electrification

Electrification

How did technology change from the beginning of the 19th century to the end?

railroad connected the county--creates a national market and leads to development of big business
much more complex machinery both for manufacturing and new products
mass production of machines (with interchangeable parts)--the American System of Manufacture
moved from dependence on England for technology to equalling or surpassing Europe in many technologies
development of communication--telegraph and at the end of the century the telephone, wide spread of newspapers, development of national magazines and advertising
rise of electrical industry--makes many new technologies possible, beginning to replace steam and water power
technology is beginning to be more based on science
development of engineering schools predominately from 1840-1890
rapid increase in farm efficiency due to invention of new horsedrawn machines
inventors become heroes, science gets more respect
urbanization

The telegraph industry trained lots of people in basic electric circuits--many of the next generation of electrical inventors got their start as telegraph operators

improvements in generators, particularly dynamos (generators using electromagnets) introduced by Zenobe T. Gramme (France) in 1870 and Werner Siemens (Germany) in 1872. (an interesting lecture given in 1883 )
with lower cost electricity many new applications were possible
in 1876 Charles F. Brush exhibited a commercial arc light (using a spark jumping a gap as the source of light) and arc lights began to be used as spotlights in theaters and as outdoor lighting in many major cities
electric motors were demonstrated in the 1830s but were only a scientific curiousity until the 1880s, when electric trolleys were successfully built

Electric Trolley Thomas Edison 's early career:

Edison's mother taught him at home until he was 12, then he went to work selling newspapers and candy on a train
at 16 Edison learned telegraphy and became a telegraph operator, taking jobs in different places to see the U.S.
in 1868 Edison patented a special purpose telegraph system intended to record votes for the Massachusetts state legislature, but the legislators didn't want it--Edison swore never to invent anything else that didn't have a market
developed an improved stock ticker (telegraph reporting stock exchange prices) in 1870 and then in 1874 he made his first big invention, a quadruplex telegraph system (carrying 2 messages in each direction simultaneously one wire)
in 1876 Edison set up a lab at Menlo Park , New Jersey, where he intended to be a full-time professional inventor
there he invented the first phonograph, which didn't make him a lot of money but did establish his reputation as an inventor

Edison's lamp patent drawing

he then announced that he was going to invent an incadescent electric light
from the start he visualized that he needed to invent a new system--generators and distribution as well as lightbulbs
Edison didn't know much theoretical science but he could visualize how circuits needed to work, for example that an incadescent light bulb needed to have high resistance. He had a mathematical physicist named Francis Upton working for him who would figure out after the fact why it worked the way Edison said it needed to work.
he thought he knew what the basic technology of an incandescent lightbulb should be but it didn't work, so he ended up looking for a filament material by trial and error
He demonstrated his new system with great fanfare on New Year's Eve 1879 (he was good at public relations)

Edison as system-builder

Edison developed suitable technology for all the parts of his system, for example he pioneered the direct coupling of a steam engine and a dynamo instead of using belts to transmit power. He also realized he needed to invent the electric meter .
through contacts with a lawyer named Grosvenor Lowrey, Edison found investors.
he built his first generating plant on Pearl Street in the Wall Street financial district of New York City. The number of potential customers within a square mile (his practical transmission distance) was very high and he got attention from people who might invest in future systems. Pearl Street Station came on line in September 1882, though Edison's electric meter wasn't ready yet so customers received power free for the first 6 months.
Edison had to build a kind of business quite different from manufacturing textiles or steel. He owned companies that made light bulbs and generators and other equipment, but he also owned companies that built local electric lighting systems all over the country--that part of the business could not be consolidated and centralized
he linked his companies together in Edison General Electric, founded in 1889

Edison however was too committed to his own system and refused to accept that alternating current was a better idea

Alternating current can be transmitted longer distances because its voltage is easily changed
Elihu Thomson demonstrated in 1879 that you could use a transformer to efficiently change the voltage of electric current allowing long distance transmission at high voltage and then safer use at lower voltages. George Westinghouse started building AC electric lighting systems in competition with Edison.
Edison and his associates promoted the Electric chair to prove the dangers of AC electricity
Edison General Electric was merged with the Thomson-Houston Company in 1892 to form General Electric, squeezing out Edison

Electric Chair cartoon

Electric service came to most cities in the 1890s

the private companies concentrated on the most profitable markets
many cities in South Carolina founded municipal electrical systems, thinking of electricity as a utility like water or sewers
Anderson SC was the first city in the South to have AC electric power

a civil engineer who had grown up in Anderson, William Church Whitner, designed a municipal electrical system in 1890.
Whitner interviewed Nicola Tesla in 1891 and persuaded the town of Anderson to buy an experimental 5,000 volt AC generator for a dam at High Shoals on the Seneca river
when this generator came on line in 1895 it was the largest one in the world and the successful transmission of power the six miles from the dam to the city was a breakthrough

after 1900 private utilities tended to modernize more quickly than publicly-owned systems and be able to offer lower prices, so municipal utilities began buying electricity rather than generating their own or sold out entirely to private companies