)
and broadcast industry (role of David Sarnoff)


• Development of the movies

Ways electrification changed American life
• Labor-saving products (e.g., washing machines, electric stoves, water pumps)

• Electric lighting
Read about Edison's Light Bulb 

Edison's Other Inventions

Watch one of Edison's Kinetiscope Movies


• Entertainment (e.g., radio)

Read about the role of the radio in the 20s and 30s


[People gathered around to listen to the radio in the 1920s and '30s]