1 Discuss the most important ideas in chapter 5 of the Cowan text There were several main ideas is this chapter of the textbook The first discussed the importance of the telegraph system This was an invention that allowed the user to send an electrical signal over long distances to create a set of dots and dashes on a piece of paper This was the first way that people could quickly and effectively communicate over long distances The railroad system was the next area discussed The invention of the steam engine led to the development of trains Soon dozens of railroad companies spread across the US but the tracks were all different sizes So eventually certain companies combined and made the tracks uniform all around the country This meant that goods could be transported very quickly from place to place Now the horse and cart were obsolete The third main idea was the introduction of the petroleum system Some engineers discovered that there was an abundance of oil in the ground and that it could be used for much more than just lubricant This resulted in numerous oil refineries producing different by products of oil including the most important one petroleum This development would affect future industry even to the present day The final main idea was the development of the electrical system The invention of the electrical generator caused power lines to spread across the country connecting lights heating and machines This is probably the most important technological advancement of the industrial revolution in my opinion 2 Discuss The Industrial Revolution video The industrial revolution started in Britain and was kickstarted by the discovery of coal all over the country on both land and sea The need for a water pump prompted the invention of a steam engine to achieve this James Watt then modified the steam engine so that it didn t have to be right by a coal mine because of its fuel needs This new version used a quarter of the fuel The first factory mainly produced items of jewelry that became a large attraction The industrial revolution sparked the idea that wealth could be created and the governments of the time sought to expand their industry to attain it A good example of that is the expansion of the British navy to protect the west indies and their vast wealth in resources and riches This naval expansion made Britain the biggest maritime power until the second World War All the trade that this navy brought in made a need for banks and the stock market which allowed the middle class to invest in the trade of that time This massive flow of goods let to the production of good roads all over England mainly through the Turnpike Act This allowed the government and private citizens to create well kept road that charged a toll Then railroads and canals were developed and these are still in use today These are some of the ways that Brtain affected the Industrial Revolution 3 Find a resource on the impact of the steam engine during the Industrial Revolution and write about it I found an article at https www thoughtco com steam in the industrial revolution 1221643 that discussed the affects of the steam engine The first main affect of efficient steam engines was on the textile industry Before the introduction of the engine textile factories ran on water and human power The factories were limited to building sites near rivers But the steam engine was much more powerful and therefore allowed the factories to produce more and they wouldn t have to be near water The coal industry benefitted because now they could dig deeper mines without the risk of flooding because of the better steam engine As a result more coal could be mined cheaper and easier which caused the coal industry to skyrocket Iron factories began to use these engines to route water back up into reservoirs but they soon found that the steam produced could be used to power a mechanical hammer thus the steam hammer was born This increased the scale and production of these factories as well as making the individual parts more accurate The article discusses that the fact that while the steam engine was developed late in the industrial revolution it is still one the biggest advancements that came out of that period