LESSON
13
KEY
WORDS
M
OUNTAINS OF
P
ENNSYLVANIA
H
INDER
I
NDUSTRIAL
G
ROWTH
industry
manufacture
goods
services
profit
Conestoga wagon
freight
ferryboat
prairie schooner
toll
pike
tollgate
turnpike
KEY
PLACES
Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Plateau
Pittsburgh
Lancaster
Harrisburg
Susquehanna River
Philadelphia
F
OCUS
Q
UESTIONS
:
1. What is industry?
2. What geographical obstacles hindered Pennsylvania’s early industrial
development?
3. In what ways did the Conestoga wagon contribute to Pennsylvania’s
industrial growth?
What is Industry?
Let’s clarify what industry is. Simply put,
industry
is themaking, moving, and
selling of a good or service for profit. Why do we need industry? Simply put, so that we
can earn a living in order to pay for the goods and services we need and want. This all
sounds quite boring, but in reality, you would not want to live without industry. If
industry were eliminated, we would not have products such as refrigerators and cars.
Without industry, we would be livingmuch like people in the “cave days.”
Today’s technology allows us to build, or
manufacture
, computers andmobile
phones for a reasonable price. These products are called
goods
. After products are
made, they have to bemoved and sold. Once products are sold,
there is great need to fix them if they cease to work. Moving,
selling, and fixing goods is known as the
service
part of industry.
The overall purpose of industry is to turn a
profit
, or earn a living
whilemeeting the needs and wants of people.
The success of any industry (goods and services) is largely
dependent upon geographic, economic, and technologic factors.
The time in history is also a critical factor. Let’s take a simple
scenario to explain. If there has been a huge snowstorm, you will
probably be able to get to the grocery store the next day. You
have paved roads, road crews plowing, trucksmoving supplies,
and cars with front or all-wheel drive. If you are really stranded,
you have snowmobiles and helicopters. You havemobile phones
and computers that can be used to ask for help. In today’s
society, we havemany improvements in geography, economics,
and technology that make lifemuch easier for us.
Now, let’s return to our story in themid-1700s.
In 1905, theHershey
Chocolate Company
hadmoved to its
present location. It
was ideally located,
close to the ports of
NewYork and
Philadelphia which
supplied imported
sugar and cocoa
beans, and
surrounded by the
dairy farms that
would supply themilk
needed to produce
theirmilk chocolate.
60
Understanding Pennsylvania
