Shotguns and Sugar

Many students of the Industrial Revolution rightfully criticize the era for its many negatives: child labor, worker abuse, the squaller of the slums and tenement houses of the era to name just a few. Yet this view often ignores the many positives that grew from the era including the expansion of women’s roles beyond the home into the halls of government (even before suffrage was granted), prison reform, compulsory education, and developments in public health and safety to name just a few. In this podcast I emphasize the growth of philanthropy with particular emphasis on the treatment of minority groups by industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, Julius Rosenwald, and Madame C. J. Walker. I also talk about the contributions of the City Beautiful Movement to improvements in urban and rural environments. I conclude the seasons emphasis on the era with its basis in the spirit of BIG.

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When we think of the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s and early 1900’s we often think of the great inventors of the era Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford and the like. We also think of the great Industrial Barons like J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller. However, we often ignore the contributions of lesser-known inventors and their contributions to the era. For example, a report from the National Geographic informs us that during the 1800’s African Americans filed over 70 patents. While we cannot ignore the contributions of men like Andrew Carnegie and Phillip Armour who redefined steel and agricultural marketing, of equal importance are the contributions of minority inventors like Andrew Jackson Beard’s contribution to farming and the railroad industry and Lydia Newman’s contribution to the personal care industry. But the thing that ties all these inventions from all the different industries involved is the way they found to improve production and distribution methods to create the economic powerhouse that America has become.

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Did you know that the modern airport owes its existence to the United States Post Office? Steam-powered the 19th century, but Gasoline and the Internal Combustion engine powered the 20th.  This was especially true in the transportation industries. But unlike other industries, these depended on government developed and maintained infrastructure, which is where the Post Office and the Military come into play. In this podcast, I will also talk about the early commercial airlines (both domestic and international flights) starting in the 19-teens. The podcast addresses much more about the growth of the transportation industry, so listen to the podcast and comment on things about this era and these industries you want to know more about in Shotguns & Sugar Instagram Feed or Facebook.

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How would you like to drive on a road that had 2-foot-high bumps in the middle of the lane? I wouldn’t either. But that was the standard for a well-built frontier road during the early 1800s. In this podcast I talk about the development of transportation systems in the United States during the 1800s. I include road building Canals, and railroads in the discussion. 

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What ever happened to the good old days when doctors came to your home with their little black bags and the wisdom of the ages? Well, this podcast talks about how and why that ended, at least for the most part. In the process I will talk about the influence of Germ Theory on medical training, the growth of specialization, the evolution of hospitals from free care for the needy to the large complex operations they are today, and the development of medical insurance in the United States.

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This podcast honor’s the unsung inventors that that contributed to the creation of the modern 21st century medical industry. Topics include the creation of vaccinations, compounding (a method of drug development), and Germ Theory (the foundation of modern medicine). People include such famous names as Louis Pasteur and Edward Jenner, but more important are lesser known contributors like Pierre-Joseph Pelletier, Joseph, Bienaimé Caventou, Thomas Mouffet, Matthias Schleiden, Theodor Schwann, and Girolamo Fracastoro.

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From the first legit self-propelled farm tractor patented in the United States – it was called a “Traction-Locomotive Carrying its own Railway”, to Owen Lovejoy’s Department of Agriculture, chemical fertilizers and the modern GPS this podcast emphasizes major innovations in agriculture from 1850 through the end of the twentieth century. Along the way, we will discuss some of the civil war era congress’s accomplishments outside of the war and how the Doppler effect got its name. 

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From Jethro Tull (the inventor who kicked off the Industrial Revolution) to Jethro Tull (the Rock Band) this podcast looks at agricultural contributions to the Industrial Revolution during the eighteenth and Nineteenth Century. I start with Agricultural implements that changed the industry like Tull’s seed drill, Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin, and Charles Newbold’s plow. I then look at the use of selective breeding and its tie to the inception of the Texas Cattle industry. The podcast winds up talking about the food canning industry. 

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Of all the great thinkers of the Renaissance which was the most important to the rise of the Industrial revolution? Not Galileo, not Copernicus, not even Keppler. This podcast has the answer. In the process of learning why he is the most important, we will look at the practical and philosophical underpinnings of the Industrial Revolution and of its relationship to the Enlightenment.

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When was America's deepest, longest economic depression? What caused the rise of populism in the late 1800s? What happened in 1868 that contributed to modern computing? The answer to these and about 45 other things vital to twentieth and even twenty-first American History, culture and society all took place at the same time the nation was struggling with Reconstruction. Of course, this list is not comprehensive. Can you think of 50 events between 1865 and 1877 that are of historical importance? Here is my list. Enjoy.

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