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15.2.1. At the turn of the XX centurythe United States became the world’s foremost industrial nation. It emerged as the leader in meatpacking, in production of timber and steel, and in the mining of coal, iron, gold, and silver. By the turn of the century, industrialization had transformed commerce, business organization, the environment, the workplace, the home, and everyday life. Many factors fueled industrial growth: abundant resources, new technology, cheap energy, fast transport, and the availability of capital and labor. Mines, forests, and livestock in the west provided raw materials for major industries. Railroad expansion enabled businesses to move raw materials to factories and to send products to urban markets. A steady stream of immigrants arrived to work in America’s mines and factories.

15.2.2. Technological advances transformed production. A trail of inventions, including the telephone, typewriter, phonograph, electric light, cash register, air brake, refrigerator car, and automobile, led to new industries. Thomas Edison registered more than 1,000 patents for devices, including electric light and an electrical generation system. One hundred years ago there were 178 compa­nies in America which made cars. But cars were expensive. They were made for the rich. Henry Ford wanted to make a cheap car. To keep prices low, he looked for ways to build cars quickly. Ford decided to build cars using an assembly line. In the end, Ford's fac­tory in Detroit could make a car from start to fin­ish in just 93 minutes.

At about the same time that Ford was building his first cars in Detroit, Wilbur and Orville Wright were building an air­plane in Dayton, Ohio. They tried it out on a windy beach in North Carolina on December 17,1903. The age of air transportation began on that day.

15.2.3. At the same time,strikes and lockouts were taking place, and workers often succeeded in winning shorter hours. The Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago in 1886 grew out of a strike against a company that built agricultural machinery. Union leaders called a protest meeting at which police intervened and a bomb exploded, causing many deaths. Eight workers were convicted of murder, and four were hanged. This is how the international holiday began, May 1.

15.2.4. Workers' organizations emerged, one of which was the Industrial Workers of the World (it still exists). One activist of the organization was an immigrant from Sweden, songwriter and poet Joe Hill (also known as Joseph Hillstrom ). In 1915, at the age of 36, he was executed after a controversial trial. His last poem was written the night before his execution. After his death, he became a legendary figure and the subject of several folk songs. The contemporary songwriter Bob Dylan claims that Hill's story was one of his inspirations to begin writing his own songs. Author Stephen King and his wife Tabitha named their second child, Joseph Hillstrom King, after Joe Hill.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-07