American History and Technology
The advertisement sheet for Muller's "Alpha" Patent Gas-Making Machineprovides much insight into the state and orientation of American technologyin the 1870s. From the advertisement, we can discern a United States atthe dawn of its rise to an industrial power, using technology to hold itsown against the more advanced industrialized European countries such as The advertisement shows a rendition of a gas-making machine, a devisethat could produce fuel for "lighting all places out of reach of coal gas." The sellers further touted a machine that would provide fuel for householdactivities such as lighting and heating, though paradoxically, the machine The advertisement most likely was published between the 1870s and the1880s, a time that saw much research into various gas-making machines.During this time, much of the industrialized nations were dependent on coalgas, a by-product of the distillation of coal. Coal gas was often used forgas lighting and was also alternately referred to as "town gas." The downside, however, was the expense. The price of canned coal madethe production of coal gas too expensive for many would-be manufacturers
This enterprise, however, was fraught with danger. Though the technologies alsoheralded tremendous technological and environmental costs, Americans in the19th century showed a willingness to accept the inevitability ofindustrialization. Though obviously created before the adventof electricity, the Muller advertisement also mentions coal gas, whichrefers to the discovery of the vast natural resources (coal, iron, oil) inthe country that were just waiting to be exploited. Thoughmany gas-making machines were built for manufacturers and factories, thismachine is clearly targeted to households that were in "places out of reachof coal gas. On the other hand, the rapid industrialization also shows a generalacceptance among the American public of technological innovation. The growth of fuel-dependentmanufacturing plants over the only a few decades heralded much socialchange, from factors like urbanization to the creation of communication andtransportation networks that were linking the United States into anindustrial empire. While this was understandable then, the use ofcoal gas today would be subject to very stringent environmental regulationin the United States. To rise to the level of industrialization already enjoyed by itsEuropean counterparts, the United States thus turned to technology. This era sawthe invention of the telephone, telegraph, the cotton gin and othertechniques of mass production. It neededfuel to build a network of railroads to link individual states andterritories into one great country. Technological advances were thusdeveloped, to fill these practical needs. As such, many of its cities remained out of reach of roads, therailroad or, as seen in the advertisement, coal gas. Much of its industries were labor-intensive, such as cotton plantations. " Coal gas is partly referred to as "town gas" because before the adventof electricity, this gas was used to light streetlamps in towns and cities.
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Acceptance Essays
