Abstract
How did industrial capitalism take hold in the West? The signs point in many directions: to the financial centers of the East, the roving entrepreneurs of the West, and the business networks crisscrossing the continent by the 1860s. The discovery of gold and oil and the application of steam to transportation created much of the industrial West we know today. So, too, did electricity, or “white coal,” a clean and inexpensive source of power produced by water-driven electrical systems. Engineers began to dam western rivers for electricity in the 1890s, just as the hydraulic mining industry declined. Citizens, politicians, and reformers viewed electricity as a necessity that would dramatically uplift the country’s standard of living. It would provide
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call